, and it came with his transfer to the command of the Hyderabad
contingent, with the rank of Brigadier-General. This fine soldier from
the raising of the corps in 1846 had held command of it for sixteen
years; the brightest example of what a brave, chivalrous, and
resourceful leader should be. Commanders of regiments come and go, and
few leave their mark; but over the Guides the influence of Lumsden still
burns bright and clear. To be alert and ready; to rise equal to the
occasion, be the call small or great; to be not easily taken aback in a
sudden emergency; to be a genial comrade and a good sportsman,--such are
the simple soldier maxims left to his comrades by one of the best
soldiers who ever drew sword.

The extraordinary devotion felt for Lumsden by the rude warriors whom he
had enlisted and trained to war was somewhat pathetically, if quaintly,
illustrated by an incident that occurred not long before he left. Sir
John Lawrence, then Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, had been round to
inspect the Guides, for in those days they were not under the orders of
the Commander-in-Chief, but directly under the Civil Government.
Something in the course of the day had occurred to put Sir John Lawrence
out of humour, and he was at all times a man of blunt speech. Whatever
it was, it temporarily annoyed Lumsden, and quite unwittingly this
became evident to the faithful fellows who were ready to charge into
hell-fire at his order. It was a mere passing cloud, for the cheery
bright-hearted Lumsden was no man to brood over small matters of this
sort. As, however, he sat out under the stars smoking his last pipe, he
became aware of a figure in the background, and turning round saw one of
his orderlies respectfully standing at attention.

"Hullo! What's up?" asked Lumsden.

"It is only this," replied the orderly, one of the rough warriors who
took orders only from his own sahibs, and cared not a jot for any other
man, black or white. "It is only this, Sahib: I and my comrades noticed
that the Lord Sahib spoke to-day words that were not pleasing to your
Excellency, and that you were angry and displeased when you heard them.
So we have consulted together as to how best we may serve the proper
end; for it is not right and proper that we should allow our Colonel
Sahib to be harshly spoken to by anyone. There is, therefore, this
alternative: the Lord Sahib has arranged to leave by the straight road
to-morrow morning for Peshawur, but