ris almost more than the actual wounds, and
he gave his horse to the groom, and walked beside the bearers, trying
to induce them to keep step, and not jar the patient unnecessarily. It
was therefore an unfortunate moment for a large and frowsy--he would
almost have said snuffy--figure to lurch forward and clasp him in an
expansive embrace.

"Eh, man, that was a gran' fight, yon!" it hiccoughed, then relapsed
into dignity and Hindustani. "What a battle we have had, sahib! What
a victory we have won!"

"We, indeed!" said Charteris, releasing himself with strong disgust.
"General Desdichado, I suppose?"

But the General, apparently unconscious of his momentary lapse of
memory, was not responsive to English. "The Sahib was pleased to
say----?" he inquired politely.

"I say this, you old villain, that you nearly lost us the battle, and
if Lieutenant Gerrard should die, I give you my word I'll have you shot
for neglect of duty in the face of the enemy!" cried Charteris
furiously.

"The Sahib is pleased to forget that I am accountable only to my own
master," said the General, and retired in good order, though with as
much haste as was compatible with a very unsteady walk.

The unpleasant business of extracting the bullet brought Gerrard to his
senses, and Charteris found his hand wrung almost to numbness as he
knelt by his side. Those were the days before anaesthetics, and a
bullet in the shoulder required a good deal of torture before it could
be got rid of.

"I thought it was all up with me, Bob," whispered Gerrard when the
operation was over.

"Not just yet, old boy. If it had been an inch or two more to one
side, now----"

"When I went down among the horses' feet, I meant. It was you got me
out, old fellow, I know."

"Had to do a good many things first, I'm afraid, and it wasn't very
easy to find you. Case of 'None could see Valerius, And none wist
where he lay.' By the bye, Hal, should you say that those
_dangawalas_[1] of Granthis were playing fair to-day, or not? Did they
fire as Sher Singh advanced?"

"Oh yes, they fired," said Gerrard dreamily.

"You don't mean that they fired at us?"

"No, they fired--all right--but----" his voice became weaker, and he
seemed satisfied not to finish. The doctor made Charteris a sign not
to disturb him further, and he was obliged to give the Granthis the
benefit of the doubt.

* * * * * *

An attack of fever, complicated