“Here, Dick, lad—bit of news for you,” said Wyatt a few hours later, after giving a heavy thump with his fist on the door, and then striding into his friend’s room.

“Indeed!” said Dick quietly, and without showing a sign of knowing what it was. “Good or bad?”

Wyatt screwed up his mouth, and shook his head at his companion.

“How precious innocent we are,” he said. “But it won’t do.”

“What’s your news?”

“Bob Hanson’s let off.”

“I’m glad of it,” said Dick.

“Won’t do, I tell you. You mean morsel. Didn’t I see you sneaking over to the general’s quarters this morning? Didn’t you go from there to the cells. Didn’t you come away and go straight to Hulton with the general’s despatch.”

“Yes—yes?—yes.”

“Well, you might have told me, Dicky.”

“I did not feel that I ought to say a word to any one.”

“You told Hulton?”

“Not a word. I only gave him the general’s order, and came away.”

“Well, never mind; I’m very glad, and I forgive you this time. But that isn’t the news.”

“What is, then?”

“Serve you right not to tell you, only I won’t be mean. We march to-morrow.”

“To-morrow!” cried Dick excitedly. “Where to?”

“Soojeepur.”

“Ah!”

“Up in the hill country, my lad.”

“Are we at war, or is it to a fresh station?”

“We’re not at war; but, as far as I’ve heard, the Rajah is. But you heard before?”

“Yes,” said Dick. “With some neighbouring chief.”

“That’s it. Well, the Company wants to keep on good terms with him, and we’re going up to help his highness. So the Company does not want an enemy on his borders, but a friend. So see to your traps. I expect we shall get the route to-morrow, and march in the evening.”

“How far is it?”

“Oh, not far—six or seven hundred miles. Get your fellows to work over your packing. Got much to do?”

“No—very little. I could be ready to-night.”

“I say, though, have you ever had that new sword of yours ground?”

“No; I’ve been meaning to have it done for days.”

“Get it done at once. Here, send one of your fellows for the armourer, so as to catch him before he knows, or he’ll be too busy.”

Dick summoned his servant and sent for the man who acted as armourer in the troop, and the bright new weapon was brought out.

In a very short time the man had received his orders to bring the weapon back in a couple of hours, and he looked inquiringly from one to the other; but, obtaining no information, he went off, and brought the sword back keen of edge and point.

Then Wyatt spoke.

“Heard the news yet, Smith?”

“No, sir; nothing stirring that I know of.”

“Ah, well, you’ll get some; so look out.”

Before the man had reached the barrack-yard the news was running from one end of the cantonments to the other; and as the two officers looked out, they saw half-a-dozen men hurrying up to the man who had just quitted them, speaking eagerly, and Wyatt laughed.

“Master Smith has got his work cut out for the next few hours,” he said. “Never mind, you’ve had your first go, so you needn’t mind.”

“Are you pretty well prepared?” asked Dick.

“Oh, yes, I’m ready enough. Been expecting the order, you see; and the less one takes on the march the better. There’ll be an early parade and inspection, of course.”

“What regiments are going with us?”

“None. The elephant-guns are to follow, but not for a week. We shall have it all our own way, and it will mean promotion, I hope. Perhaps I shall get my troop; and if I do you’ll come with me, Dick?”

“That would mean leaving this troop?” said Dick, aghast.

“Of course. But you and I would soon make another as smart.”

“Think so?” said Dick thoughtfully.

“Oh, yes. I don’t profess to be clever, but it always seems to me that if two fellows make up their minds to do a thing and stick to it—if it’s possible—they’ll do it.”

“Yes,” said Dick still more thoughtfully, “I suppose so.”

It was late before he lay down to rest that night, for there was more to do in preparations than he had anticipated. For instance, there was the letter home, announcing his departure up-country on service—a letter which took a long while to write, and set him thinking, taking, as it did, much of the holiday aspect and excitement out of the coming trip. For now he began to realise that it meant something more than show. He was going to face the realities of a soldier’s life, and the possibilities of his never coming back alive.

Dick did not go to sleep quite so easily that night, and when the bugle was sounded he seemed to have hardly closed his eyes.

But there was no time for thought in the early grey of the morning. The bustle and hurry of preparation was going on all round. There was the trampling of horses, the clink of spurs, and the rumble and rattle of gun-wheels, limbers, and ammunition-wagons.

Soon after there was a familiar whinnying sound outside, and he ran to the window, to look down and see Ram Dad in spotless white walking Burnouse up and down, ready for his master.

“Who’s going to feel dumpy when he has a horse like that?” muttered Dick as he turned away and stood before the glass, giving the finishing touches to his dressing, ending by buckling on his sword.

“Wish I were bigger,” he said to himself; “I don’t seem to grow a bit,”—which was strange; but at that time the lad’s ideas of growth were that he ought to increase in size as rapidly as a melon.

The opening of the door behind him interrupted his meditations, and he turned to see the smiling face of his body-servant, who had brought him his morning coffee.

“Will the sahib take Hakim with him to Soojeepur?” said the man.

“Of course. Don’t you want to go?”

“Hakim would go everywhere with the sahib,” replied the man, “if the sahib will promise that his servant shall not be killed.”

“I’ll promise that I will not kill you, Hakim,” said Dick, smiling.

“Then his servant is satisfied and happy. Will Ram Dad go too?”

“Oh, yes. Look here, Hakim; you will see that my things go with the officers’ baggage, and look out for yourself.”

“The sahib’s servant has been on the march before,” said the man importantly, “and he will see to everything.”

“That’s right,” said Dick, hurrying through his coffee and biscuit, for he was none too soon. Then, running down, he reached his horse just as Wyatt came up.

“Morning,” said the latter, with a very sleepy look in his eyes. “Humph! your charger looks well. Don’t seem quite so ready to eat you now, or to kick you into the middle of next week.”

“Oh, no; we’re getting great friends.—Aren’t we, ’Nouse,” replied Dick, patting the beautiful neck and rubbing the muzzle extended to meet his hand.

“Yes, he looks civil enough, but I wouldn’t trust him. There, mount, and come along. Here comes Hulton.”

The troop was already drawn up in heavy marching order, and directly after they moved out on to the parade, where the general and the staff soon after rode on to the ground. There was a careful inspection, and the men were dismissed long before the sun made its power felt, the general having expressed his satisfaction with everything.

Those were busy hours which intervened till just before sunset, when the order to march was given, and the troop rode out from the town, escorted by a squadron of one of the native cavalry regiments and a band, for a short distance, before the final farewells were said, and they broke into a trot to overtake the long train of baggage-wagons which had set off a couple of hours earlier; for, in spite of everything being cut down, the necessities for a lengthened expedition, with tents, servants, grass-cutters, provender, and an ample supply of ammunition and spare horses, sufficed to make what seemed to Dick an appallingly long display.

Long before midnight, though, they were encamped, with everything, consequent upon the admirable state of discipline, in perfect order; and Dick sat with his brother-officers and the doctor in their mess-tent by day, and lay in their sleeping-tent by night.

The guard had been set, and it was Dick’s duty to visit the posts about the camp that night. To his surprise, he found Wyatt awake, ready to roll off his camp-bed and make the round with him.

“Don’t mind my company, I suppose?” he said.

“Glad of it;” and they went round the little sleeping camp together—an attractive walk by the light of the great full-moon.

“Looks quite nice,” said Wyatt, “and no fear of an alarm.”

“Alarm—no!” said Dick, laughing.

“I was thinking of being in the enemy’s country, with a force ten or twenty times as strong as our own on the qui vive to wipe us out. Keeps you from feeling sleepy, my lad.”

“Have you ever been in that position?” asked Dick.

“Often,” was the laconic reply. Then, after a pause, “Perhaps we may be next month.”

It was a long, monotonous march, with the customary incidents: troubles about water, native servants breaking down with illness, real or fancied—oftener, the doctor said, the latter. Then the dreary plains began to give place to hilly country, the air was less heavy, the woodlands more beautiful; and, after a week or two of this, hills began to appear in the distance—hills that would in Europe have been dubbed big mountains.

The marches now were for the most part along winding valleys, with sparkling rivers near the roads, which became more difficult for the guns and wagons: but this was balanced by the beauty of the scenery and the invigorating nature of the air.

“Fellow can breathe out here, and Hulton says Soojeepur is more beautiful and higher up than this.”

“This valley is beautiful enough for anything,” said Dick as they rode on one evening. “Why, there ought to be tigers and leopards in these jungles.”

“Lots,” said Wyatt.

“And fish in the river.”

“Heaps,” said Wyatt; “monsters sixty and seventy pounds weight. You and I are going to have some shooting and fishing by-and-by, old lad, if we find time. But Hulton’s right.”

“What about?”

“He says we’re in for it.”

“In for what?”

“Who knows? It’s as he says—we’ve got to depend entirely upon ourselves; for, if we have to do any fighting, and the other side’s too strong, we shall have to pull up our boots and tighten our belts.”

“Surely we shall not be in such a position as that?” said Dick.

“Who can tell? Perhaps the Rajah’s chaps haven’t much go in them, and will leave us to do the fighting. There we are. Suppose we send for help; it will take a month for the messenger to get to cantonments, and a month for the help to come, and during that time they could eat us all but our boots.”

“But if things went against us we should have to retire.”

“Retreat, eh? Yes,” said Wyatt thoughtfully; and then he broke out suddenly, to Dick’s amusement, with a capital imitation of the Irishman in the old anecdote, “‘Och, your honner, I’ve tuk a prisiner.’

“‘Bring him along then, Pat.’

“‘Plase yer honner, he won’t come.’

“‘Come without him, then.’

“‘Plase, yer honner, he won’t let me.’”

“Suppose that’s our position, Dicky. It seems to me that we’re going right into a trap, and mayn’t be able to get away again. I don’t think we ought to have been sent.”

“Why, you’re not afraid?” said Dick.

“Not a bit, lad; only thoughtful. I say we oughtn’t to have been sent, because this isn’t the sort of country for horse artillery. We want to be out in wide plains where there’s room to gallop. Here, for instance, we could do nothing but sit on our horses while the enemy lined the sides of this valley with sharp-shooters to pick us off.”

“Perhaps Soojeepur may turn out to be a plain country.”

“Hope it is,” said Wyatt abruptly; “but I don’t think it is. We ought to be rifles, not what we are. Here’s a pretty place for an ambush. If the Rajah’s enemies know we’re coming they’ll be collected up yonder, and as soon as we get near enough they’ll begin playing a game of skittles. We shall be the skittles, and the rocks the balls.”

“I say,” said Dick merrily, “would you mind going to the rear, to ride beside Captain Hulton?”

“Yes, I should mind a good deal. I’ve been riding with him, and he’s as obstinate as a pig.”

“Oh!”

“I said we ought to send out the advance-guard farther, and double the rear-guard.”

“And what did he say?”

“Told me to mind my own business; that we were not in an enemy’s country, and that I was getting quite an old woman.”

“Well?”

“I didn’t like it.”

“It did not sound pleasant. But you don’t think there is anything to mind, do you?”

“I don’t know that there is, young un, but it may have got about that we are coming, and if I were our friend’s enemy, it is the very thing I should do.”

“What—try and cut us off?”

“Of course. There’s more done by scheming than hard work, they say, and I’m sure there is in war. Five hundred men attacking an enemy’s rear at a critical time will do more towards producing a rout than five thousand fresh troops attacking the front. It’s the sudden and unexpected that does so much in a battle.”

Dick nodded and looked grave.

“What shall we do?” he said.

“Obey orders. Hulton’s in command.”

These last words were spoken in so decisive a way that Dick said no more, and rode on in silence; but for the rest of their ride, whenever a valley narrowed into a gorge, he watched the sides anxiously in search of marksmen waiting to dispute the way.

But he searched the sides in vain, and after encamping two more nights, the valley they were in debouched in a fruitful plain stretching far and wide, to snow-capped mountains glittering in the brilliant sunshine: while, as the officers halted to gaze down in wonder and admiration, they could trace the serpentine course of the widened-out river stretching far in all directions, fertilising the plain, and meandering on like a ribbon of silver, till many miles away they could see, through the wonderfully pure air, the gilded minarets and walls of an extensive city.

“Yonder’s Soojeepur,” said Hulton, riding up. “Now then, Wyatt, will there be room enough there for us to manoeuvre?”

“Yes, yes, dear boy,” cried Wyatt enthusiastically. “Splendid! Magnificent! Miles of galloping-ground. Ready to begin now if the enemy would come in sight.”

“There you are, then,” cried Dick, rising in his stirrups; “look yonder.”

He pointed right away, and his companions shaded their eyes, and made out in the distance the glint of arms in the sunshine; and, as the order was given to halt, the officers made out that a large body of horse was coming in their direction.

Satisfied of this, the captain gave the order for the troop to advance, the baggage-train being halted where they were, with the few men appointed for their guard.

“Now then, Dick,” said Wyatt as they trotted on, “this is right. Hulton wants to get us more out in the open. Yes, that’s right; he’s making for that low mound, from which we could sweep the plain in all directions. That’s soldierly. See?”

“Yes, I see,” replied Dick; “but these may be friends coming to meet us.”

“Of course they may, and we shall be none the worse for being prepared. But, by the same rule, they may be enemies, and we shall be all the better for being ready to receive them.”

In less than an hour all doubts were solved by the advance of a little detachment of well-mounted men, who announced that the Rajah was coming himself to meet his friends with all his horse; and soon after the glittering array in attendance on the great chief, mounted in a silver howdah upon a huge elephant, nearly covered with cloth of gold, and with tusks painted and banded with the precious metal, rode up.

It was a sight which riveted all eyes—the Rajah’s officers glittering with jewels and splendidly arrayed, while the Rajah himself, a handsome, dark-eyed man, was in simple, snow-white muslin and white puggree, his sole ornament being a diamond clasp over his forehead, from which rose a delicate white egret plume.

It was like a procession of hundreds of years before, many of the mounted men wearing small steel caps with spiked top and face-guard, while from all round the back depended a protective curtain of the finest chain-armour. Many of them, too, wore shirts of mail, fitting tight to the body, and without exception they carried light, curved tulwars and round shields.

In undress uniform, covered and begrimed with sweat and dust, it seemed to Dick that their troop cut a sorry figure beside the Rajah’s force; and he looked sharply from one to the other of the haughty-looking chiefs on their handsome but undersized horses, fully expecting to see an air of sneering contempt upon their faces as they looked down upon the little auxiliary force which had come to join them.

But he soon saw that he was wrong. The Rajah and his party were men of war, and their eyes glittered with satisfaction as they roamed over the splendidly mounted, stalwart, picked men who rode with the guns, knowing, as they did from hearsay, what a tremendous power these light six-pounders were in the hands of the highly-drilled troop. They knew that the troop meant work, and possibly the saving of their country from a dangerous foe; and there was no mistaking the spontaneous, wild burst of welcome given in long-continued acclamations, which were repeated again and again as the mahout flourished his gilded ankus, and forced the great elephant to kneel so that the Rajah might reach down to shake hands with the officers.

“Something to write home about,” thought Dick as he drew off his gauntlet to grasp the thin brown hand extended to him, when his turn came to meet the flashing dark eyes and pleasant smile turned upon him.

“I am glad to welcome you, sir,” said the Rajah in excellent English, though with a strange intonation. “I would ask you to come up into the howdah to sit with me, but I have already asked Captain Hulton. Another time. It does not matter, for you have a beautiful horse, and you ride him well.”

Dick was hot before; now he glowed, and found himself wanting in words when the Rajah loosed his hand.

The next minute the captain was mounting by using the elephant’s trunk as a succession of steps, the intelligent beast helping him so that, with the aid of the mahout’s hand and the friendly grasp of the Rajah, he climbed to the howdah; the elephant heaved and rolled like a boat among waves; and, at a word from the Rajah, his force divided and drew up on either side, facing inward for the troop to pass between them and then close in behind.

Wyatt took the command as the captain’s horse was led by one of the men.

“Gallop back,” said the former, “and order the rear-guard and train to advance at a trot, Darrell;” and, extricating himself from the crowd of horsemen, Dick sent his charger flying to the rear, a burst of exclamations following him as he passed, while half-a-dozen dark-skinned, fierce-looking horsemen chipped spurs to their steeds’ flanks and followed him at a gallop.

His mission was soon accomplished, and the train came rumbling along; while, still followed by his self-formed escort, Dick galloped back to take his place by Wyatt, who was at the head of the troop, following close behind the Rajah’s elephant, in advance of which were one half of the horsemen, the other half being in rear of the train.

“What do you think of this, Dicky?” said Wyatt as they rode slowly on towards the city.

“Very jolly,” was the reply.

“Well, don’t get swelled head over it, young un. I’m thinking that if this is going to be the sort of thing, we shan’t want to go back to Roumwallah, Calcutta, or anywhere else.”

“Why?”

“Because we are going to be the greatest people in the Rajah’s army, and we shall want to stay.”

“Nonsense!”

“Oh, no, it isn’t. In about a month old Hulton yonder, perched up like an idol in a temple, will be made field-marshal; I shall be a general; and as for you—oh, you shall be my aide-de-camp.”

“Thank ye,” said Dick.

“Oh, I shall behave well to you if you’re a good boy. What are you thinking about?”

“I was thinking it strange that nature should have given elephants such ridiculous little tails as that in front.”

“Get out! You weren’t.”

“I was, really. Look at it whisking about. It’s quite absurd.”

“Humph, yes; but the brute shuffles along pretty well. I’m glad it’s old Hulton the chief has got up there instead of me. I’ll be bound Hulton wishes himself back upon his horse.”

“Shall we camp out to-night as usual?” said Dick after they had ridden a little way.

“I’m beginning to think not,” said Wyatt; “the chief isn’t poor, that’s certain, and the place yonder looks big. I expect we shall have a palace apiece, and be left to toss up who is to entertain the doctor. Really, though, I expect we shall find some kind of barracks and stables set apart for us.”

A couple of hours later the procession was crossing the river by a well-built bridge, held by a strong force of sturdy-looking men in white, armed with crooked, heavy knives and shields; while the road leading to the principal gate was lined with the Rajah’s troops—swarthy, active-looking men, but with weapons of the most antique kind, principally long-barrelled matchlocks.

“But they look as if they’ve got some fight in them,” said Wyatt.

“Yes,” said Dick; “those little dark fellows seem as active as cats.”

“And they are,” said Wyatt. “Hillmen, that’s what they happen to be. I say, though, the Rajah has plenty of subjects.”

For the narrow, bazaar-like streets and the housetops were crowded with people, who seemed to devour the new-comers with their eyes, till suddenly, in a long street kept by troops, one side of which was formed by a building with a carved gateway, the procession halted, the elephant knelt, and Captain Hulton rose.

“Pass the word along for the captain’s charger,” said Wyatt sharply, and the next minute one of the gunners hurried forward with the led horse in time for his chief.

The captain rode up to his brother-officers.

“That building is our barracks,” he said, “and the place is ready for occupation, so we will move in at once. Set sentries at the gates, Wyatt. By the way, the Rajah tells me that a meal is ready for the men, and he asks our company at the palace to join him.”

“We can’t all go,” said Wyatt quietly.

“No, so I have excused you. Darrell, you will come.”

The captain moved away.

“I’d rather stay and help you, Wyatt,” said Dick.

“I believe you, dear boy; but you must go. We shall soon settle down. The sergeants and corporals work well, and when you come back the place will seem as if we had been in possession a month.”