Begumbagh: A Tale of the Indian Mutiny — John Shaqi
Begumbagh: A Tale of the Indian MutinyFenn, George Manville
History
Begumbagh: A Tale of the Indian Mutiny
Fenn, George Manville
British -- India -- Fiction; India -- History -- Fiction; India -- History -- Sepoy Rebellion, 1857-1858 -- Fiction
Well, as a matter of course, there were other people in our regiment
that I ought to mention: Captain Dyer I did name; but there was a
lieutenant, a very good-looking young fellow, who was a great favourite
with Mrs Colonel Maine; and he dined a deal with them at all times,
besides being a great chum of Captain Dyer's--they two shooting
together, and being like brothers, though there was a something in
Lieutenant Leigh that I never seemed to take to. Then there was the
doctor--a Welshman he was, and he used to make it his boast that our
regiment was about the healthiest anywhere; and I tell you what it is,
if you were ill once, and in hospital, as we call it--though, you know,
with a marching regiment that only means anywhere till you get well--I
say, if you were ill once, and under his hands, you'd think twice before
you made up your mind to be ill again, and be very bad too before you
went to him. Pestle, we used to call him, though his name was Hughes;
and how we men did hate him, mortally, till we found out his real
character, when we were lying cut to pieces almost, and him ready to cry
over us at times as he tried to bring us round. "Hold up, my lads,"
he'd say, "only another hour, and you'll be round the corner!" when what
there was left of us did him justice. Then, of course, there were other
officers, and some away with the major and another battalion of our
regiment at Wallahbad; but they've nothing to do with my story.
I do not think I can do better than introduce you to our mess on the
very morning of this halt, when, after cooling myself with a pipe, just
the same as I should have warmed myself with a pipe if it had been in
Canady or Nova Scotia, I walked up to find all ready for breakfast, and
Mrs Bantem making the tea.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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