Discipline became slack, the men grew beards and moustaches, dress regulations were relaxed, and wonder of wonders, the men were actually allowed to leave off their stocks! The 11th Hussars, fresh from England, arrived to take up their quarters at Devna, and a very handsome show they made in their crimson overalls and richly laced pelisses; for those were the days before false economy had been introduced into the army and the soldier’s dress shorn of its chief attractions. In the camp the distant boom of big guns besieging Silistria could be heard, and for three days a more heavy cannonade than usual was maintained. On the fourth day it absolutely ceased, and it was feared the gallant garrison who had made such a heroic defence had been overcome; but later the news was spread that the siege had been raised, and that the Russians were in full retreat, although the gallant young English officer who had been the heart and soul of the defence had met a soldier’s death in the trenches. After their defeat the Russians had retreated so precipitately that their route could not be ascertained, and orders were received from Lord Raglan that Lord Cardigan should at once pursue them. The news reached Devna at two in the morning, and reveille was at once sounded. ‘Now, boys,’ said Sergeant Linham to Jack and Will, as he passed them, ‘we’ve got work before us, so sharpen your swords and be ready to parade at four A.M.’ ‘Come on,’ said Jack to Will, ‘get your carving-knife, and I’ll turn the handle while you sharpen.’ Full of glee at the prospect of a change from dismal Devna, and at a chance of at last coming face to face with a real enemy, the trumpeters went off. Jack’s regiment, with the 8th and 11th Hussars, started that morning at four; they carried no tents and bivouacked on the bare ground. For seventeen days and nights they scoured the banks of the Danube toward Rustchuk and Silistria; but beyond putting to flight several bands of Bashi-Bazouks, who had been at their old game of pillaging and ravaging, no sign of an enemy did they see, and they returned to Devna quite disabled for service owing to the number of sore backs among the horses. After the death of Napper, Jack had succeeded in getting back Dainty, and owing to his excessive care she was in tolerably good condition on his return. The ravages of cholera continued, and soon after the return of the reconnoitring party the ‘Death or Glory Boys’ could barely muster on parade two hundred lances out of the three hundred and sixty one who had left England three months before.