One young officer, whose stalwart frame and slight accent betokened his Northern origin, took a more hopeful view of the subject. This was Lieutenant William Alexander Kerr, of the South Mahratta Horse, an officer who had already secured the confidence and respect of the wild troopers under his command. He expressed his conviction that, however treacherous the other native troops might prove, he could always count on the loyalty of the South Mahratta Horse, and if any emergency should occur it would be seen that their courage was equal to their loyalty. The words had scarcely passed his lips, when an orderly entered the room and delivered a slip of paper to the officer in command. The door was carefully closed to prevent the servants from hearing, for at that trying period almost every native was suspected to be a rebel in disguise. The paper was then read aloud. It proved to be a telegraphic message from Kolapore, a town about seventy-five miles distant from Sattara. Its contents were such as might well appal the bravest heart. The 27th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry had suddenly mutinied and murdered all the officers on whom they could lay their hands. Those who escaped had taken shelter in the Residency, where they were guarded by a troop of the South Mahratta Horse and the Kolapore Light Infantry. The mutineers, from carelessness or ignorance, had neglected to cut the telegraph wires, and the beleaguered party had thus been enabled to communicate with their countrymen at Sattara, to whom they made an urgent appeal for assistance. Almost destitute of provisions, and surrounded by a merciless foe thirsting for their blood, they could not hold out long, and if they yielded their fate was certain. In this the hour of their need they turned to their countrymen for assistance. A momentary silence ensued. It was not that they were unwilling to incur any risk in order to aid those whose case was so desperate; the only question was whether they could trust their men in such an undertaking. Kerr was not the man to unsay the words he had just spoken. He had expressed the confidence he reposed in the loyalty and courage of his men; he was now prepared to prove that that confidence was not misplaced.