“I arrived at the Queen’s Redoubt, and was immediately sent for by General Cameron. I found him surrounded by his staff, but the moment he saw me he advanced and shook me warmly by the hand. ‘Sergeant,’ he said, ‘you have done well.’ ‘And I am amply rewarded by this honour,’ was my immediate answer; ‘not to myself alone, sir, but to the brave fellows who were with me, is the credit due.’ ‘I know it,’ said the general; ‘there is not another corps in the colony could have done as the 65th.’ Nor was this all; in his despatch to Governor Grey, General Cameron expressed his admiration and approval of our dear old regiment in the most complimentary terms, and it was on his recommendation that I received my commission and the Victoria Cross. Corporal Ryan was also gazetted for the Victoria Cross, but never lived to wear it. His death was in keeping with his life; he was accidentally drowned near Tuakan while trying to save a drunken comrade. Three months after their gallant conduct, Privates Bulford, Talbot, Cole, and Thomas received the medal for distinguished conduct in the field, the first two for remaining with the body of Captain Swift, and the two latter for waiting on Lieutenant Butler and conveying him towards the Redoubt.” “In all this desperate affair did you ever think of your wife and children, McKenna?” “Not once, sir. She asked me the same question the first time we met, and seemed a little put out when I gave her the same answer, but she understood it all afterwards. In the excitement of an engagement a soldier can only think of immediate duty; when the danger is past he feels how grateful he ought to be to Him who has preserved his life for those who are dearer to him than life itself.” [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER XXV. SERGEANT-MAJOR LUCAS, OF THE 40TH REGIMENT, AND THE VICTORIA CROSS. We had the pleasure, a few weeks ago, of seeing Lieutenant-General Sir Duncan A. Cameron, K.C.B., the officer commanding the forces in New Zealand, attach with his own hands the Cross of Valour to McKenna’s breast, and declare, in the presence of his own regiment, that a more chivalrous soldier had never been invested with this symbol of his Sovereign’s favour. Sir Duncan, at the same time, expressed his regret that he who had shared in the danger could not share in the reward, but rejoiced to think that Corporal Ryan’s death was in keeping with his life, which he had lost in trying to save a comrade from drowning. Three cheers were given for Ensign McKenna, and none joined more heartily in those cheers than Sergeant-Major Lucas, of the 40th Regiment, who had received the same decoration from the hands of the general at the close of the Taranaki war in 1861.