For Name and Fame; Or, Through Afghan PassesHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
General
For Name and Fame; Or, Through Afghan Passes
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Afghan Wars -- Juvenile fiction
"I don't belong to you now, sir, but," Will said, earnestly, "I
shall always feel, whatever regiment I may be with, that the
Norfolk Rangers are my corps. It is the kindness which was shown
me, here, which has put me in the way of rising; and I shall never
forget it."
It was now time to dress for dinner; and Will, for the first time,
arrayed himself in full-dress uniform. The buttons and facings he
would, of course, get altered when he joined the regiment.
The general received Gale with great kindness. He had a large party
to dinner. Among them was Captain Edwards; and after the table was
cleared the latter--at the general's request--gave a full account
of the attack upon the convoy; and Will was then called upon to
relate the part which he had taken in it, which he did very
modestly and quietly.
For two days longer he stopped at Jellalabad; and then, with a
hearty farewell to the officers of the Rangers, he started down the
pass. He again journeyed with a convoy for, although the tribes
below Jellalabad were cowed into submission, many attacks were
made, by the mountaineers, upon small parties going up or down the
passes; and stringent orders had been issued that no officer should
go down, except when accompanied by an escort.
After a week's traveling Will arrived, with Yossouf, at Peshawur.
Then he rode, by easy stages, until he reached the Indus where,
taking his place on a steamer, he traveled down the river to
Sukkur; where he disembarked, and started for the weary march,
across the desert, to the foot of the Bolan.
Along the road large numbers of coolies were at work, constructing
a line of railway, which was now almost complete to the foot of the
pass. It did not ascend this but, turning to the right, wound up
the hills to the plateau. It was intended to be taken on to
Candahar, and its completion would have been an immense boon, both
to that city and to India; as it would have opened a great trade to
the north, and have enabled the inhabitants of the fertile plain,
around Candahar, to send their corn, fruit, and other products down
to India. Unhappily, with the subsequent abandonment of Candahar
the formation of the railway was stopped; and the whole allowed to
go to ruin. The work has, however, been recently taken in hand
again.
Will and his follower ascended the Bolan; stopped a day or two at
Quettah, to rest their horses; and then proceeded on through the
fertile plains of Pisheen, and over the Kojak Pass, and thence on
to Candahar. Here Will joined his new regiment, and was well
received by its officers.
In every regiment in the service, an officer risen from the ranks
is invariably received with special courtesy, and kindness. Every
endeavor is made to place him at his ease, in his new position.
This is specially so when--as in Will's case--the promotion has
been earned by distinguished services in the field.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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