There was a steeplechase pony named Free Lance that he rode to victory many times. The owner of Free Lance appeared as Mr. Darwood, a gentleman of Rangoon, of mixed nationality; but I am inclined to think that Free Lance was in reality the property of King Theebaw, for the General told me that at one time he had half shares with King Theebaw in a racing pony, which he rode, and there is no other period to which this incident could be attached. I have now in my possession a gold scarf-pin that King Theebaw sent as a recognition of Gatacre's services in the matter of this pony. Although this secret was kept so close that none of the regimental officers got wind of it, it is not considered improbable.[4] It was well known that Gatacre had friends amongst the leading men of Rangoon, and it is entirely in accordance with his character that he should have been personally acquainted with his native neighbours. Indeed it is not altogether impossible that he was engaged in some sort of secret intelligence duties for Government, for he told me that at one time he used to disguise himself and go and talk in the Native Bazaar, and it is certain that he acquired the Burmese language, and could even write it to some extent. [4] As King Theebaw was at that time an independent friendly sovereign, there is nothing contrary to any regulations in Gatacre's association with him in this matter. [Sidenote: Iolanthe] In the summer of 1882 the regimental officers and others in the station got up a performance of _Patience_, in which Gatacre {51} figured as one of the Dragoon Chorus. In the following year _Iolanthe_ was produced. Gatacre was anxious that the audience should include persons of all nationalities; and in order that those who could not understand the English words should have some key to the action, he made a précis of the play, and, having written it in Hindustani characters, had it lithographed, and distributed with the programmes. A copy of this curious document, which covers three sides of foolscap, and is signed in full, is still to be seen in the scrap-book of the officer who joined the 77th Regiment for love of his tutor at Sandhurst. At the end of September Gatacre heard of the birth of his third son, John Kirwan, now in the 11th Bengal Lancers. In December 1883 the regiment left Rangoon for Secunderabad. {52} CHAPTER IV 1884-1885 SECUNDERABAD [Sidenote: 1884] I have read in a recent biography of Alexander Hamilton that "the power of his intellect was hardly suspected under the ambush of his extraordinary charm."[1] This was equally true of Gatacre. Moreover, the high standard of his physical endowments was in itself a mask to his mental abilities; in reality, his physical force was but the evidence and the result of his intellectual energy. [1] Alexander Hamilton, by F. S. Oliver, p. 149. [Sidenote: Camp of exercise]