He turned the whole of his power on to the work in hand; even when partly disabled, he would not allow himself to be cheated of the pleasure and opportunity that his work afforded. Of course the opportunity that his soul yearned for was active service; he was daily discovering his own value, and longed to prove himself in the fierce furnace of war. The year 1884 opened with the nearest approach to these conditions that can be contrived without an enemy. A camp of exercise on a very large scale was held near Bangalore, {53} at which 10,000 troops were assembled. Sir Charles Keyes commanded the First Division, in which the 77th were included, and General H. Prendergast had command of the Second Division, with Colonel W. F. Gatacre as Assistant-Quarter-Master-General. In spite of the misfortune recorded in Gatacre's own letter given below, he more than satisfied his General, who writes on June 11, 1909: "I found him a remarkably clever, zealous, and efficient officer. During the operations his horse fell, and injured his ankle so that he could neither ride nor walk, but that did not prevent him from thinking out and arranging all our plans; though disabled and in great pain, he would write till two in the morning, and all went well with the Division, which he accompanied carried on a stretcher, owing to his devotion." Below is Gatacre's own account of it all: HEADQUARTERS 2ND DIVISION, CAMP KRISTNARAJAHPUR, _January_ 27, 1884. "MY DEAR FATHER, "I send you a short letter by this mail, but will write at length by next one, and tell you all about the manoeuvres. They are over now and have been most successful. I have enjoyed them thoroughly, though I have been most unfortunate. I told you one of my horses or charger ponies died of anthrax a few days before leaving Burma (I had just sold the brute for 600 rupees); and the other charger, which I had had for two years, and who {54} was a first-rate animal, died of colic the day after I arrived here. Fortunately for me a friend of mine was kicked off his horse a few days after coming here, and hurt a good deal, so he asked me to ride him, which I have done all through the fortnight's work. Though a very fine horse, he, like many walers, was very nervous and shy, and the last day of the manoeuvring he got nervous in jumping a nullah, and instead of jumping it he jumped into it, and rolled over me, giving me a regular flattening out; he has damaged my ankle and both my knees slightly, and I think it will be at least a month before I can do anything at all, though I am perfectly well in every way. The doctor says that the small bones of the foot are crushed, but that in a month I shall be all right. It was very annoying, just at the finish, wasn't it? Sir Frederick Roberts came to see me, and said he was very sorry about it; so did General Hardinge, the C.-in-C. in Bombay; he came and had a long talk in my tent, and told me all about John and his regiment.