From Mandalay he brought away a teak-wood drum that had belonged to King Theebaw. It is cut out of a solid trunk, and stands about three feet from the ground, weighs about a ton, and is covered with the most exquisite carving. He took special pleasure in this piece of furniture, and in a beautiful silver plate from the Shan States. In November 1890 Gatacre relinquished his substantive post at Headquarters, on his appointment as Adjutant-General to the Bombay Army, with the temporary and local rank of Brigadier-General. {98} CHAPTER VII 1890-1894 POONA Brigadier-General Gatacre took over the duties of Adjutant-General to the Bombay Army on November 25, 1890, under Sir George Greaves as Commander-in-Chief. His deputy in the office was surprised to find that Gatacre was not so regular in his attendance as might have been expected, and noticed other signs that suggested that he was unhappy and had something on his mind. His colleague was quite right. Gatacre was indeed passing through a severe and prolonged trial, one about which he could take no one into his confidence. To his highly strung nature, in which the loftiest integrity was allied to the tenderest human feelings, a blow such as had fallen upon him must have wrung every fibre, and there is no doubt that he writhed under it. [Sidenote: In adversity] It was about this time that the General was bitten in the hand by a jackal that was said to be mad. His nerves being already unduly strained, the poison (or the thought of it) got such a hold on him that the howling of the {99} jackals kept him awake at night, and a terror even possessed him of their coming in through the open windows. So real was this obsession that he ordered iron railings to be fixed outside, and by thus convincing himself of the impossibility of such a thing, he gradually conquered the fantasies of his sick brain, triumphed over his sleeplessness, and reaped the benefit to his general health. What was really preying on his mind was not generally known till his friends read of the dissolution of his marriage. Gatacre was the petitioner, and there was no defence. This news gave rise to a strong feeling of sympathy with a man whose probity was unquestioned, and whose attractive appearance and genial manners had already made him a favourite in Poona. There was in Gatacre a depth of faithful affection which nothing could kill; the generosity and kindliness of his judgment forbad his harbouring any thought of blame, and he clung with unaltered loyalty to memories of the past. Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. It is from this time that we find him working with an _acharnement_, with a restless and passionate self-obliteration that became an unconquerable habit. Ambition stepped in to revive his interest in his profession, and the service of his neighbour provided occupation for his leisure hours. {100} [Sidenote: 1890-4]