There were not many English residents at Begumbagh, but what there were came into quarters directly; and the very next morning we learned plainly enough that there was danger threatening our place by the behaviour of the natives, who packed up their few things and filed out of the town as fast as they could, so that at noonday the market-place was deserted, and, save the few we had in quarters, there was not a black face to be seen. The next morning came without news; and I was orderly, and standing waiting in the outer court close behind the colonel, who was holding a sort of council of war with the officers, when a sentry up in the broiling sun, on the roof, calls out that a horseman was coming; and before very long, covered with sweat and dust, an orderly dragoon dashes up, his horse all panting and blown; and then coming jingling and clanking in with those spurs and that sabre of his, he hands despatches to the colonel. I hope I may be forgiven for what I thought then; for, as I watched his ruddy face, while he read those despatches, and saw it turn all of a sickly, greeny white, I gave him the credit of being a coward; and I was not the only one who did so. We all knew that, like us, he had never seen a shot fired in anger; and something like an angry feeling of vexation came over me, I know, as I thought of what a fellow he would be to handle and risk the lives of the four hundred men under his charge there at Begumbagh. "D'yer think I'd look like that?" says a voice close to my ear just then. "D'yer think if I'd been made an officer, I'd ha' showed the white feather like that?"--And turning round sharp, I saw it was Measles, who was standing sentry by the gateway; and he was so disgusted, that he spat about in all directions, for he was a man who didn't smoke, like any other Christian, but chewed his tobacco like a sailor. "Dyer," says the colonel, the next moment, and they closed up together, but close to where we two stood--"Dyer," he says, "I never felt before that it would be hard to do my duty as a soldier; but, God help me, I shall have to leave Annie and the children." There were a couple of tears rolling down the poor fellow's cheeks as he spoke, and he took Captain Dyer's hand. "Look at him! Cuss him!" whispers Measles again; and I kicked out sharp behind, and hit him in the shin. "He's a pretty sort of a--" He didn't say any more just then, for, like me, he was staggered by the change that took place.