The question was a perplexing one, and after dismissing Rukn-ud-din, Gerrard considered it carefully. He decided at last to write to James Antony that it had come to his knowledge that the Rani was residing in the Habshiabad state, and that he could if necessary convey to her the documents awaiting her signature, though she refused to admit him to her presence. Having thus transferred the burden of responsibility to other and eminently capable shoulders, he turned with an easier conscience to take advantage of the help offered him in his task. On the very day after the review, Sadiq Ali's regiments, some swollen to unwieldy size, others depleted to mere skeletons, were thoroughly overhauled, and the ten smartest men picked out of each hundred. These were turned over to Rukn-ud-din's Mohammedans to be drilled, and after a preliminary course set to drill their fellows. The higher education of the picked men proceeded side by side with the elementary training of the rank and file, while Gerrard's Granthis and the Rani's Rajputs, debarred from serving as instructors, proved most useful in representing alternately hostile armies and better disciplined allies, when something resembling manoeuvres was attempted. The work was hard and incessant, especially as the hot weather was now running its course, but Gerrard welcomed it as tending to divert his mind from the unsatisfactory state of his personal affairs. The Nawab was overjoyed to see his army really being licked into shape, and took to attending the training in disguise--invariably discovering himself by frantic abuse and promises of horrible punishment when anything went wrong. Even General Desdichado, still officially confined to his bed and unable to receive even a visit of condolence, mounted a telescope on his roof, so it was whispered to Gerrard, and watched the proceedings with breathless interest. This war-fever could hardly last, and Gerrard wondered when it would begin to die down. The expected outbreak at Agpur had not occurred, and in a short time Cowper's leave would be up and another man would take his place as commander of the escort. Both James Antony's political forebodings and the Rani's prophecies were proving unfounded. Now came a messenger with a letter from Charteris, written in that extreme south-western corner of his dominions where Darwan and Habshiabad faced one another across the Tindar.