"I think that I can be answerable for Mr. Coldstream's returning within three hours," persisted Walter.
"And I hope that you will return with him," cried one of the officers present.
"Yes, I am anxious to avail myself of this opportunity of returning to India," replied Walter. "Not that I have any intention of deserting my Afghan friends; but I wish to prepare myself by study for ordination, that I may be qualified to act as their pastor."
"Oh, you'll think better than that!" cried the ensign, shrugging his shoulders and turning on his heel.
"Once out of the trap, you'll hardly walk back into it with your eyes open," said the commissariat-officer with a smile, as Walter, accompanied by the Chaplain, started for the fort.
CHAPTER XVII.
A RICH REWARD.
Walter, with the eagerness of one who has succeeded in an object on which his heart has been set, was impatient to reach the Eagle's Nest; but he had to slacken his pace to suit a companion not accustomed, like himself, to ascend mountains with almost the agility of the chamois. The way was often too narrow to admit of the two men walking abreast; but, in other parts, its comparative breadth permitted conversation between them. Mr. Coldstream heard, with great interest, particulars of the fate of poor Dermot Denis.
"I never saw a man with a finer physique," he observed; and then, glancing at the noble form and fine face of his guide, he mentally added "but one."
For the slender, delicate-looking youth had developed into a powerful man, with mustachio on lip, and beard on chin,—one so altered and improved in appearance that those who had known him seven years before would scarcely have recognised him. The turban which Walter wore surmounted features regular and aristocratic, to which the singularly animated and intelligent hazel eyes gave character and expression.