On comes the foe—to arms, to aims,
We meet—'tis to death or glory;
'Tis victory in all her charms,
Or fame in Britain's story.—W. Smyth.
Three more years passed away: it had been a trying time, for a native tribe near a neighbouring jungle gave Hubert's regiment continual trouble; and now orders were received at the barracks to prepare for a battle, for large numbers of Hindoos were coming down from the hills, and several British regiments were on the march to assist the station that was menaced.
Hubert received the order, and gave it out again to his company, and then, without another word went to his rooms. It was not his usual way: he generally said something in praise of British bravery, and tried to inspire his men to action; but this time he was silent, and the soldiers did not let it pass without remark.
Never before had the order for battle been less welcome, and he was unable to account for the strange depression of his spirits; he joined none of his companions, but sat the whole evening by himself, and retired to rest much earlier than usual. His sleep, however, was disturbed, and once, in the still hour of night, he said aloud, "What ails me, that I cannot sleep? I am not ill: I wonder if anything is to happen to me—surely not; after nearly twenty-two years' service, I am to have better luck than be knocked off now; it is a pretty safe thing, they say, if one gets over the twentieth year. I shall see Old England yet." No more sleep, however, came to him; he thought of his home, his parents, and all to whom he had been dear, and he sighed deeply as he wished he had loved them better.
The morning sun had scarcely risen before the bugle sounded, and in a very short time the regiment was on the march, for they had six miles to go, and the heat would be against them later in the day.
On the previous evening, Hubert had passed some of the dull hours in looking over the little relics he had collected during his residence in India, and in filling up the box he had brought with him from England, he took out the remains of his Bible; it was sadly destroyed; the covers, some of the Old, and the greater part of the New Testament, were what remained of it, and after hesitating for a few minutes what he should do with it, he thrust it into a pocket in the left side of the bosom of his coat. It was there still; he had forgotten to remove it when he rose hastily at the sound of the bugle, and as he marched with his regiment, he little thought of the blessing which that torn, despised treasure would yet be to him. It was a long, toilsome march, through thick jungle, and the soldiers sat down to rest when they got through it, and waited to be joined by other forces. They had come out against a considerable village, the residence of a great chief, but not so well fortified by architectural defences as by the hordes of its savage inhabitants. From the spot where the soldiers rested they could see the place they had come to attack, and as the day was passing without the other regiments appearing, a council was held, and beneath the shadow of the palm trees the soldiers received orders to remain quiet until new commands were issued.
The day at length was closing, and Hubert, with three brother officers, sat down beneath a tree together. At first they talked of the glory in fighting for their king and country, then other matters connected with military life followed; but as the time passed away, and the hours of night brought with them their fitful gloom, the conversation changed, and for the first time for many years Hubert talked of his home.
"It is a long time since I left England," he said; "many, many a year; and I have somehow neglected all my old friends there. I often wish I had acted differently, and thought a little more about them, and written to them sometimes; but it is no use regretting—not that I have much to regret, though, for letter-writing is a silly, dawdling business at best, and never was much in my way; but, however, should it so happen to-morrow that the chances run against me—you know what I mean—well, there's some one of the family left, perhaps, who will like to know the end of me; so let me ask a favour. Take this slip of paper, and if your luck is better than mine, just send a letter to that address, and tell them where your old comrade fell, and tell them he—nay, tell them what you like."
The three officers each took down Hubert's address, and promised to perform his wish; but they too had friends and relations in Britain's distant isle, and they each asked of Hubert a similar boon, should the fortune of the day be his, not theirs; then, with a friendly grasp of the hand, they exchanged promises; and to think, perhaps, more deeply of the past, or the morrow, they bade each other good-night and lay down in silence on the ground. Only for a few hours did anything like stillness hover over the beleaguered village; at early dawn the natives, having heard that the English were surrounding them, came out in great numbers, to drive away or attack their invaders. A terrible fight now commenced, wearing any form but that of a set battle, and it lasted the whole day; but at length the chief was slain, and the Hindoos, upon hearing it, fled in all directions, leaving the English masters of the village. There had been a sad slaughter of the natives, and more than two hundred of the English had fallen. Hubert's regiment had suffered considerably; but he and his three companions were spared, and they met again in the same place where they had passed the previous evening; neither wound nor mark of warfare was upon any of them; they were only fatigued, and, as they shook each other by the hand, they used some of their old familiar terms of friendship, and sat down again beneath the tree. There was no talk of home now, no thought of the gracious shield which had preserved them in the fight, no word of thanksgiving to Almighty God for their safety.
As night came on they proceeded to the captured village; but in the morning, as all the soldiers were not required to remain, Hubert's company, and one or two others, were ordered back to their respective barracks. Several of Hubert's company were missing; familiar faces were gone, and well-remembered voices were hushed; yet, with pride and high spirits, most of those that remained, after having helped to bury some of the dead, prepared to march as soon as the sun would permit. It was a beautiful evening when the soldiers started, but they had not gone very far before Hubert and some of the other officers fell a little behind the men, and sat down upon the short dry grass and weeds. Just as they were about to pursue their journey through the jungle, some beautiful birds attracted their attention, and they turned aside from the pathway in pursuit. This thoughtless act was attended with danger, for the evening was fast closing, and there was every probability that they would lose their way. At the suggestion of one, however, they turned back, and made all possible haste to overtake the soldiers. Night came on much more rapidly than they had expected, and before they had gone far in the jungle it grew very dark. They pushed on as rapidly as they could, but the path was unfamiliar to them, and they soon lost each other. Sometimes a rustling amongst the bushes made Hubert start, and once he thought he heard voices besides the scattered ones of his companions. Very soon, however, all was silent; they were all wandering different ways, and Hubert was alone. Once he thought of climbing into a tree, and staying there till daybreak, but he felt so confident that he could not have much further to go that he made another effort to reach the barracks. Suddenly a rustling in the bush startled him again, and laying his hand upon his sword he called out the watchword of his regiment. There was no answer, and thinking it perhaps some bird, he went on again, keeping up his courage by occasionally whistling. He had almost reached the edge of the jungle, for he had fortunately kept near the right path, when a wild shout fell upon his ear, a flash of light illumined all around him, and Hubert, stunned and wounded, fell to the ground.