It seemed at first as if it were empty; at least, no one was to be seen. Then Jack perceived that a man was lying in bed, and a uniform and sword were on a chair beside it. He gazed at the red hair, snub-nose, and pale face of the man in bed, and in a way it seemed familiar. Will’s voice was then heard from the window.
‘Here’s the fellow I saw, he’s dropped out of the window;’ and, running over, they saw a man in a green uniform, embroidered with coarse orange-coloured cord, running across the yard in front of the house as fast as his legs would carry him.
‘Shall I fire at him?’ said Pearson, who had brought up his pistol.
‘No,’ said the sergeant; ‘let the miserable toad go, he’ll probably be captured by some of our fellows.’
They all turned to the bed, and saw the occupant thereof had reached his sword and drawn it, as if he feared some violence from the British soldiers.
‘You poor, deluded Russian monkey,’ said Linham in grandiloquent tones, ‘don’t you understand the laws of civilised warfare better than to think we should hurt a wounded man, for I judge by your face you are wounded? You must be an ignorant beast not to know us English better—ha, hum!’
The Russian seemed to construe these words into a sort of threat, for he made a point with his sword, of which the sergeant, disapproving of such conduct, promptly deprived him. In so doing he saw the man’s shoulder and chest were bound in a bandage, confirming his suspicion that he was wounded.
Jack, who had been looking at the uniform on the chair, suddenly exclaimed, ‘It’s the very dress worn by those fellows who were escorting the convoy we took just after we landed.’
‘That’s it,’ cried Pearson; ‘I thought I knew that squab face. Why, this is the chap who tried to blow your brains out, and whom I ran through.’
The Lancers and the Russian stared at one another, and it was clear the recognition was mutual. The wounded Cossack captain, for that was his rank, scowled most evilly at the four soldiers, and there was fear, too, in his eyes, for he clearly expected to be either dragged off a prisoner or killed on the spot.