CHAPTER XIX
Ted’s Friends are Bewildered
The 4th Sikhs had left Aurungpore for Delhi, and the fort was garrisoned by a corps of the newly-recruited Punjab Irregulars, of whom Major Munro was in command, with Leigh as his second in command. Colonel Woodburn was now able to hobble about, helped by a stick and his daughter’s arm. Sir Arthur Fletcher had resumed the administration of justice, the shops were open once more, and the town had settled down almost to its normal state.
One day late in June Ethel and her father were seated in the officers’ quarters of the fort, whither the colonel was wont to resort daily to talk over the latest rumours and reports. Munro and Leigh were lamenting their fate, tied down to police and depot duty, when they wanted to be up and doing before Delhi.
“I am sending a draft to Delhi to-morrow,” said the major, “and there’s a new batch of recruits due to-day—raw peasants, who must be polished up.”
“It is rough on us being shut up here,” said Leigh, “drilling and training the raw material, and as soon as they are soldiers, comes an order from John Lawrence saying, ‘How many can you send to Delhi?’ Still, if we were not here, there’d soon be a rumpus again.”
“How many do you send off to-morrow?” the colonel asked.
“A hundred; all Sikhs, and fine men too. They go to Lahore first to be inspected by Sir John, and then they join other detachments going to Delhi.—— Well, what is it?”
An orderly had entered.
“The draft has arrived, sahib.”