"Well, you can ride, you can talk Punjaubi fairly, and you know something of Hindustani. That is a capital beginning, Percy. Have you any other accomplishments?"
"Nothing that I know of," Percy laughed, "except that on the way out I practised pistol-shooting; and before we got to Calcutta there were not many on board who shot much better. Mr. Fullarton made me practise from the first, and told me that to shoot straight was one of the most valuable accomplishments I could have in India."
"He was perfectly right," the colonel said heartily. "A quick eye and hand with the pistol are invaluable, especially in a country like this, where assassination is the most ordinary way of getting rid of an enemy. My pistol has saved my life several times, and the fact that I am a dead shot has no doubt saved me from many other such attempts. Even the most desperate men hesitate at undertaking a job which involves certain death; for even if they planted a dagger between my shoulders before I had time to lay hands on the butt of a pistol, they would be lulled to a certainty by my men. You must keep that up, lad, till you can hit an egg swinging at the end of a string nine times out of ten at twelve paces. It is very seldom that you want to use a pistol at a longer range than that. Now, am I at all like what you expected me to be?"
"I don't think I had formed any distinct idea about you, uncle. Father said you were taller than he was and bigger, and of course I expected you to be very sunburnt and brown, and that perhaps you would have a beard, as most of the Sikhs have beards; I thought too, that perhaps you would dress to some extent like a native; but I did not expect to see you altogether like a Sikh."
"We all adopted the native costume to a great extent," the colonel said. "Of course there was always a prejudice against us, and anything like a European dress would have constantly kept it before the minds of our men that we were foreigners. The dress, too, was lighter and more easy than our own in a climate like this, and I don't think anyone could deny for a moment that it is a good deal more picturesque."
The colonel was indeed in the complete garb of a Sikh warrior of rank. On his head he wore a close-fitting steel cap, beautifully inlaid with gold. A slender shaft rose three inches above the top, and in this was inserted a plume of white horsehair, that fell down over the helmet. From the lower edge of the steel cap fell a curtain of light steel links, covering the forehead down to the eyebrows, and then falling so as to shield the cheeks and the neck behind. In front was a steel bar, inlaid like the helmet. This was now pushed up, but when required it could be lowered down over the nose almost to the chin, so as to afford protection against a sword-stroke from the side. A robe of thickly-quilted silk fell from the neck to the knees. Round the body were four pieces of armour, of work similar to the helmet. One of these formed a back, and the other the front piece, two smaller plates cut out under the arm connected these together.
Across the back was slung a shield of about eighteen inches in diameter, also of steel inlaid with gold. In action it was held in the left hand, and not upon the arm like those in use in Europe in the middle ages. The arms themselves were protected by steel pieces from the elbow to the wrist, the hands being covered by fine but strong link-mail, kept in place by straps across the palm of the hand. The legs were covered by long tightly-fitting white trousers reaching to the feet. The sash of purple with gold embroidery bristled with pistols and daggers. All the armour, although strong and capable of resisting a sword-cut or a spear-thrust, was very light, the steel being of the finest temper and quality. The costume was an exceedingly picturesque one, and showed off the colonel's powerful figure to advantage.
The officers were very similarly attired. The soldiers were for the most part dressed in chain-armour, with shields larger than those of the officers, but of leather with metal bosses; some wore turbans, others steel caps.
"What do you think of my men, Percy?" the colonel asked, as he reined in his horse and watched the horsemen trot past four abreast.
"They are fine-looking men," Percy said doubtfully, "but they would look a great deal better if they were all dressed alike."