"You see, sir, I am very young, and much younger than any of the staff; and I am sure that I should feel very much out of place."
"I agree with you," the general said, with a smile. "I think that you are wise to prefer regimental duty. I have written home, giving my account of your gallant action; telling how you were not, as reported, killed; and recommending you, in the strongest possible terms, for the V.C."
"I am greatly indebted to you, sir. I do not feel that I have done anything at all out of the way, and acted only on the impulse of the moment."
"You could not have done better, had you thought of it for an hour," the general said; "but as I also reported your defence of that hut, I have little doubt that you will get the well-earned V.C."
There was great satisfaction among the officers and the regiment, when Lisle told them of his interview with the general.
It was soon evident, from the sale of the transport animals, that the war was over; and the regiment shortly afterwards returned to their old quarters, at Rawal Pindi, and fell into the old routine of drill.
In the middle of the following summer Lisle, while fielding at cricket in a match with another regiment, suddenly staggered and fell. The surgeon, running up from the pavilion, pronounced it as a case of sunstroke. It was some time before he was conscious again.
"What has happened?" he asked.
"You have had a bad sunstroke," the surgeon said, "and I am going to send you home, as soon as you are able to travel. I shall apply for at least a year's leave for you, and I hope that, by the end of that time, you will be perfectly fit for work again; but certainly a period of rest, and the return to a temperate climate, is absolutely necessary for you."
Long before this, a despatch had been received from England bestowing the Victoria Cross upon Lisle. General Lockhart himself came down from Peshawar and fixed it to his breast, in presence of the whole regiment, drawn up in parade order. The outburst of cheering from the men told unmistakably how popular he was with them, and how they approved of the honour bestowed upon him.