Then he turned to the Sikhs.
"Soldiers," he said, "I cannot praise you too heartily for having volunteered, at the end of a long and exhausting march, to undertake another still longer and more fatiguing, in order to bring in a wounded comrade. It is an act of which you may be proud; but not altogether a surprising one, for we know well that we can depend upon the Sikhs, on all and every occasion."
Lisle had been carried into the fort. His feet were so tender and swollen that he could not possibly walk farther, and he was consequently taken down by the carriers, during the last two days' march. Hallett sauntered up, as soon as he was put into a hospital hut.
"Hillo, Bullen, so you have broken down! A nice example to set to your Hausas, isn't it?"
"I suppose it is," Lisle laughed; "but the Hausas did not march as far as I did."
"No? What were you doing? Scouting half a mile ahead of them, on your own account?"
"Not exactly; I only went the width of a river, and yet, the result of that was that I had to do an extra march of some twenty miles."
"Now you are speaking in riddles, Lisle; and if there is one thing I hate, it is riddles. When a fellow begins to talk in that way, I always change the subject. Why a man should try to puzzle his brain, with such rigmarole things, is more than I can imagine."
"Well, Hallett, I really feel too tired to tell you about the matter. I can assure you that it is no joke, being carried down fifteen miles on a stretcher; so please go and ask somebody else, that's a good fellow."
In a quarter of an hour Hallett returned again, put his eyeglass in his eye, and stood for a couple of minutes without speaking, regarding Lisle furtively.