Through Three Campaigns: A Story of Chitral, Tirah and Ashanti

by G. A. Henty

"You would be a fool, if you were," Hallett said. "Thanks to your luck in getting a commission at sixteen, and to the loss of so many officers in the Tirah, you are now a captain at twenty-one, certainly the youngest captain in the service. Of course, if there is no war, you can't expect to continue going up at that pace; but you certainly ought to be a major at thirty, if not before. You may command a regiment within five or six years later, and be a brigadier soon after that, for you will have that by seniority. Of course, if you marry you will have to consider your wife's wishes; but she is not likely to object to your staying on, if you get to be a major, for a major's wife is by no means an unimportant item in a regiment."

"Ah! Well, we needn't think about that," Lisle laughed, "especially as, if there is war with Russia before we come home, a good many of us will certainly stay out permanently. Well, old man, I do congratulate you, most heartily."

Miss Merton, after some demur, agreed that it would be just possible for her to be ready at the end of a month. Three days later the two friends went up to town and, after undergoing a medical examination, were told that they must rejoin their regiments in a couple of months. As both regiments were in India, they decided to return in the same ship.

"I am not sorry that we are off," Lisle said, when they met on the deck of the P. and O. steamer. "I was getting desperately tired of doing nothing and, after you had gone off with your wife, on the afternoon of the marriage, I began to feel desperately lonely. Of course, I have always been accustomed to have a lot of friends round me; and I began to feel a longing to be with the regiment again and, if we had not agreed to go out together, I think I should have taken the next steamer."

Six weeks later Lisle rejoined his regiment, where he was heartily welcomed.

"Now you are a brevet major, Mr. Bullen, I am afraid that you will cease to be useful to us all; for of course we cannot be sending an officer of that exalted rank about to do our messages. However, several nice boys have joined, while you have been away."

"I shall always be happy to be employed," Lisle laughed, "and I dare say I am no older than many of the subalterns."

"I suppose you have had hard times?"

"Very hard. I thought that the Tirah business was about as hard as one would have to go through, in the course of one's soldiering; but I was greatly deceived. When I say that for six months I hardly ever had dry clothes on, and that I waded something like a hundred rivers, you may guess what it was like.

"And we had our full share of fighting, too. I was very fortunate in only getting hit three or four times, with slugs; but as we were for the most part fighting against men hidden in the bush, it was unsatisfactory work, though we always did lick them in the end. I can assure you that I do not wish for any more service of that kind.