"Have the tribes been quiet since I went away?"
"Quiet, as far as we were concerned. Of course, there have been a few trifling risings along the frontier but, as a whole, even the Zakka-Khels have been quiet. I don't think there will be any trouble, on a large scale, for some time to come."
"Then there is a prospect of a quiet time; that is to say, if the Russians will keep quiet."
"That is a very strong 'if,' Major Bullen; but I think that, if there is trouble, it will be in China."
"In that case, no doubt a good many regiments will be sent from here. I hope that it will be our good fortune to be among them."
"Well, in that case," the colonel said, with a laugh, "you will have to restrain your ardour, and give a chance to other men. You have got the V.C. and the D.S.O., which ought to satisfy you; to say nothing of having got your company, and brevet majority, at the age of twenty-one. You must be content with that, otherwise the regiment will rise against you."
"That would be very unpleasant," Lisle said, with a laugh. "I will try to suppress my zeal. I can assure you that I am perfectly conscious of the incongruity of being in such a position, at my age."
At present Lisle is with his regiment, and the prospect of a war with Russia is no nearer than it was.