“Oh, that’s all right, sir! Loaded up.”
“Has he had the run of it?”
“Not he, sir. He wanted to, but I only let him get some under-toggery, shirts and such. I couldn’t refuse him that!”
“Did he go alone?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Quite?”
“Well, not quite, sir, because I was with him.”
“Hah!” sighed Ingleborough, in a tone full of relief.
“I’ve stuck to him, by the General’s orders, ever since. Like a leech, sir,” said the sergeant, in conclusion—“like a leech.”
The cavalry General welcomed the young men warmly, and, as it happened, the same four officers were with him, ready to join in the greeting.