Denzil started forward, but paused, for at the same instant Audley Trevelyan, who had been fraternally sharing some dhal (or split-peas) with his horse, and of whose interference he felt nervously jealous, sprang towards Mabel enquiringly. General Trecarrel stared at her with an air of utter bewilderment, as he had not seen Rose since the tent was pitched for the use of her and others on the troops halting, when she came as usual to be kissed by him before retiring, just as she had been wont to do, ever since childhood. Then he said hoarsely:
"Speak at once, Mabel—what has happened—speak?"
But Mabel could only clasp her hands. She thought Rose had been with him, and terror now tied her tongue; she dared not speak or question him, for "any suspense is better than some certainties;" and one fact was here certain and palpable; that Rose had left the tent unseen, and none knew why, wherefore or with whom!
When so many were perishing hourly by the most terrible deaths, we are shocked to admit that, such is the selfishness of human nature, the fate of one girl, even though a pure European, did not create much excitement for any length of time, save among those more immediately interested in it; and as the retreat was to recommence in an hour, there was not much time for the unrefreshed and starving troops investigating it. Moreover, the rear-guard of yesterday was to be the advanced one of to-day, as the army, if that disorganised multitude could so be called, was to move off in inverted order—the left in front.
Generosity, chivalry, and humanity, inspired Audley Trevelyan like many other officers to be up and doing something; they scarcely knew what. Denzil felt heart-wrung and stupefied, while Waller, in addition to his own emotions, was alarmed for the effect this calamitous event might have on Mabel; but General Trecarrel, together with the horror inspired by great anxiety and love, felt an ardour of intense hatred against the Afghans who had reft from him his youngest born; she, who from childhood had been his pet, and his stricken heart seemed full of unuttered prayers for her.
The entire camp was speedily searched; not a trace could be found of the lost one. She could neither have gone nor been taken to the front, as the snow lay there pure as it had fallen, untrodden and unsullied by footsteps. To the rear then only could she be looked for. Such was the hasty report made to the unhappy father by brigadier Shelton, Audley, and other officers who crowded about him.
The ladies were full of compassion and a terror that was not quite unselfish. What had happened? If she had vanished thus mysteriously, whose fate might be next? They trembled in the frosty morning wind as they gazed at each other; but Mabel's beautiful face, by the terrible and haggard misery of its expression, inspired them all with sympathy, and they grouped about her like a covey of frightened doves.
Like Denzil, she felt as if half her life—half herself, had suddenly passed away. A looker-on might have thought that the death-warrant of all had been written in an instant, for Denzil, Waller, Audley, Mabel, and poor General Trecarrel stared at each other in blank horror and amazement.
Death by the sword, the lance, and bullet; death by cold, starvation, fire, sack, slaughter, and every horror incident to such a retreat, had been, and were even now, close around them; but what unthought-of personal calamity was this? Breathlessly, and almost void of all power of volition, father and child gazed at each other. Their eyes seemed to say "Where is my daughter?" "Where is my sister?" But who was to explain this terrible mystery?
Nine ladies, we have said, had crowded together in that small tent, sleeping closely side by side for warmth; and the eight remaining admitted that they had slept soundly in the heavy slumber that comes of intense weariness and keen anxiety. Denzil, in his half-dreamy doze outside the tent, had been conscious of soldiers hovering near it, but thought they were simply seeking for food or fuel.