WAITING FOR BETTER TIMES. 187 



regarding the whole affair, having never heard a 

 word about it owinsf to his absence in Ensjland at 

 the time. He only knew that I had lost my appoint- 

 ment — was most kind and interested, and listened to 

 my resume of the case. He has promised to read all 

 the papers, and asked for Taylor's report (which of 

 cow'se he had never heard of) and my memorandum, 

 both which I have given him, with Colonel Napier's 

 letter. He has the usual high opinion of Taylor, 

 and was much satisfied to hear Montgomery's 

 opinion. You see at present all goes well. Chester, 

 I should add, very strongly advises the Calcutta 

 plan, and says Lord Canning is a most just man, 

 and would not, if he knew it, allow an injustice to 

 be continued^ 



It had now, in fact, become Hodson's fixed 

 intention to go down to Calcutta and lay his case in 

 person before the Governor-General. " There were 

 clearly three courses open to me, ' a la Sir Kobert 

 Peel ' : 1st, suicide ; 2nd, to resign the service in 

 disgust and join the enemy ; 3rd, to make the 

 Governor-General eat his words and apologise. I 

 chose the last. The first was too melodramatic and 

 foreign ; the second would have been a triumph to 

 my foes in the Punjab, — besides, the enemy might 

 have been beaten ! I have determined, therefore, 

 on a trip to Calcutta." 



Meanwhile he had had another interview with 

 General Anson at Simla. " Nothing," he wrote to 

 his brother, " could have been more satisfactory. 

 He was most polite, even cordial, and while he 

 approved of my suggestion of going down to 

 Calcutta to have personal explanations with the 

 people there, and evidently thought it a plucky 



