CHAPTER II 



FOR some eighteen months or longer the corps to which I 

 belonged took its full share in the various skirmishes and 

 petty actions which occurred within that period, and until 

 the great rebellion was eventually stamped out. But the 

 North-West portion of India, where the Mutiny had been 

 most violent, remained for some time longer in a more or 

 less disturbed condition. 



It was during these troubled times that I, now a sergeant, 

 was deputed to accompany a party, consisting of an officer 

 and twenty-five invalid and time-expired men, proceeding 

 to a large cantonment many miles distant, whence the 

 latter were to be conveyed by rail to the port of embarka- 

 tion. 



The party was commanded by a senior officer, accom- 

 panied by his wife, and, with a surgeon in medical charge, 

 servants, and camp-followers, made up a total of some 

 fifty persons, of whom thirty were Europeans. 



As there were no railways in that part of India in those 

 days, the journey had to be performed by road, in marches 

 of from fifteen to twenty miles, the party halting daily at 

 some village on the way. But although our route lay 

 through this dangerous country, yet, with the exception 

 of the officers and myself, none of the party carried 

 firearms ! 



This may appear incredible, but is nevertheless a fact ; 

 for some one, in his wisdom, had decreed that for Thomas 

 Atkins to go armed under such circumstances would be 

 highly dangerous to the community at large, whereas the 

 real danger was all the other way. However, the orders 

 had to be obeyed, and the men, before starting, were all 

 accordingly disarmed, even to their side-arms, and thus, 

 minus any firearms save three fowling-pieces and a 

 revolver, we started on our journey. 

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