CHAPTER VIII
DARLINGER AGAIN
At length they came upon a burned village, whose walls showed the marksof cannon-shot and shrapnel. The towers had been blown up, and thevalley appeared to be entirely deserted.
"This is a good sign!" Carter exclaimed; "this work is evidently quiterecent, and no doubt is the result of a punitive expedition sent outto revenge the destruction of the fort. I expect from here onwards weshall find that every village has been destroyed. Of course, we muststill travel cautiously; the natives will doubtless be returning andsetting about rebuilding their homes--still, we are not likely to meetmany of them."
Continuing their journey, they found traces of fire and swordeverywhere. "The work has been done well and thoroughly," Carter said;"there is not a roof left standing. I have no doubt every village onour frontier has been visited and punished. It was the most seriousattack that has been made for years on one of our border forts, andyou may be sure that no pains have been spared to make the punishmentproportionate to the offence. There will not be many rifles left inthis part of the country, for you may be sure that all will have to behanded in. I don't want to run any risks, but if we did fall in withthe natives I should doubt if, after this punishment, any of them woulddare to meddle with us."
Presently, indeed, they did meet a party consisting of a dozen natives.These were evidently returning to their homes. They were armedonly with old muskets, and, seeing the three rifles carried by thestrangers, they simply saluted and walked on.
"We may fairly consider ourselves among friends, at least among men whono longer venture to be enemies. I fancy I know this village. It isabout fifty or sixty miles from the fort; I rode out here with a troopto demand the instant surrender of some cattle that had been stolenfrom across the frontier. The country is fairly open all the way, andwe shall have no difficulty whatever with the rest of our journey."
They now pressed forward with all haste, travelling by day, and towardsevening, two days later, they made out, far away on the plain, a groupof white tents. As they came nearer they saw that a considerable numberof men were employed in rebuilding the houses in the fort, and inadding additional works round them. The sun was just setting as theyarrived at the edge of the camp.
Evident surprise was caused among the soldiers at the appearance oftwo officers in khaki. Their uniforms were in ribbons, and so dirtyand travel-stained that it was difficult to make out that they wereofficers. Presently one of the soldiers recognized Carter and raised ashout, and immediately the soldiers flocked round them, cheering loudlyat the reappearance of their officer, who they had deemed was killed atthe capture of the fort.
No one noticed Nita, who, seized with a new shyness, followed Carter,who could move but slowly, for the soldiers pressed forward to salutehim. Soon some officers appeared on the scene, and these too gave thelieutenant an enthusiastic welcome.
"Who is it you have with you?" one of these asked.
"I will explain to you later on," Carter said, "At present I want to goto the major's tent. I hope he is here."
"Yes, he is here, poor fellow, but he is quite a changed man. He isfrightfully cut up at the loss of his daughter."
"Did he find her body?" Carter asked innocently.
"No, it was doubtless among those destroyed by fire in the mess-house.We thought that you were there also, for on uncovering the ruins wefound nothing but a charred mass of bodies utterly unrecognizable.There, that is the major's tent. He is standing at the door, waiting,no doubt, to ascertain the cause of the hubbub."
As Carter approached the entrance to the tent, the major steppedforward, having gathered from the shouting who the ragged figureapproaching him was. He shook the lieutenant cordially by the hand.
"I am glad, indeed, to find that you are alive, Carter," he said."Everyone thought that there was not a single survivor of the massacre;though we hear now that the havildar and one of the men were takenprisoners, and only last week we sent off into the mountains to offerterms for their ransom."
"I will enter your tent, if you will allow me, major. I have somethingof importance to tell you."
The major entered, followed by Carter, with Nita three or four pacesbehind him. The major, who had not before noticed the lieutenant'syoung companion, looked at the youthful figure in surprise. Then hestaggered a pace or two back as Nita, holding out her hands, exclaimed,"Don't you know me, father?"
With a hoarse cry the major held out his arms and Nita ran into them,while Carter at once left the tent.
For a time the major could only murmur exclamations of thankfulness,but as he calmed down at last, he asked, "What are you doing in thismasquerade, Nita?"
"The explanation is this, father. When the place was attacked I dressedmyself up in a suit of Carter's clothes, because I was determinedto fight till the last and be killed rather than be carried away acaptive. I did fight, father, and was at the last knocked down withthe butt-end of a rifle, and left for dead, but by the next morningI recovered consciousness, and when they examined the bodies theyfound that I was sensible; but Carter was still insensible. We werecarried off, in different directions, the idea being, I suppose, eitherto obtain ransom for us, or to pacify you if you should bring anexpedition into the mountains."
Then she gave a full account of their wanderings, keeping herselfentirely in the background and giving all the credit to Carter.
"But if you and he were carried off by different parties, how did youcome together again?"
"I escaped eventually and made my way over the hills to where I hadlearned that he was confined, and then he got away and joined me. Wehave been a long time in the mountains together, travelling all thetime."
"But how did you get food?"
"I stole a good part of it, father. I suppose I ought to be ashamed ofhaving done so, but it was absolutely necessary. Before I escaped Icollected it gradually till I had a sack full; then I stole a pony tocarry it, and a skin for water. This supply lasted us over a fortnight.Carter went down sometimes into a valley and killed a bullock, and keptus well supplied with meat. As to the grain, we occasionally rifleda village storehouse. So we really were never short of food, thoughI must say that I shall be very glad to have a piece of good breadbetween my teeth again."
"I should not have known you in the least," the major said; "you arealtered a good deal, but Carter is much more so. Of course, he has hadno opportunity of shaving since he has been away, and so has grownquite a respectable beard. Now I suppose the first thing that you wouldlike to do would be to get into your own clothes again. But how you areto manage I do not know, for of course everything was destroyed at thecapture of the fort.
"I should like some clothes indeed, father. Of course I got quiteaccustomed to these when I was a prisoner, and have had no time tothink about them since, indeed I did not even feel strange in them whenthe attack upon the fort was going on. But I should not like to be seenwearing a man's uniform here. Still, I suppose a few traders have comeup and have opened temporary stores, and if you would go over and buyme some cloth, I can soon make up something in which I shall not mindappearing."
"No, I do not think any have arrived yet, but I will go across to thequarter-master's tent and see what he has got." And the major went out.
In ten minutes he returned, followed by a sepoy carrying a roll ofkarkee serge.
"There, Nita," he said, "you can make yourself a skirt out of that, andwith one of my jackets you will be all right, although I do not supposeyou will be quite fashionably dressed. You will find needles and threadin that haversack. Now, my dear, while you are arranging matters I willgo across to the mess-room. No doubt all the officers are gatheredthere to hear Carter's story."
The major returned a couple of hours later. Nita, except that her hairwas still short, and her face and hands sunburnt, was herself again.
"Do you know, father," she said as he entered, "I feel horriblyuncomfortable in these clothes. Of course I
shall get accustomed tothem in time, but at present they seem to cling about me in a mostdisagreeable way."
"You would have been pleased, my dear, if you had heard the heartycheering there was in the mess-tent when I told them who Carter'scompanion was, for he had kept a profound silence on the subject, andhad simply told them that it was a fellow-captive. I never saw men morepleased, and it shows how popular you are in the regiment. But Carterhas told us a very different tale from what you told me. He went, ofcourse, much more into detail, and the details related largely to yourdoings. First of all he gave us a description of the siege, and of thedesperate stand made when the Afridis burst in, and how you foughtuntil the last of the little group was overpowered. Then he told ushow, when he recovered consciousness, he found himself carried along,and how, after some days' travel, he was imprisoned in the upper roomof one of their fortified houses. He said that he found the captivitywas exceedingly strict, and that no real hope of escape entered hisbreast, until one morning he found a note from you fastened to an arrowlying on the ground.
"It told him that you would shoot in another arrow the next nightwith a string fastened to a rope attached to it. Then he went on totell how, when he had got down, you took him to your camp, a mile anda half away, where you had a pony and a large sack of provisions. Hesays that during your travels you showed a marvellous amount of pluckand endurance, and that in the first skirmish that occurred you shottwo out of the three of your assailants, and that, in consequence, youboth became possessed of rifles, which you used to good purpose whenyou were afterwards seriously attacked. He said that when you bothconcluded that large bodies of tribesmen would be at once sent out insearch of you, it was you advised that you should take shelter amongrocks but a few yards away from the spot where you were attacked, asit was not at all likely that your enemies would begin their search sonear to the scene of action. Altogether he gave you the highest credit."
"Then he was both foolish and wrong, father," Nita said angrily, "andI am sure that he will admit that I always followed his advice withoutquestion; but indeed, except in the way of travel, and we did gothrough an awfully rough country, and had continually to change ourcourse to avoid impossible difficulties, we really had no adventures tospeak of except these two skirmishes. Of course we were greatly helpedby the Afridi custom of staying indoors after nightfall."
The next day Nita held a sort of reception, and was called upon by allthe officers of the regiment. Whereas during her journey she had feltno feeling of shyness, she now felt timid and embarrassed, but, as herfather told her, this feeling would wear off before long.
A few days later, the major sent Nita home to England, where she atonce went to a school close to her aunt's, and it was two years beforeshe rejoined the regiment. She found that several changes had takenplace. Carter had obtained his company, and had received very highcredit for the sketches and maps that he had furnished of the hithertounknown country through which they had passed. Of course they could notbe the same chums as before, but it was not long before it was evidentthat they had not forgotten their perilous journey together. Within amonth they became engaged, with her father's complete approval, forCarter, in addition to his captain's pay, possessed an income of ?400a year. Since then he has passed through the Tirah campaign, where hismaps proved of great value, and gained for him a brevet majority. Andwith his cherished companion, who has become his wife, his life bidsfair to be a perfectly bright and happy one.