Hogan-Yale whispered softly to Martyn:--
"No wire will stand that treatment," and the Band, which had doubled like a
hare, came back again. But the rest of the Regiment was gone, was rioting all
over the Province, for the dusk had shut in and each man was howling to his
neighbor that the Drum-Horse was on his flank.
Troop-Horses are far too tenderly treated as a rule. They can, on emergencies,
do a great deal, even with seventeen stone on their backs. As the troopers
found out.
How long this panic lasted I cannot say. I believe that when the moon rose the
men saw they had nothing to fear, and, by twos and threes and half-troops,
crept back into Cantonments very much ashamed of themselves. Meantime, the
Drum-Horse, disgusted at his treatment by old friends, pulled up, wheeled
round, and trotted up to the Mess verandah-steps for bread. No one liked to
run; but no one cared to go forward till the Colonel made a movement and laid
hold of the skeleton's foot. The Band had halted some distance away, and now
came back slowly. The Colonel called it, individually and collectively, every
evil name that occurred to him at the time; for he had set his hand on the
bosom of the Drum-Horse and found flesh and blood. Then he beat the kettle-
drums with his clenched fist, and discovered that they were but made of
silvered paper and bamboo.
Pages:
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769