should tell you that you appear to be one of the best riders we have. And you did your horse wellâyou obviously know your way about a stable. What were you in civilian life, Cullmane, a groom?â
Private Cullmaneâs brown face split into a gap-toothed grin. âI was whipper-in to the âGallant Tipsââthe Tipperary Hunt, sorr, in me younger days.â
âThen thereâs not much I can teach you about horsemanship, is there, lad? Youâll only have to master the drill, and you shouldnât find that beyond your capabilities.â
âNo, yer honour,â the man admitted. âBut âtwas what ye was sayinâ about being a liabilityââtwas that made me step forward. I wouldnât want to be lettinâ yez down, sorr. But thereâs this â¦â He pulled back the sleeve of his mud-spattered red jacket to reveal an ugly wound which extended from forearm to elbow. It was partially healed and evidently of recent origin, and the elbow joint was so swollen that he had difficulty in bending it. âI got this at Aong, sorr, and âtis me roight arm, ye see. Iâll not be a great deal of use if I canât handle me sabre, will I, sorr?â
Alex inspected the arm. âHave you shown this to the surgeon?â
âSure, sorr. He dressed it and sent me back to duty.â
âI see. Wellâcan you handle a pistol?â
âI can, sorr.â
âThen weâll use you as a galloper, Cullmane,â Alex decided. âUnless you want to go back to your regiment?â Receiving an emphatic headshake, he smiled. âRight, then. I donât imagine youâll be a liability after whipping-in for the Tips. But youâd better have that arm dressed againâyou could lose it, you know, if it becomes badly infected.â
âIâd be in powerful good company if I did, Colonel sorr,â Cullmane said. âFor havenât you lost your sword arm yourself now? Dammit, sorr, if yeâll pardon the liberty, if I could handle myself the way you do, sure Iâd never miss it!â
âYou would, my lad, you would,â Alex told him quietly. Hardly a day had passed during the siege when he had not cursed the loss of his arm and found himself impeded by it. But at any rate, he thought, as he left the Cavalry Lines, if he could still give the impression of being able to handle himself well on horseback, then the years of patient practice with his left hand had not been wasted.
In the Volunteersâ mess tent, he found Lousada Barrow at table and joined him there. After questioning him minutely concerning their new recruits, the cavalry Commander warned him that the time allocated to their training might be less, even, than he had anticipated.
âNeillâs arrived, with 227 of the 84th, as no doubt you observed. The general received him with an eleven-gun salute and theyâre dining together now, but I gather from what Fraser Tytler let slip that the Highlanders are under orders to cross over to Oudh tonight.â
âTonight, in this deluge?â Alex frowned.
âSo it would seem,â Barrow assured him.â Tytler, whoâs something of an expert on engines, has spent the best part of the day putting the steamerâs engines into working order. The Bridge of Boats was destroyed on the Nanaâs instructions, of course, but Tytler says theyâve managed to collect twenty sizeable boats, with native boatmen to man them, and the steamer is to tow them across. Theyâre to take a couple of field-guns with them but no tents, poor fellows.â
âAnd Neill is to remain in command here, is he?â Alex was hungry, but he regarded the unsavoury-looking mess on the plate a servant placed before him with glum disfavour. âWhat is this? Is it edible?â
âItâs curry,â Barrow assured him. âAnd not as bad as it looks ⦠try it. Yes, Neillâs to command
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