CHAPTER XX

Sialkote—Amateur Theatricals—An Ingenious Thief—Death of Albert Phipps—Agra—Voyage to England

In the autumn of 1874 the other sub-lieutenants and myself had to go through a course of instruction at Sialkote, in order to qualify as lieutenants. At Rawal Pindi I called on Mrs. Kinloch, my acquaintance with whom had been renewed at Murree, where she had been staying. Not long afterwards, I was shocked to hear that she had gone out of her mind. She died without recovering her reason.

Sialkote is by no means a pretty place, being very flat, with few trees to temper the rays of the sun. Its ugliness was, however, relieved to some extent by a view of the distant mountains. Although it was autumn, the heat was intense, and in the daytime almost intolerable.

Lovett, Montgomery and myself occupied a house, which, though it had one storey, was very large. We were attached during our stay to the Royal Horse Artillery (“A” Battery, “A” Brigade) and messed with them. Our instruction took place in the mornings under Lieutenant Hart, of the R.E., who put us through a course of surveying, fortification and tactics. Most of the instruction took place out of doors. Of an afternoon we generally prepared our work for the following day, and in the evening we dined at the R.H.A. mess, which was about ten minutes’ walk from our house. The officers of “A” Battery were very nice fellows, particularly Captain Hobart, who commanded it, Lieutenant Armytage, and Veterinary-Surgeon Batchelor, and did all they could to make things pleasant for us. The evenings at mess, however, were rather dull, as so few members dined there, though at times they were enlivened by the presence of guests, generally officers from the 5th Lancers, who, with two infantry battalions and a regiment of Bengal cavalry, were also stationed at Sialkote.

The 5th Lancers were a very lively lot, and their mess was very amusing. On one occasion, after mess, they dragged a lieutenant over the billiard table, with the result that the cloth was cut all to pieces by his spurs, and, not content with this, smashed all the crockery and glass in the mess-room. One morning, on parade, another lieutenant, who rode very badly, fell off his horse, whereupon his brother subalterns “ragged” his room and broke everything they could lay their hands on. The unfortunate owner, who had not the sweetest of tempers, took their behaviour in very ill part, and shortly afterwards exchanged into a Highland regiment stationed at Gibraltar.

Some of the 5th Lancers were, however, very nice fellows, particularly two sub-lieutenants named Russell and Beaumont, who were very friendly with Montgomery and myself, and we often dined all together.

One evening the sub-lieutenants of my battalion invited Beaumont and Russell to dine at the R.H.A. mess, and afterwards we all proceeded to our house, where we had prepared a _nautch_ for them, having sent to the bazaar for a number of dancing women. These women danced most fantastic dances, and wound up the entertainment by dancing with some of the subalterns, who were wearing their white Indian mess uniforms. The officers of my battalion, I may mention, had adopted a pink silk sash round the waist, which we wore instead of a waistcoat, owing to the intense heat.

The colonel of the 5th Lancers, Lieut.-Colonel Massey, was popular with all ranks, and one of the captains, Benyon by name, was a most charming man. C——, another captain, a very ugly, red-haired man, was most clever and amusing, but much disliked both by his brother-officers and the men of the regiment. He often dined at the R.H.A. mess, where he entertained everyone with his stories after dinner. One story which he told was of a young fellow who was staying at a nobleman’s country house, where a lady, with whom he was in love, gave him an assignation, and agreed to put a flower in the keyhole of her door when she retired for the night. Someone, with a predilection for practical jokes, catching sight of the flower, removed it and placed it in the keyhole of another door, with the result that the luckless young fellow invaded the privacy of a judge and his wife. There was a terrible scandal the next day, and the victim of this misadventure had to leave the house at once.

C—— was very fond of botany, and I remember that once, when I happened to meet him, he showed me a mimosa, which was so sensitive to the touch that the moment one handled it it drew in its leaves. He came to a tragic end in South Africa, where he was shot by one of the men of his troop, not, it was generally believed, accidentally.

Armytage, the lieutenant in the R.H.A. whom I have already mentioned, was the son of a baronet and a very pleasant fellow. He had a pet dog which he used always to bring into the mess-room, and which would perform tricks. He related how once, when he had been ordered on foreign service, the captain of the troopship, hearing that he had a dog, objected to his bringing it on board, as he had made a rule against it. When, however, Armytage showed him the little dog and made it perform its tricks, the captain was so amused by them that he said he would make an exception in this case. Armytage was a good actor, and used to organize amateur theatricals. One evening, he got up a play, in which he took the leading part, and acted very well in the comic style. The other parts were taken by men of “A” Battery, and the performance, to which a good many people came, was a distinct success. Afterwards, a dance was given in the mess-room, but, as there were about twenty officers to each lady, it was more pleasant for the ladies than for us. The sub-lieutenants, indeed, went away as soon as they could, not being at all attracted by our fair guests, who were mostly past their first youth, while the few girls present were very plain.

There was an excellent polo-ground at Sialkote, and many of the officers played of an afternoon. There was also a croquet and lawn-tennis ground, and these games were played a good deal by ladies in very old-fashioned dresses, as ladies in India, as a rule, dress very badly and quite out of date.

The officers rode home from mess of an evening; and I used sometimes to make my pony “Chang” mount the steps of our house, and enter my room, after which he would go off alone to the stables. Once at Murree, for a bet, I rode “Chang” up a long flight of steps to a church and down again, and he never put a foot wrong. Batchelor, the “vet” of the R.H.A., had a horse which sometimes, on his reaching the mess-room, he would tell to go home, when the horse would find its way back to the stables, which were some distance away.

Two new sub-lieutenants came to Sialkote to go through the course. One, named Marsham, an Old Etonian and a very nice fellow, was in my regiment; the other, whose name was Wood, belonged to the 4th Hussars. He was nicknamed “Lakri” (“wood”), as he was of rather swarthy complexion. Wood had a very nice chestnut pony, which he often lent me, and one day Lovett remarked that I never looked so well as on this pony, which seemed to be made for me. He had another pony, a smaller one, and this he sold to me. But it had a very nasty temper, and would sometimes turn its head and try and bite my feet; while it was continually rearing and kicking, and, in short, was a regular devil. One evening, when I went to dine at the mess of a Line regiment, I tied it up to a tree, but it managed to get rid of its bridle and bolted. It was only with difficulty caught, when I rode it home again.

“Eugene,” who had behaved so badly to me over the affair of Miss W——, was not at Sialkote, having been sent to another station for his course. While at Murree, he had fallen desperately in love with a Miss B——, and had proposed to, and been accepted by, her. But, as he was so very young, and the lady was not considered a desirable match, the Colonel took the matter up, and the affair was broken off. At the station he went to he fell in love with another lady, but this did not come to anything either; and he nearly broke, not his heart, but his neck, there in riding a steeplechase. However, eventually he recovered from his “smash” and rejoined the battalion.

I became very unwell at Sialkote, from what the doctor said was a liver complaint. However, it did not much interfere with my studies, though I was confined to the house for some time. During this period a curious incident occurred.

One morning, I noticed that a candle, which I had placed by my bedside and blown out just before I fell asleep, was much shorter than when I had extinguished it. The following night I carefully noted the length of the candle before I blew it out, and next morning it was again much shorter. I could find no explanation of this, as I had locked my bedroom door before going to bed, until I remembered that there was a small opening at the bottom of the door, just large enough to permit a person to wriggle through. But this did not account for the thief having been able to pass through my sitting-room, which led to the bedroom, and the door of which I had also locked. I talked the matter over with Lovett, who offered to lend me his dog, which he said was a very good watch-dog and could sleep on my bed. I accepted his offer, but the animal had so many fleas that I was kept awake all night, and decided to dispense with its company in future. The following night I determined to watch myself, and presently heard someone crawling through the opening of the door. I at once struck a light, upon which the intruder promptly crawled back again. Then everything appeared clear to me. The thief was none other than my bearer, who had a key to my sitting-room, which he opened, and then, crawling through the opening in the bedroom-door, made for my candle, which he abstracted and replaced by a much smaller piece. The natives are great pilferers, who will not stop at robbing one even of a piece of candle.

One day, as I was sitting in my room, reading a book by Jean Paul, it seemed to me that suddenly the room began to swing to and fro. It proved to be an earthquake, which, however, did no damage to the town, though it gave everyone a bad fright.

Soon after I was able to get about again there was an interval of three weeks in our course at Sialkote, and all the sub-lieutenants went away on leave. Montgomery went to Murree, while Lovett and Marsham started off on a shooting-expedition. The battalion, which was taking part in the autumn manœuvres, was under canvas near Rawal Pindi, and I accepted an invitation to stay with Surgeon-Major Macnamara and his wife in their tent. The first evening I dined with them I noticed that I was served with precisely the dishes I liked, whilst those I did not care for were not handed to me at all. I inquired of Mrs. Macnamara the reason of this, when she replied:—

“I asked your _khitmagar_ when you arrived what you liked for dinner, and what you did not like. Therefore, you see, I know now exactly what your taste is.”

Indeed, nothing could exceed the Macnamaras’ kindness to me during the whole time I was with them.

A couple of days later, Phipps invited me to go for a drive with him, during which he told me that he was returning to England on leave, when he would get his promotion, and he doubted whether he would ever come out to India again. That evening, after dining at mess, I was taken ill, when Surgeon-Major Macnamara, who attended me, said that I was suffering from jaundice, and should have to stay in bed some time. During my illness I received visits from one of the senior lieutenants named Hope, a grandson of Lord Hopetoun, who brought me several books to read, amongst them being “Cranford,” by Mrs. Gaskell, which he particularly recommended to me, and with which I was delighted. Lloyd, another senior lieutenant, with the local rank of captain, often came to see me. He was a very dark, wiry fellow, of about thirty, and was a great sportsman. He was going into the Indian Staff Corps, as he spoke several native languages fluently. Lloyd was a particular friend of mine, and corresponded with me regularly for years afterwards.

One morning, I had a visit from Macnamara, who told me that Phipps had been taken seriously ill with congestion of the lungs, the result apparently of a chill which he had caught on the day I went for a drive with him. A few days later, I learned from Lloyd that Phipps had died during the night. When I next saw Macnamara, he remarked:—

“Phipps was so stout; I knew I could not save him. He died from suffocation, as he had such a short neck.”

When I was well enough to dine at mess again, I heard from the Colonel that, shortly before Phipps was taken ill, he had been told by the chief that his tunic was looking rather shabby, to which he had replied:—

“Oh, sir, it’s good enough to bury me in!”

He had laughed as he said this, which was a habit of his when he made any remark which was at all strange.

A cable was sent to Queen Victoria, as well as to Phipps’s sister, announcing his death. Her Majesty cabled at once to the Colonel, asking for all particulars about the sad event, at which she appears to have been genuinely grieved.

I was much cut up by Phipps’s death, and I felt it all the more keenly, as I had been with him so recently. I remember how on that occasion he had kept talking of his approaching return to England, and had observed:—

“I should have liked it very much in years gone by, but now I do not look forward to it with half the pleasure I did then; it may be because I have all my friends out here. I am so used to living out here with all the fellows, and they are all so nice, that I don’t think I should go home now if I had not to do so.”

Poor Phipps was buried in his old tunic, as he had foretold in a jesting way to the Colonel. He was barely thirty years of age.

After I had quite recovered from jaundice, I returned to Sialkote, which I did with regret, as I would have much preferred remaining with my regiment. At Sialkote things went on very much as before, the only incident worth recording being an accident to my pony “Chang.”

This pony, which I had bought soon after coming to Murree from Sydenham Clarke, the adjutant of our battalion, had the reputation of being the best polo-pony in India, and one day Lovett begged me to lend him to him for a match in which he was to play. I replied that “Chang” was not up to his weight, and that he would probably lame him; but, eventually, on his promising most solemnly to ride him carefully, I consented, though with many misgivings. Some hours later Lovett came into my room, looking very crestfallen. I knew at once what had happened, and exclaimed:—

“You have lamed “Chang!”

“Yes,” he answered; “I am frightfully sorry; I could not help it.”

I ran out of the room to see the pony, who was so lame that there was no chance of his being of much service afterwards. However, it was no use blaming Lovett, since it was my own fault for being so weak as to allow a valuable animal to be ridden by a man too heavy for him.

After this mishap, I was obliged to ride my little devil of a pony when I required a mount at Sialkote, though at times Lovett lent me his horse, while at others Wood lent me his good-looking chestnut pony. I made Wood an offer for this pony, but he declined to part with it at any price.

I continued to suffer from liver complaint, and was attended by Surgeon-Major Clarke, of the R.H.A., who advised me to try and get sent to England. I subsequently saw the senior medical officer at Sialkote, who said that I ought to obtain leave either to the hills or to England. I appeared before a medical board, who certified in writing that my illness was caused in and by the Service.

The Chief Resident at Sialkote offered me the Maharajah of Kashmir’s shooting, which was usually reserved for royal personages, and which the Prince of Wales had when in India; but Montgomery urged me strongly to go to England, and I followed his advice. I had afterwards, as the ensuing pages will show, good cause to regret my decision.

Before leaving Sialkote, I made arrangements to sell the things I did not want; but, on showing the list I had made out to Batchelor, of the R.H.A., he told me that I ought to have described them far more elaborately, so as to enhance their apparent value. I asked if he would describe them for me, which he did, and, greatly to my amusement, made everything appear infinitely better than it really was. However, he said that they would make much better prices that way, which I found to be the case when the sale took place. My pony “Chang” I sold to Montgomery, as he had partially recovered from his lameness.

On leaving Sialkote, I went by rail to Delhi, where I visited the Palace, which I thought very beautiful. At Delhi I called on the officers of a Line regiment stationed there, and was invited to make use of their mess during my stay in the city, where great preparations were being made for an approaching Durbar. I left a few days later for Cawnpore, and visited the places by the river where the British were massacred during the Mutiny. On my way from Cawnpore to Agra, I made the acquaintance of a French cavalry officer, the Vicomte Arthur d’Assailly, of the Chasseurs à Cheval, a very smart-looking fellow, more like an Englishman than a Frenchman, who spoke English perfectly. The Vicomte told me that at Cawnpore he had paid several hundred rupees for a _nautch_ in his room, which he had strewn with rose-leaves. On reaching Agra, we drove to our hotel through the Bazaar, and in the evening went to visit the Taj, with which we were quite enchanted. It was the most magnificent building I had ever seen. The marble of which it was constructed was of the purest white, and seen by moonlight, which enhanced the whiteness of the marble, it was indescribably beautiful; while the deep blue of the starlit heavens formed a delightful contrast. It was, in fact, just like a palace of “The Arabian Nights”; and while strolling about the charming gardens we could almost imagine ourselves living in the days of the Khalif Haroun Alraschid.

In the train going to Bombay I met an officer of the Rifle Brigade, named Captain Crompton, a man of about thirty-five, with grey hair, who was going home on sick leave. But as, he told me, he was rather doubtful about being able to pass the medical board at Bombay, he intended to appear before them just as he was, without going to his hôtel to change and wash, considering that he would look more like an invalid in that travel-stained condition.

He was as good as his word, and obtained six months’ sick leave without any trouble. As for myself, I went to Watson’s Hotel, where I was glad to have a bath and change my clothes, as the journey had been a most unpleasant one, and I was begrimed with dirt. On appearing before the board, the senior medical officer asked me various questions, to which I must have answered too laconically to please him, for presently he inquired sarcastically:—

“And what may your rank be; I suppose general or colonel at the least?”

“No,” I replied; “I am only a sub-lieutenant.”

“Oh, indeed! I thought from your manner that you were at least in command of a regiment.”

However, after a brief examination, I was informed that I could go, and that I had been granted six months’ leave to England, as my illness was caused in and by the Service.

At Watson’s Hotel I met d’Assailly again, who told me a good deal about himself. It appeared that he was a rich man, having an income of some £6,000 a year, and was amusing himself by travelling round the world. He had already visited Japan, Ceylon and Java, the last of which he considered by far the most beautiful of the three countries, and, as regards vegetation, truly marvellous. He admitted that Ceylon was lovely, but, in his opinion, it could not compare with Java, the natives of which he also preferred to the Cingalese.

I was very glad to leave Bombay in 1875, though, as I disliked the sea very much, I was not looking forward to the voyage to England with any pleasurable anticipations. Among the passengers on board the troopship were Captain Crompton, a Lieutenant Howard, who belonged to the Rifle Brigade, and Viscount Campden, of the 10th Hussars, whose younger brother, the Hon. H. Noel, was in the same battalion of the Rifle Brigade as Crompton and Howard. Lord Campden, who was an amiable young man, with a slight figure and reddish hair, occupied himself during the voyage by reading Darwin’s “Natural Selection,” which was seldom out of his hand, and did not talk much with anyone, with the exception of Crompton.

There was a battalion of infantry on board, under the command of a Lieutenant-Colonel Rose, who had his wife and daughter with him. The latter, who was a charming little girl of thirteen, with golden hair and blue eyes, took such a violent fancy to Howard that the other officers used to chaff him and inquire whether he intended to wait until she grew up to marry her. Howard was a tall, good-looking fellow, with a fair moustache, and he seemed rather pleased than otherwise by the little lady’s infatuation.

The captain of the ship complained of Crompton dining in evening clothes, and requested him to appear in uniform in future. Crompton answered that he had no uniform on board, as he had come out to India to work as a civil engineer. But the captain would take no excuse, and insisted on his wearing uniform at dinner and also on deck. Crompton thereupon asked me if I could lend him part of my uniform, as it only differed in the facings, the facings of one regiment’s mess-jacket being black velvet, and those of the other scarlet, braided with black lace, like the Hussars. The uniform of both regiments was the same, supposed to be a dark green, but really black. I therefore lent him part of my uniform, as I had more than I required on board; but when he appeared in it at mess and on deck, the captain at first believed that it was his own, and that he had purposely avoided wearing it, and he had to explain that he had been obliged to borrow from me.

During the voyage I was a good deal with Crompton, and had many interesting talks with him on all kinds of topics. He told me that his mother, who was dead, had published a translation of the poems of Heinrich Heine, which was considered to be the best that had appeared up to that time. She had held that this life was but a preparation for the one to come, and that whatever we cultivated in this existence, we should excel in in the next, and said that he was firmly convinced of the truth of this. He was a very clever man and had invented an automobile for the conveyance of troops, which he had sold to the Russian Government for £4,000, as the War Office would not pay him the price he asked. His knowledge, too, was astonishingly varied. Thus, when we touched at Malta, some of the ladies on board showed him the lace they had bought and told him the price they had paid for it, upon which he said that they had been imposed upon. For it appeared that he knew more about lace and how to make it than any lady on the ship, and I saw him showing them stitches which were quite new to them.

There were, of course, a number of invalids on board, some of whom were very ill indeed. I occupied a cabin with a lieutenant of the 11th Hussars named Reid, who was in rapid consumption. He was a good-looking young fellow, with, dark-brown curly hair, and very much liked by everyone. He survived the voyage, as did a sergeant-major of the R.H.A., whom no one had expected to live until we reached England; but several other persons died, and were buried at sea.