"
"I was not thinking of dining," Bathurst said, as he sat down, "but
I will do so with pleasure, though I told my man I should be back
in half an hour;" and as the servant left the room he added, "I
have much to say, Doctor; get through dinner as quickly as you can,
and get the servants out of the tent."
The conversation was at once turned by the Doctor upon shooting and
hunting, and no allusion was made to passing events until coffee
was put on the table and the servant retired. The talk, which had
been lively during dinner, then ceased.
"Well, Bathurst," the Doctor asked, "I suppose you have something
serious to tell me?"
"Very serious, Doctor;" and he repeated the news he had given the
Major.
"It could not be worse, Bathurst," the Doctor said quietly, after
the first shock of the news had passed. "You know I never had any
faith in the Sepoys since I saw how this madness was spreading from
station to station. This sort of thing is contagious. It becomes a
sort of epidemic, and in spite of the assurances of the men I felt
sure they would go. But this scoundrel of Bithoor turning against
us is more than I bargained for. There is no disguising the fact
that it means a general rising through Oude, and in that case God
help the women and children. As for us, it all comes in the line
of business. What does the Major say?"
"The only question that seemed to him to be open was whether the
women and children could be got away.
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