"It would be curious, Captain Kinks, would it not, if this accidental visit to-day was to make a great difference in both our homes."

"In both? How ?"

66

Well, I think I can guess that very much the same thing has happened to both of us."

"I'll be shot if I know what you mean.'

"Well, I have daughters-and you have a daughter —and I think-now can you guess what?"

"I never guess anything."

"Well, now," (Glover was very nervous) "I think my daughters would be none the worse for having a mother to look after them-and I think Mrs. Harstone is a very accomplished woman."

"I see. I wish you luck, Glover."

"And you--" observed Glover with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Captain Kinks looked him full in the face for a little while. Then he said:

"I sometimes feel a very old man, Glover, and I see many things that make life begin to go hard with me. You think me a merry old fellow, and so I feel sometimes, and sometimes more melancholy than I would let any man besides you know."

How sorry was Glover for what he had said! and how ready to show it! There was something of the gentleness of a man with a child in his way with the old sailor on their journey home. And when they sat down to dine, and the Captain began to recover his spirits, Glover threw himself into his rather boisterous mirth, and did his best to be a jovial messmate, putting aside his prejudices and straight ways, and bringing to light that better side of an excellent nature, which a good deal of silliness generally hid.

MEMOIR OF MAJOR-GENERAL SIR FREDERICK SLEIGH ROBERTS, Bart., V.C., G.C.B., C.I.E., R.A.

BY CHARLES RATHBONE LOW, (late) I.N., F.R.G.S.

CHAPTER V.

Roberts gains the V.C. at Khodagunj-Occupation of Futtehgurh on the 2nd of January, 1858-Storm of Meeangunj-Roberts' Humanity -The Siege of Lucknow-Operations Trnsa-Goomtee-The Action of Koorsie-Roberts is invalided and returns to England.

From Serai Ghat the column marched on the 11th to Bithoor, the residence of the infamous Nana Sahib, which was completely destroyed, the temple and palace being blown up, and the contents burnt-and thus Bithoor, with its terrible memories, became a thing of the past. Hope Grant marched on the 24th December for Mynpoorie, halting for Christmas-day at Chahbepore, where he was joined by the Commander-in-Chief with the main force from Cawnpore. Pursuing their course on the following day to Poonwah, they arrived on the 30th at Goorshaigunj.

Learning that the rebels had partially broken down the suspension bridge over the Kala Nuddee, Sir Colin Campbell, on the first day of the new year, detached a force with engineers to repair it, and the work was so rapidly executed that by the following morning the bridge was pronounced practicable. The Commander-in-Chief went down to examine the position, and was received by a heavy fire of musketry and field-pieces by the enemy, who coming up in great force from Futtehgurh during the night, had taken up a position in the village near the head of the bridge. Sending for the brigades under Hope Grant and Greathed from Goorshaigunj, some four miles distant, the Commander-in-Chief directed Brigadier Hope to cross the river and hold the enemy in check.

On the arrival of the main force the village of Khodagunj was stormed by Hope Grant, who was accompanied by Lieutenant Roberts, and the cavalry first charged the enemy as they emerged from the village in échelon of squadrons, and then followed in hot pursuit, sabring the flying foe at every stride. The scene enacted at the battle of Agra was repeated, and the rebels, fleeing in panic, did not halt even on reaching Fullehgurh, but fled into Bundlecund, leaving eight guns and much stores in the hands of the victors. Says the writer in "Blackwood" already quoted:

"Then despair seized upon the rebel mass; breaking their ranks, throwing aside their arms, they fled in wild confusion; but the horsemen were upon them and amongst them, and the slaughter was terrible; for several miles they rode along spearing and cutting down at every step; and the progress of their swift advance might be marked by the smoke of exploded tumbrils curling up amidst the dark green trees."

In the pursuit a very gallant young officer of Irregular Cavalry, Lieutenant Younghusband, met his death, and the subject of this Memoir performed an act of personal gallantry which secured him the Victoria Cross, that most coveted of all military distinctions.

While following up the retreating enemy with the ardour of a fox-hunter across country, Lieutenant Roberts saw two Sepoys making off with a standard. Putting spurs to his horse he overtook them just as they were about to enter the village, and made for them sword in hand. They immediately turned at bay and presented their muskets at him. It was a critical moment, as one of them pulled the trigger, but a merciful Providence had preserved the young officer to render priceless services to his country, and add a glorious page to her history. The cap snapped almost in Roberts' face, and, the next moment, he laid the Sepoy carrying the standard dead at his feet by a tremenduous cut across the head, and seized the trophy as it fell from his lifeless grasp. Meantime the companion of the standard-bearer made off in into the village. But this was not the only

exploit performed by Lieutenant Roberts on this 2nd of January.

Following up the rebels he came up with a group, consisting of a Sikh Sowar and a rebel Sepoy standing at bay with musket and bayonet. The cavalryman with his sword felt himself no match for the foot

soldier with what Napier calls "the queen of weapons;" but Roberts, on arriving on the scene, did not wait to count the odds, if they were against him, but rode straight at the Sepoy, and with one stroke of his sword slashed him across the face, killing him on the spot.

For these two acts of personal prowess BrigadierGeneral Grant recommended him for the decoration of the Victoria Cross, which was conferred on the following 14th of September, by a General Order of the Commander-in-Chief, issued at Allahabad.

On the rebels being completely dispersed, the cavalry returned to camp after a hard day's work, and on the following morning a march of twelve miles brought the army to Futtehgurh, which was found deserted by the mutineers, as well as a strong fort on the banks of the Ganges, in the midst of the town which it commanded. The town of Furruckabad, three miles distant, also surrendered without firing a shot; and the Nawab, Azim Khan, who had committed frightful atrocities on the occasion of the massacre of Europeans at Futtehgurh, was hanged, and his body left on the gallows as a warning to the townspeople.

The day after his arrival at Futtehgurh, the Commander-in-Chief was joined by Walpole's and Seaton's brigades, escorting an immense convoy, when the force placed at his disposal numbered over 10,000 men. The task set before Sir Colin Campbell in undertaking the operations terminating with his arrival at Futtehgurh, had been accomplished; the Doab had been cleared of the enemy, communications with the North-west Provinces had been reopened, and to complete the pacification of the country there remained the formidable task of the reconquest of Rohilcund and Oude, into which the

rebels had been driven as birds into a net by the fowler. The Commander-in-Chief therefore made preparations for the final capture of Lucknow, which had became a vast stronghold, requiring a large army and a siege-train for its reduction.

Sir Colin Campbell, with his staff, escorted by some cavalry and horse artillery, broke up the camp on the 1st of February, and making double marches reached Cawnpore in three days, and General Grant followed on the same day with the remainder of the force. The column retraced its steps towards the Kala Nuddee, passing over the ground which was strewed with the unburied corpses and skeletons of the rebels killed a month before.

On the 3rd of February, when a halt was made near Kunoge, Hope Grant, who was a keen shekari and fearless rider, indulged in a day's "pig-sticking" to the gratification of his staff, among whom were horsemen not inferior to himself. The sport afforded a pleasant relaxation from the tedious marches and more exciting operations of war, and was improvised on an extensive scale. On arrival at the ground, on a tongue of land between the Kala Nuddee and the Ganges, thirty-five elephants, marshalled in line, moved through the high grass, the pig-stickers armed with lances riding in front. The sport was indifferent, but there was excellent opportunity for the reckless riding over ground invisible a yard in front, which characterises this species of Indian hunting. General Grant made the following entry in his journal of an incident of the day's sport:

"We singled out a young boar, and I was on the point of spearing him, when Augustus Anson, my aide-de-camp, and Roberts, Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General, full of ardour, dashed up at a gallop, as if they were riding for their lives, and simultaneously cannoned against both flanks of my horse, fairly lifting him off his legs and shutting me up completely. However, strange to say, the horse did not roll over. After all, the young gentlemen did not spear the pig; he was run into by some dogs which held him fast, as he was not full grown, until we came up and despatched him. We afterwards put up a large fox, which gave us a fine chevy. Three greyhounds followed him up splen