the parapet, took out a notebook, and wrote in pencil:

"Dear Sir John:

"Although it is but four days since I posted you a long letter from
Cawnpore that I had written on our way up the river, I think it as
well to write a few lines in pencil. You will not get them unless I
go down tomorrow, as I shall of course tear them up if I get
through all right. I am writing now within sight of the Residency.
We had a bit of a fight today, but the rebels did not make any
serious stand. Tomorrow it will be different, for we shall have to
fight our way through the town, and there is no doubt that the
resistance will be very obstinate. I have nothing to add to what I
wrote to you last. What I should like you to know is that I thought
of you all this evening, and that I send you and Lady Greendale and
Bertha my best wishes for your long life and happiness.

"Yours most sincerely,

"Frank Mallett."

He tore the page from his notebook, put it in an envelope and
directed it, then placed it in an inner pocket of his uniform.

"So you are not writing, Marshall," he said, as he went across to
the young ensign who was sitting on the angle of the parapet.

"I have no one particular to write to, Captain Mallett, and the
only persons who will feel any severe sorrow if I fall tomorrow are
my creditors."