When a man knows what is out against him, and from which direction
he may look to meet death, he only needs to be a very ordinary man
to make at least a gallant showing. Gallery or no gallery to watch,
given responsibility and trained men under hire, not one man in a
thousand will fail to face death with dignity.

But Brown knew practically nothing, and understood still less, of
what was happening. He had Juggut Khan's word for it that Jailpore
was in flames, and that all save four of its European population
had been killed. He believed that to be a probably exaggerated
statement of affairs, but he did not blink the fact that he might
expect to be overwhelmed almost without notice, and at any minute.
That was a fact which he accepted, for the sake of argument and as
a working-basis on which to build a plan of some kind--His orders
were to hold that post, and he would hold it until relieved by General
Baines or death. But there are several ways of holding a hot coal
besides the rather obvious one of sitting on it.

It would have been a fine chance to be theatrical, had play-acting
been in his line. Many and many a full-blown general has risen to
authority and fame by means of absolutely useless gallery-play. He
believed that he would presently be relieved by General Baines, who
he felt sure would march at once on Jailpore; and had he chosen to
he could have addressed the men, have set them to throwing up defenses
and have made a nice theatrical redoubt that he could have held quite
easily with the help of nine men for a day or two. And since the
really worthwhile things go often unrewarded, but the gallery-plays
never, nobody would have blamed him had he chosen some such course
as that.