could get on very fairly. Dick had lost it altogether.

When they went back to the veranda they found that the girls had gone
indoors, and that their father was sitting and smoking with his brother
officers. When the lads came up the conversation ceased, and then the
major said:

"It is as well the boys should know what is going on."

"What is it, father?" Ned asked, struck with the grave tone in which the
major spoke, and at the serious expression in all their faces.

"Well, boys, for some months past there have been all sorts of curious
rumors running through the country. Chupatties have been sent round, and
that is always considered to portend something serious."

"Do you mean the chupatties we eat--flat cakes, father?"

"Yes, Ned. Nobody knows who sends them round, or the exact meaning of the
signal, but it seems to be an equivalent for to 'prepare,' 'make ready.'
Chupatties are quickly prepared; they are the bread eaten on a journey,
and hence probably their signification. At any rate, these things have
been circulated among the native troops all over the country. Strangers
are known to have come and gone, and there is a general uneasy and
unsettled feeling prevalent among the troops. A ridiculous rumor has
circulated among them that the new cartridges have been greased with pig's
fat, in order that the caste of all who put it to their lips might be
destroyed. To-day I have received news from Calcutta that the Nineteenth
native regiment at Berhampore has behaved in a grossly mutinous manner,
and that it is feared the regiments at Barrackpore and Dumdum will follow