of such terrible events would have caused an entire cessation of the
little amusements and gatherings in which Sandynugghur had previously
indulged.

As is usual in cases of extreme danger, the various temperaments of people
come strongly into relief at these awful times. The pretty young wife of
the doctor was nearly wild with alarm. Not daring to remain at home alone,
she passed the day in going from house to house of her female friends.
Advice and example she obtained from these, but poor comfort. The
colonel's wife was as brave as any man in the station; she hardly shared
her husband's opinion that the regiment would remain faithful in the midst
of an almost general defection; but she was calm, self-possessed, and
ready for the worst.

"It is no use crying, my dear," she said to the doctor's wife. "Our
husbands have enough to worry them without being shaken by our tears.
Death, after all, can only come once, and it is better to die with those
we love than to be separated."

But there were not many tears shed in Sandynugghur. The women were pale
and quiet. They shook hands with a pressure which meant much, lips
quivered, and tears might drop when they spoke of children at home; but
this was not often, and day after day they bore the terrible strain with
that heroic fortitude which characterized English women in India during
the awful period of the mutiny. Ten days after the news came in of the
rising at Delhi Major Warrener told his family, on his return from parade,
that the regiment had again declared its fidelity, and had offered to
march against the mutineers.

"I am glad of it," he said, "because it looks as if at present, at least,