Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-30

lAPIAIN BENDAlJL came to stand
IL and saluted
"The tribesmen around Bhulpore are
tS42kI rising" said his chief. "You must take
your regiment, and do your best to hold
the place till l can send up re-enforcements.
Fall back at once if you find the position un-
tenable There are women there, so you must
take no risks Ride hard or you may be too
late"
General Lethbridge was a man of few words.
decade on the Northwest frontier had taught
him that time was everything Lives might be
lost while words were being banded. On expe-
dtions of this kind his subordinates were not
fettered by thousand and one instructions.
While leaving them plenty of scope for the exer-
else of initiative and intelligence, he impressed
them with sense of their responsibility; he
expected much from them in return-and got it.
Half hour after this interview with his
chief Bendall rode out of contonments A sim
gle white man at the head of two hundred and
fifty dark-skinned troopers-wid turbulent men
from the hills, born fighters all, and all finding
common ground in devotion to their leader.
These men had developed strange love for the
man who commanded them. They delighted in
his reckless courage and skllful horsemanship.
They almost worshipped him as a god and were
slow to recognize any other authority
Captain Bendall had a grievance against Fate
for so juggling with events to send him, of all
men, on this exploit.
Five years before he had held commission
in a crack cavalry corps at home. He had fallen
in love with Dolly Guilbert but She pretty, light
hearted, gay as a butterfly, could not take the
world seriously. With the inconsequence of
youth, she had made fun of his love when he ask
ed her to be his wife, and resented his endeavors
to restrict her iirtations
Finding it impossible to steel himself against
her charms he exchanged and came out to In
dia. Even here, dances and garden-parties were
too reminiscent of what he had lett behind for
his peace of mind. He turned to the Northwest
frontier in search of balm for his wound which
far deeper than the hippant, petted Dolly
ever dreamed.
Here, in the companionship of these fierce guar
dams of the northern passes, there was promise
of the forgetfulness he so eagerly sought. Hard
work and fighting, year in and year out, left little
time for thought The quick of remembrance
was slowly but surely losing its sensitiveness.
Bendall had quite decided to spend the re-
mainder of his days among these restless souls of
Bellona. When the end came, as it would in
some hot encounter, his men should bury him
with his head to the roadway so that he might
still hear them riding by, if, indeed, the dead
could hear, and he foohshly fancied that Jhey
could
But, one day, that happened which swept all
the underground from the cemetery of the past
and laid bare the grave of his love. Dolly Gull
bert came out to her uncle, a major stationed at
Bhulpore
Fortunately, Bendall had only been to the city
since her arrival yet on that occasion the
couple had crossed each others path. As he
was riding out with his troopers he had met
lady on horseback. One swift glance had been
enough to set his blood racing madly, but he gave
no sign of recognition beyond salute
Now, with special instructions to take the