"O'Rourke! Please see about burying the dead at once. Mr. Bellairs,
let me have two horses, please, and their drivers, from each gun.
Sergeant! See about putting the wounded into the lightest of the
wagons and harness in four gun-horses the best way you can manage."
"Very good, sir."
"Which is your best horseman, Mr. Bellairs? Is his horse comparatively
fresh? I'll need him to gallop with a message. I'll dictate it to
Captain O'Rourke as soon as he is ready. Let the gunner stay here
close to me."
Bellairs sought out his best man and the freshest-seeming horse in
wondering silence. He felt sick with anxiety, for what could one
lone veteran Risaldar do to protect Mrs. Bellairs against such a
horde as was in Hanadra? He looked at the barracks, which were still
blazing heavenward and illuminating the whole country-side, and shuddered
as he wondered whether his quarters at Hanadra were in flames yet.
"It's a good job old Carter happened to be here!" he heard one of
his men mumble to another. "He's a man, that is--I'd sooner fight
under him than any I know of!"
"What d'you suppose the next move is?" asked the other man.
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