Brereton Frederick Sadleir. Jones of the 64th: A Tale of the Battles of Assaye and Laswaree
CHAPTER I. Mr. Benjamin Halbut Interferes
CHAPTER II. A Protégé
CHAPTER III. Facing a Difficulty
CHAPTER IV. A Hunting Expedition
CHAPTER V. The East Indiaman Attacked
CHAPTER VI. A Trap for a Trap
CHAPTER VII. Touch and Go
CHAPTER VIII. The City of Palaces
CHAPTER IX. John Company
CHAPTER X. A Mahratta Stronghold
CHAPTER XI. An Old Man's Ruse
CHAPTER XII. The First Assault
CHAPTER XIII. Special Service
CHAPTER XIV. A Glorious Victory
CHAPTER XV. Holkar the Treacherous
CHAPTER XVI. A Dangerous Frenchman
CHAPTER XVII. Owen makes an Effort
CHAPTER XVIII. Colonel Le Pourton's Legacy
CHAPTER XIX. The Deccan Invincibles
CHAPTER XX. An End to Mystery
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Mine host of the Black Bull was a man who prided himself upon the welcome his house provided, and on such an occasion, when Mr. Benjamin Halbut was the guest, there was extra need for haste. And so it happened that within a very few minutes a meal was announced as being ready.
"In the parlour, your honour," said the maid. "The best parlour, sir, along the passage to the left. My!" she went on, as she passed the lad for whom the sergeant had just fought so handsomely, "but you've found friends to-day! Never mind, laddie; you look a nice little fellow."
.....
"He will do us credit, never fear," exclaimed the kindly gentleman. "But the coach is here and we will leave."
Paying the bill, and adding something to it for the welcome and help given, he pushed Owen into the coach before him and they drove off. Owen could hardly believe that it was really he. Who could have guessed that he would have ever ridden in a coach! And behind postillion-ridden horses! And was it true that he was not to return to Farmer Ransom? There were to be no more beatings and no more scoldings! No need to creep to bed amidst the sacks in a cold barn, and lie there shivering of a cold night, and awake perhaps stiff with the cold, and hungry because supper had been denied him on the previous night out of pure spite! It was too much to believe. He sat forward in the coach, now looking up at Mr. Benjamin and then out of the windows at the houses and streets, at the boys playing there and at the pedestrians. Why, there was Johnny Banks, a lad who had been at the poorhouse with him, and was now apprenticed to the local baker. He at any rate had had plenty to eat, and Owen had been in the habit of envying him. Now! "I can't believe it!" he said to himself. "And if only they would make me a soldier!"
