This relation was scarcely needed to procure
me a certificate, stating that three months leave of absence to Murree
was absolutely essential for my recovery, and a recommendation that I
might be allowed to proceed immediately in anticipation of the leave
being granted. So the next evening saw me start from Peshawur for Rawul
Pindee, in a Dak Gharie, accompanied by my dog "Silly" and my Madrapee
servant or "Boy." Onwards we sped at a gallop, the horses being changed
every six miles, through Nowshera, the furnace; over the rapid and icy
cold Indus by boat; past Fort Attock, the oven in which our soldiers are
done to death; and Hussan Aboul of Lallah Rooke celebrity; arriving at
the French Hotel at Pinder, ten miles from Peshawur the following
morning. That day I called upon the Officers of the 6th Foot, with whom
I had served in Jersey, and was persuaded to dine at mess. A melancholy
dinner it was for me, meeting old friends whom I had not seen for so
long. Yet not possessing energy enough for conversation or feeling the
spirit of "Hail fellows, well met." I felt that my moody silence and
ghostlike appearance (for I was dressed in black) threw a gloom over
them. This was no doubt a morbid fancy as also was perhaps the idea that
they looked at me with pitying eyes. But these feelings seized me, and
increased till they became unbearable, and I was glad to escape to my
Hotel.
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