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But I fear that if I am right, then that is where the trouble will start. In the Army. Trouble there has always been in this country. Drought, famine, disease—these are everyday happenings. Also tribal jealousies and religious fanaticism. These we have been able to meet and deal with in the past with the help of the Army. But if the Army itself is the cause of the trouble, then, Miss Hewitt, may God help us all.’
    ‘I see,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘But then, surely, have you not forgotten that we have our own troops here as well—British troops?’
    ‘No, I have not forgotten. I am remembering only too well that there are some 35,000 Queen’s troops scattered all over this huge country in small and isolated pockets. There are more than 300,000 native sepoys, and when the sepoy fights, he has the incentive of fighting for his own rights, his own little patch of soil—his own country. If, that is, he fights at all.’
    I got up and walked over to the rail, and as I went my shadow was short and very black on the soap-stoned planks of the deck. Watching the river flow past in oily brown eddies, and hearing, as I had so often heard over the last many weeks, the creak and rasp of the ship’s timbering, the slap of canvas against the booms, the shouts of sailors, and now the monotonous chant of the leadsman crying the fathoms, I felt a little chill of foreboding run up my spine, and thought with longing of the calm security of Mount Bellew. Would I ever know enough of this great brooding land stretched below its flat, dun-coloured sky to feel safe and at home in it?
    Mr Roberts must have seen the apprehension in my face.
    ‘Alas, I fear I have alarmed you,’ he said contritely.
    ‘I asked for reasons.’
    ‘We can still hope that my anxiety is unfounded. Certainly you will find many brave gentlemen in Calcutta who will tell you so.’ He smiled ruefully. ‘I am known to be somewhat pessimistic in my approach to most things, somewhat too cautious by nature. A “croaker” in fact. I must hope for all our sakes that in this case my denigrators are right. And there are a great many enjoyable things for you to look forward to, both in Calcutta and up-country. You will find among us Anglo-Indians a spirit of kindliness and hospitality. Most of us have had to spend enough time in our own company to learn the value of society, and you will be quite overwhelmed with invitations and entertainments. I have no doubt Mr Flood has provided himself with useful introductions, but if I can be of any service, please believe I am at your disposal.’
    I expressed my sincere thanks and the hope that we would often meet in Calcutta—he had already made known his intention of waiting upon us as soon as we had settled in. As I turned to leave him, he said, with a twinkle in his eye, ‘I’m afraid you did not discover very much more about Mr Erskine, so in case it will further your conjecturings, I must tell you that he is one of the few who would agree with my prognosis of the state of the country, and he, Miss Hewitt, has forgotten more about India than I will learn in a lifetime.’
    ‘But I thought you had never met him?’ I pointed out somewhat tartly.
    ‘It is not necessary to meet Mr Erskine to know his views. He, like me, has many detractors in Calcutta.’ And, with a polite bow, the provoking man left me.

CHAPTER 3
    After luncheon, while Emily rested in the saloon, I went down to the cabins and completed the packing of our effects in readiness for disembarkation. Several trunks already stood in the companionway outside our doors, but I had still to empty drawers and cupboards of all those small things that cannot easily be dispensed with until the last moment. The furniture in the cabins—cupboards, tallboys and beds—was our own, purchased in a ship’s chandlers for use on the voyage as is customary, but it was unlovely stuff, and one of the ship’s officers had told us we could dispose of it at a fair profit at the