The Sabre's Edge by Allan Mallinson Page B

hitched high on his belt. 'Sir, the general would speak with you; at once, if you please, sir.'
    'Very well,' said Hervey, rising. 'Do you know in what connection?'
    ‘ I am afraid I do not, sir. The general has spent much of the morning in conference with his brigadiers.'
    Hervey placed the letter to Somervile in the pocket of his writing case, gathered up his sword and shako, and left his quarters certain that he was to hear another paragraph of sorry testimony for inclusion in the letter.
    The general's door was open. Hervey knocked and stood to attention.
    'Come in, Captain Hervey; come in.'
    General Campbell looked tired. Or was it worry? Hervey had received no word from him after handing the quartermaster-general a report on the Thirty-eighth's endeavours. He was unsure even if he had read it, for there had been nothing but routine orders from Campbell's office in days. Neither had there been any sort of conference; Peto had fumed about it when they had dined together the evening before. 'Good morning, General,' said Hervey, a shade warily.
    'Sit down, sit down.'
    It was curious, thought Hervey, how the general repeated his bidding. He did it not infrequently, of late especially. Was it a mere affliction of the nerves, like blinking or twitching, or did it reveal an uncertainty? Since the general could not doubt that any order would be obeyed, it could only be that he tried to overcome his reluctance to give the order by repeating it for his own hearing. Yet in such small matters as entering a room and taking a chair, what could there be by way of difficulty?
    Except, perhaps, that the general intended saying something disagreeable.
    Surely not? Surely a major-general would not rebuke a captain direct when there were others to whom he might so easily delegate the unpleasant task. Hervey took off his shako and sat in a rush-seat chair in front of the general's writing table.
    ‘ I did not say that I approved of your conduct the other day - on the river, I mean.'
    Hervey was perplexed. The fact was indisputable, but the words suggested one thing and the manner of their delivery another. Was this a statement of disapproval or not? The general did indeed seem weary. 'No, sir.'
    'I did approve, most decidedly. We can have no frittering-away of our troops, especially not our best ones. We shall need every man.'
    Hervey nodded. He would once have said 'Thank you' to a sign of approval, but now he saw no occasion for thanks.
    'I have intelligence that Kemmendine shall be the base from which the Burmans will launch their attacks on us. It is in all likelihood in a strong state of fortification already.'
    Hervey nodded again, wondering what these remarks portended.
    'Your observations on the Burman manner of fighting would appear most apt. It would seem they are advancing on us by degrees through the jungle, digging and throwing up their damned stockades with each day.'
    Hervey frowned. 'That is exactly the manner in which I understand them to fight, General. But I must say that it is not by my observation as much as by study of what others have written before.'
    The general waved a hand dismissively. 'Yes, yes, but it was you who wrote the memorandum. That is what I meant. And now you've been inside one of these damned bamboo forts of theirs, you'll have other notions of how to deal with them, no doubt.'
    Hervey was about to say that he considered any attack without artillery to be iniquitous, when the general pronounced his intention to deal with the encroaching threat. 'I shall attack at once -tomorrow. I shall take them utterly by surprise.'
    Hervey, certainly, was surprised. Indeed, he was as intrigued by the notion as he was by the general's purpose in summoning him.
    'You think ill of my design, then, Captain Hervey?'
    Hervey would once have been flattered by such an enquiry. Now he felt only anger for the reply he would have to make, for it hardly seemed a design at all - more a statement of hope. 'I should not advise