THE STATION. 49
to know something about the private history and character of every man under their command. They voted it unfashionable to attempt the pass examination in Hindoostanee, success in which was an in- dispensable qualification for the staff: an ordeal familiarly known as the P. H. ; that pair of consonants which are seldom far from the lips, and never out of the thoughts of the more aspiring subalterns of the Bengal army. And yet, averse as they were to grammars and dictionaries, these men spoke the vernacular languages with rare facility. But not even to such officers as these was breathed a syllable of that fearful secret, which England would have cheaply bought at the price of a million pounds for a single letter. Their soldiers entertained towards them a strong and genuine regard. It was not among the ranks which they commanded, that the spirit of sedition was born and nurtured. But in the day of wrath there was no distinction of person. When the baneful sirocco of mutiny, called by the imaginary Hindoo “the Devil's Wind,” was abroad in the air, all milder influences yielded before its withering blast. ‘The consciousness of the authority of the “ Fouj ki Bheera,” or “general will of the army, was to individual men, or regiments, almost irresistible. Some troopers in Fisher’s Irregular Cavalry performed a signal act of gallantry at Luck-
