Even the day he got married to Hannah Marshman, the missionary's
daughter, he showed that he was a soldier before all else. For, having
been suddenly summoned to attend a military court of inquiry at twelve
o'clock on his wedding day, he got married at an earlier hour than he
had previously arranged, took a quick boat to Calcutta, returning to
his bride when his business of the day was finished.
Time passed on, and the leader of "the saints" was still but a junior
lieutenant, though he had been seventeen years in the army.
Thrice were his hopes of promotion raised, and thrice doomed to
disappointment.
Still he murmured not. "I have only two wishes," he would say. "I
pray that in life and death I may glorify God, and that my wife and
children may be provided for."
Heavy trials befel him. Death laid its hand on his little boy Ettrick,
and another child was so burnt in a fire that happened at their
bungalow that he died also, whilst his beloved wife narrowly escaped
the same fate. Yet he bore all this with patience.
Stern commander though he was, his men loved him so much that they
wanted to give him a month of their pay to assist him in the loss of
means occasioned by the fire.
Pages:
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107