[3] The most fanatical and implacable Moslem sect.
Never losing her presence of mind, Ethel bound the unconscious lad's wound to stop the bleeding, and ordered the by-standers to carry him to his quarters, where the regimental surgeon attended to the injury. The bangle had disappeared.
A few weeks later, when the injured persons had recovered, the three would-be assassins were tried on the charge of attempted murder, and were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
Some time elapsed before Ted was able to get about as usual. Had it not been for the bandage so promptly applied by Ethel he must have bled to death, so she had saved his life in two different ways. During his slow and painful recovery he was nursed untiringly by his new sister; and though she made light of her heroic deed, the girl's courage and presence of mind were the chief themes of conversation with the officers who frequently visited his bed-side, and the ensign's lucky brother became more envied than ever. Ethel invariably checked his expressions of gratitude, and would not allow him to talk about the incident.
"Bosh, Ted!" she would say; "I was in such a state of abject fear that I didn't know what I was doing. I only shot the man because my hand trembled so that the trigger went off, and he happened to be in front."
"Certainly, Ethel, I quite understand. I'll just read you a letter I had this morning from Jim. You'd p'r'aps like to hear his opinion?"
"Oh, that boy's demented! I had a note also from him this morning. He's quite wild."
"Good chap Jim,--knows a thing or two!" said Ted, nodding his head sagely.
"This is the place where I was knifed, Paterson," said Ted, "and there's the old boy I had been bargaining with. Watch him eyeing me; he looks rather scared, don't he?"
The wound was now quite healed, and impelled doubtless by a magnetic attraction, akin perhaps to that said to be exercised on murderers by the scenes of their crimes, our ensign had induced his chum Paterson to stroll with him through the _bazar_ one evening after duty was over for the day.
While Ted had been down with his wound Alec Paterson had opened out in a remarkable manner and thrown down the last barriers of reserve. Ensign Paterson had only recently admitted Ted into close friendship. He was a Scottish lad, hailing from Lanarkshire, and no better choice of a friend could have been made. Physically he was tall and well-formed, intellectually he was ahead of most of his brother ensigns, and in moral character strong, upright, and healthy. He was very reserved, difficult to know, chary of his intimacy, and slow of speech. Tynan termed him a "saint", and cordially disliked him; and in return Paterson disproved the accusation of saintliness by being obnoxiously polite and somewhat ponderously playful in his dealings with the regimental _bête noir_.