"Here come the guns at last!" cried a carabineer in an ecstacy of enthusiasm.
"Git away wid ye, it's Wombwell's menagerie comin' to give us an entertainment!" declared an Irish private.
"Nice little ponies them are, drorin' them!" was another comment.
"What--the uttees? Three cheers for the bloomin' uttees!"[19]
[19] "Uttee" is Mr. Thomas Atkins' rendering of "hathi", the Hindustani for elephant, as readers of _The Jungle Book_ will know.
"What'll we do wiv the huttees when we've got the guns fixed hup? They'll heat their 'eads hoff 'ere. There won't be none of hus left for fightin'; we shall hall 'ave to go hout foragin' for food for the helephints hall day," observed a soldier of Cockney extraction.
"Ay," a friend replied, "and they'll want exercising. Bill, you'll 'ave to go and take 'arf a dozen helephints for a run every mornin' before breakfast, same as you used to do them fox-terriers you used to have."
Bill was wont to boast of the ratting qualities of his dogs at home.
"Ay, Bill," chaffed another. "Go an' take 'em rattin' along the banks of the Jumner; they're beggars for rats are uttees."
Bill was equal to the occasion, however, and readily replied:
"Nothin' of the sort! General told me has the helephints was comin' to-day, an' 'e says to me, 'Bill,' sez 'e, 'wot are we to do with them uttees when they come?' 'General,' sez hi, 'why not mount the Gurkeys on 'em an' make 'em into light horsemen?--there's nobody else's legs 'ud go round a huttee.' 'Bill,' sez 'e, 'you're a genius!'"
The laugh that followed showed that Bill had scored, and a group of officers standing by, who had up to this point tried to preserve a sedate demeanour, joined in the merriment at the thought of a little Gurkha perched astride one of the monsters. Regardless of the jests at their expense, the huge pachyderms came steadily on through the clustered ranks of interested and gaping spectators.
"By gum, boys, them are guns! We'll soon be in Delhi now!"
"Three cheers for the Bengal Artillery! and three more for John Lawrence who sent them!"
The cheers were lustily given, for hopes ran high.
"They ought to make short work of the walls," said Claude. "I think we're going to have a look in at last."
"Yes; we're all getting a bit sick of waiting. Hope we can get a good place in the stalls when the theatre doors open," Ted replied.