Idonotwishintheleasttoreflectonthemoralityofthe“Shikarris；“butitisonrecordthatfourmenjumpedupasiftheyhadbeenshot。Threeofthemweremarriedmen。PerhapstheywereafraidthattheirwiveshadcomefromHomeunbeknownst。Thefourthsaidthathehadactedontheimpulseofthemoment。Heexplainedthisafterwards。
Thenthevoicecried:——“Oh，Lionel！“LionelwastheSeniorSubaltern\'sname。Awomancameintothelittlecircleoflightbythecandlesonthepeg-tables，stretchingoutherhandstothedarkwheretheSeniorSubalternwas，andsobbing。Werosetoourfeet，feelingthatthingsweregoingtohappenandreadytobelievetheworst。Inthisbad，smallworldofours，oneknowssolittleofthelifeofthenextman——which，afterall，isentirelyhisownconcern——
thatoneisnotsurprisedwhenacrashcomes。Anythingmightturnupanydayforanyone。PerhapstheSeniorSubalternhadbeentrappedinhisyouth。Menarecrippledthatwayoccasionally。Wedidn\'tknow；wewantedtohear；andtheCaptains\'wiveswereasanxiousaswe。IfheHADbeentrapped，hewastobeexcused；forthewomanfromnowhere，inthedustyshoes，andgraytravellingdress，wasverylovely，withblackhairandgreateyesfulloftears。Shewastall，withafinefigure，andhervoicehadarunningsobinitpitifultohear。AssoonastheSeniorSubalternstoodup，shethrewherarmsroundhisneck，andcalledhim“mydarling，“andsaidshecouldnotbearwaitingaloneinEngland，andhislettersweresoshortandcold，andshewashistotheendoftheworld，andwouldheforgiveher。Thisdidnotsoundquitelikealady\'swayofspeaking。Itwastoodemonstrative。
Thingsseemedblackindeed，andtheCaptains\'wivespeeredundertheireyebrowsattheSeniorSubaltern，andtheColonel\'sfacesetliketheDayofJudgmentframedingraybristles，andnoonespokeforawhile。
NexttheColonelsaid，veryshortly:——“Well，Sir?“andthewomansobbedafresh。TheSeniorSubalternwashalfchokedwiththearmsroundhisneck，buthegaspedout:——“It\'sad——dlie！Ineverhadawifeinmylife！““Don\'tswear，“saidtheColonel。“ComeintotheMess。Wemustsiftthisclearsomehow，“andhesighedtohimself，forhebelievedinhis“Shikarris，“didtheColonel。