His appearance was distinguished and commanding, with a sense of power about him which to my mind was the result of his having passed so much of his life amongst the wild and lawless tribesmen, with whom his authority was supreme.

Intercourse with this man amongst men made me more eager than ever to remain on the frontier, and I was seized with ambition to follow in his footsteps.
Had I never seen Nicholson again, I might have thought that the feelings with which he inspired me were to some extent the result of my imagination, excited by the astonishing stories I had heard of his power and influence; my admiration, however, for him was immeasurably strengthened when, a few weeks later, I served as his staff officer, and had opportunities of observing more closely his splendid soldierly qualities and the workings of his grand, simple mind.
[Illustration: BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOHN NICHOLSON, C.B.
_From a painting by J.R.Dicksee, in the possession of the Reverend Canon Seymour._] It was the end of April when I returned to Peshawar from Cherat, and rapidly getting hot.

On the strength of being a D.A.Q.M.G., I had moved into a better house than I had hitherto been able to afford, which I shared with Lieutenant Hovenden of the Engineers.

We were just settling down and making ourselves comfortable for the long hot weather, when all our plans were upset by the breaking out of the Mutiny.
[Footnote 1: See 'Memorials of the Life and Letters of Major-General Sir Herbert Edwardes.'] [Footnote 2: 'Memorials of Major-General Sir Herbert Edwardes.'] [Footnote 3: _Ibid._].