Blair of Balaclava

As he spoke, the lanky, pale-faced youth rose from the table, where he had been sitting nibbling the end of a quill, and soundly boxed the ears of a small, delicate-looking boy...

At the first sound of the sudden rush of the three tramps, for such they appeared to be, Jack had closed his hand on the money he held; then, while the man with the bludgeon was...

‘The fact is, I’m down on my luck. I’m out of a situation, with very little chance of getting another.’ And then Jack told his story, down to the time when the tramps attacked him.

‘It’s not all beer and skittles in the army,’ said the sergeant; ‘but a lad of mettle might do worse. You know what the song says,’ and the sergeant sang in a bass voice:

Ranged on one side of the room were eight iron bedsteads, the bedding being rolled up and strapped round to keep it neat during the daytime. Down the centre of the room, resting...

Every eye was at once riveted on the new-comer. Jack in particular stared at him, and in aftertimes he remembered his first impression of one by whose side he was fated to see m...

The next morning Jack was aroused early by the trumpeters turning out to sound reveille. He immediately got up, folded his sheets and blankets, and rolled and strapped up his be...

In the midst of these outcries Napper rose to his feet. ‘Run and fetch Charlie Lumsden,’ he cried; and a youngster going, returned in a few moments with Bandsman Lumsden, who wa...

Next morning Napper presented a woeful appearance, his face being sadly bruised, while one eye was beautifully encircled with green-and-black rings. His lips were so swollen tha...

On the following Thursday morning they started, and a very pleasant march they had. In the afternoon they reached the camp, pitched tents, and settled down in glorious weather....

Next morning Jack felt much better. He got up, and, being excused from duty, sat outside his tent in the warm autumn sunshine, much interested in the crowd of sight-seers who th...

One great piece of good news Jack heard, and that was that his mother’s affairs had unexpectedly improved, and that his family were coming down to rent a pretty little cottage a...

Life at sea on board a troopship is to the soldier a dull time. To Jack the first few days were especially so, as he was prostrated by sea-sickness, being tormented from time to...

Jack had not been in Varna camp twenty-four hours before he began ardently to pray that their stay there might not be long. The chief characteristics of the town were its vermin...

Jack had the true cavalryman’s love for his horse. He had so trained Dainty that she would lie down when told, follow when called or whistled for, and do several tricks which so...

Ever since the affair of the Greek firing into the camp at Varna no soldiers had been allowed to leave the camp without arms, and the cavalry always carried their swords. The th...

The colonel of Jack’s regiment was a very strict disciplinarian, and absence without leave while on active service was an offence that, if proved, would bring very heavy punishm...

Weeks of discontent, sickness, and inactivity followed. Daily, dozens of stalwart men, who not many weeks before had left England in all the pride of glorious manhood, were stri...

The morning broke bright and beautiful. At six o’clock the vast array of ships was under way again and approaching closer to the coast, towards which every eye was eagerly turned.

The reflections of the men who had been landed were bitter indeed as they began their first day in the Crimea. The morning was rough and boisterous. The sea was breaking on the...

There was for the moment no means of telling what was befalling their comrades; and the imprisoned Lancers pounded and thundered at the door and sides of their prison, but witho...

‘We were sitting on our horses, kaping our eyes and ears open,’ he said, ‘when I happened to notice a pasty-faced young gossoon on a pony sneaking off towards the hills.’

On the day following the capture of the convoy the campaign was begun in earnest. On that day, September 19th, the Allies began their memorable march from Old Fort, their landin...

As Jack gazed up and saw Sergeant Barrymore bending over him, his thoughts went back to that Sunday afternoon, nearly eighteen months ago, when once before he had lain beside a...

This quest was not of the easiest, for Lord Raglan had been riding along every yard of his four miles of frontage. When last seen by the cavalry he had been almost in the centre...

Round one, Jack, Will, Sergeant Linham, Pearson, and Brandon were sitting. They were all moody and silent. A great battle had been fought, a great victory had been won; but ther...

There had been delays, caused partly by the unreadiness of the French, and partly by the vacillating policy of Marshal St Arnaud, the French commander, a conceited man of medioc...

‘I know all about the convoy. Ride off to your regiments as hard as you can and guide them here. I will hear your explanations later.--Captain Wilson, gallop back and fetch up m...

Balaclava itself Jack found but a small, uninteresting place; but the harbour was remarkable, insomuch that looking down upon it from the precipitous hills by which it was surro...

During the next few days the enemy kept pretty quiet, and on the night of the 24th Jack’s troop mounted picket for vedette duty at No. 1 Turkish Redoubt. In the evening rain set...

The booming of that first gun from Redoubt No. 1 was the opening note heralding in a day that will live long in the history of Britain. The first report was followed quickly by...

They had reached the site of the light cavalry camp, some of the tents being already taken down, while others remained standing, when Captain Wintle, actuated by a sudden impuls...

The charge of the heavy Dragoons had been so glorious that the whole of the cavalry were mad with delight about it. The only feeling in the Light Brigade was one of envy that th...

When Jack found himself once more out of danger, and the excitement of that terrible charge had died away, he became aware of a feeling of absolute weakness and helplessness, wh...

About a week after the charge, the remnant of the brigade made a rather extended reconnaissance in the direction of Baktchi Serai, with the idea of discovering whether any very...

The crashing volleys with which the picket Jack and Will had alarmed greeted the Russians were quickly echoed from right and left. The rattling of musketry was soon interrupted...

It was more than likely that the timely warning they had been able to give the picket of the 41st saved a surprise on the part of the Russians which might have been most awkward...

Jack was soon on his way, and many a sad sight did he see as he went along. Dozens of poor fellows who had died of exposure during that dreadful night were being carried off for...

Early in the New Year the remnants of the brigade were returning from a reconnaissance they had made towards Tschorgoun, where, it had been stated, a large Russian force was gat...

Having his hands tied behind him, Jack experienced the greatest difficulty in keeping up with his captors. Once or twice he slipped, but was jerked up again by the rope round hi...

Jack was conscious of a curious inability to move, of a sense of languor not altogether unpleasant. He seemed to have been asleep a long time, and to have been troubled with dre...

He took in the position in one glance, and, stepping between his cousin and Jack, began to talk rapidly in Russian. Irma joined in the conversation, speaking vehemently, stampin...

The Cossacks had a spare horse with them, and on this Jack was mounted. With a deal of unnecessary violence he was strapped in the saddle; then, Kirchoff giving the horse a cut,...

The arrival of a fresh batch of prisoners was a great event in the lives of the unfortunates at Voronesh. The prisoners taken were not many; consequently they arrived at very lo...

The noise the men were making attracted the attention of all within hearing, and before the procession had got far several officers came toward them to see what was the matter....

The prosecution of the siege seemed to flag a little during the last days of August and beginning of September; but, unknown to the men, preparations were being made for another...

Early next morning Jack was roused from his slumbers by Barrymore putting his head into the tent and shouting, ‘Jack, up with you, and come out. The Russians are scooting out of...

A glorious summer morning, Friday, 26th June 1857. Thousands upon thousands of spectators have wended their way to Hyde Park to see her Majesty the Queen present to the sixty-tw...