Page:On the Coromandel Coast.djvu/158

 assembly I discovered that the bright-eyed beauty was the daughter of the prince. At the next durbar my agitation and anxiety were extreme to again behold the bright eyes that haunted my dreams and my thoughts by day. The curtain was again gently waved and my fate was decided.

'I demanded the princess in marriage. Her relatives were at first indignant and positively refused my proposal. However, on mature deliberation the ambassador was considered too influential a person to have a request denied, and the hand of the young princess was promised. The preparations for the marriage were carried forward.

'Remember,' said I, 'it will be useless to attempt to deceive me. I shall know those eyes again ; nor will I marry any other.

'On the day of the marriage I raised the veil from the countenance of the bride, and in the mirror that was placed before us, in accordance with the Mahommedan wedding ceremony, I beheld the bright eyes that had bewildered me. I smiled. The young Begum smiled too.'

Another soldier of fortune was the son of an English officer and the daughter of a Rajput landowner. James Skinner, after various vicissitudes in the military service of native princes, joined General Lake in 1803. A little later two thousand of the defeated Scindia's Horse came over. When the troopers were asked which officer they would choose to serve under, with one voice they cried out 'Sikander Sahib,' which was their name for him in Scindia's army. He was given the command, and the regiment became the celebrated cavalry corps known as 'Skinner's Horse,' now the 1st Bengal Lancers (Duke of York's). They were given the nickname of 'The Yellow Boys' from their uniform, which was yellow with black facings. They won their laurels during the next quarter