We reached Suez, and anchored there.  At Suez lay many ships in front of us, and a great gray battle-ship saluted us with guns, we all standing to attention while our ensigns dipped.  I thought it strange that the battle-ship should salute us first, until I recalled how when I was a little fellow I once saw a viceroy salute my grandfather.  My grandfather was one of those Sikhs who marched to help the British on the Ridge at Delhi when the British cause seemed lost.  The British have long memories for such things.

Later there came an officer from the battle-ship and there was hot argument on our upper bridge.  The captain of our ship grew very angry, but the officer from the battle-ship remained polite, and presently he took away with him certain of our stokers.  The captain of our ship shouted after him that there were only weaklings and devil’s leavings left, but later we discovered that was not true.

We fretted at delay at Suez.  Ships may only enter the canal one by one, and while we waited some Arabs found their way on board from a small boat, pretending to sell fruit and trinkets.  They assured us that the French and British were already badly beaten, and that Belgium had ceased to be.  To test them, we asked where Belgium was, and they did not know; but they swore it had ceased to be.  They advised us to mutiny and refuse to go on to our destruction.

They ought to have been arrested, but we were enraged and drove them from the ship with blows.  We upset their little boat by hauling at the rope with which they had made it fast, and they were forced to swim for shore.  One of them was taken by a shark, which we considered an excellent omen, and the others were captured as they swam and taken ashore in custody.

I think others must have visited the other ships with similar tales to tell, because after that, sahib, there was something such as I think the world never saw before that day.  In that great fleet of ships we were men of many creeds and tongues—­Sikh, Muhammadan, Dorga, Gurkha (the Dogra and Gurkha be both Hindu, though of different kinds), Jat, Punjabi, Rajput, Guzerati, Pathan, Mahratta—­ who can recall how many!  No one language could have sufficed to explain one thought to all of us—­no, nor yet ten languages!  No word passed that my ear caught.  Yet, ship after ship became aware of closer unity.

All on our knees on all the ships together we prayed thereafter thrice a day, our British officers standing bareheaded beneath the upper awnings, the chin-strap marks showing very plainly on their cheeks as the way of the British is when they feel emotion.  We prayed, sahib, lest the war be over before we could come and do our share.  I think there was no fear in all that fleet except the fear lest we come too late.  A man might say with truth that we prayed to more gods than one, but our prayer was one.  And we received one answer.

One morning our ship got up anchor unexpectedly and began to enter the canal ahead of all the ships bearing Indian troops.  The men on the other ships bayed to us like packs of wolves, in part to give encouragement but principally jealous.  We began to expect to see France now at any minute—­I, who can draw a map of the world and set the chief cities in the proper place, being as foolish as the rest.  There lay work as well as distance between us and France.