[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:] Sin,—Just before reading
the answers to "Pro Patrifes " inquiry in your columns I received a letter from a lady in India, and although the letter will not help "Pro Petri " in
his inquiry, now that the subject of heroic deeds is being discussed an unadorned extract from that letter might interest you and your readers. I intentionally keep out all names. Such deeds as these must prove fatal in order to attract more than passing notice. I believe them to be frequent, though hardly known beyond a small circle. The two men were a young Captain of Artillery and a sergeant :--
"We had great news of D. two days ago, he did such a plucky thing, people in — say he ought to get the V.C. Some cordite exploded one night in the arsenal, and D. was sent for, and he and a sergeant went in and carried out 10 boxes of smouldering cordite, which might have gone off at any moment and blown them to pieces. Had the cordite exploded in the arsenal the whole place would have been a thing of the past."
'Yes; and if the arsenal had been saved (as it undoubtedly was), and these two men so demolished that there could have been no funeral or inquest, they might have swelled "Pro Patri&'s " list ; as it is, the only inquiry will be, What was the cause of the smouldering cordite P—I am, Sir, &c.,
D. G. T.
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