The 10th chapter of Flashman in the Great Game gives readers and the hero a brief break from all the bloodshed.
Despite the above words no book about the Mutiny is complete without mention of what happened at Cawnpore after the original massacre. The remaining women and children were taken in custody by Nana Sahib and his cohorts and imprisoned under harsh conditions. They were then slaughtered when the tide turned against Sahib and the British forces came in. What they found when they arrived sickened them and reprisals were equally dreadful. History has deservedly condemned both sides.
Harry and his fellow escapees were rescued and sheltered by an Indian maharajah who had remained sympathetic to the British. When it was safe they were returned to Cawnpore.
Harry actually seemed to enjoy his time helping the women and children get back to some sort of normality. He knew that he could very well be sent back to his original mission of trying to bring Lakshimbai onside, and despite his infatuation with the woman, he was not looking forward to it, and as he so often does during his adventures, he really just wanted to return to home and Elspeth. It was not to be.
As part of his enjoyment in telling stories to the ladies, he’d played at being Makarram Khan for a laugh. This put the seed of an idea into the mind of Havelock; a grave faced British commander Flashman had first encountered in Flashman. This chapter would also reunite Harry with the gruff Scottish commander Colin Campbell, one of the few celebrated soldiers of the Victorian age that Harry Flashman had any respect for.
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