The show, he explained, displayed “a human mosaic of horsemen: Indians, Cossacks, cowboys, Bedouins, Mexicans, cuirassiers, Boers, Britons, 300 strong.”

He had dreamed of flying Uhlans, captured trenches, charging hussars and cuirassiers--and now, he had been threatened with the "cat."

I found a dozen men, cuirassiers of his privileged troop, peeping and squinting under the canvas which had been hung round the fire.