The story of the British Army's dash to relieve Khartoum. Cousins Valentine and Jack Fenleigh, meet at school and spend adventurous holidays at their aunt's country cottage. Their friendship is broken when Jack is suspected of stealing a watch but they meet again as soldiers in Egypt, marching to the relief of Gordon in Khartoum. From the narrative, as Valentine - a boy when the story opens - enacts a battle scene with his tin soldiers..."The battle was nearly over. Gallant tin soldiers of the line lay where they had fallen; nearly the whole of a shilling box of light cavalry had paid the penalty of rashly exposing themselves in a compact body to the enemy's fire; while a rickety little field-gun, with bright red wheels, lay overturned on two infantry men, who, even in death, held their muskets firmly to their shoulders, like the grim old "die-hards" that they were. The brigade of guards, a dozen red-coated veterans of solid lead, who had taken up a strong position in the cover of a cardboard box, still held their ground with a desperate valour only equalled by the dogged pluck of a similar body of the enemy, who had occupied the inkstand with the evident intention of remaining there until the last cartridge had been expended. Another volley swept the intervening stretch of tablecloth, and the deadly missiles glanced against the glass bottles and rattled among the pencils and penholders..."