followed Captain Burroughs and Lieutenant
Cooper, of the 93rd, and immediately behind them their Colonel
(Ewart), Captain Lumsden, of the 30th Bengal Infantry,[17] and a
number of Sikhs and Highlanders as fast as they could scramble through
the opening. A drummer-boy of the 93rd must have been one of the first
to pass that grim boundary between life and death, for when I got in
I found him just inside the breach, lying on his back quite dead--a
pretty, innocent-looking, fair-haired lad, not more than fourteen
years of age.

The crush now became so great in the men's eagerness to get through
the opening and join the conflict within, that a regular block was the
consequence, which every minute became more hopeless. One party
made for the gateway and another for a barred window[18] close by,
determined to force an entrance by them. The traverse having
been rushed by the 4th Punjab Infantry gallantly led by a Dogra
Subadar,[19] a Punjabi Mahomedan of this distinguished corps behaved
with the most conspicuous bravery. The enemy, having been driven out
of the earthwork, made for the gateway, the heavy doors of which were
in the act of being closed, when the Mahomedan (Mukarrab Khan by name)
pushed his left arm, on which he carried a shield, between them, thus
preventing their being shut; on his hand being badly wounded by a
sword-cut, he drew it out, instantly thrusting in the other arm, when
the right hand was all but severed from the wrist.[20] But he gained
his object--the doors could not be closed, and were soon forced open
altogether, upon which the 4th Punjab Infantry, the 53rd, 93rd, and
some of the Detachments, swarmed in.

This devoted action of Mukarrab Khan I myself witnessed, for, with
Augustus Anson, I got in immediately behind the storming party. As
we reached the gateway, Anson was knocked off his horse by a bullet,
which grazed the base of the skull just behind the right ear, and
stunned him for a moment--the next, he was up and mounted again, but
was hardly in the saddle when his horse was shot dead.

The scene that ensued requires the pen of a Zola to depict. The
rebels, never dreaming that we should stop to attack such a formidable
position, had collected in the Sikandarbagh to the number of upwards
of 2,000, with the intention of falling upon our right flank so soon
as we should become entangled amongst the streets and houses of the
Hazratganj.[21] They were now completely caught in a trap, the only
ou