s of the Guides, uttering shrill cries of exultation,
culminating in an extraordinary yell, dashed forward, climbed the hill
as only hillmen can climb, and cleared the crest. On the side of the
next hill the figures of the retreating tribesmen were visible, and many
were shot down before they could find shelter.

It was a strange thing, to watch these conspicuous forms toiling up the
hillside, dodging this way and that way, as the bullets cut into the
earth around them; but with the experience of the previous ten minutes
fresh in the memory, pity was not one of the emotions it aroused. A good
many fell, subsiding peacefully, and lying quite still. Their fall was
greeted by strange little yells of pleasure from the native soldiers.
These Afridi and Pathan companies of the Guides Infantry suggest nothing
so much as a well-trained pack of hounds. Their cries, their movements,
and their natures are similar.

The West Kents had now come into line on the Guides' right, and while
the latter held the long ridge they had taken, the British regiment
moved upon the village. Here the resistance became very severe. The
tangled and broken ground, rising in terraces, sometimes ten feet high,
and covered with high crops, led to fighting at close quarters with
loss on both sides. Loud and continuous grew the musketry fire. The 31st
Punjaub Infantry, who had ascended the spur on the right, soon joined
hands with the West Kents, and both regiments became hotly engaged.
Meantime the Mountain Battery, which had come into action near the
centre, began to throw its shells over the heads of the infantry on
to the higher slopes, from which the enemy were firing. It soon became
evident that the troops were too few for the work. On the left the
Guides Infantry were unable to leave the ridge they had captured,
lest it should be reoccupied by the enemy, who were showing in great
strength. A gap opened in consequence, between the Guides and Royal West
Kents, and this enabled the tribesmen to get round the left flank of the
British regiment, while the 31st Punjaub Infantry, on the right, were
also turned by the enveloping enemy. It is to these circumstances that
most of the losses were due.

The British regiment forced its way through the village, and encountered
the enemy strongly posted in sungars among the rocks above it. Here
they were sharply checked. The leading company had stormed one of these
fortifications, and the enemy at once retired hi