on the scene, he was detached with two guns under
Lieutenant Hills, a troop of Lancers, and the Guides, and found himself
faced by a huge mass of infantry and cavalry, with six or eight guns, in
his immediate front. There was nothing to fall back upon, so, leaving a
handful of Guides to protect the guns, he detached the rest to clear the
left flank, already threatened by the enemy's horse. Lieutenant Hills
got his guns into action, and the little force was bravely holding its
own when Major Tombs hurried up with the remainder of the guns. The
mutineers pressed on in swarms, dodging among the trees, and when they
observed the weakness of the force opposed to them, and the absence of
infantry, they began to close in, until they could pick off Major Tombs'
men as they served the guns. There was a danger that the defenders would
be overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers.

"I fear I must ask you to charge, to save my guns," said Major Tombs to
Daly.

Daly was the only British officer with the cavalry. Waving his sword, he
called on his Guides to charge. The little band dashed forward in the
gathering mist, cut their way right through the crowd of infantry, and
never checked until they reached the enemy's guns. The gunners fled, the
infantry was thrown into disorder, and the bold and perilous movement
had the effect of clearing the front and allowing time for
reinforcements to come up.

A bullet struck Daly in the left shoulder, and he fell from his horse.
In the excitement of the charge his plight was unnoticed. Search was
made for him when the men were returning, and they could not find him in
the dark, until one of the enemy, who had been a jamadar in the 1st Oudh
Irregular Cavalry, pointed out his whereabouts. His wound proved so
serious as to incapacitate him, and indeed he never recovered the full
use of his left arm, so that when Lieutenant Hodson called on the
General next day to report the arrangements he had made with Ahmed, he
learnt that he was to command the Guides until Daly had recovered.

Next day Ahmed set off for Karnal with a returning convoy. Sherdil was
anxious to know what had passed at his interview with the General, still
more when he learnt that he was leaving for Karnal. But Ahmed told him
nothing except that he had been entrusted with an errand, and might not
see him again for some time.

On arriving at Karnal, Ahmed changed his uniform for the ordinary dress
of an Afghan trader, and purchased