reat form riding steadily on as if
nothing was the matter, they took courage, feeling sure that all was
right. A short halt was made at the village of Nanghir, and while the
troops were resting, two officers rode forward to reconnoitre a nullah
that crossed the road about five miles away. They found that a crossing
was practicable, and from its bank they descried the enemy's outposts.

It was five o'clock before the column had forded the nullah, under fire
of the rebels. Darkness would soon fall, and if the enemy was to be
routed no time could be lost. Nicholson himself rode forward to
reconnoitre their position. It extended for two miles, from the town of
Najafgarh on the left to the bridge over the Najafgarh canal on the
right. The strongest point was an old serai at their left centre, where
they had four guns; nine other guns lay between this and the bridge.
This serai he resolved to attack with his infantry, the guns covering
the flanks, and the 9th Lancers and Guides to support the line.

As soon as the line was formed, Nicholson ordered the infantry to lie
down while the guns made an attempt to silence those of the enemy. He
rode along the line, addressing each regiment in turn, aptly suiting his
words to what he knew of their previous achievements in war. One order
he gave to them all: to reserve their fire until they came within forty
yards of the serai, then to pour in one volley and charge home.

The bugles sounded the advance. The eager men--British riflemen, Bengal
fusiliers, Panjab infantry--sprang to their feet with a cheer, and
followed Nicholson amid a storm of shot over the oozy swamp that divided
them from the enemy. They reached the serai, dashed into it, swept the
defenders away, and seized the guns, the sepoys resisting with the
desperate bravery they almost always displayed behind defences. The
serai cleared, the cheering infantry formed up on the left, and with
irresistible dash fell on the rebels as they fled toward the canal
bridge in mad haste to save their guns.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Lumsden, brother of Lumsden of the Guides, had
driven the enemy out of Najafgarh itself. But just as the sun was
setting on the brief battle, Nicholson learnt that a band of mutineers
had halted in a cluster of houses between the serai and the canal.
Determined not to leave his victory incomplete, he ordered Lumsden to
drive them out at the point of the bayonet. The Panjabis followed their
gallant leader into