shot, even stones flung by
hand--burst upon them. They recoiled. Again they formed up, again
charged up the lane, again captured the first gun, which Captain
Greville spiked. Once more they dashed forward to the second gun and the
bullet-proof screen. Men fell fast, blocking the narrow lane. Major
Jacob, of the 1st Fusiliers, and six other officers were struck down,
and Captain Greville was withdrawing the men from what he deemed an
impossible task.

But at this moment the great voice of Nicholson himself was heard
calling on the men to make one more charge and follow him. He rushed to
the front, and turned his back for a moment to the enemy, so that his
men might see his face and take courage. A shot from the bastion struck
him in the back; he reeled and fell. A sergeant caught him, and laid him
in one of the recesses below the ramparts. He was taken back to the
Kabul gate, and by and by was placed in a dooli and entrusted to native
bearers to carry to the field hospital below the Ridge.

Lieutenant Frederick Roberts, an engineer on General Wilson's staff, had
been sent into the city to discover the truth of reports carried to
him--that Nicholson had fallen, and Hope Grant and Tombs were both dead.
As he rode through the Kashmir gate, Lieutenant Roberts saw a dooli by
the roadside with a wounded man in it, but no bearers. The lieutenant
dismounted to see what he could do. He found that the wounded man was
John Nicholson, deserted by the bearers, lying in helpless agony alone.
The bearers had run off to plunder. Four men were found to supply their
places; a sergeant of the 61st Foot was put in charge of the party, and
the dying soldier was carried to Captain Daly's tent on the Ridge.

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SIXTH

Eighty to One

Ahmed entered the city with the first column. When, however, Nicholson
decided to work along the ramparts and leave Colonel Jones and the
second column to push forward into the streets, he ordered Ahmed to act
as guide to the colonel. Ahmed led the way through the streets by which
he had come on the night when he dropped over the wall. The victorious
troops swept them clear of mutineers, but their progress was slow,
because the men could not be restrained from plundering as they went.

In due time they reached the great mosque, whence, after waiting vainly
for the arrival of the fourth column, Colonel Jones decided to retire to
the Begam Bagh. It happened as the troops withdrew, that a