erable bodies of the enemy were
observed moving out from Cabul, as if with the intention of
attacking the relieving force.

The assailants of the British position--finding their inability to
produce the smallest impression--were now beginning to waver; and
General Gough ordered the cavalry and horse artillery to go out, by
the road which led through a gorge in a hill behind, and to sweep
round and take them in the rear.

This they did, with immense success. At the moment that they fell
upon the enemy, the British infantry sallied out from the
cantonment and attacked them in front. A panic seized the Afghans.
In a few minutes the whole plain was covered with flying fugitives;
among whom our cavalry swept backward and forward, cutting them up
in all directions; while the fire of our infantry, and of the guns
on the walls, searched them through and through, whenever they
attempted to gather in a knot, and make a stand.

By nightfall, the whole of the Afghans had either fled to the
hills, or were driven into Cabul. Upon the following day General
Gough's force marched in but, before their arrival, it was found
that the enemy had again evacuated the city; and the British were,
as before, masters of the position. After the decisive defeat which
had been inflicted upon them, and the dispersion of the great force
which had gathered, confident of victory, there was little fear of
any further attempt on the part of the enemy. They had brought
their whole force into the field and, as this was defeated and
dispersed, before the arrival of General Gough with his
reinforcements, it was evident that success could not be hoped for
against the united strength of the English.

The time passed quietly, now. The Bala-Hissar and Cabul were
reoccupied and, as the natives were cowed by the crushing defeat
they had experienced, there was no longer any repetition of the
insolent and defiant manner which they had, before, manifested.

On the 3rd of January a message was brought to the orderly room
that the general wished to see Sergeant Gale. Upon his presenting
himself at the general's quarters, Sir Frederick Roberts--to his
surprise--at once advanced, and shook him warmly by the hand.

"Mr. Gale," he said, "I am very happy to inform you that the Horse
Guards have acted upon my recommendation, seconded by that which
was sent in by your colonel--who wrote at once, upon receiving a
notification from me of the step I had taken, saying that