the intervening ground towards the main
body. One of them fell dead, and two others were wounded. Stanley
was running, when he fell headlong, without a moment's thought or
consciousness.

The Burmese occupied the tank as soon as the levies had abandoned
it, and their fire at once took the defenders of the main position
in flank. A retreat was now necessary, and the sepoys drew off in
good order but, as the exulting Burmans pressed hotly upon them,
and their cavalry cut off and killed every man who fell wounded
from their ranks, they became seized with a panic. In vain their
officers exhorted them to keep steady. Reaching a rivulet, the men
threw down their rifles and accoutrements as they crossed it, and
took to headlong flight.

The little group of officers gathered together, and fought to the
end. Captains Noton, Truman, and Pringle; Lieutenant Grigg, Ensign
Bennet, and Maismore the doctor were killed. Three officers, only,
made their escape; of these, two were wounded.

The fugitives, both natives and sepoys, continued their flight; and
when, two or three days later, they straggled into Chittagong, it
was found that the total loss in killed and missing amounted to
about two hundred and fifty. Those taken prisoners numbered only
about twenty. All these were more or less severely wounded, for no
quarter had been given. They had, in the pursuit, been passed over
as dead; and when, after this was over, they were found to be
alive, they were spared from no feeling of humanity, but that they
might be sent to Ava, as proofs of the victory obtained over the
British. The number actually found alive was greater, but only
those were spared that were capable of travelling.

Among these was Stanley Brooke. He had remained insensible, until
the pursuit had been discontinued. A violent kick roused him to
consciousness and, sitting up, he found that half a dozen Burmese
were standing round him. His first action, on recovering his
senses, was to discover where he was wounded. Seeing no signs of
blood on his white clothes, he took off his cap and passed his hand
over his head; and found that the blood was flowing from a wound
just on the top, where a bullet had cut away the hair and scalp,
and made a wound nearly three inches long, at the bottom of which
he could feel the bone.

Looking up at the Burmese, he said, in their own language:

"That was a pretty close shave, wasn't it?"

Two or three of them laughed, and all looke