e would effect their escape.
But soon, on September 15, the good news was received that the British
were coming to their rescue, and, guided by the bribed Afghan, Lady
Sale and her companions moved off secretly to meet them. Two days
later they arrived at the foot of the Kalu Pass, where they met Sir
Richmond Shakespeare, with 600 native horsemen, coming to their rescue.
Lady Sale was naturally anxious to hear of her husband's doings, and
Sir Richmond Shakespeare was able to make her happy by telling her of
how gallantly he had defended Jelalabad. Soon, however, she heard from
his own lips the story of his defence. On September 19, a horseman
arrived with a message from Sir Robert Sale, saying that he was
advancing with a brigade. Lady Sale had been feeling weak for several
days, but the news of her husband's approach gave her fresh strength.
'It is impossible to express our feelings on Sale's approach,' she
wrote in her diary. 'To my daughter and myself happiness so long
delayed as to be almost unexpected was actually painful, and
accompanied by a choking sensation which could not obtain the relief of
tears.'
The men loudly cheered Lady Sale and her daughter, and pressed forward
to express their hearty congratulations at their escape. 'And then,'
Lady Sale continued in her diary, 'my highly-wrought feelings found the
desired relief; and I could scarcely speak to thank the soldiers for
their sympathy, whilst the long withheld tears now found their course.
On arriving at the camp, Captain Backhouse fired a royal salute from
his mountain train guns; and not only our old friends, but all the
officers in the party, came to offer congratulations and welcome our
return from captivity.'
After a visit to England, Sir Robert and Lady Sale returned to India in
March, 1844. Towards the end of the following year the Sikh War broke
out, and at the battle of Mudki, fought on December 18, Sir Robert's
left thigh was shattered by a grape shot, and he died three days later.
Lady Sale continued to reside in India after her husband's death, her
comfort secured by a pension of L500 a year, granted to her by Queen
Victoria, as a mark of approbation of her own and Sir Robert's conduct.
She died at Cape Town, which she was visiting for the benefit of her
health, on July 6, 1853, aged sixty-three.
ETHEL ST. CLAIR GRIMWOOD,
AND THE ESCAPE FROM MANIPUR
Until late in the last century it was a common thing for the r
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