FROM UMBALA TO FATHIGARH. 305 



a faint hum in the distance. . . . Slowly and 

 silently we passed through the village, in the main 

 street of which we saw the dead body of one of our 

 men lying stark and stiff and ghastly in the moon- 

 light ; and on emerging from the other side, dis- 

 missed our faithful guide, with directions to come 

 to our camp — and then, putting spurs to our horses, 

 we galloped for our dear life to Bewar, breathing 

 more freely as every stride bore us away from the 

 danger now past. We reached Bewar at about two 

 o'clock A.M., and found a party of our men sent out 

 to look for us. Our troopers had ridden in to say 

 they had been attacked and driven back, and that 

 we had gone on alone, and all concluded we must 

 fall into the hands of the enemy. We flung our- 

 selves down on charpoys and slept till daylight, 

 when our column marched in, and we received the 

 hearty congratulations of all on our escape." 



The two men had ridden ninety-four miles since 

 six o'clock on the morning of the 30th, Hodson 

 himself having ridden seventy-two miles on one 

 horse. " We astonished the headquarter people not 

 a little," he says. A few hours later on the morning 

 of the 31st Seaton's column marched into camp at 

 Bewar. 



Some days afterwards Seaton ascertained that the 

 horsemen from whom Hodson had so narrowly 

 escaped belonged to a body of insurgents that had 

 just been dispersed by Brigadier Walpole's opera- 

 tions along the banks of the Jumna. Unable to 

 cross that river, they had resolved to try and make 

 tlieir way across the Ganges into Oudh. How 

 dangerous was the road along which Hodson and 

 M'Dowell had ridden may be gathered from the 



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