CAWNPORE 69 



moment of actual joy such as they had never ex- 

 pected to experience again. Major Vibart, now in 

 command since the wounding of General Wheeler, 

 stood with his staff to the left of the ghat ; the Nana 

 was on the right. Apparently no other human be- 

 ings were present to witness the commencement 

 of their journey. 



But if they could have looked behind the walls of 

 the ghat and through the brush that skirted the 

 river-banks, if they could have had but one glimpse 

 of the cannon trained upon the boats which they 

 were about to enter, and the rows of silent rebel 

 soldiers waiting for a signal from their chief, who 

 knows in what respects the history of Cawnpore 

 might have been altered. The men still had their 

 arms, and desperation lends might even to the few. 

 They would at least have died in action. 



But this was not to be. There was no reason to 

 doubt the Nana's good faith. Up to the beginning 

 of the siege he had professed friendship for the Brit- 

 ish, and it was but rational to suppose, either that 

 he was now repentant, or that policy was prompting 

 him to friendly action. The boats were entered, and 

 the word given by Major Vibart to shove off. At 

 that moment a bugle sounded, there was a flash 

 from the bank, and volley after volley of ball and 

 bullets was poured into the helpless mass of English 



