That same night the toast of “Her Majesty the Queen,” proposed by the conqueror of Delhi, was drunk with all honour in the Dewan-i-Khas by the headquarters staff. Never had the old building re-echoed with any sound half so fine. The cheer was taken up by the gallant Goorkhas of the Sirmoor Battalion who formed the General’s personal guard, and was, indeed, soon re-echoed all over India, all over the English world. Thus, then, ended this famous siege, one of the greatest and most memorable in the history of England--a siege which, out of an effective force that never amounted to 10,000 men, entailed a loss of 992 killed and 2,845 wounded, apart from all those who died from disease and exposure; but a siege, at the same time, which added an imperishable leaf to England’s laurel crown, and enabled her to retain her imperial hold on Hindostan. [Illustration: THE VICTORIA CROSS.] [Illustration: _Gislikon by A: J: Butler_] “What battle is this?” we can conceive our readers asking; “and where is Gislikon?” The form of the name may put some on the right track. In one of the most frequented regions of Switzerland “-ikons” are as common as “-inghams” in England, and no one who has travelled over any of the railways about Zürich or Lucerne can have failed to notice some instance of the odd-looking termination. Switzerland is indeed the country to which we are going, and among those of our readers who have already visited that “playground of Europe,” we will venture to say that at least one-half have been close to, if they have not actually passed over, the field on which the battle that we are going to describe was fought. For Gislikon lies not more than six miles from the top of the world-famous Rigi; it is a station on the not less famous St. Gotthard railway.