One wounded him in the right shoulder; Skene turned in his saddle and clove him down. At that moment a soldier--the young lad of the 2nd Sussex to whom he gave his water-bottle at the well of Abu Haifa--ran from the ranks and attacked another assailant of Skene, but perished under twenty spears, and ere the latter could deliver one blow again, he was dragged from his saddle, covered with wounds in the neck and face--ghastly wounds from which the blood was streaming--'each a death to nature,' and literally hewn to pieces. So thus, eventually, was his strange presentiment fulfilled! Meanwhile the Ghazis had forced their way so far into the square that one was actually slain in the act of firing the battery ammunition. Despite the great efforts of a gallant Captain Verner and others, 'the Heavies were being massacred; and after the fall of Burnaby, whom Sir William Cumming, of the Scots Guards, tried to save, Verner was beaten down, but his life (it is recorded) was saved by Major Carmichael, of the Irish Lancers, whose dead body fell across him, as well as those of three Ghazis.' The Earl of Airlie and Lord Beresford, fighting sword in hand, were both wounded, and so furious was the inrush of the Arabs, that many of them reached the heart of the square, where they slew the maimed and dying in the litters, and rushed hither and thither, with shrill yells, streaming hair, and flashing eyes, until they were all shot down or bayoneted to death. Fighting for life and vengeance, and half maddened to find that their cartridges jammed hard and fast after the third shot, our soldiers--in some instances placed back to back--fought on the summit of a mound surrounded by thousands upon thousands of dark-skinned spearmen and swordsmen, hurling their strength on what were originally the left and rear faces of the square, till, with all its defects, our fire became so deadly and withering, that they began to waver, recoil, and eventually fly, while the triumphant cheers of our men rent the welkin. Away went the Arabs streaming in full flight towards Berber, Metemneh, and the road to Khartoum, followed by Barrow and his Hussars cutting them down like ripened grain, and followed, to the screaming, plunging, and crashing fire of the screw guns which now came into action and pursuit with shot and shell. So the field and the walls of Abu Klea were won, but dearly, as we had 135 other ranks killed, and above 200 wounded, including camel drivers and other camp followers. The former were buried by the men of the 19th Hussars. Earth to earth--dust to dust--ashes to ashes; three carbine volleys rang above them in farewell, and all was over; while the native slain were left in their thousands to the birds of the air.