For a time it seemed a sheer impossibility that the position could be carried, though the artillery was playing upon the enemy’s sangars continually. Noon came, and still the three companies of Ghurkas were waiting under the cover of the rocks until their comrades should join them for the final dash up the heights. At last General Yeatman-Biggs ordered that the position must be taken at all costs. Brigadier-General Kempster, in command of the brigade, now brought forward the 1st Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders and the 3rd Sikhs, and told them they were to make the assault. Far up on the hillside the jubilant Afridis were shouting defiance, amid the waving of standards and beating of drums, confident that their stronghold was impregnable. They rejoiced too soon. Drawing up his men, Colonel Mathias, of the Gordons, said: “Highlanders! the General says the position must be taken at all costs. The Gordons will take it!” With their Colonel, Major Forbes Macbean, and Lieutenant Gordon at their head, and their pipers, Findlater and Milne, playing the familiar “Cock o’ the North,” the Gordons dashed over the fiery zone, with the Derbys, the Dorsets, and the Sikhs pressing close behind them. Almost the first to be hit were Major Macbean, who cheered on his men as he lay on the ground, and the two pipers. Milne was shot through the lung and fell senseless, but Piper “Jock” Findlater, who was shot in both ankles, propped himself up against a boulder and continued to play his pipes with unabated energy. And to the inspiriting strains of the old regimental air, the Highlanders and the others got across. [Illustration: PIPER FINDLATER … PROPPED HIMSELF UP AGAINST A BOULDER AND CONTINUED TO PLAY HIS PIPES.--_Page 236._] It was perhaps owing to the suddenness of the rush after the long wait, and to the renewed artillery fire, that the Gordons accomplished the task with fewer losses than had attended the previous attempts; yet for all that the casualties were heavy. In the charge up the steep slope, where some of the Afridis were already turning tail, more men were to fall ere the heights were won; but won they were, the enemy being sent flying in all directions. It was a grand dash, worthy of the splendid reputation of the Gordons, and well did they deserve the burst of cheers with which the other regiments spontaneously greeted them as they returned. Sir William Lockhart, too, at a parade two days afterwards, had a word or two to say about that exploit which filled the Highlanders with pride. For his gallantry in continuing to play his pipes while wounded “Jock” Findlater in time was awarded the Victoria Cross. There were many who considered that Piper Milne also merited the honour, but the authorities thought differently, and his claim was passed over.