Our ensign's wound was extremely painful He tied a handkerchief round the arm, and remembering his brother's example, gave no sign. As they drew nearer to camp, two hundred men of the 9th Lancers and four hundred Sikh horse poured out to their support, charging like a thunderbolt into the enemy's masses, whilst the few Guides and Kumaon Gurkhas, who had been left to protect the Ridge, also came out to check the rush of victorious sepoys. At that moment Jemadar Goria Thapa sank to the ground with a bullet in his thigh. Here was Ted's chance to repay his debts! Forgetting his wounds, he dashed at the three men who were rushing to polish off the Gurkha, and again his life hung by a thread. But a couple of his Sirmur men had sprung after him, and with their kukris they quickly despatched two of the pandies. Then with Ted's assistance the wounded man was hurriedly carried away into the midst of their Kumaon countrymen, and safety was reached. * * * * * When Major Reid recovered consciousness, he found himself on the back of one of his faithful Gurkhas, who had carried him out of the fight. The wound, though severe, was happily not mortal. The Nepalese crowded around, their eyes plainly expressing both alarm and grief, and the man who had had the good fortune to carry their beloved chief to safety became an object of envy to his comrades. "What a lucky fellow," thought they, "to have had the glorious privilege of saving the life of our wounded leader!" When Reid became aware of all that had happened since his fall, his disappointment was intense, and the bitter sorrow occasioned by his failure to assist the other columns aggravated the pain of his wound. No less bitterly mortified were all his comrades, the surviving officers and men of the 4th Column, both British and Asiatic, the reflection that without artillery to aid, their attempt was doomed to failure, consoling them but little. Their defeat was the more grievous because of the high hopes and anticipations engendered by the striking success of the bombardment. It was generally thought that this would have filled the rebels with terror, and that the opposition offered to an assault would have been much less sturdy. "Are you badly hurt, Jim?" asked Ted, as they looked on while the surgeon dressed the wounds of their much-injured chief. "No, not badly. No bone touched. You're not hit, are you?" "Sword-cut here, but it's only a scratch. It hasn't bled much. Will he do well, doctor?" "Sure to. Now I'll have a look at your scratches! Oh, you're right for once, youngster. It is only a flesh wound, though I guess it hurts." He pronounced Jim's injury rather worse than Ted's, and ordered him to take things quietly for some days. Ted accompanied his brother to the Guides' post to see how Alec was getting on.