But the enemy had now begun climbing the hill-sides behind him so as to cut him off from Lieutenant Edwardes, and he was forced to retire. His position indeed was now a very precarious one, for the Chitralis had succeeded in getting above him, and were hurling down stones upon his party, besides firing upon them. Lieutenant Fowler himself was wounded in the back of the shoulder, the corporal of the party was also shot, and two other men wounded. Scrambling and jumping down he succeeded, however, in bringing his party with the wounded men down the hill-side again and on to the plain where Lieutenant Edwardes with the main body was covering his retreat. The Chitralis with Lieutenant Edwardes had been trying to induce him to enter the defile, in which case he would without doubt have suffered as Captain Ross's ill-fated party had done. But Edwardes had prudently waited till Fowler could report the hill-sides clear, and then, finding that instead of their being clear the enemy were now swarming on to them, he saw that his only plan was to retire to Reshun; and this, when Lieutenant Fowler had rejoined him, he accordingly did. But they were nearly two miles from the village: they had an open plain to cross and the spur nearly a thousand feet high to climb. One British officer and several men were wounded, and the enemy were gaining ground along the hill-sides. Disaster seemed imminent, but by holding the crest of the spur, and by firing steadily on the enemy to keep them at a distance, the retirement was effected without serious loss, and the sangar near the village of Reshun, where the rest of the party had been left, was reached before the enemy could cut them off. There is one little incident in this retirement which merits a very special mention. It has been said that Lieutenant Fowler was wounded. Now his pony was awaiting him in the plain at the foot of the hill-side up which he had been climbing; and as a steep hill, a thousand feet in height, had to be ascended on the way back to Reshun, it might have been supposed that Fowler would have mounted his pony and ridden up the hill. But there were also some sepoys wounded; and these in Fowler's opinion had to be looked after first. So he mounted a sepoy on his pony, and walked himself. It is not to be wondered at that when the native soldiers see their officers ready to make such sacrifices for them, they should be willing to follow them anywhere, and stand by them to the last, as indeed these very soldiers were now called upon to do.