One must do our soldiers the justice to say that, though infuriated by the slaughter of their officers and countrymen, with their wives and children, inflamed by the news of the Cawnpore massacre, not an old man, not a woman or child, was wilfully hurt by them. As Seaton was waiting on the 20th by the Palace Gate, some soldiers were bringing along an old man, whom they held by the arms. He went up and said to them: “Remember you are Christian men, and he is very old.” “Oh, sir!” was the reply, “we doesn’t forget that. We don’t mean him no harm. We only wants a bit of baccy.” So he let them go on, and in a few minutes saw them stuffing their pipes, and the old fellow genially bringing a coal to light them. “I have seen hundreds of instances where the greatest humanity and kindness were shown, both to young and old, as well as to females, by our noble-hearted fellows, even in their wildest moments.” From Major-General Sir Thomas Seaton’s “From Cadet to Colonel.” By kind permission of Messrs. G. Routledge and Sons. CHAPTER XI THE DEFENCE OF LUCKNOW (31ST OF MAY TO 25TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1857) Firing at close quarters--Adventures of fugitives--Death of Sir H. Lawrence--His character--Difficulty of sending letters--Mines and counter-mines--Fulton killed--Signs of the relief coming--A great welcome--Story of the escape from Cawnpore. For about ten days previous to the outbreak at Lucknow daily reports were made that an _émeute_ was intended, and Sir Henry Lawrence, the brother of Sir John Lawrence, had ordered all kinds of stores to be bought and stored. The ladies and children had been removed from the cantonments to the Residency in the city, which was already occupied by a party of the 32nd foot and two guns. The 9 p.m. gun on the 30th of May was evidently the signal for the mutiny to begin, as a few minutes after it had been fired, whilst Sir Henry and his staff were at dinner at the Residency, a sepoy came running in, and reported a disturbance in the lines. Sir Henry took two guns and a company of the 32nd, and took post on the road leading to the town. Meanwhile bands of insurgents began to plunder and burn our officers’ bungalows. Many officers had wonderful escapes from death; some were killed by the rebels. Muchee Bhawun, the residence of the late King, had been selected as a fitting place of security and retreat: it was being strengthened and supplied with stores. On _June 10_ houses and buildings around began to be demolished; tents were set apart for the European refugees who arrived daily from the districts. On _June 12_ the military police mutinied in a body, and went off to Cawnpore; they were pursued for eight miles and about twenty were killed.