while the rough soldiery especially lamented the lost
opportunities for plundering.

Before the winter of 1847-48 had come to an end there was a violent
outbreak in Mooltan. In that district the Moolraj treacherously
murdered some white officers and proclaimed a "holy war" against the
British.

The revolt soon began to spread. Tribe after tribe helped to fan the
fires of rebellion into a blaze, until at last Sirdar Chuttur Singh,
whom everybody had thought to be tamed, threw off his allegiance and
raised his wild Hazara followers. To Nicholson news speedily came that
Chuttur Singh meant to seize the fort at Attock, an important hill
station. Although suffering from fever, he declared to Lawrence his
readiness to start at once for the fort and occupy it before the rebel
chief could forestall them.

"I will start to-night," said Nicholson. "The fever is nothing, and
shall not hinder me."

Lawrence having consented to his departure, he set off some hours later
with a body of Peshawur Horse and Mohammedan levies, and by dint of
hard riding reached the fort in the nick of time. The garrison were on
the point of closing the gates against him. Leaping from his horse,
and striding boldly among them, Nicholson ordered the Sikh soldiers to
arrest their leaders. For a moment they wavered, and the young
officer's life hung in the balance. But no one dared fire the shot
which would have turned the scale for mutiny.

"Seize those men!" commanded Nicholson fiercely, as he pointed out the
ringleaders. And, impressed by his resolute bearing, as he towered
above them with grim determination written on his face, the soldiers
did as he ordered, whereupon he placed the prisoners in fetters and
made arrangements for the security of the fort.

It was a daring and characteristic piece of work, made all the more
noteworthy by the fact that Nicholson was almost alone when he leapt
thus upon the mutineers. In his fiery impatience he had outdistanced
his escort of sixty horsemen, only a handful of these being able to
keep up with him to the end. The infantry, he noted in his report, did
not arrive until midnight.

Such a swift blow at their plans as this was not without its lesson to
the Sikhs, and the name of "Nikalseyn" from that time began to assume a
terrible significance in their minds.

[1] Killed at the battle of Ferozeshah.

CHAPTER IV.

THE SECOND SIKH WAR.

The capture of Attock effected, there still