both men and guns; and to make matters worse,
the enemy, entrenched behind some trees at the little village of
Reduction, a mile or so away, now opened fire on our troops, as they
struggled to get across the morass.

It was soon evident that progress in that direction was an
impossibility, and very reluctantly the General gave the order to
retreat. But it was almost as impossible to retreat as to advance, for
the ground, trodden by the feet of so many men and horses, was now but
pulpy mud, in which the gun-carriages sank to their axles.

A British force, however, is not easily discouraged, and the men of all
ranks worked with almost super-human energy, till at last the whole
army had once more a footing on firm ground.

The General had been invaluable at this crisis; he was here, there, and
everywhere where the difficulties were greatest, and was one of the last
men to leave the morass, having insisted on seeing all the force safely
over. He was then riding alongside the rearguard when his horse
staggered, recovered itself for a moment, and then sank with the General
heavily into the morass.

'All right! all right!' he called out cheerily to an officer who ran to
his assistance; 'I am not hurt in the least.' The next minute, however,
he called out in a very different voice, 'Help! help! I am sinking!'

It was indeed true! He had fallen on to a bad patch of marsh. The morass
seemed now to be rapidly changing into a quicksand, in which the General
and his horse who had gone to his assistance were gradually sinking.

Other men were about to rush in, when they were stopped by the loud
tones of Anstey. 'Stop! stop!' he cried energetically. 'You can do no
good rushing in like that, you will only get engulfed yourselves. I know
these bogs--I have lived in Ireland.'

As he spoke he had seized one of the ladders which were fortunately
carried with the force in case they should be wanted for scaling, and
holding this out across the oozy patch, he let the General support
himself by it for a moment. Then he laid the ladder flat, and crept
along it till he reached the still sinking man: he caught him by the arm
at once, and started to haul him out. Anstey's strength was well known
in the regiment, and perhaps he was the only man who could have dragged
out the General by sheer force of arm, but he did it somehow, and the
cheers of the men simply rent the air as they saw their loved commander
safe once more.

'Thank you, my l