y were day and night hovering round our piquets, the
object of which was to take our attention from their main body, who had
been dispatched to intercept a small detachment that was on the way to
join us, from Muttra. Our spies soon brought intelligence of this, and,
in little more than ten minutes after, three regiments of dragoons were
on the move to rescue them, and arrived just in time to save our stores
and the lives of the little party. Holkar commanded in person on this
occasion; and it was reported that he was killed, though this proved
afterwards to be false. A reward was offered for his head, and a great
number were tendered, but none belonged to one-eyed Holkar. It is true,
heads were produced without an eye, but the phiz of that notorious Pin
was too well known to Chiggram (our best spy) to admit of our being
imposed on.

My wounds at this time were nearly well; and, having been unsuccessful
in the first forlorn hope which I led, I volunteered to lead the second.
One night, previous to the time appointed for the second attack, I
sauntered to a retired spot, far from the observation of my comrades, to
muse over the prospect then immediately before me, and to ask His aid
who alone has the power to protect us. Scarcely had I entered a wood
about one hundred yards from the trenches, when my attention was
arrested by a soldier on his knees, fervently supplicating the aid of
Almighty God in the coming storm. The moment he heard my footstep, he
suddenly arose, and, seeming ashamed of the way in which he was engaged,
he said, "Who's that?" I answered, "Sergeant Shipp; who are you?" He
replied, "Private Murphy."--"Murphy!" I repeated; "is it possible that
such a blasphemer as you, who, day after day, and hour after hour, boast
your own infamy in a wanton disbelief and contempt of every quality that
can constitute the man and the Christian, and who, no later than
yesternight, solemnly protested before your comrades, that you firmly
believed there was no place of punishment save a man's own conscience,
and that hell was merely a name to frighten and intimidate
schoolboys--can it be possible," continued I, "that you have at this
late hour retired to this lonely place, and are found in the act of
prayer?"--"Shipp," he replied, in a softer tone, and in nearly the
following words, "whatever men may boast or say in their deluded and
more irrational moments, there is a period when all those blasphemous
expressions rush acros