dis had taken up a much stronger position than the one they had
occupied on Monday, and had established their main body on an
exceedingly steep hill, about a thousand feet high, which commanded the
route the advancing army was obliged to take.

The height and the steepness of the hill were, however, but a small part
of the difficulty with which the British forces had to contend. The real
serious point lay in the fact that there was but one path by which the
summit of the hill could be reached, and this was only wide enough for
one man to pass at a time. It was therefore impossible to send large
bodies of troops against the enemy, and there was the terrible danger
that sharpshooters might pick off the men one by one as they tried to
ascend the path.

The work had, however, to be done, and an English regiment and two
troops of native soldiers were sent forward to storm the hill.

Between the position occupied by the English and that held by their foes
lay an open space of rough and rocky ground, which was within rifle
range of the Afridis.

Stationing some of their best shots half-way down the hill, the
tribesmen waited patiently while the English made their way across the
open space.

The advance was extremely difficult owing to the rough nature of the
ground, the soldiers having actually to climb from rock to rock.

[Illustration: Bagpiper]

As soon as the English were well within rifle range, the tribesmen, who
had not fired a shot until the troops were in the bad ground, opened
such a deadly fire on them that the on-coming troops were checked. All
this time the British artillerymen were assailing the sharpshooters with
shot and shell, trying their best to drive them off the side of the
hill. In spite of their best efforts the enemy never wavered, but held
their position.

The fight began to look serious for the English, and might have gone
against them but that the general in command, realizing that the men
could no longer stand against the deadly fire of the enemy, ordered a
fresh regiment, the Gordon Highlanders, to go to the assistance of the
struggling troops.

It is customary for a general to keep a portion of his army in reserve,
so that should the battle seem to be going against him, he can send
fresh soldiers into the fight to strengthen the weak places. The tide of
battle has again and again been turned by bringing in these reserves at
the right moment.

The accounts we read of battles tell us ho