Page:The Earl of Auckland.djvu/143

Rh were assailed by bodies of insurgents, who drove them back with heavy loss into the citadel By that time Burnes had fallen, the Treasury had been sacked, and the shops of friendly Hindus gutted; while the blaze of burning houses, the firing of matchlocks, and the yells of mobs intent on plunder and violence told how thoroughly the insurgents were doing their work. As the day wore on, the excitement spread throughout the city. Sturt, the Engineer, on his way from Shelton's camp, was badly wounded near the Sháh's own palace; and the chiefs who had planned the outbreak and prudently stayed at home all that morning, with their horses saddled ready for flight, now ventured to show themselves in public, as men whose safety was well assured.

All this happened while 5,000 good fighting-men lay idle within easy reach of the insurgent city. The timely march of a single regiment would have saved three English officers from a violent death, and stamped out the little fire which grew by sufferance into a wide conflagration. Macnaghten told Elphinstone that he 'did not think much' of the outbreak, which would soon subside. Elphinstone's orders to the commander of the force encamped on the heights of Siyá Sang were obeyed to the letter by Shelton, who sent part of his troops back to cantonments, and waited with the rest for the needful summons from the Bálá Hissár. He reached the citadel about noon, in time to cover the retreat of the Sháh's troops. Beyond exchanging shots with the enemy's marks-