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Rh behind. With a light heart, then, the officers of the 54th N. I., and of the battery of native artillery, accompanied their men, to whom the sacred duty of defence had been committed, towards the city gates.

Their dream of confidence was not of long duration. Some men of the 38th, at the main-guard, set the example of revolt. Ordered to fire on the approaching troopers, they replied with insult. The 54th then fired, some in the air, some on their own officers. Colonel Ripley was wounded; Smith, Burrowes, Edwards, and Waterfield were shot dead. The 74th N. I. was then ordered to the front. Their colonel addressed them, reminded them of their past good conduct, and called upon volunteers to accompany him to the Kashmír Gate, adding that now was the time for the regiment to prove its loyalty. The sipáhís stepped forward to a man, and with the same hope which had characterised the officers of the 54th, those of the 74th led on their men. At the main-guard they found some men of the 54th N. I. who had returned from the city. The din within the walls of the city was now overwhelming. The sipáhís themselves evidently dreaded lest the strong English force stationed at Mírath should have arrived. As deeply imbued as their comrades with the spirit of revolt, they resolved, then, before they cast their lot with those who had 'pronounced,' to wait the turn of events. They remained halted, silent and thoughtful, at the main-guard. They were still there when a terrible explosion within the city shook that building to its foundations.

In the heart of the city, at no great distance from the palace, was the great magazine, full of munitions of war On that morning there were in the magazine Lieutenant George Willoughby, in charge of it, Lieutenants Forrest and Raynor, of the Ordnance Commissariat department, Conductors Buckley, Shaw, Scully, and Crow, and Ser-