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Rh 85. Having so long hoped as it were against hope for the expected relief to come, and seeing no signs of a mitigation of our sufferings, many of us began to give up in utter despair, little dreaming that succour was so nigh, for, on the morning of the 23rd September, the sound of artillery in the direction of Cawnpore was distinctly heard, thus verifying the proverb "The darkest hour of night is just before the dawn."

As the fire kept approaching, the commotion in the city became intense, while, within the garrison, all was exultation to know that, through God's mercy, deliverance was at hand, as foretold by the Scotch Lassie in her