Fix Bay'nets: The Regiment in the Hills

  CHAPTER TWENTY.

  NON-COMBATANTS.

  Meanwhile, completely cut off by the enemy from the rest of thegarrison, the occupants of the hospital made such preparations as theycould to strengthen their defences. Little enough they were, consistingas they did of three or four pieces of wood placed like stays from thefloor to the cross-pieces of the roughly-made door; and when it was donethe Doctor said sadly:

  "It's of no use. If they come with a rush they will drive that in as ifit were so much cardboard."

  "Let them," said Bracy. "They will find three bayonets and asword-point ready for them to fall upon."

  "Yes; and then?" said the Doctor bitterly. "There will be four bodieslying in front of us between our breasts and the men who come on, and soagain and again till we have made a rampart of the wretched bodies."

  "Very well in theory, my good patient," said the Doctor sadly; "but I'mafraid we shall have made part of the breastwork ourselves. TheseGhazis not only know how to fight, but they do fight as if there were nosuch thing as fear."

  "There's not much of that in British soldiers when they are at bay,"said Bracy proudly. "But it's of no use to talk, Doctor; we must defendthis door to the last, and then retreat into the ward, barricading thatnext."

  "And after that?"

  "There are my quarters: but we must carry the helpless in there first."

  "And lastly?"

  "Never mind that," said Bracy coldly; "let us get through firstly andsecondly; a dozen things may happen before then."

  "Hist!" whispered Mrs Gee. "Some one is coming."

  All listened, and heard a swift movement like a hand being passed overthe rough door as if feeling for the fastening. Then there were severalhard thrusts, and directly after a quick whispering, a scratching as offeet against the wall, and then a slight change in the appearance of thewindow, the darkness growing a little deeper. In an instant there wasthe loud rattle of a rifle being thrown out to the full extent of itsholder's arms, the bayonet darting through the narrow slit; there was asavage yell, the dull thud of some one falling, and with a fierce shoutof rage two or three of the enemy flung themselves at the door,repeating the act again and again, but without result.

  "Can't some of us come and help, sir?" said a feeble voice.

  "Yes; there's six of us, sir," said another; "and we've all got rifles."

  "Back to your beds directly," cried the Doctor. "What's the use of metrying to save your lives, and--Well, it's very good of you, my lads,"he said, breaking off suddenly. "Fix bayonets, and stand outside theward ready to help if we, the first line, are driven in."

  There was a sharp crackety-crack as the metal sockets of the bayonetsrattled on the muzzles of the rifles, and the six invalids took theirplaces on either side of the ward-door, where the rest of the suffererslay in silence listening to the yelling outside and the firing now goingvigorously on.

  There was another crash against the outer door, but still it did notyield, though it sounded as if it was being dashed from its fastenings,and then a shuffling, scraping sound told that another attempt was beingmade by one of the mad fanatics to get in by the slit of a window. Butagain there was the peculiar rattling sound of a thrust being made witha rifle thrown right forward and grazing the sides of the opening. Awild shriek followed, and Gedge withdrew his piece, panting heavily andtrembling from weakness.

  "Did you get home?" whispered the Doctor.

  "Yes, sir, clean," whispered back Gedge; "and oh, if that only was thechap as shot Mr Bracy that day!"

  There was a crash at the door now, as if a mass of stone had been hurledat it; a couple of boards were driven out, and a strange animal odourfloated in, with a yell of triumph, heard above the piteous bleating ofsheep and the sharp rattle of the rifles.

  "Give me room, Doctor; I can do it. My man taught me," said the nurse,standing with Gedge, friendly for the first time in their lives; andthey delivered rapidly thrust after thrust with their full strength, oneof the savage Ghazis going down at each.

  It was too dark to do much, and Bracy felt his helplessness, aftertrying to parry a cut or two delivered by one of the enemy; so, drawinghis revolver, he fired slowly shot after shot as the enemy reached in tocut at the defenders, their blows mostly falling upon the sides of thebroken door.

  "It's of no use to try and hold this place longer, Doctor," he said,bringing now to bear his military knowledge. "We have to bear the fullrush of these men."

  "But it's like giving up to them," panted the Doctor.

  "Never mind; let's retire into the ward. You see, the door is atright-angles to this, and when they press in they can only fill thislittle place, and we shall have to contend with four or five instead offifty."

  "That's good talk," said the Doctor. "I'm not a soldier. Very well,then, back in, and I'll cover you."

  "No; you retire with the nurse and Gedge, and I will hold them at baytill you get in. Make the men present their bayonets as soon as we arein. Just give the word, and they will know. It will check the wretcheswhile we try to get the door closed."

  "No," cried the Sergeant's wife through her teeth. "Bill Gedge and Iwill keep them off till you are in and tell us to fall back."

  "Right," said the Doctor; "don't stop to parley, Bracy, my lad. Ah,what does that mean?" he cried sharply, for Mrs Gee and Gedge boththrust and then thrust again.

  "Means a roosh, gentlemen," said Gedge hoarsely. "In with you; we can'thold 'em back any longer."

  "Back in," said Bracy hoarsely. "We must do it, Doctor; they're mad forour blood."

  The Doctor stepped through the inner door, and Bracy followed.

  "Right and left," he said sharply; "cover the advance as they fallback."

  A low hissing sound accompanied a quick movement, and then, afterdelivering a couple more thrusts, Gedge whispered:

  "In with you, nurse."

  "You first, boy," she answered, as she thrust fiercely again, a sharpcry following her delivery.

  "I don't go afore a woman," said Gedge bluntly, as he delivered pointonce more.

  "Nor I before my patient," said Mrs Gee, following his example, andfeeling the bayonet strike flesh.

  "Back, you two, at once," cried Bracy sternly; and as the strangelyassorted couple took a step or two back and darted into the ward, ahedge of bayonets dropped down breast-high, in time to meet the rush ofGhazis who dashed forward with upraised swords.

  Then, to the surprise of all, there was the crackle of a little volley,and the faces of the fierce warriors were for a moment illumined,efforts being made to strengthen the position by dragging a charpoyacross, planting a second upon the first, and heaping thereon everythingthat could be seized upon in the darkness. There was a fresh burst ofyelling, the Ghazis raging in their disappointment and at the lossesthat had befallen them, just, too, when they believed that an entry hadbeen made.

  The Doctor took advantage of the pause in the attack to order everyinvalid who could move by his own efforts to seek refuge in theofficers' ward, and with groans and sighs they obeyed, one helping theother, and in many instances having to be helped in turn, while severalby slow degrees managed to crawl. A pause in the attack did not givetime for all this, the enemy coming fiercely on again before the wardwas half clear; but the bristling array of bayonets presented at thenarrow doorway kept them from gaining an entrance, each stroke of theirtulwars being received on the rifle-barrels, and several going down asdeadly thrusts were made.

  It was evident enough to Bracy and the Doctor that their defence couldnot last, much longer. A party of able-bodied men, dividing and takingtheir duty in turn, might have kept the whole body of the hill-men atbay for an indefinite time; but the efforts of Gedge and Mrs Gee weregrowing weaker, and at last it was all that the invalids could do tokeep their bayonets from being beaten down.

  "We must make for our last refuge, Doctor," said Bracy at last.

  "Yes, and none too soon," was his reply; "but first of all let's have asmuch of the beddin
g as we can get taken to the other room to form abreastwork. Half you men retire and carry mattresses and blankets tillyou are ordered to cease."

  This was done, and then the order was given, just as the enemy wasmaking one of its most savage attacks, the men pressing on with alltheir might, till a volley was fired which made them recoil. It wasonly to recover themselves and pour fiercely in through the dense smoke,to begin yelling with rage as they found by degrees that the long wardwas empty, and a fresh barrier of bayonets bristling ready for them atthe farther door, where a couple of charpoys had been hastily thrownacross one upon the other, and piled on the top was all the bedding,principally rough straw mattresses and blankets--a slight enoughbreastwork, but impervious to sword-cuts, while to reach over in orderto make a blow was to expose whoever struck to a deadly bayonet-thrust.Here the defence was gallantly maintained again, the attack as fiercelymade, till the floor became wet with blood, and several of thecarnage-seeking enemy slipped and fell, either to crawl or be draggedaway by their companions.

  "It's getting to be a matter of minutes now," said the Doctor in awhisper to Bracy. "This is the last of it."

  "The window," said Bracy, calmly enough now. "Take Mrs Gee and helpher out. Then you and Gedge climb out, and drop down; you may make yourescape in the darkness. You hear, Mrs Gee?"

  "Yes, sir, I hear," said the woman in her sourest tones; "but my mantold me I was to stick to my patients, no matter what happened."

  "And I order you to escape."

  "Yes, sir; but I'm not one of your men," said the woman, with atriumphant masterful ring in her words, "and under your orders; but youare my patient and under mine. So you go and get as many of the poorboys away with you as you can. Off with you, Gedge; you're as bad asany of them, in spite of your brag. Then you others follow, one at atime; me and the Doctor can't leave, the rest, and we're going to stay."

  "Go!" said Gedge sharply. "Go and leave my comrades and my orficer ascan't help theirselves. Not me!"

  There was a low murmur at this, and then a cessation of all words in thedesperate defence forced upon the little party; for, as if maddened bythe long resistance, and utterly reckless of the losses they hadsuffered, the Ghazis came on, howling and bounding to the door, leapingup and reaching in to strike downward with all their force, andgenerally paying the penalty of death; for even with their swordsextended to the full extent of the holders' arms, not once was adamaging cut inflicted.

  The result of this last rush was that, horrible to relate, thebreastwork was raised by the bodies of three fatally wounded Ghazis, whoin their dying moments sought to revenue their deaths by cuttingsavagely at their foes as they lay.

  "I can't bay'net chaps who are down," muttered Gedge, shrinking back;while at the same moment Mrs Gee uttered a wild cry, for one of thedying men had inflicted a horrible upward cut, which, as she was leaningforward, took effect upon her chin.

  This movement on the part, of two of the strongest of the defendersseemed to be fatal. A weak place in their defence was displayed, andwith a fierce yell the enemy crowded on in a final attack. This wouldhave been fatal but for the bravery of the tottering invalids, who metthe rush with a sharp volley from half-a-dozen pieces, and the flash andsmoke were followed by a sudden burst of light, which flooded the ward,showing the enemy retiring a little, startled by the unexpected volleyand wondering at the glare. This gave time for reloading, and anothervolley was fired as the enemy came on again.

  This volley was followed by the commencement of a rolling fire outside,mingled with yells of rage, imprecations, loud orders, and the hoarsecommands of officers. For the light given by the burning building wasthe opportunity required; and minute by minute the firing increased fromthe walls, as the scattered soldiery, many of whom had remained unarmed,found their way into their quarters to obtain rifles and bayonets, andjoined their companions on the wall, able, and willing too, to take aimdown into the seething mob of savages in the court, without riskingdestruction to a comrade or friend.

  Three times over Colonel Graves summoned the enemy to surrender, andtwice over native attendants were dragged forth to yell down to theGhazis that their lives would be spared. All was in vain; theannouncements were received with shouts of defiance, yells of hatred atthe Christian dogs, and savage rushes were made at the steps leading upto the ramparts, in each case for the venturers to be partly shot down,the residue being hurled back from the point of the bayonet.

  "It's of no use, Graves--Roberts," cried the Major; "it's their lives orours. Fire, my lads, fire!"

  And by the increasing light of the flaming building, whose ruddy raysillumined the horrible scene of carnage, the fight went on, till thecourtyard was dotted with the bodies of the wounded and slain, thesurvivors of the great flock of sheep cowering together close to themain gate, while others lay trampled down amongst the fallen, theirthick fleeces having protected many from the cuts of the Ghazis' swords.