But not a man got across, so steady and well
directed was the flank fire of the British regiments. This welcome
diversion enabled the Guides to complete the retirement into their
entrenchment at the bridge-head, and there make rapid preparation for
the attack that must follow; for though the enemy had lost six hundred
men, their spirit was by no means broken.
Reinforcements consisting of two companies of the 4th Sikhs, and the
Devonshire Regiment Maxim gun, were sent across after much labour by
means of a little skin raft that only held two at a time. The near bank
was also _sungared_ and held by the 2nd Brigade and the Derajat mountain
battery, which at eight hundred yards' range could fire over the heads
of those at the bridge-head. Several officers of the Guides' cavalry
also volunteered to cross over and help their comrades, for in a night
attack it was a matter of holding their own, covering fire from the
near bank being too dangerous an expedient.
The Guides, who were now under that good and cheery soldier Fred.
Campbell, put out no picquets, so as to keep clear the field of fire,
and every man slept, or sat awake, at his fighting station with his
rifle in his hand. The enemy could be heard close by in large numbers,
hidden by a fold in the ground, and directly darkness set in they began
yelling and tom-tomming in the most approved fashion. This was to work
up any flagging spirits that there might be, and to exalt the courage of
all, for two thousand chosen warriors, sword in hand, lay ready in the
standing corn, to make a desperate dash at the given signal, which was
to be the first peep of the crescent moon over the mountains, calculated
for about midnight.
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