Yet not a man
fell out, and it is recorded by an eye-witness[24] that as the regiment
passed the quarter-guards, the men came to attention, and answered the
salute as smartly as if just returning from a parade march. The Guides
of 1897 had borne themselves no wit less worthily than the Guides of
1857 or the Guides of 1879. To Lieutenant P. Eliott-Lockhart belongs the
honour of commanding the Guides' infantry in this fine soldierly
performance, and the Distinguished Service Order worthily decorated him
for this and other gallant service. To arrive as a reinforcement is to
be welcome enough; to arrive by exertions beyond the compass of
calculation, in time to afford assistance at the critical moment, is the
fortune of few. Yet thrice has this good fortune smiled on the efforts
of the Guides, at Delhi, at Kabul, and at the Malakand.
[24] _The Story of the Malakand Field Force_; by Winston Spencer
Churchill, Lieut. 4th Hussars. London, 1898.
Arrived, and without a moment to rest or ease their belts, these weary,
but stout-hearted fellows went straight on outpost duty, that 27th of
July, 1897, and spent the livelong night, not in sleep, or even a quiet
turn of sentry-go, but in a desperate hand to hand fight with swarms of
brave and persistent warriors.
Piece by piece the officers heard the strange story of the sudden
rising. It appears that while the officers of the Malakand garrison, in
days of profound peace, were playing polo down at Khar, a village three
miles away, the villagers came to them with a warning.
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