The little thing had been frightened past bearing by the murder of one of the surviving ladies.

He thus attracted the observation of a native who flung him and his companions down the well." The soldiers had made a march of eighteen days, almost without rest, to save the women and the children, and now they were too late--all were dead and the assassin had flown.

What happened then, Trevelyan hesitated to put into words.

"Of what took place, the less said is the better." Then he continues: "But there was a spectacle to witness which might excuse much.
Those who, straight from the contested field, wandered sobbing through the rooms of the ladies' house, saw what it were well could the outraged earth have straightway hidden.

The inner apartment was ankle-deep in blood.