1 His account,
2 A Sikh horse-
3 man comes
4 into the
5 British camp.
6 His account,
7 A Native
8 soldier en-
9 deavouring to
10 desert to the
11 Sikhs, is
12 caught, and
13 sentenced to
14 be hanged ;
15 Ts reprieved.
16 Desertion un-
17 common,
18 No motive for
19 it.
20 Native confi-
21 dence in
22 British for-
23 tune, conspi-
24 cuous in the
25 present cam-
26 paign,
27 146 HisTORY OF THE SIKHS.
28 a horse artillery-man. He managed, however, to
29 escape and return to his regiment, where he related
30 his adventure with great glee. Those of the Sikh
31 horsemen who appeared in front of Little Sobraon
32 were perfectly civil, and one of them being hailed
33 by a British officer readily came forward, and even
34 accompanied him to camp, where he was interro-
35 gated by the Commander-in-chief. -He said that
36 the Khalsas had no doubt been beaten several
37 times, but they were determined to fight again ;
38 and it must not be supposed that they would prove
39 unfaithful to their employers, and desert their
40 cause. He got his leave, and promised to come
41 back; but the honour of a second visit was politely
42 declined. A sipahee of the 41st Native infantry
43 was caught in the act of deserting to the enemy,
44 and was sentenced to be hanged. Already had he
45 reached the fatal gallows, where the rope was
46 dangling to receive his neck, and every spectator
47 looking for his exit into another world, when a re-
48 prieve arrived ! His delignt may be guessed, and
49 the clemency shown him was appreciated by the
50 Native soldiers, who remarked to one another—
51 “Oh! he is a soldier; it would not do to hang
52 him!” Desertion was so uncommon that an ex-
53 ample was not required ; for, with the exception of
54 this man, and another from the 45th Native in-
55 fantry, all the Native soldiers were faithful to the
56 British cause. Their confidence in our continued
57 prosperity is unbounded. Even when the catas-
58 trophe happened at Cabul, the Natives still relied