Page:The Sikhs (Gordon).djvu/268

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224
THE SIKHS.

with ammunition, but it was only a matter of time with the thousands of the assailants to crush them out. Slowly but surely reduced in numbers by the Afridi marksmen, they fought on till the walls fell and only one Sikh was left. He defended the guard-room door, and alone shot down twenty of the enemy. Fighting with his face to the foe, the guard-room being set on fire behind him, he perished in the flames. The Pathans admitted having had about 200 killed and many more wounded. Nobly did these sons of the Khalsa uphold the traditions of the race in a locality where in bygone years the Singhs had so often fought the Pathans, and where hereditary animosities still hold remorseless sway. Well may the Khalsa be proud of their children, and Britannia also of such brave soldiers who know how to die in her cause. A cairn on the site of the post, a prominent obelisk close by, and memorials at Amritsar and Ferozepore, keep alive the memory of