Macpherson's column had not been long gone when the troops at the camp of Jellalabad were roused and alarmed by numbers of cavalry horses, all riderless, galloping wildly among the tents, with their bridles trailing, and their saddles, valises, and trappings soaked in water.
'What has happened—what can have happened?' were the questions asked on every side.
No one could anticipate the catastrophe that had really occurred, as at that season the bed of the Cabul is not always full; but when the sun melts the accumulated snow in the Katcha range and other mountains it is not so. The water then rolls through many channels, and it was in anticipation of this that the wooden bridge had been removed to a point further up.
Where our cavalry were to cross at the Fort of Isaac, the stream now formed two branches; the first was thirty feet broad, with an average of only thirty inches of water, and the crossing was to be made under the light of a dim and fitful moon, at a point where an irrigation channel diverged at right angles from the stream. Beyond that point stood a kind of sandy islet covered with great boulders, and again beyond it lay a hundred and fifty feet of water; but as the line of this fatal ford was not straight, three hundred and fifty feet of water had to be traversed upon it, as the ford formed at one point an acute angle.
Led by the local guides, the squadron of Bengal Lancers crossed in safety, wheeling at the given point on the acute angle.
The mules of the squadron followed next, our hussars, now riding at ease, waiting till their turn came to cross; and to amuse the rest, one of them, the identical Toby Chace, who was one of Robert Wodrow's earliest comrades, and well known as a reckless fellow, began to sing a soldier's ditty, part of which ran thus:
'There's Bill Muggins left our village,
Just as sound a man as I;
Now he goes about on crutches,
With a single arm and eye.
'To be sure he's got a medal
And some twenty pounds a year
For his health, and strength, and service,
Government can't call that dear;
Not to reckon one leg shattered,
Two ribs broken, one eye lost;
'Fore I went in such a venture,
I should stop and count the cost.
'Lots o' glory, lots o' gammon——'
'Silence there—in front!' cried the commanding officer, and Colville, who had some undefinable suspicion of the hussar guide, placed himself near that personage, with his revolver case loose and at hand.