of Allahabad, hoping for the succor that was never to reach them,.
The 23d of June dawned—the anniversary of the battle of Plassey.
The Nana Sahib had vowed to celebrate that centenary of the
rise of the English power in its utter overthrow; the Sepoys had
sworn by the most solemn oath of their religion to conquer or perish
on that day. Early in the morning the whole force was moved
to the assault; the guns were brought up within a few hundred
yards of the wall; the infantry in dense array advanced, their
skirmishers rolling before them great bales of cotton, proof against the
bullets of the besieged, while the cavalry charged at a gallop in
another quarter. It was all in vain. The contest was short but
sharp. The teams which drew the artillery were shot down, the
bales were fired, the sharp-shooters driven back on their columns,
and the saddles of the cavalry were emptied as they came on.
The Sepoy host reeled before the dreadful resistance and fell back
discouraged—nor could they be induced to renew the effort. That
evening a party of them drew near the position, made obeisance
after their fashion, and asked leave to remove their dead. This
acknowledgment of an empty triumph was a poor consolation to
these gaunt and starving Englishmen, under the shadow of the
impending doom of themselves and those whom they so well
defended.
The result of this day's conflict produced a sudden change in the plans of the Nana Sahib. He began to despair of taking the position by storm, and events were forbidding him to wait for the slower process of starvation. The Sepoys were already grumbling, and another repulse would set them conspiring. The usurper saw he must bring matters to a speedy conclusion; for, in addition to Sepoy discontent, rumors had already reached him of an avenging force having left Benares to save those whom he had resolved to destroy. He had not a day to lose. It behooved the monster to bring the matter to a speedy conclusion by any means, even the very foulest, as all others had failed. He therefore resolved to insnare where he could not vanquish—to lure those Christians from the shelter of that wall within which no intruder
