his men joined the army. At Sobraon he announced his determination not to survive another defeat, which he feared more than death. Dressed in white clothes, he was, with his long flowing white beard, conspicuous on the ramparts cheering on his ardent followers, directing the gunners where to fire on the English soldiers, confident, if they were destroyed, the day was gained. He fell honoured by his gallant opponents. His wife, a high-spirited Sikh dame, on hearing at her home of the defeat of the Khalsa, without waiting for details, immolated herself on the funeral pyre, as she said she knew her lord was dead, he having assured her he would not disgrace his family by returning defeated.
On the night of the victory at Sobraon advanced brigades were pushed across the river, and by the 13th the whole force was over and marching to the capital, which was reached without opposition within a week. The shattered remnant of the Sikh army retired and halted near Lahore, ready
