There was an explosion from Cawnpore during the night as the men lay muttering and shaking with reaction on the damp ground. Some looked up from fitful sleep; others turned over and heard nothing.
"What the devil?" Jack jerked upright.
"I"ve no idea," Elliot said.
The reflected glare faded slowly while a whiff of powder-smoke reached them from the city, some two miles away. "Nana Sahib is saying goodbye," Jack guessed. He lay down again, decided he couldn"t sleep and rose to inspect his men. Most were asleep, with the pickets on watch leaning on their rifles and staring at Cawnpore or into the darkness around the camp. One of the 113th had died of dysentery during the night.
"There"s pandy cavalry out there," Coleman said. "I can hear their hooves hammering."
"If they get too close, C
