then pitched on the right of the _nullah_ at Suraj Kund, and in this
position was much annoyed by twelve pieces of ordnance, placed in
position round the Bibi Pakdaman mosque. These Lumsden offered to
capture and silence and, if possible, bring away. The service was
carried out with much dash and gallantry, and the guns were captured and
rendered useless, though it was found impossible, in face of the heavy
odds, to bring them off.

But the siege of Mooltan, in so far as the Guides were concerned, was
chiefly memorable for bringing prominently to notice the gallant and
romantic figure of Fatteh Khan, Khuttuk. This noble fellow was one of
those Bayards of the East who know no fear, and as soldiers are without
reproach. Born of a fighting stock and fighting tribe, cradled amidst
wars and alarms, he developed the highest qualities of a brave,
resolute, and resourceful partisan leader. Always ready, always alert,
nothing could upset his equanimity, nothing take him by surprise, while
no odds were too great for him to face. With the true instinct of the
cavalry leader he struck hard and promptly, and upheld in person the
doctrine that boldness, even unto recklessness, should be the watchword
of the light cavalryman. Yet this paladin of the fight could barely
write his name. It is not every soldier who has the opportunity
nowadays, as in the days of champions, to perform a historic deed in the
open with both armies as spectators. Yet so it happened to Ressaldar
Fatteh Khan one hot day in August, 1848, before the walls of Mooltan.

Lumsden was absent on some duty; indeed, there were only three British
officers, and these took turn and turn about in the trenches, when a
messenger galloped into the Guides' camp to report that a marauding
party of the enemy's cavalry, some twenty strong, had driven off a herd
of General Whish's camels which were grazing near his camp. Fatteh Khan,