3.  She fell at length into a profound slumber, motionless and apparently breathless, her head resting in my lap.  I myself could no longer resist the inclination to sleep, in spite of the continual roar of the cannon.  Suddenly I was aroused by a wild, unearthly scream close to my ear; my companion stood upright beside me, her arms raised, and her head bent forward in the attitude of listening.

4.  A look of intense delight broke over her countenance; she grasped my hand, drew me toward her, and exclaimed:  “Dinna ye hear it? dinna ye hear it?  Ay.  I’m no dreaming:  it’s the slogan o’ the Highlanders!  We’re saved! we’re saved!” Then flinging herself on her knees, she thanked God with passionate fervor.  I felt utterly bewildered; my English ears heard only the roar of artillery, and I thought my poor Jessie was still raving; but she darted to the batteries, and I heard her cry incessantly to the men, “Courage! courage!  Hark to the slogan—­to the Macgregor, the grandest of them a’!  Here’s help at last!”

5.  To describe the effect of these words upon the soldiers would be impossible.  For a moment they ceased firing, and every soul listened with intense anxiety.  Gradually, however, there arose a murmur of bitter disappointment, and the wailing of the women, who had flocked to the spot, burst out anew as the colonel shook his head.  Our dull Lowland ears heard only the battle of the musketry.  A few moments more of this deathlike suspense, of this agonizing hope, and Jessie, who had again sunk on the ground, sprang to her feet, and cried in a voice so clear and piercing that it was heard along the whole line, “Will ye no believe it noo?  The slogan has ceased, indeed, but the Campbells are comin’!  D’ ye hear? d’ ye hear?”

6.  At that moment all seemed indeed to hear the voice of God in the distance, when the pibroch of the Highlanders brought us tidings of deliverance; for now there was no longer any doubt of the fact.  That shrill, penetrating, ceaseless sound, which rose above all other sounds, could come neither from the advance of the enemy nor from the work of the sappers.  No, it was indeed the blast of the Scottish bagpipes, now shrill and harsh, as threatening vengeance on the foe, then in softer tones, seeming to promise succor to their friends in need.

7.  Never, surely, was there such a scene as that which followed.  Not a heart in the residency of Lucknow but bowed itself before God.  All, by one simultaneous impulse, fell upon their knees, and nothing was heard but bursting sobs and the murmured voice of prayer.  Then all arose, and there rang out from a thousand lips a great shout of joy, which resounded far and wide, and lent new vigor to that blessed pibroch.

8.  To our cheer of “God save the Queen,” they replied by the well-known strain that moves every Scot to tears, “Should auld acquaintance be forgot.”  After that, nothing else made any impression on me.  I scarcely remember what followed.  Jessie was presented to the general on his entrance into the fort, and at the officers’ banquet her health was drunk by all present, while the pipers marched around the table playing once more the familiar air of “Auld Lang Syne.”