Helping the envoy back inside the Residency building, Jack placed him on a cot, shouted for Surgeon Kelly and returned to the fighting.
The invaders had lost their initial enthusiasm and, flailed by the Guides" bullets, withdrew, step by reluctant step. They remained nearby, firing from the shelter of the surrounding buildings.
“How is Sir Louis?” Hamilton asked.
“Not good,” Jack said. “I left him with the surgeon.”
Although the Guides had pushed the mob from the compound, the sniping and firing continued. Most of the shots missed, but an occasional bullet found its mark, thinning the ranks of the Guides as they fell, dead or wounded.
“Keep firing,” Hamilton encouraged his men. At twenty-two, he showed all the courage a Guides officer should have, plus the maturity of a man twice his
