And yet it had to come.

There were some in that force who were ready for the reputation of the British army, and for the sake of an example of military virtue, to die stolidly where they stood, or to lead the 'Faugh-a-ballagh' boys, or the gallant 28th, in one last death-charge with empty rifles against the unseen enemy.

They may have been right, these stalwarts.

Leonidas and his three hundred did more for the Spartan cause by their memory than by their living valour.

Man passes like the brown leaves, but the tradition of a nation lives on like the oak that sheds them--and the passing of the leaves is nothing if the bole be the sounder for it.