He had grown nervous and hesitating, and the longer it was delayed the more difficult the task appeared to him.
[Illustration: SKETCH TO ILLUSTRATE THE ENGAGEMENT AT NAJAFGARH IN AUGUST, 1857.] Fortunately for the continuance of our rule in India, Wilson had about him men who understood, as he was unable to do, the impossibility of our remaining any longer as we were.

They knew that Delhi must either be taken or the army before it withdrawn.

The man to whom the Commander first looked for counsel under these conditions-- Baird-Smith, of the Bengal Engineers--proved himself worthy of the high and responsible position in which he was placed.

He too was ill.
Naturally of a delicate constitution, the climate and exposure had told upon him severely, and the diseases from which he was suffering were aggravated by a wound he had received soon after his arrival in camp.

He fully appreciated the tremendous risks which an assault involved, but, in his opinion, they were less than were those of delay.