Page:A revised and enlarged account of the Bobbili zemindari.djvu/62

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
53

likewise to their respective attacks, numbers on all sides got over the parapet without opposition Nevertheless, none of the defenders quitted the rampart, or would accept quarter; but each fell advancing against, or struggling with, an antagonist; and even when fallen, and in the last agony, would resign his poignard only to death. The slaughter of the conflict being completed, another much more dreadful presented itself in the area below: the transport of victory lost all its joy: all gazed on one another with silent astonishment and remorse, and the fiercest could not refuse a tear to the deplorable destruction spread before them. Whilst contemplating it, an old man leading a boy was perceived advancing from a distant recess: he was welcomed with much attention and respect, and conducted by the crowd to Mr. Law, to whom he presented the child with these words: 'This is the son of Ranga Row, whom I have preserved against his father's will.' Another emotion now