Page:Anandamath, The Abbey of Bliss - Chatterjee.djvu/186

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The Abbey of Bliss

to die and made a fierce fight. Jivananda said, " Bhava- nanda, we have won the fight ; no one but these few are now alive. There is no more need to fight. Come let us bid these men live and retire." Bhavananda said, " I am not going to retire while one of them lives ; Jivananda, I beseech you, stand apart and see how many English- men I slay alone." Captain Thomas was tied to a horse. Bhavananda commanded him to be placed before him and said, " That fellow will die before myself." Captain Thomas understood Bengali. He therefore said to the English soldiers, " Englishmen, I am dead, you must save the good name of old England. By Jesus Christ, I request you to kill me first and then these rebels." A bullet hissed along. An Irishman had hit Captain Thomas. The brave Captain died with the bullet through his brain. Bhavananda then called out, " My best arrow is gone and I am done for. Who is there, what hero like Arjuna, Bhima, Nakul or Sahadeva that can save me? Look, the whites are making for me like a tiger that's hit. I have come to die. Is there any Child who wants to die with me ?" The first to advance was Dhirananda, after him was Jivananda, and after them came ten, fifteen, twenty and then fifty Children. Seeing Dhirananda, Bhavananda asked, " Why, you too have come to die with us, Eh ?" " Why," answered Dhirananda, " Death is not your fee-simple." With this he wounded a white soldier