The English officers held on, expecting the
European soldiers from Meerut. The sepoys hesitated to join the rebels,
out of dread of the coming Europeans. At last the Delhi sepoys threw in
their lot with the rebels and shot down their own officers. The revolt
spread throughout the whole city; and the suspense of the English on the
Ridge and at Flagstaff Tower began to give way to the agony of despair.
Suddenly, at four o'clock in the afternoon, a column of white smoke
arose from the city, and an explosion was heard far and wide. Willoughby
and his eight associates had held out to the last, waiting and hoping
for the coming of the Europeans. They had closed and barricaded the
gates of the magazine; and they had posted six-pounders at the gates,
loaded with double charges of grape, and laid a train to the
powder-magazine. Messengers came in the name of Bahadur Shah to demand
the surrender of the magazine, but no answer was returned. The enemy
approached and raised ladders against the walls; while the native
establishment escaped over some sheds and joined the rebels.
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