BROUGHT TO BAY.

Cromwell Argus, Volume III, Issue 119, 20 February 1872, Page 7

BROUGHT TO BAY.

■ (From Cassell's Magazine.) Perhaps you may laugh, but nevertheless it ||| perfectly true, and this is how it happened. WAa you may be quite sure, being only nineteen, I was most tremendously anxious to Iftfc my commission ; and when at last I was iSptted to the 204 th Foot, I did not give my tailor much rest till my uniform and the 'paraphernalia of my outfit were sent home. Jtlaresay to the old and sage it was ridiculous, but to me it was glorious—that first .netting on of military garments. The bedroom door was locked —I was quite alone. 'There was a tall cheval glass by the bedside, aod what was there to prevent me from strutfting about, as scarlet in the face almost as my tightly-buttoned tunic ? It did not fit !jqg perfectly, I knew ; but having it altered would necessitate its being taken away, and 'Sat idea was insupportable. So I kept my Ipings just as they were, and in the hot stage 'of “ scarlet” fever in which I then was, the fact of my regiment being ordered out to ffln'na did not give me much uneasiness ; for ©ten in a Chinese war there did not seem much cause for discomfort, since I believed rt&at the British could chase the barbarians by the thousand. y ? I will not trouble you with an account of |i)iir long journey out and our landing in the Chinese Empire. Let it suffice when I tell ybu that upon our arrival it was to find hostilities in full progress, and, boy as 1 was, I bad to take my turn with the rest, smelt powder, heard the whiz of bullets, and saw iny smart uniform soiled with mud and filth. -j It was hot work in both senses of the word, gow we wore wading in a river-bed or creek, plith the blazing sun above us and the rank, steamy heat rising from the slime beneath :pj-; now we were storming a mud fort, or Rinsing the enemy over the swampy ricetfields or through the cane-brakes ; while the Tiext day perhaps we were accompanying ■gbme looting expedition. >| At last, after making pretty good progress Tip the country, we stormed a town which I 'will call here Ling-Po, It had been a pretty tough job, for the mud walls had been held Iby a strong party of braves. However, at |ast the day was ours. The braves were supposed to be driven out, and we had taken •possession, the men distributing themselves ■pretty well over the place. I was along with 1 flalf-a-dozen of the bandsmen, who were on ; iheir way to the place chosen for head-quar-•ifers, there to deposit their instruments previous to going upon ambulance duty: the Ijelping of the wounded being, as you are no ■ doubt aware, the duty of the bandsmen in Mme of war. | We were rather indifferently armed—the bandsmen having only those short, Roman■|poking swords—very blunt ones, too ; and :jaiough I had my sword and revolver, I had received a nasty thrust through my right arm from the spear of a brave—a hurt which necessitated the wounded limb being carried in ■a sling, and made me feel more sick and friint than I cared to own amongst men who would have looked upon my injury as a mere scratch. I The towTi was evidently a large, denselypopulated place, full of crooked lanes, streets, •And blind alleys, among which we kept wan--dering for quite an hour before we were compelled to own that we had lost our way. j “ If ye’ll be kind enough to take the lade, Mr Grey, we’ll folly ye,” said one of the bandsmen, turning suddenly round upon me, ifeid scratching his puzzled pate, J “ I’m ready enough to lead, Denis,” I said ; but I’m about done up for want of water. I was thinking of asking you to carry me.” “I’m thinking, sir, that we may just as fell sit down in the shade and wait, for the head-quarthers is jist as likely to come to us as we are to get to it. A big place like this Would puzzle a map-maker.” H “ I thought I’d tell you, sir, that there’s couple of Chinese been following us for the fest five minutes,” said another of the men—*l and ’taint as if we had rifles.” ' I looked uneasily back down the long, narrow, sun-glared street, but there was not a' soul visible. All was still as death, save 'for a distant shot or two, which seemed to .borne from quite another part of the town, and to indicate that the fighting was not entirely at an end. The houses on either side Were closely shuttered, and presented the *h°st blank of aspects, and though we scanned the windows above, not a watching face was tisible. i I I could not help owning that should we be attacked by some detached body of the ©raves, our chances would be very small; •fed I should have blamed myself for want of fere, had not the difficulty of finding one’s fay through such a wilderness become more And more evident at each stride we took. J “ Tt ’s my belafe, sir, that Corporal Smith’s bdmg us intirely wrong,” said the Irishman, Ipeaking again. Lead yourself, then,” said the corporal, gruffly, as he tucked his large ophicleide beneath his arm, and paused to wipe the perIpiration from his forehead, f “ I’ll tell you what, sir,” said another man f ur best cornet player), “we had better »ake a dash for it,—l don’t like the look of jhis at all. Will you order a retreat ?” n. that’s wrong,” said I, testily, for 1! v me iere was a dizzy sensation in fey be ml, and the street looked misty before *y eyes. I We are being dodged, sir, and no misfike ; and if we take refuge in one of these |ouses, we shall perhaps only be burnt out.” I Hying to rouse myself, I hurriedly took a! 8 ance at our position. We were evidently i S’ one of the lower parts of the town ; and ! fie street wherein we were was one of the !

narrowest I had seen in the country. Every here and there alleys ran off at right angles, but each apparently ended in a cul de-sac, and to enter one might have been like running into a gin, from which there was no means of extricating ourselves. To make matters worse, too, at one end. of the street there was a glint of arms, and a moment afterwards four or five braves showed themselves for an instant, and then disappeared. Fortunately the peril that threatened our little party seemed to clear my head from the misty sensation ; and I tried to devise some plan for immediate execution. “ They will come upon us suddenly from one of the narrow streets if they mean to attack us,” I thought, and giving the signal to my men, I turned off sharply to the right, and we walked rapidly in a new direction, in the hope that it might bring us to where some of our own men were collected. That we were in danger I felt sure. My men knew it too ; but, all the same, in a light-hearted, reckless fashion, I could hear them joking together. u I’ll tell you what,” said one, ’“the band’s as good as broken up if we don’t get back. What do you say, Denis ?” “Spoiled intirely,” was the reply; “and bedad I’m glad I haven’t got to blow now, for I’ve no more wind left than would put out one of Widdy Flanaghan’s dips, and they were twenty-four to the pound. How are you, corporal ?” “ Blown,” was the gruff reply. Then we went on in silence for a short distance, but only to stop short as we turned a corner, for there was a burst of yells in the distance, and the clangour ef a gong, and we became aware of the fact that about thirty braves were in close pursuit of a couple of our men, who were evidently hard pressed. “Come on!” I shouted, with my blood seeming to boil; but long before we could reach the spot, wo saw the two poor fellows overtaken, and fall pierced with a score of spear wounds. “Come back, sir, quick,— come back!” exclaimed a voice, and the sword-arm hand I of the stout ophicleide player was laid on my arm. “ It’s like rushing on death, and—here, quick ! down here,” he shouted, hurriedly ; “ those fellows who have been dodging us are closing up.” A glance revealed our position plainly enough : we were between two fires ; and, darting down a narrow lane, we hastily pursued its windings. “ Our people must hear the noise soon, and clear the town,” whispered the corporal to me, as he forced his arm under mine. “Hold up, sir ; you’re a bit weak, —that’s the way. Now then, men, keep together ; it’s our only chance.” The lane seemed as if it would have no end ; and all the time there were our enemies shouting and yelling in full pursuit. If we were overtaken, we knew what our fate must be : instant death, or else some horrible torture ; for in their eyes wo were all so many foreign devils. I looked back twice, each time to see' the fierce faces of the yelling mob panting in pursuit, and once I grew giddy with dread ; but I was pressing on the next moment, my heart leaping with joy as Corporal Smith exclaimed, “Holdup, sir,—we’ll stand by you to a man; and look ! there’s the end of it at last.” The end of the lane was indeed there ; but, to our horror, wo saw that it was blocked up by the ruins of a couple of houses, evidently near the wall which had been knocked down by our boats’ guns. “ It’s all up now, me boys,” said the Irishman, with a howl; “ but let’s die game, for the honour of the old ridgment. I’ll give ’em a call, though, anyhow,” he exclaimed, “ it may bring help and as we faced round he put his cornet to his lip, and blew a loud rallying call; and there, in the face even of a horrible death, so great was the force of habit, that the other five bandsmen involuntarily raised their instruments to their lips. “ Here, what a fool I am !” roared Smith, lowering his huge bell-mouthed brass piece the next moment, for the Chinamen were within haff-a-dozen yards, and rushing at us with lowered spears. “Quick, my boys ! a man apiece first. Fire, sir, fire !” I had already taken aim at the nearest man with my revolver, and was in the act of drawing the trigger, when, as Smith lowered the great ophicleide, the foremost braves saw its huge belching mouth directed full upon them, stopped short, yelling now with horror, turned, and in a moment there was a regular stampede, the frightened wretches trampling one another in their hurry to escape. “Bedad!” shrieked Denis, “the divils are afraid of the wind instruments. Blow, me boys, blow ! Give ’em the big notes, corporal; let out at’em, Tom, with the thrombone. Hurrah, then ! Don’t be afraid. Let go with the clarinet, Tim ; that ’ll give ’em the toothache. Arrah, if only Mickey Blane was here, with the pipes !” I have heard men learning, and I have heard the practice in the band-room ; but never before, 1 am confident, did such a roaring bray issue from the mouths of instruments of brass as was now sent after the retreating braves. “ Fire again, me boys !” shouted Denis, ns he saw in the distance some half-dozen men pause, as if to see how many had been slain by the fearful weapon that had put them to flight. “ A big one this time, corporal!” Pluiinp i—phump ! phump ! —phump ! went the ophicleide ; the trombone grunted, snorted, and cut and slashed in all directions, high and low, sending forth volley after volley off m’nlms and semibreves worthy of the

pedal pipes of a large organ ; while the other instruments brayed, roared, howled, and made such discords as would have sent a professor mad ; but it was not in vain, for this second discharge had the effect of sending the last tail flying round the corner, and then the place seemed once more to swim around me, and [ fainted. When 1 recovered, it Avas to find that my men had carried me by some means over the ruins, and that a company of another regi- j ment had Just marched up. “ Better, Grey ?” said the captain, kindly. “They tell me you’ve had a narrow escape. | I suppose there are hundreds of the enemy about yet. I sav, there, where are you going, my man ? It’s not safe for you to get back there. Come doAvn !” “ Iv you plase, sor, he’s lift the grate gun on the other side,” said a voice ; and as 1 saw the grinning face of Denis, I recalled the whole scene. “ Back directly, sir. I’ve left my instrument,” said Corporal Smith. The captain nodded, and after a minute’s climbing, Smith returned in triumph Avith the great brass piece, which became from that day a trophy in the regiment ; and, as I said at the beginning, you may laugh, but it is perfectly true, ondthat Avas hoAvit happened.