WILL HE WIN HER?

Manawatu Times, Volume IV, Issue 45, 5 June 1880, Page 4

WILL HE WIN HER?

BY JAMES GEANT.

jChaptbb XXVI. " " Gentlemen, the regiment is falling m." w ls our packhorses ready?" asked Douglas. ' ' ~ v " Yes, sir, and loaded witjh'yoiir patrol tent, campkettle, and three days' provisions." ' "All right,,Bruce. Chuck on the pallets and plaids, give me my clamore, an 4 now Dick Haddon, to begin .the game of vengence m earnest." Loaving behind us a camp guard of t'arte hundred infantry under a captain . the division under 'Major-General So- . i merset, fell m by regiments and brigades m perfect silence and were in«peeted by the imperfect light of early anorning ; the words of command were issuoiin a low voice, no drum was beatsn, no bag pipe, or bugle blown, as vra were marched to the base of the mountains and commenced the ascent of the Western A matolas. I felt reckless of my life, or, if I valued it all, it was only that I might five to learn the s"afety'of Clarice add her sister, or to avenge them fearfully if they had perished. * Sharkeigjiand,^Adrian Africander ,1 marked out-specially' For death, and had generally vague ideas of showing no quarter to any Cape Mounted deserters who fell m my way, for had allthemen ♦£' that cor})s been loyat~arid~tTue, the abduction had never taken place ; but now, as we mai ched on, unpleasantly "uougb, the reuent surmises of Doug--Isas to being wbiindedr or killed,' and left to the maws of the ..wolves and jackals, occurred to me, though a se«ondary evil- as far, as : I was ' con--cerned. '' '.'.''■ > : ..;•. Amid that armed host then ascending the nountains, I alone, perhaps had any deep personal interest m the strife. Officers andl sdldie rs' a 1 ike knew th a t : the war m this remote region was one which excited little interest. in and none whatever m the rest of Europe, they knew thai they had to endure toil, privation, and suffering, the risk of wounds and death m fighting vast hordes of bravo and well-armed savages f otn whose conquest little honor ever ac /rues, nor would: One. badge be' added; t> the many of their eoTorV, won on the more brillant battle-fields of civilized countries. ; Y>et the British "soldier is not given to repining, so all marched steadily and cheertullv ©n, . Day broke with tropical rapidity, and through clouds that were; like mighty: bars, or fl'akea Ljf gold-arid purple "sheen,the sun came up m all his glory, just as our brigade reached the summits of the western ridge, and deployed into .line along them, with alPdur colors' waving m the morning breeze. The third color of the 74th was un-=' furled m the centre of the regiment, for I here may mention that, like the -78th Highland ers, the corps carries three — • pie being m memory- of [the field of AsjSayo, an h«nor conferred on no other bntfalionstof the -.line. The Caffres, m .moving clouds, covered all the slopo of the . Victorian Heights at some, distance on our right flank, .aid while the general with a parcy of the doubtfully loyal {Cape Mounted llifles, gallppe'd/ forward to recohn'oitJre tiom. we were halted, and could look quietly on. „> ■ ■. "■ Between msandthe position of "Sandiii lay abeautiful valley of the most brilliant green grass, s.tudded with •1 amps of darker -foliage — the - protea, mimosa, and tulip tree. On our left flank rose the steep and conical peak, named the Hogsback, the most lofty of mountain chain: -Below 'it /yawned jS; deep ravine or .kl66f^jcoverea"with dart, aad dense forest trees, through the centre of which a cataract, r white as.snow tore on its passage to tHe Keiskamma and the Indian Sea. Oh the pgppsito:- side p£ this ibvely valley, auliuli along the lower ridge of mountains, the; smoke of_the Caff re «ampfires .curled into tlie blue sky slowly and grayly upward frem .the thraggy bush and steep rocks that indieited and protected their position ; arid the flaslnpf, steel eanie brightly forth: ftfc times from a thousand points as the ' sun's hot rays were"'caught on a musket barrel or the blade of a weapon. We could see tb at the general, after reaching the so'uljiem. ..point of the range, -had a brisk fire« opened upon him and his party. From hundreds of . points the white jets or puff a of smok» started cut of the green ? woods j and we law thehprseß of the Cape Rifles pranc-, ■ing and -plunging -as their riders returned the fire. Xnnmediately oh this'taking place, two oompaniesi ot the, 9.lst HighJandejs and three of the European and jFingo levies •went forward at the double, under a lieutenant-colonel of the Eiflc'Sj while tho general returned To the main body. i f Welij.Galder," said Douglasi to-the little ensign who had spoken so flippantly about Malta, you "are about to pc under fire for the first time." '* Bat not the last, I hope," " " And how do you like the idea P" ■ "I would rather face a oannon-ball, pr an assegal/or anything, than endure oiiohourof euciid, Straith's, 'Fortification, quadratic feb^uatiohs, Vaubanj or; ; any of the other bores of the Sandhurst curriculum.,' ;'•' ♦' ' It will all b«jts nothing one hundred years .hence,' "■ sang Bonteine, while i»ractising several cuts with his sword on a prickly pear, . *' SUenc^iifr ybjttrigl^ase/ gentlemen," said Colomal Fordyce, shortening his vchi. •■■■•"■■" if ere comes an aiderde^camp." At <bat (Hipmefttr :PerciTa|. > Graves^ with ali/Jbhq : f :u t s A S/;arid envpr.essm&nt v^per cuiiar to the^aff 'officer, :wheth.es at ,a figljt or a" fielcl-'day, • " looking a little; w hite about the : , -gills, however," as ; Bonteine jaid, galloped up to ;our Bri- V gade, and reining his horse ;sharply back upon its haunches, paused ere; speaking, for he was almost breathless. . j ".. ; ...-:..•-. ■ '■ ■■■■"■ ■■'■■'■■'*■■ "■-'■ I smiled bitterly at myself on recalling the hours of jealously ho had' caysed me elsewhere,, now, whe£ r I looked up ut hint ■ from' the i ' flank of Douglas's company, 'where I, stood m .my^aco to alj appearance' a priy^te^ scidier. ~ ■-.■••■■j ---^ ■-•■■••'.•= ■■ ;;■'■••/■ "The- aw, aw— brigade is, ip. advance., colcneij" said Graves. ' '■' ' ; ; - '" /yi *'Ift w'»at^ 4ifectiofli I"; : „ (

" Forward, into the valley; the cavalry and pack-horses are to rtove by the— aw,;aw~-lefl, where the descent is less s^eep." •■ — In 4bedience to. this command, our brigade advanced ia line, descending, m a somewhat scrambling -fashion, '.the. steep slope, and when we reached the grassy! bottom, "Form columns of sub■diviiiohs" TK-at the , order, and m this formation w|e i crpssedthjß yalley, to tke bank of -aistream^ ■ and then tl fo»nd that . our part of the game was drawing nigh. / ; ; . „ . -•The enemy's position,- which we now saw to Ibe a ridge of apparently impregnable rock, rpse sheer, as a wall or rampart from the steep, "bare slope of the mpuntains, 'which Were there smoothly scarped by the hand of nature. There was but one point , m which the general found an assault practicable, and all' along that terri hie ridge, quietly awaiting our atack, we ..saw the dane bands of Sandili clustered m thousands their miuskets, knives, and steal ramrods flashing incessantly m the sun. " Tojyou, 74th, I assign the glory of attacking the most dangerous point," cried the. general, waving his cap, as he galloped past us. We rapidly- deployed iiitp line; "Forward, men." cried^ # Golpnel Fordyce, brandishing his sword' "" Forward, and mount the hill like true Highlanders." ...■.;....■■.. ."■„:.. .. ; With a hearty cheer the regiment responded, and dashing through the stream, [began m a semicircular line to vance up the mountain slope, which an officer has correctly d ascribed as '" bare and slipperly as the roof of a house, . . ■■•;•. The heat of the sun was like that from the mouth of a blazing furnace, and there was not a breath of air m the valliey or the dark forrst bsyond. v Weicoiild hear the hard breatliiug m the ranks as we pushed upward, and as yet the knly, firing that had. taken place was when Cplonel'Suttoh's little co--lumn was briskly assailing the left of ■ tlie'Caff re position., , "^ . , Those m our front allowed us to come almost within half musket-rango beEbre, if r'om tha,shelter o f - their formidably natural fortress, they opened a dreadful fusilade upon us. A line of white smoke, streaked with- flashed of red fire' iii ah instant garlanded the upper edge of the rocks,' where we sjee nothing of the foe save their "black heads, as they popped up for a mismeut to take aim, and vanished with ani exultant yell to. relpad. In veritable showers theroucd balls of the ojld; Tower muskets with which they were armed— balls twelve to the pound —- whistled about us. With many or tliose; rnusktts I had. supplied them in! my. bartering^ expeditions, little ' (oreseeinsr the uso to whiqh they would be applied. The roar, of _the adverse musketry was repeated by a hundred grand and rolling reverberations m the kloof and valley «> jas the sound was re-echoed and tossed from side to side. Perched on: the trees at a distance many a vulture looked quietly and ominously on ; b,ut out of a thousand crevices- m tho r rocks before us the baboons, the rat-faced dossies, and even antelopss,', fled : hither and. thither m terror 4 n d bewilderment. The blue smuke rose lazily m the calm, .hot air ,from the Caff re rocks, to be'eoutinui all/replaced by more smoke and .fire, while : |the bulJets Etfowed.all the turf about pur feet, or. flattened but like silver stars as. they struck- the 'stones and bare places.. - ■■',: . ;; ; Steadily pushing on, . while mounting we returned .thier fire with well-directed volleys from- our supperior arms, which had, of Course, percussion; locks, while theirs had the old flints and priming 'pans. But. they wereUirihg downward and we upward, on ; an angle that Bpeedilyi b^ecame more acute than jeven forty-five degrees. „...: For a full quarter ; of an, hour the roar of musketry was, deafening, till on drawing near we had, in many; instances to sling bur ; rifles and scramble upward by hand andj knee. ,.. , , j ",. . ■ ; , '„.,• Gravel, .with ; stones and splinters of stone and lead, were dashed ; m our f acpf by tlie terrible /fire r .to / whic h we were exposed.. ,The,mess tins, the rolled great-cc^its . j and knapsacks of the mepv were cut and torn to ., pieces,, while the killed and wounded were falling fast for ereri the latter" rpiling r with shrieks and groans, uplifted; arms and- legs, helplessly down the.i Slope,. where often another jand another shot struck them, and ultimately- -perhaps fortunately — ended their agony, - My covering : file was shot through the arm and side; a man on my left had his left hand shattered by a ball, which wjent clean 'through, the barrel of his rifle. A lieMtenantpf ours, named Bruce, lj ad- a leg shattered, and era tried away fainting with heat andagony oom« bined. ; A man near me, who was shot m the heart,. uttered a wild and terrible cry as he fell on his,face.-r-a, cry f .that; seemed to come 'from a spasEaodic, corpse. '[ Hit jby Joyo !" cried Douglas, staggering almost immediately after. , , • . '* Wh^re, old-feUow P" critd I rushing toisupnort him. *■ It is only a scratch m the arm here. Tie my handkerchief round it, and Forbes willmake it all right by aiid by." V And though he had to clench his teeth with paip, ihe braye i fellow never, left the head of his company. -^ : -■ Climbing from rock to rock and e%^ changing shots with the enemy at remarkably close quarters, fighting Iheir way up inch" by inch', ihe 74th Hignlanders at ; lajt plantejit^eit^heir three colors, amid three ringing' cheers, on the ridgb of the AmatplasY but the ;Gaffres gave us no time to use the bayo:net, as they fled m dusky tUousaiids to ,the shelter of a deqse fore»t id rear of their poaitipni;g:V : : i: iWewbrein the heart of their once formidable natural fortress, from which they had earned- off their dead: and wounded, co no trace remained of them, sive a fejwrusty;Tower muskets, powder horns, and bundles of assegais ; roasted marrow i bones, i torn cartridge paper, vast gouts of blood splashed on the rocks, or still, dripping pyer fchem» with insects b ( attening amid the sunshine. ■: l -.-.,.' t ; ;.-; ;■;-;";,-.■•, •'■■.. . .... We hid clrriedf.the; Amatolas, but • unless. tnc GaikaiWOnijan-cameiwith her. b c (sage,;* as J hope she wpuld do, quietly ; 'and mysterioualyinthe night, I was a fay. frpmja.chieyi.ugv the- freedpp^ :-Qfj;Ola*

rice as ever. But the fierce and new excitement of the conflict had been for a time, a relief to me from my r aching and bijtter., bitter thoughts of her and and he,r .sisters ; and certain- 1 am that the emotions of Douglas were 1 exactly similar. ; (To be continued.)

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