A CHARMED LIFE.

Patea Mail, 25 January 1881, Page 4

A CHARMED LIFE.

A trumpeter, describing the battle of Mai wand, thus relates what befell himself during the engagement:—“As I was orderly trumpeter of the general commanding the force, and of the officer commanding the 3rd Light Cavalry, I had, indeed, very much to do during the fight. I had to take messages from one place to another, and while standing behind the guns several men were blown away by the enemy’s guns; even a! brigade-major and quartermaster-general right and left of me were blown away, and I was saved. We were ten persons with the commanding officer, and of us only two were saved, the commanding officer and myself, the rest were blown up. At one time, as I was standing behind a gun, my brother came to see me. I said, ‘ Well, what do you want? He said, ‘ Nothing ; I came to see you.’ Just as he uttered those words a bullet washed off my right moustache without any injury to my mouth. The next came just after the first, hitting my horse’s headstall, and the horse was saved. Again, a minute after, another bullet tore the skin off my horse’s hock, injuring him a little, and a fourth hit the horse’s knee and thigh, on account of which my horse remained a month on sick list.”