The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1879-07-18
THE TWO SPIES.


publican commanders had no sooner en-
tered the territories of MOSeSh, then chief
of the BaSutOs. than they found out, To
their sad experience, the necessity of be-
inc kept posted in the movements of the
enemy. who swarmed in the bush thrO'
which their march lay as they pressed on
to TO-BOSegO. the stronghold of the KAT
fir king. The country through which
| the republican army were forced to march
had the double disadvantage to the in
vader of being very mountainous and
/ thickly wooded. the bush in many parts
! to hOrseman. at least, being impenetra-
/ bic. Throwing out an advanced guard
| would only have been sending the men
away to get murdered, as small party
! would inevitably have been shot down
/ from the bush by their unseen foes, If
sufficient numbers of Kaf1irs had been
present to Justify such a venture. In
anv case they would only have heralded
/ their approach to the scouts of the enc
nv. who would have forwarded the IN
/ formation to their comrades, who would
not fail to have used it to advantage at
| some convenient season.
| What was utterly impractlcable to at
| tain with a considerable body of armed
men. was easy7of accomplishment by
one or two daring individuals, could the
men be found who would undertake
such a desperate commission. Among
] a troop of English volunteers were two
/ persons who had already been marked
| by their comrades as men OF an adVen-
turOus and daring character. In out
ward appearance there was little similar
ity between the two persons referred to.
| They were of different nationaltleS to
begin with, the one being a ScOtchman,
and the other German; the Scot beng
r II e #t,TN 10 Il
companion in arms was of short stature
and Slight build; but drawn together by
the sympathy of kindred dispositions,
they had soon become fast friends.
1t was the two men just described
who one day appeared before the com
mandant to offer their services as
spies, and in which capacity they were
accepted by that individual without a
moments hesitation. Two filter men
for the purpose could nowhere have been
found. To the Scot especially from long
sOjOum among them, every kOppje (Small
hill or natural landmark) and rlcy Ia
shallow sheet Of water, or marSh) be
tween BloemfOntein and the Caledon Ii
yer was familiar; while between there
and Ta-Bosego itself, every bush path
was as well known to him as those
which in bOyhood he had trOdden among
the hearth-clad hills of his own native
/ land and like his companion, his know
/ ledge of the BaSutO tongue was 50 per-
/ feet. that when disguised as a native, he
! could perSOnate such, especially after
dark. without the slightest apprehension
of betraying his identity.
! Many were the adventures and hair
/ breadth escapes experienced by these
men, who were almost hourly cOmpan-
/ ions On one occasion, shortly after
I 1s,,, 4
/ the troops were saved from almost GER
/ tain determination by the bravery of
/ these two spies, who, by an exercise of
| the greatest daring, discovered the pre-
/ sence of the enemy in great numbers
among the bush which clothed the al
/ most inaccessible sides of the mountain
which invested the pass through which
/ their route lay.
While away from the camp on one of
/ their tours of inspection, they lighted a
/ fire to prepare some bilt0pgUc dried strips
/ of flesh for supper this proceeding they
/ considered consistent enough with safety
/ as the fire could not be seen many yards
from the spot through the dense bush
! while the ascending smoke, which might
have betrayed their presence in the day
time, would be invisible III the darkness
/ They had reckOned too fast however.
fOT while they were so engaged, a party
/ of three Basutos stepped up to the fire.
/ Never losing their presence Of mind fOI
| a moment they bade the new arrivals
welcome, and learned from them that
they had come from an advanced party
of the Kaffirs to ascertain how matters
stood with their Dutch foes while OF
the other hand, under the pretense Ot
the one being a MOTOko and the Other
/ a Zulu Kaffir who had deserted from the
,+~.I,
the white men, they soon gained the
confidence Of their new acquaintances
and disarmed them of any suspicious
with which they might have hitherto re-
garded them. Our friends were per
tectly at their ease by this time, the
ScOtchman, who perSOnated the Zulu
| having at the outset eXtinguished the
fire, as he explained, to diminish the
| risk of their being discovered by the
/ Dutch. who were close at hand the rea
motive being to prevent the KatfirS from
scrutiniZing their features too closely
1t was unnecessary for the KatfirS t
proceed farther, as their new allie:
must be in possession of more informa
tion than they could hope to obtain, anC
they readily agreed to remain where thel
were for the night, and give their as
sistance in finishing two bottles of cape
smoke (cape brandy, which the two de
serters were supposed to have stoleI
from the Dutch, and III the morning
proceed in company to the Kaffir camp
The tongues of the BaSutOS, under the
influence of the brandy, ran too fast, anC
under the skillful guidance of the TIVE
Spies-whO pretended to supply informa
tiOn regarding the Dutch-they put int
possession of the enemies of their tribe
all the proposed and skilfully arranged
plans of their chiefs, which timely in
formation was the means of frustrating
a meditated Swoop by a body of the say
ages upon the BrandfOrt district. an al
most undefended portion of the frontier
thereby saving the lives and property Of
large number of the defenceless settlers
I While the three BaSutOS slumbered heav
lily under the influence of the liquor
they were quickly and quietly despatch
ed by their two pretended allies.
Some months had now elapsed, anC
/ the Commando had been lying for some
time in the vicinity of Ta-BosegO in {
. state of comparative inactivity. the Ger
man spy being for a short period unable
to pursue his dangerous avocatiOn owing
to illness. He had made considerable
progress towards recovery, when one af
ternoon his companion had a long con
versatiOn with him regarding a previous
" proposed visit TO the camp of the enc
my and before leaving him had SignifieC
his intention of undertaking the mission
alone that very night, much against the
desire of the invalid. His resolution OF
the point was. however, not to be shaken
and a few hours after sundOwn. wheI
Of fire cra7, II,