The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-07-14
backsomat and peas, hastily swallowed, served
for the breakfast

mount of water we had been able to take with
ls at the start had been long since exhausted
constantly filing past was possessed of hu-
nanity enough to give us the slightest draught
Almost choking with thirst, driven to tho very
asst limits Of strength, we crawled upward,
'ften on our hands and knees, until at last
,aving nearly surmounte1 long, PERCEPTIONS
portion OF the route, I sank faint and breath
ess upon the ground with q strangling |
sensation in my throat, wildly pal
oitating heart and feeling of acute pain IN
ny breast knew that my lungs were failing
ne. motioned to my guard for a bottle Of
,ognac which had formerly belonged to my |
stores, and which I knew to be in his possess |
sion. He gave me couple of swallows and |
ook the lions share himself was, however,
maps half an hour. Between the effects of |
The cognac and the rest, strength revived, and |
crawled slowly on up the mountain.
On the thirty third day of our captivity We |
we're delivered over to the guards of
KING JOHN OF ABYssN1A
We were not taken into the presence Of the
king. We had simply changed our keepers for
the worse, rather than the better. We re-
NAMED at the camp ground till the next MORN
ing. Toward might've were given fair allow
ance Of tolerably good bread In the evening
Bayonini and were separated from each othe.
I noticed look of surprise upon the face of the
soldier who unlinked the chain, at the ease with
which, by means OF our assistance, it
was done, but nothing WAS said.
He evidently, concluded that we had been
favorites with his predecessors. The other
captives were not unclaimed We had suffer
ed much during the day from hunger, but now
after having received good supply of boosa
pr Abysslnian beer at the hands of the officer
Of the guard, both hunger and thirst were
ing our journey back to Adowa The king
passed US on horseback about the middle Of
the forenoon We gave him deferential sa-
lutte as he rode BY He noticed. but deigned
no reply to-, our salutation. About twelve
o'clock we were halted on the limestone pa-
teau The king had established his camp We
we're to remain there till the next morning
We were broiled in the hot, MONDAY sun.
About quarter of an allowance Of sour bread
was given US at nightfall with perhaps half
air. 1t was with difficulty could rest Suf-
fering from hunger, thirst vermin, sores,
cold and severe attacks of cramps in the legs,
which seized me Immediately upon lying
down, it was, indeed, no wonder that I got no
longer any refreshing sleep.
On the morning of the 10th of March we
were only three hours journey distant from
the Adowa. took the road and staggered on
ct will, with the help of stick which an Abys-
sinian soldier, who seemed to have appreciated
my almost helpless condition, had given me-
I could no longer keep pace with the others
$500 ~yS~~~>>~~> SSA~~S~ ~EkSeAsS~
was at times near by, at times he watched
and tettered on as pleased. Now and then
A CAMP GIRL
came along and, touched with feeling of pity,
voluntarily gave me drink of peppered water
from her gourd. At one moment an Abssinian
soldier came up. Scored with the lines of half
a century, all marks of youth had passed away.
He stopped, looked at me, uttered no word,
made no sign, but saw by the changing ex-
preston of his countenrnce that something Of
good was struggling in his heart for the mas
terry. At last he put his hand slowly into his
wallet, searched around for moment, drew
therefrom piece of sweetened bread about
the size of an English water biscuit, looked at
it an instant, thrust it quickly into my hand.
nodded and went his way. I would not have
exchanged that morsel of bread just then for
a piece of gold it's equivalent in size. / doubt
not that the man himself was hungry, but he
had met ono on whose features starvation
marks were too plainly visible.
flying about my bare limbs, scratched and
bleeding from brambles and thorns. still
chung te the remnant of my shoes, but both my
feet were greatly swollen and worn to the liv-
ing flesh. Ny body was nothing but mass of
scabs and raw bleeding sores from neck to
heels Hair, mustaches, beard and tattered
clothes were literally alive with vermin. It was
thus that I crept on q little after midday, q
gaunt starving, feeble shadow of my former
self. Innocent of all wrong doing against King
John or his people, either in thought, word or
deed, nevertheless to such plight as this had
bsen brought as the effect of treatment re-
ceived at the hands Christian officers of this
very Christian king. .
wwa. ARRIVING AT ADoWA g
had now the satisfaction of feeling that /
could rest, and that perhaps I might be per-
mitaed, under guard, to seek out some of the
Europeans in the town, at whose hands knew
that should receive all the assistance posi-
BILE for them to give But must starve on for
few days longer. Although in the midst of
proportion to our needs on an almost micro
scopic quantity of black bread and water. ]
waited until the morning of the IL of March
for the king to take the initiative as regarded
my relief. 1t seemed, however. that he had
| no intention whatever of giving a reprieve
| from suffering and starvation. Therefore, on
| the morning mentioned made an application
| to the officer of the guard for permission tc
visit the town under the eye CT his soldiers.
and see if I could not find some Europeans
| from whom might obtain assistance. He re-
| piled that he would asked the king and let me
know the result on his return at night A
| nightfall the officer informed me that he hat
made known my request to his majesty, who
had replied that he would permit it, but that
must have my irons taken off, as he did no
wish to appear before the Europeans in tn,
| town in chains
The next day, with the first light, having re
ceived neither bread nor water, I, togethe
with the captive soldiers, was summoned GU
upon the highway leading from the height
down into the village. We were halted on tn
slope just opposite the quarters of the king
We thought that probably we were to b
brought into the presence of his majesty, an
that the chances were that We wonld soon b
free few minutes elapsed. Picks. shovel
and crowbars were brought The illusio
passed away very quickly We were nc
TO. be set free, but as slaves to tn
king were to be put to ments
labor Orders were given to the captives
take the implements and proceed to repair tn
road. They refused, protested and apPeale
to me- knew it to be useless, nevertheless
pleaded, protested and demonstrated in the
behalf told the guards that these men wei
soldiers, not laborers-prisoners, but NJ
slaves My words fell only upon deaf ear
and was pushed rudely aside
THE SOLDIER CAPTIvEs
who had thus far refused to take up the too
and commence work were now dubbed III
merclfully until they submitted Only ha
clad in their rags, qulvering like aspen leav
! in the cold morning, hungering and thirsti1
even for morsel Of bread and drink
. water. with feet biistered and bruised, wei
, - 1:It1o oh;llron c}i11 Nhainod IN rairo