Weekly Chillicothe crisis. (Chillicothe, Livingston Co., Mo.) 1878-19??, 1884-04-10
A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE.


In the spring Of the year 1877. when
the Russians were pushing their vic
torious forces toward the city Of their
conquered foe, and England wa. wait
ing, apprehcnsiyc of the result, had
the fortune to be attached to depot
battery of garrison artillery in the
Southern District At that time there
was great scarcity of subaltcrns in
the Royal Regiment, and ! found my
self the only officer of that rank in a
battery of recruits some two hundred
strong, As may be imagined, | had
quite as much work on my hands as |
cared for.
1t was with mingled feelings that
heard the news that Lord Beaconsiicld
had determined on calling out the Re
serves. On the one hand the act
seemed prophetic of imminent war,
with all the chances Of promotion and
distinction that such prospect opens
to the soldier; while on the other
there was the immediate certainty of
plenty of hard work, and of endless
trouble with men Just transferred
from their civil occupations to the
stirring life of the army. On the
whole, however, ] think | rather en-
joycd the excitement offered by the
change.
One morning | was called into the
Colonel 5 Office, informed that Il large
detachment of forty men of the Re
serve was to join my battery from
Wales and that | was to proceed thith-
er Immediately with n Trustworthy SER
gcant and bring them to the depot
The Colonel did not scruple to tell me
that he would not have intrustcd so
difficult task to an officer with as
little experience and length of service
as myself, had he had another to
send; but rs there was no one avail
able, he must make 4 virtue of neces-
sity, and hoped would prove worthy
of the confidence reposed in me. At
the same time, he gave me TO under
stand that, once the rcn were in my
charge. should be held responsible
for any who managed to desert or 9TH
crwise absent themselves on the Jour
ney.
always dislike responsibility, and
had, moreover, an idca-whcthcr well
or i'll founded shall not pause to con
sidcr-that the small pay of subal-
tern was not intended to cover any
duties of great Importance, but was
merely an income drawn for the per-
formancc of certain fixed pieces of
routine, such as visiting guards, going
round to inspect mems dinners, and so
on. | can not, therefore, say that at
all relished the order | had Just re-
ceivcd, especially since | could very
well realize the difficulty of conveying
forty rude Welsh miners so long a dis
tance through country unknown to
them. | only stipulated, however
that the sergeant who was to be my
companion should be Il man | knew
and could trust, and who could talk
Welsh on occasion. Fortunately, Just
such Il one as needed was available,
and we started ON our journey deter
mined to make the best of ii.
| do not intend here to give an ac-
| NbulN vi VIZ lhlllltl III Nllltll
ried out my mission, though, indeed
some of the incidents were amusing
enough. | was compelled prcforcc to
stay longer than | had intended in
Wales gathering my men together;
and on the morning of our final de-
parturc half the population of the
country seemed to be collected to-
| nthnr tn nc m Hal Il,n,,A
the least unwillingness on the part OF
the new recruits to join, | should have
been quite unable to muster them
among the crowds that attended; but
both they and their relatives were
only too willing to serve Her Majesty
and to drink her health. Man after
man was carried aloft by his ad-
miring friends, dead drunk, and
thrust into the carriages any
where and anyhow, till my number
was complete, and the amused engine
driver could at length start his train.
OF the whole party, | think that my
self, my sergeant, and II single total
abstainer, who happened to be the
sole one of my men who could speak n
| Wolu VI buS nSu, Nclc lHt only per-
sons sober. ! kept my charges well
supplied with liquor, in defiance of all
precedent, carried them from Easton
to London Bridge ina couple of omni-
buses, and had them all safely housed
in barracks before they well knew they
had started. l fear some of them
must have felt very i'll the day after,
but that, of course, could not help.
But the adventure l am about to re-
late had little to do with my Reserve
men. 1t took place on the second
night after my arrival in Wales. My
sergeant and l had taken up our
quarters in little out-of-the way vii
lage on the coast, not far from the
Menai Straits. Formany reasons do
not care to give Its name. We arrived
there late in the evening, as darkness
was drawing on; and, BY dint of my
companions knowledge Of the language,
had found out the position of the only
place OF entertainment that was avail
able--a little inn situated at some dis
tance from the town. was struck,
on approaching it, by the wild and