The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-11-18
THE MAJORS STRATAGEM.
How he Performed a FentO OF Great
Danger.

How he Performed a Feat OF Great
Danger.
1t was the fourth night after u ship
wreck in the Cestos bay, on the Esd of
July, 1885, and the two tall masts of the
poor old Corisco stood gauntly up against
the red sunset out of the sullen waters
that had engulfed her hull, while the few
shreds of rigging that has escaped the
plundering kroomen whole canoes had
been swarming around the wreck like
gadhies all day long) looked unpleasantly
like strips of flesh dangling around a
half-picked skeleton.
But even with this dreary memento
before our eyes we were as merry as men
could well be who had hardly clothes
enough to cover them. and whose only
chance of escape from the swamps and
jungles of this deadly region was the
possibility of a passing steamer hearing
the news and coming up to the rescue
before they all died of fever. The
jollity which would otherwise have
been uproarous was hushed in de-
ference to the presence of a sick
lady in the next room, which had
been cautiously assigned to Mrs. Ker
by the kind hearted Dutchman who
owned it, and whose ready hospitality
made nothing of accommodating fifty.
nine persons in a house originally built
for two. But no one who looked at the
bright faces and heard the CHEEKY voices
of the stalwart young fellows that gath
cred around the rough deal table from
which our supper of beef, rice, and
''damper" had just appeared could
easily have guessed that many of them
had just lost all they had and very nearly
their lives as we'll.
forgot how it came about that we
began to discuss the feats OF strength
and nerve, always a favorite subject with
the misunderstanding Anglo-Saxon.
The talk was at it's briskest, each in turn
relating some athletic exploit which he
had either performed or witnessed,
when it was suddenly broken in upon by
a startling proposal from Major ", a
veteran in the Zulu war, and now one OF
Stanley's best officers ON the Congo,
whittier he was bound when the sinking
of our steamer interrupted him so I'M
seasonably.
Il can show you a trick of that sort
which perhaps you mayn't have seen be-
fore. III spill some water on the table,
and one of you can take my dirk and
stab as hard as he likes at my hand while
wipe the water up, and I'll do it with
out his being able to touch me-"
Every one laughed, supposing the offer
to be merely a joke; but it soon appeared
that it was nothing of the kind. Major
". poured some water upon the table not
far from the edge and then produced his
dirk, which was broad and keen enough
to have satisfied Colonel Bowie himself.
"Now," said he, zone of you sit here
on the table, with The wet patch midway
between his knees, and strike his hardest
at my hand as l try to wipe it up"
The laughing faces began to look
grave, and our staunch skipper, Captain
Porter, with whom the major was a
special favorite on account Of the cour-
age that he had shown on the night of
the wreck), called out anxiously:
"Don't do it, major; I've seen that
sort of thing before, and it always ends
badly. 1 won't handle the knife, for
one."
"Nor l." echoed three or four other
voices.
"Infrm of purpose, give me the dag
ger, SHOUTED Mr.. F., registering young
trader from the Niger, Selling the dirk
with a theatrical air. "Hcre's one vol
unteer for you, major. What am I to
doP
The majors preparations for the per-
Torrance were extremely elaborate. He
seated his volunteer recruit on the table
with out. spread knees, measuring the
distance from each kree to the split
water as exactly as if he intended to
make a reduced map of it on the spot.
Then he carefully examined the point
and edge of the dirk before handing it
to Mr.. F.. Finally he turned up his
sleeves and, taking a dishcloth from the
cupboard, slowly extended his unpro.
tected hand toward the spot where the
stout table was quivering beneath a
shower of stabs az swift and merciless as
those of an Italian brave.
AS the hand and knife approached
each other more than onc looker-on
turned away his face, and the indrawn
breath Of the excited watchers sounded
like a hiss in that dead hush Of expecta-
ton. Suddenly the major clutchcd MIR.
F. by the feet and whisked him off
the table on the floor, right across the
wet patch, which his clothes wiped up
80 thoroughly in passing that no trace of
it was left; and there sat poor Mr.. F.
in the middle of the floor, open-mouthed
and knife in hand, a perfect statue of as.
constituent. There was a moments
pause OF silent amazement, and then o
roar of laughter that shook the whole
house, and started the prowling Kroo.
men outside in the darkness, announced
the success of the majors stratagem.-
David Ker, in Harper's Magazine.