Wichita eagle., 1888-10-23

oand fns1de oedng dut6uched, bfzs s5vezfn
! Of the tesiegers had been wounded and
| their fury was raised to frenzy as they
were net bya CALLING ERE, Try what quar-
| ter of the building they would Again
| they retired to consult, and as result
| mounted their borses and, followed by the
| footmen, rode away. The brave woman,
almost exhausted by the great physical
strain that had been put upon her, found
| vent In food of tears as she threw her
self into the arms of her boys and, grasp
ing the hand Of their brave ally, they
sank upon the ground and gave thanks
for their preservation But they knew
the craftiness and hate of the savage too
well not to be aware that the worst WAS
not yet over and that the band would re-
turn, perhaps with reenforcenents, and
attack them.
That day passed IN anxiety, but no
enemy appeared and night fell. and stu
there was no sign of their foes. The faith
ful Fingre urged them to rest while he
watched, and thus the night passed until
the first blush OF dawn showed itself in
the east, when the watcher awakened his
mistress and quietly tod her to prepare
for another onslaught His eyes had not
mistaken the iIidistinct figures that be
caught glimpse of III the darkness, Tor
hardly had the besieged reached their
posts when they were assailed with a
heavy fire Of bullets, and In the uncer-
tain light they saw large number Of the
relentless kaifirs making rush towards
them Their rifles cracked time and time
again as they enptied the contents at the
advancing savages, now scarcely twenty
yards distant, but these did not waTer,
they hurled themselves against the bar
ricades, which they eadeavored to beat
down, and some, having lit torches, threw
them upon the matched roof Of the build
ing, setting il On fire and adding another
terrible phase to their already desperate
condition The poor mother was now al
most driven 10 despair; the new danger
threatened destruction. But again the he
ro;c boy came to the rescue. Bidding his
sister take his place at the cartridge box
be moved towards the kitchen of the
building, which was in the rear, and, peep
ing through the loop hole, reconnoitered-
The enemy had retired. waiting for the
fire to do the work for them, and the lad.
haTing assured himself that no one was
lurking around, crept out with pail Of
water and, groping his way towards where
the nearest torch had been thrown,
emptied the contents upon it and re
turned Twice be did this, and was
emerging a third time, when he was
grasped by the throat by huge kafir,
who dragged him away towards the at
tacking band
The appearance of the Kaffir with his
captive was the signal for a wild yell and
with the trembling boy IN their midst they
dashed once more towards the house The
horror of the now frantic mother was ter
rible, as in the fast approaching daylight
she recognized her boy in the hands Of
these monsters. Moreover, she dared
not shoot for fear Of wounding her
son. who called out to his
mother .to shoot and not to mind
him" The Kaffrs, brandishing their
assegais around the boy, swore that il the
besieged did net surrender he should
be butchered in front of his mothers eyes
and one already pressed the point of his
spear against the boys chest. The grief
of the woman was heartrending, and it
was with difficulty that she could be dis
suaded from rushing forth towards her
son, but her agony was short lived. Even
as she wavered there arose upon the
morning air a gathering of hoofs, and,
before the savages could recover from
their surprise, with hearty cheer and
sabers raised aloft, there dashed into
their midst a party Of Cape Mounted
Rifles. Il was a case OF ''sauye que
peut. and the enemy broke and fed.
4 bloody war followed, in which many
deeds of valor were done, but none that
outshone the defense of the brave woman
at the Idutche.-Fred &. Browning in
Philadelphia Times