The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-22

/ women now came out from the inner room
and assisted in dressing the. wounds, while
the men who were unhurt carried the bodies
of the Kaffirs who had fallen in the house
to some distance away, while those of the
whlts men and women were placed side by
side In another room. Then they got
buckets of water and soon removed the
pools of blood from the floor.
"Now Mary" Mr.. Armstrong said, twill
you and your friends get fresh ,blecloth
out aid bring in some cold meat and bread
and anything else that you can lay your
han'ts on for our brave frien Is? The ras-
Gals can't have had time to fad out our
cellar, aud though don't think any of our
party want anything to eat. a draught of
spirits and water will be acceptable all
| around" ta- ono
Not for those who are wounded, father;
tea will be better for them am sure"
perhaps it will nv dear.n
The women were glad of something to do.
One of them was the wife of one of tho
far ners who had fallen, bat she, too, in a
dul mechanical manner, aided Mary Arm
strong and tie Other, and as soon as the
place was made quite tidy, six or seven
children, of different ages, were called out
| from the inner room.
Ronald and tAe troopers did justice to the
food, for icy had ridden upward of sixty
miles, and had had nothing to eat save a
| piece of hard biscuitbefore starting.
Now" Mr.. Armstrong said, when their
appetite5 were appeased, tell us by what
miracle you arrived here just in time to
save us. l thought all the troops in the
colony were some where near Fort Cox, at
least that was the news that came to US
yesterday"
$50 we were, sir" Ronald said ga col
umn advanced from there yesterday morn
| lag, and were at acked by the kaffirS in
the gorge of the Keiskamma aud some
twenty or thirty killed and wounded. 1t
| occurred through the treachery of the KAT
| fir police, all # whom deserted last night.
Some parties were sent off the fl st thing
tbs morning to warn the border settle
ments, but I am afraid that very few of
them arrived in time. We shall have terri
BILE tidings, fear, of this days work every
Were"
you are in command of this partya"
Eyes; got my corporal's stripes the day
before yesterday, a d 1 vas lucky enough
to be chosen to comma d this delac lment
as l knew the country; and now, sir how
did this business begin here"
I'VE were at d nner," Mr.. Armstrong
said, when, without the least notice, just
as we had finished, there was a rush through
the door, All my friends had brought their
rifles with them, and tho instant the KAT
tr entered we knew what was up. Tuose
who could caught their rifles, others
oudbChCu up bdDlo Knives, anu lU0 0gQU De-
gan. AS you saw, several Of our party
were killed at once, but tue rest of us made
such a good fight with our ciubbed rifles
and knives that for the moment we cleared
| the ROOM then two of us held the do +
while the rest fell back into the inner room,
where, fortunately, all the children were al
the time, for the table was not large
en- ugh to hold us all, and they had had
their meal first
Directly those who got in there recapped
their rifes-for we found that our rascally
| Hottentot servants had removed the caps
| while we were at dinuer-rhompson and
l, who were at the door, fell back Then,
| you see, matters were easy enough. Two
OF us were posted at the door of the inner
room, and the moment a native showed
| himself inside the door of this room he was
shot down. OF course we had shut the
shutters of the inner room directly we
entered, and one of US kept guard there l
| don't think the Kaffirs would ever have
| forced tAeir way in; but no doubt, as soon
as they had stripped the house of every
thing valuable to them, they would have
| set it on fire, and then we should have had
| the choics of being burnt out here or being
| speared outside.
II need not say that we had all agreed
that it was thousand times better to die
| here than to trust ourselves to those fiends,
who always put their prisoners to death
with atrocious tortures. Anyhow. my
| friends, we owe our lives to you, for sooner
or later the end must have come to US.
Now what are you going to do? You do
| not think OF pushing on any further, /
hope"
mo, l think that would be useless
| Ronald said. "The massacre is apparently
universal, and evidently began at the same
| time all along the line. We should be too
late to warn anyone now. STILL" he said,
rising suddenly from mis- seat, Eve might
not be too late to rescue them. There may
be others parties holding out. | hadn't
| thought of that, and we had better push on
| farther"
II doubt if our horses can go any farther"
one of the men said. mine could scarcely
carry me for the last five miles"
| eyes, that is So" Ronald agreed. II
think my horse is good for another twenty
miles, and the horses of our friends, the
burghers, are quite fresh so will leave you
| here and ride on with them. You will, of
course, keep sharp Lookout; but l do not
| think it likely that they will renew the at
tack. They must have lost between fifty
and sixty men. 1 will ride on with the
burghers to the last settlement along this
line. 1t is not, l think more than twenty
miles further. We will sleep there and re-
turn the first thiDgJip the morning By
that time Mr.. Armstrong, you will, sup
pose, he ready to move Into town."
Eyes, shall be ready by that time" the
farmer said. 81 sent of four loads of whe It
yesterday morni &, AID the wagons will lie
back tonight. / viii. pack everything 1
want to take, aud we shallbe ready to start
by the time you return. OF course, shall
drive the cattle with Hs+-that is, if there
are any cattle left todrfve. u .--
81 saw them in the kraal behind the house
as we rode up" Rlnald, said. 81 suppose
| the Kaffirs thought they might as well
finish with you first, and they could then
divide the cattle among them at their
| leisure" -.
swell, that's good ne VS." the settler said.
81 made sure they were ali gone. Bu5 don't
you think you have done enough for to-
day?"
"Y-s; don't go any farther" Mary Arm
strong added.
81 feel that it is my duty to go, Miss
Armstrong. 1 would much rather stay, 1
can assure you, but it's possible some of the
garrisons may be still holding out"
Eyes, we are wrong to ask you to stay"
| Mr.. Armstrong said; "but just wait a
minute, my horses are kraaled with the cat
| tie. / will bring one around aud change
the saddles; 1t would be pity to founder
that splendid horse of yours You see he
has got lot Of English blood in him, and
ca u go on forever like our Cape horses"
Five minutes late, mounted on fresh
horse, Ronald started with the burghers.
Every farm they visited exhibited a spec