The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-29

LUX MS place at Their head and then waved
MS hand 70 Ronald as a sign that he was
ready.
Good swimmer as he was, the latter could
not have kept much longer afloat in such a
sea; he was obliged to continue to swim
from shore to prevent himself from being
cast up by each wave whica swept under
him like race horse. The moment he saw
that the line was formed he pulled the boy
20 him and grasped him tightly; then he
laid himself broadside to the sea, and the
next roller swept him along with resistless
force on to the beach. He was rolled over
and over like straw, and just as ne felt
that the impetus had abated, and he was
again beginning to move seward, he felt
himself seized
For few seconds the strain was tremen-
dous, and thought that he would have been
torn from the friendly grasp; then the pres
sure OF the water diminished. and he felt
himself dragged along, and few seconds
later he was beyond the reach of the water.
He was up on his feet, feeling bruised,
shaken, and giddy; the natives. who had
yelled with joy as they dragged him from
the atec, now burst into wailings as they
saw that the boy was, as they thought,
dead.
Garry him straight up to the fires" Ron
aid said, as soon as ne recovered his shaken
faculties,
The order was at once obeyed. AS soon
as he was laid down, Ronald seized the
blanket from one of the me1s shoulders,
and set the natives to ru) the boys limbs
and body vigorously; tlen he rolled him in
two or three other blankets, and telling the
men to keep on rubbing the feet. began TO
carry out the established method for restor-
ing respiration, by drawing the boys arms
above his head, and then bringing them
down and pressing them against his ribs
In few min tes there was faint sign, a
little later on an attempt to cough, and then
the boy got rid of a quantity of sea
water
"He will do now" Ronald said. keep
on rubbing him and he will be all right in
quarter of an hour"
As Ronald rose to his feet woman threw
herself down on her knees beside him, and
seizing his hand p essed it to her forehead,
pouring out torrent of words wholly be-
yond his comprehension, for although he
mad by this time acquired some sligat &C.
quaintance with the language, he was I'M
able 10 follow it when spoken 81 volubly. He
had no doubt whatever that the woman was
the boys mother, and that she was thauk-
ing him for having preserved his life. Not
less excited was native who stood beside
him.
"This is their head man" the officer inter-
preted; "he is the boys father and says that
mis- is now yours and that he is ready to give
1T at any time. This is a very gallant blsi-
ness sergeant, and l wish l cad the pluck
to have done it myself. | shall, of course,
send in report about your conduct. Now,
come to my tent. | can le5 you have shirt
and pair Of trousers while yours are being
dried"
Thank you, sir; they will dry off them
selves in very few minutes. feel cooler
and more comfortable than have done for
long time; ten minutes under this blazing
sun will dry them thoroughly"
1t was another two DAYS before the sea
subsidized sufficiently for the surf boats to
bring the ammunition to shore, and during
that time the chiefs wife came several times
up to the barracks, each time bringing O
fowl as present to Ronald.
"Whac does that woman mean, sergeantY
one of the men asked on the occasion or her
second visit. ''Has she fallen in love with
you! She takes a practical way of showing
her affection. / shouldn't mind if two or
three of them were to fall in love with
me on the same terms"
Ronald laughed.
mo, her son got into the water yesterday
and | picked him out, and this is her way of
showing her gratitude"
Il wonder where she got the fowl fromY -
the trooper said. 81 haven't seen one for
sale in the town anywhere"
'She stole them, of course, another
trooper said, "or at least if she didn't steal
them herself she got some of the Others to
do it for her. The natives are all thieves.
man, woman and child; they are regularly
trained to 1t. Sometimes fathers viii Law
wagers with each other as to the cleverneSs
of their children; each one backs his boy to
steal something out ofsthe others hut first,
and in spite OF the sharp watch you may be
sure they keep up, it is very seldom the
youngsters fail in carrying off something
unobserved. It's disgrace in a natives
eyes to he caught thieving; but there's no
disgrace whatever, rather the contrary. in
the act itself. There's only one thing that
they are as clever at as thieving. and that
is lying The calmuess with which a native
will tell good circumsbstantial lie is enough
to take ones breath away"
Ronald knew enough of the natives to
feel that it was probable enough that the
fowls were stolen, but his sense of morality
was not sufficiently keen for him to hurt
the woman's feelings by rejecting her Of
ferings.
''The Kaffirs have proved themselves such
an ungrateful set of scoundrels," he argued
to himself. that it is refreshing to see an
exception for once"
As soon as the ammunition was on shore
it was loaded into three wagons, and on the
following morning the party started 1t
was slow work, after the rapid pace at
which Ronald and bis men had coma down
the country, and the hating places were the
same as those at which the troop had en-
camped on its march up the country five
months before.
The greatest caution was observed in their
passage through the great Addoo bush. for al
though this was 50 far from the main stro ag-
hold of the natives, it was known that there
were Numbers of Kafirs hiding there, and
several mail carriers had been murdered
and wagons attacked. The party, however,
were too strong to be molested, and
passed through without adventure the
same vigilance was observed when passing
over the sandy fats, and when they passed
through Assegai bush. Once through this,
the road was clear TO Grahamstown. Here
they halted for the day and started on the
road leading through Peddie to King Will
JAMESTOWN. After a march of fifteen miles
they halted at the edge of a wide spreading
bush. They had heard at Grahamstown
that large body of Kaffirs were re ported
to be occupying this bush, and accordingly
when they started in the morning, Ronald
had advised the young officer in command
of the Fingoes to pass through it by day
light.
"There is no making a rush." he said
1--WE must move slowly on account of the
wagons, and there will be no evadiug the
Kaffirs. / do not think that there is much
chance of their attacking snch a strong
party as we are; but if we are attacked we
can beat them off great deal better in the
daylight than at night; in the darkness we