Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1890-02-19

thirst for our blood. If we would sur
render every thing we had we could go
where we pleased. If not they would
kill us and take what they wanted.
We soon sent the fellow away with an
answer. If we escaped from this gang
it would be to fall into the hands of an
other. We should be defenseless and
penniless, and what could we do? We
told him we had decided to fight it out,
and as soon as he disappeared we re-
turned to the fort. The two other mem
bers of the party were Henry Wilds,
a Massachusetts man, and George Fish
er, of Ohio. We had then been in India
together for a year, and had stood
back to back in many tight places.
Wilds was a typical Yankee, good-nat-
ured but courageous, and his long arms
had the strength of horses leg. The
thicket was so dense that our fort could
not be seen unless one penetrated it q
few yards. The natives simply sup
posed that we were lying close in the
center of the Jungle, and half an hour
after the groom left us about thirty mus
kets began blazing away at our position.
Some of the balls whistled over US,
others entered the earth, and now and
then one struck the heavy blocks of
stone with dull ring. We took turns
as sentinel, while the other two slept,
and soon after midnight all was quiet.
1t was ten o'clock next morning be-
fore we were troubled again. Then the
members of the old gang seemed to have
been added TO, and fifty or more mus
kets kept up pretty steady fire until
three o'clock in the afternoon. By this
time we ought to have been all shot to
pieces, as the bullets had cut through
every foot of the Jungle. The natives
believed it was time to advance and
see. We could locate them by their
loud talk and constant dissensions, and
when we found that all had gath
cred on the eastern edge of the thicket
and were about to advance, we climbed
out, crept forward, and lay down behind
big block of stone to receive them.
They entered the thicket as a mob
would have done, and the first three
men sighted were dropped in their
tracks. This caused a panic, and they
withdrew, and aside from a few stray
shots fired to let us know that we were
still besieged, we were not annoyed I'M
til next morning. Then we heard a
great hurrah, and after a little were
given the information that they had
brought down the two pieces of artillery
from the station to shell us out. They
were very slow in getting to work, and
when they began firing it was plain
enough that they knew nothing about
artillery. Of the first four shells fired,
all went too high and burst far beyond
us. The fifth one burt short and threw
the dirt over our walls. Then we de-
cided to cool their ardor a bit. We
climbed over the walls, got out of the
line of fire, and crept to the edge of the
thicket. There we saw mob of over a
hundred natives with the two guns
planted within pistol shot. One of them
had become disabled by ramming the
ball down before the cartridge, and the
other was about to be fired. We select
ed three of the gunners, fired together,
and they fell dead on the grass. Before
the gang could get out of range we
killed two more and wounded third.
Then Wilds ran forward under cover of
our rifles and spiked both pieces by
driving some nails, which he happened
to have in his pocket, into the vents.
Seeing a move to flank us, we returned
to our shelter. and all the rest of that
day and all night were left in peace.
On the third day there were but twenty
natives in the besieging force, and they
fired into the thicket only at long inter
walls. On the fourthsday this force was
reduced to ten. At noon Wilds made a
scout and found them eating dinner,
and we crept up and killed one and
wounded two, and completely raised the
siege. We could have gone away now
had we had any place to go to, but we
had decided to remain.
On the fifth day, about nine o'clock in
the morning, rabble of about six hun.
dred natives, most of them soldiers, who
were on their way to Cawnpoor, were
turned aside to attack us. Each one had
q gun and plenty of ammunition, and
for three hours they kept up q credit
able fire. They could see nothing to
shoot at, but fired into the thicket, and
at least five hundred bullets hit the
walls of our fortress. We did not fire
in reply, as it would only have betrayed
out position. At noon, when their FIRE
began to slacken, we made ready for q
charge. There were two spare guns,
all were loaded. Then, while waiting,
Wilds piled up couple of hundred
stones about the size of his fist from the
pieAtiful supply once used in the rubble
work of the buildings. The thicket was
surrounded two lines deep, and at sig
nal general advance was made. Had
we been without cover we would have
been killed or captured. When they saw
our fort the orders were to storm it. The
walls were so low that one could ''boost"
another up, and before we opened fire
there was living fringe all around u.s.
In one minute only the dead were
IN sight. Nilds fred once, and then re-
sorted to the rocks, aud honestly be-
lieve ha disabled dozen men, Four of
the killed fell into the Enclosure, and
the bodies of two more were pushed out
side.
This ended the fighting. The rabbie
went of, ana for the next ten DAYS not
native came aeaF MS. At the end of that
time me got word that the British had
the upper hand again at Sultanpoor, and
we left our fort and returned there. Not
one of us was the worse of, and yet we
had done considerable toward reducing
the number Of mutineers. One of the
natives wounded in the last fight told
me that the General who ordered the
charge against the fort told his men
that it was no use 70 longer bother US,
as all Americans were In league with
Satan, and that His Majesty would pre-
vent their bullets or swords from harm
ing us.-N. Y. Sun.
The GREAr MnSnImrn