The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1890-10-04

point part way up the cliff instead o.
from the ground below, rs had at first
supposed. This suppositiOn was imme
diatcly confirmed, for, as | pecpcd ny
aver the ledge very cautiously. | diScOv.
cred half Il dozen Zulu> advancing stead
lily up the rocks. The foremost was q
biz, stalwart man. and, quick rs light.
ming, he let fly his weapon. l lodged
in the nick of time. and then. handing
up my revolver. took aim and fired. and
down went the biz Zulu to the bottom Of
the crag>. taking along with him two
Others who happened to be just in the
| rear.
Several assegais swept past my ears,
and then. rs | blazed away indiscrimi-
| nately, knocking one more man over. the
I rest beat hasty retreat down the cliff
y chorus of wild wells rose from the
Swarming tiends below, and in order to
scare them little RELOADED the revolver
and let them have it again. They hur.
ried out OF range very quickly, and after
some consultation squatted down in the
bush.
| was IN for a siege. and a most mighty
unpleasant siege, too. The sun was up
and beating down ticrCely into the Gran.
mics Of the rocks, and, to add to the mis-.
cry caused by the intense heat, | was
both hungry and thirsty.
The hours passed on with tOrturino
slowness. and while | was suffering un.
told miseries in my rocky retreat the Zu.
lus complaccutly baked their bodies in
10 rN L., l., I l..
their shields. had no doubt that they
were only waiting for darkness to finish
me up. There was absolutely no chance
of escape, for they had invested the rock
on all sides.
The shield belonging to the big warrior
whom | had shot was lying few feet
below me, where it had caught on a sharp
spur. Here was capital defense against
their assegais in case another attack was
made. Pulling myself nimbly over the
parapet, l started down.
The cliff, as | have said before, hung
directly over me. and had taken but
one step when dark shadow shot across
the rocks in front of me, and then down
came big Zulu on my shoulders. He
miscalculated his leap. for he rolled side
ways and pulled me over on top of him.
We grappled fiercely and foundered
over the rocks at lively rate. Ihad no
chance to use my revolver at all.
The Zulu was big, brawny man, and |
for time the issue was uncertain; but |
at last knocked his head against sharp |
rock, and the tight grasp relaxed at
once.
But now l was Mortified to see dozen
warriors bounding up the cliff only few
yards away. With one spring l was on
my feet, and, as plunged into the
Granny of the rocks, a perfect hail of as.
'egais ratified around me.
In that instant I gave myself I'D for
lost. / had left the shield behind, and
knew we'll enough that the moment !
rentured to raise my head it would be
made the target for dozen spears.
drew down as far as possible. point.
ng the muzzle upward. for l was re-
'olved to put few of them out of the
way before l went under But minute
lfter minute passed on, and not sound
If any kind reached me. Then the sus.
,icion stole over me that this was cum
llngly laid plot to induce me to poke I'D
ny head and be impaled on an assegai.
FULLY convinced of this, remained quiet
or ten minutes longer, and then slowly
hrust up my head.
Oh, the gladness of that moment. It
vas worth aday's suffering. Not Zulu
vas in sight, save two or three dead ones
ying on the ground; but fifty yards
way, coming at rapid trot through the
'ush, was detachment of English cav
Try. The Zulus had spied them in the
istance, and beat rapid retreat.
Cramped and stiff, l crawled down
yer the rocks, and was heartily well
omed by the brave troopers.
They turned out to be accommodating
arty attached to Sir Evelyn Woods
'rces, who were camped on a small
Intercourse five miles distant.
In an hour was in his presence, relat-
~ the peril of the camp at Isandula.
lstant preparations were made for a
light march, but just before dark two
lood-stained troopers rode YEARLY into
mp with the terrible tidings. They
ere the sole survivors Of the massacre.