Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1890-01-17

| ther informed me that I ought TO De Tey
| thankful that he had not taken my hfe as
well. He informed US of all that had occurred
| at the barracks, and stated that party had
come out to make terms with rs. Being that
we we're Americans and had had nothing to
| do with their expressions. they did not thirst
for our blood If we would surrender every
! thing we had We could go where we pleased.
If not they would Kill us and take what they
wanted.
We very soon sent the fellow away with an
answer If we escaped from this gang it
! would be TO fall into the hands of another.
We should be defenseless and penniless and
what could we doc We told him we had de-
cided to fight it out, and as soon as he disap-
peared we returned to the fort The two
other members Of the party were Henry
Wilds, a Massachusetts man, and George
Fisher Of Ohio. We had been in Indiana to-
gether for year. and had stood back to back
in many tight places. Wlds was typical
Yankee, good natured but courageous, and
his long arms had the strength Of a horses
leg. The thicket was so dense that our fort
could not be seen unless one penetrated it a
few yards. The natives simply supposed that
we were lying in the center of the jungle,
and half an hour after the groom left us
thirty muskets began blazing away at our po-
sition. 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 sentinels, while
the other two slept, and soon after midnight
all was quiet.
1t was 10 o'clock next morning before we
were troubled again. Then the members Of
the old gang seemed to have been added to,
and fifty more muSkets kept up q pretty
steady fire until O'Clock in the afternoon.
By this time we ought to have been oil 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 To-
cate them by their loud talk and constant
Discussions, and when we found that al had
gathered on the eastern edge of the thicket
and were about to advance, we climbed out,
crept forward, and lay down behind big
block of rock to receive them. They entered
the taicket as 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 few stray shots
fired to let us know that we were still bes1eged,
we were not annoyed until next morning.
lEti We Ho1i u d II oaI nan OIL, etiiu dltI q
little were given the information that they
had brought down 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 very plain that they knew
nothing about artillery.
OF the first four shells fired, all went too
high and burst far beyond U.s. The fifth one
burst short and threw the dirt over our walls
Then we decided to cool their arClor bit.
We climbed over the walls, got out of the
line of fire and crept to the edge of the
thicket. There we saw a mob Of over a hun
dred natives with the two guns planted with
in pistol shot. One of them had become disa-
bled by ramming the bail down before the
cartridge, and the other was about to be
fired. We selected three Of the gnnners, fired
together, and they fell dead ON the grass
Before the gang could get out of range we
killed two more and wounded a third. Then
Wilds ran forward under cover of our rifles
and spiked both pieces by driving some nails,
which he happened to have in bis pocket,
into the vents Seeing move to flank rs we
returned to our shelter and all the rest of
that day and all night we were left in peace
On the third day there we've bat twenty ma
tives in the besieging force, and they fired
into the thicket only at long intervals. On
the fourth day this force was reduced to ten
At noon Wilds made 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 any place to go, but we had decided
to remain.
On the fifth day, about 9 o'clock in the
morning, rabble of about 900 natives, most
OF them soldiers, who were on their way to
Cawnpoor, were turned aside to attack US
Each one had gun and plenty of ammu-
milton, and for three hours they kept I'D q
creditable fire They could see nothing to
to shoot at, but fired into tie thicket and at
least 500 bullets hit the walls of our fortress.
We did not fire in reply, as it would only
have betrayed our position. At noon, when
the fire began to slacken, we made ready for
a charge. There were two spare guns and
all were loaded. Then, while waiting, Wilds
piled up a couple Of hundred stones about tho
size Of his fist from the plentiful supply once
used in the rubble work of the buildings TIE
thicket was surrounded two lines deep, and
at a signal general advance was made. Had
we been without cover we should have been
killed or captured When they saw our fort
the order was to storm it. The walls were so
low that one could ''boost" another up, and
before we opened fire there was a living
fringe all around US. In ono minute only the
dead were in sight. Wiids fred once, and
then resorted to the rocks, and honestly be-
lieve he disabled dozen men. Pour of the
killed fell into the Enclosure, and the bodies
of two more were pushed outside.
This ended the fighting The rabhle went
off, and for the next ten days not a native
came near us. AT the end Of that time we
got word that the British had the upper hand
again at Suitanpoor, and we left our fort
and returned there. Not one of US was the
worse off, and yet we had done considerable
toward reducing the number of mutineers.
One of the natives wounded ia the last fight
told me that the general who ordered the
charge against the fort told bis men that it |
was no use TO longer bother Us, as all Amer |
cans were in league with Satan, and that his |
majesty would prevent their bullets or swords !
from harUling uS-New York Sun.
An Odious Smell