Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-11-04

VI ineerest now In Egypt.
Forward by the right; marchr'
Clear and loud comes the command, and
the ugly, ill conditioned steeds of the
camel. corps moved forward with ungainIy
step. Tn wells of Aboo Klea are within
sight, nd Sir Herbert Stewart, who
marched nine days ago with 800 picked
men across the desert to reach the Nile
and thence to press on to Khartoum, feels
that his mission will be successful and that
Gordon will be speedily relieved
So does Captain Jack Macpherson of the
Egyptian army, attached for the present
to the cameiry, as he sails along on one OF
the ships of the desert.
This is an unseaworthy ship, and as it
losses more than usual he calculates,
Ugh, you brute. if there is an Arab at the
wells will trade camels." With this he
looks forward to the rocky defile by which
the route lies and sees futteriDg above
ledge an Arab banner. For an instant he
looks at 1t through his field glass and then
rides in haste back along the ranks A
word in Sir Herbert's ear. The troops are
halted and zareba is in process of forma-
ton when with beating of war drums and
discordant yells that remain unanswered
for the threats of the men are too parched
and thirsty to hurrah-a great body OF
Arabs start from the underwood around
the entrance to the defile and, headed by
many standard bearers, PUSHES in upon the
British square.
OF the fight for life in that square, and
the determination with which the Arabs
fought to break the ranks, there is no need
to tell. How Burnaby went down, fight
ing gloriously, and many another brave
| man beside him, history records
With the utmost GOODNESS, for he had
been through many such scenes, Captain
MACPHERSON, after the first rush, picks up
the rifle of a dead soldier, unclasps his
cartridge belt and plugs away steadily at
the nightshirt brigade, as the soldiers have
nicknamed the Arabs from their long
white robes.
But, see. what change is this in his face
as the foe forms in a compact mass for an
other rush? And listen to the request he
makes TO the men around him:
Don't shoot within dozen wards each
side of that banner!" he says in such a tone
| of voice that the soldiers look up in sur.
| prise and see white, set face
Let them come right up before You
fire, he adds, land wait till give you the
word. You'll agree to that, won't you,
Roberts? It's a matter of life and death"
| This to the officer in command of the COM
pany.
Matter of death to us all, think, il
| you don't speak in time" growled Rob
erts, frowning at the advancing dervishes,
but have your way"
| MACPHERSON makes no answer; the nal
| Tor of his face increases; now it is ashy
! gray as the Arabs rush in on the square
OF all the oncoming hundreds he sees only
two men-one the standard bearer and be-
side him young fellow, wonderfully light
of SIX in for N Aral / -
head instead of the usual tangled head
dress of CREASED hair worn by the der
| wishes.
kneeling as the Arabs come within fifty
yards of the square he takes deliberate
| ann. A flash, and at the same instant the
| standard bearer falls prone to the earth
| the fair faced Arab seizes the banner and
PUSHES to the front. Another shot and he
too, falls. In a voice that rings above the
din of the battle Macpherson gives the
| order to fire, and the Arabs, met by a
| volley at such range, stagger and through
the smoke are seen to fall back a few
PAGES. Instantly MACPHERSON rushes out
| from the square, and before his comrades
| or the enemy have time to interfere he is
| again in the midst of his comrades, trem-
bling and pale, but bearing in his arm the
| young Arab. who still grasps the banner
| he plucked from the dead leaders hand.
The Arabs, nightly thinned in that last
| brush, fall away. The fight is over and
| the men crowding around MACPHERSON
| who is bathing the wounded Arabs thigh
| where his bullet entered, ask what it all
means.
Roberts, who is under the impression
that the banner was the prize coveted by
| MACPHERSON and that his care for the Arab
| is an afterthought. remarks that the game
was hardly worth the candle, but Mac
| Pherson, looking up for a moment, says,
| pointing to the wounded Arab:
| MY brother"
Instantly the men, most of whom nave
heard the story Of the colonel's bereave-
| ment crowd around the stretcher. Sure
| enough, the resemblance cannot be dis
| puted.
See" says MACPHERSON becoming less
| constrained as the intense strain of the
| last few minutes is relaxed, Il can trace
| on the back of his right hand the outlines
| of an anchor. remember when he put it
on he was a very small cub. His hand
looked as if it was poisoned, and he came
to me and got me to scrape most of the
| ink out again. That's why the mark is so
| faint. Roberts, send a man out there to
bring in the big fellow shot. That was
Aboo, and | think you will find bullet
| in his head"
The last words are spoken family, and
| Macpherson falls back into the arms of a
soldier Where he stood there is a pool of
| blood, and on examination it is found that
| he too, has been wounded in the thigh.
|
They were an odd looking pair, the BROTH
ers rs they walked together in the garden
| of the army hospital at Cairo. 1t was for
tunate that Jack knew Arabic, for his long
lost brother had to learn English over
again, having heard never a word of his
mother tongue from the night when Aboo,
after gagging him, tumbled him into the
boat lying astern Of the dehabeeh until his
brothers bullet brought him back to civili-
cation. OF his wanderings he could tell
little except that his captor and he had
been wayfarers for years in the Soudan
| and along the desert highways until the
insurrection broke out, when he was
pressed into the mahdi's service. Aboo be-
L v-<1l,, IL. l. Il. L.