The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1891-04-16

man even delivered himself of a long story.
The camel corps did not fire. They were
only too glad fora little breathing space
until some sort Of square could be formed.
4 The men on the sand bank ran to their side,
/ and the whaleboa2s, ashley Sto1led up with
in shouting distance, were thrust into sthe
nearest banKand eanptied of all save the
I.sick and few men to guard them. The
Arab orator ceased his outcries, and his
! friends hoWled.
soFHney look like. Nahdi's men" said Tor
penhow, elbowing himself into the crush Of
the square; 'sbut what thousands Of em
there are! The tribes hereabout aren't
against US, know
''Then the Mahdis taken another town"
said Dick, sand set all these yelP.ng devils
free to chaw as up. Lend us your glass"
''Our scouts should have tod us ct this.
We've been trapped said a subaltern.
''Are'nt the camel guns ever going to begin!
Hurry up your men ]"
There was no need for any order The
men flung themselves painting against the
sides of the square, for they had good
reason to know that whose was left out
side when the fighting begun would proba-
bly, die in an extremely unpleasant fashion,
The little 150-pound camel guns posted at
one corner of. the square opened the ball as
the square moved forward by its right to get
possession of knoll of rising ground. All
had fought in this manner many times be-
fore, and there was no novelty in the enter
tainment: always the same hot and sitting
formation, the smell of dust and leather,
the same bolt-like rush Of the enemy, the
same pressure on the weakest side OF the
square, the few minutes Of desperate hand
to-hand scuf1e, and then the silence OF the
desert, broken only by the yells OF those
whom the handful of cavalry attempted to
pursue. They had grown careless. Inc
camel guns spoke at intervals, and the
S. ;uare s1ouched forward amid the protests
OF the camels. Then came the attack OF
three thousand men, who had not learned
from books that it is impossible for troops
in close order to attack against baeech-load-
ing fire A few dropping shots heralded
their approach. and few hoFse4nen led, Tut
the bulk Of the force was naked humanity
mad with rage, and armed with the spear
and the sword The instinct of the desert,
where there is always much war, told them
thaA the right flank of the square was the
weakest, for they swung clear Of the 1ronE'
The camel guns snetleegd tkem as they passed,
and opened for an Instant lanes through
Their midst, most Like those qmcK-closlng
vfstas in a Kentish hop garden, seen when
the train races by at -<Full speed ano the IN
fantry fire, held till the opptrtune moment
dropped them in close-packed hQ11Te0S' no
civilized troops in the world could have en-
dured the hell through which they came,
the living leaping high to avoid the dead
.clutching at their heels, the wounded ours
ING and staggering forward till they fell--a
torrent black as the sliding water above a
milldam-full on the right flank of the
square Then the line of the dusty troops
and the faint blue desert sky overhead went
out in rolling smoke, and the little stones on
the heated ground and the tinder-dry clumps
Of scrub became matters OF SURPRISING IN
terest, for men measured their agonlzed re-
treat and recovery by these things c0unt1nA
mechanically and hewing their way back 90
chosen pebble and branch. There was ne
semblance Of any concerted fighting: For
aught the men knew, the enemy might Re
attempting all four sides of the SO uare at
once. Their business was 70 destroy what
lay in front of them, to bayonet in the back
those who passed over them, and, dying, to
|. drag down the slayer till he could be
knocked on the head ny some ayenging: gun
butt. Dick waited quietly with Torpenhow
and young doctor til the stress became
uncomfortable Their was no hope Of attend