The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-02
THE MORNING NEWS sUNDAB, AUGUST 1887 TWELVE PAGES

They knew that the strife between them
must be renewed in few minutes and IN.
less aid came to them, and that soon, they
knew well what tee result of that strife
must be. Not man wavered, not cheek
blanched. They krew what they had to
do, to hold that work as long as they could
and then die.
The pause is soon over, cheered on by
their officers and exultant in their replen-
lshed numbers, with wild yell the Rus
slams nncs more hurl themselves on the foe
dauntlessly are they met, and one of those
savage hand-to>hand melees in which mems
eyes, like the Chourneur's in Sues famous
novel, see blood ensues. BaYonet thrustS,
and furious blows with dubbed muskets,
are exchanged on all sides In the midst Of
this very whirlpool of battle Private PLY IBIS,
still sticking close to Hugh's heels, with the
canine flelity he he'd displayed the entire
morning, found himself immersed. The
CONFUSED mass swayed backward and for
ward, when suddenly there came O final
rush On the part Of the Muscovites, and,
by sheer weight Of numbers, the English
were driven rapidly back. Peter Phybbs
was doing his deUOtr galantly in the fray
when just as this retrogade movement be-
gan his foot slipped on the blood-stained
soil, and, at the same moment, he received
a blow from the butt end of musket on
the shoulder, which brought him to the
of a powerful Russian grenadier would have
terminated the career of the lucklsss soldier
when a bullet from Hugh's revolver
stretched the grenadier across the legs of
his intended victim. For few moments
Fleming made gallant stand and, with the
aid of his death~dealing revolver, kept his
foes at bay. At length, hurling the empty
pistol furiously in their faces, be was about
to fall back. when a bayonet thrust in the
side caused him to reel backward, and be-
fore he could recover himself he was In the
fierce grip of his foremost foes Short had
been his shrlft, perhaps, for the blood Of his
assailants was up, and they had seen two or
three OF their comrades fall by his hand,
but luckily for Hugh, one of their officers
was close by. and sternly commanded that
his life should be spared But to this, hav-
ing tainted from loss of blood, Hugh was
utterly oblivious.
II those few moments have cost Hugh
Fleming his life, they have undoubtedly
saved that of Peter Phybbs but for Hugh's
revolver, his spirit would have already
Sped but Fleming's stand had enabled him
to recover his feet, and to rejoin his COM
rades, and be with them swept over the
parapet by the victorious wave of Russian
troops. AS for the broken and defeated
remnant of the English, they tumbied pell-
NELL into the ditch of the Red4n, as Tom
Byng described 1t afterwards, like detected
their way back to their own lines by twos
and threes, and without any attempt at
formation. IL they had strewn the ground
thick as leaves in autumn, during their
advance, it is certain that they suffered
but little In their retreat. Whether
the Russian batteries deemed it probable
that their troops, following up the success
they bad gained, might make a sortie in
force, or whether they had oDigaIrously abb
stained from further punishment of a
thoroughly beaten foe, l cannot say. but so
it was, and both Byng and Private Pny bis
we're among those who regained the ad-
vanced trench comparatively uahurt. Over
Hugh Fleming's fate his comrades could
only shake their heads sadly when they got
back to the camp. He had never been seen
after that last charge of the Russians, which
had swept them out of the Redan, and in all
probability he was numbered with the slain
1t seemed to his comrades the very irony of
fate to read in the general orders for the
army that evening"
Lieut.. Hugh Fleming, til regiment, to
be lieutenant and captain in the Grenadier
Guards. Capt. Fleming will report himself
at once to the quarter master general con-
corning passage to England.
TO BE CONTINUED