The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-12-20


themselves IN the middle Ct the street. and
how long might have sat l can't say
suppose until they had caught me, or burned
me out; but at last l was reused by the ap-
pearance OF one Of the Young scouts, who
climbed the ladder, and poking his head in
whispered:
"'Come, Tachal No good you wait here
any longer. Laloka dead, Dwia dead; we
want you and Oviro, over there
They didn't know any more than had
done that my wife had left me and that
what lay against me was only a dead
weight
az rose up, ard ssizing rifle In my fist,
used it 10 hoist the warm body into my left
arm, and to hold 1t there. Then followed
the boy down the back ladder and made
of after him toward the woods
81 knew that they had seen me before /
could reach the cover, for | heard them
shouting; and rs l slid behind q tree saw
the bullets breaking the branches and
spiuters from the bark. So l only ran for
little way, and then laying down Oviro
on the grass turned to wait for them, de-
termined TO have one more life at least be-
fore turned tail on them.
1.-THE boy would not leave me, plucky
little beggar that be was, but stood with
couple OF spears in his hand ready for the
fling.
-Four chaps had set running after me
with revolvers at the cock, and l could hear
the dead branches smashing as they tram
pied them down with their feet, then the
first one dashed by me snorting before
could bring my dubbed rife down on his
skull, but he did not run many steps before
the boy had sent spear through his back
and settled him.
''The second one got in good time and
he went down like a nine-pin under my
club, while the third tripped over his body
and was pinned to earth by the boy before he
could roll round. The fourth man caught
by the wind-pIps fairly while he was trying
to stop himself, and once l have a man
right there with this claw he amt got much
prospect Of another meal.
1.-Two or three minutes we rolled and
twisted about on the ground, and then he,
too, was a 'gorer.' No more came on, and
could hear the bugle sounding the recall for
the poor unfortunates who had left the
ranks forever; then / took their bankers
and stuck them in my belt, and lifting up
all that was left Of Oviro, struck out for
our stragglers, while the lad cut off the four
heads and reaviDg them on one of the
spears, hoisted them over his shoulder, and
with the four sword bayonets In his other
hand, came after me.
81 found the last OF the tribe a mile or SO
ahead, fifteen men and three boys with a
dozen OF women, old aud young.
Where are the rest of the girls and the
kiddyF l asked as l looked round on the
miserable looking crowd, and they then told
me that they had been seen crossing and
chased into the woods and that was all that
had managed to escape, one of the soldiers
had chucked the kid up against a tree and
knocked its brains out, while they took
back what girls they could catch and a
couple of the BOYS. Then I felt gladder
than ever that I'd punished these last four
''They had got the dead body of my little
nephew, and Lord, mates, when saw the
little innocent lying limp afore me, with all
his perky sass out Of him, l fairly gave
way and blubbered like blessed woman.
''We dug grave and buried them both
here before we quilted that spot, my MUIR
dered dear, and the kiddy on that breast
where her own might have lain in a few
more months had all gone right. Then
while still sat staring on the fresh earth,
one of the boys who had been captured
came on us az we rested.
They had recognized me, 1t seems, as the
man who had been driven out of their set
Element, and made cook sure now that was
an English spy sent out to report their
crueltieS, and they had offered the lad his
liberty If he would take them to me. They
did not care cuss about the other natives,
but they meant to keep me from getting out
OF the country by hook or crook.
THE young girls had been awfulIy
mauled about before they had finished
them, and my blood ran cold as listened to
that lads yarn. They were ten thousand
times worse brutes than any oannibals
could have been. and after they were done
with them, they had set fire to the houses
and burned the village to the ground, so
Laloka and his wife had found grave
also, and were now resting among the DIN,
ders.
1.-The boy had made his escape while they
were firing the huts and got Off among the
smoke without being noticed. When
heard this thought it about time to make
move.
II was appointed leader now so l struck
out across the country for the hills. and for
weeks we knocked about. for we had to go
warily to keep clear Of hostile tribes. That
was weary tramp | can tell you, mates.
through swamps and forests, over hills and
into gulches, hiding ourselves during the
day and wandering about at night, after
having to turn back, or 60 round miles,
and sometimes losing our way ia SPITE Of
their savage cuteness. Often going for days
without any grub, aud even at the best Of
times having to content ourselves with roots
and such like.
And every day our numbers got less,
and had TO be buried and left behind. What
with snake bites and fsvers and odd tgssels
with natives which we could not avoid, by
the time l reached the mountains / had
only seven searecrows left, and not
woman TO comfort us. They had all caved
in.
zone afternoon saw the Owen Stanley
rising far above, swimming in golden
clouds, and with their peaks rosy red in the
sunset. And then we struggled up to the
top of one ridge and lay down to rest
among some rocks. We were all dead
beat, and fell asleep almost as soon as we
lay down, careless of what might happen
next.
THE moon was up full, like as it shines
tonight, wnen one OF the men shook mo
awake, saying:
'Tachs. what is it coming after usP
~ hardened for q moment, and then the
truth broke on me hKe fash.
'Bloodhounds, by Saul They are de-
termined to take me before can leave their
country. Come on, boys, we must make
tracks for some water
II could hear the sharp, short, bell-like
whimpers of the hounds in the distance, for
sounds carry far way on the mountains on
clear moonht night, and knew that the
Germans we're behind them. for the natives
had no dogs of this sort. So without more
ado we set Off fun speed down the other side
Of the hill, hoping to find creek of some
sort In the gulley.
ut had been an uncommon hot summer,
and most of the streams which we had
crossed had been dry; we thought this
lucky ct the time, but now wasn't so sure
about that.
-