The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1895-01-10

the Nailer?'' ''Oh, he was the African
who sat at that point, and when any
one of our men ventured across the
road he would drop him by a rifle ball.
Bob was a sure marksman. The only
way to get across the road for water
from the well was to wait until his gun
flashed and then instantly cross before
he had time to load. The only way we
could get rid of him was by digging a
mine under the house where he was
hidden. When the house was blown up,
Bob the Mailer went with it" l said
to him, 'sHad you made up your minds
| what you and the other sufferers would
do in case the iends actually broke imp"
''Oh, yes"' said my escort. I'VE had
it all planned, for the probability was
| every hour for nearly five months that
they would break in. You must remem-
Der it was 1,6OO against 10000, and
for the latter part of the time it was
nine hundred against sixty thousand,
and the residency and the earthworks
around it were not put up for such an
| attack. 1t was only from the mercy of
! God that we We're not massacred soon
after the besiegement We were re-
| solved not to allow ourselves to get in
to the hands of those desperadoes.
You must remember that we and all
the women had heard of the butchery
at Cawnpur, and we knew what defeat
meant. If unable to hold out any
longer, we would have blown ourselves
up and all gone out of life together"
"Show me" said, ''the rooms where
| the women and children staid during
these awful months. Then we crossed
over and went down into the cellar of
the residency. With shudde : of horror
| indescribable 1 entered the cellars
where 622 women and children had been
crowded until the whole room was full
l know the exact number, for counted
their names on the roll. As one of the
ladies wrote in her dairy-speaking of
these women she said, They lay upon
the floor, fitting into each other like bits
in puzzle" Wives had obtained from
their husbands the promise that the hus-
bands would shoot them rather than
let them fall into the hands of these
desperadoes. The women within the
residency were kept on the smallest
allowance that would maintain life.
No opportunity Of privacy. The death
angel and the birth angel touched wings
as they passed. Flies, mosquitoes, yer.
min in full possession of the place, and
these women in momentary sexpecta-
ton that the enraged savages would
rush upon them, in violence of which
~, md fhIn r,
: cutting would be the milder forms.
Our escort told us again and again Of
the bravery of these women. They
did not despair. They encouraged the
soldiery. They waited on the wound.
ed and dying in the hospital. They
gave up their stockings for holders Of
the grape-shot. They solaced each
other when their children died. When
! husband or father fell such prayers
of sympathy were offered as only WON
en- can offer They endured without
complaint. They prepared their own
children for burial. They were insri
ration for the men who stood at thei1
posts fighting till they dropped.
Our escort told us that again and
again news had come that Have.
lock and Outram were on the way to
! fetch these besieged ones out of their
wretchedness. They had received q
letter from Havelock rolled up in a
quill and carried in the mouth of q
disguised messenger, a letter telling
them he was on the way. but the next
news was that Havelocl1 had been
compelled to retreat. 1t was constant
vacillation between hope and despair
lief sounding nearer and nearer. Yet
i all the houses of Lucknow were fort
tresses filled with armed miscreants
and every step of Havelock and his
army was contested-fr from house
tops, firing from windows, firing from
doorways.
asked our friend if he thought that
the world famous story of a Scotch lass
in her de1irium hearing the Scotch bag
pipes advancing with the Scotch regi
ment was true story. He said he die
not know but that it was true. Without
this mans telling me / knew from my
own observation that delirium some
times ql.ickens some of the faculties
and rather think the Scotch lass in hel
de1irium was the first to hear the bag
pipes. decline to believe that class o:
people who would like to kill all tht
poetry of the world and Danish all The
fine sentiment. They tell us that Whit
tiers poem about Barbara Freitchie wa,
founded on delusion, and that Long
fellows poems immortalized thing,
that never occurred. The Scotch las
did hear the slogan. almost heard i
myself as / stood inside the residenc,
while my escort told of the coming OF
of the Seventy-eighth highland regi
ment.
Were you present when Havelocl
came in?' / asked, forI could suppress
the question no longer. His answe1
came:
II was not at the moment present; bu
with some other young fellows / say
soldiers dancing while two highlan,
!. pipers played, and / said, What is al
this excitement?' Then we cam
up and saw that Havelock was in, an
4 Outram was in, and tile regiments wer
pouring in
''show us where they came in," ez