Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1895-05-23

Iight anu ieft. ana, CnanhlnG fortune
for so favorable a retreat. l made up
my mind to stay there till the '.still
hour'-the hour before sunrise.
/ was not tired enough to sleep well
in a tree, at the start, but at last
| managed to oversleep, and was reused,
| not by the roar of a lion. blu. By the
| rattle of a native war-drum. There
| was a hum of voices, too, and the sound
of many feet.
A dozen or more native warriors were
| already in the open space, preparing
for breakfast The drummers were
| soon in sight, and the main body fol-
lowed close behind. Soon the open
space was thronged with them. There
| were more than five hundred.
They were all warriors Some of
| them were well armed. Mattress are
usually boisterous These were so
still that in the tree I could not catch
single syllable, though the nearest
were but a little more than fifty feet
away.
If I waited till they moved on. I
should be behind them-a position
which might prove decidedly disagree
able. They were evidently impressed
with the gravity of their mission,
which without doubt was an attack
upon the new fort. and if you could get
ahead of them and warn the central of
their coming it would not only be a
much more comfortabl position, but
would prove good feather for my cap.
Their pre- parations for breakfast. too,
made me ravenously hungry, and that
settled it.
As cautiously as ever a panther
crept, 1 made my way to large branch
extending back into the jungle and
crept out farther and farther until it
began to bend. If it broke was gone;
but it did not break. Then let my
| self out hand over hand, till my feet
| were not much above a yard from the
spongy ground Then dropped.
The branch swung up again with
| unnecessary noise, but l did not wait
| to see what effect it had. 1t was a
question of life and death, and / in
| creased the distance without delay
Faint with hunger, almost ready to
| drop in the path and die of thirst,
thoroughly worn out by the steady
| race-horse pull of two hours and half
over that soggy, messy ground, 1 came
| in sight of the new fort.
Even then 1 could not help pausing
for a moment to puff and admire it. 1t
| stood on the summit of a mount posi-
bly, two hundred feet high. The other
side was evidently cliff, with river
beyond it. 1t was mound of ragged
powders, with the exception of one
smooth approach, in places not over
twenty feet wide, a natural corridor
L. l. I
ed in smiling as noticed the cold muz-
zle of a cannon through hole in the
fort wall, covering that narrow APP
proach, and thought of the possibilities
before it.
Strange how still that place was.
There was not a challenge or a greet
ing as ] climbed. I was too much ex-
hausted to shout and rouse some one.
] was too much in haste to look for an
entrance, and, elm bling directly over
the wall by the cannon, came sliding
down the other side fair against a
bronzed old English gunner who was
sitting there sound asleep. He was the
only mortal in sight.
For mercy's sake where are the rest
of you?" 1 gasped, staring about in
blank establishment.
He stood up, rubbed his eyes. looked
down the path, and replied:
''Hif you come from the left wing,
sir, hid better hask where is the rest
of your
He was as much bewildered as I.
By degrees we got our senses into
shape for comparison of facts. He
had been ordered to remain with the
gun and told to expect the left at any
moment, as they had been signaled,
the night before, that the central
would move on at daylight to point
where the natives were massing,
days march beyond, and that the left
was to hold the position until the CEN
trail returned. He had the written or
ders in his pocket for the major. Much
good did they do him.
It was only little confusion some
where in the signal service. TOO
much brevity and a double construc-
tion," it was pronounced upon official
investigation. The immediate result,
however, was that the old gunner and
myself were there alone, with at least
five hundred savage warriors not an
hours march away. and all the camp
luggage and ammunition left for US to
guard.
There's no such thing as calling
help, and we can't retreat with no
place to go. We might hide some
where" 1 said as a feeler. to find out
the temper of the old man.
IAN give hup the gun!" he exclaimed.
There was no doubt about where he
stood. He laid his rough hand affec-
tionate1y upon the piece, and added:
Hi tell We, sir, shes a oily terror.
She's powerful one. It's holds on
the gun. sir, wen they come
well, give me gallon of water and
a bone to chew, and I'm with you,"
replied.
Before / had half finished eating we
| heard the rumble of the drums. The
cannon was loaded to do all that was
in her. At loops ten feet away, on
i either side, we collected a dozen loaded
rifles each and took our positions there,
after placing our hats SO that they
| would just show above the wall, still
farther along on either side.
| Personally would much rather have
been somewhere else at that moment,
even in the monotony of the marching
left; but pride, if nothing else, pre-
vented my showing it to that calm old
| gunner.
| The first native to show himself was
a fierce black Kaffir, with a long-bar-
relied, square-butt gun, who came
stealthily creeping along, under cover
1 - A. 1,s- l.