Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1895-12-07
A TASTE OF BLOOD.

1t was in the Boor war of 1879.
was sent with dispatch from Newcas-
tie, on the Natal border, to Standerton,
and had to ride through country occu-
pied by the enemy. We knew from ex-
perience that the Beers had parties out
on all the roads to intercept messengers,
but as l was pretty well acquainted
with those parts and had good horse l
hoped to slip through, without being
noticed, by & cross country route l had
got over more than half my journey
when, just about dusk, saw solitary
Boer riding in the distance. He disap-
peared almost Immediately i'll fold i'll
the ground, and so hoping that he had
not III that brief moment discovered me,
l stood where l was, behind a clump Of
rocks.
My horse and l We're both i'll need Of
rest, so as darkness came on l moved
down into Il grass grown donga below
the rocks, where the horse could Craze
and whence l could see any one ap-
preaching by his being defined against
the sky line. | had had the misfortune
uuI lHS lllt tliN W ipNt bIic VI IL
bags, thanks TO a rotten strap, and found
myself i'll consequence without food and
without any more ammunition than the
cartridge i'll my carbine and two spare
ones in my pocket, and so, for more
reasons than one, | looked forward to
getting soon to my journeys end.
AS the moon rose behind the rocks l
began to think of starting on my way
again, when suddenly my nerves were
put on the qui vivo by my horse chuck
ing up his head and staring forward for
few moments with pricked ears. Then,
without having stopped chewing, he
dropped his muZzle back into the dewy
grass and Went Oh grazing as though
dewy grass bred no such thing as "horse
Sickness" Following tho direction of
his stare fancied | saw something NOV
ing in the shadow of the rocks, and a
few seconds later the figure of man
| lOomed up clear and black against the
moonlit sky, moving along the top of
the "kopje' i'll stealthy, STOPPING po-
sition. Hat, beard and rifle proclaimed
him to be Boer Time, locality and
posture told that he was searching for
me. Mechanically l brought my carbine
to the "ready." As did so he stopped
and slowly sank behind stone, Either
CLINT of my weapon or Il sound from
my horse had caught his attention. l
was in the deep shadow of an Overhang-
ing rock, and my horse was behind me,
efTectually concealed by a projecting
corner of the bank never took my eye
| of tbn xybora t,a bol 1iSan-
peared The minutes dragged by like
hours as | watched without seeing
sign.
Could he have slipped away from
there altogether and perhaps be creeping
down behind me somewhere? | dared
not take my gaze off the place for a sin
gle moment, and the tension Of waiting
gradually became almost unbearable.
My heart WAS humping away all the
while with suppressed excitement, al
most drowning the only other sound
audible in the surrounding dead still
ness, the sound Of my horse contentedly
cropping the herbago At last a move
ment by the sono | was watching, and
| saw his head rise slowly and quietly
peer about 1t seemed almost like a bad
dream to watch this spectcr so noiseless
ly exerting all bis craft to find mo in
order to take my life.
How steadily he stared into my donga
with his head only just above the stones
But he could rot see me, his eyes could
not pierce the darkness Of my hiding
place.
Seeing nothing, he gradually raised
himself to gain more extended view or
to look into the ground more immedi-
atoly under his position, and now | saw
his head, shoulders and body clearly sill
houetted against the sky, almost under
the moon. Quickly | raised my carbine
to my shoulder. The barrel shone like a
bar of silver as pointed it for his head
Slowly and steadily l lowered the fore
end till the bar was diminished into q
single spark shining against the lower
part of the black figure. He never
; moved, and all the while my brain kept
! repeating those lines of Gordon's
How strange that man should miss
When his life depends Oh mis- aiml
, How strange that man should miss
When his life
At the right moment hand and eye
worked mechanically in unison, and
through the roar and red blaze that fol-
lowed | had momentary vision of two
hands thrown up against the sky and
then blank darkness. My horse, startled
} by the report, first claimed my atten-
tion, and then, as l slipped i'll one of my
two remaining cartridges, l wondered
what next should be done.
/ Was the man dead or shamming? Had
! he friends near who would be attracted
by the report? Should | stay where
was or make a bolt? | finally decided
: to wait few minutes and watch.
Not sound. Nothing moved. Sc
carefully and quietly crept up the
donga, and by a detour made my way tc
| the back of the pile of rocks. A move
| ment III their shadow caused me to droI
t fiat among the stones, till / saw that il
t was only the Beers horse quietly graz
t ing out iutp the moonlight. So the man
was still there, but was he alive and