Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-08-12

wounded, but his first care was to see
after his own men. Three white officers
and sergeant major of the west Indians
had fallen at their posts, with faces to-
ward the fee Six privates were killed
and a score were badly wounded, and
the colonel groaned, as with dry lips
and contracted brow he recognized the
pity Of it and the uselessness OF this
waste of life; for there was worse to
come
The bright sun rays fell on the scene
of the fight, and the gloomy forest clear
ing became at once place of warmth
and light, but the space in front Of the
square was dotted every here and there
with rigid, mot;oIicss figure and the
surrounding bushes were full Of wound
ed men. Fer few moments the officer
hardly dared 20 forward and examine
the slain, and when at last he slipped
over the b1e;.stU ork aid stood over the
Guiet dead the sight vas what he ex-
pected-they were not Sofas.
Many were naked savages, auxiliaries
only, but ten Of the chief assailants lay
there, with distorted features, clad in the
uniform of the French Senegalis. The
colonel wondered who would be called
to account for this night s work, but the
crowning horror Of the whole affair was
reached when Haussas carried i'll a
white officer and laid him on the dewy
grass, coughing up gulps Of blood.
He smiled. as an Englishman raised
his head and he saw the pitying faces
bent over him, for the defenders had al
ready solved the riddle, then gasped,
''Helas, mes amisp' and swooned away.
A few drops of spirit were poured
down his throat, and then after awhile
the eyes reopened and he murmured the
story how. deceived by native chief,
Koronah, he supposed the British force
to be Sofas and did not find out the mis-
take until too late.
.''There-there, that will do. Don't
fret yourself It's CHASTITY thing, but
it can't be helped. Take another drink
and go to Sleep" said the surgeon. The
Frenchman swallowed mouthful of
the liquor, then his speech wandered
and his eyes grew hazy. 'Poor fellowW
said an English officer. ''It's a gone
case, but we must do what we can for
him. Take him to the tent, sergeant. :"
1t would have been an instructive
lesson to the colored editors Of the Sierra
Leone journals, who are fond Of de-
claiming against the "dissolute SOL
diery," to have seen an Englishman
seated by the side Of his late foe mois-
tening the black parched lips from time
to time and wiping the hot perspiration
from the hot forehead. The command
ing officer came round occasionally, and
the last time the younger man raised
his head fer silence. "Hush! He's COM
ing to-" he said. The white lids opened
and faint smile shone i'll the tired eyes
as the wounded officer raised his head.
He stretched cut cold hand, which
felt like ice when the Englishman
took it.
''Adieu, mes amis-je vous souhaite
un meilleur SORT" he gasped, then broke
off and choked. A stream of dark blood
stained his white uniform and he sank
back dead.
This mistake, caused Intentionally by
the treachery Of Koronah, who was duly
hanged for it afterward, cost the lives
of four officers, who could be but badly
spared, besides numerous privates and
auxiliaries, and forms one of the dark
pages in our west African history. Yet,
although the details seldom reach the
ears of Englishmen at home, the deeds
of our frontier soldier officers, amid the
dreary swamps and forests of the debat-
able land where our colonies abut on
the wilderness beyond, are such that the
nation has cause to be proud of them.
By hidden ambush, facing savage
foes. or stepping calmly, man after
man, into a dead comrades place, SO
that the disease stricken station may
not be left for single day, district
commissioner and soldier lay down their
lives When we hear of II officers dy-
ing, one after another, at the same post
in nine months, and yet none hesitated
to go, and OF men holding 500 savages
at bay through a long night, it is not
hard to realize that the west African
legion Of honor is long one and that
the supremacy of Great Britain in that
fever haunted httoral is dearly bought
with British blood. Jour-
nal.