Evening star., 1898-06-11

I N X
the steep brownish slope OF the hills. half
mile away-cleaeiy the entrance TO lar
row gorge that wound in deeply
That : our only chance-to md a strong
position. replied the lieutenant after a
! brief look Forward. now, for a racer
Al swift tolting trot the little hand
swung on to the left. Faster and faster
they urged their camels over the aying
sand, and as they glanced back they raw
the enemy drawing still nearer. and rid
| ING at their top speed straight for the
s&ne point. Thus the Arabs cut of con-
siderable space. and they were no raore
| than On yards behind when the soldiers
| dipped into the mouth OF the ravme and
| dashed on between towering walls OF scar
REQ rock on either side.
There WIS little time to lose A couple Of
hunared yards from its mouth the gorge
! n'ade sharp twist. diving deeper into the
| heart Of the hills. The men having ais
| mounted, drove their camcs out of stghr
| around the angle. Then. at tn Lieutenant.
&C ommand, they swarmed few feet up the
broken slopes 10 the right and left-half on
| one side half on the other-and took 10
I cover behind lodges and rocks
1hey had bare.y cnsconced themselves
| mere when burst of savage Wells an
/ nounced the approach OF the enemy, who
| mad dismounted ard left their carnels al
| the entrance TO the hills. The narrow pas
| sage was choked with the swarming mass
Close upon hundred muscular. pic
turesquely clad deivishes. their black faces
| stamped with fanatical hatred and enthu-
| siasm. Ala Carried rifles, and were led 10y
| an elderly, cruel-eyed chief with flowing
beard.
Wait until they come within hundred
| feet, cried Lieut.. Koe "and then fire fast
and true
Pick or the old fellow first" shouted
gum. who was on the opposite side of the
iaNine with CaTruthers and six soldiers.
ana don't expose yourselves, men,
Ihe Arabs swept on like a whirlwind.
Suddenly they opened fire. and at once
an answering yolley was poured from the
L.
dozen others; but in the face of the deadly
hail of bullets the rest pressed forward
with shrill clamor.
Check them! cried the young officer
Don let them get TO close quarters
Still the deryishes advanced. trampling
over the dead and dying, ana displaying
the utmost recklessness. In vain the rifles
| biazed from every rock Granny. drowning
the din of blended voices. out of the curl
ing smoke the black fiends suddenly loomed
| nearer. They pulled themselves up the
SIDES OF the raNine to right and left, cling
ing with hands and feet or shooting
almost into the faces of the resisting sol
diers.
The situation was desperate. One of
Lieutenant koe's men was dead and two
were wounded. On the other side where
the attack was the fiercest three of the
Soudanese had been hit Now the struggle
became hand to hand. Bullets whistled by
gum 5 ears as he beat down two yelling
foes with the stock of his rifle and Car
ruthe.s sent another reeling nfeless to the
bottom of the gorge. But their places were
taken by fresh combatants, and a sea OF
frizzly heads ebbed and flowed at the base
of the rocks.
God help us. wes done for" ouin cried
hoarsely. Fire, men, Sell your lives
dearly
His voice rang loudly above the tumult,
reaching across tie ravine to where the
officerS party We're just as hardly pressed
on the other side. And at. this critical
moment. when all hope seemed lost. a
startling and unexpected thing happened.
A great noise heard in the rear. and
around the turn of the passage, at full
speed, came eight gigantic elephants. They
were seen 10y the Arabs. and the sight of
the monsters did what British pluck and
bullets mad failed to accomplish. In panic
and terror with shrill cries and imprcca-
tions, the enemy turned and fed TO a man.
The elephants rushed or, trumncting as
loudly and madly as ever they had done
IN tne!r native wilds. They swept by the
amazed soldiers overhead among the rocks
and thundered rapidly down the gorge,
quickly oYcrtdhng and tramplinE upon the
rearmost of the Gervishes. Cries OF agony
mingled with trumpet-like blasts, and tnen
beasts and men went whirling out of the
narrow mouth into the open plain.
Qun and the officer were the first TO
climb down from shelter, and at the same
instant, at the turn of The passage, APP
peared the familiar figure of Becker. A
dozen armed natives followed him. and his
face glowed with triumph as he rushed up
to Quin and grasped his hand.
THAT worked all right he cried. And
the caravan is safe-hidden back in the
heart of the hills. But don't let the wretches
escape easily Pursue them and finish
as many as you can
And the elephants!" exclaimed Qu,n. in
a businesslike tone. Il don't want 10 lose
them!
The rest is another story and need not
be told at length. The deryish, were pTr-
sued, but they were in no MOOD 10 offer
fight. They fled in every direction after
their runaway camels, asSembieu tos' theI
in the distance ana then male swiftly OF
to the southwark, leaving Dehlnd them a
score of dead and wounded. To GUMS vast
satisfaction the elephants were recovered
safely back to the wide valley IN the heart
of the hills. where the whJle caravan was
snugiy cncamped: the spot was within 3U0
yards of the scene of the fgnt.
Becker's explanation vas very simple,
and may be given in his own brief words.
"A small force of Arabs alta. Ked us yes
terday morning ne said, but We beat
them off in a few minutes my blacks
fought well. Then, judging that The enemy
would return in larger numbers. L decided
to take the caravan TO the shelter OF these
hills; one of The Nubians told me about
them. We skirted the south end of them,
ana entered from the other side, reaching
here late in the afternoon. / counted on
your following the trail, but the sandstorm
spoiled that as you know. l about
starting off to look for you at daybreak.
wh9n / heard the firing, and when l disoov-
cred what was up / thought of way to
you. / sent some of my men to fetch
your camels into camp, and then drove the
pack of elephants down the gorge; L scared
them pretty nearly into fits by beating tom
toms and poking tn I'm with burning grass"
Becker, you're trump" said Quin.
Here's my hand On it,
At noon that day the caravan filed out OF
the hills and over the desert, escorted by
the soldiers and augmented by half dozen
dervish prisoners; the dead had been has
tify buried. The wells of Hamed were safe
ly reached during the night, and four days
later, to Quin's relief the precious consign-
ment of beasts and birds arrived at the sza-
port of Suakim.
CThe end)