The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-08

l. H..
OF the mountain scenery which franz
ed the fight? awful" quoted Find
iater, and drop the Doric because he
Goes not use it always. He knew the
Aberdeenshire Highlands; were they a
patch in roughness on these Afridl
mountains? why" was his remark,
you might have all the Braemar hills
IN the same spot, and you would hard
| ~ notice them" A picture of the last
British stand at Maiwand happened
TO hang over the fireplace Of the ward
| IL denoted the stern sort of mountain
| ana Hood which formed the Afridi
country We had been lying in re-
| serve for some time" continued Find
| later, and them the order reached us
that we were, to advance and attack
IL was rathersa stiff fight up the brae,
| Wnlch the Afrfdis swept with their bull
| iets. and the weather was blazing hot"
AL the moment we had been ordered
| forward" Findlater said, II was just
| setung my dinner out Of my KNAPP
| SACK: There being no time to eat it. I
put 1t back, and-I never had that din
ner-I missed it, This was an anti
climax to my civilians thrill at thou
SANDS OF miles of distance. But it was
true touch of nature, and it had a
grim humor which Findlater hardly
| intended Intended So the speech of Col Matthias,
wen or the Gordon Highlanders, the
general says that position must be
taken. The Gordon HighIanders will
take it." Flndlater could not be sure
Wnelner these were the colonePs exact
WofuS, but he spoke to their effect.
VOW, we were on the brink Of testing
Inc problem which Stephen Crane stud
ies-the feeling soldier has while in
oattle. NO" was Findlater's verdict,
1 oon't recollect anything else than
Inls-how quickly could we get across?
h To
take the hill. and the sooner it was
all done the better" Nor by dint of
an endless questioning could I pull
from MIN any deliverance more detail
co.. A task is set; let's do it quickly;
were doing ft-those appeared to have
peen the stages Of the plain soldiers
mind
Wait, though, there was the whistle
OF the Afridi bullets, and the heavier
roar of the British artillery Would
those noises not stamp themselves upon
the mind? "a bullet" said Findlater,
makes sough very like the buzz Of
pee, and you almost look for it as
canny to begin with, but soon you don't
mind, only you think vaguely who, or
what, will get hit next. AS to the ar
tlllery, [ don't fancy it could have
ever dislodged the Afridis; nothing but
bayonet charge could do that. They
had feet upon feet Of solid rock from
behind which they were firing down
UPON u.s." Next to the wounding of
F1ndlater. which took place three
parts across the belt which the Gordons
were rushing with fixed bayonets. 81
had got on a little bit" he recalled,
when felt a touch in one of my left
toes. That was the glance of a bullet,
puilet hit my chanter, but fortunately
did not do sufficient damage to prevent
1t from being useds Suddenly my right |
leg gave way under me, and I slid down |
into heap. There was no pain, there
had been no shock, simply my leg was
useless"
Dyed His Kilt.
The blood ran from his ankle and !
dyed his kilt red; the kilt, which is now |
in his knapsack, and still has it's splot- |
ches Of scarlet. He saw that stream |
but his single thought was ''the tune, |
the tune: it means the charge, and |
must be kept UP If were to take the |
hill" Here was a state of human !
affairs worth inquiring into, and ask
ed F1ndlater what train of thoughts he |
had in falling down. He confessed |
that he could not help me, could not |
even reason out why he should have |
continued to play-simply he did |
w Gill; TIC put IL quietly, anu tIliS was
L was there to play That |
was my duty, and I suppose anybody |
would have done the same. My pipes |
slid rather off my shoulder as l fell,
but managed to get my back against !
a stone, and thus could play. The last |
l remember, I was still getting out I
the tune, then j tainted" This meant |
less of blood. and subsequently the |
wound caused him acute suffering The |
bullet had gone through the ankl. at |
a downward slant, breaking the main |
bones in it's progress. I
If l were to sum up my impression |
of Piper Findiater, I should say that !
he is a hero who recoils at the very
idea of being hero. Findlater and his
story must be taken together, for when
you understand the first, you realize
how the second was possible. Both
would be fairly hall-marked by the
Victoria Cross, for which the admir-
able piper has been recommended.