The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1898-09-24


and placed guard at the door. The
hut was filthy and the abr foul, but
there Gaspard had to remain, thirsty
and restless and silent, until the
guard was relieved, and then he asked
for water.
"Sergeant's orders are that you are
to have none until you recover your
senses, comrade. Come, be q man!'
was the sentinel's reply.
81 am mani" Gaspard said, proudly,
and he waited without complaint until
morning, when the sergeant fetched
him and marched him to the lieuten-
ant.
SWELL, prisoner, are you going to do
your duty?" asked the officer.
II cannot kill, was the hoarse reply,
and the swollen tongue and the
cracked purple lips told what agony of
thirst the man had endured. In that
hot climate thirst is the most fiendish
of fortunes, and the sergeant had
chosen a strong measure to bring Gas
pard to right mind.
every WE'LL" said the lieutenant, "do
with him as you suggest, sergeant"
prisoner! Right about face!
march," cried the sergeant, and,
joined by the guard at the door, they
marched to a stake that had been set
up in the village street, and Gaspard
was bound to it.
There, in the burning rays of the
sun, bali crazed with the heat and the
longing for water, Gaspard remained
until late in the afternoon. Then the
sergeant approached him, bearing in
his hand flask of water and cup,
into which he poured some of the cool
liquid, raising the flask so high that
the water fell into the cup with the
sound that there is no forgetting. Gas
pard's eyes glared at it wolfishly. but
his lips and tongue were SO swollen
that he could not utter a sound.
private Meudon, will you obey or.
ders?" asked the sergeant.
The poor scorched head nodded as
sent, and the mouth moved feebly;
the sergeant poured a little of the wa
ter between Gaspard's lips, and he
tried to swallow it. Then, in a mo-
ment, his eyes frightened, and he
opened his mouth for more, and swal
lowed it, and mumbled that he wanted
still more.
So, having surrendered, he was cast
loose and carried to hut, where he
lay for week between life and death;
and when three weeks had passed he
came again upon parade, a hollow
checked, sunken-eyed wreck, hardly
able to stand. His rife was in his hand,
and mechanically he went through his
drill, managing to last out until pa
rade was dismissed and he could rest
again.
Next day some of the soldiers went
as was their daily custom, to battle in
the river, and while there they were
surprised by body of Mandingoes,
who killed ten or twelve of them be-
fore help could arrive. There was
fort just outside the village, and the
garrison, 20 in all, had rushed out to
the rescue, but they, too, were so far
outnumbered that they could only
show bold front and retreat to their
fortress with the rescued men in their
midst. The remainder of the garrison
left in the village were already en-
gagged with numerous enemy, and no
help could be expected from that quar-
ter.
Only that morning Gaspard had
taken his place with the garrison OF
the fort, and he, with the others, had
sailed out to beat back the enemy;
but although, ike the rest, he placed
himself between his defenseless com.
rades and their foes, he made no at.
tempt to fire his rife, merely threat.
ening with it, and falling back step by
step.
BY the time they reached their mud
fort they were almost surrounded by
a ferocious horde, mad with the lust
for blood, and only one person at a
time could pass in through the small
door to safety. The fort, which had
been built by the Arabs and repaired
by the French, was pierced for mus
kerry above the line of the door, and
those who were within fred down into
the black crowd, keeping them some:
what at bay.
Gaspard never looked at the door
but faced the foe with a calm and reso.
lutte courage that moved the sergeant,
who was near him, to admiration, so
that he cried out words of encourage
ment to him. Every time the foe made
a rush he pointed his rife, and they
fell back before the determined-look.
ing soldier, and fired at him instead.
They were bad enough shots, those
warriors, and yet Gas
pard was bleeding from half dozen
wounds when the sergeant shouted to
him: you've done your share, mon
brayef RIM in -