Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1899-06-29

riue' n more ragged out sci OF men /
never put eyes on
"Oh, they'll improve as the work
goes on. The parade gloss has been rub
bed off a little, but they'll put IN field
polish before long, said the brigade
major. They We been mauled. and they
quite don't understand it.
They did not. All the hitting was on
one side, and ii was cruelty hard hit
ting, with accessories that made them
sick, There was also the real sickness
that laid hold Of a strong man and
dragged him bowling to the grave.
Worst of all, their officers knew Just as
little Of the country as the men them
selves and looked as if they did. The
Fore and Aft were in a thoroughly un-
satisfactory condition, but they believed
that all would be well if they could
once get a fair go in at the enemy. Pot
shots up and down the valleys were un-
satisfactory, and the bayonet never
seemed to get a chance, Perhaps it was
as well. for a long limbed Afghan with
a knife had a reach of eight feet and
could carry away enough lead to'disable
three Englishmen. The Fore and Fit
would like some rife practice at the
enemy-all 700 rifles blazing together
That wish showed the mood of the men
The Gurkhas walked into their camp,
and in broken, barrack room English
strove to fraterniZe with them; offered
them pipes Of tobacco and stood them
treat at the canteen. But the Fore and
Aft, not knowing much of the nature
Of the Gurkhas, treated them as they
would treat any other ringers, and
the little men in green trotted back to
their firm friends, the highlanders, and,
with many grins, confded to them
THAT dam white regiment no dam
use. Sulky-ughl Dirty-ughl Hya,
any tot for johnny" Whereat the
h%ighlanders smote the Gurkhas as to
the head and told them not to Willy a
British regiment, and the Ghurkas
grinned generously, for the highland
ers were their elder brothers and en-
titled TO the privileges of kinship. The
common soldier who touches a Gurkha
is more than likely to have his head
sliced open.
Three days later the brigadier ar
ranged a battle according to the rules
of war and the popularity of the AT
CHAN temperament. The enemy were
massing in announcement strength
among the hills, and the moving d
many green standards warned him that
the tribes were ''up" in aid Of the At
CHAN regular troops A squadron and a
half Of Bengal lancers represented the
available cavalry. and two screw guns,
borrowed from a column 80 miles away.
the artillery at the generals disposal
s'If they stand, as I've a very strong
notion that they will, ! fancy we shall
see an infantry fight that will be worth
watching, said the b~rigadier. "Wen
do it in style. Each regiment shall be
played into action by its band, and
vel hold the cavalry in reserve,
s'For all the reservef" somebody
asked.
uFor all the reserve, because we're
going to crumple them up, said the
brigadier, who was an extraordinary
brigadier and did not believe in the
value Of a reserve when dealing with
I Asiatics And indeed, when you come
10 think Of il, had the British army
consistently waited for reserves in all
its little affairs, the boundaries Of our
empire would have stopped at Brighton
beach.
That battle was to be a glorious bat
tie.
The three regiments. debouching from
three separate gorges, after duly crown
ing the heights above, were 10 converge
from the center, left and right upon
what we will call the Afghan army,
then stationed toward the lower ex-
tremity Of a fiat bottomed valley. Thus
il will be seen that three sides of the
valley practically belonged to the Eng
hsh. while the fourth was strictly
Afghan property. In the event of de-
feat the Afghans had the rocky hills 20
fy TO, where the fire from the guerrilla
tribes in aid would cover their retreat.
In the event Of victory these same tribes
would rush down and lend their weight
10 the rout Of the British.
The screw guns were TO shell the head
of each Afghan rush that was made in
close formation. and the cavalry. held
in reserve in the right valley, were TO
gently stimulate the break mp which
wouId follow on the combined attack,
The ~brigadier, sitting upon a rock
overlooking the valley, would watch
the battle unrolled at his feet The Fore
and Aft would debouch from the cen
trail gorge, the Gurkhas from the left
and the h~ighlanders from the right, for
the reason that the left flank of the
enemy seemed as though il required
the most hammering. II was not every
day that an Afghan force would take
ground in the open. and the brigadier
was resolved TO make the most Of It
s'If we only had a few more men,
he said plaintively, 1--WE could surround