The San Francisco call., 1899-09-24

destroying his eye and burning his side
cruelty.
To Increase the horror of the situa-
tion two thousand rounds of ammunI-
ton formed a part of the regiments
convoy, and every instant of this fear
full hour of storm-inf1icted suffering,
mental and physical, was haunted by
the soul-chilling dread that the light
ming might strike the carriage and add
a devastating explosion to the other
terrors of this awful season of heavens
fusillade.
Most fortunately, however. the light
ming failed to search out this menaCing
target, the striking of which would
have proved so frightfully disastrous,
and contented itself with attacking the
soldiers, who for the first time found
themselves face to face with a foe
which they knew not how to even at
tempt to repel
The flashes were almost incessant
following each other with such rapidity
that for minutes at time the whole
scene was Illuminated by a broad and
CHASTITY blue glare that rendered even
the smallest objects distinctly visible
and made the faces of the men stand
ing like statues in the ranks. lying IN
conscious on the ground or minister1ns
to the needs Of their injured comrades,
look like the visages Of corpses dead
for many days.
The electricity appeared at times to
descend IN a veritable flood, surround
ing each individual with a phosphores-
cent glow which made him seem weird
ly translucent, and turned the falling
raindrops into blazing diamonds. The
imagination which conjured up the
scenes of the Inferno never conceived
a spectacle of wilder and more unearth-
ly hideousness in it's details and sur
roundings than this which the Second
Battalion looked upon with an unwav-
hr~elV II
the admiration Of all who admire true
courage.
1t is comparatively easy for man
! to seem brave upon the field of battle,
where there is a visible human foe to
conquer or be conquered by; whers
1t is possible to dodge a shell or
saber stroke, or lie too fiat to be hit
by a bullet; or where the blood is rails
ed to fever heat in the fierce onward
charge that means victory or defeat.
1t requires quite another kind of cour-
age to face mysterious and Intangible
foe which you cannot hope either to
repel or escape, and these men stood
their fiery ordeal most nobly.
The lightning played over them as Il
would-prankishly picking out its vic
tins here and there-passing over q
score to descend upon the fated one.
Burning this one, paralyzlng the legs
of another, the arms OF the next
huOChlAS THESE uIlCO44IClCNS ~ LIS
river-like road, stripping the garments
from those and soaring their flesh with
its branding touch-and still the SOL
diers gallantIy stood their ground,
obeying the commands of their officers
and doing their best to succor their
fallen comrades When the storm
abated to such a degree that 1t was
possible to make himself understood,
Colonel Curteis suggested, with a view,
doubtless. to restoring the mems over
strained nerves to something like their
normal condition, that they should go
on with the song which they had been
singing when the tempest broke upon
them. and without hesitation every
man whom the lightning had left un-
touched took up the tuneful strain and
continued it until the task Of bearing
the wounded to shelter was accom-
plished.
When the storm was over It was
found that twelve of the soldiers had
been seriously and over twenty slightly
wounded in the one-sided engagement.
The two laborers cottages which were
the only buildings in the vicinity, were
metamorphosed into field hospitals for
the time being, and assistance was sent
for to the nearest towns.
The fact that the electricity was diff
fused over so wide an area and divert
ed by the metal Of swords and rifles Is,
no doubt, what saved from instant
death all those who are now fortunate
enough to be only injured