The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-07-12

$50 strong, ana every soul ID cdAGoA-
ments turned out to see them go. The
drummers gnashed their teeth at Jakln
and Lew marching with the band, the
married women wept upon the plat
form, and the regiment cheered It's no.
bic self black in the face.
GA nice level lot, y said the colonel
To- the second in command as they
watched the first four companies en-
training.
..Fit to do anything, said the second
in command enthusiastically. "But it
seems to me they're thought too
young and tender for the work in hand
It's bitter cold up at the front now. .
.sThey're sound enough, - said the
colonel .sWe must take our chance OF
sick casualties %
So they went northward, ever north
ward, past droves and droves Of camels,
armies of camp followers and legions of
laden mules, the tbrong thickening day
bv day, till with a shrek the train
pulled up at hopelessly congested
junction where six lines of temporary
track accommodated six 40 wagon
trains; where whistles blew, Baboos
sweated and commissariat officers swore
from dawn till far into the night amid
the wind driven chaff of the fodder
bales and the lowing Of q thousand
steers.
s.Hurry up! You're badly wanted at
the front, was the message that greet
ed the Fore and Aft, and the occupants
of the Red Cross carriages told the
same tale.
s.'Tisn't SO much the bloomin fight
in gasped a head bound trooper OF
hussars to knot Of admiring Fore and
Ats. 6 'Tisn't so much the bloolnin
fghtin, though there's enough O. that.
It's the bloomin food an the bloomin
climate. Frost all night 'cept when it
halls an b'ilin sun all day, an the wa
ter stinks fit to knock you down. got
my cad Clipped like an egg. I've got
pneumonia. too. an nv CUTS is all out
o. order. 'Tain't no bloomin picnic in
those parts, I can tell you.
.'Wot are the niggers like? demand
ed private.
ssThere's some prisoners in that train
wonder. Go an look at 'em. They re the
aristocracy O. the country. The COM
mon folk are dashed sight uglier. VI
you want to know what they fight
with, reach under my seat an pull out
the long knife that's there %
They dragged out and beheld for the
first time the grim, bone handled, tri-
angular Afghan knife. 1t was almost
as long as Lew.
s.That's the thing to j'int you. y said
The trooper feebly.
.sIS can take off a mans arm at the
shoulder as easy as slicing butter. I
halved the beggar that used that un,
but there's more O. his likes up above.
They don't understand thrustin, but
they re devils to slice.
The men strolled across the tracks to
inspect the Afghan prisoners They
were unlike any "niggers" that the
Fore and Aft had ever met-these huge,
black haired. scowling sons of the Bnei-
Israel AS the men stared the Afghans
spat freely and muttered one to another.
with lowered eyes
s'My eyes! Wot awful swine" said
Jakin, who was in the rear of the pro-
cession. 'sSay, old man, how you got
puckrowed, Ell? Kiswasti, you wasn't t
hanged for your ugly face, hey2'
The tallest Of the company turned,
his leg irons clanking at the movement,
and stared at the boy. ''Seel" he cried
to his fellows in Pushto. ''They send
children against US. Whata people and
what foolsl''
"Hya!" said Jakin, nodding his head
cheerily. "You go down country. Khana
get, peenikapapee get-live like a
bloomin raja ke marfk. That's bet
ter bandobust than bayniG get it in
your innards. Gcodby, ole man. Take
care O. your beautiful fgure'ed an try
to look k.ushy. .
The men laughed and fell IN Tor fhelr
first march, when they began to realize
that soldiers life was not all beer and
skittles They were much impressed
with the size and bestial ferccity of the
niggers whom they had now learned to
cali ''Paythans, and more with the
exceeding discomfort Of their own sur
roundings. Twenty old soldiers in the
corps would have taught them how to
make themselves moderately snug at
night. but they had no old soldiers, and,
as the troops on the line Of march said,
s.they lived like pigs" They learned
the heartbreaking cussedness of camp
kitchens and camels and the depravity
of an E. P. tent and a wither wrung
mule. They studied animalcul@ in wa
ter and developed a few cases Of dysen-
Try in their study.
At the end of their third march they
were disagreeably surprised by the ar
rival in their camp Of a hammered iron
slug which. fred from steady rest at
700 yards. hicked out the brains of a
private seated by the fire. This robbed
them of their peace for night and