The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-12-21

throw up some kind OF shelter rounc
them, forgnp to- this time they stopd
/ without the slightest enclosure, and Ut
| terly unprotected. The force under his
command consisted of fifty privates and
| three non-commissoned officers of the
Ninety-fourth, seven privates and
sergeant of the Royal engineers, three
/ priVates and conductor of the Army
Service corps-in all, including DR.. Fal'
vey, of the army medical department
and Lieutenant Long himself sixty-six
officers and men.
Mrs Long, who had been living with
| her husband in a pretty little cottage
| uncovered in roses and fruit-trees at
the lower end of the town. without a
moments hesitation decided to leave
! her comfortable home and take up hel
quarters with her husband. Her many
| friends in Gutenberg tried in vain to
dissuade her from the step. She was
offered warm welcome in half a dozen
houses; but the brave little woman said
that her place was beside her husband.
So the soldiers brought her belongings
from the pretty cottage to one of the
huts, and showed their admiration for
her pluck by taking the greatest pains
in making her quarters as tasteful and
comfortable as possible. There was,
[ however, but scant accommodation for
lady in the hut assigned to her, which
sheltered under its roof three horses
(Whose every movement was distinctly
audible) besides herself and her hus-
band
On the 10th of December they began
throwing UP works of defence round the
.huts,, and Mrs Long delighted the men
by working as hard as any of them.
On the 23d of December the appalling
news reached them of the massacre of
the Ninety-fourth at Bronkhorst Sprult
But stunned though they were by the
terrible tidings, they set to work more
vigorously than ever to complete their
defences. When the tiny fort was fin
ished it was christened Fort Mary, in
honor of Mrs Long; and Father Walsh,
Roman Catholic priest who had elect
ed to cast in his lot with the little gar
rison, formally blessed it.
An envoy from the Beers, Dietrich Null
Ter, appeared, on the 9th Of December,
with proposal that the garrison should
surrender and accept a safe-conduct
into Natal, His surprise at the youth
full appearance of the commandant of
the fort was great. dat younker!' he
exclaimed in contempt, But dat youn-
Kerr was not so green as Mr.. Muller
imagined. He suggested writing to
Pretoria for Instructions. Muller con-
sented and Lieutenant Long thus clev-
erly gained a delay of five days, which
he utilized in very materially strength
ening his defences.
On the 4th of January the Beers APP
peared in force some seven hundred of
them, and formally demanded surren-
der of the fort, to which summons the
young subaltern returned the spirited
reply: 1t is inconsistent with my
duty as a soldier to surrender my
trust" An urgent appeal was once
more made by Mrs. Longs friends in
the town to induce her to quit the fort
and take up her residence in one Of the
many homes placed at her disposal
But she stoutly refused.
Two days afterwards the attack COM
menced.a For three hours and a half
seven hundred Beers kept up range of
five hundred yards. In her own charm
ngly modest and simple narrative, Mrs.
Long thus describes her feelings when
she first found herself under fire:
I must humbly confess that during
the first hour of the firing was dread
fully frightened, and took refuge under
a table for its imaginary shelter.
Father Walsh, entering the hut at that
with his breviary in his hand,
TO look for me, and not finding me, as
he expected, called me. I lifted the ta-
BILE cover and poked my head out, say
ing, Here / am, Father! My position |
struck me as so ludicrous that ! burst |
into a hearty fit of laughter. Not till |
four p. m was | able to ascertain that, |
the terrible fire of the |
last four hours, not man had been
My husband, knowing how /
anxious / should be as to his safety, |
ooked in as often as he could to cheer
me-"
But she very soon overcame these
natural terrors. and got so used to the
firing, even when the Beers brought a
couple of cannon. to bear on the fort,
hat she frequently slept right through
he cannonade.
What with, tending the sick and
ana making SandbagS, some |
lines turning odt as many as four doz-
N Of them in day, Mrs. Longs time
VISA fully occupied. Think of her there
me woman, little more than a girl
alone among sixty men fighting for
heir lives against ten times their num-
,er! What wonder that the men
ought like heroes with this daintily
bred English lady sharing all their dan
GERS and setting them an example of
patience and courage and cheerfulness.
She admitted that at first she felt the
-bsence of any of her own sex keenly.
3ut the soldiers were so devoted to her,
0 delicate in their solicitude and con-
liberation for her, that she soon lost the
ense Of loneliness.
One day strange messenger arrived,
little black-anG- tan terrier, with a
'iece of paper folded in rag tied round
ts neck. 1t was communication from
ONE friendly townsfolk informing them
hat the Beers were quarreling among
themselves, furious with Dietrich Null
n for being such fool as to allow the
.nglish those five days to complete
heir defences; and adding, as hint
hat the defenders of the fort We're fir
lg too high--Which hint, / need hardly