The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1900-02-07
| THE LIEUTENANT YARN !
A Charm That Saved n Soldiers Life J
In the Zulu War.
BY JOHN STOCKHOLM.
5'sae.ss,ssss. s.ass....s NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.;
BY JOHN STOCKHOLM.

| NOW. then. taSemate, let near
from you" said the major.
| The gunnrry lieutenant-Gunnery
Jack he was called ailoat reused him
self with II start Il beg your par
don, chaps" L. said Il can think Of
nothing but thai broken recoil spring
of my Al. It's hard lines To he hung
up like this just WHEN You're wanted"
Never mind, old man" said the nd.
| jutant. You've made Il hit II she new
er fires another shot Your mems
shooting has been an eye opener"
My old gunner's mate sud when |
complimented him on n good shot,
We'll. sir, with a fiNed target and us at
anchor. too, when once we get the
range something's got TO shift. IL
we'd had n few big guns In the Zulu
| turnout We should have finished that
job a bit quicker
"Were you in ihat swim. too:" said
| the major.
YES" said the lieutenant; Il was n
| young sub then one of old picky
Bradshaw's boys from the Shah.
| South Africa runs In our family. My
| old dad was out here too in the Kaifir
affair.
Il got that from him" he added. pro
| ducing from his tobacco pouch n rather
dirty looking object Ike n small eye
bolt or clock key with hole In il.
| Ii was extremely heavy and hard and
as far as could be discovered through
| its outer coating OF tobacco ash and
dust was of SOME metallic stone"
What Is It," said the war ccrre-
spondent n haccy stopper
That's what | use II for" said the
lieutenant. but Ivy rights It's charm
for saving life
Il know II man myself. said the
major. "who carries potato In bis
pocket t. keep off the rheumatism
This might save you from hang.
ing" said the ndJutant. but II
wouldn't help you much II you were
drowning. It's extraordinarily heavy
for Its size"
''lt saved my life once" said the lieu
tenant quietly.
"a yarn. II yarn said the major.
'Order, please. for the yarn of the
| mystic charm thai keeps you from
harm and alarm. Pegs round first.
Now, then. Gunncry John. unfold YOU
curly tale"
II must begin with the dad" said
Casematc He was out In the Kaffir
affair. as | said. In 1859. He was In
command Of the old Forty fourth"
"Begad! thought you'd got an
army back OH you" said the major.
"Wby did you leave us. jeremiah
you've heard OF an old chief nam
ed Moshesb:" resumed Casematc.
"Yes, but he was farther north,
wasn't heT said the major. you
mean Moses"
This was n descendant OF his, |
expect lie was boss of the show
among the nlggcrs here In the early
days. He was the original early bird
about these parts. Well. n descendant
OF this old Johnny was captured by
the Forty-fourth, and. owing to some
bit of dirty work he'd been mixed up
with. our men wanted to chop him up
But the guv'nor said, NO. discipline
Is discipline and chiefs chief al
though, like the poor Indian OF I'M
tutored mind, he clothes him before
and goes bare behind He gave him
n tent to himself and Bible to read
and used 10 explain II to him In the
evenings after fighting hours.
Curious chap the guy'nor was I've
questions used to keep him awake all
night trying to think of the answers.
However, they got so thick that,
when they parted, the chief, who was
going down 10 the Cape for trial, gave
him this bit Of stuff. He said II was
the most precious thing lie could give
him. II had belonged to Moshesh aud
had been kept in the chiefs family
since the time of Ham. think. Ii was
safe cure for ague and would guard
the wearer against any form OF violent
death.
"rhe guy'nor said that as the result
Of the trial was SO uncertain the chief
had better keep II himself. But the
old man said he would rather die than
and forced 1t on him
"ltummy chaps. these niggers." said
the adjutani. where they take. You
can fetch 'eai with music too. fid-
der can lead en- anywhere. they say"
Yes. they'll follow him with
bricks" said the lieutenant. Il was ln
a ship once on the west coast that car
ried ban1 and the seedee boys asked
that all the instruments might be stop
ped except the drum. A taste for mu-
sic Is natural to them like curly hair
However. TO get back to the charm.
The poor old mater. who firmly be-
| lieyes In the thing. made me promise
| 10 carry IL. SO I've kept II In the
pouch and used II as pipe stopper
ever since.
You remember how the Shah got
into the Zulu scramble. OF course.
| We'd done four years on the Pacific
and were homeward bound. with
| Pleasure at the helm, when we were
brought up at ST. Helena by the news
of IsandhlwGna. Old Dlcky Bradshaw
| brought US lack here on his own, and
three weeks later We We're landed and
working our way up to Eshowe.
There's been some talk lately abmt
first class fighting men. We've tackled
several sorts of them In our time, but
for sheer pluck the Zulu was second
to none. In my opinion. Some Of them
| would actually throw themselves on
our bayonets so that others could get
through. III that Isn't the real thing,
| should like to know what Is. Hut
.