The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-02-27
THE LIEUTENANT YARN
A Charm That Saved Soldiers Life
In the Zulu War.
By JOHN sTooKHoLM.

The gunnery lieutenant-Gunne
Jack he was called afioat--roused him
self with start. II beg your par
don, chaps" he said. 81 can think of
nothing but that broken recoil spring
of my At. It's hard lines to be hung
up like this just when you're wanted"
Never mind, old man." said the adj
jutant. you've made hit if she new
err fires another shot. Your mems
shooting has been an eye opener"
my old gunners mate said when
complimented him on a good shot,
Well, sir, with fixed target and us at
anchor, too, when once we get the
range something's got to shift If
we'd had few big guns in the Zulu
turnout, we should have finished that
job bit quicker"
"Were you in that swim, tooY' said
the major.
eyes," said the lieutenant; 81 was
young sub then-one of old Dicky
Bradshaw's boys from the Shah.
South Africa runs in our family. My
old dad was out here, toe, in the Kaff1r
affair.
81 got that from him." he added, pro
ducing from his tobacco pouch rather
dirty looking object like small eye
bolt or a clock key with hole in it.
1t 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 CORE
spondent, "a baccy stopperr'
That's what use it for" said the
lieutenant, "but by rights it's charm
for saving life"
81 know a man myself" said the
major, ''who carries a potato in his
pocket to keep off the rheumatism"
/ 'This might save you from hang
Ing" said the adjutant, "but it
wouldn't help you much If you were
drowning. It's extraordinarily heavy
for it's size"
at saved my life once" said the lieu
tenant quietly.
"a yarn, yarnP' said the major.
"Order, please, for the yarn of the
mystic charm that keeps you from
harm and alarm. Pegs round first.
Now, then, Gunnery John. unfold your
curly tale"
81 must begin with the dad" said
Casemate. "He was out in the Kafir
affair, as l said, in 1852. He was in
command of the old Forty-fourth."
"Begad! l thought you'd got an
army back on you," said the major.
'Why did you leave us, Jeremiah?"
you've heard of an old chief nam
ed Moshesh?" resumed Casemate.
eyes, but he was farther north,
wasn't hep? said the major. "You
mean Moses"
"This was descendant of his, /
expect. He was boss of the show
among the niggers here in the early
days. He was the original early bird
about these parts. Well, 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 a chiefs chief, al
though, like the poor Indian Of I'M
tutored mind, he clothes him before
and goes bare behind He gave him
a tent to himself and a Bible to read
and used to explain it to him in the
evenings after fighting hours.
Curious chap the guv'nor was. I've
heard him say that some of the chiefs
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 to the Cape for trial, gave
him this bit of stuff. He said it was
the most precious thing he could give
had been kept in the chiefs family
since the time of Ham, / think. 1t was
a safe cure for ague and would guard
the wearer against any form of violent
death.
'HThe guv'nor said that as the result
of the trial was so uncertain the chief
had better keep it himself But the
old man said he would rather die than
anything should happen to the guy'nor
and forced it on him."
"Rummy chaps, these niggers," said
the adjutant, where they take. You
can fetch 'em with music too. A i'd
dler can lead 'em anywhere, they say"
Eyes, they'll follow him = with
bricks" said the lieutenant. 81 was In
ship once on the west coast that car
ried a band, 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-
lieves in the thing, made me promise
to carry 1t. So I've kept it in the
pouch and used 1t as a 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 Isandhlwana. Old Dicky Bradshaw
brought us back here on his own, and
three weeks later we were landed and
working our way up to Eshowe.
There's been some talk lately about
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. If that isn't the real thing,
should like to know what is. But
they don't smell nice In scufie.
1--WE used to try few navy lodges
on them when we were in lager. We
pretended to abandon a gun once and
when they gathered round, looking
down the muzzle, let her go with q
long lanyard. The tricks didn't al
ways come off, though. Our Gunnery
Jack planned a grand coup once-he'S
a captain now, lucky beggar."
"How was it you never got showed
up over it, old MANI" said the major.
"Do you get showed up in the army
I for doing your bit without shoutingY'
said Casemate. my guv'nor won't let
me go up. If he knows Johnny who
could give me shove, he'll ask him as
a favor not to do it, because it might
smell unfair. But I'm satisfied. A
man that likes his mates is better on
in a wardroom than perked up in a
captains cabin, alone with his nohili-
ty. l don't want the money. like
my Job, and when I'm tired Of 1t I'll
go ashore and catch butterflies.
'However, to get back to Gunnery
Jacks coup. We used to be worried
good deal by night attacks. The
beggars used to try to rush US on dark