Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1900-03-21
PLEGSANTRIES OF The WAR.
CONTINUED from page 81

anoat beneath it, and the smooth un-
dulating blush hills, how perfect a
scene of peace these make.
Rude Awakening OF War.
Now saddle up two horses and ride
with me to the CANCERS hut. Why,
hello! there's a huge khaki-colored
cannon, the shape of 4 hook bottle!
And a lot of men in strange, broad
brimmed hats are standing near 1t.
They are men of the Naval Brigade,
and the gun is AZ from the Doris.
Did you ever see any Boers?' an
officers calls out to us.
Every few" say I; lust the prison.
ers we have taken"--for we are fight
ing an invisible foe, as every one
knows by this time.
well, have look through this"
He taps the guns telescope as he
speaks, and we look through 1t.
Heavens! are those Boers?" We
see the mall over the hills in numbers
like plant lice on leaf They are all
over the hills--riding, walking, sitting
in groups, looking over redoubts, dig
ging trenches, passing water up the
slope-the little range of purple breasts
is alive with Beers.
Then we must have been mistaken
about the peacefulness Of this place.
Peace where all those Beers are! There
has been no peace in Africa since the
Beers came here; no peace for the Brit
ish since they became the Beers neigh
bors.
We are to lunch with the Guards,
and we shall be late IL we do not hurry.
All, here's their mess tent, and they
have begun to eat. Welcomed, and
places made for us, we seat ourselves
and are served with soup. Boon! soof
of--soof-soof-soo
the soof-soof is the shell tearing
through the air; the ooogh-precisely
like coughs the bursting Of the
shell.
That's Our Joey.
That's our joey" says the colonel
''let us see where the shell strikes! BY
Jove! pretty shot-plumb where they
have their 4O-pounder!"
"Boom!" from the Boer gun on the
right; "Ugh!" from its shell, which
sends up a fountain of spray of sand
near the CANCERS hut.
Didn't burst" says a captain.
"Devilish good range, thought" says
another. And now we are out of the
tent sending for glasses, forgetting our
lunch, intent upon the gigantic duel.
How frequently does this happen
How often is this vale of pastoral peace
startled by such sounds and actions
Oh, as a rule every morning with a shot
or two; every afternoon with from hall
an hour to two hours firing, and then
again at odd and unexpected hours on
odd and unlocked for days. We SHOOK
the Beers up at IL o'clock the other
night. We had set our big guns by
| daylight to hit their best positions
and battery Of 12-pounders to rake
their trenches. Then, when 1t was neal
midnight, we let fly. Our 12-pounders
sent a hail Of sharpnel shot into theil
trenches, and they imagined that oul
infantry were shooting, so a mile OF
two of men In their trenches, opened
fire on the black night, and satisfied us
Of the state of funk they are in. say
satisfied" us because on the previous
night they had loosed mile or two OF
rifles far on our right for no reason
that we could discover, though an
ingenious theorist in camp holds that
mule must have strayed up against
the barbed wire troche, strung along
before their trenches.
This morning we had merely exchang.
ed round or two of civilities with oul
neighbors. and flattered ourselves that
| this would suffice for that day, for, as
rule, these things are left to us, and
1t Is we who are making the welkin
| ring. An hour or two later $50 Reserv.
lists came to join the Yorkshire Light
Infantry and were paraded well for.
ward on the veldt to be seen and ad.
dressed by the brigadier general. They
were strung along in a lengthy double
line, and the Beers must have thought
them threatening, for bang! came q
solid shot into the veldt 500 yards be.
fore them. 1t was comical then tC
note how the older men, experienced In
this war, aired their experience before
the new corners.
That's nothing" they said mustn't
think anything of that We have tina
every hour or two. You'll soon ge
used to it. We have it all night, too
but you mustn't get jimmy when tn,
shells come rafting among the tents
because, really, there's no harm at al
In them Boer Shells"
In this way we alternately revel IL
peace and In war. Today we go out 1
few miles and destroy some farm
houses which are proven nests of snip
Ing Beers. Tomorrow 1t is the Boel
patrol which rides Interestingly neal
one Of our naval guns. Now 1t is a
daybreak that we send them our com
pliments, and next we are doomed
out of bed and forced to dress twic,
In an hour, at midnight, as we hear tn,
roar of great guns and the crackle o
artillery. On Christmas alone, OF al