The National tribune., 1900-05-24
LIFE IN MAFEKING.
The Daily Round OF British and Beers Snip
ing at One Another.
Pail Mall Gazette.

Soon after the campaign opened became
acquainted with several of the Dutch snip
ers through my glasses. l have watched
them with friend many day from points
OF vantage. We nicknamed some of them
whom we always saw in their favorite
positions. There were "Long Tom" a fcl.
low OF about six feet four inches: Drag.
gled Beard" who evidently had not trim.
med that ornament since it began 10 grow
many years ago; Bow Legs" Whosr
mother must have set him down to wall;
long before his time; and so on, | have
put down these men as having existed in
the past. Alas, they are in the lonely
graves on the vcldt now. Currie and his
snipers baggcd them one by one. When,
after long watching, they got n bead" on
them it was a sign that our friends had
sniped their last suipe. But the DOZEN OF
the Job was "Grandfather." or. as s0,nf
called him, "Bluebeard." This venerable
suapShOttist was 50 if he was n dav. wifi,
1 long, ragged beard, dressed i'm faded
and torn tweed. and with no boots to sneak
OF. we always looked out for him early in
the morning, when. smoking his nine and
dragging his old Martini rifle after him
he shambled down to a bush in the brick.
fields and got behind stone to commence
the work OF the day. That patriotic Me-
thuSelah lay there sniping all the time
His custom on arriving at his fayorite
spot was TO lay down his TIM. leisrrelv
faii down beside 1t after the manner of an
ancient man with stiff joints, and emptv a
few handfuls of cartridges from his pocket
on the ground. Then, having refilied his
pipe, he would slip a cartridge into the
breach and pull up the lever, place the
stock OF the rifle to his cheek, and let ro
after taking long and deliberate aim. We
knew that his gun was very old and worn
Af-1..
none but rutty and grOove-worn Martini
will use those words. Every sniper might
be dead or sleeping in his trench, but from
breakfaSt-tlme to dark we were never with
out the sound of "Grandfather's" rife ring
ing in our ears.
The old man occasionally stopped to re-
fill and light his pipe or bite the end off a
piece Of biltong; but those We're all the
pause he made during the days operations.
He ambled down in the morning and went
through the days task as though his life
depended upon It, and tottered home in the
gathering gloom, at peace with himself and
the rest of the world save the British. We
grew to like the old sniper, and knew that
we should miss him if he We're shot-a fate
that we fancied he had met on several
occasions when the voice of his rifle was
silent for an unduly long time. He nearly
had me several times. Once was passing
along the verandah from my room when
whiZzed past my head and
struck in the jamb of q door 1t was a
Martini bullet with no groove marks on it.,
such as "Grandfather" used. On another
occasion he nearly had me as was walking
from one fort to another, and few days
/ was discussing the old man
in my room with military friend when the
canopy over the window was struck by a
missile that pierced it, and fell on my bed 1.
1t was a bullet Of "Grandfather's" special
brand. Poor old sniper! He is numbered
with the majority now. One day, when
returned from ride to the Western out
posts, the first intelligence / received was.
"Old 'Bluebeard' is gone; Currie bagged
him with clean shot this morning." The
patriarch must have been a man of some
for the Beers mourned over him
for a day and a half.
Ye who take up your guns on the 18th
and go forth on the moors to do battle to the
birds, list to how the merry sniper doth
snipe. l tried the sport in the early days,
but learned sense and gave it up. The
first time you go out you bid your friends
goodby and have a last look at your horse
and your favOrite haunts; but on subse-
quent occasions you dispense with these
because you know that you
are not to be killed. You advance before
dawn to the spot you have selected, armed
with your rifle, and bearing a bandolier
full of ammunition, with your servant in
the rear bearing bag of cartridges. Ar
rived at the spot, which must be well with
in range of your quarry if you wish to hit
it, you lie down, and make UP your mind