Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1900-04-25


younkeri' he exclaimed In contempt.
But dat younker'' was not SO green as
Mr.. Muller imagined. lie suggested
writing TO Pretoria for Instructions.
Muller consented and Lieutenant Long
thus cleverly gained a delay Of five
days. which ne utilized I'm very mate
rally strengthening his defenses
On the 4th Of January the Beers ap-
peared In 10 e. some 100 OF them. and
formally demanded the surrender of
the Tort, 10 which summons the young
suDaltern returned the spirited reply.
II 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 in
duce her To quit the fort and take up
her residence I'm one Of the many
homes placed at her disposal But she
stoutly refused.
Two days afterward the attack com
menced. For three hours and a half
/ 100 Beers kept up a continuous rifle
fire upon the little fort at range Of
900 yards In her own charmingIy
modest and simple narrative. Mrs.
Long thus describes her feelings when
She first found herself under fire:
Il must humbly confess that during
the first hour OF the firing was dread
fully frightcn- ! and took refuge under
a table for its imaginary shelter. Fa-
ther Walsh entering the hut at that
moment with his breviary In his hand
TO look for me. and. not finding me. as
he expected. called me lifted the Ia
bic cover and poked my head out. say
Ing. Here am. father" My position
/ struck me as SO ludicrous that burst
into hearty fit OF laughter Not till
/ =. m. was | able to ascertain that.
notwithstanding the terrible fire of the
last four hours. not a man had been
wounded. My husband. knowing how
anxious l should be rs TO his safety.
looked in as often as be could TO cheer
me"
But she very soon overcame these
natural tcrrors and got so used TO the
firing. even when the Beers brought n
couple of cannon TO bear on the fort
that she frequently slept right through
the cannonade.
What with tending the sick and
wounded and making sandbags. some
times turning out as many as four
dozen of them In n day, Mrs. Longs
time was fully occupied. Think OF
her there. one woman. little more than
girl. alone among 90 men lighting for
their lives against ten times their num-
ber. What wonder that the men fought
like heroes with this daintily bred Eng
lish lady sharing all their dangers and
setting them an example Of patience
and courage and cheerfulness. She
admitted that at nrst she felt the alb
I g
But the soldiers were so devoted to
her. SO delicate in their solicitude and
( consideration for her that she soon
lost the sense of loneliness.
one day strange messenger ar
rived. "A little black and tan terrier.
with piece of paper folded in rag
/ tied round its neck. Ii was a cOmmL-
nicatiOn from some friendly townsfolk
/ informing them that the Beers were
Quarreling among themselves. furious
with Dietrick Muller for being such Il
fool as TO allow the English those five
days TO complete their defenseS and
adding as hint that the defenders OF
the fort were firing too high. which
hint, | need hardly say. was quickly
taken.
The garrison had nothing in the
shape OF Il gun with which TO meet the
fire of the two q Founders that the
Beers had in position. But one day
Mrs. Long suggested To one of the
army service men that the monkey"
of IN Abyssinian pump which they had
might perhaps be utilized The idea
was promptly seized upon and ingen-
/ iously carried into execution, and the
Beers were very much amazed when a
cylindrical shot weighing two pounds
six ounces formed of round crowbar
iron cased in lead. came crashing in
among them. Mrs. Longs gun" as il
was cbristened. proved very valuable
addition To the armament of Fort
Mary.
The huts were riddled through and
through with round shot and rifle bul-
lets, and the escapes from death were
SO miraculous that Lieutenant Long
! twice had the men assembled for
special thanksgiving service conducted
10y Father Walsh. On one occasion "A
cannon shot struck the wall within an
inch of Mrs. Longs head and covered
her with dust and debris.
Another time the hut in which she
lived came down about her ears. and
! her escape from being crushed III the
ruins was marvellous. But she must
needs. womanlike, go back TO rescue
her things" and expressed truly fem
inine sorrow TO find her best bonnet
smashed as fiat as pancake and only
! one cup. two SaucerS and couple OF
plates left of all her cherished crock
cry.
Meanwhile the men kept up their
spirits with music and dancing. Hold
the Fort" with Il strictly local applica-
tion, was Il favorite chorus. and the
men invented version Of the famous
lingo song:
We don't want TO feht. but. by lingo. II we do,
We've got the pluck. we've got the men and am
munition tool
! We've fought the Zulu king and Sekekuni too.
And the Beers shall never get into Fort Mary.
And they never did, though they tried
their utmost TO drive out the gallant
defenders with cannon and rifles. and.
what was worse Greek fire" shot in
metallic tubes into the thatch of the
roofs. Perhaps II the Beers could only
have summoned up courage to make