The Irish standard., 1900-02-17

til it was safe for an English gentleman
to retire with dignity. The guns stood
on the plain mute, silent, not doing a
thing. Their defenders were weltering
in their gore, as only dauntlcss British
heroes welter 1 groaned; I had been
at the front all day; I had crouched in
the ravine will, the gallant Long, as
only a British correspondent can
crouch. We suffered the agonies OF
thirst; it was 2o7 in the shade; and the
river was only fifty yards away But l
did not care for water. l know the
spiteful habits of the Beers and l felt
that England was waiting for my ac-
count OF the battle from my pen
Colonel" I said hoarsely, must we
abandon the guns?"
"T'ell with the guns said the colonel
tersely, England has more guns"
"But we need these guns" l pleaded.
''What are guns to u.s." said the hero
dreamily, zone whole skin is worth a
dozen batteries. England can buy guns,
but she can't buy us Il new skin il we
are prudent we may escape and clopc
with the guns in the twilight
said no more. | crawled away to
observe other parts OF the battle now
roaring around us.
What was that? l heard thrilling
cheer and saw a brigade OF iniuriated
guardsmcn rush towards the river, take it
at 4 jump, and.hx bayonets while in the
air. They were met by a hail, rain and
snow OF mausers, mannicfcrs, krupps,
Creusots, gatlings and maxims; but
they dashed on renorselessly for the
trenches two miles away. Oh England!
had you seen them you would have
thought right off OF Waterloo and ali
Our other stereotyped victories. How
they cheered; how they charged how
they sprintcd! Full in the lead his
crisp curls floating around his Greek
like neck, his flashing sword waving in
the air, the Hon. Pale Hale Bass led
his men to death. The Beers in the
trenches fired a volley and turned to
flee, Too late The avengers were on
them. Waterloo wasn't in it.
"Thc bayonets flashed, the bayonets
slashed,
In all their various phases.
The craven foe abashed was hashed
And pitchiorked into bazes."
How those stirring, ringing lines Of
Austin came back to me in that awful
moment! 1t was a fearsomc sight The
world can never realize what a London
guardsnan is when his blood is up;
when he is aroused. Tic Indian tiger
of the Sundcrbunds is a church lemon
adc alongside Of him. The shriels Of
the dying Beers could be heard by tcle-
phone in Durham. I hesitate to give
the number slain; but Ginger Hale
Bass, brother Of Pale Hale told me his
brother counted o,653 men who were
bayonctted by his men. 1t was only
when they were tired out, and they
could stab no more, that they rctrcated.
They might have gone straight into La
dyslnlth had they had guide, but thew
rctreated, llaughtily and firmly, for they
are the most disciplined and competent
rctrcatcrs in the army.
On the right OF our line the I.anca-
shres held their ground grimly all day;
they would have been holding it yet had
not some Boer traitor sounded canteen
call on the bugles: then the Lancashires
icarlessy faced about and charged the
beer wagons i'll the rear OF the army.
Tommy Atkins has his strcaks Of hui
NOR even i'll the heat OF battle; but
what man will deny these simple he
rocs their beer? Surely no true English
man will do it,
1t was now growing gray: the firing
was slackening, and from crevces and
ravines our gallant fellows were creep
ing out to rcjoin the forces in the rear.
where the stcadiast Butler had passed
the day, conscious that the eyes OF his
countrymcn were upon him. All the
grim old hero had said was ''S-dcath!
Fooled by farmers. Oh agriculture
anyhow
Colonel Long. covered with gore and
khaki, staggered up to his chief, just as
the sun went down, and saluting. said
huskily: "Redvers me boy, all is lost
save honor
Chestnut" was Buffers laconic re-
sponsc. whats the matter with the
three guns that we brought back?"
There spoke the unyieldng spirit OF
England: England OF Agincourt; Eng
land OF Cressy; England OF Thingamay
bob. That night the bafIled army suppcd
on Welsh rabbits and chocolate and
took an account of stock.
Our casualties were: Killed, :, officers,
men, AZ horses; wounded, a officers, -
men, S American mules; left on the
field OF honor. IL field-peccs old style,
which Butler had been trying to lose
anyhow. These guns will be serious
embarrassment to the enemy, fact
which makes Butler chucklc cynically.
The Beers had I5,o47 men killed and
37.2I4 wounded; forty-scvcn pieces OF
artillery were put out OF action and
their gunboat "Arrah-na- Poguc" was
sun1- IN t1,a Trre1,