The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-07-06


no your wnich and are surprsod 20 ind
| Tot folks at hume aro nrltiall3 il bot
n tnr bout huuacny nn TIE front thufo
freaks out q noise.
81 begins with frw mlh I'D explosions
| hr inu hf't hufrtIf uf urcDtatk,rs 300
Il tnuei then roar ~ thorn The whole
/ inrh is un Vhrrr Uumrs % ahuiug.
/ uaaIrg Noise overhead. ou. OF the strays
| 20 the tuttlDItld lat passed tuu. a l.
ile thump and something str kes the
| around luar hy wan ppitcful lttlo KICK
| up ut 1uft. AZ tlc samu lime there
| ONES H larger noise ftOm the direction
| g Tie hoplr, ana sound like that Of a
mail planning mill whining through the
pr a uunicd report, and "a rod cloud
rises near whore the battery of horses
are standing.
so they've got a gun. tco' YOU think
| Yes, two Of them. or three perhaps, for
more scrceches and more RED spurts fol-
low. The battery % horses does not
| move, the drivers sit apparently uncon-
cernod and the men NJ he guns jump
hither and thither at their work. The lit
tic puffs of smoke sHll rise In the air in
front.
But it is the Fourth of July in front,
and you perceive that the l!ttle hollow in
to which the infantry has disappeared is
good place to go to. As you mark the
rise, the hubble-bubble grows clearer-a
man Is walking toward you. his coat
hanging loose over his shoulder his arm
is tied up in white bandage, 1t has red
spots on IT, Maybe the man is smoking
a pipe
"How's it going on up there?' you ask.
"Oh, very good, sir The Bluffs is well
in front" 1t might be any other regi-
ment, but the answer would be the same.
This wounded man doesn't seem to care
much. He'd stay and chat with you II
you liked. He's quite pleased with him
self Perhaps he has visions of the three
weeks holiday at Wynberg down in the
Colony, whore they feed men on jelies
and give them flowers, and where we'll
intentioned young ladies speak freely
without introduct!ons.
!, At any rate, there doesn't seem to be
anything frightful about 1t. So you wish
him good luck and go on toward the
Snoll. OF course | am taking 1t for grant
I'd that your curiosity is not yet salts
led. 1t is perhaps here that you get the
irst shock, as it were. for you suddenly
ONE upon the dressing station, pitched
amid little SLUT in the rocks. There
are two score of men sitting or lying
about, the doctors are operating in the
center. Some men stand up, others lie
down to it. he doctor works like a
seamstress fitting on a gown; he seems
10 be trying how much he can do in
minute in order that his customers shall
not be kept waiting. There is no COM
planning. 1t is all very businesslike;
there is no tossing about, no groaning,
no praying, although near by lie several
still figures covered up in brown blank
cts with their hob-naiIed boots protrud-
ng or perhaps only with a handkerchief
or a helmet covering their faces. Names
and numbers will be posted in the War
Office tomorrow, and people viii come
and look at them and go away.
The bearers with the Red Cross band
ages on their arms bring in more bur-
dens. one of the burdens is an officer
He Is badly hurt. The men grouped
about whispering. The surgeon greets
him by name. The man on the stretcher
smiles at him family.
Going to send me down the line, old
chap" he asks. The doctor makes no
reply. He's busy bending over HIM. The
officer is going longer journey than
down the line" you can see that at a
glance. The doctor whispers to him. He
mods his head.
You may feel as if you We're intruding;
desire comes to you to see what all the
row is about over the crest of the hiil
into it. 1t increases in clearness with ev-
ing of a wagon, and now Ike the sound
stretch of palings with a stick. You can
close to you; others on so far ahead that
you wonder how they got there, and
they are still moving forward. On, on
on, they go
They are, on the foot of the kopje Away