Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1902-07-09

EhE aMcAA - A0NAA VI MApA kNAtCu
grow golden ~ the sunset. Above
chem towers the spire Of cathedral,
from whose high belfry no angelus Is
heard. Quiet is on every hand, but
they viii find II busy In the market
place. Still, something Is lacking,
something Is in xcess Il Is the feel
ing OF oppression in the air-the low
barometric unrest that affects the
nerves Of the skllful mariner before
the glass begins to fall.
A sharp, quick order, and the COM
pany Ia divided. Another order, and
the flst phantom halts, while a squad
quickly deploys AS skirmishers in ad-
vance Of the column.
The cultivated fields are passed, then
the road dips through = thicket before
coming out upon the to En. Here the
jungle advances impenetrablY. thick as
a fog, darker than the forest, for the
light that titev nave Jest left.
Tae last squad has entered, when a
rushing arises from the creepers on
both sides-the tustling Of an anaconda
as il uncoils; the rustling of the king
cobra, AS, with sibilant HIS, IT raises
its head to strike. 1t smites first the
ears Of the captain.
Lie down.
Many hsv- obeyed before they hear
the order. TIL jungle spouts fame.
There follow parabnlic flashes Of light
and the CLINT of spear and barong, kris
and bOlo, as the tFicket swarms with
life, a foul, fostering life, such as only
a trnpic sun a spawn.
Rimbly the slant-eyed providers slip
through the bamboo stalks, and heavy
knife in hand leap agilely into the road
to complete the ma sacre begun, never
thinking that one of the weary-foOted
foe can have withstood the shock of
the unexpected onslaught.
The corporal, who is bunkie to the
murdered man of the night before,
laughs for the second time that day as
he parties a bolo trust, wrenches the
weapon from { Q claw like hand that
yields it, and sends it crashing through
the dome shaped skull. He laughs
again as he picks a long spear from the
ground, and digs it into the bowels of
a native who has thrust a Remington
against his breast. He is still laughing
as the piece goes off, and blows his
heart out.
A child today is the same as a child
of three thousand years ago; yet see
the difference in the man. That is to
say, a civilized, educated man lives
three thousand years in thirty. Truly
we are very old
Yet sometimes we bark back along
the trail until we reach a point that
comedies with our environment
point where the treatment of a primi-
tive condition will not be warped by a
misapplled modernism.
So it is with the company. Each
man thinks of the headless corpses on
the mountain side; each man is living
in the glamor of late impression. They
have seen savage sights; they have
eaten the food of savages; they have
thought savage thoughts; the cries of
savages are ringing in their brains. In
all their surroundings there is not one
single object to remind them that they
belong to an era of civilization. Their
lust OF slaughter is reflected from the
faces of those around them, They crave
slaughter more than food and sleep.
Homesickness and fever, sun and
treachery, have broke down their few
centuries of civilization.
The fight is Y A score of dead
men lie grOtesquelY as they fell. A
score of prisoners stand sullenly, sur
rounded by their captors. The captain
gaz-s on them modify and tugs his
long mustache. The men. painting aud
dripping sweat and blood, watch the
captives as terriers surround a rat trap.
A beardless boy with the bar of a lieu
tenant pinned to the collar Of his fan
mel shirt steps to his commanding Off
GER.
"What shall we do with themP" he
asks, nodding to the scowling group of
natives.
The capt lin looks at his dead and
wounded. New lines seem to furrOw
his care worn face.
Bring them along. Make them
carry the dead and wounded"
The column is again in motion,
slower than before. In silence they
entered the silent village, now deserted.
They reach the market place.
"Haltl"
Lime those niggers up against the
wall"
Scowling and sullen, muttering and
watehful of a chance, the bolomen are
jostled into place.
Fall inlf
The weary men shuttle to their
places.
In two ranks Form compan-i-el
March -
Front rank-kneeI =
"Loadi"
The boyish lieutenant turns to his
captain. Both mems faces r pale be.
meath their tan.
Are you going to shoot them, SIR
Will it."
"0h, my God-what's the use what
else is there to do?"
One of the wounded men upon the
bamboo stretcher groans, grips his
abdomen, shrieks and drops back dead.
A change comes over the face of the
lieutenant. He falls back to his place.
LOAD" The order is superhuous.
Aim Pick the man facing youi"
"Firer'
A roar reechoes from the mountain
side. The brown line wavers and
wits, groveling in the dust. Three
men Of the prisoners scramble to their
knees.
Tom. now n sergeant walks IN tha