The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1902-12-02
Their Last
Charge &&
By JOHN w. HARDING.

card the latest from the Philip
pines?" queried young Lieut.
Gay at the Raconteurs' club, as. he
glanced up from his newspaper at
number of the members who, cigar in
mouth, were enjoying the post-pran-
dial hour of dolce far niente, utterly
indifferent, in their contentment and
comfortable surroundings, to the
wind that ratified and the rain that
beat against the windows of their
single Filipino who has the sand to
charge whole American column!"
"Wow!" chorused his listeners, in
credulously. "And what happened to
the gentle Tagalog?"
He isn't, or ! suppose it is safe to
say wasn't, Tagalog, but Moro, re-
piled the lieutenant, though | sup
pose all F'ilipinos are alike to us here.
As to what happened to him, the dis
patch leaves it to the Imagination"
There was silence for a moment,
then slight, elegant man of medium
height, with clean-cut features and
gray pointed beard, remarked quietly:
THAT recalls a similar and very ex-
traordinary incident which witnessed
in the Soudan in 1885,
The speaker was Stanford Hylish.
visiting English journalist and ex-war
correspondent, to whom the courte-
sizes of the club had been extended.
The entire company was attention i'm
mediately, and Mr.. Hylish, on being
pressed, continues:
sit was during the operations, be-
gun too late, alas! for the rescue of
Gordon at Khartoum. / was with the
column commanded by Gen. Sir Her
bert Stewart, which made that famous
dash across the desert to Metemneh
when 1900 Tommies and bluejackets
at Abu Klea fought off 10000 tribes
men whose valor is immortalized in
Kipling's barrack-room ballad Fuzzy
Wuzzy.'
'The column was made up of the
Sussex regiment, mounted infantry,
camel corps of guardsmen. and
detachment of men-owar's men,
with a troop of the Nineteenth hus-
sars acting as scouts. We hurried
along with us four screw guns and
couple of gatlings. Big Col. Fred
Burnaby, of The Ride to khiva'
fame, was of the expedition, and re-
ioicing nightly thereat, caring moth
ing (if he had any premonition of
his fate) that it was to mark the
close of bic o1vaptnr,,,c ,oraar N,+
having been able to get himself sent
to the front, he had secured several
months leave of absence, and, armed
with d shotgun, had overtaken the
army on the Nile, having lodged, by
avoiding the Egyptian towns, impera-
tive orders to return telegraphed to
every point of possible interrogation
by the war department authorities,
who had learned of his departure.
1--WE had made forced march of
is hours and were nearing the wells
at Abu Klea. Not man had had
morsel to eat or Il drop to drink
during all that time. Most of us
We're on the verge of prostration
from fatigue and the torture caused
by the sand and fine dust which
clogged our mouths, ears and nos
trils. causing an intolerable thirst,
and penetrated our worn and in many
cases ragged clothing. The scouts,
dashing in at breakneck speed, APP
prised us of danger, and we barely
had time to form a square abou: our
baggage and animals when two
mighty, surging torrents of black hui
mainly swept upon us.
Three minutes after the first horde
got within range we could scarcely
see each other, owing to the smoke
from the rifles. There was no wind.
The atmosphere, heavy with the TER
rible heat, as it seemed to us, ap-
peared to concentrate the powder
smoke in a dense, acrid, choking pail
through which it was impossible 10
see the, onrushing tribesmen The
screw guns had to be cleared of sane!
before they could be put into action.
AS for the Cuttings, they had to be
taken to pieces and cleaned. Blue
jackets inside the square were doing
this eXpeditiously, but with the ut
most calmness, amid pandemonium,
for the men told off to look after the
animals were having the tussle of
their lives. Some of the camels and
horses had been wounded, and were
squealing and plunging madly. Mean