Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-07-30

"LSW caps. 1--WE are here
NSN to hould the fince till
HGS& the rigimint comes.
W WV '< Dye moind meT
"If the gov'ment"- began big Pat
Callahan. but Mick snarled:
"Hould yer jaw an talk wild yer car
bire! All av ye fix yer carbine soights
at 900 yards. Loie down an take good
rest on the tnce rails. Count off from
the roight p to IL. Whin give the
worrud. number wan is to foire at the
first mounted officer at the right for
ninst him. number two at the mkt. an
so on. an aich av We kape on shootin'
till yez bring down yer man. Whin
they ain't got any ginerals an colonels
an majors an things. mebbe they'll
shtop to talk about it an give our rigi-
mint chance to come up an charge
'em. Them min that amt got nc
mounted officers to shoot at. foire loike
blazes at the colors. Don't any man
shoot till holler 'toime!"
The jacket filling heart throb that all
soldiers can recall came upon meas | lay
down and selected a rest" where there
was Il clear way between the shrub
berry and weeds which always infest n
country fence row. The promise was
Of a fight Of kind for which | had al
ways longed-a fight with mass of
troops instead Of with occasional heads
and shoulders half screened by trees
and stumps. But had also longed TO
be In the saddle and following dash
ing, trusty commander and with an
even chance Of success. Now | was
hugging the ground. with an unfamil-
lar carbine in my hands. 4 Summerton
ruffian for my commander and the odds
against me at least 50 to |.
"Toimew screamed Mick.
Our carbines reported almost In vol
ley force style. The heat simmer pre-
vented good aim. yet there were three
less heads visible above the gray line
when the smoke had been blown away.
"Kape pegsin' ut 'em! said Mick as
he leaned on the fence. shaded his eyes
and prered forward. 4 few more shots
were fired in quick succession by each
man. after which no more mounted
officers were visible. The gray line
stopped quivering like a heat band.
Evidently it had halted.
"Kape on foirin'." Mick ordered. IAN
make aich shot tell! Pepper all along
their loine. Take lot Of ground to the
roight an lift. youse fellers on the
flanks. so they'll think our loine Is Ion
ger an there's more Of us than there
be-"
The order was obeyed. The gray
line had decreased the distance be-
tween us to about quarter Of mile,
so we could note breaks In the ranks
whenever our shots told.
"Aim carefulw Mick ordered, "lt's
no tonne to fool away cattridgeH
was Of the same opinion. and was
beginning to wonder what would hap
pen should we run out Of cartridges.
There was q standing order In the reg
iment that every man should always
have 40 carbine cartridges In his box
and 10 full rounds for his revolver, but
so short had been our many previous
fights that all of us had become care
less as to quantity of ammunition. Sci.
dom had any man more pistol ammuni.
tion than that already In his revolver.
No one was astonished to hear big Pat
Callahan growl:
t,,u fn mo
name" a.
"Nor l." said Brainard.
"Ye're dhivils. both av ye! But kape
yer revolvers-all av ye-fer close ac'
ton" shouted Mick. AN pray fer the
rest av our rigimint to come up"
The carbine fire continued. but more
slowly, while men who were out of
cartridges borrowed from comrades
with fuller boxes. Soon the firing ceas'
ed entirely. Mick frowned. glared
wildly and said to me:
"Coppyral Frost. ye've the biggest
ears in all Summerton. Go out to the
road an lay yer ear down to it an see
av We can hear the regiment a-comin'." !"
my heartbeats for hoofbeats. but was
obliged to report that | could hear
nothing.
The silence was becoming appalling
for the enemy had not yet fired shot
The Johnnies. more sensible than their
adversaries. seldom or never wasted
their bullets on smoke puffs and ''cov
ers' behind which figures did moi
show.
"Oi'd loike to LUX into the oye av the
felly that's a-bosSin' 'em an see fhat his
thrick'll be-" said Sergeant Mick. "Ay
Oi was him an things so quot in from
av me. Old think he was sneakin' for 6
back holt. Coppyral Brainard. That's
yer own Opinion?"
Same us yours. sergeant" Brainart
replied. He doesn't know how few
we are. for we've fired a great many
shots. and he doesn't imagine we have
brecchloaders. Probably he thinks his
enemy has left his front and is trying
to flank him. wonder. though. tina
he doesn't send out skirmiShers to loOl
into the situation over here"
"Thrue fer yez. It's ivldint yei
didn't lave yer brains in yer bunk bacl
IN camp. Now moind whole Oh spakt
to yrz all. Call in thin min on th'
tlanks--tell 'em to come OH their han:
an knees. Are yez all here? ThiI