The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-01-01
THE FIGHTING CONVOY.

ragged brigade was shivering to death.
| The icy cold barrel bit the private'S
hand and made him long to be summing
| himself in a suburb of hades. Now the
| sun beats down hot and resistlesS on
| the burning veldt, and in the nearest
wagon two bullocks drop. That means
/ extra pressure and increased torture for
| the diminished span. The poor brutes
| strain at the yoke, and trail on through
| the sweltering neat Through the dust
comes the fiendiSh yelling of the drivers
| and the thud, thud, thud, thud of the
whips reversed.
Klipl Klop! Kip! KlopI There is no
mistaking it, The double snap of the
Three or four little jets of dust squirt
up in front of the scouts like the first
big drops of a thunderstorm But the
scouts press on. Their business is not
only to locate but to ascertain as accur-
ately as possible the number of the
enemy. They cover another hundred
yards in good OF der, chatting and smok-
ing the while Then an orderly gallops
back to the staff, and draws up by the
brigade major his i'll fed mount, wet
from hip to shoulder. There are fifty
odd Beers on that kopje, sir
A moment later you hear the tss tss,
tss of the gun harness and the rattle of
the gun carriages. They swing round
guard
Two thousand eight hundred" shouts
the range finder. Then there is a sound
like the whack of a big drum, and at
were located, comes up a cloud of dust.
Short" shouts the lieutenant in
charge of the fifteen-pounder. TRY
three thousand two hundred
Then the gun gives a grunt, jumps
back and runs forward again as if to
get good view of its work. There is
a cloud of dust this time. The shell
has cleared the crest of the kopje.
Try three thousand"
Then there is another bang, and right
on the summit of the kopje a cloud OF
iTfO fhkaea ir- C11fc do fI10
cloud of dust two or three horsemen
can be seen racing for cover.
Bangi 1t is Shrapnel on this occasion,
and just where the last shell burst fifty
spurts of dust rise up. From that point
the kopje.
Kip, Klopl K1ipI Klopi The firing
has become pretty general all round the
convoy. over on the right flank a little
white flag is in a fit of Mysteries. The
staff signaller trains his glasses on the
flag and watches it for few moments.
Dropping them, he turns to a staff Off
Ger and jerks out the statement that a
gun is required Immediately on the right
flank.
Tss tss, tss, goes the gun harness
again as a 15-pounder wheels off to the
right with it's grinning gunners hanging
on for dear life. Then out of the cloud
OF dust following in the wake of the Is
FOUNDER you notice the gun swing round
and unlimber and start to make a little
hell of it's own.
.,
lying low behind small knoll In front
of the fiankers rise up the spurts and
Jets of dust where the Mauser shower of
lead is biting the veldt. Beyond this
and over the donga and beyond the
stretch of grassy veldt rises a kopje
rugged and precipitous. There is not
sign of any living thing on it, But the
15-pounder is vomiting shrapnel all over
its side and ferreting every bowldeT
from base to crest. Now and then you
see little things like ants Swarming over
the powders. The gunners trail their
weapon on the ants, but by the time the |
little white fleecy cloud unfoldS where !
the shell bursts the figures have disap-
peared, and away on the other extrem- |
ity of the kopje comes kip! klop! klipi |
klopi from other rifles.
The guns with the advance guard |
have failed to clear their kopje so far. |
They have battered and thumped it for |
half an hour. The order comes for the |
convoy to close up and take cover. Then |
there is a running fire of bullock whips |
wagons. Yelling, shouting, cursing and |
logging for all they are worth, the black |
imps of drivers crowd their wagons to- |
gether on the side of a gentle slope I'M |
til the place looks like the hill on Derby |
day. 1t is going to be a long Job. The |
enemy are hanging on like hornets, and |
are swarming on the surrounding kopjes |
like ants on a honey pot. Yes, a long |
job. And so the negroes start a brew |
of coffee while the baggage guard gets |
out the regimental football to while |
away the time.
The Manchesters form the rear guard |
today Consequently, the rear guard |
gun is perfectly safe. Ever since day
break the Manchesters have been har-
ried and sniped all through the slow, 1
long, sullen, sweltering march. This is /
how the enemy have shepherded them. |
So soon as the rear guard got down into
the hollow the enemy would be on the |
summit Of the kopje behind, taking pot |
shots across the open. This annoyed the |
yeomanry in the rear of the Manchest-
ers. The burghers have been repeating
the trick over and over again. Their
a brilliant idea strikes the yeomanry
officer. He waits until the rear guard |
gets we'll over the crest of the next
kopje. A hundred yards down the slope
on the far side he hurriedly dismounts
his men. He turns the company Maxim
on the crest just vacated, and orders the
men in charge to sit tight and wait
Then the enemy come Swarming upon /
the ridge, expecting to find the little
ragged yellow men well down in the hol-
low. So soon as they appear ripple of
death passes right along the line of
horsemen which regularly staggers the
enemy.
Rata tat-tat-rat-ta
That is the Maxim chattering away
like monkey when it's tail is pulled.
On the jadded little yellow man it
has all the effect that the yelping of
hounds has on the huntsman. His Lee
Metford almost becomes a quick firer, |
and he snaps off his cartridges at a |
most amazing rate. Confused, excited
and in disorder the enemy gallop away
for cover. In an instant, and from the
very ridge where the enemy has Just |
been falling like ninepins, comes the
pom-pom- pom pom of the Vickers-
Maxim as it pumps it's pound shells
into the retreaIing foe. Pom-pom- pom
comes the echo to the convoy negroes,
who grunt and yell their approval. To
them the pom-pom is a wonderful and
weird instrument of death.
The dawn came red and resiStlesS.
Noon was intolerable, and now the
dusk creeps steadily over the
he T-in nh