Connecticut western news., 1903-04-30

Herawf and Muella. would till many books.
 They had been penned into a square side by side in deathly fear of being shot by overexcited soldiers. they had fought with baggage camels in the chill dawn. they had logged along in silence under a blinding sun on indefatigable little Egyptian horses, and they had fioundered on the shadows of the Nile when the whaleboat in which they had found a berth chose to Snlite d hidden rock and rip out half her bottom blanks
 Now they were sitting on the sand bank. and the whalcboats were bring ing up the remainder of the column.
 Yes" said Torpenhow us he put the last rude stitches into his OyerlOng neg lected gear; it has been beautiful business"
 The patch or the campaign?" said Heldar. Don't think much of either myself"
 You want the Euryalus brought up above the Third cataract. don't you. and eighty-one-ton guns at Jakdul: Now. I'm quite satisfied with my brooches" He turned round gravely to exhibit himself after the manner of clown.
 Its very pretty. Specially the let tering on the sack, G. B. T. Govern ment Bullock Train. That's sack from India"
 Its my initials-Gilbert Belling Tor penhow. I stole the cloth on purpose. What the mischief are the camel corps doing yonder?" Torpenhow shaded his eyes and looked across the scrub strewn gravel
 A bugle blew furiously. and the men on the bank hurried to their arms and accouterments.
 "'Pisan soldiery surprised while bathing" remarked Dick calmly. Do you remember the picture? It's by Michael Angelo. All beginners copy 1t That scrubs alive with enemy"
 The camel corps on the bank yelled to the infantry to come to them. and a hoarSe shouting down the river showed that the remainder of the column had wind of the trouble and was hastening to take share in it. As swiftly as a reach of still water is crisped by the wind the rock strewn ridges and scrub topped hills were troubled and alive with armed men. Mercifully 1t oc- cured to these to stand far of for time, to shout and gesticulate joyously. One man even delivered himself of a long story. The camel corps c1 not fire. They were only too glad for little breathing space until some sort of square could be formed. The men on the sand bank ran to their side. and the whaleboats, as they toiled up with in shouting distance. were thrust into the nearest bank and emptied of all save the sick and a few men to guard them. The Arab orator ceased his out cries. and his friends howled.
 They look like mahdi's men," said Torpenhow, elbowing himself into the crush of the square, but what thou sands of 'em there arel The tribes hereabout aren't against us, know."
 Then the mahdrs taken another town." said Dick. "and set all these yelping devils free to chaw us up. Lend us your glass"
 Our scouts should have told us of this. We've been trapped" said a sub altern. Aren't the camel guns ever going to begin? Hurry up. you menr'
 There was no need for any order. The men flung themselves, panting. against the sides of the square. for they had good reason to know that whoso was left outside when the fight ing began would very probably die in un extremely unpleasant fashion. The little l5O pound camel guns posted at one corner of the square opened the bali as tho square moved forward by Its right to get possession of knoll of rising ground.
 All had fought in this manner many times before, and there was no novelty in the entertainment, always the same lot and stifiing formation. the smell of dust and leather, the same boltlike rush of the enemy, the same pressure on the weakest side of the square, a few minutes of desperate hand to hand scuttie and then the silence of the des- ert, broken only by the yells of those whom the handful of cavalry attempt ed to pursue. They had grown careless. The camel guns spSke at intervals, and the square slouched forward amid the protests of the camels. Then came the attack of 5000 men. who had not learned from books that 1t is impossible for troops in close order to attack against breechloading fire.
 A few dropping shots heralded their approach, and few horsemen led, but the bulk of the force was naked hu- manity mad with rage and armed with the spear and the sword. The instinct of the desert, where there is always much war, told them that the right flank of the square was the weakest. for they swung clear of the front. The camel guns shelled them as they passed and opened for an instant lanes through their midst most like those quick closing vistas in a Kentish hop garden seen when the train races by at full speed, and the infantry fire. held till the Opportune moment, dropped them in close packed hundreds.
 No civilized troops in the world could have endured the hell through which they came. the living leaping high to avoid the dead clutching at their heels, the wounded cursing and staggering forward till they fell-a torrent black as the sliding water above a milldam- full on the right flank of the square. Then the line of the dusty troops and