The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-12-17

tives as a god. And, like most men Wild
are given credit for supernatural pow
ers. he pretended to live up to thenf
He told his tribesmen that no harm,
would ever come to them in a wal
against the whites, as he would turb
their bullets to water, blind them, ane
leave their women and children at the
mercy of their spears.
Things were certainly serious. The
gloom of uncertainty crept over the
British, and visions of the bloody Zulu
war rose and we're reflected by the Lon,
don press. The war could be ended
only by some sudden and masterfw
coup, and the brains Of the home tacti.
clans strained for ideas, but in vain, and
the prospect of rainy season, which
would greatly favor the Matabele war
riors, was before them.
AT this juncture the commissioner ol
the district. young fellow named ARM
strong, suggested that Mlimo be cap.
tured or destroyed. How1 Had no
the army been breaking its neck to ac
complish that? 1t did not strike tn,
ponderous tacticians that a couple o
men often do what is impossible for az
army. Armstrong told the commanded
that he knew where Mlimo made his
retreat The British commander called
for volunteers to capture the god
Burnham was chronic volunteer, ant
he and Armstrong set out to capture
| Mlimo.
1t was a terrible task, for the priest
had selected cave at the top of
lIopje as his headquarters, and sur.
rounded himself with an army of two
thousand tried warriors, who were en-
camped at the foot of the hill Beside
this the scouts of the blacks kept the
country completely under their eyes
What chance had an enemy to pass these
brave and alert savages, especially white
skinned one? One in a thousand. Ye!
Burnham and his companion took tn,
chance. II was nerve strainer. Mill
after mile they covered, crawling, run
ming, riding, hiding, hardly daring t:
breathe when near the Kaffirs. some
times covering half a mile an hour
sometimes a little more. The last mil,
they covered took them three hours Al
last unpcrceived, they reached the fool
OF Mlimo's kopje Slowly from bush
to bush. from boulder TO boulder theJ
crept like wounded lizards until the
opening OF the gods" cave dwelling
showed black before them an hour aftet
they had started the ascent.
Burnham, being the better shot, way
to fire first, for they decided that under
the circumstances Mlimo could not BE-
taken alive. And they also knew tha:
their shot would be the signal to the
thousands of warriors below to attack
them and there would be little chance
to escape, but that was a secondary con
sideration.
Closer they crowded to the mouth oi
the cave. They waited, but the god
could not be seen. A little nearer and
nearer. Burnham was now in the en-,
trance and a cry came out of the dark.
ness inside, and the giant. befeathered
Mlimo sprang at him. His rifle blazed
once and his bullet opened the heart o!
the savage. The shot echoed through
the hills and in a moment the Matabele
army was in arms and rushing toward
the cave and spreading in a search for
the shooters Burnham and Armstrong
flew over the ground like springboks.
lodging shots and spears. They reached
their mounts in safety and then rode lika
demons for their lives, being driven into
corner half dozen times from which
they had to fight their way like bull
buffaloes. They escaped and reached
Bulwayo.
The Matabsle, finding that their god"
was a pretender as far as his divine
powers were concerned. ceased hostiIi-
ties Frederick Russell Burnham ended
the war with one shot and added another
success to British arms.
For his courage and devotion Burn
ham was greatly honored by the British
and he and Ingram, with the Honorable
Manuel Clifford, were jointly given a
tract of land three hundred miles long
in appreciation of their services,
When the British were at war with
the Beers Lord Roberts, knowing tho
weakness of his army, which had no
trained eyes, called on Burnham TO be-
come his chief of scouts. His. excep-
tional services to the British in the cani-
paign won him his military title and
made him perpetual officer of the,
British army on full pay. He was also
decorated with the Distinguished Serv-i
ice Order by King Edward. Reside
this, he wears on the breast OF his
uniform a number Of other medals. the
insignia Of his love for the lure OF
peril.
Copyright 1910, BY Metropolitan Nsps-
' RaRsr Syndicate,