The Washington herald., 1913-09-14
Fight FOR LIFE TRAPPED In PIT.

could still feel him going UP. There mus4
have been quite lot of Matabele pull
ing at him.
Bend his leg over. or they'll have hind
| out" snapped OLeary.
/ pulled one way, OLeary the others
but IT was a mighty hard job to keep
our human cork" in position. The urs.
fortunate negro had by this time recoN
cred his senses and was shouting htS
opinion of the proceedings in no uncer-
tain voice, kicking and struggling like Z
. madman, so that IL was all We could id
to keep our hold on him
Failing to achieve their object by maid
strength. the Matabele up above now
| tried another plan, and incidentally
showed US what little value they attached
to human Hfe-even that of their own
kith and kin Bringing up a musketi
they showed 1t down alongside the pooi
wretch in the shaft aHe pulled the trigl
ger, no doubt hoping to hit one Of US
In the confined space the report sounded
Ike thunder, but beyond scattering tho
grain like charge OF scrapnel the bull
let did US no damage. I believe. ho~s
ever, that IT passed clean through thS
Matabele in the shaft. for they let go Of
him, and we felt his body sag Imply, but
We managed TO keep him in position
Work round TO my side" said O'Leary.
Il think we've got 'em beat" {
As he spoke, down came some pieces Of
match, and more still, and then pieces
OF burning grass dropped past the fgurS
In the shaft It was his life or ours.
however. SO we Just held on grirn1y,
though our arms were aching and ouS
1 eyes blinded with smoke.
| After a while the dre ceased and sud-
| denly the place was in darkness.
| what's up now? said O'Leary, -
surprise. Pull down our cork"
Used Foe as a Shield.
| We hauled the warrior down. and hu
dropped Imply on the hoor-stons eead.
killed by his own comrades
| O'Leary took one glance at the corpse.
then he stepped to the shaft, now darf
as night.
See" he said. they've covered us uu,
and I'm going TO investigate. Get me ons
Of those assegais." !
Cropping around, found one and hands
ed IL to him. O'Leary then stood on my
! shoulder. and using the spear blade,
managed to slightly raise up The fat
/ stone which covered the top of the pit.
Yes" he said calmly, they're putting
more thatch On. and are going to try 70
| roast US. But they'll defeat themselves
| All that stuff on the top Is bone dry, anG
when it's well aIight they won't be able
! to get near" He paused. then added IN
a different voice. Il don't know whethsr
We shall roast, but anyway, youngster,
you're going to taste hades for a while
With that he jumped down, leaving
the assegai in position under the stone,
and We took 1t in turns to get a small
breath OF air by prying it up.
There she goes" said O'Leary, sud-
denly. and I heard a dull roar as the
pile OF thatch over the pit mouth caught
fire. We promptly retreated to the end
OF the cave and lay down. It had been
hot enough In the place before, but now
il got hotter than ever. I felt sick and
miserable, and also decidedly scared 7
had no hope of getting out alive, and saw
nothing before me but a dreadful death.
The temperature was rising moderately,
Every breath hurt my lungs, and the
roaring of the fire. to my excited fancy,
seemed to be getting louder and louders
/ suppose I must have said something
which showed my state Of mind, for the
iron nerved o'Leary soon brought me to
my senses.
Don't be an ass" he groEled ssThfa
will soon go or and the smoke Of tha
fire will bring our fellows back double
quick
Natives Driven on.
Presently It seemed to US that the place
was a little cooler, and my companiou
moved closer to the mouth Of the pit.
Come along" he said. The grass haz
all burnt, I think, and I'm going to shift
this roc -
Levering on the spear. he managed to
shift the stone somewhat, and a lfttls
light and air filtered down to Us, but the
heat and smell were still fearful Not q
sound could we hear Of the MatabeIe;
L ~ seemed to have cleared on tenn
porarily.
Taking courage from this fact. O'Lear5
made a big effort and shifted the stons
right of. He then dropped down. and
gave me a lift up. I got q giorioul
breath Of air. but had my hair al singed,
for the stun at the mouth OF the pit was
still burning.
Just then we heard shots on every side
and soon, to our intense delight. our telS
lows were back at the kraaI, haytna
driven the natives Of. O'Leary got his
head out and shouted. We got somewhat
scorched in the process, but il was q
trife to what We had gone through. They
gave us water. and didn't I drink;
could have emptied a river! I expected
a little sympathy. after our narrow
squeak, but all I got for my pains was
a horrible Raging from my captain for
losing my rife.
sergeant major in the Matabele mounted
police, and was the first NJ. VI. P man
to be called in the 80 rebeIn n. I saw
tn, poor fellows grave at the Bembed
River on my way back from our tight