Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-21
TIL E IVORY CHILD
Bv II. pTDFP HAGGARD

'n'IN' ShlGEcrod Hans shifting his weight
ncrrouslN from one leg on to the other.
! "Hark they are going into them"
It was true, Screams Of fear and pain
! told me that the front ranks had begun
| To fall. horse and foot together. into the
| cunuingly devised suarcs Of which with 50
much labor We had dug many. couCealing
| them with earth spread over thin wicker
! work, or rather mterlaced houEhs. Into
! the'u went the rorerunners to he pierced
! Ivy the sharp. iire-hardcuod stakes set at
| the bottom Of each pit. Nainly did those
| who were near enough to understand their
danger call to the ranka behind to stop.
| Thcy could not or would not comprehend.
| and had no room to- extend their front.
Forward surEed the human torrent thrust
| ing all in front OF it to death 10y wounds
| or SufoCatiun in those deadly holes. till
one by one they were filled level with the
| ground by struggling men and horses, over
| whom the army stil rushed ON.
How many persisted there ! do not know
, hut after the battle was over we found
scarcely a pit that was not crowded 10
the brm with dead. Truly this device Of
! Ragnall's. for If I had conceived the idea.
! which was unfamiliar to the kcndah, it
was he who carried it ont in so mastery
"a fashion. had served us we'll
SIN The enemy surged on. since the pits
were only large enough to hold tithe Of
them, till at length. horscmen and rootmen
mixed up together i'm incXtricabe cOnru-
sion. their mighty mass became family
visible quite close to us, hlaCker blot
upon the gloom
Then my turn came when they we're
not more than fifty yards away from the
first wall ! shouted an order to my rifle
men to fire. aiming low, and set the exam
ple by loosng both barrels of an elephant
gun at the thickest of the mob. Al that
distance even the most inexperienced shots
could not miss such a mark, especially as
hnG
among the onComing troops behind. or
caught the horsemen lifted above their
fellows. Indeed Of the first few rounds
| do not think that one was wasted. while
often single balls killed or injured several
men.
The result was instantaneous The
| Black Kendall, who, be il remembered,
were totally unacCustOmed to the effects
Of rife fire and imagined that we only
possessed two or three guns in ALL stopped
their advance as though para yzed. For a
few seconds there was silence except for
the Intermittent CraCkle Of the rifles as
my men loaded and fired, Next came the
cries of the smtten men and horses that
were falling everywhere. and then--the un-
misrakable sound of a stampede.
"rhey have gone That too warm
for them. Baas" chuckled Hans exultingly
| Yes" | answered, when | had at length
succeeded in stopping the firing, but |
expect they will come back with the light,
stu. that little trick of yours has cost
them dear, Hans.
| BY degrees the dawn began to break n
was, | remember, a particularly beautiful
dawn, resembling a gigantic and vivid rose
opening in the east, or n cup OF brightness
| from which many Colored wines were
poured all athwart the armament. Very
peaceful also, for not a breath of wind was
stirring. But what a scene the first rays OF
the sun revealed upon that narrow stretch
of pass in front of us. Everywhere the pit
| falls and trenches were filled with still
surging heaps of men and horses while all
about lay dead and wounded men, the red
harvest of our rifle fire. It was dreadful To
contrast the heavenly peace above and the
| helish horror beneath.
We took count and found that up 10 this
moment we had not lost single man, one
only having been slightly wounded by a
thrown spear. As is common among semi
savages, this fact filled the White kendah
with an undue exultation. Thinking that as
the beginning so the end must be- they
, cheered and shouted, shaking hands, then
fell to eating the food which the women
/; brought them with appetite, chattering in
cessantly. although az a general rule they
were a very silent people Even the grave
Harut who arrived full OF congratulations
seemed as hgh-spirted as a boy, till ] re-
minded him that the real battle had not yet
commenced.
The Black Kendsh had fallen into trap
and lost some Of their number that was all
; which was fortunate for us but could
scarcely affect the issue OF the struggle
since they had many thousands left. Rag
nall, who had come up from his lines
agreed with me. AS he said, these people
were fighting for life as well as honor, see
: ing that most of the corn which they needed
for their sustenance was stored in great
heaps either in or to the rear of the temple
behind us Therefore they must come or
! until they won were destroyed. How
with our small force could we hope to de-
stroy this multitude? That was the prob
lem which weighed upon our hearts,
About a quarter of an hour later two
4 spies that We had set upon the top Of the
precipitous cliffs whence they had good
view of the pass beyond the bend came
scramblng down the rocks like monkeys
Z nv a route that was known to them, These
bows for they were no more, reported that
= the Black Kendall were reforming theil
: army beyond the bend Of the pass, and that
e the cavalry were dismounting and sending
their horses to the rear. evidently because
they found them useless in such place. A
= little later solitary men appeared from pc
hind the bend, carrying bundles OF Iona
sticks. TO each of which was attached q
piece of white cloth, proceeding that ex
cited my curiosity,
soon its object became apparent. Swiftly
these men, of whom in the end there may
have been thirty or forty, ran to and fro
testing the ground with spears In searcf
for pitfalls. l think they only found very
| few that had not been broken into. but IN
front of these and also OF those that were
. | already full of men and horses they set vi
the flags as a warning that they should b'
avoided in the advance. Also they removed
a number of their wounded.
We had great dificulty in restraining tn,
White Kendah from rushing out TO attacl
them, which, of course. would only hav'
led us into a trap In our turn, since the,
would have, ned and conducted their ppr
1uern into the arms Of the enemy
Ner wepl1 / SHOW nv HeensR ~ ars