Chapter Ten.A Nice Walk.“Halt!” cried Roberts in a low tone of voice; for, as he gave the order to advance for the attempt to ford the river, a fresh burst of firing arose from what seemed to be nearer, and he hesitated to lead his companions out into the rushing flood and beyond the shelter of the overhanging trees.“It is like exposing ourselves to being shot down while perfectly helpless, old fellow,” he said, with his lips close to Bracy’s ear.“But we can’t stay here: they’ll track us to where you fell, and see the broken branches overhead. What then?” said Bracy.“Right; we shall be easy marks for the brutes. Now, then, forward!”Without hesitation this time, and with his following linked in accordance with his orders, Roberts began to wade, facing the rushing water and leaning towards it as it pressed against his breast, to divide it, forming a little wave which rushed by to right and left. Step followed step taken sidewise, and at the third he and the private following him stood out clear of the overhanging growth, so that he could see plainly the task that was before him.It was enough to startle the strongest man, for there were about fifty yards of a rushing torrent to stem, as it swept icily cold along the river’s rocky bed, and already the pressure seemed greater than he could bear, while he felt that if the water rose higher he would be perfectly helpless to sustain its force. But a sharp glance upward and downward showed him spots where the water foamed and leaped, and there he knew that the stream must be shallower; in fact, in two places he kept on catching sight of patches of black rock which were bared again and again. Setting his teeth hard, and making the first of these his goal, he stepped on cautiously, this choice of direction, being diagonally up-stream, necessarily increasing the distance to be traversed, but lessening the pressure upon the little linked-together line of men.“We shall never do it,” thought Bracy as, in his turn, he waded out into the open stream, his arms well extended and his companions on either side gazing up-stream with a peculiar strained look about their eyes. But there was no sign of flinching, no hesitation; every man was full of determination, the three privates feeling strengthened by being linked with and thus sharing the danger with their officers; while Roberts, as leader, felt, however oppressed by the sense of all that depended upon him, invigorated by the knowledge that he must reach that shallow place. Once he had his men there, they could pause for a few minutes’ rest before making the next step.On he pressed, left shoulder forward, against the rushing waters; feeling moment by moment that the slightest drag from the next man must make him lose his footing, to be swept downward, with the result that if the links of the chain were not broken asunder there would be pluck, pluck, pluck, one after the other, and they would be all swept down the torrent.Had he allowed his imagination free way, he would have let it picture the result—so many ghastly figures, battered out of recognition, found somewhere, miles away perhaps, among the blocks of stone in the shallows of the defile. But the stern man within him kept the mastery; and he went on a few inches at a time, edging his way along, with the water deepening, so that he was ready to pause. But he felt that hesitation would be fatal; and, pressing on, his left foot went down lower than ever, making him withdraw it and try to take a longer stride.“It’s all over,” he thought, in his desperation; but even as the thought flashed through his brain he found that he reached bottom again, having passed a narrow gully, and his next and next, strides were into shallower water; while, toiling hard, he was in a minute only waist-deep, dragging his companions after him, and aiding them, so that they all stood together a third of the way across, with the rushing stream only knee-deep.“Five minutes for faking breath,” he cried, “and then on again for that white patch where the water is foaming.”No one else spoke, but all stood panting and not gazing up-stream or at the farther shore, with its rocks, trees, and ample cover, but throwing the pressure of every nerve, as it were, into their hearing, and listening for sounds of the enemy only to be heard above the roar of the water. For the firing had ceased, and one and all felt that this meant an advance on the part of the hill-men, who would be sweeping the wooded valley right to the river-bank, ready at any moment to open fire again; while now it would be upon the unprotected group part of the way towards mid-stream.“Forward!” cried Roberts; and, with their grip tightening, the little party followed their Captain as he once more edged off to the left, performing his former evolution, and, to his delight, finding that the stone-bestrewn polished bottom never once deepened after the first few steps, which took him waist-deep, and kept about the same level, the result being that the next halt was made where the river was roughest, tossing in waves churned up as it was by the masses of rock in its way, a group lying just below the surface, with the water deepening behind them, so that the party had once more to stand breast-high, but in an eddy, the rocks above taking off the pressure which in the shallows had threatened to sweep them away.The water was numbing, and the leader felt that their pause before recommencing their efforts must be very short; but he was face to face with the most difficult part of their transit, for it was only too plain that this last portion ran swift and deep, the bold, steady rush suggesting a power which he knew instinctively that he would not be able to stem, and he looked downward now to see what was below in the only too probable event of their being swept away.As he turned to gaze upward again he caught Bracy’s eyes fixed upon him inquiringly; but he paid no heed, though he did not for the moment read them aright, the idea being that his brother officer was mutely asking him if he thought he could do it.He grasped Bracy’s meaning the next minute, for he heard that which had reached Bracy’s ears. It was a shout from the woody bank they had left, as if one of the enemy had made a discovery, followed by answering cries, and all knew now that their foes were close upon their track, and that at any moment they might be discovered and fire be opened upon them.“Forward!” cried Roberts, and once more he set off, to be again agreeably surprised, for the water did not deepen in the least as he moved from out of the eddy, being still about breast-deep, with very little variation, the bottom being swept clear of stones and literally ground smooth by the constant passage over it of the fragments borne down from the glaciers in the north. But before many steps had been taken, and the little chain was extended to its extreme limit, Roberts knew that disaster was imminent. For it was impossible to stand against the dense, heavy rush of water, bear against it as he would.He shouted back to his companions to bear against the pressure, and strove his best, but all in vain. At one and the same moment the double calamity came: there was a shot from out of the patch of forest they had left, and the leader was lifted from his feet. Then pluck, pluck, pluck, as if mighty hands had seized them, the men in turn were snatched from their positions, and with a scattered fire opened upon them from among the trees, they were being swept rapidly down-stream.Roberts shouted an order or two, and discipline prevailed for a space, the links of the chain remaining unbroken; but even the greatest training could not hold it together for long at such a time, and the non-swimmers were the first to go under and quit their hold, rolling over with the tremendous rush of the stream, and rising again, to snatch wildly at the nearest object, and in two cases to hamper the unfortunate who was within reach.“Sauve qui peut,” muttered Bracy a’s he glided along, with his sword hanging from his wrist by the knot; but his actions contradicted his thoughts, for instead of trying to save himself he turned to the help of Drummond, to whom one of the men was clinging desperately, and the very next minute he felt a hand clutch at his collar and grip him fast.The rattle of firing was in his ears, and then the thundering of the water, as he was forced below the surface into the darkness; but he did not lose his presence of mind. He let himself go under, and then, with a few vigorous strokes, rose to the surface, with the man clinging to him behind, and wrenched himself round in his effort to get free. He was only partially successful, though; and, panting heavily, he swam with his burden, just catching sight of Drummond in a similar position to himself, many yards lower down the stream.“Let go,” he shouted to the man. “Let go, and I’ll save you.”But the man’s nerve was gone, and he only clung the tighter and made a drowning-man’s effort to throw his legs about his officer’s.“Help! help!” he gasped, and a desperate struggle ensued, during which both went beneath the surface again, only to rise with Bracy completely crippled, for the poor drowning wretch had been completely mastered by his intense desire for life, and arms and legs were now round his officer in the death-grip.Bracy cast a wild, despairing look round as he was borne rapidly along, and all seemed over, when a head suddenly came into sight from behind them, an arm rose above the surface, and the swimmer to whom it belonged drove his fist with a dull smack right on the drowning-man’s ear, and with strange effect.It was as if the whole muscular power had been instantaneously discharged like so much electricity at the touch of a rod, the horrible clinging grasp ceased, and with a feeble effort Bracy shook himself free and began to swim.“A jolly idgit!” panted a voice; “a-holding on to yer orficer like that! Want to drown him? Can you keep up, sir?”“Yes, I think so,” said Bracy weakly.“That’s right, sir. You’ll do it. I’ll give yer a ’and if yer can’t. It’s easy enough if yer swim with the stream.”“Can you keep him up?” said Bracy more vigorously.“Oh yus, sir; I can manage to keep him on his back and his nose out o’ the water. Knocked him silly.”“Where are the others?”“There they are, sir, ever so far along. The Captain’s got old Parry, and Mr Drummond’s swimming to his side to help him. You’lldoit now, sir. Slow strokes wins. Feel better?”“Yes. I was half-strangled.”“Then it’s all right, sir.”“But the enemy?” panted Bracy, trying to look round.“Never you mind them, sir. They’re far enough off now, and can only get a shot now and then. River windles so. We’re going ever so much faster than they can get through the woods. Ain’t this jolly, sir? Done my ankle a sight o’ good. I allus did like the water, on’y sojers’ togs ain’t made to swim in.”“I can’t see any one in pursuit,” said Bracy at the end of a minute.“Don’t you keep trying to look, sir. You’ve got enough to do to swim.”“I’m getting right again now, Gedge, and I think I can help you.”“What! to keep him up, sir? I don’t want no help while he’s like this; but if he comes to again and begins his games you might ketch him one in the ear. Chaps as thinks they’re drowning is the silliest old idgits there is. ’Stead o’ keeping still and their pads under water, they shoves them right up to try and ketch hold o’ the wind or anything else as is near. ’Spose they can’t help it, though. Hullo! look yonder, sir. Rocks and shaller water. Think we could get right across now?”For a shout now reached them from fifty yards or so lower down, where their three companions in misfortune were standing knee-deep in mid-stream, and a rugged mass of rocks rose to divide the river and towered up twenty or thirty feet, forming a little rugged island about twice as long. Bracy’s spirits, which were very low, rose now at the sight of Roberts and Drummond helping the other private up into safety, and turning directly to offer them the same aid if they could manage to get within reach.“Keep it up, sir,” cried Gedge, who was swimming hard, “or we shall be swep’ one way or t’other. It’ll be nigh as a touch, for the water shoots off jolly swift.”Bracy had needed no telling, and he exerted all his strength to keep so that they might strike the shallows where the island was worn by the fierce torrent to a sharp edge, for to swim a foot or two to the left meant being carried towards the side of the enemy, while to the right was into swifter water rushing by the island with increased force.“Stick to it, sir,” cried Gedge. “Side-stroke, sir. No fear o’ not keeping afloat. That’s your sort. We shall do it. Ah!”Gedge’s last cry was one of rage and disappointment, for, in spite of their efforts, just as they seemed to be within a few feet of the point at which they aimed, they found themselves snatched as it were by the under-current, and, still holding to their half-drowned companion, they would have been carried past but for a brave effort made by Roberts, who was prepared for the emergency. By stepping out as far as he dared, holding by Drummond’s long arm, and reaching low, he caught Gedge’s extended hand.The shock was sharp, and he went down upon his face in the water; but Drummond held on, the little knot of struggling men swung round to the side, and in another minute they were among the rocks, where they regained their feet, and drew the insensible private up on to dry land.“That was near,” said Roberts, who was breathless from exertion. “Hurt, Drummond?”“Oh no, not at, all,” was the laughing reply. “I never did lie on the rack, having my arms torn out of the sockets; but it must have been something like this.”“I’m very sorry,” cried Roberts.“Oh, I’m not, old man. How are you, Bracy—not hit?”“No, no; I shall be all right directly. Thank you, old chaps, for saving us. Never mind me; try and see to this poor fellow. I’m afraid he’s drowned.”“No, sir; he ain’t, sir,” cried Gedge; “he’s coming round all right. It’s more that crack in the ear I give him than the water. I hit him as hard as I could. There! look, gents; his eyes is winking.”It was as the lad said; the unfortunate non-swimmer’s eyelids were quivering slightly, and at the end of a minute he opened them widely and stared vacantly at the sunny sky. The officers were bending over him, when they received a broad hint that their position was known, a couple of shots being fired from the farther bank, higher up-stream, one of which struck the rock above them and splintered off a few scraps, which fell pattering down.“Quick!” cried Roberts. “We must get those two along here for a bit. The high part will shelter us then; but as soon as possible we must have another try for the shore.”The shelter was soon reached, and all crouched together in the sunshine, with the water streaming from them, the officers busily scanning the bank of the rushing river opposite, and calculating the possibility of reaching it. There was plenty of cover, and very little likelihood of the enemy crossing the river in its swollen state; but there was that mad nice some twenty yards wide to get over with two helpless men; and at last Roberts spoke in a low tone to his companions.“I can’t see how it’s to be done, boys. I dare say we four could reach the bank somewhere; but we’re heavily handicapped by those two who can’t swim.”“And there isn’t time to teach them now,” said Drummond sardonically.“And we can’t leave them,” said Bracy. “What’s to be done?”Gedge was eager to offer a suggestion upon the slightest encouragement, and this he obtained from Roberts, who turned to him.“How’s the sprain, my lad?”“Bit stiff, sir; that’s all,” was the reply. “Water done it a lot o’ good.”“Think you could drop down with the stream and land somewhere near the fort to tell them how we’re pressed?”“Dessay I could, sir; but don’t send me, please.”“Why?” asked Roberts and Bracy in a breath.Gedge gave them a comical look, and waved his hand in the direction of his comrades.“We all come out together to have what we called a nice little walk, sir, and a look at that there waterfall, as turned out to be farther off than we reckoned on. I shouldn’t like to cut off and leave ’em in the lurch, sir.”“Lurch? Nonsense, my lad,” said Bracy. “You would be going on a very risky errand to try and save us all.”“Yes, sir; o’ course, sir; but I could get one of ’em over that little bit if you three gents could manage t’other. They’ll be all right in a few minutes.”“I don’t like sending him,” said Roberts. “It is very dangerous, and we must, try it together.”His companions gave; a short, sharp nod, and acquiesced.“If we only knew what is below us!” said Bracy as he gazed down-stream.“Niggers,” said Drummond shortly. “There’ll be a dozen or two beyond these rocks waiting to pot us as soon as we are carried into sight by the stream.”“Well, there’ll only be our heads to aim at,” said Bracy; “and we must not go down in a cluster this time.”“No,” said Roberts. “As soon as you feel ready, Bracy, we must start. It is madness to stay here. You and Gedge take that fellow between you; and Drummond and I will go as before.”“Hear that?” whispered Gedge to his comrade, who gave him a sulky nod. “That’s right; and mind, I’m ready for yer this time. I shan’t hit yer; but if yer moves hand or foot when I’ve turned yer over on yer back to float, we lets yer go, and yer can get across the blessed river by yerself.”“All right,” said the man; “but I don’t believe yer, Billy Gedge. I never learnt to swim, but if I could I shouldn’t talk about leaving a pardner to shift for hisself.”“Er-r-er!” growled Gedge, whom these words seemed to mollify. “Well, keep them ’ands o’ yours in the water, for as long as you holds ’em down you helps me to keep yer afloat, and as soon as yer begins to make windmills of ’em and waves ’em, or chucks ’em about as if you was trying to ketch flies, down you goes.”“All right,” said the man, as they heard more bullets spattering on the rocks above them; “but, oh, how my hands does itch for a rifle and a chance to be taking shots at some of these beauties!”“Yes,” said Gedge; “and I hope it won’t be long first. I hadn’t any spite partickler agen ’em before, but I have now. Ha’ they got any orspitals or doctors?”“I dunno,” said the other; “but if we gets outer this and in the ranks again, there’s going to be some of the beds filled, and a bit o’ work for their doctors to do.”“Well, my lads,” said Roberts, stepping to where the three men crouched gazing at the deep, rushing water; “feel strong enough to start?”“Yes, sir,” came in chorus.“And we shan’t get in a tangle this time, sir, I hope,” said Gedge.“I hope not, my lad. Up with you, then.”There were no preparations to make; nothing to do but for the two officers to get their man face upward between them, and stand ready while Bracy and Gedge followed suit with theirs.“Ready?” said Roberts. “Count ten after we’ve started, and then follow.”As soon as he had spoken he gave Drummond a nod, and they stepped among the rocks to the swift water, bent down, and, as they lowered themselves in, the strong current seized them, as it were, their helpless companion was drawn out, and away they went as fast as a horse could have trotted, down what was a veritable water-slide.“Now, my lad,” cried Bracy as Gedge, at a signal, went on counting the ten slowly. “Keep a good heart. We won’t leave you.”“All right, sir;” said the man, drawing a deep breath.“Nine—ten!” counted Gedge.“Off!” cried Bracy, but checked himself for a moment, startled by the noise of the ragged volley which was fired from the enemy’s bank as soon as they caught sight of the three heads gliding down the stream.“If they are hit!” mentally exclaimed Bracy; and then, making a sign to Gedge, they followed out the precedent shown them, and the water seized and bore them along, with the private floating between them, their steady subsidence into the water and slow strokes keeping them well upon the surface.So swiftly did they pass along that only a few moments had passed before the crackling of the firing from the far bank came plainly, and bullets ricochetted from the water to strike the other bank, but without effect, the rate at which they were descending making the aim taken with the long, clumsy matchlocks of no effect. Not a word was littered; and with their friends far ahead, their heads just seen, the fugitives glided along the straight course below them, free as it was from rocks. But they were evidently in full view of fresh parties of the enemy, and shot after shot splashed the water.“Now for the bank, Gedge,” cried Bracy suddenly.“Yes, sir; all right, sir; but it’s of no use.”“It is,” cried Bracy angrily. “They are making for it now.”“Yes, sir: and they’re swept by it. Can’t you see it’s like a smooth wall, with the water running by it like a railway train?”Gedge was right; and there was nothing for it but to go with the stream towards the rocks which now rose right in their way, the long race ending in a wide chaos of foaming water, which leaped and sparkled in the afternoon sun.“We shall be torn to pieces there,” thought Bracy; and he strained his eyes to try and make out an opening; but his attention was taken up the next moment by the cracking of matchlocks and the puffs of smoke rising to his left, as fire was opened upon their leaders, who were running the gauntlet that it would be their fate to share in another minute, when Gedge suddenly uttered a hoarse cheer, and nearly lost his grip of his companion; for, quick, sharp, and loud, a genuine British volley rattled out, almost like a report from a piece of artillery, the bullets sending the leaves on the enemy’s bank pattering down. Then another, and at regular intervals others; while the eyes of the swimmers were gladdened by the sight of friends making their way down among the rocks, towards which they were being rushed. Another volley rang out; there was a cheer, in which the two helpless privates joined; and directly after the fugitives were saved from being battered among the rocks by ready hands, whose efforts were covered by the rapid firing from the bank above.Five minutes after, the dripping party were retiring with a company of their regiment, whose captain contented himself with giving the enemy a volley from time to time, as they doubled to reach their quarters, now not a quarter of a mile away, the young officers learning that the enemy was out once more and converging upon the fort, this unexpected news of the termination of the temporary peace having been brought in by scouts, and none too soon.“Graves said that you must be brought in somehow,” said the officer in charge of the company; “but I was not to cross the river where you did, but to come up this side, for you would turn back after crossing higher up.”“Yes; I remember telling the Colonel so,” said Bracy eagerly.“Well, it has turned out all right; but he needn’t have told me, for we could not have crossed, as far as I can see.”“We did,” said Drummond, laughing; “and brought in these three fellows, too.”“Yes; but I wouldn’t holloa too soon,” said the officer addressed. “We’re not safe yet. Look yonder; they’re swarming down that gorge, and we must race for it, or they’ll cut us off. Forward, my lads.”Ten minutes later there was a halt and a clinking rattle, as the order was given to fix bayonets ready for a strong body of the hill-men, who had crossed the shallows lower down and were coming on to dispute their way.“Why doesn’t Graves send out another company to cover us?” panted Roberts. “We shall be cut off after all.”The words had hardly passed his lips when—crash!—there was a tremendous volley from their right front, which checked the enemy’s advance, the white-coated hill-men hesitating. The officer in command seized the opportunity, and a volley was fired by the rescue company, the men cheering as they dashed on with bristling bayonets. That was enough: the enemy turned and fled, their speed increased by another volley from the covering company; and ten minutes later the fugitives were marching along coolly, protected by the fire from the walls of the fort, where they were directly after being heartily shaken by the hand, the sally-port clanging to in their rear.“Quite enough for one day,” said Drummond.“Yes,” said Bracy grimly; “that’s having what Gedge called a nice long walk.”“Yes,” said Roberts; “with a swim thrown in.”
“Halt!” cried Roberts in a low tone of voice; for, as he gave the order to advance for the attempt to ford the river, a fresh burst of firing arose from what seemed to be nearer, and he hesitated to lead his companions out into the rushing flood and beyond the shelter of the overhanging trees.
“It is like exposing ourselves to being shot down while perfectly helpless, old fellow,” he said, with his lips close to Bracy’s ear.
“But we can’t stay here: they’ll track us to where you fell, and see the broken branches overhead. What then?” said Bracy.
“Right; we shall be easy marks for the brutes. Now, then, forward!”
Without hesitation this time, and with his following linked in accordance with his orders, Roberts began to wade, facing the rushing water and leaning towards it as it pressed against his breast, to divide it, forming a little wave which rushed by to right and left. Step followed step taken sidewise, and at the third he and the private following him stood out clear of the overhanging growth, so that he could see plainly the task that was before him.
It was enough to startle the strongest man, for there were about fifty yards of a rushing torrent to stem, as it swept icily cold along the river’s rocky bed, and already the pressure seemed greater than he could bear, while he felt that if the water rose higher he would be perfectly helpless to sustain its force. But a sharp glance upward and downward showed him spots where the water foamed and leaped, and there he knew that the stream must be shallower; in fact, in two places he kept on catching sight of patches of black rock which were bared again and again. Setting his teeth hard, and making the first of these his goal, he stepped on cautiously, this choice of direction, being diagonally up-stream, necessarily increasing the distance to be traversed, but lessening the pressure upon the little linked-together line of men.
“We shall never do it,” thought Bracy as, in his turn, he waded out into the open stream, his arms well extended and his companions on either side gazing up-stream with a peculiar strained look about their eyes. But there was no sign of flinching, no hesitation; every man was full of determination, the three privates feeling strengthened by being linked with and thus sharing the danger with their officers; while Roberts, as leader, felt, however oppressed by the sense of all that depended upon him, invigorated by the knowledge that he must reach that shallow place. Once he had his men there, they could pause for a few minutes’ rest before making the next step.
On he pressed, left shoulder forward, against the rushing waters; feeling moment by moment that the slightest drag from the next man must make him lose his footing, to be swept downward, with the result that if the links of the chain were not broken asunder there would be pluck, pluck, pluck, one after the other, and they would be all swept down the torrent.
Had he allowed his imagination free way, he would have let it picture the result—so many ghastly figures, battered out of recognition, found somewhere, miles away perhaps, among the blocks of stone in the shallows of the defile. But the stern man within him kept the mastery; and he went on a few inches at a time, edging his way along, with the water deepening, so that he was ready to pause. But he felt that hesitation would be fatal; and, pressing on, his left foot went down lower than ever, making him withdraw it and try to take a longer stride.
“It’s all over,” he thought, in his desperation; but even as the thought flashed through his brain he found that he reached bottom again, having passed a narrow gully, and his next and next, strides were into shallower water; while, toiling hard, he was in a minute only waist-deep, dragging his companions after him, and aiding them, so that they all stood together a third of the way across, with the rushing stream only knee-deep.
“Five minutes for faking breath,” he cried, “and then on again for that white patch where the water is foaming.”
No one else spoke, but all stood panting and not gazing up-stream or at the farther shore, with its rocks, trees, and ample cover, but throwing the pressure of every nerve, as it were, into their hearing, and listening for sounds of the enemy only to be heard above the roar of the water. For the firing had ceased, and one and all felt that this meant an advance on the part of the hill-men, who would be sweeping the wooded valley right to the river-bank, ready at any moment to open fire again; while now it would be upon the unprotected group part of the way towards mid-stream.
“Forward!” cried Roberts; and, with their grip tightening, the little party followed their Captain as he once more edged off to the left, performing his former evolution, and, to his delight, finding that the stone-bestrewn polished bottom never once deepened after the first few steps, which took him waist-deep, and kept about the same level, the result being that the next halt was made where the river was roughest, tossing in waves churned up as it was by the masses of rock in its way, a group lying just below the surface, with the water deepening behind them, so that the party had once more to stand breast-high, but in an eddy, the rocks above taking off the pressure which in the shallows had threatened to sweep them away.
The water was numbing, and the leader felt that their pause before recommencing their efforts must be very short; but he was face to face with the most difficult part of their transit, for it was only too plain that this last portion ran swift and deep, the bold, steady rush suggesting a power which he knew instinctively that he would not be able to stem, and he looked downward now to see what was below in the only too probable event of their being swept away.
As he turned to gaze upward again he caught Bracy’s eyes fixed upon him inquiringly; but he paid no heed, though he did not for the moment read them aright, the idea being that his brother officer was mutely asking him if he thought he could do it.
He grasped Bracy’s meaning the next minute, for he heard that which had reached Bracy’s ears. It was a shout from the woody bank they had left, as if one of the enemy had made a discovery, followed by answering cries, and all knew now that their foes were close upon their track, and that at any moment they might be discovered and fire be opened upon them.
“Forward!” cried Roberts, and once more he set off, to be again agreeably surprised, for the water did not deepen in the least as he moved from out of the eddy, being still about breast-deep, with very little variation, the bottom being swept clear of stones and literally ground smooth by the constant passage over it of the fragments borne down from the glaciers in the north. But before many steps had been taken, and the little chain was extended to its extreme limit, Roberts knew that disaster was imminent. For it was impossible to stand against the dense, heavy rush of water, bear against it as he would.
He shouted back to his companions to bear against the pressure, and strove his best, but all in vain. At one and the same moment the double calamity came: there was a shot from out of the patch of forest they had left, and the leader was lifted from his feet. Then pluck, pluck, pluck, as if mighty hands had seized them, the men in turn were snatched from their positions, and with a scattered fire opened upon them from among the trees, they were being swept rapidly down-stream.
Roberts shouted an order or two, and discipline prevailed for a space, the links of the chain remaining unbroken; but even the greatest training could not hold it together for long at such a time, and the non-swimmers were the first to go under and quit their hold, rolling over with the tremendous rush of the stream, and rising again, to snatch wildly at the nearest object, and in two cases to hamper the unfortunate who was within reach.
“Sauve qui peut,” muttered Bracy a’s he glided along, with his sword hanging from his wrist by the knot; but his actions contradicted his thoughts, for instead of trying to save himself he turned to the help of Drummond, to whom one of the men was clinging desperately, and the very next minute he felt a hand clutch at his collar and grip him fast.
The rattle of firing was in his ears, and then the thundering of the water, as he was forced below the surface into the darkness; but he did not lose his presence of mind. He let himself go under, and then, with a few vigorous strokes, rose to the surface, with the man clinging to him behind, and wrenched himself round in his effort to get free. He was only partially successful, though; and, panting heavily, he swam with his burden, just catching sight of Drummond in a similar position to himself, many yards lower down the stream.
“Let go,” he shouted to the man. “Let go, and I’ll save you.”
But the man’s nerve was gone, and he only clung the tighter and made a drowning-man’s effort to throw his legs about his officer’s.
“Help! help!” he gasped, and a desperate struggle ensued, during which both went beneath the surface again, only to rise with Bracy completely crippled, for the poor drowning wretch had been completely mastered by his intense desire for life, and arms and legs were now round his officer in the death-grip.
Bracy cast a wild, despairing look round as he was borne rapidly along, and all seemed over, when a head suddenly came into sight from behind them, an arm rose above the surface, and the swimmer to whom it belonged drove his fist with a dull smack right on the drowning-man’s ear, and with strange effect.
It was as if the whole muscular power had been instantaneously discharged like so much electricity at the touch of a rod, the horrible clinging grasp ceased, and with a feeble effort Bracy shook himself free and began to swim.
“A jolly idgit!” panted a voice; “a-holding on to yer orficer like that! Want to drown him? Can you keep up, sir?”
“Yes, I think so,” said Bracy weakly.
“That’s right, sir. You’ll do it. I’ll give yer a ’and if yer can’t. It’s easy enough if yer swim with the stream.”
“Can you keep him up?” said Bracy more vigorously.
“Oh yus, sir; I can manage to keep him on his back and his nose out o’ the water. Knocked him silly.”
“Where are the others?”
“There they are, sir, ever so far along. The Captain’s got old Parry, and Mr Drummond’s swimming to his side to help him. You’lldoit now, sir. Slow strokes wins. Feel better?”
“Yes. I was half-strangled.”
“Then it’s all right, sir.”
“But the enemy?” panted Bracy, trying to look round.
“Never you mind them, sir. They’re far enough off now, and can only get a shot now and then. River windles so. We’re going ever so much faster than they can get through the woods. Ain’t this jolly, sir? Done my ankle a sight o’ good. I allus did like the water, on’y sojers’ togs ain’t made to swim in.”
“I can’t see any one in pursuit,” said Bracy at the end of a minute.
“Don’t you keep trying to look, sir. You’ve got enough to do to swim.”
“I’m getting right again now, Gedge, and I think I can help you.”
“What! to keep him up, sir? I don’t want no help while he’s like this; but if he comes to again and begins his games you might ketch him one in the ear. Chaps as thinks they’re drowning is the silliest old idgits there is. ’Stead o’ keeping still and their pads under water, they shoves them right up to try and ketch hold o’ the wind or anything else as is near. ’Spose they can’t help it, though. Hullo! look yonder, sir. Rocks and shaller water. Think we could get right across now?”
For a shout now reached them from fifty yards or so lower down, where their three companions in misfortune were standing knee-deep in mid-stream, and a rugged mass of rocks rose to divide the river and towered up twenty or thirty feet, forming a little rugged island about twice as long. Bracy’s spirits, which were very low, rose now at the sight of Roberts and Drummond helping the other private up into safety, and turning directly to offer them the same aid if they could manage to get within reach.
“Keep it up, sir,” cried Gedge, who was swimming hard, “or we shall be swep’ one way or t’other. It’ll be nigh as a touch, for the water shoots off jolly swift.”
Bracy had needed no telling, and he exerted all his strength to keep so that they might strike the shallows where the island was worn by the fierce torrent to a sharp edge, for to swim a foot or two to the left meant being carried towards the side of the enemy, while to the right was into swifter water rushing by the island with increased force.
“Stick to it, sir,” cried Gedge. “Side-stroke, sir. No fear o’ not keeping afloat. That’s your sort. We shall do it. Ah!”
Gedge’s last cry was one of rage and disappointment, for, in spite of their efforts, just as they seemed to be within a few feet of the point at which they aimed, they found themselves snatched as it were by the under-current, and, still holding to their half-drowned companion, they would have been carried past but for a brave effort made by Roberts, who was prepared for the emergency. By stepping out as far as he dared, holding by Drummond’s long arm, and reaching low, he caught Gedge’s extended hand.
The shock was sharp, and he went down upon his face in the water; but Drummond held on, the little knot of struggling men swung round to the side, and in another minute they were among the rocks, where they regained their feet, and drew the insensible private up on to dry land.
“That was near,” said Roberts, who was breathless from exertion. “Hurt, Drummond?”
“Oh no, not at, all,” was the laughing reply. “I never did lie on the rack, having my arms torn out of the sockets; but it must have been something like this.”
“I’m very sorry,” cried Roberts.
“Oh, I’m not, old man. How are you, Bracy—not hit?”
“No, no; I shall be all right directly. Thank you, old chaps, for saving us. Never mind me; try and see to this poor fellow. I’m afraid he’s drowned.”
“No, sir; he ain’t, sir,” cried Gedge; “he’s coming round all right. It’s more that crack in the ear I give him than the water. I hit him as hard as I could. There! look, gents; his eyes is winking.”
It was as the lad said; the unfortunate non-swimmer’s eyelids were quivering slightly, and at the end of a minute he opened them widely and stared vacantly at the sunny sky. The officers were bending over him, when they received a broad hint that their position was known, a couple of shots being fired from the farther bank, higher up-stream, one of which struck the rock above them and splintered off a few scraps, which fell pattering down.
“Quick!” cried Roberts. “We must get those two along here for a bit. The high part will shelter us then; but as soon as possible we must have another try for the shore.”
The shelter was soon reached, and all crouched together in the sunshine, with the water streaming from them, the officers busily scanning the bank of the rushing river opposite, and calculating the possibility of reaching it. There was plenty of cover, and very little likelihood of the enemy crossing the river in its swollen state; but there was that mad nice some twenty yards wide to get over with two helpless men; and at last Roberts spoke in a low tone to his companions.
“I can’t see how it’s to be done, boys. I dare say we four could reach the bank somewhere; but we’re heavily handicapped by those two who can’t swim.”
“And there isn’t time to teach them now,” said Drummond sardonically.
“And we can’t leave them,” said Bracy. “What’s to be done?”
Gedge was eager to offer a suggestion upon the slightest encouragement, and this he obtained from Roberts, who turned to him.
“How’s the sprain, my lad?”
“Bit stiff, sir; that’s all,” was the reply. “Water done it a lot o’ good.”
“Think you could drop down with the stream and land somewhere near the fort to tell them how we’re pressed?”
“Dessay I could, sir; but don’t send me, please.”
“Why?” asked Roberts and Bracy in a breath.
Gedge gave them a comical look, and waved his hand in the direction of his comrades.
“We all come out together to have what we called a nice little walk, sir, and a look at that there waterfall, as turned out to be farther off than we reckoned on. I shouldn’t like to cut off and leave ’em in the lurch, sir.”
“Lurch? Nonsense, my lad,” said Bracy. “You would be going on a very risky errand to try and save us all.”
“Yes, sir; o’ course, sir; but I could get one of ’em over that little bit if you three gents could manage t’other. They’ll be all right in a few minutes.”
“I don’t like sending him,” said Roberts. “It is very dangerous, and we must, try it together.”
His companions gave; a short, sharp nod, and acquiesced.
“If we only knew what is below us!” said Bracy as he gazed down-stream.
“Niggers,” said Drummond shortly. “There’ll be a dozen or two beyond these rocks waiting to pot us as soon as we are carried into sight by the stream.”
“Well, there’ll only be our heads to aim at,” said Bracy; “and we must not go down in a cluster this time.”
“No,” said Roberts. “As soon as you feel ready, Bracy, we must start. It is madness to stay here. You and Gedge take that fellow between you; and Drummond and I will go as before.”
“Hear that?” whispered Gedge to his comrade, who gave him a sulky nod. “That’s right; and mind, I’m ready for yer this time. I shan’t hit yer; but if yer moves hand or foot when I’ve turned yer over on yer back to float, we lets yer go, and yer can get across the blessed river by yerself.”
“All right,” said the man; “but I don’t believe yer, Billy Gedge. I never learnt to swim, but if I could I shouldn’t talk about leaving a pardner to shift for hisself.”
“Er-r-er!” growled Gedge, whom these words seemed to mollify. “Well, keep them ’ands o’ yours in the water, for as long as you holds ’em down you helps me to keep yer afloat, and as soon as yer begins to make windmills of ’em and waves ’em, or chucks ’em about as if you was trying to ketch flies, down you goes.”
“All right,” said the man, as they heard more bullets spattering on the rocks above them; “but, oh, how my hands does itch for a rifle and a chance to be taking shots at some of these beauties!”
“Yes,” said Gedge; “and I hope it won’t be long first. I hadn’t any spite partickler agen ’em before, but I have now. Ha’ they got any orspitals or doctors?”
“I dunno,” said the other; “but if we gets outer this and in the ranks again, there’s going to be some of the beds filled, and a bit o’ work for their doctors to do.”
“Well, my lads,” said Roberts, stepping to where the three men crouched gazing at the deep, rushing water; “feel strong enough to start?”
“Yes, sir,” came in chorus.
“And we shan’t get in a tangle this time, sir, I hope,” said Gedge.
“I hope not, my lad. Up with you, then.”
There were no preparations to make; nothing to do but for the two officers to get their man face upward between them, and stand ready while Bracy and Gedge followed suit with theirs.
“Ready?” said Roberts. “Count ten after we’ve started, and then follow.”
As soon as he had spoken he gave Drummond a nod, and they stepped among the rocks to the swift water, bent down, and, as they lowered themselves in, the strong current seized them, as it were, their helpless companion was drawn out, and away they went as fast as a horse could have trotted, down what was a veritable water-slide.
“Now, my lad,” cried Bracy as Gedge, at a signal, went on counting the ten slowly. “Keep a good heart. We won’t leave you.”
“All right, sir;” said the man, drawing a deep breath.
“Nine—ten!” counted Gedge.
“Off!” cried Bracy, but checked himself for a moment, startled by the noise of the ragged volley which was fired from the enemy’s bank as soon as they caught sight of the three heads gliding down the stream.
“If they are hit!” mentally exclaimed Bracy; and then, making a sign to Gedge, they followed out the precedent shown them, and the water seized and bore them along, with the private floating between them, their steady subsidence into the water and slow strokes keeping them well upon the surface.
So swiftly did they pass along that only a few moments had passed before the crackling of the firing from the far bank came plainly, and bullets ricochetted from the water to strike the other bank, but without effect, the rate at which they were descending making the aim taken with the long, clumsy matchlocks of no effect. Not a word was littered; and with their friends far ahead, their heads just seen, the fugitives glided along the straight course below them, free as it was from rocks. But they were evidently in full view of fresh parties of the enemy, and shot after shot splashed the water.
“Now for the bank, Gedge,” cried Bracy suddenly.
“Yes, sir; all right, sir; but it’s of no use.”
“It is,” cried Bracy angrily. “They are making for it now.”
“Yes, sir: and they’re swept by it. Can’t you see it’s like a smooth wall, with the water running by it like a railway train?”
Gedge was right; and there was nothing for it but to go with the stream towards the rocks which now rose right in their way, the long race ending in a wide chaos of foaming water, which leaped and sparkled in the afternoon sun.
“We shall be torn to pieces there,” thought Bracy; and he strained his eyes to try and make out an opening; but his attention was taken up the next moment by the cracking of matchlocks and the puffs of smoke rising to his left, as fire was opened upon their leaders, who were running the gauntlet that it would be their fate to share in another minute, when Gedge suddenly uttered a hoarse cheer, and nearly lost his grip of his companion; for, quick, sharp, and loud, a genuine British volley rattled out, almost like a report from a piece of artillery, the bullets sending the leaves on the enemy’s bank pattering down. Then another, and at regular intervals others; while the eyes of the swimmers were gladdened by the sight of friends making their way down among the rocks, towards which they were being rushed. Another volley rang out; there was a cheer, in which the two helpless privates joined; and directly after the fugitives were saved from being battered among the rocks by ready hands, whose efforts were covered by the rapid firing from the bank above.
Five minutes after, the dripping party were retiring with a company of their regiment, whose captain contented himself with giving the enemy a volley from time to time, as they doubled to reach their quarters, now not a quarter of a mile away, the young officers learning that the enemy was out once more and converging upon the fort, this unexpected news of the termination of the temporary peace having been brought in by scouts, and none too soon.
“Graves said that you must be brought in somehow,” said the officer in charge of the company; “but I was not to cross the river where you did, but to come up this side, for you would turn back after crossing higher up.”
“Yes; I remember telling the Colonel so,” said Bracy eagerly.
“Well, it has turned out all right; but he needn’t have told me, for we could not have crossed, as far as I can see.”
“We did,” said Drummond, laughing; “and brought in these three fellows, too.”
“Yes; but I wouldn’t holloa too soon,” said the officer addressed. “We’re not safe yet. Look yonder; they’re swarming down that gorge, and we must race for it, or they’ll cut us off. Forward, my lads.”
Ten minutes later there was a halt and a clinking rattle, as the order was given to fix bayonets ready for a strong body of the hill-men, who had crossed the shallows lower down and were coming on to dispute their way.
“Why doesn’t Graves send out another company to cover us?” panted Roberts. “We shall be cut off after all.”
The words had hardly passed his lips when—crash!—there was a tremendous volley from their right front, which checked the enemy’s advance, the white-coated hill-men hesitating. The officer in command seized the opportunity, and a volley was fired by the rescue company, the men cheering as they dashed on with bristling bayonets. That was enough: the enemy turned and fled, their speed increased by another volley from the covering company; and ten minutes later the fugitives were marching along coolly, protected by the fire from the walls of the fort, where they were directly after being heartily shaken by the hand, the sally-port clanging to in their rear.
“Quite enough for one day,” said Drummond.
“Yes,” said Bracy grimly; “that’s having what Gedge called a nice long walk.”
“Yes,” said Roberts; “with a swim thrown in.”
Chapter Eleven.Which was Braver?“Steady, there; steady, my lads. Not too fast. Seize upon every bit of shelter, and have a few steady shots at them. They’re beaten, and we shall soon scatter them now.”The lads were as steady as the most exacting officer could desire; and though the two sides of the narrow, winding defile were lined with the enemy, who made good use of their clumsy jezails, of whose long range several of the Fusiliers had had bitter experience, the deadly fire which searched out every sheltering crag was too much for the Dwats, who were retiring as fast as the difficult nature of the ground would allow.Bracy felt that, the enemy was beaten, and knew that the fierce tribes-men would be only too glad to escape as soon as they could: but as the tight had gone against them, their supposed to be secure hiding-places were one by one growing untenable as the Fusiliers advanced; and consequently, as giving up was about the last thing they thought of doing, their action was that of rats at bay—fighting to the bitter end. The men of Roberts’s company knew, too, what they must do—drive the enemy completely out of the defile, or they would return again; so, partly held back by their officers, they advanced by a series of rushes, taking possession of every bit of fallen rock for shelter, and driving their enemies on and on, farther into the mountains, fully expecting that in a short time they would completely take to flight.But disappointment followed disappointment. No sooner was one niche high up on the rocky sides cleared than there was firing from one on the other, and the work had to be gone through over again. Still they advanced, and the enemy retired; while the officers knew that sooner or later, in spite of numbers, this must come to an end, for nothing could withstand the accurate fire of the young Englishmen whenever they obtained a chance. Men dropped from time to time; but they had to lie where they fell till the fight was at an end, some to rise no more; others, knowing as they did the nature of the enemy, managed to creep to the shelter of a rock, where they laid their cartridges ready, and sat back watching the faces of the defile in anticipation of some marksman opening fire.The company was in full pursuit, under the belief that they had completely cleared the defile as far as they had gone, when, in the midst of a rush led by Roberts and Bracy, both making for a rough breastwork of rocks built a hundred feet up one side and held by two or three score of the enemy, the latter uttered a sharp ejaculation, stopped short, and then dropped upon his knees, his sword, as it fell from his hand to the full extent of the knot secured by the slide to his wrist, jingling loudly on the stones. Roberts was at his side in a moment, and leaned over him.“Not badly hurt?”“No, no,” cried Bracy; “never mind me. On withyou, and lead the boys; they’re close up to that breastwork. On—on!”Roberts turned and rushed up the rock-strewn defile, reaching his men as they crowded together for a rush, and Bracy and the man hurrying to him saw them go over it as if they were engaged in an obstacle race. The next minute they disappeared round another bend in the jagged rift, in full pursuit of the late occupants of the murderous shelter.“And me not with ’em, and me not with ’em!” groaned the private who had fallen back. “But I don’t care. I ain’t going to leave him.”Before he could double back to where Bracy knelt, the wounded officer sank over sidewise, with the rugged defile seeming to swim round before his eyes, and, for a few minutes, glory, the hot rage of pursuit, and the bitter disappointment of failure were as nothing. Then he opened his eyes upon the lad who was bending over him, holding a water-bottle to his lips.“Try and drink a drop, sir, if it’s ever so little.”The words seemed to come from a great distance off and to echo in Bracy’s head, as he made an effort and swallowed a few drops of the lukewarm fluid.“Gedge,” he said at last with difficulty, staring hard at the lad, whose head seemed to have gone back to its old state after the blow from the falling rock, but only to swell now to a monstrous size.“Yes, sir; it’s me, sir. Ought to have gone on with the boys, but I couldn’t leave you, sir, for fear of some of the rats coming down from the holes to cut you up.”“Rats? Holes?” said Bracy feebly. “What’s the matter?”“Not much, I hope, sir; on’y you’ve got hit. Whereabouts is it? Ah, needn’t ask,” he muttered as he saw a dark mark beginning to show on the left breast of the young officer’s tunic, and spreading like a big blot on a writing-pad.“Hit? Nonsense—ah!” Bracy uttered a low groan, and clapped his right hand across to cover the spot.“Yes, sir. Jus’ there,” said Gedge; “but don’t you mind. It’s too high up to be dangerous, I know. Now, then. Amb’lance dooty. Must practice; I ain’t forgot that.”Gedge gave a sharp look round and up and down the defile, before laying down his gun and taking out a bandage and some lint.“Hold still, sir,” he said, drawing his breath through his teeth afterwards with a hiss, as he rapidly stripped open his officer’s jacket, and then tore away the shirt, to lay bare his white breast, where, just below the collar-bone, an ugly red patch showed itself.“Sponge and cold water,” muttered Gedge; “and I ain’t got ’em.” Then aloud: “That hurt yer, sir?” for he was examining the wound.“Never mind that; go on,” said Bracy faintly. “Plug the wound.”“Right, sir. Jus’ going to.—One o’ their ugly bits o’ hiron,” muttered the lad as he stopped the effusion of blood in a rough-and-ready way which must have been agonising to the sufferer, who, however, never winced.“That’s done it, sir; but I must turn you over to fasten the bandage.”“Go on,” said Bracy in a faint whisper.—“Hah! the firing’s getting more distant.”“Yes, sir; they’re driving ’em right out of it this time, and we not in it, and—oh, a mussy me!” whispered the speaker now, as in his manipulations he became conscious of the fact that his task was only half-done, for there was the place where the ragged missile had passed out close to the spine, and the plugging and bandaging had to be continued there.“That’s good, sir,” he said cheerily. “You won’t have the doctor worriting you to get the bullet out, as he does with some of the lads. Now, then, a drop more water, and then I’m going to get you up yonder, more out of the sun, so as you’ll be more comf’table till they come back.”“Yes!” sighed Bracy. “I can’t help you, my lad. Listen! they’re firing still.”“Oh yes, sir; they’re doing the job proper this time. Shots is a good way off too. How they eckers, and— Hullo!” Gedge gave a sudden start, snatched at his rifle, and looked up the defile in the direction where his companions had passed, for there was a report from close at hand following upon the small stones close to his side being driven up, and he was watching a puff of smoke slowly rising high up the left precipitous side, finger on trigger, ready for a return shot, when—whiz—something like a swift beetle in full flight passed close to his ear, and he ducked down, simultaneously with an echoing report from the right side of the defile.“Just like ’em!” he muttered. “Oh, you cowards! Only just show your muzzles, and I’ll let yer see what British musketry practice is like.”But all Gedge saw was the gleam of a ramrod a hundred yards away, where one of the hill-men who had kept to his coign of vantage was rapidly reloading.“No good to stop here,” muttered Gedge; “they’d be hitting him ’fore long. Me too, p’raps. Well, here goes.”The lad rose upon his knees, took off his helmet and passed the strap of his rifle over his head and arm, slung it, replaced his helmet, and turned to Bracy.“Won’t hurt yer more than I can ’elp, sir; but we can’t stop here.”“No; lie down, my lad. Get into cover, and wait till you can reply.”A sharp report from below them stopped Gedge from answering, and the bullet flattened against the rock a yard from where the lad knelt.“Well, this is pleasant,” he said, showing his teeth in a grin which looked as vicious as that of a hunted dog. “Urrrr!” he snarled, “if I only had you three down on the level with my bay’net fixed. Draw a big breath, sir. Up yer comes. Now, then, you hold fast with yer right. Hook it round my neck, and don’t get the spike o’ my ’elmet in your eye.—Now, then, my lad; right-about face—quick march!”Gedge strode off with his load held in his arms as a nurse would carry a baby, and at the first step—bang! bang! and echo—echo—two shots came from behind, and directly after another from the front, but from the opposite side to the spot from whence the former shot had been fired.“Well, if they can’t hit me now they orter,” muttered Gedge as he strode on with his heavy burden. “This is going to be walking the gauntlet if any more on ’em’s left behind on the sneak. Oh dear! oh dear! if I only had a snug shelter and plenty o’ cartridges I think I could stop that little game.—Hurt yer much, sir?” he continued aloud after a few dozen yards had been covered. “Fainted! Poor chap! Better, p’raps, for he won’t know what’s going on.—Go it!” he snarled as shot after shot was fired; while, though he managed to get out of the line of fire of the two first enemies, he had to pass closer to the two next, who fired again and again from their eyries far up the sides of the defile, these nooks, fortunately for Gedge and his burden, having been reached from above—the perpendicular walls precluding all descent into the dried-up torrent-bed.The young fellow was right; he had to run the gauntlet, for to his dismay, as he tramped on with his load, he awoke to the fact that the Dwats, who had retired from the upper shelves as the Fusiliers rushed up the defile, were coming back to their hiding-places, and, warned by the firing of their companions, were ready to harass the retreat.“I don’t care,” he muttered, “if I can only get him outer fire; but they must hit one of us before long. ’Tain’t possible for ’em to keep on without.”Bang! and then bang! again, and the stones close by where the brave fellow trod were struck up, one of them giving Gedge a sharp blow on the knee.“Talk about hitting a ’aystack!” he snarled. “Why, I could make better practice with a indyrubber cattypult and a bag o’ marbles.”“Gedge—Gedge!” came from Bracy’s lips in excited tones, for he had slowly revived to a knowledge of their position.“Yes, sir; all right, sir. I know. I’d double, but the going is too bad.”“Of course, my lad; impossible. But are you mad?”“Yes, sir; downright savage at the murderous brutes. This is their way o’ treating the wounded.”“I didn’t mean that, my man, but the way you’re carrying me.”Shot after shot came whistling and buzzing by them from behind as he spoke, but still without effect.“I’m carrying you all right, sir. Can’t help hurting you a bit. It’s easy this way.”“Nonsense, man. Set me down at once. I can stand. Then sling your rifle in front, and take me on your back.”“There they go, sir,” said Gedge as another shot buzzed by, telling of its rough shape. “They never did no pigeon-shooting, sir, nor practised at sparrers from the trap.”“Did you hear what I said, sir?” cried Bracy angrily. “Set me down, and get me on your back. I can hold on with one hand and leave yours free.”“Couldn’t use ’em if they was, sir.”“Halt! Take me on your back at once, sir,” cried Bracy, panting with anger and pain.“Can’t, sir. Who’s a-going to halt with them firing at us like that from behind? Ain’t I ’bliged to keep ree-treating?”“Obey my orders, sir. I tell you I shall be easier to carry on your back.”“Oh yes, sir, a deal easier to carry, and a nice deal easier to hit. Aintcher got it bad enough as it is?” said Gedge sulkily.Bracy was silent for a few moments as he felt his suspicions realised. Gedge was carrying him in that awkward fashion so as to shelter him from any better-aimed bullet that might come. To make quite sure, though, he drew a deep breath and spoke again:“I am wounded, sir, but I will be obeyed.”“All right, sir; soon as ever we get out o’ shot.”“But you are hurting me horribly; and can’t you see that, carrying me like this, you may receive the next bullet?”“Oh yes, sir; I can see,” said Gedge coolly; “but you be quiet, and I won’t hurt you more’n I can help.”Bracy’s voice had lost all its anger, and it was in no tone of command that he said:“Set me down, my lad, and hold my arm. I’ll try to walk beside you while you take a shot or two at those cowardly brutes.”“Ah, that’s just what I’d like to do, sir; but it would on’y be waste o’ time. They’d hit us, too, if we stood still for me to fire. It’s our keeping moving that helps. ’Sides, I know it would only make your wounds break out worse, and shift the bandage. You keep quiet, for I ain’t got no breath for talking.”Bracy was silent, and slowly and steadily Gedge trudged on, growing more and more exhausted, and looking to right and left for some cavernous hole in which he could take refuge so as to screen his burden and defend him so long as he had a cartridge left.“And even then,” he muttered softly, “there’s the bay’net. Wonder how I could get on in fair fight against one of the niggers with his tullywar. Too much for him, I fancy, for I am good at that game. Urrrr!” he snarled again, for half-a-dozen shots were fired at them almost together, but this time from lower down the defile in front, where the enemies who had fled were gathering again in force.“That was a near un, sir,” said Gedge as a bullet whizzed just over his head. “Well sir, I beg pardon, sir, and hope you won’t report me for disobeying my sooperior orficer. I was a bit waxy and warm with a-carrying of yer; for you are a bit heavy, sir. Now, sir, please, I’m a-going to set you down gently and take you up on my back.”Bracy paid no heed, but gazed down the narrow gorge, from whose sides more shots were fired.“D’yer hear, sir? You’re most a-choking o’ me with that there arm.”“Forward!” said Bracy between his teeth. “Mind, there’s a great rift there. Don’t stumble.”“I’m a-going to shift you first, sir. Once you’re on my back I can straddle that easy.”“Yes, Gedge, I know,” said Bracy as firmly as he could; “but don’t insult me any more.”“Insult yer, sir? I wouldn’t do it. How!”“By thinking your officers want to shelter themselves behind their men. Forward, my lad, unless you find a place where we can shelter till our comrades come back.”“There aren’t no shelter, sir, and there aren’t no more mercy for them Dwats if we gets clear of this, which I don’t think we shall. There, sir! It’s all over, I suppose. Ain’t hit, are yer?”“No. But that volley.”“Yes, sir, there’s any number waiting for us. Here, we must walk the gauntlet back again now. We may meet our chaps coming.”The firing was going on along the sides of the gorge, but just then there was another crash, a regular volley, and Gedge uttered a hoarse yell of excitement.“It’s hoo-roar, sir,” he panted, “on’y I can’t shout. That’s our reserves coming up, and firing to keep the beggars’ fire down. See, they’ve stopped now. Oh, if my rifle wasn’t slung! Look at ’em. One—two—three of the cowardly beggars scuffling up yonder like great white rabbits, and on hands and feet, too.”Crash! again. A sharp volley from much nearer, and Gedge stopped short to gaze with his companion at the three hill-men away in front, a couple or three hundred feet above the level where Bracy’s bearer stood forgetting his dangerous wound and his pangs as he felt horror-stricken at the terrible sight to his left.There were, as Gedge said, three hill-men, crawling rapidly up a long shelf to reach a cluster of stones for shelter—a shelter they had left to get better aim at the struggling pair down below. And as the climbing Dwats were watched directly after the last volley, one who was last started up into a standing position, threw up his arms, and his long jezail fell from them down into the defile, while he balanced himself for a few moments and then dropped, turning over once, and disappearing from the watchers’ eyes. The next moment the top one came to a stand by a great stone, and rolled over and over till he reached the steep precipice, down which he plunged, the horrible thud with which he struck the stones coming plainly to Bracy’s ears.There was still another white figure crawling up the narrow shelf, but he had stopped short; and as Bracy and his companion gazed, the poor wretch seemed to collapse and lie closer down to the rock. Just then another shot rang out, and the body gave a jerk, but did not move again.“Hah!” ejaculated Gedge. “It’s very horrid, sir, but it was their turn, and our lads can shoot. Come on, sir. I think we shall do it now.”He started off towards the body of their friends, who were coming rapidly on, but before they had gone a score of yards the firing from the enemy recommenced, and—spat! spat!—the bullets struck the stones close at hand.“Oh, I say, sir, this is too bad!” groaned Gedge. “I did think we should do it now. Never mind. Britons never shall be slaves, and I will do it after all.”There was a rattling fire opened at once on the sides of the gorge, completely crushing that of the hill-men; and a few minutes after, as Gedge tramped on with his load, it was to be met by a burst of cheers, and a score of his comrades came racing on to his help. It was just then that a final shot came from somewhere behind, and poor Gedge started violently, staggered forward, and the next moment he would have gone down heavily with his burden but for the ready help of a dozen willing hands.Directly after a distant cheering was heard. Roberts and his company were coming back.
“Steady, there; steady, my lads. Not too fast. Seize upon every bit of shelter, and have a few steady shots at them. They’re beaten, and we shall soon scatter them now.”
The lads were as steady as the most exacting officer could desire; and though the two sides of the narrow, winding defile were lined with the enemy, who made good use of their clumsy jezails, of whose long range several of the Fusiliers had had bitter experience, the deadly fire which searched out every sheltering crag was too much for the Dwats, who were retiring as fast as the difficult nature of the ground would allow.
Bracy felt that, the enemy was beaten, and knew that the fierce tribes-men would be only too glad to escape as soon as they could: but as the tight had gone against them, their supposed to be secure hiding-places were one by one growing untenable as the Fusiliers advanced; and consequently, as giving up was about the last thing they thought of doing, their action was that of rats at bay—fighting to the bitter end. The men of Roberts’s company knew, too, what they must do—drive the enemy completely out of the defile, or they would return again; so, partly held back by their officers, they advanced by a series of rushes, taking possession of every bit of fallen rock for shelter, and driving their enemies on and on, farther into the mountains, fully expecting that in a short time they would completely take to flight.
But disappointment followed disappointment. No sooner was one niche high up on the rocky sides cleared than there was firing from one on the other, and the work had to be gone through over again. Still they advanced, and the enemy retired; while the officers knew that sooner or later, in spite of numbers, this must come to an end, for nothing could withstand the accurate fire of the young Englishmen whenever they obtained a chance. Men dropped from time to time; but they had to lie where they fell till the fight was at an end, some to rise no more; others, knowing as they did the nature of the enemy, managed to creep to the shelter of a rock, where they laid their cartridges ready, and sat back watching the faces of the defile in anticipation of some marksman opening fire.
The company was in full pursuit, under the belief that they had completely cleared the defile as far as they had gone, when, in the midst of a rush led by Roberts and Bracy, both making for a rough breastwork of rocks built a hundred feet up one side and held by two or three score of the enemy, the latter uttered a sharp ejaculation, stopped short, and then dropped upon his knees, his sword, as it fell from his hand to the full extent of the knot secured by the slide to his wrist, jingling loudly on the stones. Roberts was at his side in a moment, and leaned over him.
“Not badly hurt?”
“No, no,” cried Bracy; “never mind me. On withyou, and lead the boys; they’re close up to that breastwork. On—on!”
Roberts turned and rushed up the rock-strewn defile, reaching his men as they crowded together for a rush, and Bracy and the man hurrying to him saw them go over it as if they were engaged in an obstacle race. The next minute they disappeared round another bend in the jagged rift, in full pursuit of the late occupants of the murderous shelter.
“And me not with ’em, and me not with ’em!” groaned the private who had fallen back. “But I don’t care. I ain’t going to leave him.”
Before he could double back to where Bracy knelt, the wounded officer sank over sidewise, with the rugged defile seeming to swim round before his eyes, and, for a few minutes, glory, the hot rage of pursuit, and the bitter disappointment of failure were as nothing. Then he opened his eyes upon the lad who was bending over him, holding a water-bottle to his lips.
“Try and drink a drop, sir, if it’s ever so little.”
The words seemed to come from a great distance off and to echo in Bracy’s head, as he made an effort and swallowed a few drops of the lukewarm fluid.
“Gedge,” he said at last with difficulty, staring hard at the lad, whose head seemed to have gone back to its old state after the blow from the falling rock, but only to swell now to a monstrous size.
“Yes, sir; it’s me, sir. Ought to have gone on with the boys, but I couldn’t leave you, sir, for fear of some of the rats coming down from the holes to cut you up.”
“Rats? Holes?” said Bracy feebly. “What’s the matter?”
“Not much, I hope, sir; on’y you’ve got hit. Whereabouts is it? Ah, needn’t ask,” he muttered as he saw a dark mark beginning to show on the left breast of the young officer’s tunic, and spreading like a big blot on a writing-pad.
“Hit? Nonsense—ah!” Bracy uttered a low groan, and clapped his right hand across to cover the spot.
“Yes, sir. Jus’ there,” said Gedge; “but don’t you mind. It’s too high up to be dangerous, I know. Now, then. Amb’lance dooty. Must practice; I ain’t forgot that.”
Gedge gave a sharp look round and up and down the defile, before laying down his gun and taking out a bandage and some lint.
“Hold still, sir,” he said, drawing his breath through his teeth afterwards with a hiss, as he rapidly stripped open his officer’s jacket, and then tore away the shirt, to lay bare his white breast, where, just below the collar-bone, an ugly red patch showed itself.
“Sponge and cold water,” muttered Gedge; “and I ain’t got ’em.” Then aloud: “That hurt yer, sir?” for he was examining the wound.
“Never mind that; go on,” said Bracy faintly. “Plug the wound.”
“Right, sir. Jus’ going to.—One o’ their ugly bits o’ hiron,” muttered the lad as he stopped the effusion of blood in a rough-and-ready way which must have been agonising to the sufferer, who, however, never winced.
“That’s done it, sir; but I must turn you over to fasten the bandage.”
“Go on,” said Bracy in a faint whisper.—“Hah! the firing’s getting more distant.”
“Yes, sir; they’re driving ’em right out of it this time, and we not in it, and—oh, a mussy me!” whispered the speaker now, as in his manipulations he became conscious of the fact that his task was only half-done, for there was the place where the ragged missile had passed out close to the spine, and the plugging and bandaging had to be continued there.
“That’s good, sir,” he said cheerily. “You won’t have the doctor worriting you to get the bullet out, as he does with some of the lads. Now, then, a drop more water, and then I’m going to get you up yonder, more out of the sun, so as you’ll be more comf’table till they come back.”
“Yes!” sighed Bracy. “I can’t help you, my lad. Listen! they’re firing still.”
“Oh yes, sir; they’re doing the job proper this time. Shots is a good way off too. How they eckers, and— Hullo!” Gedge gave a sudden start, snatched at his rifle, and looked up the defile in the direction where his companions had passed, for there was a report from close at hand following upon the small stones close to his side being driven up, and he was watching a puff of smoke slowly rising high up the left precipitous side, finger on trigger, ready for a return shot, when—whiz—something like a swift beetle in full flight passed close to his ear, and he ducked down, simultaneously with an echoing report from the right side of the defile.
“Just like ’em!” he muttered. “Oh, you cowards! Only just show your muzzles, and I’ll let yer see what British musketry practice is like.”
But all Gedge saw was the gleam of a ramrod a hundred yards away, where one of the hill-men who had kept to his coign of vantage was rapidly reloading.
“No good to stop here,” muttered Gedge; “they’d be hitting him ’fore long. Me too, p’raps. Well, here goes.”
The lad rose upon his knees, took off his helmet and passed the strap of his rifle over his head and arm, slung it, replaced his helmet, and turned to Bracy.
“Won’t hurt yer more than I can ’elp, sir; but we can’t stop here.”
“No; lie down, my lad. Get into cover, and wait till you can reply.”
A sharp report from below them stopped Gedge from answering, and the bullet flattened against the rock a yard from where the lad knelt.
“Well, this is pleasant,” he said, showing his teeth in a grin which looked as vicious as that of a hunted dog. “Urrrr!” he snarled, “if I only had you three down on the level with my bay’net fixed. Draw a big breath, sir. Up yer comes. Now, then, you hold fast with yer right. Hook it round my neck, and don’t get the spike o’ my ’elmet in your eye.—Now, then, my lad; right-about face—quick march!”
Gedge strode off with his load held in his arms as a nurse would carry a baby, and at the first step—bang! bang! and echo—echo—two shots came from behind, and directly after another from the front, but from the opposite side to the spot from whence the former shot had been fired.
“Well, if they can’t hit me now they orter,” muttered Gedge as he strode on with his heavy burden. “This is going to be walking the gauntlet if any more on ’em’s left behind on the sneak. Oh dear! oh dear! if I only had a snug shelter and plenty o’ cartridges I think I could stop that little game.—Hurt yer much, sir?” he continued aloud after a few dozen yards had been covered. “Fainted! Poor chap! Better, p’raps, for he won’t know what’s going on.—Go it!” he snarled as shot after shot was fired; while, though he managed to get out of the line of fire of the two first enemies, he had to pass closer to the two next, who fired again and again from their eyries far up the sides of the defile, these nooks, fortunately for Gedge and his burden, having been reached from above—the perpendicular walls precluding all descent into the dried-up torrent-bed.
The young fellow was right; he had to run the gauntlet, for to his dismay, as he tramped on with his load, he awoke to the fact that the Dwats, who had retired from the upper shelves as the Fusiliers rushed up the defile, were coming back to their hiding-places, and, warned by the firing of their companions, were ready to harass the retreat.
“I don’t care,” he muttered, “if I can only get him outer fire; but they must hit one of us before long. ’Tain’t possible for ’em to keep on without.”
Bang! and then bang! again, and the stones close by where the brave fellow trod were struck up, one of them giving Gedge a sharp blow on the knee.
“Talk about hitting a ’aystack!” he snarled. “Why, I could make better practice with a indyrubber cattypult and a bag o’ marbles.”
“Gedge—Gedge!” came from Bracy’s lips in excited tones, for he had slowly revived to a knowledge of their position.
“Yes, sir; all right, sir. I know. I’d double, but the going is too bad.”
“Of course, my lad; impossible. But are you mad?”
“Yes, sir; downright savage at the murderous brutes. This is their way o’ treating the wounded.”
“I didn’t mean that, my man, but the way you’re carrying me.”
Shot after shot came whistling and buzzing by them from behind as he spoke, but still without effect.
“I’m carrying you all right, sir. Can’t help hurting you a bit. It’s easy this way.”
“Nonsense, man. Set me down at once. I can stand. Then sling your rifle in front, and take me on your back.”
“There they go, sir,” said Gedge as another shot buzzed by, telling of its rough shape. “They never did no pigeon-shooting, sir, nor practised at sparrers from the trap.”
“Did you hear what I said, sir?” cried Bracy angrily. “Set me down, and get me on your back. I can hold on with one hand and leave yours free.”
“Couldn’t use ’em if they was, sir.”
“Halt! Take me on your back at once, sir,” cried Bracy, panting with anger and pain.
“Can’t, sir. Who’s a-going to halt with them firing at us like that from behind? Ain’t I ’bliged to keep ree-treating?”
“Obey my orders, sir. I tell you I shall be easier to carry on your back.”
“Oh yes, sir, a deal easier to carry, and a nice deal easier to hit. Aintcher got it bad enough as it is?” said Gedge sulkily.
Bracy was silent for a few moments as he felt his suspicions realised. Gedge was carrying him in that awkward fashion so as to shelter him from any better-aimed bullet that might come. To make quite sure, though, he drew a deep breath and spoke again:
“I am wounded, sir, but I will be obeyed.”
“All right, sir; soon as ever we get out o’ shot.”
“But you are hurting me horribly; and can’t you see that, carrying me like this, you may receive the next bullet?”
“Oh yes, sir; I can see,” said Gedge coolly; “but you be quiet, and I won’t hurt you more’n I can help.”
Bracy’s voice had lost all its anger, and it was in no tone of command that he said:
“Set me down, my lad, and hold my arm. I’ll try to walk beside you while you take a shot or two at those cowardly brutes.”
“Ah, that’s just what I’d like to do, sir; but it would on’y be waste o’ time. They’d hit us, too, if we stood still for me to fire. It’s our keeping moving that helps. ’Sides, I know it would only make your wounds break out worse, and shift the bandage. You keep quiet, for I ain’t got no breath for talking.”
Bracy was silent, and slowly and steadily Gedge trudged on, growing more and more exhausted, and looking to right and left for some cavernous hole in which he could take refuge so as to screen his burden and defend him so long as he had a cartridge left.
“And even then,” he muttered softly, “there’s the bay’net. Wonder how I could get on in fair fight against one of the niggers with his tullywar. Too much for him, I fancy, for I am good at that game. Urrrr!” he snarled again, for half-a-dozen shots were fired at them almost together, but this time from lower down the defile in front, where the enemies who had fled were gathering again in force.
“That was a near un, sir,” said Gedge as a bullet whizzed just over his head. “Well sir, I beg pardon, sir, and hope you won’t report me for disobeying my sooperior orficer. I was a bit waxy and warm with a-carrying of yer; for you are a bit heavy, sir. Now, sir, please, I’m a-going to set you down gently and take you up on my back.”
Bracy paid no heed, but gazed down the narrow gorge, from whose sides more shots were fired.
“D’yer hear, sir? You’re most a-choking o’ me with that there arm.”
“Forward!” said Bracy between his teeth. “Mind, there’s a great rift there. Don’t stumble.”
“I’m a-going to shift you first, sir. Once you’re on my back I can straddle that easy.”
“Yes, Gedge, I know,” said Bracy as firmly as he could; “but don’t insult me any more.”
“Insult yer, sir? I wouldn’t do it. How!”
“By thinking your officers want to shelter themselves behind their men. Forward, my lad, unless you find a place where we can shelter till our comrades come back.”
“There aren’t no shelter, sir, and there aren’t no more mercy for them Dwats if we gets clear of this, which I don’t think we shall. There, sir! It’s all over, I suppose. Ain’t hit, are yer?”
“No. But that volley.”
“Yes, sir, there’s any number waiting for us. Here, we must walk the gauntlet back again now. We may meet our chaps coming.”
The firing was going on along the sides of the gorge, but just then there was another crash, a regular volley, and Gedge uttered a hoarse yell of excitement.
“It’s hoo-roar, sir,” he panted, “on’y I can’t shout. That’s our reserves coming up, and firing to keep the beggars’ fire down. See, they’ve stopped now. Oh, if my rifle wasn’t slung! Look at ’em. One—two—three of the cowardly beggars scuffling up yonder like great white rabbits, and on hands and feet, too.”
Crash! again. A sharp volley from much nearer, and Gedge stopped short to gaze with his companion at the three hill-men away in front, a couple or three hundred feet above the level where Bracy’s bearer stood forgetting his dangerous wound and his pangs as he felt horror-stricken at the terrible sight to his left.
There were, as Gedge said, three hill-men, crawling rapidly up a long shelf to reach a cluster of stones for shelter—a shelter they had left to get better aim at the struggling pair down below. And as the climbing Dwats were watched directly after the last volley, one who was last started up into a standing position, threw up his arms, and his long jezail fell from them down into the defile, while he balanced himself for a few moments and then dropped, turning over once, and disappearing from the watchers’ eyes. The next moment the top one came to a stand by a great stone, and rolled over and over till he reached the steep precipice, down which he plunged, the horrible thud with which he struck the stones coming plainly to Bracy’s ears.
There was still another white figure crawling up the narrow shelf, but he had stopped short; and as Bracy and his companion gazed, the poor wretch seemed to collapse and lie closer down to the rock. Just then another shot rang out, and the body gave a jerk, but did not move again.
“Hah!” ejaculated Gedge. “It’s very horrid, sir, but it was their turn, and our lads can shoot. Come on, sir. I think we shall do it now.”
He started off towards the body of their friends, who were coming rapidly on, but before they had gone a score of yards the firing from the enemy recommenced, and—spat! spat!—the bullets struck the stones close at hand.
“Oh, I say, sir, this is too bad!” groaned Gedge. “I did think we should do it now. Never mind. Britons never shall be slaves, and I will do it after all.”
There was a rattling fire opened at once on the sides of the gorge, completely crushing that of the hill-men; and a few minutes after, as Gedge tramped on with his load, it was to be met by a burst of cheers, and a score of his comrades came racing on to his help. It was just then that a final shot came from somewhere behind, and poor Gedge started violently, staggered forward, and the next moment he would have gone down heavily with his burden but for the ready help of a dozen willing hands.
Directly after a distant cheering was heard. Roberts and his company were coming back.
Chapter Twelve.Wounds.The enemy had been driven off with heavy loss, but the little victory had been dearly-won. Several men had been wounded, and most serious to all seemed to be the fact that among them was the gallant young officer who was liked by every man in the regiment. So it was that the march back to the great fort was made in silence; and when a few of the enemy, encouraged by what they looked upon as a retreat, hung about the rear and harassed the retiring column with shots from the heights, they paid dearly for being so venturesome. For Captain Roberts, leaving a little party in hiding to wait till the enemy showed in their pursuit, listened with a grim smile upon his lip till there was a sudden outburst of firing, and then tramped on with the remainder of his company, keeping as much as he could by the mule ambulance which was bearing his friend back to the fort.Within half-an-hour the little firing-party overtook the rear of the column, and Roberts halted till they came up to him.“Well, Sergeant?” he said.“All right now, sir,” said Gee, who looked what the men called ugly. “I think we’ve brought ’em all down.”“You’re not sure, of course?”“Well, pretty nigh, sir. There ain’t been a shot since.”“Good. Be on the lookout. I hate for our poor fellows to be harassed like this.”“It’s horrid, sir; but, begging your pardon, sir, how’s Mr Bracy?”“Bad, Gee, bad. I’m afraid he is shot through the lungs.”Sergeant Gee’s brow went into a mass of puckers and frowns, and there was the peculiar sound of one grinding his teeth together, as the man tramped on behind his officer for a few minutes before speaking again.“Beg pardon, sir; there’s that Bill Gedge. Is he much hurt?”“Very gravely, I’m afraid. Dr Morton can’t tell yet from the hasty examination he made, but he shook his head.”“Poor lad!” said the Sergeant. “We were always bad friends, sir; he was so full of his Cockney monkey-tricks, and he hated me, but we couldn’t spare him. What a soldier he would have made!”“Hah!” ejaculated Roberts; “as full of pluck as a lad could be. Mr Bracy’s been telling me how he carried him through the fire, and sheltered him with his own body. That’s how it was he had his wound.”There was another pause, with the silence only broken by the echoing tramp, tramp of the men.“Won’t die—will he, sir?” whispered Sergeant Gee.“I pray Heaven no,” said the Captain.“That sounds bad, sir,” said the Sergeant huskily. “I should like to shake hands with him afore he goes; and if he gets better I won’t be so hard on him again.”“I suppose you have only done your duty by him.”“I hope so, sir.”“Double on to the ambulance, and see how he is. Corporal Green, take the Sergeant’s place.”Roberts halted to let his men pass him, keenly watching every one in his company, and a man limping caught his eye.“Here, Bracy, what’s the matter?” he said.“Oh, nothing much, sir. Spent shot glanced off the rock and hit me in the ankle.”“Give him your arm, Sergeant, and get him on one of the mules.”“Beg pardon, sir; I can walk back.”“You’re making your leg worse at every step, sir,” cried Roberts angrily. “Get on and ride.”The words were spoken sharply, the young Captain being in no very amiable mood, for he was cooling down after tremendous exertion and the reaction from the wild excitement of the fight. But he spoke in the man’s interest and with the desire to save him from after-suffering.Then the weary tramp went on almost in silence, but no one flagged, and at the end of a couple of hours they obtained a glimpse of the flag at the top of the staff. The silence in the column was broken by a hearty cheer, the men’s spirits rising again after what had been a depressing march back; and when the gates were reached they were cheered by the men on the walls, and the hills around softly echoed back the replies to the hearty welcome they had received.The Colonel, with the officers left behind, stood at the gate waiting, and the answer to his inquiry regarding the enemy brought forth a fresh cheer.“Splendidly done!” said the Colonel; and then sharply, “What casualties?”“Mr Bracy severely wounded. Privates Down and Gedge had bullet-wounds. Other hurts slight.”The Doctor hurried away to his operating-room, and his assistants went to the door to help in the three patients, who were attended to in turn.The first man who had fallen had to have a bullet extracted from his leg, half-way to the hip, where it was deeply embedded in the muscle.“Now, my dear Bracy,” said the Doctor, “let’s look at you.”“No, I can wait,” was the reply. “My bandages is quite firm, and the bleeding has ceased.”The Doctor frowned, and was about to say something regarding interference; but he checked himself, glanced at the bandage, and nodded.“Very well,” he said; “the other man.”Poor Gedge was very white and remarkably quiet, but his eyes were full of motion; and he watched the Doctor’s face and every action of his hands.“Why, Gedge, my lad,” said the Doctor cheerily after a certain amount of busy manipulation, “this isn’t fair. I didn’t want to have you in hospital again.”“Same to you, sir,” said the sufferer, with a ghastly attempt at a smile, as he screwed his head round to look at the Doctor.“Hold still, sir. Look the other way.”“Yes, sir,” said Gedge faintly. “’Tain’t my head this time, sir.”“No, my lad; it’s not your head this time.”“Sorry it’s my back, sir; but I warn’t a-running away.”“Bah! of course you were not; our lads don’t know how.”“No, sir; course not, sir.”“Got it carrying Mr Bracy out of the fire—eh?”“Well, yes, sir, I s’pose so, sir. Shall I—shall I—”The poor fellow stopped short.“Shall you what?” said the Doctor kindly; “try to move?”“No, sir,” said the poor fellow feebly; “I didn’t mean that. It was, shall I be a goner?”“Oh, nonsense—nonsense! Humph! poor fellow! he has fainted.”“Is his wound serious, Doctor?” said Bracy huskily.“Never you mind. You lie still and wait. Well, there. Yes, the hurt is a very bad one. I don’t think he’ll die; but the bullet is in a dangerous place, and I dare not try to extract it to-day.”A short time after poor Gedge was lying in a state of stupor upon the bed he had previously occupied, and the Doctor was examining the young officer’s wounds.“Very bad, Doctor?” asked Bracy.“Bad enough, sir. I don’t like this exit so close to the vertebrae.—That hurt?”“No; it feels dull and cold just there.”“Raise that hand a little.”“Can’t, Doctor; I’m so tightly bandaged.”“Humph! Yes, you are pretty well tied up. That poor fellow Gedge did wonderfully well for you, considering. He attended to his ambulance lessons. First help’s a grand thing when a man’s bleeding to death.”“Was I bleeding to death?” said Bracy rather faintly.“Of course you were; or perhaps not. The bleeding might have stopped of itself, but I shouldn’t have liked to trust it. There; shan’t do any more to you to-day. We’ll have you to bed and asleep. That’s the first step towards getting well again. Sorry to have you down so soon, Bracy, my dear boy. There, keep a good heart, and I’ll soon get you right again.”The Colonel was at the hospital door soon after, along with Major Graham, both anxious to hear about Bracy’s hurt.“Bad,” said the Doctor shortly as he put on his coat. “Don’t ask to see the poor boy; he’s just dropping off to sleep.”“Bad?” said the Colonel anxiously.“Yes, bad, sir. A young fellow can’t have a hole drilled right through him by a piece of ragged iron without being in a very serious condition.”“But the wound is not fatal?”“H’m! no, not fatal. He’s young, strong, and healthy; but the exit of the missile was in close proximity to the spine, and there’s no knowing what mischief may have been done.”“What do you mean?” said the Colonel anxiously.“Injury to the nerve centre there. I can’t say. Possibly nothing may follow, but I am obliged to say the wound is bad, and there is danger of his being crippled—permanently injured in a way which would render him unfit for service.”“But look here,” said the Major excitedly, “you have a bad habit of making the worst of things, Morton. Come, explain yourself. Are there any symptoms suggestive of what you hint at?”“My dear Graham, I never come and interfere with your work; don’t you meddle with mine.”“I don’t want to, sir,” said the Major tartly. “I only want for the Colonel and yours obediently not to be left in the dark.”“Graham is quite right,” said the Colonel gravely. “We should like to know a little more.”“Very good,” said the Doctor, “but I can only say this: there is a peculiar absence of sensation in the lower extremities, and especially in the poor fellow’s left arm. This may be temporary, and due to the terrible shock of the wound; but it also may be consequent upon injury to the nerves in connection with the spine. I can say no more. Time only will show.”The two officers left the hospital-room, looking terribly depressed.“Poor lad! poor lad!” the Major kept on saying. “Such a brave, unassuming fellow. It’s wonderful how little we realise how we like our fellow-men, Colonel, till they are badly hurt. Hah! I am sorry—more sorry than I can express.”The Colonel said nothing, but turned and held out his hand, which the Major took and pressed warmly.“Thank you, Graves,” he said, taking out a showy silk handkerchief and blowing his nose very hard, making it give forth sounds like those made by a boy beginning to learn the bugle. “Hah!” he said; “one never knows. Here to-day and gone to-morrow, Graves. May be our turn next.”“Yes,” said the Colonel quietly: “but if it is in the way of duty, I don’t see that we need mind.”“Humph! Well, I don’t know about that. I should like to live to a hundred, if only for the sake of finding out what it feels like. Some people do.”“Yes,” said the Colonel, smiling; “and over a hundred; but then they die.”“Yes, of course; but from old ago.”“And other things too, as the old epitaph says.”“What old epitaph?”“On the venerable lady. The lines run something like this:—“She lived strong and well to a hundred and ten,And died by a fall from a cherry-tree then.”“Bah! don’t talk about dying, Graves. Poor Bracy! Oh, the Doctor must set him all right again. But this sort of thing does make one feel a bit serious.”“It is very, very sad,” said the Colonel.“Yes, very. By the way, though, have you noticed how splendidly our lads are behaving?”“Magnificently, for such mere boys,” said the Colonel meaningly.“For such mere boys?” said the Major sharply. “I never saw men in any regiment behave better. Why, sir, it was magnificent to-day. I didn’t say anything to Roberts about it, because I don’t want the lads to hear and get puffed up by pride. But, really, sir, I’m very proud of our regiment.”“And so am I. But you have changed your ideas a little.”“Bah! Pooh! Nonsense! Don’t jump on a man because he spoke out a bit. You’ll grant yourself that they are a very boyish-looking lot.”“Yes; but I do not judge them by appearances. I look at their discipline and acts.”“So do I,” said the Major, “and I recant all I said about them before. There, sir, will that satisfy you?”“Quite, Graham,” said the Colonel. “There, we must be hopeful. I couldn’t bear for poor Bracy to become a wreck.”
The enemy had been driven off with heavy loss, but the little victory had been dearly-won. Several men had been wounded, and most serious to all seemed to be the fact that among them was the gallant young officer who was liked by every man in the regiment. So it was that the march back to the great fort was made in silence; and when a few of the enemy, encouraged by what they looked upon as a retreat, hung about the rear and harassed the retiring column with shots from the heights, they paid dearly for being so venturesome. For Captain Roberts, leaving a little party in hiding to wait till the enemy showed in their pursuit, listened with a grim smile upon his lip till there was a sudden outburst of firing, and then tramped on with the remainder of his company, keeping as much as he could by the mule ambulance which was bearing his friend back to the fort.
Within half-an-hour the little firing-party overtook the rear of the column, and Roberts halted till they came up to him.
“Well, Sergeant?” he said.
“All right now, sir,” said Gee, who looked what the men called ugly. “I think we’ve brought ’em all down.”
“You’re not sure, of course?”
“Well, pretty nigh, sir. There ain’t been a shot since.”
“Good. Be on the lookout. I hate for our poor fellows to be harassed like this.”
“It’s horrid, sir; but, begging your pardon, sir, how’s Mr Bracy?”
“Bad, Gee, bad. I’m afraid he is shot through the lungs.”
Sergeant Gee’s brow went into a mass of puckers and frowns, and there was the peculiar sound of one grinding his teeth together, as the man tramped on behind his officer for a few minutes before speaking again.
“Beg pardon, sir; there’s that Bill Gedge. Is he much hurt?”
“Very gravely, I’m afraid. Dr Morton can’t tell yet from the hasty examination he made, but he shook his head.”
“Poor lad!” said the Sergeant. “We were always bad friends, sir; he was so full of his Cockney monkey-tricks, and he hated me, but we couldn’t spare him. What a soldier he would have made!”
“Hah!” ejaculated Roberts; “as full of pluck as a lad could be. Mr Bracy’s been telling me how he carried him through the fire, and sheltered him with his own body. That’s how it was he had his wound.”
There was another pause, with the silence only broken by the echoing tramp, tramp of the men.
“Won’t die—will he, sir?” whispered Sergeant Gee.
“I pray Heaven no,” said the Captain.
“That sounds bad, sir,” said the Sergeant huskily. “I should like to shake hands with him afore he goes; and if he gets better I won’t be so hard on him again.”
“I suppose you have only done your duty by him.”
“I hope so, sir.”
“Double on to the ambulance, and see how he is. Corporal Green, take the Sergeant’s place.”
Roberts halted to let his men pass him, keenly watching every one in his company, and a man limping caught his eye.
“Here, Bracy, what’s the matter?” he said.
“Oh, nothing much, sir. Spent shot glanced off the rock and hit me in the ankle.”
“Give him your arm, Sergeant, and get him on one of the mules.”
“Beg pardon, sir; I can walk back.”
“You’re making your leg worse at every step, sir,” cried Roberts angrily. “Get on and ride.”
The words were spoken sharply, the young Captain being in no very amiable mood, for he was cooling down after tremendous exertion and the reaction from the wild excitement of the fight. But he spoke in the man’s interest and with the desire to save him from after-suffering.
Then the weary tramp went on almost in silence, but no one flagged, and at the end of a couple of hours they obtained a glimpse of the flag at the top of the staff. The silence in the column was broken by a hearty cheer, the men’s spirits rising again after what had been a depressing march back; and when the gates were reached they were cheered by the men on the walls, and the hills around softly echoed back the replies to the hearty welcome they had received.
The Colonel, with the officers left behind, stood at the gate waiting, and the answer to his inquiry regarding the enemy brought forth a fresh cheer.
“Splendidly done!” said the Colonel; and then sharply, “What casualties?”
“Mr Bracy severely wounded. Privates Down and Gedge had bullet-wounds. Other hurts slight.”
The Doctor hurried away to his operating-room, and his assistants went to the door to help in the three patients, who were attended to in turn.
The first man who had fallen had to have a bullet extracted from his leg, half-way to the hip, where it was deeply embedded in the muscle.
“Now, my dear Bracy,” said the Doctor, “let’s look at you.”
“No, I can wait,” was the reply. “My bandages is quite firm, and the bleeding has ceased.”
The Doctor frowned, and was about to say something regarding interference; but he checked himself, glanced at the bandage, and nodded.
“Very well,” he said; “the other man.”
Poor Gedge was very white and remarkably quiet, but his eyes were full of motion; and he watched the Doctor’s face and every action of his hands.
“Why, Gedge, my lad,” said the Doctor cheerily after a certain amount of busy manipulation, “this isn’t fair. I didn’t want to have you in hospital again.”
“Same to you, sir,” said the sufferer, with a ghastly attempt at a smile, as he screwed his head round to look at the Doctor.
“Hold still, sir. Look the other way.”
“Yes, sir,” said Gedge faintly. “’Tain’t my head this time, sir.”
“No, my lad; it’s not your head this time.”
“Sorry it’s my back, sir; but I warn’t a-running away.”
“Bah! of course you were not; our lads don’t know how.”
“No, sir; course not, sir.”
“Got it carrying Mr Bracy out of the fire—eh?”
“Well, yes, sir, I s’pose so, sir. Shall I—shall I—”
The poor fellow stopped short.
“Shall you what?” said the Doctor kindly; “try to move?”
“No, sir,” said the poor fellow feebly; “I didn’t mean that. It was, shall I be a goner?”
“Oh, nonsense—nonsense! Humph! poor fellow! he has fainted.”
“Is his wound serious, Doctor?” said Bracy huskily.
“Never you mind. You lie still and wait. Well, there. Yes, the hurt is a very bad one. I don’t think he’ll die; but the bullet is in a dangerous place, and I dare not try to extract it to-day.”
A short time after poor Gedge was lying in a state of stupor upon the bed he had previously occupied, and the Doctor was examining the young officer’s wounds.
“Very bad, Doctor?” asked Bracy.
“Bad enough, sir. I don’t like this exit so close to the vertebrae.—That hurt?”
“No; it feels dull and cold just there.”
“Raise that hand a little.”
“Can’t, Doctor; I’m so tightly bandaged.”
“Humph! Yes, you are pretty well tied up. That poor fellow Gedge did wonderfully well for you, considering. He attended to his ambulance lessons. First help’s a grand thing when a man’s bleeding to death.”
“Was I bleeding to death?” said Bracy rather faintly.
“Of course you were; or perhaps not. The bleeding might have stopped of itself, but I shouldn’t have liked to trust it. There; shan’t do any more to you to-day. We’ll have you to bed and asleep. That’s the first step towards getting well again. Sorry to have you down so soon, Bracy, my dear boy. There, keep a good heart, and I’ll soon get you right again.”
The Colonel was at the hospital door soon after, along with Major Graham, both anxious to hear about Bracy’s hurt.
“Bad,” said the Doctor shortly as he put on his coat. “Don’t ask to see the poor boy; he’s just dropping off to sleep.”
“Bad?” said the Colonel anxiously.
“Yes, bad, sir. A young fellow can’t have a hole drilled right through him by a piece of ragged iron without being in a very serious condition.”
“But the wound is not fatal?”
“H’m! no, not fatal. He’s young, strong, and healthy; but the exit of the missile was in close proximity to the spine, and there’s no knowing what mischief may have been done.”
“What do you mean?” said the Colonel anxiously.
“Injury to the nerve centre there. I can’t say. Possibly nothing may follow, but I am obliged to say the wound is bad, and there is danger of his being crippled—permanently injured in a way which would render him unfit for service.”
“But look here,” said the Major excitedly, “you have a bad habit of making the worst of things, Morton. Come, explain yourself. Are there any symptoms suggestive of what you hint at?”
“My dear Graham, I never come and interfere with your work; don’t you meddle with mine.”
“I don’t want to, sir,” said the Major tartly. “I only want for the Colonel and yours obediently not to be left in the dark.”
“Graham is quite right,” said the Colonel gravely. “We should like to know a little more.”
“Very good,” said the Doctor, “but I can only say this: there is a peculiar absence of sensation in the lower extremities, and especially in the poor fellow’s left arm. This may be temporary, and due to the terrible shock of the wound; but it also may be consequent upon injury to the nerves in connection with the spine. I can say no more. Time only will show.”
The two officers left the hospital-room, looking terribly depressed.
“Poor lad! poor lad!” the Major kept on saying. “Such a brave, unassuming fellow. It’s wonderful how little we realise how we like our fellow-men, Colonel, till they are badly hurt. Hah! I am sorry—more sorry than I can express.”
The Colonel said nothing, but turned and held out his hand, which the Major took and pressed warmly.
“Thank you, Graves,” he said, taking out a showy silk handkerchief and blowing his nose very hard, making it give forth sounds like those made by a boy beginning to learn the bugle. “Hah!” he said; “one never knows. Here to-day and gone to-morrow, Graves. May be our turn next.”
“Yes,” said the Colonel quietly: “but if it is in the way of duty, I don’t see that we need mind.”
“Humph! Well, I don’t know about that. I should like to live to a hundred, if only for the sake of finding out what it feels like. Some people do.”
“Yes,” said the Colonel, smiling; “and over a hundred; but then they die.”
“Yes, of course; but from old ago.”
“And other things too, as the old epitaph says.”
“What old epitaph?”
“On the venerable lady. The lines run something like this:—
“She lived strong and well to a hundred and ten,And died by a fall from a cherry-tree then.”
“She lived strong and well to a hundred and ten,And died by a fall from a cherry-tree then.”
“Bah! don’t talk about dying, Graves. Poor Bracy! Oh, the Doctor must set him all right again. But this sort of thing does make one feel a bit serious.”
“It is very, very sad,” said the Colonel.
“Yes, very. By the way, though, have you noticed how splendidly our lads are behaving?”
“Magnificently, for such mere boys,” said the Colonel meaningly.
“For such mere boys?” said the Major sharply. “I never saw men in any regiment behave better. Why, sir, it was magnificent to-day. I didn’t say anything to Roberts about it, because I don’t want the lads to hear and get puffed up by pride. But, really, sir, I’m very proud of our regiment.”
“And so am I. But you have changed your ideas a little.”
“Bah! Pooh! Nonsense! Don’t jump on a man because he spoke out a bit. You’ll grant yourself that they are a very boyish-looking lot.”
“Yes; but I do not judge them by appearances. I look at their discipline and acts.”
“So do I,” said the Major, “and I recant all I said about them before. There, sir, will that satisfy you?”
“Quite, Graham,” said the Colonel. “There, we must be hopeful. I couldn’t bear for poor Bracy to become a wreck.”