CAPTURED BY DERVISHES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1202, 15 March 1895, Page 9

CAPTURED BY DERVISHES.

AN INCIDENT OF THE SOUDAN WAB. White tents of the British Army were to be seen dotted about like so many beehives, and the fierce noonday sun shone down relentlessly on the camp. Only the night before there had been a desperate struggle between our brave lads in red and the swarms ef black, swarthy dervishes, resulting in a temporary retreat from the scene of the strife on the part of the dervishes. The stillness of the camp was suddenly broken by the sounds of a horseman galloping furiously along, and then the aide-de-camp rode rapidly up to the general’s tent, and, 1 dismounting, entrusted his horse to an orderly, and quickly disappeared within. Some thirty minutes afterwards he emerged, and, mounting, told the orderly to send Troopers Anderson and Beaumont at once to the general, and rapidly rode off. The two trooper’s shortly afterwards appeared before the general; and the following conversation ensued—- ‘ I have sent for you two men to entrust you with a dangerous mission. I don’t like to send one man only to perform it; SO, acting on your captain’s advice and assurance that you were bis two best men, I shall rely on your discretion in carrying out the commission I am about to explain. If either of you are inclined to hesitate, speak out at once and let me know, ere it is too late, as only men of courage should be trusted as I intend trusting you.’ Here the general gave both men a keen glance, from his penetrating eyes, and marked with satisfaction their splendid physique and open and courageous countenances.

Anderson, being the older soldier, acted as spokesman for both. ‘ Sir, we are very proud to be picked out for this service, and will do our utmost to bring it to a successful issue, even at the cost of our lives.’ ‘ Good ! That is what I want in you both. .You will leave this camp to-night at dusk, and, following the course of the Nile northwards/if possible, for at least ten miles, will take observation of the position and strength of the enemy’s camp. Observe most.minutely the numbers and position, and also whether it is possible for us to lay an ambush for them. Do yqu think you can undertake this dangerous task’?’ ■ ; Both men instantly replied—‘Certainly, sir; and we thank you, sirj for the. opportunity.’ ‘ Well, don’t forget that I always reward bravery and discretion; and now you will both be off duty till to-night to make any preparations you may deem necessary. I shall be anxious for your return/ / Both men saluted, and left the general’s quarters to rejoin their tent and equip themselves for their coming adventure. At length the night closed in with Egyptian rapidity, and armed with revolvers only the two comrades left the camp of the British. They advanced stealthily for about two miles from the English outposts, when one of them seized his comrade by the arm and whispered, ‘ Down behind this bush quickly ; I hear .something moving behind yonder reeds.’

Both leant down for five minutes, when hearing no further sound they were about to resume their stealthy advance, when something bright flashed through the,air, and a dervish’s spear pinned Beaumont’s arm to the ground. At the same instant a blow on the head from a tall, muscular-looking dervish laid Anderson insensible on the grass. A peculiar signal was now made, and a low, flat-bottomed boat emerged from behind the reeds, and both men were disarmed, bound, and hustled into the bottom of the boat, which was then rapidly propelled towards the rebel camp. ‘ Well, George, this is a pretty pickle for two soldiers,’ said Beaumont, from whose arm the spear had been withdrawn and the wound bandaged to save the loss of blood, and who had recovered consciousness. ‘Yes, confound it!’ grumbled the other. ‘ I wonder what they will do with us ?—the murderous-looking brutes ! ’ ‘ Whatever it is, we may as well keep our eyes open and see all we can, and, if we get half a chance, make good our escape and return with our information to the general, although' (with a forlorn attempt at a smile) ‘ I think we stand more chance of stab from a spear than returning to our camp !’ Nothing more was said till the arrival at the enemy’s camp, but the two soldiers had used their eyes to good purpose and had now formed a fairly good idea of the numbers and position of the dervishes and their-camp. After being hustled under a strong guard into the camp and being kept waiting for about half an hour, they were conducted to the Emir, Bas-al-Himad, an ill-looking rascal, who had picked up - a smattering of English, on which accpmpllsbnient he greatly prided himself.

£ Ti’ffleAsh soldiers caught, and die,’ jb® said, with a vicious leer, ‘ if he not tell me what L ask ! What vour number of man ?’

Neither of the soldiers answered. ‘lf you not tell m/V—!’. (Here he made a significant gesture with ins hand across his throat.) v But still neither answered. ‘ Many big shooting guns ?’ No answw.The Emir fi-oW got furiously wild at thet stolid silence of tfc® two Englishmen, and',, lapsing into his own tongue, told the guard® to take them away until the morning, whew he would have them both killed. The guards bundled them off into a foulsmelling tent, and loft them under the charge of a murderous-looking felLow, who played maliciously With a large two-handed sword. _ ‘ Well, oM fellow* I am afraid, if this brute doesn’t fall ateleep to-night and leave that pleasant-looking toy within our reach, we shall'die like ,rats in the bands of. these fanatics, confound the blacls Wretch.es !’ • ‘ Well, there is only one chance of escape, and we had better talk about it now, whilst we have the chance, for if he should sleep, itwould "then be dangerous to talk in l?s® than a whisper, for fear of waking him. Anyhow, onr life is at stake, and as;desperate measures: require desperate remedies; we will endeavour to creep on him if he sleeps., secure the sword and cut through cmr bonds on its edge, and, if "luck favours us, bilid him, after gagging him, and make good our chances/ ‘ Bight you are ; but I am afraid such good fortune is not for us.' But we will die game, old man, if the worst happens, and let these blacks see how a- British sbldier faces death l” Thus/in like the two mem wiled away the next tvr& oF.three hpurs, whem lying down with their.. faces towards their guard they pretended to asleep. For another hour he remained alert and'-iwatchful, and then, deceived by their, regular breathing, and trusting to their bonds to prevent .escape, he gave them one more glance* placed bis large sword beside him on the floor, and having drawn his mantle round' him closely, ’was soon waking the silence with his heavy snoring. ■ 7 The two soldiers were/ never more wide awake than now, and, having waited until their patience could stand it no longer, one of them at length wriggled noiselessly and cautiously towards the unconscious captor, slowly, quietly, but surely* until he had secured the sword, after which he, in like manner, made his way back to his comrade. ‘ George’ —in the whisper —‘ I have got the yoh must very gently rub your thongs against the edge whilst I lioh/ii until your hands are free; then free your"ankles, and do the same for me. But, on your life, use caution, as the slightest sound will now prove the signal for our death.’

The other soldier nodded his head to express acquiescence, and whilst his comrade managed to hold the sword on the ground, edge upwards, he gently .cut through the camel’s skin bonds, and at length, with a muttered prayer of thanksgiving, found himself free. ■ ‘ Now, lie quite still till I have cut your thongs,’ he quietly whispered, and this was soon performed;. /"• _ Swiftly gathering the severed pieces of earners skin, they tied them together, to make them of sufficient length ; and then, Beaumont, taking a handkerchief from his pocket, they noiselessly approached the still soundly sleeping guard,' and, whilst one' dealt him a violent blow on the head-with the hilt of the sword, the other threw ./himself k upon him, and, 1 grasping his throat' tightly with one hand, with the other he securely gagged him withfhe handkerchief, /.' •: ‘ Now chuck oyer the thongs to bind him with,’ exclaimed Beaumont; and he was soon securely fastened l hand and foot. The whole action took less time to do than it takes to describe it, and everything had gone off as they desired. ‘ Now creep quietly out and take a squint round at the camp, to see if there are any sentries outside, and, if not, make all haste for the Nile, for that is our only hope of escape/ whispered Beaumont to Anderson; ‘ I will follow at your.heels/ A nod of understanding, and Anderson crept stealthily out on his dangerous mission. All seemed. quiet, and the camp . appeared calm and peaceful with the moonlight shining down on it. Very slowly did the two soldiers traverse on their hands and knees the next two hundred yards; which separated them from the river ; t they had •accomplished' their dangerous journey, and \vere 'delighted fbeyonfl-measure to perceive about a dozen ‘‘gyassa ’ (tKh'hame of the small flat-bottomed boats used On the Nile) moored by the - “ * (Let me go first/ whispered Beaumont, ‘as. I have the sword; and as soon as we are safely in I will cut the moorings and wb.jcmist then pull for dear life/ ; ‘' . ’ /He jumped..quietly/'into the boiti, and Anderson was "just following,/when one of the native pyards (Egyptian wild dogs) set up a dismal howl in the c-*mp, and immediately two or three of the dervishes awoke. ‘Buck up, man, for your life : we are discovered!’ cried Beaumont, .as Anderson leaped into the boat; and., severing with a cut of his sword the leash which moored the boat to the palm-tree, they both pulled out. into the stream, and the next second the banks were lined with yelling dervishes* A shower of spears was immediately hurled after them ; but, thanks to the darkness, the spears fell considerably wide of the mark; and another point greatly in their favour was the fact that they were pulling with the current. ■ •/. /•;■/:/.:\ - ■ '-..-I 1

‘ By Jove, old man! they are using our own revolvers against us !’ said Anderson, breathless with his exertions, as a. flash lit up the scene for an instant, followed by the whistling of the bullet in unpleasant proximity to their ears ; ‘ and, worse still, they are taking to the boats to give chase. Pull as you hever did before,’ and with redoubled, energy they bent to the oars. • They pulled on thus for some ten minutes, their little boat seeming to fly along, when another shower of spears fell into the water all round them, followed by three sharp cracks from the revolver. ‘ I’m hit in the shoulder !’ cried Beaumont, pausing for an instant in his exertions ; ‘ but I won’t give in; it’s certain death if we are caught.’ ‘ Best yourself a minute-rit is no use overdoing it; and whilst I row you can look after your wound,’returned his companion. Beaumont acted upon his comrade’s advice and managed to stay the flow of blood; but now the foremost boat of the dervishes was perilously near, and had it not been for the violent oscillation of the boat containing the two fugitives, they must assuredly have been hit by either the’ spears or the shots which now whistled around them. ‘ Thank Heaven, they have no more loaded chambers in the revolvers left,’ exclaimed Anderson, when the sharp reports had ceased for some minutes; ‘if wq c&h keep them

bay for another ten minutes, and are ngfi; struck by spears, we shall reach our camp, for I can already see lights moving about • mild-ahead.’ ..■■/-■o'. Vv . ■ ■ ‘Jt is of. no use, I can stand it no longerLmy strength is all gone,’ and Beaumont fell to the bottom of the boat in a deaci faint. , ‘Well,.’ muttered Anderspn, „grimly, ‘it is bard to give up within a storte's throw of the . camp, and after aIL we ' ifave. gone through ; but I’ll sell’ihy:Clife dearly, so come on,. you black beggars, and'feel how:a British soldier can strike f and seizing hold of the ponder- . ’bus, sword, and letting the boat go with the. current, he raised, the weapon above his head and, awaited the oncoming of the foe. He had not long to wait, for. almost imme-t diately the foremost boat, with its yelling horde, came up to him, and a tawny black; fellow with his spear raised-at the English- ~ man, but,in his eager haste" to get the first blow at tho hated foreigner he upset a second fiend, who was also-aiming at the devoted soldier with a large sword, and both fell into the .Nile, from whose swift and down-sucking current they never’again’rose. With consummate skill the soldier fought on, parrying blows aimed' at him, and now and again getting in a- return blow; until at length, wearied out. by. his superhuman exertions, he received a nasty cut over the forehead,- and with a bitter groan, fell to the bottom of the. boat,, just as a ringing British : 'SEeer,' arid fhe~aharp rattle of musketry, rang out, and trieh—;oblivion ! . . ' ‘ ‘.Here, coriirade, drink a drop of this; it will, do ydu goody* and, when, you are well enough, tell -us., where those black skunki came from. ■ By Joyji, about ■ the narrowest seen ! We were , t about -to 'retire to pur _ gamp, when we heard the sound of steel elashing, and arrived in the nickoftime, just when a great, savage-look-. ' was about to spear-you, both but' he I 'won’t do any iriore harm, for our volley laid him low, and scattered . the boats • like ' frightened sheep, . ' The was; the.sergeant in charge of the British outpost, and he. forced some brandy down' the throats of the two wounded ■men, skilfully bandaged their wounds, and conducted: them ,to-the guard-tent, where, after a good square meal and wash, they •narrated their adventures to their.comrades, s ‘We must, report ourselves to the general now, sergeant, arid I-hope he will turn oat a . party and thrash those black rascals !’ And the speaker shook his fist in the direction of the vanished foe ; . , J ■

‘ Two troopers want to speak to you at once, sir,’ announced an orderly to the general half an hour later. V , ‘ Send them in at once !’ ' ‘Ah, I see .you have returned —a little damaged, apparently, but none the worse for wear! Well, did you discover anything ?’ ‘Yes, sir; * we; have-been right into the dervishes’ camp,-which lies about seven miles from here, and is about four hundred strong. We can conduct you to it, sir, if you will send a strong enough party, and we should like to join in the expeditioh. as (with a grim smile) we’ve both got a little score to settle with them!’ .. •■■■.:■: , ’ The general smiled at the man’s tone and answered— * Well, I have not time to hear a full recital of your adventures now, and I think you have had fighting enough for one night, • but ’ —(observing their looks of disappointment)^ 4 J will at once send out a force strong enough to punish the enemy, if you-will.tell me how to find,the route to their camp, and you .can both come to me to-morrow at noon, and let me hear a full account of all that has happened to you since you left here.’ ‘ ” Thanking him, and leaving the desired information with him, the two soldiers withdrew. '• . \V; A force of 500 men then proceeded swiftly and silently to the camp of the dervishes, whom they completely surprised, and the greater part were either killed or captured. The following-morning the general sent for Troopers Beaumont and Anderson, and, after hearing their recital, complimented ■ them on their bravery, as follows:

‘ You have both proved yourselves a credit to your uniform, Queen, and country. I promised to reward you, and I shall not fail to forward, both your names in the next home dispatches, for - the Victoria -Cross. You can now go, “Sergeant” Beaumont and “Sergeant ” Anderson.’ — Chums.