A Surprise That Failed.

Otago Witness, Issue 2319, 11 August 1898, Page 59

A Surprise That Failed.

THE SEXTRY AND THE BOULDER.

After being dismissed recruit drill and declared to be fit for doing duty as a soldier, I was selected for sentry on the magazine. Several men had been found murdered at this post, and the adjutant invariably advised -the guard to keep theiv eyes and ears open, especially between 11 and 1 a.m., the time selected for the murders.

The post was- at least a quarter of a mile from the guard-room, and a lonely one, too. The ground around the magazine was covered with boulders, and I took stock of -my surroundings during the daytime when on duty. When I was posted at 11 p.m. the night was beautifully bright, for the moon and stars illumined the landscape with a mellow silvery light, and I could see distinctly about 150 yds all round my post. I had counted the boulders in the vicinity of my post during the day, and on counting them at midnight I found an extra one. Each time I went round the magazine 1 observed that the extra boulder was closer to my box than it was previously— until it was quite close to it. My suspicions were aroused, and reversing my musket, 1 drove the point of my bayonet into the supposed boulder. It was very soft. When the relief came round, I pointed to the object in front of the sentry box, and the corporal, on striking a match, found that I had impaled a native, who had no doubt killed so many of the regiment. This put an end to the murders— Cassell's Saturday Journal.