BROUGHT TO BAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 1166, 13 November 1871, Page 3

BROUGHT TO BAY.

4> (From Cassell's Magazine.) Perhaps you may laugh, but, nevertheless, it is perfectly true; and this is how it happened. As you may be quite sure, being only nineteen, I was most tremendously anxious to get my commission, and when at last I was gazetted to the 204 th Foot, I did not give my tailor much rest till my uniform and the paraphernalia of my outfit were sent home. I dare say, to the old and sage, it is very ridiculous ; but to me it was glorious, th t first putting on of military garments. The bedroom door was locked; I was quite alone. There was ajtall cheval glass by the bsdside, and what was there to prevent me from strutting about, as scarlet in the face almost as my tightly-buttoned tunic ? It did not fit me perfectly, I knew ; but having it altered would necessitate its beiag taken away, and that idea was insupportable. So I kept my things just as they were, and in the hot stage of scarlet fever in which I then was, the fact of my regiment being ordered out to China did not give me much vneasiness; for even in a Chinese war there did not seem much cause for discomfort, since I believed that the British could chase the bar barians by the thousand. I will not trouble you with the account of our long journey out, and our landing in the Celestial Empire. Let it suffice when I tell you that upon our arrival n was to find hoa-

tilities in full progress, and, boy as I was, I had to take my turn with the rest, smelt powder, heard the whiz of bullets, and saw my smart uniform soiled with mud and filth. It was hot work in both senses of the word. Now we were wading in a river-bed or creek, with the blazing sun above us, aud the rank, steamy heat rising from the slime; now we were storming a mud fort, or chasing tho enemy over the swampy rice fields or through cane brakes ; while the next day, perhaps, we were accompanying some looting expedition. At last, after making pr?tty good progress up the country, we stormed a town which I will call here Ung-Po. It had been a pretty tough job, for the mud walls had been held by a strong party of Braves. However, at last, the day i7as ours: the Braves were supposed to be driven out, and we had taken possession, the men distributing themselves pretty well over the place, and I was alcng with half a-dozeu of the bandsmen, who were on their way to the place chosen for head quarters, there to deposit their instruments previous to going upon ambulance duty: the helping of the wounded being, as perhaps you are aware, the duty of the bandsmen in time of war. We were rather indifferently armed, the bandsmen having only those short, Romanlooking swords— very blunt ones, too— and though I had my nword aud revolver, I had received a nasty thrust through my right arm from the s-pear of a Brave— ft "hurt which necessitated the wounded limb being carried in a sling, mid made me feel more sick and faint than I cued to own amongst men who would have looked upon my injury as a mere scratch. The town was evidently a large, denselypopulated place, full of crooked laves. streets, and blind alleys among which we kept wandering for quite an hour before we were compelled to own that we had lost our way. " If yell be kind enough to take the lade, Mr Grey, we'll foliy ye," said one of the bandsmen, turning suddenly round upon me aud scratching his puzzled pate. " I'm ready enough to lead, Dennis," I said; " but I'm abouc done up for want of a little water. I was thinking of asking you to carry me." "I'm thinking, sor, that we may just as well sit down in the shade and wait, for the head-quirthers is jist as likely to corns to us as we are to get to it. A. big place like this would puzzle a map maker." "I thought I'd tell you. sir. that there's a couple of Chinese b '»•:■ following us for the last five minutes,"' said another of the men, " and 'taint as if we had rifles " I looked uneasily back down the long narrow, sun-glared street, but there was not a soul visible All was still as death, save for a distant shot or two, which seemed to come from quitu another part of the town, and to indicate that the .fighting was not entirely at an end. The houses on either hand was closely shuttered, and presented the most blank of aspects, an 1 though we scanned the windows above, not a watching face was visible. I could not help owning that, should we be attacked by some detuched body of the Braves, our chan es would be very small j and I should have blamed rayse f for want of care, had not the difficulty of finding one's way through such a wilderness become more and more evident at each stride we took. " It's my bclafe, sor, that Corporal Smith's lading us intirely wr«,ng," said the Irishman, speaking again. "Lead yourself, then," said the corporal, gruffly, as he tucked his large ophicleide beneath his arm, and paused- to wipe the perspiration from his forehead. "I tell you what, sir," said another man (our best cornet player), " we had better make a dash for it; I don't like the look of this at all. Will you order a retreat ?" " Why, what's wrong ?" said I, testily, for all the time there was a dizzy sensation in my head, and the street looked misty before my eyes. " We are being dodged, sir, and no mistake; and if we take refuge in one of these houses, we shall perhaps only be burned out." Trying to rouse myself, I hurriedly took a glance at our position. We were evidently in one of the lower parts of the town; and , the street wherein we were was one of the narrowest I had seen since in the country. Every here and there alleys ran off at right angles, but each apparently ended in a cut de-sac, and to enter one might have been like running into a gin, from which there was no means of extricating ourselves. To make matters worse, too, there was, at one end of the street, the glint of arms; and a moment after four or five Braves showed themselves for a moment, and then disappeared. Fortunately, the peril that threatened our little party seemed to e'ear my head from the misty sensation; and I tried to devise some plan for immediate execution. " They will come upon us suddenly from one of the narrow streets, if they mean to attack us," I thought, and, giving the signal to my men, I turned off sharply to the right, and we walked rapidly in a new direction, in the hope that it might bring us to where sonic of our own men were collected. -That we were in danger I felt sure. My men knew it, too; but all the same, in a lighthearted, reckless fashion, I could hear them jokiug together, " I tell you what," said one, " the band's as good as broken up, if we don't get back. What do you say, Dennis ?" "Spoiled intirely," was the reply; and, bedad, I'm glad I haven't got to blow now, for I've no more wind left than would put out one of Widdy Flanagban's dips, and they were twenty-four to the pound. How are you, corporal ?" " Blown," was the gruff reply. Then we went on in silence for a short distance, but only to stop short as we turned a corner, for there was a burst of yells in the distance, and the clangour of a gong, and we became aware of the fact that about thirty Brares were in close pursuit of a couple of our men, who were evidently hard pressed.

" Come on !" I shouted, with my blood seeoiiug t» Boil; but long before we could reach the spot,, we saw the two poor fellows overtaken, and fall pierced with a score of spear wounds. £i Come back, "sir, quick, come b;»ck !'' c-x- --| claimed ;i voice, and the sword-arm hand of | the stont ophicleide player was laid upon my arm. " It's like rushing on death, and— here. quick ! down here," he shouted, hurriedly ; '• those fellows who have been dodging us are closing up. | A glauce revealed our position plainly enough : we were between two fires ; and, 'larting down a narrow lane, we hastily pursued its windings. " Our people must hear the noise soon, and clear the town," whispered the corporal to me, as he forced his arm under mine. "Hold up, sir, you're a bit weak — that's the way. ' ow then, men, keep together; it's our only chance." The lane seemed as if it would have no Cfiil ; aud all the time there were our enemies yelling and shouting in full pursuit. If we were overtaken, we knew what our fate must 1 on -instant death, or else some horrible torture, for in their eyes we were so many foreign devils. I looked back twice, each time to see tint Gerce faces of the yelling mob panting in pursuit, and once f grew giddy with dread; but I wns pressing on the next moment, my lici^t lcipiug with joy as Corporal Smith exclaimed — " Hold np, sir, we'll stand by you to a man; and look ! there's the end of it at last." The end of the lane was indeed there; but, to our horror, we saw that it was blocked up by the ruins of a c mple of houses, evidently two near the wall which had been knocked down by our boat-guns. " It's all up now, me boys," said the Irishman, with a howl; " but 'let's die game for the. honour of the old ridgruent.. I'll give 'em a c.dl though, anyhow," he exclaimen\ 'it may bring help;" »nd as we faced rouml he put Mis c met to his lip and blew a loud nillyng call; aud there, in the face even of a honible death, so great was the force of habit, that the other live bandsmen involuntarily raised their instruments to their Irs. '• Here, what a fool I am !" roared Smith, lowering his huge bell-mouthed brass piece the next .in meut, for the Chinamen were within half-a-dozen yards, and rushing at us with lowered spears. "Quick, my boysl a man apiece h'rst Fire, sir, fire 2" I had already token aim at the nearest nvin with my revover, aud was in the act of drawing the trip-ger, when, as Smith lowered the greit ophicleidc, the foremost Braves saw its h'ltru belching mouth directed full upon them, stopped short, yelling now with horror — turned, and in a moment there was a regular sia-npe.de, the frightened wretches trampling one another in their hurry to escape " Bedad !" shrieked Dennis, " the divils are afraid of the wind instruments. Blow, me boys, blow ! Give 'em the big notes, corporal ; let out at 'em, Tom. with tlv: throinbone. Hurrah, then I Don't be afraid. Let go with the clarinet, Tim ; that'll g've "em tho toothache. Arrah, it only Micky Blanc was here, with the pipes !" I have heard men learning, and I have heard the practice in the band-room ; but never before, I am confident, did such a roaring bray issue from the mouths of instruments of brass as was now sent after the retreating Braves. " Kire again, me boys !" shouted Dennis, as he saw in the distance some half-dozen men pause, as if to see how many had been slain by the fearful weapon that put them to fliglr. " A big one this time, corporal ! ' Phump !— phump !— phump ! — phump ! went the ophiclcit'e ; the trombone grunted, snorted, and cut and slashed in all direct ons. high and ' low, sending forth volley after volley of minims and semibreves worthy of the pedal pipea of a large organ : while the other instruments brayed, roared, howled aud m ide such discords as would have sent a professor mad, but it was not in vain, for this second discharge had the effect of sending the last tail flying round the corner, an I then the place seemed once more to swim round me. and I fainted. When I recovered it was to find that my men had carried me by some means over the ruins, and that a company of another regiment had just marched up. " Better, Grey ?" said the captain, kindly. " They tell me 3 r ou"ve had a narrow escape. I suppose there are hundreds of the enemy about yet. I say, there, where are you going, my man? It's not safe for you to get back there. Come down 1" " Iv you pla.se, sor, he's lift the. grate gun on the other side," said a voice ; and hs I saw the grinning face of Dennis, I recalled the whole scene. " Bnck directly, sir. I've left my instrument," said Corporal Smith. The captain nodded, and after a minute's climbing, Smith returned in triumph with the great brass piece, which became from that day a trophy in the regiment ; and. an I said at the beginning, you may laugh, but it is perfectly true, and that was bow it happened.