A STORY OF KITCHENER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7293, 4 January 1902, Page 3

A STORY OF KITCHENER.

An esteemed and too infrequent contributor sends us ("Liverpool Post") the following capital story, of Lord Kitchener, which has the advantage of being literally true:— ■ A friend! of mine, an officer in the - — - Regiment, who has just returned from South Africa, told me the following story the. other evening. I think it well worth appearing in. print : — • We bad been ordered up (he said) from our camp at - — - to join Lord Kitchener's column in the great trek after De Wet last year. It was two o'clock in the morning when we joined the column, and for the last eight hours we had marched without a break, so we were both, sleepy and hungry when we- arrived. There was a white frost on the ground, and it was bitterly cold. We rolled ourselves up in, our blankets, and tried to "sleep, but the cold was so intense that we were all glad when five o'clock came, and we could gefc some hot coffee. .. I was sitting on an empty provision box, with a tin mug of coffee in one hand and a piece of biscuit in the other; when presently there came up a long, lean figure, smoking vigorously a cigar of wonderful dimensions. His breeches were all torn', his leggings dirty, and he wore a plain short " veldt overcoat," and field service cap, without any rank badges or buttons. He fcadn't been shaved for at least three or four days, and the ends of his long moustache had been chawed into a most disgraceful condition. ■ "Hello!" I thought, "here comes another of those blooming ecalliwags to cadge a drink of whisky, or borrow some tobacco, or something." " I wasn't inclined to be over polite, having •had little food and practically no sleep for twenty-four hours. He came up, looked me over, and said: — . "Hello! when did you come in?" "Just come, in now," I said, "and beastly tired we are, too. What are we supposed to be after, do you know?" "We'Te supposed to be after De Wet," ihe said, pulling away at his cigar. "After De Wet! Well, I should think you're about darned well sick of it, aren't you?" i " Oh ! we shall get !him this time, I believe." ! I borrowed a match from him, and lit my pipe, saying as I did so: — " Well, I don't know what ' the deuce Kitchener wanted to hurry us up all this way for when there are plenty of other battalions close at hand." i "Why, you see," he said, "I'd heard good reports of you chaps, so I thought I'd like to have you with me on this trek. That's why!" It suddenly dawned upon me. It was iLordi Kitchener! I felt very small, but mode the best I could of a rather awkvard situation. Afterwards I 'ineb a friend of mine in the — th, and told him., He said Kitchener was always prowling round half the night, and you never knew where 'he would pounce down upon, you. Even then you never recognise him, unless you ;saw his eyes. Than you would! j