A Race for Life.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXV, Issue XXIV, 15 December 1900, Page 1118

A Race for Life.

The late Archibald Forbes had many remarkable escapes in ttie course of his life. The following, told by himself, was one of several exciting adventures during the Servian war:— It was on the day of Djunis, the last battle which .the Servians fought, or rather did not tight, but ran away. The Russian volunteers stood fast in the entrenched lines, and occasionally sallied beyond it with a reckless daring which evoked my admiration. Accompanying one of those crazy sorties 1 rode forward, in my anxiety to watch events, further than was at all prudent, and ultimately fell into the hands of a little knot of Turks who were engaged in scouting. 1 had given myself up for lost when I was rescued by the ready wittedness of my servant Andreas, who on this occasion—and not on this occasion only—certainly was instrumental in saving my life. He had passed himself off as the Turkish dragoman of myself —a British gentleman whom the Padishaw delighted to honour, and that after expressing a keen desire to spit upon the graves of their collective female ancestry, he had assured my captors that they might, count themselves as dead men if Jhey delayed one moment to release me. On the afternoon of that same day a group of us, consisting of General Doctouroif, Salusbury, the soldier of fortune, Colonel Mclver, a dozen or so of the Russian volunteers, and myself, found ourselves encircled on the hill of Djunis by a thick cordon of Turkish soldiers. To stand on the defensive was simply to be massacred where we were, and there was no alternative but to attempt to cut our way through the. environment. Doctouroif gave the word and led the rush at a gallop, Mclver and a stalwart Russian officer on either flank. The rest of us followed as best we might. In the brisk melee which ensued the cordon was broken, there was a headlong rush across the pontoon bridge, on the further side of which were- reinforcements drawn up, and a quarter of an hour later we were in the Deligrad camp.