Chapter 15: A Narrow Escape.
Keeping in the mud close to the bank, and feeling their way in thedense growth produced by the overhanging bushes, they crawledforward. Sometimes the water came up to the bank, and they had toswim; but as a rule they were able to keep on the mud, which was sodeep that they sank far into it, their heads alone showing aboveit. In two hours they had gone a mile, and both were thoroughlyexhausted.
"We will lie here till day breaks," Lisle said; "as soon as it isdawn, we will choose some spot where the bushes are thickest, andshelter there. I am in hopes, now, that we are beyond the Ashantis.I dare say that we shall be able to get a peep through the bushesand, if we find the coast clear, we will make our way into theforest. There we may be able to gather something to eat, which weshall want, tomorrow; and it will certainly be more comfortablethan this bed of mud. We must get rid of some of that before weleave."
"It would be better to allow it to dry on you, sahib. Our whiteundergarments would betray us at once, if any Ashantis came uponus. For my part, my colour is not so very different from theirs."
"Yes, perhaps that would be better. I must rub some over my face,as well."
"I do not care, for myself, sahib; we Sikhs are not afraid to die;but after your goodness to me, I would do anything to save you."
"What is your name?"
"Pertab, sahib."
"Well, Pertab, I think that as we have proceeded so far, we shallpull through, somehow. You have your bayonet, and I have myrevolver, which I will wash and load before we get out of this. Weshall be a match, then, for any three or four men we may comeacross. At any rate, I shall shoot myself if I see that there is noother way of escape. It would be a thousand times better to die,than be taken captive and tortured to death."
"Good, sahib! I will use my bayonet, myself; but I don't thinkthere will be any occasion for that."
"I shall certainly die fighting. I would rather not be taken alive,Pertab; and shall certainly fight till I am killed, or can take myown life."
"Do you think that the troops will be marched away, sahib?"
"I feel sure that they will. They have only got provisions enoughto take them back to camp; and as, when they pull the wire in, theywill find that we have gone, they will feel quite sure that we havebeen drowned.
"No; we must quite make up our minds that we have got to look afterourselves. Fortunately, the Ashantis will not be able to cross theriver to harass them in their retreat; unless, indeed, they know ofsome ford by which they can get over."
As soon as daylight began, the Sikh went down into the water andwashed the mud from himself, and Lisle cleaned and loaded hispistol. Then they waited until it was broad daylight and, as theyheard no sounds to indicate that any Ashantis were near, Lisleclimbed up as noiselessly as he could to the bushes, and lookedcautiously round. There were none of the enemy in sight. Hetherefore called to the Sikh to join him and, together, they madetheir way into the forest behind.
"The first thing to ascertain," Lisle said, "is whether the enemyare still here, and to find out for certain whether our friendshave left. If they stay where they were, we can swim the river andjoin them; if they have retreated, and the Ashantis are still here,we shall know that there is no ford. If, however, we find that theAshantis have gone, we shall be sure that they crossed at someford, and will be swarming round our men; in which case it will beimpossible for us to join them, and we must make our way as best wecan."
They kept close to the edge of the forest, the soldier occasionallyusing his bayonet to cut away the thorny creepers that blockedtheir course. After an hour's walking, Lisle said:
"That is the spot where the troops were, last night. I can see nosigns of them now.
"Now for the Ashantis."
They took the greatest pains to avoid making a noise, until theystepped out opposite the point from which they had started, theevening before. They saw no signs of the enemy.
"This is bad," Lisle said. "I can have no doubt that they havecrossed the river, somewhere, and are swarming in the forestopposite. However, now that we know that they have gone, we canlook out for something to eat."
For three hours they wandered about, and were fortunate enough tofind a deserted village, where they gathered some bananas andpineapples. Of these they made a hearty meal; and then, eachcarrying a few bananas, they returned to the river and swam across,finding no difficulty in doing so now that they were unencumberedby the wire. They had not been long across before they heard thesound of heavy firing, some two or three miles away.
"It is as I thought," Lisle said. "The Ashantis have crossed theriver, somewhere, and are now attacking the convoy. They will not,of course, overpower it; but they will continue to follow it uptill they get near camp, and there is little chance of our beingable to rejoin them before that."
Travelling on, they more than once heard the sound of parties ofthe enemy, running forward at the top of their speed. Evidentlynews had been sent round, and the inhabitants of many villages nowpoured in, to share in the attack upon the white men.
"It is useless for us to think of going farther, at present," Lislesaid. "They will be mustering thickly all round our force, and Iexpect we shall have some stiff fighting to do, before we get backto camp--I mean the column, of course; as for ourselves, the matteris quite uncertain. We may be sure, however, that they won't bemaking any search in the bush and, as even in the Ashanti countryyou cannot go through the bush, unless you cut a path, it will besheer accident if they come across us. At any rate, we may as wellmove slowly on, doing a little cutting only when the path seemsdeserted. If we keep some forty or fifty yards from it, so as to beable to hear any parties going along, and to make sure that theyare moving in our direction, that is all we can do.
"Of course, everything will depend upon the result of the fightwith the column. There is no doubt that they are going to beattacked in great force; which, as far as it goes, is all thebetter for us. If it were only a question of sniping by a smallbody of men, the colonel would no doubt push steadily on,contenting himself with firing occasional volleys into the bush;but if he is attacked by so strong a body as there appears to beround him, he will halt and give them battle. If so, we may bepretty sure that he will send them flying into the bush; and theywon't stop running till they get back to the river. In that case,when we have allowed them all to pass we can go boldly on, andovertake the column at their halting place, this evening.
"If, on the other hand, our fellows make a running fight of it, theenemy will follow them till they get near Coomassie, and we shallhave to make a big detour to get in. That we shall be able to do soI have no doubt, but the serious part of the business is thequestion of food. However, we know that the natives can find food,and it is hard if we do not manage to get some.
"Making the necessary detour, and cutting our way a good dealthrough the bush, we can calculate upon getting there in less thanfour days' march. We have food enough for today, and a very littlewill enable us to hold on for the next four days."
They moved slowly on. The firing increased in violence, and it wasevident that a very heavy engagement was going on. Two hours laterthey heard a sound of hurrying feet in the path and, peeringthrough the bush, saw a crowd of the Ashantis running along, insingle file, at the top of their speed.
"Hooray! It is evident that they have got a thorough licking,"Lisle said. "They will soon be all past. Our greatest fear willthen be that a few of the most plucky of them will rally in thebush, when they see that none of our troops come along. Our troopsare not likely to follow them up, as they will be well content withthe victory they have evidently gained, and resume their march."
They waited for an hour and, when they were on the point of gettingup and making for the path, the Sikh said:
"Someone is coming in the bush."
In another minute, four natives came suddenly upon them; whetherthey came from the force that had been routed, or were newlyarriving from some village behind, the two fugitives knew not; nor,ind
eed, had they any time to consider. They threw themselves, atonce, into one of the divisions at the base of a giant cotton tree.
These divisions, of which there may be five or six round the tree,form solid buttresses four or five inches thick, projecting twentyor thirty feet from the front, and rising as many feet high; thusaffording the tree an immense support, when assailed by tropicalstorms.
Illustration: Two of them fell before Lisle's revolver.
The natives, seeing that the two men were apparently unarmed,rushed forward, firing their guns as they did so. Two of them fellbefore Lisle's revolver. One of the natives rushed with clubbedmusket at him but, as he delivered the blow, the butt end of themusket struck a bough overhead and flew out of the man's hand; andLisle, putting his revolver to his head, shot him. The other manran off.
Lisle had now time to look round and, to his dismay, the Sikh wasleaning against the branch of a tree.
"Are you hit?" he asked.
"Yes, sahib, a ball has broken my right leg."
"That is a bad business, indeed," Lisle said, kneeling beside him.
"It cannot be helped, sahib. Our fate is meted out to us all, andit has come to me now. You could not drag me from here, or carryme; it would be impossible, for I weigh far more than you do."
Lisle was silent for a moment.
"I see," he said, "that the only thing I can do is to push on tocamp, and bring out assistance. I will leave you my pistol, when Ihave recharged it; so that if the native who has run away shouldbring others down, you will be able to defend yourself. As,however, you remained on your feet, he will not know that you werewounded; and will probably suppose that we would at once push on tojoin our companions. Still, it will be well for you to have theweapon.
"Now, let me lower you down to the ground, and seat you ascomfortably as I can. I will leave these bananas by you, and myflask of water. It is lucky, now, that I did not drink it all whenI started to cross the river.
"I suppose they will have halted at the same camp as before. It wasa long march, and we must still be ten or twelve miles away fromit, so I fear it will be dark long before I get there."
"You are very good, sahib, but I think it will be of no use."
"Oh, I hope it will! So now, give me your turban. I will wrap ittightly round your leg, for the bleeding must be stopped. I see youhave lost a great deal of blood, already."
He bandaged the wound as well as he could, and then he said:
"I will take your sword bayonet with me. It can be of no use to youand, if I do happen to meet a native upon the road, it may come invery handy."
"The blessing of the Great One be upon you, sahib, and take yousafely to camp. As for myself, I think that my race is run."
"You must not think that," Lisle said, cheerily; "you must lie veryquiet, and make up your mind that, as soon as it is possible, weshall be back here for you;" and then, without any more talk, hemade his way to the edge of the path.
There he made a long gash on the bark of a tree and, fifty yardsfarther, he made two similar gashes. Then, certain that he couldfind the place on his return, he went off at a trot along the path.
It was eight o'clock in the evening before he reached camp. On theway, he had met with nothing that betokened danger; there had beenno voices in the woods. When about halfway to camp, he came acrossa number of dead bodies on the path and, looking into the bush,found many more scattered about. It was evident that the littleBritish force had turned upon their assailants, and had effected acrushing defeat upon them.
He was hailed by a sentry as he approached the camp but, upon hisreply, was allowed to pass. As he came to the light of a fire,round which the white officers were sitting, there was a generalshout of surprise and pleasure.
"Is it you or your ghost, Bullen?" the commanding officerexclaimed, as all leapt to their feet.
"I am a very solid person, Colonel; as you will see, if you offerme anything to eat or drink. I am pretty well exhausted now and, asI have got another twenty-mile tramp before I sleep, you may guessthat I shall be glad of solid and liquid refreshment."
"You shall have both, my dear boy. We had all given you up fordead. When we saw you washed down, we were afraid that you werelost. The only hope was that the current might bring you over toour side again, and we went two or three miles down the stream tolook for you. We hunted again still more carefully the nextmorning, and it was not until the afternoon that we moved.
"We encamped only three miles from the river, hoping still that youmight come up before the morning. We started at daybreak thismorning. We were harassed from the first, but the affair became soserious that we halted and faced about, left a handful of men toprotect the coolies and carriers; and then sent two companies outinto the bush on each side, and went at them. Fortunately theyfought pluckily, and when at last they gave way they left, I shouldsay, at least a third of their number behind them.
"We did not stop to count. I sent a small party at full speed alongthe path, so as to keep them on the run, and then marched on herewithout further molestation.
"And now, about yourself; how on earth have you managed to get in?"
"Well, sir, I can tell it in a few words. The current took us tothe opposite shore. We lay concealed under the bushes overhangingthe bank, and could hear the enemy talking behind the screen. Onthe following day the voices ceased, and we made our way up to thecamp; and found, as we expected, that you had gone and, as weguessed, the Ashantis had set off in pursuit. We went on throughthe forest and, of course, heard the firing in the distance; andsaw the enemy coming along the path, terror stricken. We werewaiting for a bit, and felt sure that they had all passed; when aparty of four men came from behind upon us. I don't think theybelonged to the force you defeated. They were within twenty yardswhen they saw us.
"We jumped into one of the hollows at the foot of a cotton tree.The whole four fired at us and then, as they supposed that we wereunarmed, made a rush. I shot two of them as they came on. One ofthe others aimed a blow at me, with the butt end of his gun.Fortunately the weapon caught one of the creepers, and flew out ofhis hand. My revolver had in some way stuck, but it all came rightjust at the moment, and I shot him. The fourth man bolted.
"When I looked round to see what the Sikh was doing, he was leaningagainst the tree, with the blood streaming from his leg; the bonehaving been broken by one of their balls. Well, sir, I bandaged itup as well as I could, and left him my revolver; so that he mightshoot himself, if there was a likelihood of his being captured. Ithen set off, as hard as I could go, to fetch assistance for him."
"The troops have had a very heavy day, Bullen," the colonel said,gravely. "How far away is it that you left the man?"
"About ten miles, I should say."
"Well, they are all willing fellows, but it is a serious thing toask them to start on another twenty miles' journey, within an houror two of getting into camp."
"I think, sir, if you will allow me to go down to where the Sikhsare bivouacked, and I ask for volunteers to bring in their comrade,they will stand up, to a man."
Lisle's confidence in the Sikhs was not misplaced. As soon as theyheard that a comrade, who they believed had been drowned whiletrying to get the wire across the river, was lying alone andwounded in the forest, all declared their willingness to start, atonce.
"I will take twenty," Lisle said; "that will be ample. I have justcome down the path myself, and I saw no signs, whatever, of theenemy; still, some of them may be making their way down, to carryoff their dead. If they are, however, their astonishment at seeingus will be so great that they will bolt at the first volley."
"Are you going back with us, sahib?"
"Yes, I must do so, or you would never find the place where he islying."
"We will take two stretchers," the sergeant--a splendid man;standing, like most of his companions, well over six feet--said,"and you shall walk as far as you are able, and then we will carryyou. When will you march, sahib?"
"I am going to get something
to eat and drink first and, if youwill fall in, in half an hour I will be with you again."
"Where is Pertab wounded, sahib?"
"He is shot through the leg, three or four inches above the knee,and the bone is broken."
"Did the man get off, sahib?"
"I can't say for certain," Lisle said, with a smile. "Four menattacked us. They all four fired. I shot three of them with myrevolver, and the fourth bolted. Whether he was the man who reallyshot your comrade, or not, I cannot say; but you see, the chancesare that he was not."
The grim faces of the Sikhs lit up with a smile.
"You paid them out, anyhow," the sergeant said. "I don't think weare very deeply in their debt."
Lisle went back to the campfire. The best that could be found incamp was given to him, and the colonel handed him his own whiskyflask. While he ate, he related the story in full.
"Well, it is a fine thing for you to have done," said the colonel;"a most creditable affair. I know that you are a pretty goodmarcher; but I hardly think that, after a long day's work, you canset out for a march of nearly double the length."
"I have no fear of the march, Colonel. The Sikhs have volunteeredto carry a stretcher for me. I shall, of course, not get into it,unless I feel that I cannot go another foot farther; but the merefact that it is there, and in readiness for me, will help me tokeep on. The Sikhs have done just as long a march as I have, and Ihope that I shall be able to hold on as long as they can. I shouldhate to be beaten by a native."
"Ah! But these Sikhs are wonderful fellows; they seem to be made ofiron, and march along as erect and freely as they start, when eventhe Hausas and Yorubas are showing signs that they are almost atthe end of their powers. I must say that I consider the Sikhs tobe, all round, the best soldiers in the world. They cannot beatTommy Atkins, when it comes to a charge; but in the matter ofmarching, and endurance, Tommy has to take a back seat. He willhold on till he fairly breaks down, rather than give in; but hehimself, if he has ever campaigned with the Sikhs, would be thefirst to allow that they can march him off his feet.
"Have you got a spare pair of shoes in your kit, Bullen?"
"Yes."
"Then I should advise you to take those you have on, off; and puton a fresh pair."
"I will take your advice, sir; but I really think that it would bebest to follow the custom of the native troops, and marchbarefooted."
"It would not do," the colonel said, decidedly. "The soles of theirfeet are like leather. You would get half a dozen thorns in yourfoot, before you had gone half a mile; and would stub your toesagainst every root that projected across the path. No, no; stick toyour shoes."
Lisle changed his boots, and then went across to the Sikhs; whofell in as they saw him coming.
"You have got everything, sergeant?" he asked.
"Yes; a hundred and thirty rounds of ball cartridge, the twostretchers, and some food and drink for our comrade."
"You have got a good supply of torches, I hope. There may be somesmall risk in carrying them, but I am convinced that the Ashantiswill not venture to return, tonight, whatever they may do tomorrow.With three torches--one at the head, one in the middle of the line,and one in the rear--we should be able to travel through the pathsbetter than if we had to grope our way in the dark."
The little party at once moved off, many of the officers and mengathering round, to wish them good luck and a safe return. Fourhours took them to the spot where Lisle had turned into the path.For the last mile he had had three torches burning in front, sothat he should not overlook the signs he had made on the trees.
"There it is, sergeant," he said, at last, "two slashes; the otherone is on the left, fifty yards on."
They turned off when they came to this.
"Here we are, all right, Pertab!" Lisle said, as they came to thetree.
"Allah be praised!" the man said, faintly. "I seem to have beenhearing noises in the wood, for a long time; and when I heard youcoming, I was by no means sure that it was not an illusion, likethe others."
"Here are twenty of your comrades with me, Pertab, and we shallsoon get you into camp."
"I didn't expect you till morning," the wounded man said. "Ithought that you would be far too tired to come out and, withoutyou, they could not have found me."
"They would have carried me, had it been necessary; but I managedto hold on pretty well.
"Now, my men, get him upon the stretcher, and let us be off. Pourthe contents of that bottle down his throat; that will keep him up,till we get back."
For another four or five miles, Lisle kept along but, to hismortification, he was obliged at last to take to the stretcher. Thefour Sikhs who carried it made light of his weight. Once or twice,on the way, some dropping shots were fired at the party; but thesewere speedily silenced by a volley or two from the rifles.
It was four o'clock in the morning when they re-entered camp. Thefires were already lighted and, as the party entered, the troopsreceived them with loud cheering; which called all the whiteofficers out from their shelters.
"You have done well, my fine fellows," the colonel said to theSikhs. "Now, get some food at once, and then lie down for three orfour hours' sleep. I shall leave two companies with you; I don'tthink that, after the thrashing we gave them yesterday, the enemyare likely to trouble us--at any rate, not before the afternoon,and by that time you will have rejoined us."
"We can march on now, sahib."
"No, no," the colonel said; "a thirty-six-mile march, through thisbush, is a great deal more than a fair day's march for anyone; andI am not going to see such good men knocked up, by asking too muchof them. So just go, and do as I order you. You may be sure that Ishall put the deed you have accomplished in my orders of today.
"Well, Mr. Bullen," he said, as he came to the spot where Lisle wassitting, with his shoes and stockings off, rubbing his aching feet,"so you could not outmarch the Sikhs?"
"No, sir, and I did not expect to do so. I went at their head allthe way there, and four or five miles back; but should have had togive up, even if I had been told that a big fortune awaited me, ifI got in on foot. I should have had to say:
"'Well, then, somebody else may have it; I can go no farther.'"
"Well, you have done uncommonly well, anyhow; uncommonly well. Idon't suppose there are five white men in camp who could have doneso much. After this you may be sure that, if you have need of anexpedition, the Sikhs would follow you through fire and water, ifthey were allowed to volunteer for the service.
"I should have been glad to recommend you for the Victoria Cross,for your conduct right through the affair; but you have got it. ButI fear that, although you would get every credit for your doings,the authorities would consider that it did not come under the headof deeds for which the Victoria Cross is given."
"I am sure I have no desire for another V.C., even if two could begiven."
No attack was made on the following day, and it was evident thatthe Ashantis had taken to heart the lesson that had been giventhem. Two days later the column marched into the fort, and ColonelWillcocks went out to meet it.
The colonel's reports had been sent in by a runner. As the Sikhscame along, the colonel ordered them to halt and, as Lisle marchedup at the head of his company, he made a sign to him to come up.
"Captain Bullen," he said, "I have much pleasure in congratulatingyou on the manner in which you saved the life of the Sikh soldier,who volunteered to swim that river in flood in order to carry awire across; and still more for the manner in which you made what Ishould say was a record march, in this country, to bring in a manwho had been wounded, in a fight with a small party of the enemy."
Then he turned to the Sikhs.
"Soldiers," he said, "I cannot praise you too heartily for havingvolunteered, at the end of a long and exhausting march, toundertake another still longer and more fatiguing, in order tobring in a wounded comrade. It is an act of which you may be proud;but not altogether a surprising one, for we know well that we candepend up
on the Sikhs, on all and every occasion."
Lisle had been carried into the fort. His feet were so tender andswollen that he could not possibly walk farther, and he wasconsequently taken down by the carriers, during the last two days'march. Hallett sauntered up, as soon as he was put into a hospitalhut.
"Hillo, Bullen, so you have broken down! A nice example to set toyour Hausas, isn't it?"
"I suppose it is," Lisle laughed; "but the Hausas did not march asfar as I did."
"No? What were you doing? Scouting half a mile ahead of them, onyour own account?"
"Not exactly; I only went the width of a river, and yet, the resultof that was that I had to do an extra march of some twenty miles."
"Now you are speaking in riddles, Lisle; and if there is one thingI hate, it is riddles. When a fellow begins to talk in that way, Ialways change the subject. Why a man should try to puzzle hisbrain, with such rigmarole things, is more than I can imagine."
"Well, Hallett, I really feel too tired to tell you about thematter. I can assure you that it is no joke, being carried downfifteen miles on a stretcher; so please go and ask somebody else,that's a good fellow."
In a quarter of an hour Hallett returned again, put his eyeglass inhis eye, and stood for a couple of minutes without speaking,regarding Lisle furtively.
"Oh, don't be a duffer," the latter said, "and drop that eyeglass.You know perfectly well that you see better, without it, than withit."
"Well, you are a rum chap, Bullen. You are always doing somethingunexpected. I have been hearing how you and a Sikh started to swimthe Ordah, when it was in flood, with a wire; how you were washedaway; how you were given up for lost; how, two days later, youreturned to camp and went straight out again, with a party oftwenty Sikhs, took a little stroll for ten miles into the bush--andof course, as much back--to carry in the Sikh soldier you had hadwith you, but who had been wounded, and was unable to come withyou. I don't know why such luck as this is always falling to yourlot, while not a bit of it comes to me."
"It is pure accident, Hallett. You will get a chance, some day. Idon't know that you would be good for a thirty-mile tramp, but itmust be a consolation to you that, for the last five miles, I hadto be carried."
"It is a mercy it is so," Hallett said, in an expression of deepthankfulness, "for there would have been no holding you, if you hadcome in on your feet."