78 Pages - The Black Vault

silhouetted in the cheerful blaze of which stood thesentry—a clear-cut monument to all around that herewas a British sentry fully on the qui-vive. Afterimpressing them with their orders, the extent of their“beat,” and the direction of their “front,” etc., I turnedin. The fires they had built, besides being a comfortto themselves, were also useful to me, because twiceduring the night when 1 looked out 1 could, withoutleaving my tent, plainly see them at their posts. Ifinally fell asleep, and dreamt of being decoratedwith a crossbelt made of V.C.S and D. S.O. S, and ofwearing red tabs all down my back.I was suddenly awoken, about the grey of dawn,by a hoarse cry, “Halt! who goes . . . .“ cut short bythe unmistakable “plipplop” of a Mauser rifle. BeforeI was off my valise, the reports of Mausers ranground the camp from every side, these, mingledwith the smack of the bullets as they hit the groundand stripped, the “zipzip” of the leaden hail throughthe tents, and the curses and groans of men whowere hit as they lay or stumbled about trying to getout, made a hellish din. There was some wild shootingin return from my men, but it was ail over ina moment, and as I managed to wriggle out of mytent the whole place was swarming with beardedmen, shooting into the heaving canvas. At that momentI must have been clubbed on the head for Iknew no more until I found myself seated on an emptycase having my head, which was dripping withblood, tied up by one of my men.Our losses were 10 men killed, including both sentries,and 21 wounded; the Beers’ had one killed andtwo wounded.Later on, as, at the order of the not ill-natured but16