Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 March 1889 — KING SOLOMON’S MINES. [ARTICLE]

KING SOLOMON’S MINES.

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD.

CHAPTER XIV. ' THt JAST BTAWD OF THZ OKAYS. In a fe# more minutes the regiments destined to carry out the flanking movements had tramped off in silence; keeping carefully under the lee of the rising ground in 'order to conceal the movements of Twala’s scouts. Half an* hour or more was allowedto ’elapse between the setting on t o! lU horns or wings of the army before any movement was made by the Grays and the, supporting regiment, known as the Buffaloes, which formed its chest, and which were destined to bear the brunt of the battle. Both of these regiments were both perfectly fresh, and of full strength, the Grays having been in full reserve in the morning, and having lost but a small number of men in sweeping back that part of the attack which had provensuccessful in breaking the Hne of defense, on the occasion when I -chaffed with them and got knocked silly for my pains. As for the; Buffaloes, they had formed the third line of the defense on the left, and aathe attacking force at that point had hot Succeeded in breaking through the second, bad scarce!v come into action at all. . Infadoos, who was a wary old general, and knew the absolute; importance of keeping up the spirits d£ bis men on the eve ot such a desperate encounter employed the pause in foldreasing his own regiment, the Grays, in poetical language: in explaining‘to them the honor that they were receiving in being put thus in the forefront of the battle, and in having the great white warrior 4 from the stars to fight with them in their ranks, and in promising large rewards of cattle and promotion to all who survived in the event of. Ignosi’s arms beng successful. I looked down the long lines of wav .ing black plumes and stern faces be* neath them, and sighed to think that within one short hour most, if not all, of those magnificent veteran warriors, --- not a man of whom was under forty years of age, would be laid dead or dying in the dust. It could not be otherwise; they were being condemned, with that wise recklessness of human life that marks the great general, and often saves bis forces and attains his ends, to certain ; slaughter, in order to give the cause and the remainder of the army a chance of success. They were foredoomed to die, and they knew it. It was to be their task to engage regiment after regiment of Twala’s army on the narrow strip of green beneath us, till they were exterminated, or till the wings found a favorable opportunity for their onslaught. And yet they never hesitated, nor could I detecta sign of fear upon the face of a tingle warrior. There they were—going to certain death, about to quit the blessed light of day forever, and yet able to comprehend their doom without a tremor. I could not even at that moment help contrasting their stated mind with my own, which was far from comfortable, and breathing a sigh of envy and admiration. Never before had I seen cuch an absolute devotion to the idea of duty, and such a complete indifference to its bitter fruits. “Behold your king!” ended old Infar doos, pointing to Jgnosi; “go fight and fall for him, as is the duty of brave men, and cursed and shameful forever be the name of him who shrinks from death for his king or who turns his back to his enemy. Behold your king! chiefs, captains, and soldiers, now do your homage to the sacred snake, and then follow on, that Incubu and I may show ye the road to the heart of Twala’s forces." There was a, moment’s pause,' then suddenly there rose from the serried phalanxes before us a murmur, like the distant whisperof the sea, caused by gentle tappings of the handles ot) six thousand spears against ‘their holders’ / shields. Slowly it swelled, till its growing volume deepened and widened into a roar of rolling noise that echoed like thunder against the mountains, and filled the air with heavy waves iof sound. Then it decreased and slowly died away into nothing, and suddenly out crashed the royal salute. ' ’ , Ignoei, I thought to myself, -might well be a proud man that day, for no Roman emperor ever had such a salu- . tation from gladiators “about to die.” Ignoei acknowleJged this magnificent . act of homage by lifting his battle-ax, and then the Grays filed off in a tripleline formation, each line containing ' About one thousand fighting men, exclusive of officers. When the last line ' had g«ne some five hundred yards, - Ignoti put himself at the head of the Buffaloes, which was drawn up in a similar tliree-line formation, and gave the word to march, and off we went, I, needless to say, Uttering the • most heartfelt prayers that I might come out of that job with a whole skin. Many a qut er position have 1 found myself in, but never before in one quite so unpleasant as the present, or one in which my chance of coming off safe was so small. By the time that we reached the edge of the plateau the Grayg were already hall-way down the slope ending in the ( tongue of grass land that ran up into the bend of the mountain, something as the frog of a horse’s foot runs up into the shoe. The excitement in Twala’s camp on the plain beyond was very great, and regimentafter regiment were starting forward at a long swinging trot in order to reach the root of the tongue of land before the attacking force could emerge into the plain of Loo. This tongue of land, which was some three hundred yards in depth, was even at its root or widest part not more than one; hundred and fifty paces across, _ while at its tip it scarcely measured sixty. The Grays, who, in passing down I the side of the hill and on to the tip of the tongue, had formed in column, on reaching the spot where it broadened out again reassumed their triple-line formation. and halted dead. Then we—that is, the Buffaloes—moved down the tip of the tongue and took onr stand in reserve, about one hundred yards behind Ihe last line of the Grays, and on slightly higher ground. Meanwhile we had leisure to observe Twala’s entire force, which had evidently been re-enforced since the morning attack, and could not now, notwithstanding their losses, number less than forty thousand, moving swiftly np toward us. But as they drew near the rootof the tongue they hesitated, having discovered that only one regiment would advance into the gorge at a time, and that there, some seventy yards from

the mouth ot it, unassailable exceot in front, on account of the high walla pf bowlder strewn ground on either side, stood the famous regiment of Grays, the pride and glory of the Kuanana army, ready to hold the way against their forces as the three Romans once held the bridge against thousands. They hesitated, and finally stopped their advance, there was no eagerness to cross spears with those three lines of grim warriors who stood so firm and ready. Presently, however, a tall general, with the customary head-dress of nodding ostrich plumes, came running up, attended by a group of chiefs and orI thought, none other thanfwala himself. and gave an order, and the first regiment raised a shout, and charged up toward the Grays, who remained perfectly sti|l and silent till the attacking troops were within forty yards, and a volley of tollas, or throw-ing-knives, came rattling among their ranks. Then suddenly, with a bound and a roar, they sprung forward with uplifted spears/ and the two regiments met in deadly strife. Next second the rpll of ■ the meeting shields came to our eark like the sound of thunder, and the whole plain seemed to be alive with flashes of light reflected from the stabbing spears. To and fro swung the heaving mass of struggling, stabbing humanity, but not for long. Suddenly the attacking lines seemed to grow thinner, and then with a slow, long'heave the Grays passed over them, just as a great wave heaves* up. and passes over a sunken ridge. It was. done; that regiment was completely destroyed, but the Grays had out two lines left now; a third of theirnufober were dead. Closing up shoulder to shoulder once mote they halted insilence and awaited attack, and I was rejoiced to catch sight of Sir Henry’s yellow beard as he moved to and fro, arrangiug the ranks. So he was yet alive! . ‘

Meanwhile we moved up to the ground of the encounter, which was cumbered ,by about four thousand prostrate human beings, dead, dying, and wounded, and litterally stained red with blood. Ignosi issued an order, which was rapidly passed down the ranks, to the effect that none of the enemies’ wounded were to be killed, and so far as we could see, this order was scrupulously carried out It would have been a shocking sight, if we had had time to think of it But now a second regiment, distinguished by white plumes, kilts, and shields, was moving up to the attack’ of the two thousand remaining Grays, who stood waiting in the same ominous silence as before, till the foe was within forty yards or so, when they hurled themselves with irresistible force upon them. Again there came the awful roll of the meeting shields, and we watched the grim tragedy repeat itself. But this time the issue was left longer in doubt; indeed it seemed for awhile almost impossible that the Grays should again prevail. The attacking regiment, which was one formed of young men, fought with the utmost fury, and at first seemed by sheer weight to be driving the veterans back. The slaughter was something awful, hundreds falling every minute; and from among the shouts of the warriors and the groans of the dying, set to the clashing music of meeting spears, came a continuous hissing undertone of “S’gee, s’gee,” the note of triumph of each victor as he passed his spear through and through the body of his fallen foe. But perfect discipline and steady and unchanging valor can do wonders, and one veteran soldier is worth two young ones, as soon became apparent in the present case. For just as we thought that it was a'l up with the Grays,, and were preparing to take their place so soon as they made room by being destroyed, I heard Sir Henry’s deep voice ringing out above the din, and caught a glimpse of his circling battle-ax as he waved it high above his plumes. Then came a change; the Grays ceased to give; they stood still as a rock, against which the furious waves of spearmen broke again and again, only to recoil. Presently they began to move again—forward this time, as they bad no firearms, there was no smoke, so we' could see it all. Another minute and the onslaught grew fainter. “Ah, they are men, indeed; they will conquer again,” called out Ignosi, who was grinding his teeth with excitement at my side. “See, it is done!” Suddenly, like puffs of smoke from the mouth of a cannon, the attacking regiment broke away in flying groups, their white head-dresses streaming be Kind them in the wind, and left their opponents victors* indeed, but, alas! no morea regiment. Of the gallant triple line, which, forty minutes before, Led gone into action three thousand strong, there remained at most six hundred blood-bespattered men; the rest, were under-foot. And yet they cheered* and waved their spears in triumph, and then, instead of falling back uponifoas we expected, they an forward, tor a hundred yards or so, after the flying groups of foemen, took possession of a gently rising knoll of ground, and, resuming the old triple of formation, formed a threefold -ring around it And then, thanks be to God, standing on the top of the mound for a minute, I saw Sir Henry, apparently unharmed, and with him our old friettdf Infadoos. Then Twala’s regiments rolled down upon the doomed band.and once more the battie closed in. As those who read this history, will probably long ago haye gathered, I am, to be honest, a bit of a coward, and certainly in no given to fighting, though; somehow, it nas often been my lot to get into unpleasant positions, and to be obliged tb man’s blood. But I have always hated it. and kept my own blood as dindiminished in quantity as possible, sometimes by a judicious use of my> heels. At this moment, however, for tbe first time in my life, I felt my bosom burn with martial ardor. Warlike fragments from the“lngoldsby Legend, together with numbers of sanguinary verses from the Old Testament, sprung up in my brain like mushrooms in the dark; my blood, which hitherto had been half frozen with horror, went beating tnrough my veins, andthere came npon me a savage desire to kill and spare not. 1 .glanced round at the serried ranks of warriors i ehind us, and somehow, all in an instant, began to wonder if my face-looked like theirs. There they stood, their heads craned forward over their shields, the hands twitching, tbe lips apart, the fierce features instinct with the hungry lust of battle, an&jn the eyes a look like the glare of a blood-hound when he sights his quarry. \ Only Ignoai’s heartiseemed, to judge from his comparative s^lf- possession, to

all appearance, to beat as calmly as ever beneath bls leopard-skin cloak, though even bp still kept on grinding his teeth I could stand it no longer. V “Are we to stand here till we put ont roots, Umbopa—lgnoei, I mean-while Twala swallows our brothers yonder?” I asked. “Nky, Macumazahn,” was the answer; "see, how is the ripe moment; let ns pluck it.” As he spoke a fresh regiment rushed past the ring npon the little mound,and wheeling round, attacked it from the hither side. Then, lifting his battle ax Ignosi gave the signal to advance, and, raising the Kukuana battle-cry, the Buffaloes charged home. What followed immediately on this it is out of my power to tell. All I can remember is a wild yet ordered rush, that seamed to shake the ground; a sudden change of front and forming on the part of the regiment against which the charge was directed; then an awful shock, a dull roar of voices, and a continuous flashing of spears, seen, through a red mist of blood. "

When my mind cleared I found myself standing inside the remnant of the Grays near the top of the mound, "and j ust behind no less a person than Sir Henry himself. How 1 got there I had, at the moment, no idea, bnt Sir Henry afterward told me that I was borne up by the first furious cbaige of the Buffaloes almost to his feet, and then left, as they in turn were pressed back. Thereon he dashed out of the circle and dragged me ihto it. As for the fight that followed who can describe it? Again and again the multitudes surged up against our momentarily lessening circle, and again and again we beat them back. “The stubborn upearmen still made good Tbe dark, impenetrable wood; Each stepping where his comrade stood The instant Uiat he fell," as the “Ingoldeby Legends” beautiful puts it. ij It was a splendid thing to see those ,brave battalions come on time after time over the barriers of their dead, sometimes holding corpses before them to receive our spear thrusts, only to leave their own corpses to swell the rising piles. It was a gallant sight to see that sturdy old warrior, Infadoos, as cool as though he were on parade,shouting out orders, taunts and even jests, to keep up the spirits of his few remaining men, and then, as each charge rolled up, stepping forward to wherever the fight was thickest to bear his share in repelling it And yet more gallant was the vision of Sir Henry, whose ostrich plumes had been shorn off by a spear stroke, so that his long yellow hair streamed out in the breeze behind him. There he stood, the great Dane, for he was nothing else, his hands, his ax, and his armor, all red with blood, and none could live before his stroke. Time after time I saw it come sweeping down as some great warrior ventured to give him battle, and as he struck he shouted, ‘ 0-hoy! 0-hoy!” like his Bersekir ferefathers, and the blow went crashing through shield and spear, through head-dress, hair, and skull, till at last none would of their own will cone near the great white “tagati” (wizard), who killed and failed not. But suddenly there rose a cry of “Twala, y’ Twala,” and out of the press sprung forward none other than the gigantic, one-eyed king himself, also armed with battleax and shield,and clad in chain armor.

“Where art thou, Incubu, thou white man. who slew Scragga, my son - see if thou canst kill me!” he shouted, and at the same time hurled a tolla stright at Sir Henry who, fortunately, saw it coming, and caught it on his shield, which it transfixed, remaining wedged in the, iron plate behind the hide. Then, with a cry, Twala sprung forward straight at him, and with his batlie ax struck him such a blow upon the shield that the mere force and shock of it brought Sir Henry, strong man as he was. down upon his knees. But at the time the matter went no further, for at that instant there rose from the regiments pressing round us something like a shout of dismay, and on looking up I saw the cause. To the right and to the left the plain was alive with the plumes of charging warriors. The outflanking squadrons had come to our relief. The time could not have been better chosen. All Twala’s army had, as Ignosi had predicted would be the case, fixed their attention on the bloody strug gle which was raging around the remnant of the Grays and the Buff does, who were now carrying on a battle of their own at a littie distance, Which two regiments had formed the chest of our army. It was not until the horns were about to gall them that they h.-*d dreamed of their approach. And now, before they could even assume a proper formation for defense, these had leaped, like greyheunds, on their flanks. In five minutes the fate of the battle was decided. Taken on both flanks.and. disinayeuhythe awfqlslaughter inflicted upon them by the Grays and Buffaloes, .Twala’s regiments broke intq flight, and soon the whole plain between us and Loo was covered with groups of flying soldiers, making good their retreat. As for the forces that had so recently surrounded us and the Buffaloes, they melted away a i though by magic, and presently we were left standing there like a rockjrom which the sea has retreatea. But what a sight it was! Around us the dead and dying lay in heaped-up masses, and of the gallant Grays .there remained alive but ninety-five men. Mere than 3,900 had fallen in this one regiment, most of them never to rise again. | . “Men,” said. Infadoos, calmly, as between the intervals of binding up a wound in his arm he surveyed what remained to him of his corps, “ye have kept np the reputation of your regiment, and this day’s fighting will be spoken of by your childrens* children. Then he turned round and shook Sir Henry Curtis by the hand. “Thou art a great man, Incubu,’! he said, simnly; “I have lived a long life among warriors, and known many a brave one, yet have I never seen a man like thee.” [Continued next wet kJ - J