| Show sophy of Kra a by ANTHONY HOPE author of the tho Prisoner of bends copyright ING 1900 anthony llop cawkins C 11 abpie thurl oil the history of this night fro from a flo the side thanes are a lue UL to ho the memory aud and to the unabashed courtesy of lieutenant Ita statz who cime alave if not with a whole slin out of the encounter and lived to roach reach middle age under tinder a new regime so e of bis his P services ry that tt it cashiered him lor for getting drunk within a year from this date ile ended his days as a billiard marker nt at the cholden llou lion a fact to poetic justice but not otherwise material willie occupying that capacity bo ho was eways ways ready tr 0 open his mouth to talk provided bo he wre afforded also a bettor better for opening it Staf and bis his men felt that their hard work was nas done they were within touch of slavna and they had no reason as they suppo bcd to fear any attack thy the colonel bad hail indulged them in something so methin approaching to a carouse songs had been eung sung and speeches speech ps made congratulations were freely offered to the colonel allu were th own out not tw tuo cam Villy celled to the predicament in which Ste novica found himself hini solf hard work a good supper and plentiful vine rine ind their eucce S bave ave the sen gentries trie all were asleep nt at 10 ocl ocl and game to sleep till the reveille at 0 their was a surprise to their who had perhaps cd ed in n too rash mob a confidence that they wen were first on the ground but the greater befell those who had now to defend the barges and the guns when the man who had found the sentry ran back and anti told his tale all of them from Staf nitz downward conceived that tho the attack must como come from none thought of sophy ard her ther therm they were packed in the barn se pirated from their homa ard with their car bine laid aside the ile carbines were easily caught up tip the horses not so illy reached supposing an active enemy at band hand outside for vor themselves tes their position vas v ns good to stand a elega but Staf Bt atnita could not afford that ills wind flow when sophy had and on both sides aldes tho the guna guris were the factor which dominated the tactic of 0 the foght it was no use for Staf Sta nitz to stay snug lu in the barn n hire tho the overpowered the barges supposing they tried fight tight deposed of the entry sentry stationed on each dyk and captured tie tue gins guns let the at u lant rant carry thein them ot and the colonels gme ga wai ira up whoever the foo too was aho fight was for tho gunt and tor for one other thing no doubt for the colonel colonels life wo we felt in the deuce of a uess hastate related for we know how many they were and we see one of then them the colonel walked out of the barn cool coot as a cucumber ani looked and liste listened lie ile called to tuo to go u itu ith him and eo so I 1 did beeping as much hisk lil inck irick as possible nothing was ti to bo be been seen nothing to bo be beat it lie ile pointed to the rising ground opposite that must bide tilde them bo he bald said nack back hp he went and called the first hilt ou follow rao me in single lie tile out of the barn and round to tho the hick irick of it let thre bo be a foot toot between tach of boj a room enough to miss IVI alyn once you get in rear of the barn make for the barges never mind the horses the second balf company will cover the horses with their tire my detachment round antl then follow well leave the se sergeant r kijor in command here bore now quick follow mol met out he vent and the men began to follow in their order I 1 had to stand in to tho the doorway and regulate the distance between man and man I 1 iwen been there two seconds sc before a dozen heads bealls c dime lit ie over the hill and a dozen dittes cracked luckily the colonel was just round the corner comer down went the heads again but bagged barged two of our fellows I 1 shouted to amro to cone come out and nt at th ame mme ali albe e ordered the sergeant in fijor ajor to send a flie file forward to answer the ire up cime the heads ninin and they baggus three mo amov c our fellows blazed away in reply but dropped too quickly I 1 dont think wo no got ono well we mind so much about keeping our jact distances after that and I 1 swear that the whole fifty of us faced tho the fire it was devil fah ish disconcerting you lwow but blot la in a few winsten thirty or ave nud aud thirty of US its sot got round tho tile aldo side of the barn some bow flow and for the moment oat out of harms harm 8 wy w y wo hear I 1 the fire going on still in trout but only in a desultory way chev to rush IT jr and I 1 dont think we bad had any idea of rushing them nil all we knew they might iw be 2 00 or they be a dozen at any rate with the advantage of position they were ere enough to bottlo our nur nun up in the barn for the moment nt at nil events this account make makes what bad hap bened pretty plain half halt of w Q phala phy force had been left to hold the e enemy lemy or as many of them as possible lu in the barn rn they had bad dismounted and well covered by the hill could make good practice without much danger tu to them selve lukovitch was in command of this section of the little troop sophy Dun Dunat stanbury and peter massip also on foot the horses homes hoofs would have be brayed them WP tt stealing round in eat vent ou on getting between the barges and any men whom Staf tried to place in position for their defense after aca ing men for the containing party porty ant and three to look after the horses this detachment was no more than a doon doen do on en strong kut but they bad had starred staffed before men had got out ot ol the barn and ana despite the smaller distance the latter bad had to traverse coald could make a good race of it for tho the barges they had all kept together too while tho the enemy straggled round to the rear of tho the barn in lit single flie file and they had one ono great perhaps decisive advantage of whose whoso exIs existence tenee aeter their guide was well aware forty yards beyond the farm farin a email small ditch ran down to the math on the bide side var the fam it had a high over bank the other side being nearly larol with the adjoining meadow thus it formed a natural trench and led straight down to where the drat first of the barges lay jay it would have leen been open to an enfilade from froin the river but Stif st nitz bad only one sentry an cah eab bare barge nod and these men were occupied in staring nt at their advancing companions part ions and calling out to know what nag the matter AS for the they had wisely declared neutrality deeming the matter no busine bust nei ti of theirs shots were not the terms of a contract for transport sarf nitz not of an attack had not reconnoitered ne ate ground but lukovitch knew mery inch of it had not general Steno remembered tl tj it M and so did pet pehr petr r vasala the sur julee of was to be aven avenged gedL takes up the tule tale again his ills narrative baa has ono one or two touches touche vivid with A local color when I 1 got round to the rear or of tho barn I 1 found our fellows scattered about on their bell bellies lei tho the colonel was in front on bis his belly with bis his bead head just raised from the ground looking about him I 1 lay down too getting my head behind a stone which chanced to be near mo I 1 looked about roc me too when it sec jed 1 safe and it did seem at first for we conid could hear nothing and deuce a ann c ald ld we see but it very pleasant because we knew that sure enough they must be pretty near tear ua u somewhere presently the colonel cumo cume crawling cran ling baal to me what do you make of it Ilai Ra statz be he whispered before I 1 could anaw ansar r we heard n brisk exchange of ire fire in f front rant of the ham barn 11 1 I dont like it IV I 1 said it 1 I cant them and ive a notion they fan ran see tile colonel and und not the way to fight Is it gad rudure ri bt eald said he be but they wont sec see roe me any the better for a cigarette and then and there be he lit one well h d 1 just thrown away his match nhan lieu a young fellow quite a lid vid he lie ans a couple of 3 ardt 1 from Us suddenly jumped from hn hl lelly belly on to I 1 hh his knees and called out quite loud it I 1 seemed to me hed bed got f r sort of panic pank quite loud he called out Sheep sheepskins skins sheepskins sheep skins sr jumped myself and I 1 saw the colonel at but by jove it 11 was truel when you took a sniff you could smell them of course I 1 dont mean wb whit it the better clas q wear you have smelled the tunic our lamented prince wore nor the one the witch decked herself out in but you could smell a common fellows sheepskin twenty yards of faye against the wind unless the n ind was strong Sheep skits it said tho colonel nath a saia lans by gad iti mistress stress sophia Ra Ila statz or some of her friends anyhow then bo he snore worthily Sten oIca must bae haie put them up to this and where the devil arc they Ra Pa statz he ile raked his bead head ns no ho he spoke and got bis his answer A bullet came singing along and went right through hi his s shako I 1 it t came from tle line of the ditch ile lay down ngin ng as in laughed a luttio and took a bulf put nt at bis big cig cl gatto aatto before he threw it an ay just then ono of our sentries bellowed froni from ft abo first barge in the ditch in tho 11 1 I wish cn a bit roone says the colonel laughing again while this was nas passing q on 6 fultzs faltas alle sophy and her party were worlin worl in and cautiously down the course of tho the ditch under the shelter of its bank they had find been abble to bold hold a raef and burr hurried led consultation what they feared was thit Staf nitz would mako make a dash or the barges th tb lr ir ore might drop half bla his men but the our survivors when once en cn board aal the birges b brero drawn up to tho the edge of the stream would sull still be as numerous as themselves and would commans the course of the ditch idich was wa at n t arcs pre ent their gre gret I 1 and protection olon but if they get on baird before the enemy they believed the t hot holl their own the decks mcie covered with nta of one sort or another which would afford them cov cor cr while any party which tried to board must expose itself to tire to n and probably fatal extent so they worked down the ditch ex copt two of them little as the could ra f spare even eden two 8 it wal wm i judged f well ta t leave these their in wco were whether there was much chance of bit ting anybody or not dunstan bury hoped ba a this trick to a q make Staf nitz believe that the spiru Sp Sheep sj m I 1 sheep whole detach shinar meat vas ins hu UA in thu the ditch thirty 1 or more from tho the point where it joined the river only ten strong now and anti one of them a woman they mide mado their way toward the mouth of the ditch and to ward the barges whick held the prize they bought sought but a diversion and a very effective one was eoon soon to come from the front of the barn fearing that the party under sophy and Dun stanbury might be overpowered Lul lulkovitch Lovitch determined on a bold step that of enticing the holder holdem of the barn from their shelter ho ile directed his men to keep up a brisk lira at the door ile himself and an oth orbr r man one ossip disregarding the riak risk made a rapid dash across the line of fire froni from the barn for the spot where the horses were the tire directed at the door successfully covered their daring movement they were among the horses in a moment and bard at work cutting the banda bands with which they thoy were tethered the animals were half mad with fright and the task was one of great danger but the maneuver was wits eminently successful A cry of the horses the horses horse it 1 went up from the barn men lien appeared in the doorway the sergeant major la in command himself ran out half the horses wen loose and stampeded along the towing path down the river the horses the borseti bor bors esl the defenders surged out of the barn in deadly fear of being caught there in a trap they preferred the chances of the fire and streamed out in a disorderly throng lukovitch and cut loose as many inore more horses as they dared wait to rel release fase men ns the defenders rushed fur forward ward retreated flying for their lives lukovitch came rf PC with a ball in his tits arm dropped shot through the heart the men behind the hill riddled the defenders with their fire tire but now they were by their horses such as were loft left of them nearer twenty than ten dotted the grasa outside the barn door and the survivors wen were demor their leader the sergeant major lay dead they rele release asod the remal remaining ning horses homes mounted and with one parting volley fled down the river with a cr er of triumph lukovitch collected the remal der of his men and dashed round the side of the imm the next moment colonel Staf nitz found himself attacked in hia lira re tr as well as nr held in check from front the ditch in his front tor n moment we thought it as ns our own men wild it istatt Ili statz contina ing ills his account and the colonel shout about ed dont ore fire you fools tools auf then bhoj cheered and we knew the vol henlan accent curce them sheepskins Sheep skins again paid said the colonel with a wry kind of smile lie ile hesitate then ho he jumped up crying to iro tho the barges to the barges follow mel mer we nil follo followed ned it nag just as site to go with him hint ns no to stay where you were nere we in raido inide ide a dash for it and anti gr g t to the bank if f the river then they ros out of the ditch in lit front of us and they were at it us behind too goow nith ath steel now they barent shoot for feir of hitting thair own people in r front cut but the ide i of A knife in to your back arnt milt and in the erd moro of our men turned to meet them thin went on with the colonel I 1 went ou on with him though im always for the tho safest plate if theres one eater safer than another but here there t so I 1 thought I 1 might ai as vc n ell do the proper thing we met them right by the waters edge eug and the first I 1 made out was the ditcu herself in abeen flins like ille the rest of them white na as a sheet but with tint thit infernal mirk absolutely sol blazing she nas between poter peter vasle and a tap till man I 1 knowl know l found out tl that he the englishman Duns a and the three ame straight at us she cried the king the aln kingi 1 I ond anti behind us wo we I 1 eard lukowitch Luko ritch and his tits lot crying irbe king ling the king ling our fallona like illo it the truth the v nere ere uneasy in their minda minds about that job of poor old MI if stitches and they feared the w n itch like the devil tho the heart was wis out of them one la I 1 near roe me burst out crying 1 A witch and nail a seem duill tuiti 1 I tight ob it was ill till non on sense 1 but ut 01 know felloe like that are their cry of tin the king ling and the sight of the i mused caused a moment momento hesitation it was nag chough to give them the drop on us but the tile colonel never hesitated he lie icing kcf him relf self straight at her and find fired as he ae sprang I 1 ju just jurt rt MW saw what happened before I 1 rot got a erick on the crown of the head from the butt end of a rifle which knocked me out of time As the colonel fired peter massip flung himself in front of her and took the bullet in his own body Dun jumped right on the colonel cut him on the eo so that he dropped his revolver and grap grai pled with him dropped dropp 41 his sword and anti the colonels drawn it was just a tussle they were tussling when tho the blood canic came flowing down into my eyes from the on ray my bend head I 1 see an thing more I 1 fainted just as r went off I 1 heard somebody cry hands up and I 1 imagined the fighting was prett |
