The Master of Aberfeldie, Volume 3 (of 3) — John Shaqi
The Master of Aberfeldie, Volume 3 (of 3)Grant, James
General
The Master of Aberfeldie, Volume 3 (of 3)
Grant, James
Fiction
'And now,' he added, as he crossed the line of railway, sword in
hand, 'to give water to the wounded, succour any we can, smash all
their weapons, and leave them to fate or their returning friends.'
He, with most of his party, approached the place where the victims of
the fusilade lay, and, so far as blood, wounds, and agony went, they
presented a very dreadful scene, and yet a trifling one when compared
with that witnessed so lately in the trenches of Tel-el-Kebir.
Many were shot outright; others, severely wounded, lay wallowing and
choking in their blood, and they regarded the victors with a firm,
scowling, and defiant expression in their long, thin, tawny faces,
and black, bright, glittering eyes, that made them look, as Allan
said, like dying eagles.
But, before anything could be done for the survivors, the fatal
episode of the day took place.
A little way apart from the group of death and agony, lay a Bedouin,
who, though untouched, was partly under his horse, from which he
freed himself, and then Cameron advanced to take him prisoner. He
was an athletic and gigantic fellow, all bone and sinew, lithe as a
serpent, and active as the antelope of his native deserts.
Drawing a long pistol from his girdle, he levelled it at Cameron, but
it snapped, on which he flung it furiously at the head of the latter,
who ducked, and escaped it.
Several Highlanders now rushed forward, as he had drawn a large and
heavy Damascus sabre, but they paused with their hands on their locks
when Cameron cried,
'Stand back, my lads, and leave him to me!' And in a moment both
their blades were flashing in the setting sun, for Cameron fell upon
him claymore in hand.
'May your head be covered by a whirlwind of fire!' hissed the Bedouin
in Arabic, through his clenched teeth, while he hewed away without
the least intention of surrendering. The hood of his red and white
striped burnous had fallen back, and his whole head and face, with
flashing eyes and gleaming teeth, were displayed to view.
Cameron was a skilful swordsman, but so was the Bedouin, who was his
superior in height and muscular power. Their blades struck red
sparks from each other. Cameron forgot to draw his long dirk: but he
had 'Sir Garnet's' ugly jack-knife in his left hand, for parrying
purposes. How the combat would have terminated, it is difficult to
say, but a vile Bedouin, who lay wounded close by, armed with a long,
straight sword, with the last effort of expiring nature, writhed
himself up from the sand, ran poor Cameron through the body from
behind, and fell back dead.
With a hollow groan, Cameron fell backward across him, and was about
to receive a finishing stroke from his antagonist, when the latter
was shot through the head by Sergeant Farquharson.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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