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Article A CHRISTMAS DAY BEFORE THE ENEMY. Page 1 of 4 →
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A Christmas Day Before The Enemy.
A CHRISTMAS DAY BEFORE THE ENEMY .
BY THEOPHILUS TOMLINSON . TT is some years ago since the events of the little story I am about to tell the readers - * - of Bro . Kenning ' s Christmas Magazine took place ; but such as they were , such I relate them now , like an Arabian story-teller , for the information and instruction and , perhaps , interest ( I would fain hope it ) , of a kind and complacent audience . Well , as
an old friend of mine , through many changing years , used to say , " here goes , " and " never mind the consequences . " It was the day before Christmas Day , 18— , yes , in this very good century of ours , that a detachment of one of not the least distinguished infantry regiments of Her Majesty ' s army found itself in a small fort not very far from Fort Beaufort , at the Cape of Good Hope . We had there one of our many and long enduring Caffre wars on
our hands , and in consequence , in pursuance of the existing policy , we had numerous small forts and encampments held by our gallant soldiers . It is not , as the Irishman put it , " quite convaynient" for me to name the fort , or indicate its position on Mr . Stanford's accurate map . And , truly , what's in a name ? This is a question which , here as elsewhere , may safely be left to its own solution ! At least , I venture to think so . I will only add , as we are got so " mighty particular , " ancl so fond of facts , ( which , by the way , are sometimes fictions ) , that it was a fort ,- — -if you like , a little fort , but still
a fort , and capable of holding , as it held on this occasion , some seventy privates , a proper proportion of non-commissioned officers and buglers , and a few Fingoes . To these were added three or four women , soldiers' wives . Ancl this force was commanded by a gallant young officer ( he was young then ) , whose name , for " reasons of state" as well as for " private considerations , " I feel bound also to suppress . Well , at this time the Caffres were very troublesome , and sundry signs and sounds
told the experienced in such matters and served to warn the little garrison that in all probability their Christmas Day would be spent , not in peaceful enjoyment of seasonable fare , and Christmas rejoicings in the old English style , and what our Anglo-Saxon race , true to its cherished and befitting religious and social instincts , seeks everywhere to perpetuate , but " under fire , " in active and desperate warfare with a treacherous and angry foe . Stillsuch is thenature of Englishmen in general and of that often undervalued
, . biped , the British soldier , in particular , for whom I have , for one , great liking ancl greater regard , that , despite the threatening appearance of things , they made their preparations for Christmas Day as if nothing was going to happen , —as if they were at Aldershot or Portsmouth ; or safe and sound amid dear ones ancl near ones in far-off , but much-loved Old England !
Accordingly , turkeys and geese were got in ; the Christmas pigs were killed ; . apples , and all possible accessories were collected ; green branches had been cut down , •—and Mrs . Jones and Mrs . Magrath , who were good cooks , assisted the soldier cooks , ancl determined to have plum-pudding and mince-pies , as in " duty bound . " It also was settled to have a " dance " in the evening to keep up Christmas . A Christmas service had also been arranged by the young commandant for the morningas all felt ( and soldiers are just as reliious as anybodelse ) that Christinas
, g y Day was a time of religious as well as of earthly rejoicing . And so Christmas Eve came on . That officer had even got in a " yule log , " and tales were being told , and songs were being sung merrily among the men off duty , when crack ! crack ! crack ! went the rifles of the sentries , and the bugles sounding the " assembly " summoned that cheery ancl gallant body to duty and the fray . As they were all in uniform , they turned out as quickly as I can take in telling you—almost as quick as a mythical Jack Bobinsonof
, , whom some of us may have heard ; and they were soon all properly posted to await the result of this little beginning on Christmas Eve of a state of things which was probably to mark all their Christmas Day . But still , like English soldiers , they were all as cheerful and cool and eager as they
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Christmas Day Before The Enemy.
A CHRISTMAS DAY BEFORE THE ENEMY .
BY THEOPHILUS TOMLINSON . TT is some years ago since the events of the little story I am about to tell the readers - * - of Bro . Kenning ' s Christmas Magazine took place ; but such as they were , such I relate them now , like an Arabian story-teller , for the information and instruction and , perhaps , interest ( I would fain hope it ) , of a kind and complacent audience . Well , as
an old friend of mine , through many changing years , used to say , " here goes , " and " never mind the consequences . " It was the day before Christmas Day , 18— , yes , in this very good century of ours , that a detachment of one of not the least distinguished infantry regiments of Her Majesty ' s army found itself in a small fort not very far from Fort Beaufort , at the Cape of Good Hope . We had there one of our many and long enduring Caffre wars on
our hands , and in consequence , in pursuance of the existing policy , we had numerous small forts and encampments held by our gallant soldiers . It is not , as the Irishman put it , " quite convaynient" for me to name the fort , or indicate its position on Mr . Stanford's accurate map . And , truly , what's in a name ? This is a question which , here as elsewhere , may safely be left to its own solution ! At least , I venture to think so . I will only add , as we are got so " mighty particular , " ancl so fond of facts , ( which , by the way , are sometimes fictions ) , that it was a fort ,- — -if you like , a little fort , but still
a fort , and capable of holding , as it held on this occasion , some seventy privates , a proper proportion of non-commissioned officers and buglers , and a few Fingoes . To these were added three or four women , soldiers' wives . Ancl this force was commanded by a gallant young officer ( he was young then ) , whose name , for " reasons of state" as well as for " private considerations , " I feel bound also to suppress . Well , at this time the Caffres were very troublesome , and sundry signs and sounds
told the experienced in such matters and served to warn the little garrison that in all probability their Christmas Day would be spent , not in peaceful enjoyment of seasonable fare , and Christmas rejoicings in the old English style , and what our Anglo-Saxon race , true to its cherished and befitting religious and social instincts , seeks everywhere to perpetuate , but " under fire , " in active and desperate warfare with a treacherous and angry foe . Stillsuch is thenature of Englishmen in general and of that often undervalued
, . biped , the British soldier , in particular , for whom I have , for one , great liking ancl greater regard , that , despite the threatening appearance of things , they made their preparations for Christmas Day as if nothing was going to happen , —as if they were at Aldershot or Portsmouth ; or safe and sound amid dear ones ancl near ones in far-off , but much-loved Old England !
Accordingly , turkeys and geese were got in ; the Christmas pigs were killed ; . apples , and all possible accessories were collected ; green branches had been cut down , •—and Mrs . Jones and Mrs . Magrath , who were good cooks , assisted the soldier cooks , ancl determined to have plum-pudding and mince-pies , as in " duty bound . " It also was settled to have a " dance " in the evening to keep up Christmas . A Christmas service had also been arranged by the young commandant for the morningas all felt ( and soldiers are just as reliious as anybodelse ) that Christinas
, g y Day was a time of religious as well as of earthly rejoicing . And so Christmas Eve came on . That officer had even got in a " yule log , " and tales were being told , and songs were being sung merrily among the men off duty , when crack ! crack ! crack ! went the rifles of the sentries , and the bugles sounding the " assembly " summoned that cheery ancl gallant body to duty and the fray . As they were all in uniform , they turned out as quickly as I can take in telling you—almost as quick as a mythical Jack Bobinsonof
, , whom some of us may have heard ; and they were soon all properly posted to await the result of this little beginning on Christmas Eve of a state of things which was probably to mark all their Christmas Day . But still , like English soldiers , they were all as cheerful and cool and eager as they