THE SMITHY & NOBBY COLLECTION: 6 Novels & 90+ Stories in One Edition. Edgar Wallace

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      “I looked round.

      “Father John was comin’ up the hill behind us — not foolhardy, but takin’ cover.

      “Sam’s face was white, but the padre was smilin’ when he reached us. His big pipe was in his mouth, an’ he crouched down behind the little rampart of stones that protected us, with a pleasant nod.

      “Personally, I thought it was a bit silly of him to come into danger like this, but I found out afterwards that he’d heard the General say that the success of the fight would depend upon the Guides an’ the Anchesters. You see, the intelligence staff knew nothing about the big nullah on the hill, an’ even we who was lyin’ along the side of it, didn’t know what a terrible business it would be crossin’ it, for it ran so that it was fully exposed to the enemy’s fire, an’ every man who scrambled out on the other side could be picked off by the enemy’s marksmen.

      “When Father John knew what we were in for he came up. Lyin’ down there, with his pipe goin’ he was full of spirits, an’ made some of our youngsters, who’d got a bit fidgety, cheerful, too.

      “‘Sing,’ he sez, as the fire got heavier an’ heavier.

      “‘What shall we sing, Father?’ sez Nobby.

      “‘Anything,’ sez Father John, an’ he started us goin’ with ‘Where are the boys of the Old Brigade?’ an’ from one end of the line to the other we roared the chorus : —

      ‘Steadily, shoulder to shoulder,

      Steadily, blade by blade;

      Steady an’ strong,

      Marchin’ along —

      Like the boys of the Old Brigade.’

      “In the middle of it the helio from headquarters began to wink, an’ by an’ by the order was passed down the lines, ‘Get ready!’

      “Then, when there came a slackenin’ of fire from the enemy, our bugle went, ‘Come along! come along! come along, Anchesters!’ — that’s our regimental call — an’ the ‘Advance!’

      “We were in the nullah an’ over the edge of it before the execution began. The minute I reached the other side I could see the danger. Up the hill, as far as the nullah, the ground had been steep an’ covered with big stones — it was from this nullah that they’d rolled the boulders down on us. Now, we were on a gentle slope, as bare of cover as a soup-plate, an’ there was no protection from the fire from the ridge above.

      “The Guides on our right got the first blast of the storm, an’ they went down in little patches, as if some blight had struck ‘em, passin’ a man here, an’ takin’ a man there.

      “Steady, the Anchesters!’ yelled the Adjutant; ‘fix bayonets!’

      “We was a hundred an’ fifty yards from the position, an’ I braced myself for the run.

      “‘Charge!’

      “With a yell that was almost like a scream, we dashed forward. I never ran so fast, or with any less effort, in my life.

      “The bullets made a noise like a gramophone before the tune starts, an’ I’ve got an idea that I saw a feller fallin’, but I hadn’t time to notice properly before I’d followed Nobby over the breastworks.

      “Nobby is the finest bayonet fighter in the regiment, an’ the second man he met was dead before the first one had fallen.

      “I got home with the bayonet on a big Afridi, who made a slice at me with his big knife, an’ then someone fell against me with a cough. In a fraction of a second, as I half turned to see who it was, I saw an Afridi pass his knife through Sam Crow.

      “Then two fellers came at me — I got the first, easy. I parried a blow, an’ gave him a short-arm thrust that brought him down — an’ the other feller was shot dead by Captain Marsham, an’ then the ‘ cease fire ‘ sounded.

      “I looked round. Nobby, who never loses an opportunity for business, was pickin’ up all the valuable-lookin’ articles, such as gold-mounted swords, within reach. I was thinkin’, regretful, of poor Sam, when, to my astonishment, he came up. He was bleedin’ from a cut head, where some Afridi had got home on him, but there was no other sign of injury.

      “‘Smithy,’ he sez, quietly, come an’ help me with Father John — I — I mustn’t lift him.’

      “‘Good God,’ whispers Nobby, droppin’ his swords, ‘not — not — ?’

      “Sam nodded.

      “‘Father John was killed as we came over there.’ He pointed to the ramparts.

      “He made no sign of grief, not even that evenin’, when we laid the Father in a deep grave at the foot of the hills — an’ he was the only man who didn’t cry as we buried the greatest an’ kindest of Christians an’ friends.

      “Sam only stood, with his bandaged head an’ his white face; swayin’ a little from side to side. Me an’ Nobby, in our rough way, tried to cheer him when we got back to the camp — although we wasn’t feeling any too cheerful ourselves, for some good men went out that day. But he was as calm as possible.

      “‘It’s only proper that Father John should die that way,’ he said. ‘It’s the right end — sacrifice. He risked his life because he wanted to help us.’

      “He put his hand to his side as though he was in pain, an’ he was, too, though we didn’t guess it.

      “‘I thought,’ he went on, ‘that Father John would like we to see him put away nice an’ comfortable — that’s why I kept alive!’

      “He said this all so calm that I didn’t understand what he meant.

      “‘Let me down gently,’ he sez, an’ Nobby saw the blood on his lips, an’ put his arms round him.

      “We lowered him carefully down, an’ two doctors came. Sam lay very still an’ quiet.

      “They stripped off his coat. His shirt was caked with blood, an’ one of the doctors whistled as he saw the wound.

      “‘Is he dead, sir?’ whispered Nobby.

      “The doctor nodded.

      “‘How he has lived for six hours with a knife wound in his heart,’ he said, ‘God knows. Why, by every law of science, he ought to have been dead this morning!’

      “The Adjutant came up.

      “‘How do you account for it, doctor?’ he asked.

      “The doctor shook his head an’ couldn’t say, but me an’ Nobby could have explained. It was love, an’ will, an’ sacrifice that kept poor Sam alive — but mostly sacrifice.”

       The End

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