The Moors 65 



have another chance of firing a rifle again. Just as he 

 had the Russian well covered, the latter finished his 

 loading, and, seeing it was his only chance, fired a snap- 

 shot at the sergeant, hitting him on his left arm as he was 

 leaning on it, and breaking it in two. 



Another sergeant mentioned how he was one day 

 wandering about the huts, on the chance of finding some 

 provisions somehow, when he espied a chicken, and though 

 there were very stringent orders against looting, the prize 

 was too great a one to be missed, and he essayed to 

 capture it. He was in full chase when, in turning the 

 corner of a hut, he almost ran into the very arms of the 

 General and his staff, who were drawn up in consultation 

 at the other side. If he had run as fast after the chicken 

 as he did to get away from it, he averred he should have 

 secured it without difficulty. 



Many interesting stories also have been related to me, 

 at different times, that now, alas, have passed, with their 

 narrators, into oblivion for ever. The late Major Brett 

 won his commission in the Crimea for having done much 

 good work there, as well as in the Boer War. The 

 particular act for which he was promoted was that, when 

 carrying a keg of powder on his back to the front, after 

 all the transport had broken down, a round shot came and 

 carried the barrel away, knocking Sergeant Brett over and 

 badly bruising him. Everyone thought he was killed, but he 

 picked himself up, and as soon as he got his breath went 

 back and fetched another keg, as if nothing had happened. 



