Adventure, November 1915 — page 209: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

service. iy Soldiers of Fortune on the Veld So far as is known he became a prisoner of war—without skinning more than possi- bly his hands when he landed in the dust. YNAMITE” DICK hailed from the glorious state of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Before the war he had been handling the subject of his sobriquet in one of the mines of the Witwatersrand. When the Queen’s petition had been signed, and the Bloem- fontein Conference between Kriiger, Steyn, and Milner had failed to better the chances of peace, Dynamite swore that he would let his hair grow until the last vestige of that - alleged British suzerainty over the Trans- vaal had been consigned to total and in- exorable oblivion. It should be mentioned here that Dick’s ancestors had been on the right side of the American Revolution, and had done yeoman So Dick’s hair was given carte blanche, and by the time Lord Roberts had penetrated as far as Kroonstad,.he had a mane that was really a thing of beauty. Buffalo Bill never owned so fine a crop of hirsuties. For a time Dynamite frequented the camps of the Irish Brigade and that of the American scouts. But to pump lead on a kopje was not exactly his proper sphere. Familiarity with nitro-gelatin had not only ° bred in him a contempt for the stuff that would raise goose-flesh on the observer, but it had also made him an expert in its use. It was conceded in all the camps that Dyna- mite could do more with a stick of this nitro- cellulose compound than any other man could accomplish with a hundredweight of it. It was thought best, therefore, to employ him as a pioneer, a field in which he became so active that the British army was ulti- mately obliged to place a large price on his head. On at least two occasions Dynamite slipped in the rear of the British columns operating in the vicinity of Colesberg, Cape Colony, and blew up bridges in so effective a manner that operations at the front had to be modified considerably. How he man- aged to get through the British lines, and dynamite bridges that were supposed to be well guarded, is one of the things that will never be fully explained. “Dynamite” Dick, perhaps better known as Richard King, i is no more. Dynamite enjoyed the company of wom- en. When his column approached a dorp 207 or town, he would lead his own little caravan of dynamite-laden mules to one side, fish from one of his pockets a small mirror and comb, and put his poet pompadour in order. Like as not some of the settlement’s fair population would come to see the defenders of the republics, and then he would have to look his best. However, he was not the only one who did this. For real, sterling, and sincere admiration of the ladies, soldiers of fortune, and soldiers in general have not their equal. To the chagrin of others, Dynamite carried off more honors in the field of love than was thought his due. On one occasion, however, he met his Waterloo. He had drifted down the Vaal River with his mules and dynamite, and had done con- siderable damage to ferries that were likely to have great value to the ever-advancing ~ enemy. On the day he sank the large mud- scow that traveled back and forth over the Vaal-at Coalmine Drift, Dick was notified that another general retreat would start that night. At Schuman’s Drift he joined the commando to which the writer was then attached. The line of retreat lay through a district known as the Gatsrand, a locality in which rocks are many and farms few. With com- missary arrangements on their last peg, this was no trifling matter, leading on one occa- sion to a supper of braisé mule. to say, everybody was hungry. But one fine morning the chances for a decent meal looked bright. A part of the commando had reached a farm which as yet had not suffered much from the eternal commandeering. Needless | The good Boer frou invited the men to. ofisaddle on the place, water and feed the animals and wait for a copious mess of beans and biltong which she had started as soon — as the body hove into sight. It was a grateful company that gathered around the kitchen in the yard with mess-kit and appe- tite ready. But Dynamite was no longer hungry. He had contrived to get a loaf of bread and a small bucket of milk, and now his interest in beans was nil. His attention was given to something altogether above beans, and ~ such—the daughter of the Boer frou. ‘The girl had been sitting on the veranda of the house when Dynamite discovered her. To a very polite address he was given a very pleasing answer. With beans and biltong still uppermost in the minds of the Eomichoo cS (E)