battle--they follow!

I had some books with me, but the power to interest myself in them
had almost completely vanished. I occupied my mind very largely with
military tactics. On a large sheet of brown paper I outlined the plan
of campaign. On it I had the position of every regiment in our army.
The dynamite mines, the region of broken glass, the furze bushes, fort
and redoubts were all minutely detailed, and one night an exigency
arose in which this paper plan of campaign was called into evidence.
Tired of waiting, and very restive and discontented under the
privations of the desert, Graham determined to move. The
electric-light apparatus was out of order, and the advance forts were
too far away to be touched with any less powerful signal of the night.
A non-commissioned officer was ordered to take a corporal's guard and
deliver marching orders to the advanced forts. When questioned as to
the route he was not quite certain as to the exact location of the
dynamite mines or broken glass, and as I overheard the entire
conversation, I produced my brown-paper map and begged the honour of
carrying the dispatch. This was not granted me until several others
had been questioned and failed. I was so sure of every inch of the
ground, that I was commissioned to take two men with me and deliver
the orders. This made my heart leap with joy--it was a relief, an
excitement, an opportunity!

Osman Digna's men were stealthy. They hid behind the furze bushes in
the darkness so often, and so many of our men had been hamstrung,
that, of course, we were on the alert; but every furze bush we
approached covered an imaginery "Fuzzy-Wuzzy," and this, often
repeated, created an unutterable fear, so that by the time we reached
our destination, our khaki clothing was black with sweat, and we were