Noble Deeds of the World's Heroines Part 15

For two years Sir Samuel Baker was busy fighting slave-traders and native tribes, and throughout this exciting period he was accompanied by his wife, who was subjected to the same dangers as he or any man in his force. At one time she was in great danger of being laid low at any moment by bullet or spear. This was during the retreat from Masendi, a position which Sir Samuel Baker was compelled to abandon on June 14, 1872. For eighty miles the little band, composed of about 100 men, marched in double file through tangled forest and gigantic gra.s.s, fighting the whole distance. Bullets whizzed past Lady Baker, and many a spear went within an inch of her, but unalarmed she marched on _carrying ammunition_. The enemy hoped to annihilate the party before it got clear of the long gra.s.s, but the determined men who were fighting for their lives discovered the ambuscades and drove out the enemy. Night and day the hidden foe hara.s.sed the party, and Lady Baker knew that any moment might be her last. Nevertheless, she trudged on with her burden of ammunition, and on some occasions marched sixteen miles at a stretch. It was a weary march through that gra.s.s-jungle--which harboured hundreds of the enemy--and it seemed that it would never end. To accelerate their retreat, the cattle were abandoned and loads of valuable goods were burnt or thrown away. At times it seemed as if they could not possibly escape, and, in fact, news reached England that they had been slaughtered during the retreat from Masendi.

However, they got through safely, and shortly afterwards inflicted a crus.h.i.+ng defeat on the enemy. Lady Baker was present at this battle, but although the bullets whizzed to the right, to the left, and above her, she escaped injury. Sir Samuel not only praised her bravery, but he wrote of her: 'She has always been my prime minister, to give good counsel in moments of difficulty and danger.'

On completion of the four years' service for which the Khedive had engaged him, Sir Samuel Baker returned with his wife to England, where once more they received an enthusiastic reception. When they again travelled abroad it was in more civilised parts of the world, and unattended by the perils which had a.s.sailed them in Africa. Sir Samuel Baker died on December 30, 1893, at Sandford Orleigh, near Newton Abbot, aged 72. He was a brave and clever man, but not a little of his success was due to the fact that he had a wife who shared his ambition, and did all that lay in her power to bring his undertakings to a successful issue.

[1] The river.

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