Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-07-03

|; He promised that he would reform, an,
, it was agreed that they were to wait year
and then they were to be married and leav
the Diamond Fields and go to some othe
colony. He was no great prize, this shat
tered invalid, who was far more likely than
not TO return to his old ways But Kitty
for oil that, had a hard struggle with her
self not TO take him as he was, instead O.
waiting and perhaps losing him altogether
No, she would not marry him there; i
would not be fair to him, she said she
would wait till he was the man he was be-
fore he took TO drink, and then if he cared
to marry her she would be the proudes
woman in the world"
! Then she talked over plan she had fol
him. She had bought some claims in the
mine; he must work them for her She
was sure the ground would turn out we'll
and they would make lots of money
That is how Jack Hope, who had utterly
gone to the bad in the opinion of most men
who knew him, got start again.
OF course their claims ought to have
turned out well, and they ought to have
found big diamond, which would have
made their fortunes all at once. But Kit
tvs belief in the claims proved to be rather
unfounded-som weeks they paid expenses
I
at once to have become reformed char.
acter, but he did not. More than once
work was at standsiill in their claims for
days, and he had to come To Kitty, shame
faced and haggard, with a sad story OF
transgression to tell. But she persuaded
him to try again, and did her best to keen
him straight, and at last he became stronger
and better. Men began to think he had
some chance; he had been steady for a
long time. Kitty was going to succeed in
making something of him. He began to
take some pride in himself, and at the end
of twelve months he was q better man
than he had been for years.
AT that time there was an outbreak oil
Katirs and Griquas on the border of the
province, and troops were raised on the
Diamond Fields. There was plenty of mil
itary enthusiasm. Times were bad, and the
Diamond Fields answered to the call for
men to serve their country at IS day.
Store-keepers who could supply uniforms
and transport riders who had wagons and
oxen came forward to help their country
in its hour of need at considerable profit
to themselves. For Hope the chance was
just what he longed for.
Kitty did not try to prevent him from
going out, for she thought it was the best
thing he could do. She knew all his history
now how he had got into some trouble
at SandhursI, and had been sent abroad
by his stern old uncle, who had determined
not to leave the family acres to one who,
he thought was certain only to bring dis
grace upon his family. She thought it
only natural that he should wish to Yolun-
teer ana take the chance of showing that
there was something in him. When the
Diamond Field Horse left the camp she
went out to see them off, and felt proud of
her lover as she saw him ride off in his
troop He won't come back trooper, F."
she said to herself. g. # there is much fight
ing to be done"
She was right about his not coming back
a trooper. When there was any work to
be done he was in the thick of it. and he
had some opportunities for showing that
soldering was trade he was fit for Pro-
motion, such as it is, comes quickly in q
colonial corps, and when he came back he
had commission. II came back a new
man, proud of and confident in himself
For years his life had been all down the
| hill, and until Kitty had stretched out her
kind little hand to help him every one had
been content to speculate as to how long it
| would take him to get TO the bottom. Per-
haps he would have hardly cared to think
how much she had done for him She was
SO fond of him and proud of him; it was
only natural, he thought, but still it was
gratifying. He was very pleased to see her
again, and her bright little face and CHEEKY
manner were very charming to him. He
! of course, was conscious that he was going
| to marry beneath him; still he got
on with her better than he did with
the few ladies he had ever meet for though
| he was gentleman of excellent family he
was not very refined person, They were
to have been married in few weeks when
| the Zulu war broke out, and Jack was
offered a commission in an irregular
cavalry regiment, and he accepted it and
went off again to the war leaving Kitty
to wait for his return and look after the
Frozen Bar" She prospered fairly well,
| though she began to encourage class of
custom which was not very remunerative.
The warriors who had served with Jack
and had plenty of stories to tell about him
and themselves took to frequenting the
bar, and Kitty would listen to these stories,
somewhat to the neglect of gentlemen of
the diamond market, who, if their lives
were less romantic paid with greater regu-
larity for what they had to drink.
There was good deal to do in Zululand
for the irregular horse, and when there
was anything to be done Jack Hope was
in his right place. He was present at
Zlobani Hill on that fatal day on which so
y.
| There were a good many brave deeds done
that day, comrade risking life to save COM
rade in that wild rush from the Kafirs who
| had again out-man9uvred their white
foes. Hope was cool and collected on that
dav, as he usually was in danger. AS he
rode down the hill for his life he heard
shout behind him. A young guardsman,
who had come out on special service, had
come to grief; his horse had been killed
and the Kaiirs were almost upon him.
| How Jack got through the kafrs and man
aged to get away with the man he saved he
hardly knows, bat he did, and he brought
! him back TO safety on his horse. A good
| deal was made Of this, and perhaps all the
more because the man he saved was the
son of a great man. So Jack was much
written about by special correspondents
and talked about by society at home, and
in time the news came out to South Africa
! that he was to be rewarded with the Y. c.
One day Kitty heard this news at Kim
berley, and was lent packet of English
papers which were full of accounts of
| Jacks deeds. She had taken the papers
and one of Jacks letters which she had re-
ceived some time before, and had walked
up to The Gardens-as a waste of land was
called on which a few frees had been
planted. and a feeble attempt at gardening
self to think it all over. She read about
Jack in the papers that he was the nephew
of the General Hope who was so distin-
guished in the Crimea, that he had been
educated at Harrow, and had afterwards
gone to South Africa. Every one at home
seemed to be proud of him, she thought, as
she read gushing leader about him in one
of the English papers. OF course she
thought it u very beautiful piece of writing,
and wondered what all the classical quota
tons meant, and who the long named
persons to whom Jack was compared were.
And this was the man who loved her
this hero this brave soldier. How she
wished she was different from what she
was. A lady who would be fit for him. not
poor half-taught woman, who had lived
a hard life among rough, coarse people, and
got the little education she bad from the
bits of plays she had learned and the nov
els she had read and the queer side of soci-
ETY. which she had seen. Well, if she was
the finest lady in the world, she thought
she would not be worthy of him. Cynical
little Kitty, who was so well able TO sum
any one up at their right value, and whose
estimates were seldom too favorable had
at last set up an idol which she bowed
down before and worshiped none the less
reverently because her experience ought
to have taught her that it was made
of rather poor clay. She had been
cittipp Gonna time Thinking nvar har