Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-22

stood to st. George Vane, who had known
| them both since they were children.
Like all men of her acquaintance, Vane
admired Lenora greatly and sometimes
| half believed himself in love with her; and
| whether he was really so or not, he had been
accustomed for years to call himself her
! worshiper. On the other hand, though he
| liked Mary Sulland very warmly, and
would have done anything in his power to
| give her pleasure, he never told himself
! that he was in love with her, nor even
thought about it.
Both the girls on their side regarded
| Vane with feelings far different from those
| of ordinary interest. But it is characters
| tic of each, that while Lenora never forgot
| that Vane was rich man, Mary Sulland
never gave the fact a thought. nor would
| have considered the subject of much inter-
est if she had.
The girls were now alone on the veranda,
| anxious, restless and uneasy. It is true
| that at that moment nothing alarming was
| either to be seen or heard. No noise of war
was in the air; scarcely sound disturbed
the evening silence. In the earlier days Of
| the siege there had been continued assaults
upon the walls, but these had now been
given up as hopeless, and except for the
distant humming of the human swarmS
among the huts and bazaars of the Sepoys
around the walls, the place was still. But
''over all there hung cloud of tear;"
sense of impending danger, as of the sword
hanging by a single thread; the cruel un-
certainty as to what was going to happen,
which makes the peculiar horror OF q
passive siege.
In such situation the ear is always
listening, the nerves are ready to start at
every sound, and the mind is kept stretched
constantly upon the rack.
Vane, on entering the room, had no
knowledge that tine two girls were at that
moment on the veranda, so near to his own
window. He had Just been round the sta
tion, and had got together with some diff
Guilty half dozen men who could be spared
from active duty at the watch posts on the
walls, and these as he had given orders,
were now collected about the door of the
room, awaiting his arrival. Four were
English, two were Sikhs-every man of
them, as Vane knew well, to be trusted to
the death.
These men he now placed on one side Of
the table, while he himself stood on the
other. Then, in a few words, he explained
to them the nature of the service for which
they were required, adding that he only
wished for volunteers, and that any man
who disliked the duty might retire at once.
Not man stirred, however. The Sikhs
saluted gravely; the British soldiers, true
to immemorial custom of their race when
called upon to face q special danger, broke
into a cheer.
Vane looked round him and his eyes glis-
tened, but he said, simply:
'The man that goes out first will run BY
far the greatest risk. Who will undertake.
that duty?"
There were, as already stated, six men
present beside Vane himself Six right
hands Immediately saluted-there were six
competitors for the privilege of being the
first mark of the Sepoys' cannon. Vane
smiled.
"We must draw lots, I see, }" he said.
Opening q shallow drawer in the table Re
took out Of it pack of cards.
"Here are seven Of us, he continued. AZ
am going to deal these cards all rounds
Whichever of us receives certain card-we
will say the knavs of spades-will be the
man selected"
He cut the pack. The deal began.
A hush fell on the six spectstors-the
hush of rising interest Except for the
slight futtering noise made by the falling