The record-union., 1899-04-30


head lightly with his lips. risen to his
feet, and with his arm, raised above
his head. had emptied hts revolver into
the silence of the night.
They'll know there's British officer
where that revolver is he said, cheeri-
| ly.
"But-but, you fool-you dear old silly
fool-so will those brown devilst'
Cant help that" sad Warrington,
with little laugh, Its too chilly to
stop out late tonight" Then in a
lower tone. For the sake of auld lang
syne, Vic, my boy"
| He reloaded his revolver. When the
echoes had ratified away into deeper 81
lence they heard the distant shots sud
denly recommence, and distant shouts
and bowls came to them like whispers.
From the invisible hills facing them
| came din and confused scuff1ing ana
! scraping sounds as of cats scrambling
down rocks A moving white blur APP
| peared somewhere in the thick dark
| ness, then another, and another; and
suggestion of low-toned gutteral con-
versation reached Warrington's strain
ing ears. He shifted mis- revolver to
his left hand and gently drew his sword
| Then from over there where he knew
| the camp lay six revolver shots i'll
quick succession.
That's Welby!" he said to himself
Vicary's hand had been grasping the
heel of his foot tightly Now he felt
the grip relax; and in moment more
the wounded subaltern slipped a little
with slight tinkle Of steel on rock
and groaned.
In another moment a dozen bowling
hillmen were blazing away at random
toward the spot whence the groan
seemed to have come. They aimed
low and erratically, and Warrington
held his fire for few interminable sec
onds.
Then they closed in, and one stumbled
over Vicary's outstretched legs before
| they could realize that two British Off
GERS We're within a yard of them. Wa.
rington felt the man grab him as he
fell, and fired with the barrel of his re
volver touching bare skin. After that
he fired and slashed very much at ran
dom, and the darkness around him
shrieked and howled and spat fire, and
long, graceful knives suggested them
| selves to the imagination of the man
who had seen them at work before.
For ten long minutes Warning
ton was busy-wondering all the time
what Weary was doing down there be-
tween his legs, and how he liked it,
| and which of them would die first.
Then suddenly in a lull he heard
family sound that sent the blood to
his head with a rush-the scraping CT
many boots over rocks hundreds Of
yards away, and the dim echo of
word of command. He shouted and
fired his last cartridge above his head
that they might see the flash, and flung
the empty weapon at a white eyeball
that was too near to be pleasant, and
cut and pointed and slashed away with
renewed vigor. Down the valley and
over the rocks came a hoarse, breath
less cheer and pith helmets cleaned
family in the near distance. He an
severed the cheer with a crOak, and
went on carving and hacking as though
his foes still confronted him. But they
did not wait to meet his friends. They
left All but five, to whom even Brit
ish troops were a matter of indffer
died into a grim semi-circle around
Lieutenant Warrington ! and Second
Lieutenant Weary When his men
came up to him they found him with
Weary in his arms leaning against the
| wall of rock, looking as Private Bill
more said, ~as though ed 'ad a nasty
messy accident with red paint
| Weary opened his eyes as he entered
the camp feet foremost.
| Warrington, V. c. he said, and
tried to cheer. But the others did it for
| him. -