Smyrna times., 1900-05-09

and drew a small silver bell near to his

and drew a small silver bell near 70 his
side.
"Oh, don't be frightened" said Joe.
with smile of amusement Pm not |
going to thrash you! 1t wouldn't be
1alr to hit man of your siZer'
Mr.. Dewhurst tried to sneer but only
looked nightly relieved.
Il want to tell you what l think of
yOu," said Joe.
Go on" said Dewhurst, with a grin.
Seeing that you've had the worst of
1t all through, | suppose l mustn't
mind few spiteful wordsr'
Il want to tell you that you're the
meanest cad I've met, and if that poor
girl marries you I'm sorry for herr
I'm fact, you're so sorry said Dew
hurst, that you'd even marry her
yourself. Capital! And, now you've
said enough. I'll wish you good morn
ing"
With a mighty effort of self re-
straint, Joe pulled himself together,
and, resisting the impulse to knock him
down, swung out of the room
He had lost everything-th girl he
loved and the means of earning his
living. He was alone in the world,
with no prospect but that of cOmmenc-
ing life again in some counting house,
and Then suddenly he remembered.
Only two nights before he had attend
ed drill at the headquarters of his vol
unteer corps. The men had been ask
ed which of them wished to join the C.
l. V. for the front. He thought of the
| glow that had burned through his
veins, how he had lOnged to offer him
self and had only been prevented by
his feeling of obligation to his old
friends business. Now he was free!
That settled it. Old England was in
need of help from men such as he. He
was as sound as a bell in wind and
limb. He had done his turn at volun-
teering and could shoot more than a
little.
! Within half an hour his name was
entered as one of those who were ready
for service at the front, and he was or
dered to go before the doctor.
That gentleman laughed at him.
'If we get 400 men as fit as you
are" he said, Eve shall do we'll"
Having successfully passed all the
tests and been duly enrolled as one of
the City of London Imperial volunteer
corps, he felt slightly easier in his
mind.
1t must be confessed that he was in
that pleasant frame of mind when a
man firmly believes that there is no.
| DIV 70 orY.in nd Gn1 n
morbid pleasure in the prospect of a
soldiers grave.
Most of us get these attacks of de-
spOndency some time in our lives, and,
to tell the truth, it lasted a very short
time with Joe Redbolt. After a few
days of hard drill he had lost sight of
the possibility of getting killed and
was looking forward to making things
as unpleasant as possible for the enc
my.
At last the final moment came. He
had attended the services at st. PauPs
and sung the national anthem until he
was hOarse. He had been slapped on
the back by hundreds of warm hearted
but heavy handed citizens. He had
even fought his way successfully
through a mob of enthusiastic patriots
all the way from Bunhill row to Nine
Elms, where he was one of the first to
arrive.
There stood the train waiting to take
them to Southampton. There, too,
stood the long suffering band, and
every minute groups of breathless, eX-
cited men in khaki. who had also
fought their way through the crowd
rushed on to the platform.
OF course 1t was all over. There was
nothing to be done but get into the
train and say goOdby to old London
for mOnths-perhaps forever. Once
more a gloomy sense of loneliness came
upon him. Everybody else had chum
or a relative to see him off. And then
an angel came from heaven? Not
quite But an earthly angel appeared
in the shape of a slight form in a long
black cloak, who was pushing her way
feverishly through the crowd, eagerly
scanning the faces of all the gentle
men in khaki"
Then their eyes met, and in a minute
he was clasping in his arms the CIR
| who had refused him a month before
and in whose presence he had always
been so shy that he had never YET
dared to press her hand.
How had it happened? There seemed
, no need. and certainly no time, for ex
plantations. Why had he accepted hel
foolish mo" when she never mean
him to? She always thought he wOulC
. speak to her again. Why had he beeI
. so awkward and brusque in the way
he had asked her? He had given hel
no chance to say ''yes." And it wal
only last night she had learned wha
had happened-from Dewhurst's owl
lips-and she had cried all night at th'
mischief she had done, and would h'
, forgive her? And did he still care TO
| ho,