The Holly chieftain., 1900-07-20
none other to whom can 60. Heiy
me. help mo; for Thy Sons sAke!"

A40AV 0IuGA VI MaO1A CRA kO. EISl8
me. help mo, for Thy Sons sake!"
Strange to say. sleep came to her
presently; and in that deserted bear
hole. In the midst Of . lonely and des-
olate veldt, alone In the world, a. II
seemed. Blueoell Leslie slept soundly.
She awakened suddenly. 1t was ter
rible sound like that of distant thun-
der that broke her slumber. Bluebell
sat up. shiyering with an uncontrolla-
BILE terror. for she had heard that
sound once before. and knew what II
was.
1t WAS the distant roar Of = lion.
She crouched down in her hiding
place. shaking from head to foot.
What II the terrible king Of beasts
should discover her "spoor'' and trace
her to her shelter? The thought Of
the horrible death that would then be
inevitable made Bluebell's flesh creep
and her blood turn cold.
There was no more sleep for her
that night. She lay, with shakins
limbs and loudly-beating heart. on her
bed of stubble grass. her ears strained
to catch the sudden, blood-curdling
roar Of the lion before the grassy en-
trance to her shelter. But 1t did not
come. The distant rumbling died
away, and when morning came Blue
bell fell on her knees and thanked the
protecting Arm that had shielded her
from the terrors of the night.
She crawled out OF her hiding place
and looked around her A great fiat
plain stretched on every side; one or
two small kopjes. covered with tawny
bushes. broke the monotony; but no
river or hill could she see anywhere.
There was nothing to guide her as to
the direction in which she WIS to go.
She was absolutely lost on the terri
BILE veldt,
Bluebell knew what that meant
She remembered the terrible cases Of
which she had heard of people-in one
case it was child-being lcct on the
plain. and never heard of again. She
pictured to herself the agony Of a liv-
ing death by starvation, and shud-
dered before the unknown horrors
of 1t.
But at least she had escaped from
what was far worse than death-un
less her dreaded prosecutor found her
again. II he were alive he would be
hunting her now.
There was no time to lose. She
must set on at once. and trust to
Providence to guide her in the right
direction.
Bluebell looked up at the sun, the
only Indication OF the direction in
which she should set her face. She
knew that Moore had been going west
ward; she would turn southwark.
She took OF her long cloak. for It
was now growing very warm, hung
It over her shoulder by the straps, and
began that terrible journey. She could
make no toilet. and her fast she could
not break. Already she was beginning
to feel desperately hungry.
Bluebell had begun to realize the
full horror and physical pains of her
position.
The hot MONDAY sun beat down on
her unprotected head, giving her a
racking headache and almost binding
her. The dry red dust. covering her
face and. as 1t seemed to her, every
inch OF her body. and causing her hor-
rible discomfort. left her mouth and
throat parched and dry. and her thirst
was well-nigh intolerable.
"Oh, God, how long can I endure 1t?
Have mercy and pity me! Guide me
to water!" She moaned aloud. At
that moment all she wanted was wa
ter. The anguish OF thirst hat swal-
lowed up all minor pains.
At last she sank down I'm the dry
sand, stretching appealing hands to
the pitiless sky that was as brass
above her.
"If there is no help for me, then let
me die outright, o God. before this in
tolerable anguish maddens mel"
But there came no answer from
those oppressive skies, and for the mo-
ment 1t seemed that God was as pitt
less as men.
Two days later small body Of
English soldiers came briskly riding
across the red, sandy veldt They be-
longed to Welsh regiment, and had
been pursuing flying body OF Beers
from Estcourt They had gone fur
ther than they had intended. Snd were
hurrying back before night overlook
them.
Halo! what have we here?" cried
young Lieutenant Preston to his COM
panion, pointing to something lying
on the red sand. He paused, and,
slipping from his horse, picked 1t up.