Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-11-19
THE WARS FIRST VICTIM.
BY John De Morgan.
1900 Daily Story Publishing
Company


Company
Yes, my girl, tell you that great
times are at hand. Do you see that
pole with the flag of the South Afri-
can Republic floating from it? Look
at it Aida. yes, look at it for you
will not have chance to do so many
times more"
1 Why. father? You are not going
to leave are your
Leave? Ha, Ia, ha. No, my girl,
we will not leave. 1t may be your
old father will be a great man and
you shall wear silks and satins-"
His words were lost in the merry
laughter of pretty Aida Newton,
whose sides shook with her healthy
mirth, as she tride to repeat what her
father had said.
silks and satins, oh, father, you
ought TO be a writer on a comic pa
per-"
The girl was dressed in short skirt
Of homesp,tn, her feet were encased in
heavy shoes strong enough for a farm
laborer, and the thought of silks and
satins made her laugh. Her father
was one OF the Outlanders and was a
member OF the so-called Reform Com
mittee OF johannesburg.
You may laugl, Aida, but what
would you say ii the Union Jack of
England should float from that pole,
er, my girl?"
= shouiu say that / was ashamed
Of being English"
Ashamed of your country"
My country, father, is the Trans
vaal Republic. was born in Eng
land, but came here so young that
have known no other country but this.
Yet have been proud of England"
And so you ought to be, my girl, and
soon this will be am English Colony"
Never, father. The Burghers love
their lives and their homes, but they
would see EVERYONE burned to the
ground, would sacrifice every life before
thy would consent to be deprived of
independence"
"Hoity -toity, girl. in. few weeks
such talk will be treason. I tell you
English soldiers are on the way and
Another Majuba Hill, perhaps"
1T is that cursed Boer who has been
filling your head with such stuff. If 1
catch him round here I'll put a bullet
| through his Dutch carcass"
Aida did not wait to hear more. Her
heart was heavy for she knew that
trouble was brewing and that the Beers
would be slaughtered like sheep and
ii q cd IN 1nr- . ha al, l.
pl who had crossed the ,Vaa1 years be-
fore in order that they might live as
their conscience dictated, but there was
one Boer she loved more than all the
| Others, and TO him she had pledged her
troth.
Paul Van Dorm was across the weld
with his cattle He had gone for miles
! to find the water course where his cat
| tie could escape the hot burning grass
| of the weld and preserve their lives. He
was fine specimen of the young Boer,
! his broad brimmed hat kept the rays
of the blazing sun from burning his
| bright blue eyes, eyes from which
| soft love light seemed to come espec-
! tally as their owner thought of his dear
| Aida. His body was CARRIED in good
homespun suit, cloth which his mother
had woven from wool his father and
himself had sheared from their own
| sheep.
He thought of Aida and then OF her
| father. He sknew the Outlander was
ambitious. He wondered whether the
daughter would ever be content to
leave her home and share his hard life.
when night came he dreamt that she
was in trouble. His sleep was disturb
ed and he went down to the water side
and bathed his brow, the cooling water
acting like magic on his fevered brain
Again he slept and once more he
dreamt of her. He fancied she was in
danger, that she was calling for him.
| In fright ne woke, his face was bathed
with perspiration, his body trembled
violently.
He took his gun and started across
the weld, directed only by the remem-
brance Of the voice he had heard in his
dream.
On he went covering mile after mile;
his cattle were forgotten he thought
only of Aida, of his love, the one more
precious to his than all the diamonds
owned by the De Beer Company
AS the first rays of the glorious sun
shot across the weld bathing the dis
tant hills in superb grandeur, Paul saw
girl struggling in the grasp OF big.
powerful man. 1t was enough. The
girl must be Aida and his dream was
premonition after all He raised his
rife; he had no fear. He had learned
Dom Paul Kruger's lesson, of putting
bullet through a buzzards skull at
hundred yards, and a man was big
ger target than a buzzard. He took
careful aim. pulled the trigger and
fired. At the same instant the mans
grasp of the girl relaxed and she was
free; the bullet had pierced his heart.
Like an ostrich in its flight Paul
few across the weld. AS he came near
he saw the girl on her knees bending
over the dead man.
Nearer still and he saw that. the girl
was Aida and shat she was heart
broken.
Aida, Aida" he called, but she
did not answer. He approached and
saw that the dead man was her father,
and he was filed with horror.
What have / done?" he cried.
Aida turned to aim. Her eyes were
dry and burning. She waved him
back.
DO not touch met she cried. YOU
have kfiied nv father u,aS cor.sv~r