The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-05-15
RUDYARD KIPLlNC WITH THE WOUNDED
OF THE BRITISH ARMY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Copyright. 1900, by Rudyard Kiplinc)

he is the kindest of souls to an in
valid.
The twins are not ON their feet vet.
They are both Australians. both have
broken legs, they lie side hy side
their legs in sings. and one loy,lly
caps the others talle>t yarn. \ few
days back talk turned on what black
fellows could do with a boomerang.
\ Fu>lller cut To pieces with barb
ed wire. a Ninth Lancer and a West
orkshireman toll the twins 10 dls
1t mild. Sticks could not twist aad
turn in that way. II was as absurd a~
the word WoolloomooIoo. Entered
then from another tent convaleScenf
Rae. OF Manitoba. hit down at Sling
erS or Arundel.
Rae said he did not understand
boomerangs. but things could be made
10 curve in the air. for all the Ninth
lancier said. For instance. there WAS
Il game called baseball. Rae ilIustrat-
ed with his sound arm how a pitcher
sends in a curved ball. and the twins.
applanding. welcomed him rs am ally.
They had a file OF Australian papers
with pictures of hoomerangs. Would
the Ninth Lancer please get them ont
from the shelf and they would cN-
plain?
SO, under the pines planted in South
Africa by men fro mthe North. Welsh
men. tyke. cockney and Canadian.
bent their heads over a Melbourne
weekly. while a QueenSlander read
the l~etterpresS.
Johnson, of q Highland regiment
he looked very like Alan Breck-had
tried TO stop y shell splinter with his
stomach. and it cost him eight weeks
agOn. The first time we met he
walked crab fashion. his blue eyes
alight with pain. Hear. heaven. and
bear witness. . earth. that there WAS
no more South Africa for Johnson
and his stomach, \ fortnight latef
we sat in the sun with Il whisperin"
gnardsman. half of whose larnyX had
been put out of condition by a down
dropping bullet.
But johnson was Il changed man.
He had developed Il scheme. and eN-
planned it as he sat grasping his ankle
and rocking to II fro. They were
going to send him to Green Point
with other conNaleScentS. The odds
were they would send him home and
that did not suit JohnSon's revised
book. I'm a saddler by trade. THEY'LL
80 ht 1lNNH vi lh' NIth tlltN e
repairing collars and harness. IN
not be sent home till the war is over
If | can help it. Surely they'll need
q collar-maker. Then I'll be able 10
get back again"
He went off to draw his kit. walk
ing corkily, and the guardsman Whis-
pered husky congratulations.
But there is no spring in Mcconnell.
sergeant Of another Highland rcgi-
Woodworking but sOur disgust. He
got it in the hand. round Paardeberg.
a rending SCATTERING bullet. that has
marked him for England. And there
is what is left Of his company to
consider. and there is his unpaid debt
to the Boer, drawing interest every
day. and there is his right hand
throbbing and aching in the night
watches. His chief interest is the
daily paper and the list Of the iIoer
dead. He lies in his corner. smoking.
breeding and m%editatino how to es-
cape England. But his hand his
right hand. with the iron hard fore
arms useless. He always comes
back to that.
Not far from him lies Carter, who
vent down hill by reason Of a fractur-
ed thigh and some fever.
Then he got bed sores-two. he told
me-and then they got him an air
Mattress. Carter came near losing his
life. but the story in the ward is that
\eeld. q graceleSs CockneN Highland
er, bucked him up. precisely as Din
Mss bucked up the man shot through
the lungs.
Anyhow. Carter is spared. which is
a sign Of grace. and they have taken
him out for a small walk in a wheeled
chair. He KEEP askin' us all the way
up hill if he was too heavy. said onr
Of Carter's steeds-a convaiescent
with a head wound "NNell. you see.
it's voluntary, not compulsory. takin'
convalescents out. says Carter. rath-
er tremuIOuS about the mouth.
You don't weigh mOrcn a raj
now" is the anSWe and then the
voice. touched with beautiful tender
ness. Did We like it. Arry?"
Did he like it? After three months
he has seen trees and sunshine, and
felt the big Sky above him. He picked
up the good dirt of the earth and let
it run through his fingers. Now he
is going TO sleep.
COLD STEEL OR DEATH.
"There is but one small chance to save
=. 90 90