The Holly chieftain., 1900-09-14

WeTo over. lElS cIlmaL6 II O6BlQ-
ming to tell upon you. You must take
a trip home. and remain there during
the summer months"
Adrienne shook her head. her lips
quivering.
1T is nothing. Ned: have been a
little upset, thatJs all. We women.
who stay at hpjne and don't share
all the excitement and glory Of the
enterprise. are apt to get little de-
pressed and anxious over the results
Of 1t. And war Is terrible thing at
best. There are always some brave
fellows left behind when you march
away with the glory Of triumph from
the battlefield"
"Ay. that is true" said the colonel.
signing little; "but 1t Is glorious
death. Addy-no brave fellow could
desire a better. A thousand times
better than to be taken prisoner;
that's the fate man breads. And that
reminds me there's one poor fellow
whose fate may have been that for all
we know. mean poor Cleland."
"Yes?" said Adrienne. quickly. She
passed her hand over her lips. Il
! heard something about him, Ned.
Tell me what you know"
Little enough" said the colonel; II
wish we knew more. We didn't miss
him until we reached a place called
Hudi, that was a day before the bat
tie; then we found he had disappeared.
His boys told cock-and-bull story Of
his having been attacked by hyena.
and instantly after disappearing They
thought the spirit Of the animal had
carried him off. But Rayburn had q
still queerer story to tell. 1t seems he
had been up very late the night before,
and had gone out for a stroll down by
the river. AS he approached he saw
boat shoot swiftly down. There
were two men In 1t. and one he was
sure was an Englishman, though he
did not recognize him. He shouted,
but no answer was returned, and the
next minute the boat had disappeared
from view. AS soon as the news got
abroad about Cleland's disappearance
he related what he had seen; but of
course he gave us no clue. Vanburgh.
however, told me some time after that
Rayburn had limited to him he-Ray-
burn-had reason to think Cleland was
rather queer customer, and that he
had several times spoken Of the injus-
tice OF the English in forcing their
rule upon the Soudanese. who had
previously been well enough satisfied
with that of their own Khalifa."
1T is falsehoodi" cried Adrienne,
suddenly. She turned towards her
brother face pale as death. in which
her dark eyes burned like two Goals
Ned, you do not believe such mani
| fest lie7"
The colonel looked at his sister in
surprise.
Il can't say do, A1dy. 1 always
found Cleland strlight fellow
enough, and he had no reason to join
us II he felt like that. The truth is, l
had kind Of idea Rayburn didn't
like Cleland-was jealous OF him, In
fact; but we can only hope the poor
fellow will turn up all right. He did
not get into Mahmoud's clutches, any
how, that is certain; and II the Khal-
ifa has got hold of him we shall find
him in the next campaign-when we
fall on the Khalifa's traces-if he is
still living"
Adrienne drew in her breath little
pantingly; her hand went swiftly to
her side. Her brother looked at her
anxiously.
"Ill tell you what 1t is. Addy-you
must see a doctor. There's a lady
doctor, they say, staying now with
Mr.. Crombie, the Scotch clergyman,
you know. She is on her way to Mad
agascar as medical missionary. Why
not see her? She comes from Edln-
burgh, believe. VIII you allow me
to send for her?"
Adrienne shook her head, saying she
wan all right; but the colonel was not
satisfied.
That very day he invited Mr.. Crom-
bic, his wife and the Scotch lady doc
tor to dine with his sister and himself
In the evening and Adrienne found
herself later on awaiting her guests
in her elegant little drawing room.
When the servant announced them
Mr.. and Mrs. Crombie and Doctor
Crawford"-she went forward to re-
ceive them with her usual gracious
sweetness; but her eyes dwelt longest
on the face Of the lady doctor, and
during the evening she found them
again and again wandering to that
pale. pure face. with the expression Of
strange. deep peace stamped forever
upon 1t.
1t was Margaret Crawford, indeed