The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-02-04

rolled it soldierwise and slung it across
his body. Then, very stifily, he Stun
bled back to the road, and cursed again
as the old veldU5chOen he wore stubbed
on the ruts Of passing heavy OK wag-
0ns. and his already bruised feet were
freshly tortured.
BLAST the country he grOaned, land
the man who forced me out to it"
The moon was instantly hid by
massey clouds as he spoke, and he was
left in sudden shadows. He laughed
and looked up at the sky.
Shocking, isn't ito ne sneered. No
WCIder you run away. Of course, 1t IS
very wrong to curse ones father
As he halted, shiveTing, the Unmis-
taxable and most Characteristic sound
Of lonely veldt roads reached him from
the front He heard the crack OF heavy
wheels as a wagon jOlted toward him,
and the clacE of oXen's long horns
against the wooden yOkes, the shrill,
protesting caH of the voerIOeper tc the
leaders. and the rifle crack of the dTiv-
er'S long uneTTinE lash. Lawrence lis
tened q { FIRST with some interest then
with disgust, for the voices borne on the
wind were those Of neither BOeT nor
Englander but Of Kaffirs. in his pres
ent state of mind he was too exhausted,
TO Wretched. too desperately furious
punishment for his past. TO desire COM
pauy. An utterly miserable man seeks
no wordy consolation. Like dying deer,
he hunts solitude His stomach, how
ever, craved heating food. but, though
he might have asked for coffee from a
Boer, he could not of native.
He came to q puzzled standstiu as
something entirely novel and uneXpecC
ed reached his ears. Rising above the
F7r-
song. Lawrence bent forward fTOWoins.
He felt as If intrusive strangers were
rUdely meddliug with his affairs, offer
ing him advice He had felt much the
same once when he had wandered by
chance into the evening meeting Of a
mission Uu the Rand and youth, lay
ing a familiar hand upon his shoulder,
had asked If he were saved This song
of the dawn was q hymn, and very well
known to him. or had been once The
words were not those he had sung when
a rosy boy in white surplICe, he had
stood in the choir of the old school
chanel al home. but the mUsic-there
is no need to translate music into the
Kafir tongues. that escaped the curse
of Babel. and therein at least all men
and angels can UNDERSTANDABLE con-
verse. Fr0m mission-trained lips there
came the hymn, sweetly breathing
through the grasses. UncOnSciOusly
Lawrence accompanied them in Eng
lish:
When other comforts fail. and helpers
Help of the helpless. then abide with me.
He stumbled of the trail. and sought
to hide in the maze Of shadows from
cloud and tree which streWed the plain.
There was no tear in his eyes, but his
throat was chCked. He shook with IN
reasoning rage against the black non
entities who had thus added TO his de-
spair by flashing his dead innocence
into mCmeptary memory so clearly and
vividIy. He was too late and 10 sore
to get out of sight They passed close
by in the now awakening morning lie
turned his eyes TO the veldt. but the
song ceased. ard he knew they were
watching him. The swinging oxen luTn-
bered past. and the voerloepers cry and
the lashcrack sounded soon behind him,
but he would not look round. Then
came pattering bare feet and a child
with wide black eyes slipped to his
side and murmuring "baas,' held Up to
the gaunt, bearded, dusty, ragged shlV-
ering Englshman q tin cup full Of
smoking black coffee. lie gulped I rav-
en0uSly without speech, ana the little
negro darted away with the empty cup.
For q minute Lawrence stood staring
unseeingly before him. his lips tWitch-
ing convulsively. Then he dropped in
the road, his face covered by his hands,
and sObbed. What matter OF remOrse
and penitence there might be in the
chemistry Of his tears it would be hard
to tel. but the shame-faced curse that
sprank from his lips as at last h rose
up betrayed the hurt his pride sus-
tanned at having fallen so low as TO ex~
cite pity even Of a naked, half-staTved
EaffiT
A mile more was YEARLY trudged, and
at last he came TO the boundary line
which separates the TransVaal from
British Beehuanaland. A low house
stood almost on the surveyed line-a
csnteen-and from its open door came
more melody. The sun was now up and
the air was already warmed. Comfort
able smells of cooking meats drifted
out TO the roadway, and smoke ascend
ed from the chimney in the building s
rear As Lawrence stopped 20 recon-
hotter a shout gave witness to the eS-