The aegis & intelligencer., 1903-01-09

you to promiS" me this: If ever tic
hated English com" this way as The
fighting goes on. they Shall not steI
over our threshold We have rifles and
bullets We will barricadc the house
and fight them off Promise me that
we shall fight"
But | am only girl. father. and
you are an old man." she protested.
But we must fight them: you muat
have no kin to send to war If you
will not promise, then-then"-
'T will promise" she said as she
went back to her work
Weeks passed. and one day as father
and daughter stood in the door listen
ing TO the distant rumble of cannon
from the north the girls keen eyes
caught sight of red uniforms and fash
ing arms on the narrow highway.
Father, the English are coming"
she said with gasp.
God. but is it so:" he shouted. How
many, girl; how many:'
"Hundreds,''
And they ride this way TO capture,
burn and destroy. Daughter, do you
remember your promise?"
Il do. father
Then bar the door. shutter the win
dows and raise the ilag of Kloofman
to the roof. War has cCrlr to lis at
| last and am glad. We Will show these
Englishmcn how old and Young. men
nd Etrl,t Il
erty. All. my Old eyes can dimly see
them now. and | feel like shouting and
| laughing.
1t was raiding party of 500 British
cavalry. accompanied by half Il bat
| terry. They were seiZing horses. oxen
and carts for transportation. but neither
! burning nor destroying. But for the
sight of the flag OF defiance tluttering
above the farmhouse they might have
| cleared the fields and sheds and passed
on. That flag meant that Il score or
more Of burghers had gathered and
| meant ia make Il fight of il. AS
skirInishers pressed forward two rifles
| We're discharged and Il soldier threw
up his arms and fell upon the grass.
| A hundred men were dismounted and
advanced. aud for IL quarter of an hour
| they fired briskly ut doors and Win
| dowS. At intervals IL rifle cracked in
| response TO the bark of Il carbinc, and
| at each Il soldier went down to rise no
more y flag of truce was sent for
| ward with Il demand for surrender,
and it was Kloofman who unbarrcd
| the door and stood barcheaded in the
| open and called out
"Go back and say that we shall fight
| to the death. Jacob Kloofman had no
| son to send to tile front and he was
| too old to go himself. but when war
comes to his own door he will show
you English how IL burgher can die for
liberty and his home
THE fools muttered the colonel as
he received the message. 1T is a
stone house. and there may he twenty
men inside of it with rifles. hut few
| shells from the guns will make ruins
of the place. Ny compliments to Cap
| tain Davis and tell him to open fire at
| once"
Five minutes later the three ritipd
| guns were hurting shell at the old
| farmhouse. The missiles tore their way
through the roof and entered by door
| and windows. The soldiers cheered
and looked for speedy surrender. There
was no longer any rifle firing, but the
! flag did not come down. When the
| guns had fired three or four rounds
| apiece, Il white flag was sent forward
again. No one appeared in defiance
| this time. The man who bore it walked
straight to the house and peered in
through the terrible gaps left by the
shells. Then he slowly returned and
reported to the colonel:
! No one to answer. sir. think they
must all be dead"
The dismounted men moved up, led
by the colonel. No hostile bullet greet
ed them. In Il circle and with carbines
ready they closed in on the battered
house. At length the colonel and one
| Of his aids entered with their hats in
their hands, and the colonePs voice had
a catch in it as he said:
Men, uncover. The defenders of this
house We're an old man and a young
girl. father and daughter and they
We're torn to death by the shells Let
them be buried with our own dead and
with all the honors, and God rest their
| souls