The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-19

In the afternoon his nephews rode away
home. and Gerrit and Elizabeth rode around
the farm. for he was eager to learn how II
had Jared during his absence. As they
came back she told him Of her love for
Antony.
He heard her gravely and said that there
was no reason for haste: that he must con-
slider the matter; but she had made 1t clear
to him that her love and her happiness were
one.
Her confession distressed him. for he
had looked to have her to himself for some
years yet.
Again. the notion of her marrying an
Englishman was strange to him. since ne
had always looked upon her as sure TO
marry her cousin. Dirk. Seeing her with
this foreign lover it is not to be wondered
at If he felt some of the feelings Of Lam
bro But for days he said nothing. but
watched Antony and her carefully. and lit
tie by little his repuGnance to their
marrying began TO wear away.
He WAS growing to like Antony.
His simplicity was after his own heart.
and his cheerfulness. his boyish jokes. were
as pleasant as they were unfamiliar to
him. He found that he would make in time
a very shrewd farmer. He was beginning
TO feet that if he had a son he would have
liked him such n one as Antony.
Then one day he said to Elizabeth.
When are you and Antony going to get
married."
"Oh-h-h. I-I-don't know" she STAN
mered with n great flush. In answer to the
same question Antony said promptly. To
morrow"
In his slow, methodical way Gerrit set
about arranging matters SO that the mar
riaSe must be good for he knew something
of the difference of the marriage laws In
different countries. Antony became bur-
CHER OF the Free State with very little de-
lay.
In such matter Ruijter was a name to
ccnjure with. In the distress Of the country
1t seemed no time for the festival, and the
marriage was very quiet. \ Dutch pastor
from Nryburg celebrated 1t in the parlor.
and the three De Ruijters Of Weltevreden
were the guests and witnesses.
For two months Elizabeth and Antony en-
joyed an even fuller happiness.
Then one evening, as they were on their
way home from an outlying pasture and An
tony was riding carelessly with his eyes on
Elizabeth. his horse put his foot in a hole,
came down and threw him sprawling over
its head. 1t was nothing of fall but the
jar lifted the bone which pressed on his
brain and blotted out his memory.
He drew himself into sitting posture and
stared around the familiar veldt, another
man, a crowd OF memories throngng his
mind. He knew himself Sir Antony Arbuth-
not Of Righton Grange; that he had a wife,
Muriel. and child. Antony. in England.
The panorama of tho lost years unrolled
swiftly before the eye Of his mind. He saw
his schooldays, the days at Oxford, the days
at Righton, his courtship Of Muriel, their
marriage, the birth Of their boy, his Jour-
ney to South Africa to look after his min
Ing interests, the besieging Of Kimberley, his
enlistment in the Town Guard. the brush
with the Beers when he was scouting. the
first few rifle shots.
Then came a blank. and then he saw him
self in bed at Vrengderijk and Elizabeth at
his bedside, the events Of the last five
months following clearly. In a few seconds
he saw all his life. He turned a scared face
up to the anxious Elizabeth, who was ask
ing where he was hurt. At the sight of It
she caught her breath and, clutching at her
bosom, cried:
You rememberi Who-who-is Muriel"
II remember" he said, and rising heav-
fly to his feet started across the vedt
Tell me-tel me.'' she gasped huskily.
II must think" he said slowly
He caught his horse, mounted. and they
rode home at walk in silence; now and
again he looked at her terror-stricken face
with pitiful eyes.
Gerrit wondered at their silence during
supper and On the veranda- With Eliza