Mower County transcript., 1903-12-23

OpPACoSAVO AO{SSs 2 a.. .
An antelope and Its mate came
trotting to the waters edge to drink.
but ere quenching. their thirst sniffed
the air suspiciously, and then galloped
of downstream, their hard little hoofs
rattling like castanets over the stones.
A hundred yards OF the Wild creatures
halted and gazed timorously back.
Onethe bank, by the gray embers of
a dead fire, lay a CHASTITY thing, hud-
died shapelessly in heap, the cloth
ing soiled and dusty, a great reddish
brown stain on the khaki jacket, the
ends Of waving brown beard matted
and clotted with the blood which had
dripped and Oozed and discolored the
light, clayey soil.
Richard Dysart! Alive?-perhaps.
Dead?-if not, he surely soon will be
unless succ0r comes.
Down the little kloof through which
the old wagon had creaked so cheer
fully the day before there stole like
shadows two dusty Kaff1r boys. Tim
idly they gained it's shelter, and eau
tiously peered through the spokes of
the heavy wheels.
They point eagerly at the recumbent
figure, and chatter to each other in
their queer, clicking speech. Then,
looking fearfully around and over their
shoulders, they advance, and Joey
drops on his knees beside his master.
"Baas, Baas!" he Whines, and with
thumb and forefinger raises an eyelid
to see if there be left any life.
The blue and parched lips move, and
there is whispered moan:
water! Water!"
The other boy looks on stupidity and
stolidly, but Joey dashes to the wagon
for tin cup, which he fills at the
stream, and raising the head of the
sorely wounded man, manages to tilt
some of the blessed liquid down his
throat.
Catching sight of the neck of a flask
protruding from the sufferers pocket,
!oey sends some brandy chasing
after the water, and the vivifying ef
feet OF the cordial is almost magical.
Dysart opened his eyes, drew few
shuddering breaths, and then man.
aged to sit up, supporting himself with
one hand while he pressed the other to
his wounded side.
At sight of the blood stained Jacket
and the dark pool which discolored the
ground there were more excited Kaffir
clicks, while the poor, faithful, half
famished blacks watched their master
anxiously.
Slowly and painfully the details Of
the tragedy came back to his throb-
bing and fever-parched brain. His
gaze sought the ground on either hand,
then he groaned:
Robbed The damned hound!"
Reaching out his hand for the pre-
cious flask, he took another gulp of it's
contents, and then made as if he would
rise, but fell back, helpless as a child
His limbs were cramped and stiff with
the nights exposure, to freezing tenn
perature, and he was besides. awfully
weak from loss of blood.
ouL DySolC N4CW " udL l1uSL NC
if he would save his life, and so he
whispered
Strip me, Joey"
Tenderly as women the boys did his
bidding. Slowly and amid many
smothered exclamations of pain they
got his belt and jacket off; = then his
heavy flannel shirt, and a silk under
shirt-the last refusing to bulge un-
til all around the wound had been we'll
wetted. Then was disclosed an angry
red puncture just below and little
to the left of the right armpit There
was a larger and more Jagged wound
at the, back, where the heavy-calibre
bullet had ploughed it's exit, lodging
between the flesh and the clothing,
whence it dropped to the ground as
the last garment was removed.
Joey picked it up with a click and a.
grin OF astonishment and handed it to
Richard, who coolly slid it into his
trousers-p0cket. Under his directions
the wound was washed clean, and then
carefully bandaged with the silk shirt
tOEu lnIO SLF1pS.
By this time the warming sun had
done it's genial work, and Dysart's legs
We're thawed out. So, by dint OF both
boys bracing themselves and Juggling
on his sound arm he managed to stag
ger to his feet and totter to the wag-
on, where, after much boosting and
groaning on their part and his, he
was made fairly comfortable on the
heavy mattress which covered the bed
of the conveyance. Then the wounded
man collapsed. .,.
The days ran into weeks, and the
weeks mounted into months before
the lonely adyenturer began to mend.
Fever wasted him to skeleton; ma
laria sapped his vitality. Help there
was none within a hundred miles: he
could not stand the jolting of the wag-
On, and in his lucid moments he stern
ly vetoed Joey's offers to 20 for
help. He knew what that would mean
"a rush of strangers to his claim.
So there, on the banks of the Moot
river, he fought his second fight with
death, tended and nursed only by his
faithful Kafirs-and won out at 1asti