The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1904-04-02
Stolen By Balloons.
BY J. w. Quick.

My regiments fort, which lay be-
tween Graham's Town and King VIII
liam's Town, was in my time as dull
and sun-baked a residence as ever
tested the patience and sobered the
spirits of the soldiers Of the queen.
There was plenty of diversion and ex-
element during the kaffir War. but
upon peace being arranged we were
left" as Mrs. Malaprop says, ito be
bored with ennui and donothingness," "
for the boundless veldt wrapt us
around, in the dreary folds of its
stern solitude. Visitors were scarce;
baboons-in our district-were more
plentiful than humans; these mischie-
vous, ugly neighbors, ever resentins
our presence in their country, roamed
about in fierce gangs. their hoarsc
cries almost the only sounds that dis
turbed the vast silence.
We were not a cheerful company;
our women had been sent down to the
Cape before the outbreak; it was more
than twelve months since we had
heard the rustic of a petticoat; our
manners were depreciating for want
Of the refining influence of a woman's
presence We yearned for the exhil-
arating babble Of female tongues, for
we had almost exhausted our own con-
versation. Our best stories from con-
slant repetition had grown into hoary
headed chestnuts, and their narration
at mess met with derisive sarcasm.
We grew weary of the monotonous,
uninteresting landscape; we were
tired OF the excessive blueness of the
clear sky, the constant glare of the
fervid sun, and the too bright moon.
We longed instead for towns and thea
tres, for display Of millinery and pref
ty faces; in fact, for anything and
everything We hadn't got. Captain
Murdo's charming young wife was
the first woman to return to the
fort; he fetched her himself from
Graham's Town, where she had been
sent for safety during the fighting.
A baby had arrived in the interval,
and as this delightful encumbrancc
necessitated a nursemaid, the lady ar
rived, accompanied by Maggie OBrien,
q light hearted girl, to whom all the
single men paid immediate and amor
Gus attentions. We in the officers
quarters with zeal born of our long
abstention from domestic joys, sur
rendered our affections to the baby.
Buf1es was his pet name, gem OF
baby, whose innate sweetness Of dis
position threatened to dethrone his
Sire from his proud position of being
the most popular personality in the
fort. The whole strength worshipped
Buffics, adored his mother and rever-
enced Captain Murdo..
Sergeant Jones held a reserve
force of affection, which, as the ac-
cepted suitor of Maggie O'Brien, he
lavished in addition on that careless
trifler, and when in real park per-
ambulator she wheeled the baby in
the kloof, Sergeant Jones, erect and
soldierly, his chest expanded to the
utmost with the imitation of success
full gallantry, was her constant escort;
while a score or more. Of rejected and
Jealous warriors, from distant points
of vantage and from want. of some,
thing better to do, looked on at the
courting with pathetic eyes of gloomy
interest.
The kloof was d patch of bush in
Z. rocky hollow that had been left
when the outskirts Of the fort had
been cleared -~.for an unobstructed
range. There was grateful shade and
comparative GOODNESS to be found in
the kloof, and there Baby Bufiles
usually took the air.
At early morn on one eventful day
Captain Murdo left the fort alone, on
visit to a distant kraal.. 1t was an