Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-12-15

never complains. He has not given
me an hours anxiety since he was
born"
The rash friend smiled, and agreed
with the last remark more emphatic
ally than was, perhaps, quite polite.
Arthur, she was certain, had never
cost his mother a moments uneasi-
ness since he vas born.
So life-the easy, pleasant life of
the rich--passed happily enough for the
young Rilington's, with plenty of pass
time and very few troubles until the
year after they left Sandhurst. Even
at this point where, in the natural
course of events, there should have
been the parting of the ways, the
strange inter-blending of their fates in
terfered.
They were both gazetted to the
same regiment. Then the Boer war
was declared, and with the down hard
ly formed on their faces, and in COM
pany with most that was young and
eager and strenuous in the Empire,
John and Arthur Ellington set sail for
the front,
At Johns express wish their mother
consented that the farewells should be
said at home instead of on the crowded
transport. Dry-eyed, haggard and
intense, she followed the young mems
movements, and hung on their words
during the brief hours they could pass
with her. When the moment of part
ing zane she watched them, in an
agony too great for words, mount the
dog-cart that was to take them to the
station and out of her sight, perhaps,
forever. The reins were in Johns
hands when her white lips parted in
a supreme effort to speak. Then she
put out her hand and pulled her young
est SOL by the arm till her lips were al
his ear.
"Take care of john" she whispered
"Our bugles sang truce for the night
cloud had lower'd
And the sentinel stars set their watch in
the sky"
Tonight the lines required inces-
sanity to Arthur. "The sentine
stars" he repeated to himself, linger.
ing on the expression. He loved tt
think of them as such. for he, too, was
on "sentry CO." and had been evel
since his mothers last injunction fell
on his ear.
The campaign had lasted Is months
and for the most Of the time the
regiment to which the Rilingtons be-
longed-the Light Defencibles-haC
. been in the thick of the fray. In thu
I Orange Free State, in the Transvaal
in Cape Colony, they had followed thu
I trend Of the fighting; and, although
: many a brave soldier had fallen out o
! the ranks, never to rise again, the Ril
! ington brothers, the Gemini, as the,
were commonly called, had escapes
I unhurt. Among their brother officer
J it was said that Arthur's anxiet.
formed an invisible protective armo
round John that turned both shot an
shell. AS there was no such shield fo
Arthur, his immunity, they agreed
must be ascribed to luck. John himsel
neither noticed nor returned the solici
tude.
I Artkur's presence tonight in tn
: little camp under the stars instea
. of in the comparative comfort of tn
mess tent at the temporary base, wa
due to this well-known tie betwee
y him and his brother. John, his senio
u in the regiment as he was in life by
single step, had been sent out in com
mand of a small convoy and its escor1
: and Arthur had been deputed to &C
company him.
: 81 dare say it will be a bit of
treat for the Gemini to be together,
thought their k~ind-hearted Colone
e "I'm blest if I ever saw brothers sue
" chums. It's rather the other wa
h round as a rule"
The march was to be a short on
The little column had only left cam
that morning and expected to reac
n their destination the next evenin.
The country to be traversed had bee
reported free from the enemy; no dar
: ger was anticipated. For this reason
II and also because We are a sanguin
e nation, the escort was small, and off
d GERS and men proportionately ligh'
I hearted.
II Night had come and darkness ha
l. fallen on the land as quickly as a thic
veil drawn by a hasty hand covers
d SCARED face. AS far as the eye coul
IS see the solitary little camp was tn
only sign of human life in the vast an
" boundless veldt. The usual precal
lions against surprises had been takel
l. the oxen had been watered, the ration
J. eaten, the last pipe smoked, and wear
d men and patient, long-suffering an
mails had lain down to rest. Only job
r and Arthur seemed wakeful, and e,
j. changed a few desultory remarks b.
fore turning in. They spoke of the
ID mother and Of how lonely she must b
l. and again Arthur remembered IL
l. charge she had given him.
IS But darkness is the best cover, ar
under its wing men who know tt
is country and its secrets can effe
r movements in unbroken silence. Nea
At er and nearer through the muffie
n hours of night crept a foe who stun
le bered not, whose case was desperat
RS and whose existence as a fightir