Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1904-02-12
FREDERIC REDDALE
oopyr,sht HuR syI J. p. Appiaeos..coupans.

Richard Dysart! Alive?-perhaps.
Dead ?-if not, he surely soon will be
unless succor comes
Down the little kloof through which
the old wagon had creaked so cheer
fully the day before there stole like
shadows two dusty Kafflr boys. Tim
idly they gained its 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 a 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,
Joey 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-
bling 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 child.
His limbs were cramped and stiff with
the nights exposure, to freezing tenn
perature, and he was besides, awfuliy
weak from loss of blood.
But Dysart knew what must be done
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
iS hol ioo ofP = ic
heavy flannel shirt, and a silk under
shirt-the last refusing to bulge un-
til all around the wound had been well
wetted. Then was disclosed an angry
red puncture just below and a 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-pocket. Under his directions
3 the wound was washed clean, and then
carefully bandaged with the silk shirt
torn into strips.
By this time the warming sun had
done it's genial work, and Dysart's legs
were thawed out. So, by dint of both
boys bracing themselves and tugging
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 adventurer began to mend.
Fever wasted him to a skeleton; ma
laria sapped his vitality. Help there
was none within 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 go 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 Kaff1rs-and won out at last!
All through those weary weeks, in
the intervals Of delirium and the
tedium Of convalescence, he planned
and plotted vengeance on the miscre-
ant who had robbed him. He would
chase him round the world and back
again if need be! Daily and hourly he
looked for a rush of diamond seekers
to the new field. That they did not
come proved that the unknown robber
must have kept his own counsel. and
was doubtless far enough away enjoy
Ing the fruits Of his unholy spoil
But there were enough shining
stones left on the beach to make an
other fortune-several fortunes, in
fact-and Dysart was still a rich man.
The first thing was to get to the