The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1905-01-12

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! phlt.ping, sang the hail Of MauseI
lead that stung and blinded and b.
wildered men and animals alike. Phit-
ping on every side, AMI no shelter al
hand.
| The moment Of attack had been well
fchosen-when Kafir drivers were har-
Messing the ox-teams, and the hustle
OF the start was on the unprepared
men. Taken at a disadvantage. and
for the moment in hopeless disorder,
the men seized their rifiee and wildly
returned the enemy's fire, wasting
their bullets as fast as they could dis
charge their weapons.
In the midst of the excitement Ar
thur found time to think of John.
'Lie down, john" he said, whats
the good OF exposing yourself Ike
that? The men are all right-thcy
will be steadier presently" he urged,
as bullet hit his brothers helmet
To his amazement, Johns face
turned CHASTITY pale. This must be
stopped" he said brokenly, like ran
shaken with some terrible fear. I'VE
must surrender. We are outnumbeI ed.
and the ammunition is exhausted
Surrender! No fear" returned Ar
thur reassuringly. There's plenty OF
ammunition in the wagon. I'll lave
some Gerved out"
He turned, and as he did so John
slipped handkerchief from his sleeve.
fastened It on a bayonet, and held It
on high, where the breeze caught and
| rocked it gently.
| Almost at once the firing from the
kopje slackened, and then ceased, and
simultaneously the men heard the
bugle sound cease fire." When they
looked round bewildered, though no
| doubt to some extent relieved, they
| saw their officers standing together,
and on the ground between them a
bayonet with shameful pennon at
tached. Which Of the two had raised
it?
But nothing certain was known OF
the surrender until, by ono of the
strange chances of war that upset all
calculations and render the foresight
of experience futile, Col. LIE Sage heard
from the Rilingtons themselves an ac-
count of what had happened.
For reasons of their own, the Beers
had set the two young officers free.
having first relieved them of their val
uables. The brothers had tramped
back to camp, some so miles, in less
than 80 hours. They had had neither
food nor water, and had been soaked
to the skin in heavy rain. AS John
was on the point of collapse, shaking
in every limb, and almost unconscious,
he was ordered into hospital by the
doctor, and on Arthur devolved the
task Of giving the details of the unfor-
tunate occurrence.
"Devilish awkward for the boy, hav-
ing such story to tell when his own
brother was in charge" thought the
colonel, as he prepared himself to lis
ten to the disclosure.
After the first few sentences his face |
hardened. He misdoubted his own |
senses.
II fail to follow you, Mr. Ellington"
he interrupted, in a tone that was sell
dom heard by the regiment "Your
story is incredible. Am to under
stand that, without your brothers
knowledge or permission, you few the
white flag after bare ten minutes
fighting, and with total loss of three
men wounded and two killed."
YES. SIR"
"You were not in any way separated
from the ammunition wagon?"
No. sir. we were not"
Gould you have got at tiff you
had tried?"
Quite easily. SIR"
There was a ring of conviction and
truth in the last three words that had
been wholly wanting in all that had
gone before, and the colonel recog-
nized it. A tinge of color came into
the young mans face, and for the first
time since he had come into camp hs
looked up. Then, remembering the
part he had set himself, his eyes re-
sought the ground. But the colonel
had seen what he wanted In them, and
had formed his own opinion there
from.
DO you know you are practically
yourself of cowardice?" l.,
yes, sir" answered Arthur, re- I,
apsing into the cold and guarded man.
Ter he had momentarily dropped.
well, Mr.. Ellington" resumed thel I
colonel, after painful pause, 81 have
leard all you've got to say. OF course, 6
Tou are aware that you have left me /
10 option in the matter. 1t will have {
o be gone into when your brother is I
bile to give evidence. which at present t
le is not. In the meantime shall be I
obliged by your considering the state q
nent you have Just made as confiden- 8
ial. But there's something behind It
vhich haven't got at. In the mean i
ime you can return to duty c
AS the youngster left the tent Col d
e Sage sighed deeply. He had seen .
many q good man fall In his countrys Q
ervice. others had lost health or q
trength or limbs. and others, again Q
more piteous still-their reputation q