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

Hun the other euQ surprised 10 oQo.
Only one person among al Mn.
Rilington's friends had the temeFlty ia
remark that It was astonishing. Mn
Rilington's reply was self-revelation:
Poor little Arthur. be hasn't done
badly for him! He must have worked
hard to have got through at all. We
didn't expect he would. fancy Johns
example Influenced him more than any
OF US know. Oh. no! There Is not
| the least fear that he has overworked
himself. He is perfectly strong and
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 q moments uneasi-
ness since he was born.
So life-the easy, pleasant life of
the rich--passed happily enough for the
young Rilington's, with plenty OF pas
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 nter-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
~ 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 came 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 SON by the arm till her lips were at
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 sentinel
stars" he repeated to himself, linger-
ing on the expression. He loved to
think of them as such. for he. too. was
on sentry CO." and had been ever
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-had
been in the thick Of the fray. In the
Orange Free State, in the Transvaal,
in Cape Colony. they had followed the
trend Of the fighting; and, although
many brave soldier had fallen out of
the ranks, never to rise again, the Ril-
ington brothers. the Gemini, as they |
were commonly called, had escaped |
unhurt. Among their brother officers |
ii was said that Arthur's anxiety |
formed an invisible protective armor
round John that turned both shot and |
shell. As there was no such shield for |
Arthur. his immunity. they agreed,
must be ascribed to luck. John himself |
neither noticed nor returned the solici-
tude.
Arthur's presence tonight In the
little camp under the stars instead
Of in the comparative comfort of the
mess tent at the temporary base, was
due to this well-known tie between
him and his brother. John, his senior
in the regiment as he was in life by a
single step, had been sent oat in COM
mand Of small convoy and its escort,
and Arthur had been deputed to &C
company him.
Il dare say it will be a bit-of .
treat for the Gemini to be together"
thought their kind-hearted Colonel.
I'm blest ii / ever saw brothers such.
,hums. It's rather the other way
'ound as rule"
The march was to be short one
The little column had only left camp
hat morning and expected to reach
heir destination the next evening. I
The country to be traversed had been
exported free from the enemy; no dan .
,er was anticipated. For this reason, !
nd also because We are a sanguine
Iation, the escort was small, and offi- |
ers and men proportionately light
hearted. Il
Night had come and darkness had
allen on the land as quickly as thick
ell drawn by hasty hand covers a
CARED face. As far as the eye could [
ZEE the solitary little camp was the
My sign of human life in the vast and
'oundless veldt. The usual precau- l
ions against surprises had been taken. s
he oxen had been watefed, the rations s
aten. the last pipe smoked, and weary I
- =