The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1910-12-08

1t nearly dislocated at the shoulder.
You black DEVIL" he cried in
fury, while he flung the wretched
man headlong to the ground. He
! hardly knew the enormous strength
he was putting forth in his rage.
| The knowledge that he had been
trlcked away from his comrade and
friends side in the hour OF danger
so infuriated him that he was blind
ed to his actions of the moment.
While he had been waiting here Jan
Koetze had probably been fighting
for his life-may even have forfeit
ed it, He stood over the boy, and
mis- attitude was a deadly threat
He felt that he could kill him.
But he held his hand. The help
less, covering form of the niger
cried out to all that was best in
his nature. He remembered, too, the
motive. The poor savage reasoning
had been at fault. The boys ac-
tions We're an expression of that abb
solute fidelity of which he had boast
ed to the Boer. With blind devo-
| ton Saturday had determined TO
let him run no risk; he had prob
ably saved his life. Had he been
told tho truth he would never have
left the wagon-and then there
was Mary and the folk at Mafelling.
He abruptly moved away.
Saturday. he said quite gently
now, get up quick, before l re-
| pent You've made me play a cow
ards part, but suppose you thought
you were doing right. Well, you
weren't. Fetch the horses at once
You will ride to Mafeking as hard
as you can. Here, give this note to
Missile Mary" He tore a leaf from
his notebook and scribbled a few
words on it. Take that" he went
on, handing it to the boy: "and, you
will stand by Missile Mary with your
life, if need be, until come. Now
be off"
The Kaffir needed no second bid
ding He was off after the horses in
a flash; and in a few minutes
both were in the saddle
Il trust her to you, boy. God help
you if you fail" were Elwood's
last words as they parted.
And the nigger's ia, baas." so
simply spoken, was good, to hear.
His master rode off in the direction
of the Salt Plain again, far more
assured of Mary's safety than of
Jan Koetze's.
The grey twilight deepened. The
still air was thick with smoke
| which hung like a pail over the
plain, refusing to rise, refusing to
drift away, as though loath to re-
veal to the dying light of day that
which lay beneath. But the gray
darkness could not shut out the
hideous presence of those vast OBJ
jects with flapping wings and feath-
erless heads which circled above
the smoke, drawing nearer and
nearer, lower and lower, surely,
yet fearfully. They knew what was
below, their instinct told them and
drew them, their hungry bellies
craving for the feast which they
knew awaited them.
1t was not until the moonlight
gained power, and the last sign of
daylight had died out of the west,
that the cool night zephyrs arose
and swept the face of the plain. The
hideous truth lay revealed. The cold,
silver light of the full moon shone
down upon a painful scene. The
lowering vultures settled. Their
fierce, bald heads bobbing, their
loathsome bodies waddling. they
sought out the banquet so long de-
ferred.
The charred ruin of a wagon was
the central object, around which
were scattered small heaps of de-
bris, quite unrecognizable in the