The Tomahawk., 1925-12-24

with sand thrown up by burrowing bull
lets. The imprisoned man felt that the
: action Of twenty men in waiting pa
tiently to murder one was not above
criticism.
And then Crosby's Imagination would
persist in picturing those pellets that
came from the opposite bank in q hue
that Crosby knew was ridiculous. He
was annoyed with his imagination. He
was annoyed with the sneering self
that pictured him as the living embodi-
ment Of Kipling's "Absent-minded Beg
gar" He was annoyed with the sane,
respectable Crosby that reckoned up
the interest on thirty-nine pounds nine
teen shillings and nine-pence three
farthings for three and three-quarters
years at two and five-eights per cent
quicker than any other clerk in the
County bank. 1t was really the lazi-
ness OF that Crosby that had evolved
the warlike Crosby that came oversee
who were giving Thomas Atkins a con-
siderable amount Of trouble to subdue
Crosby was actually revolving against
Crosby. There were in his inmost soul
innumerable battles between the three
.Crosbys that were now at loggerheads,
not coward, but he was highly imagi-
native, and the result Is the same. The
nicely pierced holes In the white he'll
met took on the appearance Of eyes
that studied his pale face and shaking
hands. His hands had been white and
well-manicured when he left Truro, but
the few days under the South African
sun had tinted them the color Of
freshly boiled lobster. Crosby cursed
his own stupidity, cursed the fat re-
cruiting sergeant who said he would
make fine soldier, cursed the trans.
port that had brought him across the
Atlantic, and the sun-tanned officer
who had led him into the ambuscade.
The suns rays came down in a per-
pendicular shower upon him. He buried
his tingling face in the sand and prayed
for night. He would creep away in
the night-run away across the veldt
till he overlook his comrades. He would
tell them of his adventure and they
would laugh heartily at his cunning.
1t was while he was composing a
little account for the amusement Of
those comrades that his eyes, sheltered
beneath the helmet, detected slight
movement on the ridge Of the sand pit.
He jerked his legs back hurriedly when
his eyes informed his brain of what
they saw, and the sudden movement
brought down much sand and also a
harmless green snake that had been
crawling along the edge. Crosby yelled,
and the snake picked itself up and at
tempted to beat hasty retreat. I'm
fortunately, the sand was very dry, and
the snake found it difficult job to
climb out. Time after time it rolled
to the bottom Of the hole, and each
time it fell Crosby yelled. He had
never met a snake in such close quar-
tiers and his nerves were not in a fit
state to receive the visit. The snake
was disguised. Four times it made an
attempt to scale the bank, and four
times it fell back. Then 1t noticed
Crosby's leg, and with serpent wisdom.
Immediately recognized that the ascent
could be made much easier by that
route.
Crosby screamed, but the snake was
irritable. For lust q moment the re-
cruit forgot the foe on the opposite
bank as he clawed the edge of the pit
and pulled his body out Of the hole
Across the river three rifles spoke to-
gether, but only Crosby fell back into
the hole-the annoyed snake was slid
ing away across the veldt, congratulate
ing himself in snaky way that he had
reached the top before Crosby toppled
over.