The Luck of Jack Seaton

Mataura Ensign, 27 January 1912, Page 7

The Luck of Jack Seaton

Ny si 1 :" ... iBUA ,>:;KailiST.j

BY MAJOR R. STIRLING, Author of 'live Bonnie Belle of Watley.'

* TALE OF MILITARY LIFE IN INDIA.

CHAPTER VI. (continued). True," tho general assented, "but *lUit about the effect it may have on oo peace and good government of the > land? Wo are in the country of the ■eatlien; our power depends on the loyalty of heathens. SoldieTs and police, yon know, are but few in comparison n,t ' l natives around, and we do not want any more soldiers here if it can be avoided. I havfe no objection to the missionaries preaching in their stations and talcing care of the natives wlipti y come, lint it is in the going out among those quiet, inoffensive people and annoying their priesthood the danger lies. There is the Fakir and Mur- °®' the Moslem priest, just wild now, and they would soon settle matters if allowed." 'Well. T do not know. General" answered Mr Denholm. "Still, I consider you are putting too much stress on the "1-will of the priests, for twice the takir lias conducted me out of a mob himself; but surely, sir, you would not deny u s the right to preach the Gospel -**' "rk S benighted people?" ® carriage was now nearing the •brigadier's bungalow, and the syce cam» Tunning out with his fly swiper to catch the horse,\ and Cantain Pacer came forward to assist the lady to alight, but ouick as he was the missionary forestalled him. The thanks that rewarded tms nr J -n U jmve a drop of bitterness to

"«> jiitnuiu ±-acer; in tact, lie rn;tl it was a score he had to pay off. Yet it! was a score that must ever grow larger, i for in the short drive Mr Denholm «*«««<! tliat there existed another love l» could influence his actions to alas great an extent as that which rofessed for his missionary work, seed had been sown, and a pang of, rihrated within his heart. I ss Alice Allington felt light ar.d ~ . ; — ri ,y; a joy was within her being yet .she could in no way account for it. A had diffused itself through all Mfthe worries of life, and somehow Charles was in the centre r f it all. WThe short Indian twilight had,deepened to darkness ere the young preacher left ttie hungalow. Away to the south-east a mile and more was the nis-i lion station. Not a blink of light indicated its position. Thoughtfully Mr ! Denholm plodded along the puckah road ; mo a point where the garry-traek turned ! Ko the right and led on to the front of J Rhe church. "While groping about for the exact spot to turn, a moving column enveloped him, and, held by an unseen power, without a cord or even the finest thread upon his person, he felt as a prisoner securely bound, quickly some j along he knew not whither. A blue light, high in front, seemed to hear a| continual buz?;, as of an immense as-] semblage of people moving about. j Through- field and garden they went till the centre of Mango "Top" was! reached. Sere the blue light halted and quicklyAleveloped into a great eye of brilliant flame shedding a conical light down through the darkness to the earth and forming a circle of illumination with an edge of contact as .-lean as if cut with a knife. The tumult around all at once ceased and a voice in sharp, incisive tones called out, ''Christian, witness the future." At these words the eye of fire shot down showers of small globules. Mr Denholm wakened sufficiently to understand the display now going on before him. Locating the sound and identifying the speaker, he shouted as loud as his exhausted condition would permit, "Fakir, I know you, and do r.ot wish to see v or hear any more of your jugglery. Relieve me from It at once. I know you are in that tree over there." "Son of a misbeliever," hissed someone in his ear, "see for yourself." The flame broadened out, and sparkling brightly in the centre, lit up the whole scene as clear as midday. Yet Mr Denholm could see no gathering of people about, not a single individual being visible; all was solitary and in the every-day condition of things. The fiery ball steadied down again, and piercing shrieks echoed from afar, the cry being, "White man, son of Adam, behold thy doom." ' Apparently free the young preacher stood, but try all he could to move from the spot it; was in vain, and no word could he speak. Into the centre of light came a car, having four-and-twenty snakes, * and within sat a heathen god, while all around danced demigods of wild, fantastic shape. Descending from above can>e a green banner with gold crescent 3§b£ star. In midday it floated, and thousands of human hands went up from mother earth, eager to grasp the glittering staff. Only one could touch it at a time, and the first hand went far above the rest and waved the silken flag around. Feebler hands then succeeded, hut still the crescent floated on" bigh- Then tne sn adowy f° rm of a leopard crawled along the outer edge as if watching its opportunity. All at once the creicent and car threw the monster to the ground and wheeline round and round crushed the mighty b«ast From it came thousands of native soldiers, with here and there> a white man or woman, upon whom the black soldiers turned their weapons and turned them with their feet. Mr Denholm knew many of the poor white! lying bledeing and mangled in that circle of light, and at the sight so horribh with a cry of agony he fainted away.

CHAPTER VII. In a barrack-room at Portsmouth sat William Beveridge and gSSFjahn Seaton Their three ™lrs of acquaintanceship had ripened Sto a fast friendship. Of the mne lads X had sat in the orderly room at Stirling waiting to he posted to their Lnv nnlv these two remained. Two French leave and of the Sis of the party one had been tried IZ court-martial for tampering with let?irn in +he receiving box, sentenced to S£ las Wand dismissed the service, TllZfkhev dismissed for petty lar!2 On* had been discharged for illSaltb, and the other four including Beveridge an« Seaton, went out with,

their regiment to the C'imea, and only the sergeant;, returned.

A great cba- ■-• l">d r-ik-;; place in l V two men. For his. first year after enlistment Seat on was nearly always undergoing punishment. Tie could not look to the right cr to the left without heing sent to the guardroom; but this excessive strain had only developed the muscular power of a splendid constitution, and although it had made him somewhat reckless in manner it had in no wav soured the kindly disposition of th« man. In the Crimen he was the hardest man jn the regiment, always willing to helr>, never shirking a duty himself and ready to assist others. Tt was in the quarries that fieaton came under the notice o f the officer commanding B O-moany. B»ing a nicquet on the left .of the position, the enemy made to j cirry the piaf" and the Lilvwhites were | driven hack. Ssaten, with about a dozen men. ppni'"d in a fire on the open ; flank ff the fttnckinr: party as made ithem beat a hasty retreat. The main jbodv of the company being rather slow ! in following rm the advantage gained, i Sea-ton'went on T-ith his few fomnanions clcirin": out the Russians. By this and other brave deeds Sea+on earned his I promotion. Willie Beveridge under the tuition of i militar-p life bad hi? natural talents and real abilities fully brought out, for he btul all the proverbial cuteness of th« Fiffshire man. Rank was all the same to him; no matter whether his officer was a man of parts or a fool, he oonsiderd he was there to obev, if possible, all rrders. He would salute t]>o Queen's uniform no matter who wore it. It was his dutv to acknowledge it, not the man. He could raise his hand to his jhead, look any officer straight in the ; eyes, and measure him to the sohs of bis feet. None could "Willie Beveridge nappintr. and A :iere were no marks either black or red m his defaulter's sheet.

A non-commissioned officer, clear headed and inspected by both officers and men, never failing in the proper discharge of duty, and an authority on obscure points of drill, he was a thorough disciplinarian, yet it was known by some of the men that theiv» was no officer they would more readily trust to get them out of a difficulty or cloak a military fault if committal through inadvertence or lack of knowledge than this paragon of militaiy exactitude.

Only less respected was he by the men than Sergeant Seaton, the bold, reckless, sympathetic and free. Beneath the hottest fire Seato.i was as cool as on parade, and with kindness in word and deed he performed the most trying duties. If any man in the regiment was loved that man was Jack Seaton.

As they sat enjoying their pipes the two sergeants discussed many matters, and in particular the affairs of Captain Ellerton. The latter was in difficu'iif:s and they were of a nature not unusual to army officers. He was deeply j n debt, in fact in the hands of the Jews. For days he had been dodging ibout the hotels hoping that when the transport was ready to sail he would bo able to slip on board and escape his creditors; but he had been discovered and was now under arrest. "You will see Colonel Ellerton here soon, and I daresay it will cost a tidy sum to clear the Captain's debts," said Beveridge.

"Yes, and it is not the first time he has had to pay," returned Seaton. "But that is nothing to us." In fact, the thoughts of Seaton were far away from his present surroundings, nor bad the near approach of sailing to India any place in his mind. Today they were centred in Dunhoe, the place of his birth', and on his old playmate. Lily Clayton, whose image had ever been before his e*ss even in the darkest hours of his mi'itary career. Why had she disappeared so mysteriously? Had that -lisuppcarai?e been voluntary or otherwise? If voluntary, why had she never written to the old sergeant at Dunhoe and relieved his anxiety? If, on the other hand, she had been betrayed from her home, then he could understand her silence; and as time passed this latter idea gained more and more credence in his mind.

(To be continued.)