THE GIRL HE LEFT BEHIND HIM.

New Zealand Mail, 15 February 1900, Page 16

THE GIRL HE LEFT BEHIND HIM.

The night, though br-oe.c.c-i, after the fatiguing i)ca v ci - J day. Drawing down tao the window, -she enmbed oh/ . . tjjjfj bottomed chair and leaned -I the soothing influence of t V- a< God-created night might ca J m iV ! 1 less questions that • surged > Ajjjs % restless heart. There ' <vaS ' for the “cold light oi stars?/ ter twinkled and against an intensely clear bine glistened and glimniereu D -L r ny!iA. million of leaves of the fooDfi.that rose in front of her. Hi was sufficient to afford a oi the grey, silent convent ran “ bfw cArJ. and of the many scattered! homes. er X men. In close proxiaaßyj ,• stood the little English noisy, clanging bell its neighbours. Here day »t m or fifty little kindergarten seekers gathered, in answer M curing hell. Here, day, a like number of worship, ,

S d ud! Kf without warning, the electric light * Switched on in the building, and a Itrefliri of noisy boys began to pour up lie w“ite gravelled path and in through ftooen doors, and soon the well-timed X P of“any feet to j d the sclent watchIfthat this was parade night of a small section of the forthcoming generation of the “ Soldiers of the Queen. A bicycle bell tinkled' merrily out m the streeta tame seagull in somebody’s p-arden commenced an unmusical serenade while her next-door neighbour’s dog whined a sorry accompaniment. Hard by a youthful bugler started his nightly nractice of the “Assemble!” “Retire!” •‘Advance! ” etc., et c. A fisherman s -cart rumbled up. the road, whilst in weary, mon’otonous tones the fisher set forth the excellence of his “Flounders O!” And over and above all rose the ceaseless tramp, tramp of young .feet making ready t for future warfare; and everywhere file GoAprdafned rest, of . Nature seemed\ intermingled.with the, restless- i' ness'of man. ... ; ■ i Bresbntly the march of feet ceased,, the • dbors of the chapel once more burst open, , and 'out came the- boys, collecting in ..anT ever-increasing knot outside their dark ’ forms contrasting. strikingly even in the - 6tarh‘giit with the white gravel around them. After a few seconds of lighthearted laughter and joking they slowly dispersed and vanished one by one behind : the tall fence leading to the street. As they sauntered by the hindermost boy began to shrilly whistle “Soldiers of the' Queen”: "So when we say that England’s master, Remember who lias made her so!' ’ ‘ Tis the soldiers of the Queen my lads, Wto’ve been my lads, who were seen my lads, ' ... In the fight for England’s glory’’—The hot blood tingled in the cheek of the silent listener; her.breath came in quick; short gasps, and her firm fingers gripped fiercely at the window-sill. “Ah, • God!” she cried, “if only I, too, were a man: How hard it is to crush downthe impulses of the heart, and remain be-hind:—-inactive. All, Harry, Harry, you havd-the easiest part to bear!”; The careless whistei- disappeared , be-!, yond the tall fence, and his shrill whistle grew faint and fainter. The sound of his footsteps died away in the distance, and all was. again quiet. The stars still glistened between the leaves of the poplar trees, a torn and tailless kite hung dimly ' white from the telegraph wires,'and away ' far to the east, with comforting steadfast-. ness,-.shone the great harbour lights. A sense of restfulness ' and security--rmgned over all, while from the quiet 1 Convent on the hill to the smallest- home- ' stead on the roadside everything seemed* to bem its appointed place. ■ And Harry ? : Me was away—great, all-watchful Father 1 how,far away from his home and from her! ' striking with a strong right a ® tri^{ln g for the honour of his honoured Queen, and for the freedom of his loved country.. , - —— There would be no funking about Harry.Hejvas a true Britisher, and: had never , experienced a pang of fear in. his life. ' vllena hOTSe attached to a ' gOT-containing an aged woman bolted, * Barry chased, and struggled with the force he com? peuea to stand still, and when she cried alSherw^f 0 ft" arm , he laughed, find her what the good of a man was tbX^AnrTuseful somefell ALm, - °T ce when. a child , the wharf into the harbour ' Harry sprang m after him without a mo- ' He T^ h - eSI j atloll and saved the hoy’s life : he ? edal f °r that, and'whei riiewonbh Ck : ih ° Transvaal WhJ tfL * ‘ KOt be in the least isttfriris# WfiSSSSSSS come: back 'would/he live, to thatelfhe-bUrdM of?Ik - ® ~ e !j^ d whi6h '?°!»: i®® "ind iJ overt ; plet^itoacf a nd such comi:” tlirouJhher?ea^ efcy ’^ nda3:s ho ; Kok e d the wo r ds of |w OQn 0 Q n tr'anqmFsceu^ i L-hj”? Bav e! Who bad^ tae rtßtle&s Wave, j Its ow n aDnoir,te^ 1 gIlt ?- °? ean *®P Oh, d hmits keep; > *<* thoce kiSHI-^v 017 . 40 ' down ftowe&tr »he lowered the ilwr closing fcheiwjhdow'.ij