THE OUTSIDER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11797, 28 July 1900, Page 2

THE OUTSIDER.

Br HUDYARD KIPLING.

[All Rights Reserved.]

PART 11.

To Lieutenant Setton, by the death of a captain, foil the charge of two companies, which operated with an Australian contingent on a distrubed and dusty border. Tho men clung to him for a week, expecting miracles; but he could not smite water from rocks, nor vary the daily beef-tin and four dry biscuits. They learned a little rude well-sinking from their allies, and a little stealing on their own account. After this, to his Telief, they abandoned him .as nurse and midwife. Had he played the game with an eye to the rules, he might have profited as much as his more openminded fellow officers, but his demon tempted him one clear twilight to capture a solitary horseman in difficulties with a spent horse. It was not "sporting" to pot him at SOO yards, so Setton took horse and rode a somewhat uncertain wallop directly at the man, who naturally retreated between two steep hills, where; for just this end, he had posted four confederates. They, being children of nature, and buck-hunters to boot, allowed their quarry to pass, and after 20 rounds at 400 yards—tho Boer in a hurry is not a good shot—dropped him with a broken arm. Setton was not pleased, but the five Australians, who, without orders, so soon as they saw what ho would be at, had galloped parallel with him behind the kopjes,, were immensely gratified. They dismounted, lay down, and slew the Boer on tho tired horse as he returned to join his fellow plunderers, of whom they shot two and woun-ded one. They reached camp with Setton and—much more valuable 100t —three efficient Boer ponies.

" If you'd only told us you were goin' to commit suicide this way," said a Queensland trooper, "we'd have rounded up the whole mob, usin' you for bait."

The shattered arm ended Setton'r career as a combatant officer, but, in the great scarcity of sounder material, they made him station commander of the peculiarly desolate siding of Pipkameeleepompfontein, which, as everyone knows,

Is on the road to Bloemfontein, And there the Mausers Tear your trousers, And make your horses jompfontein. But the tide of war had .rolled back, leaving only a mass of worrying work for the Railway Pioneer Corps that Phil Tenbroek had organised from the wreck of the mine personnel mouths before. Three short low bridges, little larger than culverts, but two of them built on a curv«, creased three dry, shallow watercourses, and of course the Boers blew thorn un on departure. Phil, commandant of the Railway Pioneers, busy on Folly Bridge, could only spare 30 men on the job, but he gave Hagan, late in charge of tlie machinery of the Consolidated Ophir and Bonanza, with the rank of lieutenant, his choice, tnd Hagan took the cream. They lumbered into Pipkameoleepompfontein in open trucks' —th'rty men, each anxious to return to the Rand; each holding more or less of property there; most of them skilled mechanicians in their own department; and all exalted, body, soul, and spirit, by a rancorous, razor-edged, personal hatred of the State that had shamed, tricked, and ruined them. ■ They found there a- station commandant, moved i->y none- of. their springs, being from another planet — fenced about with neatly-piled boxes of rivets and a mass of crated ironwork that was pouring up from the south, who proposed to camp them a mile from the broken bridges.

" What, no water?" said Hagan.

" Oh, no; but I expect a detachment of regulars shortly. They must have the near

camp."

"Good Lord, man! Your blessed regulars'can't get forward till we've mended the bridges. We must be close to our work."

" I'm afraid your knowledge of the British Army is' a Jittle limited,' said the Station Commandant.

"I was fool enough to cross a ridge after one of the regulars had reported it cleared," said 'Hagan sweetly. " 'Twasn't any fault of theirs my knowledge didn't last till the day of judgment. But, look here, this isn't a question of precedence. We don't want to stay here. We want to mend the bridges and get up to the Rand again.

After a while, but ■ungraciously, Set-ton gave way, and the railway pioneers went to work like beavers. The"regulars arrived "to protect the bridge-head," two. companies of them, fresh from home, and Setton, with unspeakable delight, found himself once more among men who talked- his limited tongue, and spoko his more limited thoughts. As he wrote to his mother, '' You can get as good hunting talk here as you can at home." The Pioneers were not a seemly corps. They unstacked the accurately-piled rivat boxes, and dumped them where they could be easiest handled ; they dismantled an abandoned farmhouse to get at the roof-beams, because they were short of poles; they stuck a home-made furnace at the far ond of the platform, where it made itself a black, unlovely bed of cinders; they worked at'all hours of the day and night, ate when they, had leisure, and called their officers by their lesser names. Hagan asked Setton—only onee —what < arrangements ho had made for Kaffir labour. Setton had made none, for he had no instructions. Whereupon Hagan, talking! in'an unknown tongue, made his own arrangements, and strange niggers crept out of the dry Karroo by scores. Setton wished to know something .about them: "It's all right," said Hagan over his shoulder, " I'm responsible. It's cheaper for us" (he meant the Consolidated Ophir and Bonanza) " to pay out of our pocket than to wait for the Government to fiddle through it. I want to get back to the Rand." That last sentence always annoyed .Setton. These voluble Johannesburg gipsies made it their dawn song, tlieir noon chorus, and their midnight chant. It swung girders into place, sentthome rivets, and spiked rails. It echoed among the hills at twilight, when the start* lingly visible night-picket of the regulars went out to relieve its fellows, cut in black paper against the green sky-line, on the tallest kopje. It greeted every truck of new material, tnis drawling, nasal: " I want to go back to the Hand."

It helped to build the bridges, though that Setton did not notice. He did not know a spiko from a chair, a girder from an artesian pump, a SOft metal from a tie-rod. The things lumbered up the siding, which ho wished to keep neat. Man took them out of the trucks, and did tilings to them or with them, and the bridges somehow or another spanned the water courses. But Lieutenant Setton would no more have dreamed of taking interest in the manner of their fitment than at school he would have read five lines beyond the day's appointed construe.

When the last of the throe bridges was nearly finished, Hagan dashed into his office with a wire'from Phil, wuo wanted him back at once. The big centre girder of Folly Bridge was going up, and.only Hagan could take charge of that end of it which was not under Phil's comprehending eye.

"Bub tho men hero know exactly what's to bo done. If anything goes wrong, ask Jerry —I mean Private Thrupp. He ought to begin riveting up to-morrow, and aftpr that they've only got to lay tho track. OH's as easy as falling off a log." : ! Setton did not approve of tliiis unbuttoned man with tho rampant voice. , jHad, indeed— but Hagan was too busy to noHice it,—withdrawn markedly from his society. Nor did Setton comprohend how a private could bo in charge of anything—least of alii when a regular officer— not to montion a elation commandant—was on tho horizon. He1, assumed.that Hagan would have told tho seaiior non-com, of the Pioneers to come to him', for orders for the day; but Hagan, eating, sleeping, and thinking bridges only, had not communicated with Sergeant Rayne—late accountant of Thumper's Deep, and promoted because (!n----vprnment had insisted that the corps should keep books. Hagan had spent his last hours

at an informal committee meeting with Jerry and another private—Pukcm, ex-head of {he Little North Bear"s machinery—and under the lee of a karroo bush, drawing diagrams in the dirt, had settled every last detail of the bridge that was to help the corps back to their own Rand.

Brightly and briskly, then, in the diamondclear dawn uprose Lieutenant Walter Setton, to command the station of Pipkameeleepompfonteiii. But. early as it was, tho Pioneers were before him. The situation when he arrived at the bank of the third watercourse was, briefly, this: They were lowering, with hand-made derricks, two fourtecr.-foot girders, one from either bank, to meet in the middle, where Jerry and Pulsom stood ready to join them. The twenty-eight foot girder which should have covered the span had been sent round to Naauwpoort by mistake; and Jerry believed devoutly that the Cape Minister of Railways, whom he habitually alluded to as - the worst rebel but one of the lot," had made the delay on purpose. Tho mischief of it was that, expecting the twenty-eight foot iron, they had used up the last of their wood sleepers to lay a sharp curve just before thu bridge, where iron -sleepers were difficult to bed and adjust. Consequently, they had no -temporary crib of sleepers in the middle of the watercourse to take the weight of the two fourteen-foot irons when there were lowered. So Jerry had extemporised a stage cf rivet boxes and laths sufficient to bear his weight and JAilsom's, and, knowing his men. trusted to rivet up the butt-strap temporarily, at any rate, whilo the men on the derricks held the girders, lowering them or raising them fractionally at his signal. It was unorthodox engineering, but it would carry ihe line. By 4 in the morning the heels of Uio girders were neatly butted against their permanent resting places, and their noses began to dip towards the meeting in the centre. "North girder!" Jerry raised his hand and lowered it slowly. The obedient gang at the derrick slacked away with immense care. They were not watching Private Thrupp, biit Jerry, of Thumper's Deep; and Fulsorc, of the Little North Bear—both mighty men. " Ready with tho rivets now! Here she comes ! Hold her ! Hold her ! As you are ! Not i.nother hairbreadth. i<outh rrirder raise a shade. Half the fraction cf a hair!" He laid a spirit-level across the half-inch gap between the two girders, and cocked his head or, one side. Nobody breathed o.toopt Lieutenant Setton, who had walked some distance in a hurry. He observed, that a bucket of blazing coals—stolen, of course —was slung under tho belly of either " iron thing." lie always thought of concrete objects beyond his experience of "' things." Four men passed up two flat iron things—the specially-designed butt-straps—one to Jerry and one to Fulsom, wlio faced him on the other side of the girders. So clo3e was the adjustment that the weight of the straps as they v.-era laid between the flanges of the girder made the south one—held by ropes, not chains —dip a fraction, and Jerry swore, as only a Rand mechanist on twelve hundred a year and a bonus has a right to swear —amphatically and authoritatively. "What are you doing there, men?" The voice passed Jerry like the summer wind. One hand was on the spirit level, the other held a riveting hammer; one eye squinted at the bubble in the glass.: the other, red with emotion, glared through the holes in the butt-strap, waiting till the expansion of the heated girders should bring tho rivet holes in line. Astronomers watching for an eclipse gaze not bo earnestly as did Jerry and luilsome.

" I say, what are you men doing there without orders?" cried Lieutenant Setton for the second time.

"Hush ! " said Jerry, wagging the hammer to command silence. Ho was half aware now of some disturbing presence. The four holes covered each other absolutely.

"Rivets to me! Quick, M'Ginniss. Mest me, Fulsom ! " A man passed up the pincers with the red-hot rivet, and Jerry hammered like an artist. "That'll make old " —he mentioned the Caps Minister of Railways by name —"preiiy sick! Thought he'd hang us up by sending our stuff round by Naauwpoort, did he? Hope to goodnes.3 his brother put a bullet into him when he comes down. Hold on! Rivet, rivet, rivet,-M'Ginnisc!. What's the good of you? Derricks there ! Hold on ! What are you men doing? Oh, Good Lord ! " If Jerry on the rivet boxes was losing his temper, Lieutenant Setton had lost his altogether..

" You thought! " he shouted to the amazed gang. "You thought! Who in the world told you to think? -D'you suppose you're here to do what you please? I gave no orders for the work to go on. Your orders, if you'd thought to come to my office to get them, are to clean up some of the filthy mess you've made round the station."

Then to Sergeant Eayanc: "Fall in your men at once, and march them up to the station. You'll get your ,orders there." .

"But half a mo', sir. Half a minute, sir. We can't let go " "Do you refuse your duty, then? I warn you it'll be the worse for you. You can't do thi3 : you can't do that! Let go that rope thing at once. It's mutiny, by God! " They let go at the south end. They fell back, not knowing the- limits of Imperial power. The unsupported girder bit heavily on the single soft rivet that Jerry and Fulsom 'had put in-—bit- and shore through. The north gang let go an instant later.. A howl of rage came out of the ravine as both girders dropped into a dolorous broken-backed V, knocking over the light staging, and twisting as they fell, scattering the fire in the buckets among the dry scrub and fragments of timbering in the bed of the watercourse. They lit at once, and blazed merrily. A man with a hammer erupted.

"Who slacked the rones without orders?" he demanded in a voice no wrivato should use. One or two men had heard it before—at the time of the big dynamite explosion in Johan-nesburg-—and straightened up.

" Fall in with your company -there, and don't talk," said Lieutenant Setton. . He was willing to concede much to a mere volunteer—even in time of war. .

"It was him, Jerry,' Whispered Sergeant Rayne.

Jerry turned a full mulberry colour as he strove to control himself—he was quivering- all ov-er. Then he grew pale and rigid. "■ Ha—half a minute, please. I want to explain to you exactly how the work stands. The girders were just in position, and I was riveting them up—my name is Thrupp." It carried some weight on the xtnnd, but Lieutenant Setton almost laughed aloud.

"If you wouldn't mind listening to me, please. It was an absolutely vital matterabsolutely vital. We were actually riveting the butt-strap when you meddled with the derrick. Let me show you!"—he laid 0210 shaking hand on the lieutenant's cuff, .to lead him to the wreck.

•" Meddle with the derrick! What the devil do you moan by your insolence? J)o you know who I am!"

" In half an hour—in five minutes—we could have put in enough rivets to hold her. We shall have to go to work again. It means half a day's delay, though, even if the girders are not twisted by the fall. You can see it hung on only one rivet."

"Fall in with your company—for the last time."

. "But you don't understand—you don't understand. Let me explain a minute, and come here," again the hand on the cuff.

"Of course, you don't I'calise what you've done. It was only a question of minutes— minutes, do you sec?—before we should have bad those two girdorp—those short irons down there—riveted up. Good Lord ! That scrub g burning like tinder. We,must shovel earth on it, or it will twist the girders out of shape, and," the voice rose almost to a shriek, " we shall have to send down the lino for duplicates. I—you—tell the men to chuck earth on that blaze, for God's sake. The girders will buckle ! They'll be ruined."

"March this man up to the guard-tent," said Lieutenant Setton, who had endured enough. Tt was the insolence- and insubordination of the man that galled him. "Another time, perhaps, you'll take the trouble to obey orders."

"What for? What have I done? My dear chap, this isn't the time to fiddle about with guard-tents. The whole donga's alight, and wo shnl] have those girders buckling in ten minutes. You can't lie going to leave tlie mass as it is—you can't."

" Oh, I've stood enough of this. Silence. Understand, you're a prisoner." "Me ! Oil, yes; I'm anything you please, if you'll only let me put out that fire. Wheiv, the deuce do you think I'd want to run to? I'll come up to tiie guard-tent the minuto it's out. I give you my word of honour."

By this time the Railway Pioneer Corps was in two minds—some laughing, and others looking vory black. Only Sergeant Rayne, busy with a pockcthook, seemed to tako no interest in the matter.

"March me off? With that fire burning? Wo'll be delayed a week at least. Why--why—why " Again Jerry turned p'.iuncolour. Fulsomand M'(-}inniss, who know his habits, closed, in on him at once.' "Come an, Jerry," whispered Fulsom. "You've done all you can. Come on."

"All I can? ! What do I matter? I'm thinking about tiles bridge." He walked in a sort of stupour, .looking back from time to time to watch the smoke in the donga. The Railway .Pioneer , Corps followed slowly, to assist in sweeping up Pmkameelcopompfontcin. • "Rayne has got down every word you said in shorthand," said FnTsom when the prisoner reached tho <ruanl-tent. "And he's going to wire to Hagan now. For God's sake don I open your mouth, Jerry, and well get ihr.t younr idiot Stellen.boschod m a. day or two. "Bung up for -a week-hung un for a week." monncd Jerry. "Am I mad. or is ho? Tell Rayne to wire for spare girder? CJod knows where they are to come iroroj

.Kcdcliffc Crown Brand Galvanised Iron is th( : roii to ust in exposed positions.

Perhaps Phillip 'U have a couple from r Folly Bridge. Better wire there as well. Those two will have buckled by now."

" And you say lie refused your orders? This was Hagaii, dirty and drawn, after a journey in a draughty cattle truck, standing at the foot of Setton's cot in dawnl:<*ht. ""He was extremely insolent, if that> what you moan. He deliberately questioned my authority before all the men several times. -He kept pawing me all over, too. I ( Clon t suppose ho really meant half he said." "Didn't he?" Hagan gulped, but curbed himself. ~ ~ "The trouble with you volunteers, said Setton. rising on one arm, "is that you ye absolutely no notion of military discipline, and on active service one can't allow t.iat sort of thing. However. I think 48 hours in the guard-tent will teach him a little tense. I've'no intention of carrying the any further, so we needn't discuss it.' Hagan stared at him with a horror that carried something of admiration, and a little— not much—pity. He had come up with Colonel Palling, R.E., and had ehown him the third bridge. "'ls this his tent?" one cried without, and there entered a colonel of. her Majesty's Royal Engineers, not in a. common regimental rage, but such a cold fury as an over-worked mv responsible for a few score miles of track in war time, may justly wear. He chewed his three-month old beard, and looked at Lieutenant Setton, who stood to attention. " You will go," he whispered at last. " you will go baokto the base by the 7.30 train this morning. You will give this note to tne general there " " Yes, sir "

" Do you know why you go?' "No, sir." The colonel's neck veins swelled. I —l wish to speak to this officer," he said. It is the first mnxim of internal economy (hat you should never reprimand a superior in the presence of his equal or his subordinate. Hagan withdrew. The cap sentry, a few yards away, stood fast. He was a reserve man of some experience. tl " Gawd 'as been 'eavenly good to me, he saiM later to 15 comrades. "I've 'card quite a few things in my time. I've 'card the Duki3 'imself pass the time o' day to an 'owe battery that turned up on the wrong flank in the"Loner Valley. I've 'card a brigdier on Salisbury Plain rope's end in' a volunteer aide-de-cons 'oo couldn't ride, an' asked questions. I "'card 'Smutty' Chambers lyin' bo'ind an ant-ill at Modeler gettin' sunstrol-o. I 'card what General said when the cavalry was 100 late at Stinkersdrift. But all that was ' Lot me" kiss 'im for 'is mother ' to wot 1 'card this mornin'. There wasn't any common dam-your-eyes routine to it. Palling, 'c just felt about with 'is fingers till 'cd found that little beggar's immortal soul —'o did. An' then :o pulled it fair out of 'im, like a bloomin' pull-through, an' then 'c blew 'is nose on if, like a bloorain' 'andkerchief, an' then 'o threw it away. Swore at 'im? No. You cliaps don't follow me. It was chronic. That's what it wasI—just1—just chronic!""

In the peaceful and loyal district of Stellenbo=ch there is a subaltern temporarily attached as supernumerary on the accounts sicb of the Numdah and Girth-lace Issue department, who knows exactly how thd army ought to be reorganised. " It's all very well to talk about makin' the army a business, like those newspaper chaps do, but they don't understand the spirit of the service. How can they? Well, don't you see. if they bring in those so-called reforms that they're always' talkin' about, they simply fill up the service with a lot of bounders and outsiders. They simply won't get the class of men to join that the army really wants. No one will take up the service then. I know, I «sha'n't, for one."