A SHORT WAR STORY. THE BOER SPY.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11738, 3 February 1900, Page 1 (Supplement)

A SHORT WAR STORY. THE BOER SPY.

. Scene. — &. low-pitched white house at Ronderbosch, a pleasant suburb of Capetown. Table Monntain, glowing' an a white heat, in the background. The broad, blue bay, flanked by distant Togged peiks. cupped with snow in froni. A yovmg «irl was standing on the Step unier a verandah whose supports were so luxuriantly twined with yellow jasmin" and the irrepressible wacht-eea-l>eejfl »■* to be quite invisible. Framed in this leafy bower the girl presented a charming picture as she stood, in her riding dress, fondly caressing a chestnut mare, and feeding the 3poilt beMity with bunches of purple grapes. Her endearments seemed, certainly too effasivft to be bestowed on a mere quadruped, perhaps the malicious twinkle in her bright eyes and the mutinous curl of her pouting lip betrayed the fact that she was only playing a little comedy for the benefic of possible onlookers. One interested spectator was certainly approaching, and the cloud ou his bi^ow J and the irritation expressed by his rapid step showed that the picture presented to his gaze did not appeal to his sense of the beautiful. But then he happened to be the pretty girl's husband, and husbands are not invariably keenly appreciative of the charms of their own wiveß. " ¥ou have been riding again, Ethel?" inquired the man, angrily. •' That fact is" self-evident. Is is not, Stella ?" said Ethel, addresaing her glossy mare, upon whose velvet nose she :bs9towed a dainty little kiss. " With Major Leatrauge ?" asked her husband. *' Well, xUajor Lf>3trange happened to b.e going ihe same way," returned Ethel, coolly. You really must havo do wore grapep, Stella, Yon are too greedy," A Kaffir boy came forward to -lead away the mare. " Nice ride, missy ? ' he allied, his mobile mouth extending into a cavernous grin. *' Very nice, thank you, Jackey. Don't take Stella's Buddie od too soou. She ha 3 been v long way." The boy grinned again, with evident comprehension, and disappeared witti ihis chaige. " The very servants criticise the Bituation. It must be put a stop to." " My clear O?car, how caa you expect to muzzle criticism ? I fancy freedom of speech obtains in Cape Coloiiy as as i i England." '' You know perfectly well what I .mean. These frequent meetings with Major LestraDge must come to an end. I huve appealed to your good tasie m (the matter. That is apparently no iitse, : so 1 mean to put my foot down." '•Well, you needn't trample poor, littlemeunderit.it' yon dv,' returned ] Ethel, looking up in bis angry face j with iier most claimingismile! , i An -expletive fell from O-tunr's lip?. ! '• Oh !" cried Ethel, iitleuintr ty s>urt. j " What a naughty boy ! High moral preachers should not give themselves away by .u^ting swear words ; should j they, now 1" " Understand that I shall have no ' more of it," exclaimed Oscar, now fairly enraged. " 1 shall forbid that fellow ] the house/ " You needn't worry ; he's going to the front very Hbortly." " It's to ba hoped he'll get shot | there." '• Oh, for shame. O^car ! Yon often abuseiJVlajor Lestraoge, but at any rate he is alway, a gentleman, and would never, I am sure, give went to such an unworthy ssnliincnt as that." " Do you mean to infer that I am not a gentleman ?" •* Well,' you sometimes forget your manners sadly." •" "You would provoke a saint into forgetting his manners." " What does that .matter ? Saints are scarce nowadays, and I don't think that pretty manners were ever their specialty. Do you really intend lo forbid iXajor L'jatrange the hoase 7" " 1 most.cdrtainly do," *■ Then I won't be madp ridiculous in the'eyes of all our friends. I shall accept Mrs Grant's invitation to htay with her at Simon's Day. When I come back Major Lestrange will pjro-

1 bably be gone — perhaps shot, poor [ fellow — go you can save yourself the trouble of committing such an absurdity, and making yourself the jest of the clubs." With a defiant smile she turned and left him." " How deliciously angry poor old Oscar is, to be sure," the little lady soliloquised. " Wbat sillies men are ! And a3 weak as water. I could kiss him into a good temper again in five minute?, if I chose. But I don't choose. Not just yet, at least. He must be we'l punished for his abominably suspicions j nature "' j On the following afternoon, as Ethel j was taking her ushpl ride around the Kloof. «he heard the quick trot of a hor s*"5 *" !»»hind her. S.ie did not turn her head, but a pretty smile hovered about the corners of her mouth. Still, that might have been evoked by tho lovely prospect of the placid turquoise sea and the stretches of silver sand. There i 9 certainly not much too provoke a smile in the mpnotonoua sound of a horse's hoofs. " Why do you ride so fast ?" inquired the voice in her ear. " f have lost a good mile of your delightful society. I call that defrauding me of my jnst rights." " I am afraid you will have to submit to losing my delightful eociety alt-> getlier. [ have just managed to divert the course of an avalanche that threatened to overwhelm us. Bug id was all I eonld do " • " What's wronsj ? ' " O-!car is iealous ' "No!' ' " Fact, I assure yon. We have had nn awful row beuau->» bu said he would forbid you the honse. I couldn't bt» mad« a l:iunhing-3tock, could I? So I said I would go ami stay with Mrs Grant afc Simon's Bay. " How clever of yon. Billy grant is an old chum of mine." '• Really ! But you mustn't come there, you know." " Wb&t, never?" '• Well, of course, I have no right to prevent seeing your old chums. Let us say very sel'lom.*' • '•' Not mon thau three or four times a week, eh ?" '• Not ni'ich morp, certainly. People might ti!k."' " All riijht. I will submit, so far." "It is not my fault You perfectly understand that. Husbands are so unreaHCxiable/" " Ob, perfect tyrants if you don't hoid your owu troru the very first." " It seems a little deceitful of me, perhaps, but really Oscar defiervres a I lesson, doesn't he ?" Jealousy is such it mean, contemptible passion." . ' '" And, in thi9 cade, bo utterly unprovoked, flon'e you know ?" * ; "So to'nlly pii provoked 1 It ia the i injustice! o: Oie thing that makes it so gallina." il When hp finds that you are not to ] brf tramp I *! <>v !iu wild soon come to )iiH«pihfs.. l&. o.ily requires a little detenu i iisiiion'OD your part." •' You think *u>"? ' '• I inn Mir«' *>>.''' '• PeiiiHpo you are right. How nice ■fit you to sweep away all my absurd little doubts. I feel quite comfortable about going to Mrs Grant's now."' "Sodo I. I know Borne Johnnies on- the ships there. So it will be th« most natural thing in the world for me to look them up." "l^heri you don't think ,me so very wrong ?" r - " I will tell ydu all I think of you when I see you at Mrs Grant's." '• Why not now?" " Why ? Ob, becaus^ time — and space — foibid," j # ■» » # * Fortuniite'y, or unforfcunatfly, Ethel Maynard was fated never to receive tha expression of Major Lestratige's opinion. Two days after her departure for Simon's Bay bis regiment was ordered to the front, au<l the shoiD-lived flirtation came to a sudden end. Consequently, she found lite nt Mrs Grants so hopelessly dull that her annoyance with her husband d.iily iucreased. She persuaded herself that she'was exiled from borne entirely on acconnt'of his unreasonable and unworthy suspicions, and she treated with tlie silence of contempt all his written requests that she should return ; to Ilondernosch. ! " Because the Mojpr has gone, Oscar | fancies t'rnt he has got the best of it,"

she Sflid, angrily. "He must humble himself a good deal ru.>re before I make up my mind to forprivf him." But when, for over a week, his letters ceased entirely. Elhel b'gan to think that she had gone too far. She wrott | a charming little epistle, as frank and chatty as though there had been no breach whatever between them, concluding with a gracious intinntion that shY intended returning home at the end of the week. She confidently awaited si joyous reply to her graceful concession but she waited in vain. No response came, and at length, vexation giving way to alarm, she resolved^ welcome or unwelcome, to go back to Ronderbosch and leani the reason of her husband's extraordinary silence. When she drove up to the house she found no Osca r waiting to offer explanations. " Where \ is your master?' she inquired of the bland Kaffir boy. " Gone to the war, Missy," returned the smiling youth. " What !" cried Ethel. " Whatever do you meaa ? When did he go ?" " WeeK ago, Missy. Volunteers ordered up de country. Massa put on uniform, take sword, six-shooter, an' go. Jak»>y said he go, too. Massa no takee. Said Kaffir boy must get out — scoot — no be damn nuisance. Kaffir boy scooted pretty quick." "That is enough, Jakey. You caiv go," said Eihel, with matronly dignity. Then she went indoors and wept bitterly. She spent the day in an acrony of remorse ani fear. Suppose Oscar should h-\ killed '. He had gone away buoyed up by no kind word from her. No tender farewell had been spoken, no kiss of mutual forgiveuess and of reconciliation had passed between them. It was too terrible. He might have known that at the first word of ais probable departure tor the seat of war she would have fl nvn back to his arms, imploring pardon for the past, and promising all good things for the tuture. Perhaps the order to march had been too sudden, and he could find no' time to send her any tidings. She had been a wicked unnawral wife. Not appreciating her happiness as she ought to have done, she had trifled with the love of a too-indulgent? husband, and, perhaps, lost it and him for ever. Surely', her punishment was great — greater than she could bear. As night came on she laid down on her bed and tri<?d to sleep, but sleep was impossible. Dread pictures of her husband lying maugled and steeped in gore, on the veld haunted her eseited brain. Perhaps he was even now breathing his last sigh "to the night air, with none beside him to soothe his parting moments. So tearible did her mental anguish become that she felt it a sheer impassibility to live any longer without his forgiveness. *Iv the dead of night she arose ani scatchfd her husband's wardrobe for an old kharki suit which she knew was there. Having found it, she proceeded, without one pan?, to cut off her loug raven tresses. Tlisn she dressed herself in the male attire, and smiled benignly back at the mirror, which showed her 'what a shapely stripling she looked. She hastily wroto a note to the servants saying she had been called suddenly away fiom home, and expected to return veiy soon ; then, taking a brace of pistols und' some cartridges out of a case, she crept cautiously downstairs and made her way to the stables. She thanked Providence that during her maiden lift*, spent far up the country, she had learned to saddle a horse for the knowledge stood her in good stead now. Suddenly a figure appeared out of the darkness. Forgetting her manly attire, Ethel was just on the point of screaming, when she rccogLized wakey. " It's me, Missy," he whispered. " You going to massa ? Jakey go too. Show Missy the way. Carry food for ; you and the horses. Say Kuffir boy may go too Missy." For an instant Ethel hesi'ated, fien she resolved to accept his escort. " Saddle the. other horse, Jakey," she said. *' Yon are a faithful boy You will be very useful. But you mustn't call me • Missy' any more." " All right," said tho boy, his fnce glowing with delight. " Call you little massa, Littlo mnssa and Jakey go to ',

find de big massa and bring him back ? home asjain." | " As they rode away tlie moon was just ri-inj; above the mass of white clond that enveloped the summit of Table Mountain. The air was soft and balmy, and but forher gnawing anxiety as to the safety of her husband Ethel wouldhave mightily- enjoyed the escapade. At first all went well. It was easy to find resting places where refreshment for raau and beast could be obtained, but as the pair proceeded the country grew wilder and more desolate, and Ethel had oftentimes cause to congratulate herself on the kind fate that had sent her Jackey for a companion. As they neared the scene of hostilities their progress became slower and more cautious. Once they had to lay low, and eventually, under cover of the night, to make a long detour in order to avoid a scouting party of Boers. And here again Jakey's superior knowledge of trekking stood Ethel in good stead. He had a keen eye ior danger, and displayed all a native's cuaniug in avoid- | ing it. It was through his cleverness • that they were able to pass unscathed the cordon drawn by the enemy around the beleaguered town that was their destination. A few shots were fired after them, but the black darkness favoured their escape, and soon they bad the satisfastion of finding that the pursuit had been abandoned. They galloped hard, ail the harder for the fact that Ethel realised that she was no-v within reasonable hope of spe- i ing her husband once more. Her spirits rose, and she told herself that all her troubles were now at an end. Nothing remained but a few more hours' endurance, and then she would be able to throw her herself into Oscar's arms and sob out her contrition on his shoulder. She pictured this touching scene so often that she woll-nigti forgot hey fatigue, the distress of the rough •road, her parched mouth, and her aching head. She was in a dream of prospective bliss when, all in a moment, she wa9 rudely awakened. Jakey's horse fell stone dead, and the boy was thrown violently to the . ground. He made an effort to rise, and fuuud that he could not stand. " Jakey hurt foot, little massa. Jakey go no furder, Little massa leave him herfi to die." This was palpably impossible. The prosppct of immediate capture by the enemy and instant death would not have induced Elhel to slir a step without her faithful attendant. " You must get on Stella, Jakey. I wi!l help you up, and I will walk beside you. It wants still two or three hoars till dawn , we shall be safe withiu the English lines by snniise." *' Little mas3a too tired — too worn I out. Not possible, ma^sa, to walk." " It is quite possible, Jakey," returned Ethel, with affected oneerfolHess. "If you don't mount this very instant I shall ; stop hero you." , Thus persuaded, Jakey relnctantly consented to the arrangement, and once i more they set out on' their painful way. The faint, grey streak' of dawu was just appearing above the horizon when tney beard the challenge of the British outposts. Haggard, dirty, dishevelled, and spent with fatigue find anxiety, Ethel presented a sorry spectacle. Her voice completely failed her, and it was all she could do to avoid bursting into most unmauly tears. To ruafte matters worse, Jakey, overcome with the agony of his injured foot, tumblod headlong into the arms of the astonished sentinel and instantly lost consciousness. In a moment the pair were surrounded by a crowd of men. Ethel was quite unequal to the task of accounting for their sudden appparaiice* Her embnrrassment was regarded as craven fear, and in less time than- it takes to tell the word went round that thpy were Boer spies, and thpy . were hurried away prisoners to await their sentence in 'due course. This was such a- different finale to the one Ethel had anticipated, and so reduced her heroic undertaking to the level I of n foolish escapade that she gave way to utter despair. When brought before the higher powers by-nuu-bye, how was she to confess, before a crowd of grinning officers, that she was a woman ? Jakey lay like a log ou the floor, still unconscious. . Ho could give neither help nor counsel. E'hel glanced fur- ■

tivc-Iy at the sildior who acted as their gaoler. "Do you know Captain 3lnynarJ ?" she nsked, trying, with but indifforeufc > success, to assume a devil may-care manner. " R"g'lais ?'' inquired the man.' l< Volunteers," lelurned Ethel. The man removed bis. pipe and spat on thejioor. " Can't say as I do," he suid. " Will you make inquiries about him ?" " * don't want to know notbink about him." •' But I want to speak to him immediately. I'll ninke it worth your while. See here. . And she drew a sovereign out of her pocket. ' " Hullo ! Bribery and corruption ! That's your game, is it '?'* You'd better stow that, young un. Tommy Atkins 'don't give no information for old Kruger's pay, and so you'll find, my fine fellow. And you list remember, as the coppers tell you, that anything • will be used against you. Take my advice, and keep your tat6r-trap shut till you're spoken to." Overcome with fatigue, Ethel fell at length into un uneasy slumber, and she did not wake until she felt herself rudely shaken by the shoulder. Hardly conscious of her surroundings, she was marched rapidly into another room, where she found herself in the presence of a group of officers, among whom was Oicar. • To all inquiries she remained perfectly dumb, her head sinking lower and lower ' till it fell upon her breast. It was clear that Oscar had no intention of helping her out of her difficulty, oven if he had recognised her, which was doubtlal, for after a mere passing glance at tbe dirty, unkempt boy he hal resume I hi« conversation with his neighbour. As the authorities could neit'.er, by persuasion nuv by threat, elicit anything 1 from Ethel, the soldier's accouut of theattempted bribery milling ou-3 more of the suspicious circumstances suirouuding her, Jakpy was sent for, and soon entered, supported by two men and, attended by a corporal. The latter salute!. ''Dos; [ninlon, Colonel. Buy's ankle broUesi. Can't stand." O^car stepped for wan!. "Excuse mo, Colonel, ' ue ?aiil ; •• this boy is a servant of mine. It is impossible that ha can be a Caer any." " He is evidently only a follower of the other, Captain Maynaivl," returned the Colonel. " There stands the real cnlprit. Perhaps your tervarjt has been led away by bad companions." Maynard looked narrowly at Ethel. He started, suppressed a rising exclamation, then laughed souiewhal ner-> vously. " Colonel," he. said, •' I know 'his — cr — this fellow, too. The lad youder is my stable-boy. This is — cr — cr — thisis my groom. If you .vill allow me, I will question them Loth privately 'in my quarters, an.l will lay before you a_ precise statement of the result of my inquiries." The Colonel was becoming erhiisou with surprise and indication. O.cur approached anil whispered lour words ia his ear. They were magic in their effect. The Colonel stared mailed, then fairly chuckled, anJ, to the amazement of the officers standing by, gave 'Captain Maynard permission to carry the prisoners off to his room for private interrogation. Edith did not fall picturesquely at her husband's fear, and, with t>ars and sobs, implore his for.;iv>:iess. Perhaps she felt that her bed Higgled appeai'iUlCO and her mile attire utterly precluded any attempt at sentiment. All she did was to g stand MPj-.ously twisting her cap round and round ia her tremblingfingers. All she managed to say, iv Hpu of tho eloquent speeches she had prepared was : " Hullo, O^car, old bey; how are you ?" However, Mayn.ird w>j o tiuaffectedir glad to see h.< little wifo .igaiu, in any guise. Flo was, beyond expression, overjoyed to find that she would unflinchingly brave danger aa-l discomfort • for Jove of him. When tbe n>al Meiitity'or tho Boer spy became known throughout tho Ciinp, Ethel found ficrself exulted into :v heroine, ami .);i!;<M', when ha wns once more able to limp around, wuj wel-

coined and feted t« his heart's content. The m>>r« especially, as on his travels he had picked up soni^ items of interesting news which hnpjened to prove of inestitcab'e service to the officer in command.