AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7295, 7 January 1902, Page 4

AN INDEPENDENT COMMAND.

i (By D. H. PARRY.) CHAPTER I. The " chief " was in his shirt-sleeves, and not very clean at that, when Urquhart's shadow fell across the tent opening, whither he had been summoned. " Oh, Urquhart," said he, shifting his i pipe to the other corner of his mouth, " I've got a job for you." " What's that, sir?" " Sib down, if you can find anything to sit on, and I'll tell you." And then Urquhart squeezed himself on to the corner of a case, with his long legs marvellously contorted, and rolled a cigarette the while. " They've cut the fine • again, * fifteen miles north of this," said the "chief," referring to a slip of paper on the foldingtable before him. " Van Kloster's Kloof they call the place ; and it's the second i time it's happened. Van Kloster's place j lies two miles further on, and as it's the I only farm for leagues round, I've had orj ders either to bring him in or burn him j out, and I've put you down for it." I .Urquhart nodded, and the "chief" handed him his pipe to get a light from, matches being scarce. j "Take twenty men, in case there's trouble, and use your own discretion in the matter ; but ' the sooner it's over, "ihe sooner to sleep ' — do you follow me V ' "Right you are, Colonel; it shall be done," said Urquhart, gathering his Jegs under him preparatory to rising. "By the way, didn't young Barter go on escort up there last week, when they brought in ..hat j oat-hay, sir?" "Yes, I believe he did." "That's good, . he'll know the road," said Urquhartj ** I'll take him along; and I amj | to report to you, sir?" : ■■ ! "When it's done," said the "chief,"; with significance in his voice, and a contraction of his grizzly eyebrows. '„.■•■.■:■■ j The row of tents nearest to the drift were the tents of Bunker's Horse, and the ragged! line of Cape poniee, walers, and! unsatisfactory Argentines were the horses of Bunker's. Round and about spread the camp; more tents, and some rough huts made from , anything and everything ; a few corrugated iron sheds that had once been a junction where the line branched, one arm going off round the shoulder of a hill to nowhere on the map, the other heading north to places that had become famous in the pa&tv few months, and will be household words for all time. It was over this section, that the supplies went up to the front, which was why the enemy found it expedient to explode a dynamite cartridge in a culvert now and again ; which was why Colonel Bunker had sent for Captain Urquhart, which is the reason of this story, and sundry other things. ..- , | Urquhart swung along through the trampled grass, white with limestone dust, and reaching his men, picked out twenty, gave the order to on-saddle, and passed the word for Mr Barter. Mr Barter' was not available, having gone on requisition across the veldt. " What do you want .Barter for, old | man?" said Urquhart's sub, Inglis. "He knows the road." I " Blow that ! We'll find it fast enough ; is it an 'all-night sitting?'" "No, about thirty miles out and in, that's all," replied Urquhart, flinging a long leg over his white pony, which looked at least four sizes too small for his rider, but which was up to any charger the Composites took out with them. " I'll tell you what we're on to when we get across the drift, Jimmy ; meanwhile, mum's the word. March!" They straggled down to the edge of the broad brown river, shining placidly in the bright sunshine, and forded knee deep to the opposite bank, attracting little or no remark from the hive of kharki-clad men behind them, busy with, their morning's work. They had no apparent connection with < the track-load of pioneers that streamed at the same moment northward to repair the j damage they themselves were going to avenge by a more circuitous route, i They were just a little dingy handful. of horsemen, bandoliered and brown-booted, with smasher hats jauntily turned up like a party of cavaliers of ancient days — to whom, indeed, they bore a decided resemi blance. j Inglis, with his smooth, boy face and blue eyes, had evidently not been impressed 'by the mystery with which his captain in- ; vested the expedition, for half way over he began to talk of other things which :were very near to his,, big boy heart. " Get anything by the mail in this morning, old man?" said Inglis. " Yes ; a final demand from my breechesbuilder," replied Urquhart, drily. i . "By Jove 1 They don't overdo you with letters," said Inglis, jerking his horse out of a hole. "You had nothing last time, I remember ; I've had a ripping, letter from the dear old mater," he rattled on enthusiastically, perhaps a little unthinkingly in bis: boy way; "she is a brick, you .know, and doesn't bother one with a heap of 1 questions, but tells you all about them ab home, and what the girls are doing, and all those things a fellow wants to hear about when he's at the other end of everywhere. Doi you know, I'd like you to read it ; I'm sufe you'll enjoy it, it's so jolly English, and home-like. Will you?" ''Yes, Jimmy, I'd like to," said Urquhart, staring out over the green veldt. His i " dear old mater " had passed into the dim i unknown years before, and he had no home j I worth mentioning ; and possibly he felt the | want as keenly at six-and-thirty as Jimmy j Inglis enjoyed the actuality at twentytwo. He took the letter — eight sheets of foreign post, and the last three of them crossed — and read it absorbedly in his saddle ; "hot minding Jimmy's commentary, or the regretful exclamations of his men as they flushed covey after covey of partridges, or istarted buck in their advance. It was, as Inglis styled it, a jolly letter. Making allowance for the anxiety for his welfare, which ran as an under-current through its pages, it breathed of the old house, and the sunlight that ripened the fruit in the old garden, and that other sunlight of unselfish love that warmed every room, and glowed in the hearts of the mother and sisters, whose thoughts were all of the inconsequent youngster riding beside his silent captain, magazine-rifle on thigh, and cigarette in the corner of his laughing mouth. One filled in the picture with glimpses of comfortable furniture, and comfortable family portraits, smiling mostly, and very nice servants who kept their places in more than one sense of the word ; and one was morally certain, though the letter did not say so, that the girls from the vicarage who had dropped in on Tuesday were sweet and pretty, and that the vicar was an excellent vicar, like he of Wakefield, the very alpha and omega of all vicars. And there were dogs in the picture, too, and some creature alluded to by name only, which Urquhart set down as a horse — some family Copenhagen ending his honoured days at the domestic Strathfieldsaye. And then the letter blessed the boy, and asked God to bless him ; and all along the bottom side of the last page there was a little disconnected ridge near the edge of the paper, like a relief map of the blue mountain range over the veldt yonder, and Urquharb rightly guessed they had been tears. He kept the letter in his hand for several minutes after he had read it. riding mechanically; until Jimmy, Jtii.--burst of enthusiasm cooled by Urquhart's silence, flushed a little, and begat to hope he had not made an ass of himself —which, next to making a beast of him "self, was probably the thing he mo-si dreaded in the world. "I say," h e sa^ a * as *' "J 011 npvc ' told me what we're going to Van Kloster'; for, after all?" " Here, boy, take your letter, replie the captain, awaking from 'his thought? and speaking gru^v. ""ly-'-a eoing U burn 'em out."

" Phew !" This from young Inglis. " Yes, it's the only way to stop things," said Urquhaiifc, with decision ; and Jimmy nodded. Thair corporal fell back a few lengths and pointed towards a gap in a stony ridge on their left. " Van Kloster's Farm is about ar mile and a half beyond those kopjes, sir," he said. The words recalled Urquhart 'to his duty once more, and he gave the word to; open, out, while two men went forward to scout for lurking snipers should there be any on the crest. The way proved clear, and after breasting the rise they descended into a wide plain, the eye roving over the .variegated' veldt, green, and 'brown, and russeb gold, backed by the great folue hills, and spotted to tlhe left with yellow stubble and scars of red earth. " There she blows," salid 1 Jimmy, and away beyond the stubble they saw the white walls of .the homestead, telling strong in the sunlight, againsfa a daik screen of eucalyptus. ... Half an hour through the scrub brought them to a grove of poplars, and l after reconnoitring the/ place carefully they rode up to the house.'"*, Urquhart looked at Inglis, who had become silent' an- his turn. .

*V^ CHAPTER 11. "I say, old chap, what a stunning place !" sadd t%fe youngster, as they pulled) up before the; porch, ■which -was rich, withi sunlight "and Shadow, and had a purple passion flower in full bloom entwining -with a vine. " §e4»« awfully rough to " ... He did not finish -his sentence, for the figure of a woman, came from the cool interior at the sound of their hoofs ; evidently the house vrow, and; not a bit like the ordinary Dutchwomen they were accustomed to, for she was nob fait, and' her anxious face was rather comely. Urquhait and Inglis saluted her politely ; and Urquhart said to the corporal, who spoke Dutch, " Ask her if the 'baas is at home V "He has gone down, to the township," which was perfectly true, "but I do not think he will "be long," said tfhe vrouw in very good English. "Do you come to buy cattle, sirs, because we have nothing left but a -dozen sheep; all our beasts were taken off by Viljoen three days since." "I— -cr — don't want any cattle, madam," said Urquhart, stroking his moustache, and looking perplexed. "Have I the pleasure of addressing Mrs Van. Kloster.?" "I am Mrs Van Kloster, sir." There was a quiet dignity iri'her voice, in spite of the compressed fingers and! the drawn brows. "My business was with your husband," saiid Urquih&rt, conscious that there were other figures inside the house, from the : whisk of petticoats and a momentary glimpse of a pretty face which peeped shyly at him and as instantly withdrew. "Will you not come in and 1 waft for him. He cannot be long now. Ah, you are surprised that' I speak English,, but I lived many yeaira in Cape Town," ea&<& ■J^rs-iVan Kloster, smiling at Mr Jtknmy Intdsj, ' who was growing red and uncomfortable. "My daughters, too, they were educated in- the Colony, and we have many friends among your people." "You've got a. jolly farm, Mrs Van Kloster," saidl Jimmy, who was- wondering what TJiquhart would do. "It da good land, you see, amd Jan is never happy unless he is at work upon it," replied the lady, briskly, for Jimmy's voice was young, and- delicately modulated when he spoke to the other sex. "But do not sit in the sun," she ©ontianied, "we are famous for our wline here, and my girls shall •bring' you some oi tihe best." Captain Urqufaairt dismounted, and stood witlh one hand on the pommel of his saddle. The vrouw had gome toto the house, expecting them to follow, and they could hear her calling to her daughters. " We'll a«c«pfc her invitation, Jimmy," he said. "Peiihaips Hke old man may turn, up —it'll give me time to think anyway. Set , a chain of pickets, corporal, end the rest can slack giirths : but keep your eyes open." They tied their horses to the ring an the jporch, and "went inThe house, more ifchan a. century old, was typically (Dutch.; built of brick, whitewashed! over, cool and roomy. They hesitated, ha* in hand, at Uhe first door they ■came to, feeling undeniably ill at ease, and' secretly ashamed) of themselves ; when a very /pretty mil, with' her mother's dark eyes, invited; them, half shyly, into the (room, 'wihidh. proved to be the great hall, common to all itihe better class of if arm houses. ■ Jimmy, very red) indeed 'by ibis time, bowed like a- pair of compasses and put out Ibis brown paw\ "By Jove!" he blurted, "it's as hot as possible ridimg" — he; nearly saadi "blazes" ; " I don't wonder you sleep half your time here." It was not the 'best beginning, but he was feeling 1 "no end of a pig, you know," and so he grunted. " But we don't sleep anything: like that," she laughed, showing a dainty row of white teeth. "Most of our old folk take a siesta, in the afternoons, but I assure you we are very busy people." Urqulhart (inclined his head gravely and sat down, gazing round about him. at the room, and out through, the windows', clustered with creepers, at tlhe orchard where the trees were laden with ripening fruit. It was strange,, andl yet there was a home touch about it all ; he and Jimmy Inglis in their kharki and Bedford cords were the only out-of -place thing about it, and they hadi come to burn it from threshold to rooftree! If Jimmy felt like a pig, Urquhart's sensaltlions were akin to a whole herd of swine, and he half wished for a steep place and the sea. The dark gird was Bet ; and her sister, Katrina, who followed Mrs, Van Kloster with a great tray of flasks and drinkingmugs, was if anything even prettierUrquhart groaned 1 in spirit, and dipped his moustache ' deeply into red hermitage. Mrs Van Kloster was loquacious, the girls soon lost their reserrve; and if ever man was- landed in a difficult position, the man was Dionald Urquhart. He got up presently and walked out, under pretence of some order to his men. He found them grouped under the shade of the poplars, drinking Kaffir beer which their hostess had sent to them; and his corporal was chucking Mrs Van* Kloster-'s handmaiden under the chin, which is the way of a corporal with a handmaiden 1 . He groaned! again, and looked down, the road, but no cloud of dust heralded the approach of the farmer ; amdi when he returned Kati&aa was lighting Jimmy 'a cigarette for him, just as his sister might have done in. that English home he had' read about on the ridte up. When Jimmy saw his solemn face and the deep-set, daric eyes, he laughed— he could nob help it, he said afterwards ; and Jimmy's laughter was so honest and infectious that the girls joined 1 in. it. Then the aromatic odour of cooking fell upon the nostrils of Mrs Van Kloster. She made a sign to her daughters, who. rose and went to the door, lingering, however, with expectation in their faces. "You will stay to dinner with us," said the kindly lady. " You cannot refuse us the pleasure, Captain Herr-kort — I find your name a little impossible to my tongue — it is all ready, a turkey and a suckingpig ; and Jan will be here of a certainty before we have finished." " Oh, do stay !" came the eager chorus from the door. Urquhart exchanged glances with his subaltern, and looked at his watch. Bully beef and emergency rations may be very sustaining at a pinch, but I defy any man who has subsisted on those delicacies, to remain unmoved by the perfume th/at was wafted from Mrs Van Kloster's kitchen. "You are exceedingly kind, Mrs Van Kloster," said Urquhart, throwing everything to the winds. "And if we are not axing your hospitality unduly?" " Ha, lam glad !" cried the good lady, lapping her hands. " Audi Jan will be ;!.irl when he comes." And she went out. " I'm not so certain about that part of t ," said the captain in a low voice. "By iad, Jimmy, we'je in a deuce of a hat ; .vhat's to be done?" " Blowed if I know," was the reply. " You're leader, thank goodness j of course,

if old Van Rooster turns up we can trot him down to camp as amiaibly as possible; but, I say, old man, did you ever see such eyes? They knook socks off all the girls I know. I'm three parts pro-Boer already." Urquhart frowned moodily, and paced up and down the long room. There were no pictures, but. a carvedi clock ticked solemnly against the wall, and the sound* was soothing. Jimmy turned 1 over the pages of a huge Bible with, brass clasps • an early eighteenth century production with fine copper-plate engravings. He laughed at Susannah and the Elders— the latter gentlemen in trunks tand high-heeled shoes — until he found, a strong resemblance to Katrina- in the persecuted heroine, and then he ratlher resented the whole thing.