On the Firing Line

t-stripped fact that certain refugee Uitlanders were ready to affirm that Table Mountain was held by an invading army who patrolled the summit, coffee pot in one

ke of many pipes rose to the roof; from the vestry room behind him, he heard the cleaner-cut accent of the officers. Outside, above the light spatter of rain on the windows, he could hear the horses stamping contentedly in the leafy avenue without the churchyard wall, and the brawl of the stream beyond. The twilight lay heavy over the church, he

?" Carew asked, as he pe

you?" Weldon ord

sure touch swept into the familiar harmonies of the Eventide Hymn, and then, still with his hymnal in mi

egation as he passed them, still see the scarlet blot of color made by his own hymnal against his stiffly starched cotta, still see his mother, erect and pale, staring at him with a resolute bravery which matched his own

singing it with full voice. Then the refrain died away; there was an instant's hush, an instant's modulation; and, as a man, the crowd beneat

oor. With a friendly word here and there, he passed among the troopers who saluted him and th

nt on the low rail. "We had an organ at home, and I miss it. I builded better than I

ncel where they stood. The organist

is Troope

the starred shoulder straps gave Weldon

he answer

e together at Maitland Camp, last week, when

yellow hair and on his blue eyes, dark and fringed with long bl

ptain Fra

way into Miss Dent's good graces. She tells me yo

s Dent for a long t

d. For the moment, they were man and man. In a moment more, th

oming-out function, too." Then he rose. "I shall see you again," he added formally. "Now I wish to ma

thoughtfully. Then he

at's a man

"Women don't usually wear khaki.

good shelter from the drizzle; and Paddy, his day's labor done, was leaning back at his ease, exchanging

. Carew can stay out in the rain. It's worth his while, even then, for the sake of watching that

y," his victim

you go on like this, you living watchman's rattle, the Boers can hear you, cl

ain F

a better soldier nor a finer Christian, this side the line. Neptune must have give him an extry scru

Weldon advis

of his spoon, and you'll see war. The Kingdom of Heaven is a spot of everlasting peace. All I ask of

your tent to plan up an extra good breakfast. Some of these fellows must volunteer

rose

as Paddy, in nowise daunted by the unexp

hat I merely said, 'when I get a rifle instead of a spoon.' It's a sorry day for an able-bodied man

d by the Captain. It was a surly night, cold and raw with a drizzling rain. Nevertheless, this was th

teen other men sneaking at his heels. There had been no especial pretext of Boers in the neighborhood; tactical thoroughness merely demanded a guard on the farther side of the river. Nevertheless, the enthusiastic fellows threw themselves into the game with the s

lessly on the corrugated iron roof of their shelter and made a dreary bass accompaniment to the strident tenor of the rising wind. Inside the but the men yawned and whispered together by turns. Carew's best jokes began to fall a little flat, and Weldo

ldings. The rising wind had proved too much for the hut. Its joints writhed a little, seesawed up and down a little, then yawned like a weary old man.

ueried, as Weldon

e what the pick

," Carew prot

as it comes, instead of having a gutter empty its

in," Carew

question, and I'd rather be m

look out for Boers.

. If I am to get a chill, I'd rather do it from my

is is no sack-race; you can't go out to walk in your bag. In fact,

t you brin

arranging himself

he replied sleepily. "Now pleas

n. When he became fully awake, he was lying in a pool of water in the

an, out here shooting Boers. Oh, I say!" And he w

on was explaining. "The blankets are quite dry. Roll

transfer with mer

sible above the encircling cocoon. "I thought you said that you preferred to cat

ow head turned, and the blue eyes lo

s if he had not risen from his warm bed to swim the river and walk a mile in t