Willmar tribune. [volume], April 13, 1910, Image 7

About Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
II
MEREDITH
NICHOLSON
lLLUSTRATIOmi3Y
RAY WALTFR6
€WYR/Cffr
1907 OV BOdBS-tfERMLL COL
SYNOPSIS.
Miss Patricia Holbrook and Miss Helen
Holbrook, her niece, were entrusted to
the caie of Laurance Donovan, a writer
summering neui Port Annandale Miss
Patricia confided to Donovan that she
feaied her brother Henry, who, ruined by
a bank failure, had constantly threatened
her Doncnan discovered and captmed
an intruder, who proved to be Reginald
Gillespie, suitor for the hand of Helen
Donovan saw Miss Holbrook and her fa
ther meet on friendly terms Donovan
fought an Italian assassin He met the
man he supposed was Holbrook, but who
said he was Hartridge, a canoe-maker
Miss Pat announced her intention of
fighting Henry Holbrook and not seeking
another hiding place. Donovan met Helen
In garden at night. Duplicity of Helen
was confessed by the young lady. At
night, disguised aa a nun, Helen stole
from the house She met Reginald Gil
lespie, who told her hie love Gillespie
was confionted by Donovan At the town
postofflce Helen, unseen except by Dono
van, slipped a draft for her father into
the hand of the Italian sailor. A young
lady resembling Miss Helen Holbrook
was observed alone in a canoe, when
Helen was thought to have been at home
Gillespie admitted giving Helen $20,000 for
her father, who had then left to spend it
Miss Helen and Donovan met in the
night She told him Gillespie was nothing
to her He confessed his love for her
Donovan found Gillespie gagged and
bound in a cabin, inhabited by the vil
lainous Italian and Holbrook He released
him Both Gillespie and Donovan ad
mitted love for Helen Calling herself
Rosalind a "voice" appealed to Donovan
help She told him to go to the canoe
maker's home and see that no injury be
fell him He went to Red Gate
At the canoe-maker's home, Donovan
found the brothers—Arthur and Henry
Holbrook—who had fought each other, in
consultation "Rosalind" appeared Ar
thur averted a murder. Donovan return
ing met Gillespie alone in the dead of
night On investigation he found Henry
Holbrook, the sailor, and Miss Helen en
gaged in an argument It was settled
and thev departed Donovan met the
real Rosalind, who by night he had sup
posed to be Miss Helem Holbrook. She
revealed the mix-up
CHAPTER XVIII—Continued.
"They were sent to St. Agatha's by
Father, Stoddard, an old friend of
mine. They had suffered many annoy
ances, to put it mildly, and came here
to get away from their troubles."
"Yes, I understand. Uncle Henry
has acted outrageously. I have not
ranged the country at night for noth
ing I have even learned a few things
from you," she laughed "And you
must continue to serve Aunt Patricia
and my cousin. You see"—and she
smiled her grave smile—"my father
and I are an antagonistic element."
"No not as between you and Miss
Patricia! I'm sure of that. It is Henry
Holbrook that I am to protect her
from. You and your father do not en
ter into it"
"If you don't mind telling me, Mr.
Donovan, I should like to know
whether Aunt Pat has mentioned us."
"Only once, when I first saw her
and she explained why she had come.
She seemed greatly moved when she
spoke of your father. Since then she
has never referred to him. But the
day we cruised up to Battle Orchard
and Henry Holbrook's man tried to
smash our launch, she was shaken out
of herself, and she declared war when
we got home. Then I was on the lake
with her the night of the carnfval.
Helen did not go with us. And when
you paddled by us, Miss Pat was quite
disturbed at the sight of you but she
thought it was an illusion, and—I
thought it was Helen!"
"I have been home only a few weeks,
but I came ]ust in time to be with fa
ther in his troubles My uncle's en
mity is very bitter, as you have seen.
I do not understand it. Father has
told me little of their difficulties but
I know, she said, lifting her head
proudly, "I know that my father has
done nothing dishonorable. He has
told me so, and I am content with
that."
I bowed, not knowing what to say.
"I have been here only once or
twice before, and for short visits only
Most of the time I have been at a con
vent in Canada, where I was known as
Rosalind Hartridge. Rosalind, you
know, is really my name I was named
for Helen's mother. The sisters took
pity on my loneliness, and were very
kind to me. But now I am never go
ing to leave my father again
She spoke with no unkindness or
bitterness, but with a gravity born of
deep feeling I marked now the lighter
timbre of her voice, that was quite dif
ferent from her cousin's and she
spoke more rapidly, as she had said,
her naturally quick speech catching at
times the cadence of cultivated
French. And she was a simpler na
ture—I felt that she was really very
unlike Helen.
"You manage a canoe pretty well,"
I ventured, still studying her face, her
voice, her ways, eagerly.
"That was very foolish, wasn't it?—
my running in behind the procession
that way!" and she laughed softly at
the recollection. "But that was pro
fessional pride! That was one of my
father's best canoes, and he helped me
to decorate it. He takes a great de
light in his work it's all he has left!
And I wanted to show those people at
Port Annandale what a really fine ca
noe—a genuine Hartridge—was like.
I did not expect to run into you or
Aunt Pat."
"You should have gone on and
claimed the prize. It was yours of
right. When your star vanished I
thought the world had come to an
end."
"It hadn't, you see! I put out the
lights so that I could get home un
seen."
"You gave us a shock. Please don't
do it again and please, if you and
your cousin are to meet, kindly let it be
on solid ground. I'm a little afraid,
•ven now, that you are a lady of
dreams."
"Not a bit of It! I enjoy a sound
appetite I can carry a canoe like a
Canadian guide I am as good a fencer
as my father and I'm not afraid of
the dark. You see how very highly ac
complished I am! Now, my cousin
Helen—"
"Well—?" and I was glad to hear
her happy laugh. Sorrow and loneli
ness had not stifled the spirit of mis
chief in her, and she enjoyed vexing
INDATREDGAT
"I Must Ask You Not to Leave Here."
me with references to her cousin.
I walked the length of the room anjl
looked out upon the creek that ran
singingly through the little vale. They
were a strange family, these Hol
brooks, and the perplexities of their
affairs multiplied. How to prevent
further injury and heartache and dis
aster how to restore this girl and her
exiled father to the life from which
they had vanished and how to save
Miss Pat and Helen—these things
possessed my mind and heart. I sat
down and faced Rosalind across the
table. She had taken up a bright bit
of ribbon from the work-basket and
was slipping it back and forth through
her fingers.
"The name Gillespie was mentioned
here last night. Can you tell me just
how he was concerned In your fa
ther's affairs?" I asked.
"He was the largest creditor of the
Holbrook bank. He lived at Stamford,
where we all used to live."
"This Gillespie had a son. I sup
pose he inherits his father's claims."
She laughed outright.
"I have heard of him. He is a re
markable character, it seems, who
does ridiculous things. He did as a
child. I remember him very well as
a droll boy at Stamford, who was al
ways mischief. I had forgotten all
about him until I saw an amusing ac
count of him in a newspaper a few
months ago He had been arrested for
fast driving in Central park and the
next day he went back to the park
with with a boy's toy wagon and team
of goats, as a joke on the policeman."
"I can well believe it! The fellow's
here, staying at the inn at Annandale."
"So I understand To be frank, I
have seen him and talked with him.
We have had, in fact, several interest
ing interviews"—and she laughed mer
dily
"Where did all this happen?"
"Once, out on the lake, when we
were both prowling about in canoes.
I talked to him, but made him keep his
distance. I dared him to race me, and
finally paddled off and left him. Then
another time, on the shore near St.
Agatha's I was taking an observation
of the school garden from the bluff,
and Mr. Gillespie came walking
through the woods and made love to
me. He came so suddenly that I
couldn't run, but I saw that he took
me for Helen, in broad daylight, and
I—I—"
"Well, of course you scorned him—
you told him to be gone. You did that
much for her
"No, I didn't. liked his love-ma
king it was unaffected and simple."
"Oh, yes! It would naturally be
simple!"
"That is brutal. He's clever, and
earnest, and amusing. But—" and her
brow contracted, "but if he is seeking
my father—"
"Rest assured he is not. He is in
love with your cousin—that's the rea
son for his being here."
"But that does not help my father's
case any."
"We will see about that. You are
right about him he's really a most
amusing person, and not a fool, except
for his own amusement. He is shrewd
enough to keep clear of Miss Pat, who
dislikes him Intensely on his father's
account. She feels that the senior Gil
lespie was the cause of all her trou
bles, but I don't know just why. She's
strongly prejudiced against the young
man, and his whimsicalities do not ap
peal to her."
"I suppose Helen cares nothing for
him he acted toward me as though
he'd been crushed, and I—I tried to be
nice to him to make up for It."
"That was nice of you, very nice of
you, Rosalind. I hope you will keep
right on the way you've begun. Now
I must ask you not to leave here, and
not allow your father to leave unless
I know it."
"But you have your hands full with
out us. Your first obligation Is to
Aunt Pat and Helen. My father and
I have merely stumbled in where we
were not invited. You and I had bet
ter say good-by now."
"I am not anxious to say good-by,"
I answered, lamely, and she laughed
at me.
"We met under the star-r-rs, Mr.
Donovan" (this was impudent my
own r"s trill, they say), "at the stone
seat and by the boathouse, and we
talked Shakespeare and had a beauti
ful time—all because you thought I
was Helen. In your anxiety to be with
her you couldn't see that I haven't
quite her noble height—I'm an inch
shorter. I gave you every chance there
at the boathouse, to see your mistake
but you wouldn't have it so. And you
let me leave you there while I went
back alone across the lake to Red
Gate, right by Battle Orchard, which
is haunted by Indian ghosts. You are
a most gallant gentleman!"
"When you are quite done, Rosa
lind!"
"I don't know when I shall have a
chance again, Mr. Donovan," she went
on, provokingly. "I learned a good
deal from you in those interviews, but
I did have to do a lot of guessing.
That was a real inspiration of mine, to
insist on playing that Helen by night
and Helen by day were different per
sonalities, and that you must not
speak to the one of the other. That
saved complications, because you did
keep to the compact, didn't you?"
I assented, a little grudgingly and
my thoughts went back with reluctant
step to those early affairs of mine,
which I have already frankly disclosed
in this chronicle, and I wondered, with
her counterpart before me, how much
Helen really meant to me. Rosalind
studied me with her frank, merry
eyes then she bent forward and ad
dressed me with something of that
prescient air with which my sisters
used to lecture me.
"Mr. Donovan, I fear you are a little
mixed in your mind this morning, and
I propose to set you straight."
"About what, if you please?"
"I can tell you exactly why It is that
Helen has taken so strong hold of your
imagination—why, in fact, you are in
love with her."
"Not that—not that."
She snatched the foil from the table
and cut the air with it several times
as I started toward her. Then she
stamped her foot and saluted me.
"Stand where you are, sir! Your
race, Mr. Donovan, has a bad reputa
tion in matters of the heart. For a mo
ment you thought you were in love
with me but you are not, and you are
not going to be. You see, I understand
you perfectly."
"That's what my sisters used to tell
me."
"Precisely? And I'm another one of
your sisters—you must have scores of
them!—and I expect you to be increas
ingly proud of me."
Veddahs of Ceylon Regarded as Rep
resenting the Stone Age.
The oldest Inhabitants of Ceylon we
passing away. These are the famous
Veddahs.
Fifty years ago it was estimated
that 8,000 of them were still living in
the forests, but Dr. Max Moszkowski,
who has recently visited them, says
there are only 50 or 60 of them still
alive and that a few more years will
see the end of their race.
The Veddahs have Interested an
thropologists because they have been
regarded as the best living types of
the man of the stone age.
The attitude of the Cingalese toward
them is remarkable. They hold the
poor creatures In great honor and rank
them as belonging to the highest caste
In the Island. The reason is that they
are reputed to have descended from
the ancient demons or spirits that
were the original possessors of the
inland.
"Of course I admire Helen—" I be
gan, 1 fear, a little sheepishly.
"And you admire most what you
don't understand about her* Now that
you examine me in the light of day
you see what a tremendous difference
there is between us. I am altogether
obvious I am not the least bit subtle.
But Helen puzzles and thwarts you.
You did me a great service last night,
and you would serve me again, I am
confident of it and I hope, when all
these troubles are over, that we shall
continue—my father, and you and I—
the best friends in the world."
I cannot deny that I was a good deal
abashed by this declaration spoken
without coquetry, and with a sincerity
of tone and manner that seemed con
clusive.
I began stammering some reply, but
she recurred abruptly to the serious
business that hung over us.
"I know you will do what you can
for Aunt Pat. I wish you would tell
her, if you think ft wise, that father is
here. They shotsiti understand each
other. And Helen, my splendid, cour
ageous, beautiful cousin—you see I
don't grudge her even her better looks,
or that intrepid heart that makes us
so different. I am sure you can man
age all these things in the best
possible way. And now I must find
my father and tell him that you are
going to arrange a meeting with Aunt
Pat, and talk to him of our future."
She led the way up to the garden,
and as I struck off into the road she
waved her hand to me, standing under
the overhanging sign that proclaimed
HartrMge, the canoe-maker, At Red
Gate.
CHAPTER XIX.
Helen Tjtkee Me to Task.
I paced the fcreesy terrace at Glen
arm, studying my problems, and stum
bling into new perplexities at every
turn. My judgment has usually served
me poorly in my own affairs, which I
have generally confided to Good Luck,
that most amiable of goddesses and
I glanced out upon the lak« with some
notion, perhaps, of seeing her fairy
sail drifting toward me. But there, to
my vexation, hung the Stiletto, scarce
ly moving in the indolent air of noon.
There was, I felt again, something sin
ister in the very whiteness of its
pocket-handkerchief of canvas as it
stole lazily before the wind. Did Miss
Pat, in the school beyond the wall, see
and understand, or was the yacht
hanging there as a menace or stimulus
to Helen Holbrook, to keep her alert
in her father's behalf?
"There are ladies to see you, sir,"
announced the maid, and I found
Helen and Sister Margaret waiting in
the library.
The sister, as though by prearrange*
ment, went to the farther end of the
room and took up a book.
"I wish to see you alone," s»!d Hel
en, "and I didn't want Aunt Pat to
know I came," and she glanced toward
Sister Margaret, whose brown habit
and nun's bonnet had merged into the
shadows of a remote alcove.
An Ancient Race Dying Out
The brim of Helen's white-plumed
hat made a little dusk about her eyes.
Pink and white became her she put
aside her parasol and folded her un
gloved hands, and then, as she spoke,
her head went almost imperceptibly to
one side, and I found myself bending
forward as I studied the differences
between her and the girl on the Tippe
canoe. Helen's lips were fuller and
ruddier, her eyes darker, her lashes
longer. But there was another differ
ence, too subtle for my powers of
analysis something less obvious than
the length of lash or the color of eyes
and I was not yet ready to give a
name to it Of one thing I was sure:
My pulses quickened before her and
her glance thrilled through me as Ros
alind's had not.
"Mr. Donovan, I have come to ap
peal to you to put an end to this mis
erable affair into which we have
brought you. My own position has
grown too difficult, too equivocal, to be
borne any longer You saw from
my father's conduct las*t night how
hopeless it is to try to reason with
him. He has brooded upon his troubles
until he is half mad. And I learned
from him what I had not dreamed of,
that my Uncle Arthur is here—here,
of all places. I suppose you know
that."
(TO BE CONTINUED)
These nomad, hunting people, neter
leaving their forests, living under
trees and in caves, without knowl
edge of pottery or any other art ex
cept that of making bows and arrows,
»re perishing because of their way of
living and of their inability to stand
up when stronger folk are pressing
closer around them. They are exact
ly what they were centuries ago when
people of India came and conquered
their gree* island.
His Cue.
"All the world's a stage," remarked
the callow youth.
"Yes," she replied, "but to few
seem to realize that the last curtain
goes down at 11 o'clock."
Realizing that she had given him his
cue he made a hasty exit
Sometimes He Is.
Ram's Horn: Many a man who is
rolling down hill thinks he is zaakJw
a record nut.
I
I"*
0BNE
*A
If
He passed within a foot without
touching me. As I rose for the second
time my after-rider came up with an
other gun. I half pulled him from his
pony and, mounting it, caught and
killed the rhinoceros. The horn now
hangs over the entrance of my door.
That day a companion happened to
be hunting in the same direction as
myself and, hearing the reports of my
gun, hoped I might have come up with
the elephants I had started after in
the morning. He found me sitting
under a bush, hatless, and holding up
the piece of my scalp, with the blood
streaming down my face, or, as he af
terwards described It to Livingstone:
"I saw that beggar, Oswell, sitting un
der a bush holding on his head." A few
words told him what had happened,
and then my thoughts turned to Stael,
my horse. That very morning, as I
left the wagons, I had talked to him
affectionately, as a man can talk to a
good horse, telling him how, when the
hunting was over, I would make him
fat and happy, and I had played with
him and he with me. It was with a
very sore heart I put a ball through his
head, took the saddle from his back
and started wagonwards, walking half
the distance (ten miles) and making
my after-rider do likewise. Unless a
man was situated as I w£3 then, it is
difficult to make him understand all
that the loss of a good horse means.
You cannot even fill up his place in
quantity, let alone quality. In this
part of Africa, at all events, your suc
cess depends enormously upon your
steed, for the country is generally too
open for stalking, and he carries you
up to your game, in most instances, as
near as you like, and it is your fault
if you don't succeed. Had I been the
best shot that ever looked along a
rifle, and made of steel, I could have
done but a trifle without horses. In
comparison with what accomplished
with them. Armed as I was with a
smooth-bore, not very trua, with heavy
charges at over 30 yards, it was a ne
cessity to get as near my game as pos
sible I am not vain of my shooting—
I can do what I intend pretty well at
from ten to twenty-five yards—but I
would have given the best shot in the
world without horses very long odds
besides, from the saddle you see so
much more at your ease, and your at
tention for everything that surrounds
you is so much more free.
still after turning round spurs had no.
Cold tinned meat for troops in war
fare will soon disappear from the list
of the hardships of active service.
The use of the motor vehicle and the
Invention of a means of cooking tinned
or fresh meat while moving rapidly
have received the approval of the au
thorities. An Irish quartermaster has
invented a traveling kitchen, fixed in
an ordinary wagon, which can cook
for S00 men as it moves with them,
end at the first halt In a forced march
hen a Rhinoceros
Tosses You
By W. COTTON OSWELL
permUslon of Longmans Green & Co. Mew Xvit. Copyright, by Ben B. Hampton.
evening I was returnin
to campU with a number of
Kafirs, tired and hungry
after a long day's spooring
elephants, which we never
overtook I saw a long.
horned rhinoceros standing
*^bUxU.Ug
6 0
die with his trunk. By a little carefuil
treatment this pony became a very
valuable one and I once in after days
shot $600 worth of ivory from his back
in half an hour. Have nothing to do
with a vicious or uncertain-tempereJd
horse. If you find you have been taken
in with such a one, shoot him the first
loss may not be so bad as the last.
Never ride a stumbler up to anything
A UJO
inmr- with vini«„a
a
close to the path. The length of his
horn, and the hunger of my men, in
duced me to get off and fire at him.
The shot was rather too high, and he that bites or butts. I had one, and he
ran off. I was In the saddle In a mo- twice fell with me before a charging
ment and, passing the wounded beast, elephant Luckily I did not come off,
pulled up ten yards on one side of the and pulled him up just in time to ea
line of his retreat, firing the second cape. Horses used to be cheap enough,
barrel as he went by from my horse, but I dare say the price has risen. I
when, instead of continuing his course, mounted myself well from $40 to $75
he stopped short and, pausing an in- piece. Your ponies—for they are
stant, began to walk deliberately hardly more—ought to be quick get
towards me. This movement was so ting their legs, and a turn of speed is
utterly unlooked for, as the white rhl- desirable, for though In the open it is
noceros nearly always makes off, that, easy sailing away from an elephant, in
until he was within five yards, I sat bush or broken ground for 200 yards
quite still, expecting him to fall, think- he will sometimes press a slow horse,
ing he was in his "flurry."
a
once, in
particular,.
ceptionally tough beast. Whilst at
"Oologs Poort," a farm then in the oc
cupation of a Mr. Nelson, I was buying
mounts when a Hottentot riding a
neat, round-ribbed bay, came in with a
return letter from the town of Cradock,
as far as I remember, 70 miles distant.
The horse's appearance pleased me
much, and though I found the owner,
a Mr. Cock, at first unwilling to part
with him, I purchased him for $75, a
large price then but he was worfti it.
It had just done 140 miles in 30 hours,
including five hours off saddling at
Cradock. I was unfortunate with my
horses and lost this one early in the
campaign. I had shot an eland or two
just beyond the first chooi, and, being
alone, had tied "Vonk" (Spark), as the
men called him, to a tree whilst I
gave the coup de grace to the game.
This done I walked up to loose him
and remount but as I thoughtlessly
placed my hand on the lein he got
scent of die blood and, suddenly start
ing back, broke away. I followed him
a long while, every moment hoping to
catch him, as he let me come quite
close and then trotted on, feeding
quietly till I came up to him again At
length I grew weary and angry, and
twice covered him with the gun that I
might at all events save my saddle and
bridle but twice I relented—the crea
ture was too good and too tame to
shoot, and there was a chance that I
might find him next morning, if he
were not killed by a lion during the
night So I let him go, and just before
The horses were unshod and sure- wheelgtracks next morning if I did not
footed. Introduce them, if possible, overshoot them. I took out my tinder
gradually to their work by letting your box and, trying to strike a light,
after-rider use them a few times. He dropped the flint, and was on my knees
is always out of danger, and if once feeling for it on the ground with my
accustomed to the sight of an animal head down, when a muffled shot, which
at a respectable distance, they can I at first took for a Uon't pant, made
soon be driven up alongside of it, and
get as eager in pursuit of elephant
and large game as their riders.
By neglecting this rule, I very near
ly came to grief on an afterwards capi
tal pony. It was his debut, and a
wounded elephant, charging with a
scream, so terrified him that he was
paralyzed with fear and stood stock-
ne
effect, and how we escaped I cannot* ascertained a wandering party of Baro
now tell. The bull came within a few
of the tribe who had gone into the col
ony for wort having learned to ride
One day it was three in the afternoon
We had followed a herd of elephants
since 8 a. m., and the traces of the dew
of the previous night were still visible
on the trail. Our chances of coming
up with them were so small that we
abandoned the pursuit and turned in
the direction of the wagons. After an
hour or two the natives began to make
pathetic appeals as to the ctate of
their stomachs, suggesting that they
had Vr«et with hard usage, and that, as
we had not found the elephants, they
were not above breaking their fast
upon quag^R giraffe, or even rhinoc
eros. I trief* to persuade them that
elephant was the only dish worthy of
them or likely to fill those almost bot
tomless cavities to which they had al
luded that we m'qht have better luck
the next day, and that they might put
off dining till then Tf you wish to be
successful in hunting for large tusks it
it as well to keep you* men on an ele
phanti«c_ die.t and no.t paaiper them with
dainties, or they become lazy and care
less in seeking the iArger gam%
Whether on this particular occasion I
was unusually tender-hearted, or their
appeals were too touching, I (So not re
member but whilst, with nty very
poor stock of Bechuana words, I was
trying to explain my views, in an -^en
glade of the forest through which we
were passing, their hungry eyes fell
upon two rhinoceroses of the keitloa
variety, and the eager cry of "Ugh.
chukuru, mynaar"—the last word a
corruption of the Dutch mynheer,
lengthened plaintively into a kind of
prayer—was too much for me, and I
dismounted to do their pleasure. Fifty
yards before the animals ran a scanty
fringe of dwarf thorn bushes, on out-
to camp with a number of treatment this pony became a very the next day and that they might put us, among them. I recognized two of
Kafirs tired and hungry valuable one and I once in after days off dining till then you wish to be my Hottentot dj^ers carrying a csr
after a long day's spoorin shot $60
0 worth of ivory from his back successful in hunting fnr large tusk it tel," or cane framework, whicn served
elephants which we never in half an hour Hav nothing to do it as well to keep you men on an ele as a swinging bedstead in my wagon,
overtook.
hard put to
My horse seemed as much surprised it by a smart though rather small bull. Hers of which they were feeding away stiffened atter I reached the wagons
at the behavior of the old mahoho as I had fired both barrels, and on he
I was myself, and did not immediately came. I might have had 20 yards'
answer the rein, and the moment's start, but for the first 100 he gained
hesitation cost him his life and me the on me, and I had to ride as if in a close
very best horse I ever had or knew, for finish. A good Hantam horse is an ex
when 1 got his head round a thick
bush was against his chest.and before
1 could free him the rhinoceros, still at
the walk, drove his horn in under his
flank -and fairly threw both him and
his rider into the air. As he turned
over I rolled off and fell in some way
under the stirrup-Iron, which scalped
my head for four inches in length and
breadth. I scrambled to my knees and
saw the horn of the rhinoceros actual
ly within the bend of my leg but the
animal wavered and, with the energy
of self-preservation, I sprang to my
feet, intending to run, for my gun was
unloaded and had fallen from my hand.
Had I been allowed to do so, this story
might have never been told, for, dizzy
as I was from the fall, I should have
been easily caught.
from us. I made a long detour and
came out a hundred yards in front of
them, the little scrubby cover lying be
tween us. A handful of sand thrown
into the air gave the direction of the
sundown set my face towards the wag-. feet would startle her and
ons, the encampment lying ten miles
off. I walked really, I think, for once
by instinct it was soon dark, and after
three hours, afraid of going astray, I
decided upon making a fire and camp
ing out, knowing I should find the
me start to my feet, and within 100
yards of where I was standing, though
hidden by a belt of thorns, by a sec
ond shot I was directed to the wagons.
I had come quite straight down upon
them through the night. We searched
for the horse next morning in vain
his spoor was over-trampled by a large
herd of quaggas, and for two years I
^er heard any more of him, when I
a
feet of his tail and then wheeled. I unable to catch him, had driven him
can only suppose he got the scent of before them for 30 miles to their
the human being, for he was quite near kraal, and had killed many giraffes and
enough to have swept me from the sad- other game from his back, one or two
Cooking Method for Troops
found him in the veldt and,
a hot meal can be served at once. By
the application of motor power, the
radius of these traveling stoves can
be increased enormously in dealing
with scattered troops, and it should
be possible for men in the most lone
ly outpost situations to be served with
hot food Instead of eating the cold ra
tions which they carry with them.
These kitchens are so balanced that
they keep upright when passing over
the roughest ground without spilling
"I WAS SAILING THROUGH THE AIR."
wind worming my way I gained the
thorns and, lying flat, waited for a side
chance.
The rhinoceroses vere now within
twenty yards of me, but head on, and
in that position they are not to be
killed except at very close quarters, for
the horns completely guard the brain,
which is small and lies very low in the
head. Though alone on the present oc
casion, I was traveling with Maj. Var
don, the best rhinoceros shot I ever
knew, and his audacity, and our con
stant success and impunity alone and
together in carrying on the war
against these brutes, had perhaps
made me despise them too much. I
had so frequently seen their ugly
noses, when within eight or ten yards
oi the gun, turn, tempted by a twig or
tuft of grass to the right or left, and
the wished-for broadside thus given,
that I did not think anything was
amiss until I saw that if the nearer of
those now in front of me, an old cow,
should forge her own length once more
ahead, her foot would be on me. She
was so near that I might possibly have
dropped her with a ball by the nostril,
and, had she been alone, I should prob
ably have tried it but the rhinoceros,
when he charges, nearly always makes
straight for the smoke of the gun, even
though the hunter is concealed, and I
knew that if No. 1 fell, No 2, who was
within four or five yards of her, would,
all probability, be over me before
the smoke cleared In the hope that
my sudden appearance from the ground
give me a chance of escape, I sprang
up the old lady was taken aback for
a moment and trrew up her head with
a snort I dashjd alongside of her to^
get her rear my hand was on her'
as I passed bat the shock to her
nerves was not strong enough, for be
fore I had mad ten yards she was
around and in full chase.
I should have done better to fire into
her as I went l)y, but it had not oc
curred to me, and it was now too late
in my anxiety to escape, to put it as
mildly as may be, I had neglected my
best chance, a^nd paid the penalty. I
was a fast runner, the ground was in
my favor, but in 30 yards from the
start she was at my heels A quick
turn to the leit saved me for the mo
ment, and, pes^haps, by giving my pur
suer my flank Instead of my back, my
life, too. Tho race was over in the
next as the horned snout came lap
ping round m* thigh I rested the gun
on the long h»ad and, still running,
fired both ban els but with the smoke
I was sailing through the air and re
member nothing more, for I fell upon
my head and was stunned.
or risk of turning over. The field
kitchen is an oil fuel one, without
spark or smoke.
The End of Her Rope.
The act that Johnny was to compete
for a prize for Jumping was of little
interest to Mrs. Halloran. if, indeed,
she even knew It what Interested her
was the train of disaster which ac
companied his daily existence.
"Johnny's broke the school record!"
announced Mr. Halloran, triumphantly,
fhe day was fast drawing to a close
when, though in that addled state
which prevents a man from deciding
whether to-day Is yesterday or to
morrow, my brain seemed stirring
again in a thick fog. By degrees I be
came aware that I was on my horse,
that a native was leading it, and an
other carrying my gun beside my stir
rup. It all appeared strange, but with
the attempt to think it but the mist
came eddying thicker, and I was con
tent to let it be. Presently a dim con
fused impression that I was following
some animal was with me, as in a
were no above breaking their fast dream the power of framing and ar
nnnn niia#^*»., draffs #r even rhfn«v»- ticulatlng a sentence returned, and I
drowsily asked th* nearest Kafir which
way the trail led. He pointed in the
direction we werfc going his manner
struck me but l^iad had my say, and
ui a uuiiti. a uiu careiu maea tna we m'.qh have better IUC no other remark *as ready Men met
.... "Where ar3 yoi going?" I asked In
Dutch. Tho.y etared stupidly. "Why,
we heard you were Killed by a rhinoc
eros." "No," I answered. Without a
thought of whet had occurred my right
hand fell faintly from the pommel of
my saddle to my thigh, with the rest
lessness of weakness I d?ew it up
again a red splash of blood upon my
cuff caught my eye I raised my arm
to see what was the matter finding no
wound on It^ I sought with my hand
for it down jay leg, through a rent in
my trousers, and so numbed was all
sensation, that I actually dabbled down
to the bone jn a deep gash, eight inch
es long, without feeling any pain—the
smaller howl had penetrated a foot
higher up, but the wound was not so
serious as the lower one. The limb
and, unable to get in and out, I made
my bed foi nearly four we°ks under a
bush—the r4p, healing rapidly, covered
with a lag kept constantly wet.
The rhinoceros, as I afterwards
learned from the men who were with
me, was running so fast when she
struck me, and lifted me so high, that
she had shot ahead before I fell and,
on their shouting, passed on without
stopping. The horns, as is generally
the case in this variety, were of nearly
an equal length, so that one to a cer
tain extent checked the penetration of
the other—as it would be more difficult
to drive a double-spiked nail than a
single one. The bone af the thigh,
however, providentially turned the
foremost horn, or it must have passed
close to, even if it had not cut, the
femoral artery.
There have been queer stories of a
variety of gigantic white rhinoceroses
as large as elephants, a few of which
remained when white men first en
tered the Nyanza country, but there
are no authentic stories to set down.
A hunter named Armbruster had an
unfortunate encounter with a white
bull which all who saw it agreed must
have been a giant of its kind. His
wagon had just reached the last rise
to the top of a low hill when a man
in advance came running back making
the Anger signs of a bull man oho.
Creeping up to the crest of a hill,
Armbruster saw a glade below one
of the finest specimens he had ever
beheld, and immediately set out to
stalk him on foot.
The rhinoceros was feeding quietly
and the wind was favorable for a di
rect approach. However, before be
had got near enough, having to make
his way through thorns, he lost sight
of the quarry, which had entered the
brush inclosing the glade. The hunter
made the mistake of judging the loca*
tion of the creature by a movement in
the brush. A young POW rhinoceros
was feeding there and not the bulL
When within 30 yards of the move
ment, Armbruster stapped around a
clump of mimosa directly into the
presence of the big bull, fctanding head
on. It is likely that the old fellow
would have wheeled and departed on
being startled, but, firing from the hip,
Armbruster sent his first barrel into
the neck and, with a great snort, the
wounded animal charged, the unfor*
tunate sportsman started to dart be
hind the mimosa, but tripped and fell
headlong, and the huge engine of
ferocity was upon him before he could
rise or roll to one side The long
horns were thrust so deeply through
his body that it was borne along some
little distance until the bull tossed it
off, and then he plunged away through
the brush and was gone.
&
3
soapy steam
Halloran and
through the cloud of
which surrounded Mrs
the washtubs.
"Well, now, you can tend to that Joa*
yourself, Mike Halloran," returned hla
spouse, arms akimbo. "I've mended
the front gate and the back gate, thre
chairs, and a table that he's broke?
all wid me own hands, but whativel
he's broke at school you can tool
afther, or pay for having it done, an^
save the money on your pip«-—an*
that's me last word!"—Youths Owe*
panlon
B'^IM