Show il nw sf i k 1 it st A sit t ya A il ite abote K tt ia ik ait t lt AK ati ii I 1 OT hotst A STORY OF THE e BOER CAMPAIGN is ON THE e IN natala NATAL AT 7 0 0 0 0 Z 0 0 x VELDT 11 0 by H B mackenzie 0 0 0 0 1 W tiff CHAPTER I 1 it was evening a glorious evening such as only tropical countries know the hot wind that had blown all day had now died down and there was waa a great stillness but a pleasant coolness in the air made it dc delightful after the rie sweltering heat there had been no DO rain for a long time and tho the ground was parched and dry outside the pretty homestead the red sand of the veldt lay thick and line fine in the dry grass which covered the wagon track but inside the grass looked green enough perhaps it had received an artificial shower all round the grassy lawn were flower beds mostly of tropical flowers fl among which the succulent blue illy raised its long trumpet shaped flowers but there were a few english flowers too stately hollyhocks sweet scented roses queenly dahlias kahlias dah lias beyond the lawn an avenue of blue gum and black nettle led to the veldt without behind the house which was built of stone and looked quaint and pretty with a veranda running round it rose some of the highest peaks of the Drak ensberg A little to the left ran the river klip on this evening the sun too near its setting to bo be hot now was shining right into the sleepy brown eyes of a girl who lay full length in the shade of a gum tree a book on the grass be side aldo her her head was supported by a plump little brown hand and she was smiling a very happy contented smile as it if some happy thought passed through her mind it was a pretty face too with its warmth and healthiness of coloring us its softly rounded girlish contour its smiling halt balt open red lips its clear open childishly smooth forehead over which little curls of the brown hair shot with ruddy gold came straying the halt half shut smiling eyes were very soft and happy just now but who could say whether they might not some day be filled with burning passion with blinding tears or with the cold set expression of despair bluebell bluebell where are you child the voice came across the little lawn clear and distinct on the evening sir air and the girl rising up from her comfortable position shook herself very much as a wet spaniel might do after coming out of the water and started at a quick run for the house A tall lall angular sp lInster lady stood upon the doorstep what a head child was the salutation have you ou forgotten we are to have company tonight well I 1 do believe I 1 had retorted the girl dont be angry with me will you auntie really I 1 help it ill never never do it again now dads going to bring some one from Is he be who Is it auntie not anyone very great I 1 hope mr fr rhodes tor for instance dont talk nonsense child returned miss elizabeth leslie no no its no one so great as that only some very rich man I 1 believe who has made his money at kimberley or somewhere Bome where but run away and dress drees yourself child I 1 havo have a good supper ready so I 1 hope your father wont keep us waiting lie he wished us to have dinner but why should I 1 we dont call it dinner when we are alone and why should we change our customs for strangers quite right auntie derr dear bluebell P patted acted her aunts bony shoulder with a gentle hand band besides likely enough hes some coarse horrid man they are always the kind that become millionaires lion aires oh auntie I 1 hope father facht r wont make a great friend ot of him it if he Is we shall toon see him dearie so theres no use thinking beforehand what his ways are said miss elizaboth elizabeth she was always called miss elizabeth soothingly bluebell ran upstairs to her own room it was a pretty little room not containing much furniture tuie but as dainty as aa feminine fingers could make it IL bluebell did not spend all her tinte time lying dreamily under the gum tree she had just donned her pretty white muslin frock drawn in at the waist by a blue band it was rather strange that bluebell should smile and blush a little to herself as she fastened the blue band when the sound ot of horses hoots hoofs galloping up the avenue drew her attention she ran to the window iding hiding behind the window curtains presently two riders emerged from tho the avenue and rode up the graveled path to the house bluebell could see them distinctly the first was her father bluebell knew him well enough not to require to take a second look at him yet she did take a second look adam leslie esq of scotland who had bad emigrated to south africa 10 years ago was a man ot of middle age heavily built stout bad and red faced with a heavy chin a stubborn mouth and a pair of rather cold gray eyes but just now his face was redder than ili usual and there was a slight want of certainty in his gait as he sprang from his horse that bluebell colored to see ills his companion the millionaire was n not 0 at all what bluebell had pictured d h him i in he was an old man he be looked straight straight backed and alert and sat at on his horse with an air of degli trance that showed choked him a true horse j man for the rest bluebell could see bee that he ha was somewhat dark in complexion pl exion wearing a short little peaked beard but she could not see his bis tace face distinctly she went downstairs presently her sitting room was a pleasant apartment with skins of 0 springbok and other wild animals covering the floor A lamp burned on the table on which a sumptuous supper was spread the two me men a stood by the fireplace talking As bluebell entered her father turned well my girl im back again you see come and kiss me bluebell the girl approached and the other m man a n 0 on n the hearthrug stared at the dainty white figure as adam leslie gave her a sounding rounding kiss on the cheek you see ive brought a friend with me bluebell mr moore my daughter bluebell mr moore bowed low bluebell did the same she did not offer her hand as her frank custom would naturally have led her to do she hardly knew why you will remember your native country every time you address miss leslie said the millionaire turning to his bis host adam leslie laughed uproariously bluebell felt now quite sure that he had been drinking he was usually a reserved even taciturn man stern enough towards his household but alcohol un loosed his tongue and gave him a certain coarse frankness quite right quite right mr moore it was her mother gave her the name a romantic freak but it serves its purpose here and makes us remember the poor old alther ml lher ther country miss elizabeth came in presently and they all set sat down to the abundant supper during the meal the two men talked mr moore quietly and gravely in a somewhat rich sonorous voice mr leslie with loud hilarity miss elizabeth and bluebell said very little and the latter had a strange uncomfortable for table consciousness during the meal that the dark slow moving eyes of the millionaire turned again and again to her face she knew riot not why the look made her shiver suddenly every time she met it all through her warm joyous heart and body the two men tallied talked politics discussing the likelihood of brugers Kru gers yielding to britaina Brit ains demands give in not he be cried leslie loudly well the british know w what hat to do next one good thing well sweep the whole race of them from the earth before weve done with them or im mistaken and its what they deserve it if it comes to war of course there can be no doubt as to which side will win said mr moore more quietly 1 I suppose you have no friends amon among 9 the boers or Afrikan ders mr leslie friends among such people cried mr desale Les lle not very likely I 1 would not admit one of them into my house bluebell spoke almost for the first time her voice was just a little unsteady as it if emotion of some kind was stirring it you dont always speak like that father I 1 am sure we re have never received anything but kindness from any of the dutch with whom we came in contact and besides theres a good deal to be said for their desire to rule their own republic in their own way how would we like over in the old country it if foreigners came and settled down among us frenchmen or germans and compelled us to conform to their customs they are only like their brave forefathers in the time of william the silent her father interrupted her with a loud laugh doctor rothes has provided you with quite a number of arguments bluebell but politics are quite outside a womans comans sphere my girl so BO I 1 advise you not to take them up eh mr moore that so 1 I think miss leslie would even make a convert of me said the millionaire lion lio alre bowing gallantly again bluebell caught his eye and the look gave her another shiver may alay I 1 ask he went on quietly discussing miss elizabeths die who doctor rothes Is A young englishman over at lady smith replied mr leslie carelessly we have him here sometimes A very clever young fellow quite exceptionally clever but just a little quixotic you know as young fellows are apt t to be 0 just so I 1 understand said mr moore quietly ile he glanced at bluebell without appearing to do so and saw that the healthy rose in her cheeks had deepened almost imperceptibly in tint and that her long lashes drooped over and demurely hid her eyes the millionaire was to stay at new kelso thus mr leslie had named h his Is farm in memory of 0 the scottish town near which he had lived all night bluebell did not feel nearly as hospitable as usual now kelso was a lonely enough place being about miles from Lady ladysmith smith the nearest village and the womenfolk sometimes saw no outsider tor for the space of many months they were therefore all the more disposed to make the most of any stray one who did appear but blubello did riot not feel that gerald moore was going to be any acquisition she had a vague groundless dread or him as illis presence denoted deno teil danger dangar 1 I dont like him she said bald to be herself and yet why should I 1 not hotl ili H has done nothing to make me dislike or distrust him downstairs down stairs the two men were sitting together at the table a decanter of scotch whisky and two glasses ie br tween them they had bad been speaking in joy lo 10 tones but now as the whisky began to take effect leslie raised his you are a generous man moore he cried and you are in earnest w when hen you tell me that this la Is the sol return you ask tor for your extraordinary generosity the sole return moore replied he H raised his hands to his lips and kept it there for a moment then dropping it to his glass which had stood tall full beside him all the time though leslie had replenished his several times he added slowly but I 1 must have that return mr leslie that and no other I 1 have set my mind upon it IL CHAPTER 11 it was a week later bluebell had gone to ladysmith Lady smith riding across the dry open veldt by the wagon path on her sure tooted footed little horse rover she was a capital horsewoman horse woman and nothing daun daunted teti her when in the saddle it was a very hot day and there were signs of 0 coming rain which made bluebell hurry her path lay across the dry veldt coarse parched grass and wIth withered cred shrubs made it look like a desert the road was a bad and narrow one it swelled led and undulated like an ocean now dipping down into a hollow now rising to the height of 0 a little green covered kopje kopie sometimes she rode close to the river which seemed almost dry now so long had been the drought and always she sh kept in sight of 0 the great frowning peaks ot of Drak ensberg above which eagles and vultures circled in their sky piercing flight bluebell had messages at lady smith but it was not of her messages she was thinking as she neared her destination she was close to it at last she saw the little town nestling as it seemed in the distance almost at the bottom ot of Bulwa an ari though in truth separated from it by wide stretches ot of meadow lands with the klip winding its course through them now she passed numerous kopjes of red earth interspersed with shrubs between which grew abundance of 0 powers flowers white jasmine and climbing convolvulus and the rich glory ot of red and yellow bloom clustered thickly on oil the low dwart dwarf shrubs which covered the kopjes bluebell had acquaintances in lady smith the lesliea were pretty well known in the country she was fist st turning into the town when some one emerging from behind a sudden curve came towards her bluebell started a little and stooped over rover a richer color than exercise had brought there coming into her cheeks in a few seconds the new comer was wa close to her and lifting his big gray hat from his head paused by her horse ile he was a young man perhaps nearing thirty attired in gray khaki and with a face ace which showed that he was wag exposed to all weather for the rest he had been originally a aar calr complexioned man with good features and an open frank expression ills his dark gray eyes were clear and steady but could look wonderingly sort soft and tender they did so now though his expression was one of 0 much anxiety as he held out his hand into which bluebell put hers heri without a is word ord to be continued |