Cleveland County Leader (Lexington, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 8, No. 49, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 2, 1899 Page: 3 of 8
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CHAPTER VIII.—(Continued.)
'"How odd!" she said absently. "I
nearly remembered that name again.
My memory must be coming back, I
think."
"Let me trust it is," said Valdane
rather nervously.
She leaned her chin upon her hand
tnd looked thoughtful for a few mo-
ments then, raising her eyes—
"Mr. Martineau," she said, with a
little sigh, "I should like all this busi-
ness set on one side for a few weeks,
please. TVTr. Stelling is gone for his
holiday—to Lord Umfraville's for the
shooting."
• "To Clarisdale?"
"Yes." She paused, and asked in
eome astonishment, "Do you know
Lord Umfraville?"
"Well—a—yes; his wife was my
oousin. I generally stay there every
autumn."
"Indeed? Viscount Thornheath is a
great friend of Mr. Stelling's."
"Ah, perhaps we shall meet! You
wish then for me not to institute in-
quiries just yet?"
"Not just yet, please. I don't feel
strong enough—not In quite good
spirits enough to—" She checked her-
self bravely. Not for worlds would
she have hinted, even to herself, that
she thought Bernard might before all
things have taken steps to ascertain
y ^Gr^Y
I Mildred Ames lay out in the hammock
under the shade of the spreading
beech trees, and idly moved her largo
fan to and fro. Her brows were puck-
ered into a frown, her large eyes were
absently fixed upon the wide-spreading
lawn which lay between her and the
house. The white lines which marked
the tenliis-court seemed to quiver in
the heat; the men were shooting, the
chaperons lying down, the girls had
driven to the home covers to take the
sportsmen their lunch. Lady Mildred
would not go; she said she had a
headache, but the truth was she was
| suffering from a fit of ill-temper.
I She was Lord Umfraville's only un-
married daughter and, being the
| youngest, had been spoilt and petted
i during infancy, neglected whilst her
j sisters went to their balls and recep-
| tions, and then suddenly found herself,
I on her mother's death, mistress of the
' house. It was a bad training, but the
result was on the whole better than
[ might have been expected. Lady Mil-
I dred was very charming and not at
| all arrogant, though she was rather
selfish.
The Umfraville family was in a bad
way, having the misfortune to possess
property in Ireland. For the last few
years the tendency of affairs had been
down, down—hopelessly down. Lady
Mildred knew that it was she who was
expected to retrieve the family for
whether or no she were free. But he
had chosen Instead to go to Clarisdale, | tunes, and it was this fact which just
and she was too loyal to murmur even : now weighed upon her mind, for she
to her own heart. I had been so foolish as to fall in love
To Valdane it seemed like a respite, j with her mother's cousin, Valdane
' Will you let me have a line when 1 Martineau.
you wish me to pursue this matter, : Valdane was what Lord Umfraville
then?" he asked, rising to take his ! would have superciliously called an
leave. j "Impossible" person. So secure had he
"Yes; or Mr. Stelling will come to j been of the "impossibility" of this
mother—nff relation at all, they say—
he has just come into a fortune of—
what do you think? Twenty thousand
a year! All the papers are full of It. GOOD
Now Mildred, my darling, every girl j
of your acquaintance will be after that; I
young man. But if you gave jrour The iiom
mind to it I am sure you could—eh? ,
Think, my pet, what it would be for |
us all! Twenty thousand a year! And j
what's your beauty for, Millie, if not to j
draw you a prize—eli?"
Had such a course of action been |
proposed two days earlier it would j
have met with his daughter's unquall- I
fled disapproval, but at that moment
her one desire was to punish Valdane,
so she only smiled her slow, sweet
smile and asked:
"Is he coming here?"
"This evening, my darling."
"I remember," said Mildred, "that
he was very handsome."
"He was—and most disti-gulshed-
looklng. What will you wear tonight,
Millie?" asked Lord Umfraville casual-
ly, inwardly rejoicing at his success.
"Leave that to mc," Mildred an-
swered calmly. "I will wear—you will
see what;" and her father left her
with a blissful feeling that all was go-
ing just as he wished.
When Bernard arrived that evening,
Lady Mildred received him alone. It
was chilly and she had a fire kindled
in the drawing-room. She sat on a
very low chair, a red glow over her
crimson draperies and golden hair.
She greeted the young man with a
pretty mixture of cordiality and shy-
ness. She made him sit opposite to
her in a chair which was the ideal of
comfort, and apologized prettily for the
fact that none of the men were in yet,
and all the girls were dressing. She
gave him a cup of tea from a tiny table
near, and insisted that he was hungry
after his long journey, and must eat
some tea-cake, which she lifted from
the marble fender with a dainty pink
handkerchief between her delicate
hands and the hot porcelain
CAMPFIRE SKETCHES.
SHORT STORIES FOR
THE VETERANS.
Fighters —War Veterans
Meet After au Absence of Thirty-Five
Years—Drum-Horses in lJrltlsll Army
anil Navy.
IUng-a-King o' Hoses.
When Phyllis dnnccs on the green.
Her air's so wltclilng sweet;
Beside the hawthorn bush I'd lean
For halt a day to watch unseen
Iter pretty tripping leet.
When Chloe binds her auburn hair
With graceful curving arm,
I'd linger—It I might but dare!—
l.ong hours beside her silken chair
To view those mirrored charms.
When Lesbla lifts her lovely eyes
From some ill iue romance,
I'd kneel beside her where she lies
Till eve had spread its starry skies
To catch one melting glance.
But, oh! when glorious Sappho sings,
So heavenly is her tone.
Such passion In her looks sho flings.
That I forget all earthly things,
Ara her's and Love's alone!
—Fall Mall Gazette.
The lXoors as Fighters.
It is usual, I know, for military men
to sneer at the generalship, or want of
It, which, as they allege, was responsi-
ble for the Majuba disaster—these
critics ara wise after the event, says
the African Review. It is forgotten
that the Boers met other officers than
Gen. Colley at Bronkhorst Spruit in a
number of fights about Pretoria, Pot-
chestroom and other villages, and
that in no case were our men and mil-
itary leaders able to stand up to the
enemy. At Durban, in Natal, in 1848,
we got the worst of it, as we did at
Doornkop, where English officers of
the ordinary type commanded. The
only military success which English
officers can claim in a good many en-
counters with the Boers is the battle
There of Boomplaats, fought In 1848 between
was no light save from a branded clus- artillery and filnt-lock guns. It Is,
ter of wax candles on the tea table therefore, nonsense to take lefuge be
and the warm glow of the fire. The hind the lack of generalship of our
yeterau called to him. The old sol-
dier had been puzzling as to where he
had seen that peculiar, slouchlng.weak-
kneed gait, and had now solved the
puzzle. "Hello!" said the veteran,
"don't you remember me?"
"'Deed, boss, but I don't remember
you."
"Don't you remember sitting on a
rail fence near Culpepper Court House,
down in Virginia, thirty-flve years ago,
watching the Union soldiers marching
by? A lot of your friends were work-
ing in the field—but you remember the
soldier who pulled you off that fence,
strapped his knapsack on your back,
and made you march along with him?"
The whites of the colored man's eyes
and teeth had become more expressive
every second. "Indeed I does!" he
ejaculated. "And you wuz that man?
I'm powerful glad to see you, boss!
But how you've changed!"
"Well," said the veteran, "it's been
some little time since then, and you
don't look exactly liko you did." Then
they fell to discussing old times. The
colored man had remained with the
regiment three months, and afterward
joined one of the colored regiments and
fought throughout the war. The white
man had won his commission and lost
his arm. It took some time to talk
over such things, and then the two
veterans shook hands and parted again.
I
m
corners of the tastefully furnished
room were in darkness.
Bernard began to realize what life
might be, now that whatever he longed
for was within his reach. In his
house—the great house he meant to
buy—he thought his drawing-room
should be just like this. The man
looked at Lady Mildred—at her per-
fect toilette, her delicate skin, the turn
of her head, and thought how excel-
lently she fitted in her surroundings.
She was beginning her work well.
Only her motive was not to win Ber-
leaders. If such factors as courage
and leadership do not come into the
controversy, except to a very limited
extent, in what direction must we look
for the explanation of our defeats?
At Laing's Neck the action began by
our guns dropping a few shells into
the Boer lines, and, as admitted by
the Boers themselves, the small loss
they suffered from this fire—Gen. Jou-
bert was nearly hit by a splinter of a
shell—induced them to think seriously
of abandoning the position. They
were about to leave when the attack
by a small number of mounted infan
usant Valdane, when he should ar-
rive.
"Mil STELLING, IT WAS VERY FOOLISH OF YOU TO LOSE ALL THE
SPORT."
j
ee you. May I keep this copy of the
twill?"
"Certainly, but please don't lose It."
•He lingered simply bccause he could
not tear himself away, though he could
Bee In every drooping movement that
ehe was exhausted and unhappy, "and
rwlstied to be alone.
He would have bartered all his pros-
pects for the privilege of taking her in
his arms and soothing her—of holding
her to his heart, and telling her that
•henceforth nothing should ever grieve
her. He held out his hand at last re-
luctantly.
"Is there nothing more that I can
do for you?" he asked.
"No, there is nothing," she replied,
shaking her head and smiling. "You
are so kind, I don't know how to thank
you sufficiently for your kindness."
It seemed a painful wrench when he
loosed the little fingers from his own.
"By-the-by, Mr. Martineau"—she fol-
followed hltn to the door—"I left my
left my wedding ring on your table.
J nearly forgot to mention it to you.
Did )" u see It?"
"I did," he stammered. "It Is quite
safe - you shall have It; 1 have It safe,"
he reiterated In confusion; "but I
can't give It to you now."
How could he, when It was hung
from his neck by a slender cord?
CHAPTER IX.
It was a warm September day. Lady
young man that he invited him each
year to Clarindale, feeling confident
'that no daughter of his would think of
a young man who was a solicitor, and
only moderately well off. He ignored
'die fact that the man had the manners
of an aristocrat, the bearing of a per-
fect gentleman, the experience of a
man of the world and the reputation of
being Irresistible. To Lady Mildred,
alas, he was irresistible! She had
succumbed to his Influence before she
knew It. Now it seemed as if she
could not break free.
Accustomed as she was to admira-
tion, she never doubted that he more
than reciprocated this partiality. It
had, therefore, been a decided surprise
when her father received a letter from
Valdane, saying that he couM not get
away for the first, and begging to be
allowed to leave the date of his ar-
rival at Clarisdale uncertain for a few
days. The letter was cordiality Itself,
but it left Mildred sore and wounded.
She was astonished to find how keen
was her disappointment, and how flat
and dull the first had seemed without
his accustomed presence. That even-
ing her father"took her aside.
"Mildred," he said, "do you remem-
ber that young Stelling who was at
Oriel with Laurie—that very handsome
young fellow who was so attentive to
us when we went up to Commemora-
tion? Would you believe It—through
the death of au old woman—his god-
—nard, but to Inflict pain on the rec- try and by a few companies of Col.
Deane's regiment was made. Only one
of our men reached the Boer lines, the
others being stopped a short distance
away; and, as they were unsupported,
these were driven back down the hill.
Result, 190 killed and wounded on the
British side, against twenty-four Boers
killed and wounded. At Ingogo,
fought a few days afterward, a force
of about 300 men and two guns were
•topped on a small plateau and, after
an action lasting all day, four men,
with the two guns, were withdrawn
during the night, leaving dead and
wounded on the ground. The Boers
also left the field at night. At this
fight the Boers crept up to within sixty
yards of our guns. They lost seven-
teen killed and wounded, while our
loss was 142 killed and wounded. A
force of about 600 Infantry set out for
the tummit of Majuba hill on the
night of Feb. 26, 1881. There were
about 550 combatants. After leaving
companies on the road, about 40Q
men reached the summit and were
disposed in various positions about the
rim of the mountain. The first shots
were fired about 6 o'clock, and the
combat went on uninterruptedly for
hours. In the final stages the main
body of the Boers crept to within forty
yards, and for a considerable time
fusilladed our troops at this distance.
Many of the men fell in the subse-
quent flight; but when the fighting
was over, at 1 o'clock, our casualties
were 280 killed and wounded, while
the Boers lost one killed and four
wounded. At Bronkhorst we lost 120
men killed and wounded within ten
minutes, the Boers losing one. In the
Jameson raid our losses were about
100 killed and wounded, the Boers
having five killed and wounded in the
actual fighting. It is usually main-
tained that these Transvaal lights were
fought at a disadvantage and that our
men were In each case vastly out-
numbered. If wo accept the Boer ac-
counts, our forces were not outnum-
CHAPTER X.
On this warm afternoon, as she lay
in the hammock, she was thinking it
all over and wondering where Valdane
was, and what or who was keeping
him from her. She was thinking, too,
of the open admiration in Bernard's
fine eyes the night before as he leaned
over her piano.
No doubt he was handsome. She
thought she could win him; would It
not be madness—utter madness—to let
him go for the sake of a man who had
never in so many words told her that
he loved her, and whom, if ehe married
at all, she would have to marry with-
out her father's consent?
A footstep brushed on the grass.
Lady Mildred half rose. Esrnard was
there, looking admiringly down at her.
"Mr. Stelling! I thought you were
shooting."
"I was, but when I found the picnic
party had arrived without you, I gave
them the slip, and meanly sneaked
home through the woods, hoping to
have the luck to discover your retreat.
Fortune favors the brave, they say.
I would not have missed a sight of you
here for worlds!"
"Mr. Stelling! It was very foolish of
you to lose all the sport."
"So long as you don't add that It's
very impertinent of me to intrude I'm
content! Your pose Is really perfect.
I used to be able to sketch a little.
Would you lie still for ten minutes
while J try my hand?"
"Oh, nonsense!"
"No nonsenso at all, Oh, you won't
be so unmerciful as to move. Do let
me have five minutes!" He had taken
out a small book and leaning against
the smooth trunk of a beech, was
sketching rapidly.
"There! That fan (Its in well—we
will call the picture 'A Summer Day,'
Keep your hand and arm still for a
minute, please! Do I weary you?"
"No"—she was half laughing—"I am
too comfortable. You can't have done
anything in so short a time,"
"Just enough for a remembrance,"
ho said. "You keep so still. My sis-
ter and her friend, Miss Lllbourne, al-
ways fidget so dreadfully; I shall tell
them to follow your good example."
(TO be continued.)
Mrs. Spatts—Oh, If I were only a
man! Mr. Spatts—You'd be as crazy
oi I was and go and marry some fool
of a woman, I'll bet a dollar.
1)riiin-Horses In llritlsh Army.
From the Woman's Home Compan-
ion: In the army of Great Britain the
bands of cavalry are mounted, and the
honorary position in these musical
cavalcades is that of the bearer of the
kettle-drums. The horse selected for
this high position is often pie-bald, but
this particular coloring Is not essen-
tial to the office; the animal may be
pure white. At any rate, his appear-
ance must be consistent with the show-
piece he is in the band. His education
is severe and persistent, bringing him
at last up to the point where his pride
and intelligence make him a dignified
and graceful bearer of the handsome
trappings that surround his high call-
ing. His nerves are severely tried by
the booming of the enormous drums
he is destined to bear, but in time he
becomes as indifferent to the noise as
do his brothers to the singing bullets.
In the parade his rider has his hands
full in the use of the sticks. He con-
trols the steed by means of the reins,
which are fastened to the stlrrup-strap
near the foot. The fame of the drum-
horse is often won on the field of bat-
tle. His duty classes him with the
war-horse, and in similar lines lies his
path to glory and renown. The horse
that wins laurels in the battlefield, and
carries himself with becoming dignity
in the parades of peace, will sometimes
find himself in the line of promotion
to the proud position of drum-horse in
the regimental band.
Humors of the lVar.
Two or three correspondents and
soldiers who had been through the
Cuban campaign met the other day,
and many were the pathetic and ridic-
ulous anecdotes told of their experi-
ences. We repeat one or two, which
illustrate American character under a1
great and unusual a'rain. "After th (
battle at San Juan," said one, "Ii
crawled into the bushes. What with
loss of blood, no -'eep and battered
nerves, I thought the end had come.
There was a smoke near by, and I
dragged myself to it. A private, cov-,
ered with mud and blood, wearing,
ragged trousers and half of a coat, had
kindled a fire and was brewing some
tea. He looked at me, and then pour-,
ed out some in a tin cup and brought
it to me. I never tasted anything like
it. it j,ul ut.w ufC mto mc. 'That's'
good tea,' I said. 'Yes,' he answered.
'It's made only for the mandarins. I
import it from China for my own use.
I'm particular about my tea. I hid a
package in my knapsack.' Just then
he was ordered away. The next day
I saw him digging In the pits, and
asked who he was. It was young
Blank, from New York. 'That fellow,'
they said, 'counts his money by mil-
lions.' There were some queer meet-
ings on the field," said another man.
"One of the southern generals had lost
a son In the first week of the war. He
came to Cuba as Inspector general,
leaving Ills other son at home. But
the boy enlisted and come to Cuba as
a private and was digging in the
trenches when his father rode past
with his staff. 'Hello, dad!' he called.
'Hello, boy!' The general went down
and took the young fellow in his arms.
After we came home, at the peace ju-
bilee at Philadelphia, I heard n blf
volunteer say: 'Miles and D|ewey are
well enough, but B. Is my man for the
bered. At Majuba they say they had | pr(>8ijt.ncy He's a general, but he
about 400 men. But even assuming
that there were as many as 1,000 Boers,
the result Is still extremely unsatisfac-
tory.
War Veteran* Meet After Mmiy Yearn*
Philadelphia Inquirer: There is a
hale and jolly one-armed veteran oc-
cupying an important position In the
custom house over in New York, who
the other day told a friend of a cu-
rious chance meeting. A middle-aged
colored man wandered Into the veter-
an's department with a basket contain-
ing pretzols, candy and other delica-
cies of the season. Finding business
dull, he was on his way out, when the
wasn't ashamed to kiss a private in tho
trenches. I saw hlni do it.'"
I'nnuitelieil In llltttory.
In tho barbaric land of tho semd-
savage Yankees (for particulars ree
131 Tiempo) there was given by
wealthy people to colleges, academies,
seminaries and art institutes during
the first half of the current year, the
enormous sum of $30,000,000. This
enllghlened beneficence cannot be
matched by any other land under the
sun. It is unparallelled in any age.
Tiempo please copy- and comment—>
Mexican Herald.
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Lydick, J. D. Cleveland County Leader (Lexington, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 8, No. 49, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 2, 1899, newspaper, September 2, 1899; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc108982/m1/3/: accessed May 4, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.