THE PEACEMAKER.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 440, 1 September 1904, Page 8

THE PEACEMAKER.

Two soldiers, lying as they fell 9

Upon the reddened elay— K In daytime foes; at night, In peeoa— \

Breathing their live* away. Brave heart had stirred each manly breast; Fate only made them foes, And lying-, dying, side by side, A softened feeling rose.

"Our time la short," one faint voice saldf "To-day we've done our best On different sides, -What matters newt To-morrow we're at rest. Xjtfe lies behind; I might not car* , For only my own sake, 7 But far away are other hearts That this day's work will break,

"Among old Hampshire's pleasant fields There pray for me to-night A woman and a little girl With hair like golden light"— And at that thought broke forth at last The cry of anguish wild That would no longer be repre#ae*-i "Oh, God! my wife and child!"

"And." said the ether dying man, "Across the sandy plain There watch and wait for me loved ones I'll never see again. A little girl with dark, bright eyes Each day waits at the door; i^ The father's step, the father's kiss* ■* Will never meet her more.

•Te-flay ws sought each eflMtfrV ftrssj Death levels all that now, Tor soon before Qod's metal —ft Together we shall bow. { Forgive e**h other while we sua*. * Life's but a weary sjame, t ' i And, right or wrong, the msrakef Stja *i WIQ find us dead, the some."

' iie dying lips the pardon breaths) The dying hands entwine; j J Ae last ray dies, and over all -■/ f*'g/;j The stars from heav«n shine. w* - * The little girl with golden hair, " r 1 And one with dark eyes bright. On Hampshire's fields and s.. r.d? Tin is; Were fatber'js* .ut nlghu jfe —Lui Vernon. In t.i-alle'a Weekly, "^