TOLD ON THE STOEP.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 20, 13 October 1900, Page 4

TOLD ON THE STOEP.

l"*•*■■'iTi■ilili min'-innr irnrrnn (Continued /mil pdmky.) j

BY BTRAOET CHAMBERS, I

(Author of Tha Bhodesians.) I

''■ It's not» nurse—by gosh! There aever was a woman that was a patch on yon, Jimmy, for palling a fellow btroogh -gad! when I remember that lime on ibe Zambesi! Jt'a many a ime I've told Djlly that if I come borne alive it's yon she'll have to thank f or it"—and there, I tell you he'd nave gone on and on if I hadn't cut in with "'Ob. stow that, Tom, will you 1 If ■ hit dirn'd pot it n't boi'iog over!" And I got up and doled out the skcflj while Tom uncorked the whitkey battle, and we sat down to a equtre feed. But before we were through Tom got nu d to his subj ct again. ' 'The thing is this, Jim," he began, filling op his mug and mine, " the long and shcrfc of it is this, that I'm not going to have you staying out here. You'll have to come home and get marriei" " Get along, Tom," quoth I. ' " Never jou fear! Doliy and I will look out for a likely girl. Why, we'll bave half a dtzen potsble Mrs. Oartwrigbt waiiirg for you to (ample against this time next year, when yon pay that visit - foritisap.omise, Jim, now, isn't it?' 1 " A promise ia a promise, Tom, my boy " faid I. For evar nince the time foi Tom's departure had been a settled thing, he had harpid on the subject of my coming to see him in the Old] Country aome time during the ensuing year.

' " Still," I added, " a lob of things may happen between this and then. There'll probably be some rmupos cr other, either with the Beets or the natives, before we're much oldtr. It looks as if the band were turning up to play in both quartern" • "By Jove, ycu're right, Jim, and I'll b9 out of it this time I" civ d Torn regretfully, •"Oh, I say row, ccme along 1 What Would Miis Dine say if »he beard you I' I- excl limed laughing; Tom joined in, then snddenly stoppid shorn with '"I say, Jim, did yon hear that soand ?" No," said I, "What sort of a sonnd ?" • "I cm't s»y txaotly; bub I thought I heard something—f ncy probably," replied Tom, and h* stnck bis pipe into his month agnin, and resumed the recumbent po6itim he had rsen from, with his head just insire the tent, and his feet in th? white ashes if the now extinct fire. 'We sat silent for a t'me, both smoking. The night was good thongh there *as no wind blowing. The olonds hid broken, and now and then a glimpse of the moan penetrated the darkness, with the hazy auriol, betokening more rain, describing a wide circle about it. • Abso'u e stillness reigned aroand. I wss jast thinking bow very still it was, whfn Tom sat np again, exclaiming hnrrfeily in an undertone:— ' "Thore, J m—don't yiu bearJta?' ' " Whatl Man alive 1' Why—(he soand again,' "'L o't here, Tom," was my answer, •'yon only had two goes of whisky all, hadn't yon 1 And if that's econgb to give jou the 'jampB 1 "— ~ Mcri'ison took no notice of any sarcasm, bat rose to his feet. The moon was shining out brightly now, I rose tco. '" Let's go aoross the veldt a bit ?" said I. '" yon are," returned Tom, and I stepped inside the tent to fetch my revo'ver I had laid down bt fore snppfr, Tom had his on him, and I I beard him—in fiot, in the bright ligtt

I saw bis moving shadow fill on the canvas of the tent—he was going round to the baok to see that all was right. I tock up my belt and came out fastening the strap—l hadn't been half a minute inside. As Tom wasn't beck I killed time tightening the cords of the tent a bit, for tbe wind had been high, and strained them somewhat the night before, "•I say —look sharp, Tom—will yon," I shouted, as I finished tagging at tbe last rope. There waa no answer and an ejrie feeling crept over me, Hurriedly I strode rouad to the back of the tent—he was not there, ■Tom,' I shouted again. 'I Bay, Tom, what are yon op to ? Djn't be playing the fool I But ihere waa still no answer, The sky had darkened again, but) with the aid of a lantern I aesrcbed the place and f ximined the

ground. There were many marks bu!i we bad dragged the game across there that day, and constantly baen moving over it. And yet—what were the datp indignations I saw at almost repnlar intervals % I couldn't he sure —f r the rain was beginning to fall now, and all the spoors viere fast) getting obliterated as the ground became reduced to a quigmire. 'Well, I went inside that tent, and kept thß lights burning— and lit a fie that blnz d away till morning—but Tom Morrison never came. He has never returned agm.' A murau'-ed exc'amalm came from the group of Jiatecers on the stoep as Jim C*r:wrigbt ended his tale. [ 'Waal, no, I reckon that's ta'l,' (commented n Yankee prospector, 'and I ii-'-l take a deal of fa th to swallow that there yarn.' ' It miy have been a Hon— probably I was' obtervul an old hunter, j 'Prob>b!y was.' echotd Jim Oart- | wrigbt, as he rose and left the olub.

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