Trekking! trekking! trekking! will never the trekk b» done? Will never the rest, will never the homo be won. and forever won ? Are we only as beasts ot the jungle afoot for the fieeiug prey— With a lair in the bush at midnight—on the veldt, a trackless wnv? Ever the word is "onward"—ever our white truiu goes Deeper and deeper northward beyond the grasp of our foes— Deeper and deeper northward our fathers went before— Isut the door of the veldt Is closed—is closed! —Where can we trekk to more ? Trekking! trekking! trekking! think yoa we love not our home? Think you my father prized not the farm of the yellow loam? And mother—l see her weeping beside my brother tall, Turning and gazing northward beyond the mountain wall. The cattle—they seem to be standing dumb in a brute despair With a longing look at the pastures—they feel the trekk In the air! Even old Yok seems broken—he turns from the tempting bono— I see him there in the corner, manlike, broodiuc alone ! uroouiug ilione : go m wie uawu. II]V son . —John Jeromu Kooney, in New York Sun. J A Heroine at Lydenberg. I < AN EPISODE 111 THE TRANSVAAL WAII 0; 1880-'6l. ? < iBY W. WILMOTT DIXON. VVVVVWVVVW'VVVWVWVWVVWV* Oue forgets many things in 18 years, nuil probably the story whieli I purpose retelling here is forgotten by all except the surviving actors in it ami their immediate friends. But tbe memory of such a signal instauce of British pluck should not be allowed to die. On Sunday, the sth of December, 1880, tbe little town of Lydeulierg, iu the Transvaal, was in a state of un wonted excitement. The whole popu lation was out in its Sunday best to give a hearty send-off to the Ninety fourth regiment, which had been quartered there for many months and was now ordered to Pretoria. Both officers and men had made themselves extremely popular with all classes, and the expressions of regret at their departure was universal. Numbers of the inhabitants accompanied the regiment on its way for live or six miles. One lady and geutlemnn— Lieutenant Walter Long, the junior subaltern of the Nine y-fonrth, and his pretty young wife—rode out as far as 15 miles. Tue colonel had paid the lieutenant the high honor of leav ing him in sole command of the troops left behind a responsible position for a youngster of barely two-and-twenty. As the lienteua t and »his wife turned their horses' heads and bade farewell to their comrades, Colonel Anstruthor called oit: "Good by, Mrs. Long! Look after Long, and mind you're a good little adjutant. Good by, Long! Look after mv garden for me; remember 1 expect to tind it in as good order as I leave it." Both the colonel and the lieutenant were enthusiastic gardeners. As the regiment tramped past, Mrs. Long cried out: "Good by, Ninety-fourth! God bless you!" And the men shouted back: "Good by, our iady! God bless you, Mrs. Long!" It was a last farewell for many of them, though they little thought it; for a fortnight later Colonel Anstrutlier and more than half his men were killed at Broukhorst Spruit. Out on the open veldt, about ha'f a mile from the town, were eight mili tary huts, each 50 feet long by 18 feet wide, built two abreast, with an inter vening i pice of 30 fee, the whole forming a parallelogram 78 yards in length by '2O in b eadth. At the first rumor of disaffection among the Boers, Litu e icn* Long resolved to withdraw his men into these huts,and throw up some kind of shelter round them, for up to this time they stood without the slightest enclosure and uttirly unpro tected. The force under his com mand consisted of 50 privates and three uon-commissiouo.l officers of the Ninety-fourth, seven privates and a sergeant of the Royal Eugiueers,three privates and a conductor of the Army Service Corps—in all, inclu 'iug Dr. Falvey of the Army Medical depart ment and Lieutenant Long himself, l>4 officers and men. Mrs. Long, who had beeii living with her husband in a pretty little cottage embowered in roses and fruit trees at the lower end of the town, without a moment's hesitation de cided to leave her comfortable home and take up her quarters with her husband. Her many friends in Ly.leu berg tried in vain to dissuade her from the step. She was offered a wa-m welcome iu half a dozen houses; but the brave little woman said that her place was beside her husband. So th J soldiers brought her belongings from the pretty cottage to one of the huts, showed their admiration for her pluck by taking the greatest pains iu making her quarters as tasteful and comfort able as possible. There was, how ever, but scant accommodation for a lady in the but assigned to her, which sheltered under its roof three horses (whose every movement was distinctly audible) besides herself and her hus band. On the 16th of December they be gan throwiug up works of defence round the huts, and Mrs. Long de lighted the men by workiug as hard as any of them. On the 28d of Decem ber the appalling news reached then of the massacre of the Ninety-fourth at Bronkhorst Spruit. But, stunned though they were by the terrible tid ings, they to work more vigorously than ever to complete their deft.»i-es. When the tinv fp:t waa Airshed it •*»* TREKKING. (Soxa OF THE BOEU WOMAX.) Trekking ! trekking! trekking! through the Zulu land we go, The midnight tiger stalking us, and ever the savage foe— Before—the savage foe to meet, the "red coal" foe behind— What have we done to lie blown about like a lenf upon the wind ? Ah, over the Vaal wo fliall find our peace over the rushing Vaal— The Lord has led us to rest at last -blindly we followed His call ; The laud He promised is ours to keep—is ours forever to keep riot, what noise is that in the fold—think you a wolf at the sheep ? Trekking! trekking! trekking! we have trekked till our tall, strong men Have sworn an oath by our father's God, we shall never trekk again 1 The doors ot the northward veldt are closed —the doors of our heart are strong They shall ope theirlock to a brother's knock —but not to the threat of wrong! There is the gun your father bore when he elimed Majiiba's hill—- *Tis yours, l'iet. to bear it now with your ! a tier's faith aud will— Fjr the laud is ours—the laud is ours—lf ever a land was won— You go at the dawn, you say,my son? Yes — sro at the dawn, mv son ! [ christened Fort Mary,in honor of Mrs. Long, and Father Walsh, a Roman Catholic priest who had elected to cast in his lot with the little garrison, formally blessed it. An envoy from the Boers, Dietrick Muller, appeared, on 27th of De cember, with a proposal that the gar rison should surrender and accept a safe-conduct into Natal. His surprise at the youthful appearance of the commandant of the fort was great. "Dat youuker!" he exclaimed in con tempt. But "dat youuker" was not so green as Mr. Muller imagined. He suggested writing to Pretoria for in stillations. Muller consented, and Lieutenant Long thus cleverly gained a delay of live days, which he utilized in very materially strengthening his defences. On the 4th of January th > Boers appeared in force, some 70!) of them, aud formally demanded surrender of the fort, to which summons the young subaltern returned tbe spirited reply: "It is inconsistent with my duty as a soldier to surrender my trust." An urgent appeal was ouce mote made by Mrs. Long's friends iu the town to induce tier to quit the fort and take up her residence in one of tlie many homes placed at her disposal. But she stoutly refused. Two day .tterwards the attack com mented. For three hours and a half 70J Boers kept up a continuous ritle lire upon the little fort at a range of 500 yards. In her own charmingly modest and simple narrative, Mrs. Long thus describes her feelings when she first found herself under lire: "I must humbly confess that dur ing the first hour of the firing 1 was dreadfully frightened, and took refuge under a table, for its imaginary shel ter. Father Walsh, eiuo.ing the hut. at that moment, with his b. eviary in his hand, to look for me,and uo; find ing me, as he expected, called me. I lifted the table cover aud poked my head out, saying, 'Here I am, Father!' My position struck me as so lu lierous that I burst into a bearty fit of laugh ter. Sot till 4 ]). in.was I able to as certain that, notwithstanding the ter rible tire of the last four hours, not a mm had been wounded. My hus band, knowing how anxious I should be as to his safety, looked in as often as he lould to cheer me." But she very soon overcame these natural terrors,and got so used to the firing, even when the Boers brought a couple of cannon to bear on the fort, that she frequently slept light through the cannonad . What with tending tbe sick and wounded, and making sandbags,some times turuiug out as many as four dozeu of them iu a day, Mrs. Long's time was fully occupied. Think o;' her there, oue woman, little more than a girl, alone among 00 men fighting for their lives against ten times their number! What wonder that the mou fought like heroes with this daintily bieil England lady sharing all their daugers and setting them an example of patience and courage and cheerful ness. She admitted that at first she felt the absence of any of her own sex keenly. But the. soldiers were so de vo ed t i her,so delicate iu their solici tude and consideration for her, that she soon lost tbe sense of loneliness. One day a strange messenger ar rived, a little black-and-tau terrier, with a piece of paper folded in a rag tied round its neck. It was a commu nication from soma friendly townsfolk informing them that the Boers were quarreling among themselves, furious with Dietrick Muller for being such a fool as to allow the English those five days to complete their defences; and adding, as a hint, that the defend ers of the fort were firing too high which hiut, I need hardly say, was quickly taken. The garrison had nothing in the shape of a gnu with which to meet the fire of the two-pounders that the Boers had in position. But one day Mrs. Long suggested to one of the army servicemen that the "monkey" of an Abyssiuian pump which they had might perhaps be utilized. The idea was promptly seized \ipon and ingen iously carried into execution; aud the Boe s were very much amazed when a cylin lrical shot weighing two pounds six ounces, formed of round cro>voar iron cased iu lead, came crashing in among them. "Mrs. Long's Ran,'' as it was christened. Droved a verv vain able addition to the armament of Fort Mary. The lints were riddled through aud through with round-shot and riHe -1 bullets, and tlia escapes from death were so miraculous that Lieutenant Long twice had the men assembled for a special thanksgiving service con ducted by Father Walsh. On one oc casion a canuou-sliot struck the wall within an inch of Mrs. Long's head and covered her with dust and debris. Another time the hut in which she lived came down about her ears, and her escape from being crushed in the ruins was marvellous. But she must needs, woman-like, go back to rescue her "things," and expressed truly feminine sorrow to find her best l>on ! net smashed as flat as a pancake, and ! only one cup,two saucers aud a couple of plates left of all her cherished I crockery. Meanwhile, the men kept up their | spirits with music and dancing. "Hold the Fort," with a strictly local appli ! cation, was a favorite chorus, and the I men invented a version of the famous Jingo song: Wo don't want to light ; but, by .lingo, if we do. We've pot the pluck, we've got the men, am) ammunition, too. We've fought the Zulu liiug mnl Kokekutii, too. And the Boers shall never get into Fort Mary. Aud they never did, though they tried their utm st to drive out the gallant defenders with cannon and rifles,aud, what was worse, "(ire k tiie" shot in | metallic tubes into the thatch of the roofs. Perhaps if the lioeis could only have summed up courage to make a determined assault while the huts were blazing and half the gar i risou occupied iu puttiug out the flames, they might have captured the fort. But they did not care to meet the stubborn defenders of Fort Mary ! hand to hand. So they contented I themselves with potting at the gallant fellows who fearlessly exposed them selves iu their efforts to extinguish j the tire, i hose efforts were success ful, though they cost the lives of two brave men who could ill be spared. But the garrison were not content with standing only on the defensive. They made pluck little night sorties, which scared the Boers considerably ami caused them some loss. Twice Conductor Paisotis of the Army Ser vice Corps sa lied out alone in the dark aid piti lied liaud grenades in among the em my, which produced a p rfect panic among them. There was a vigorous sapping aud mining, too,on the part of th Hoyal Engineers, j who made it lively for the besiegers. Then the water ran short, A pint a day for each lnnu was all that could be spared and this was terribly short rations of drink iu the hottest mouth of an African summer. At last the rain, which for luuuy weary hours they had watched deluging the hills around, condescended to visit them, and then they had rather mo: e wutor than they wanted; for, the huts being all roof less since the tire, there was 110 shel ter from the pitil.ss downpour. The soldiers, always eager and anxious to protect .Mrs. Long, rigged up a tar paulin screen to shield her from the rain when sleeping; but, despite their care, she often woke up drenched. The news of the disasters at Laing's Nek and Ma.uba Hill was, of course, promptly communicated to them by the enemy, accompanied by a per emptory summons to surrender. But Lieutenant Long, though badlv wounded himself, with his faithful wife nursing him night and day, seut back the curt answer: "I shall hold out to the last. " And the men, looking at that bravo woman so patient and cheerful under her terrinle load of anxiety,set Mie'r teeth hard and swore the Boers should never have Fort Mary while there was a man left to hautlle a title. "And ever on the topmast roof the old banner of England blew." At first, iudt-ed, it was but a merchant ship's ensigu. How they hoisted a real union-jack I will let Mrs. Long tell iu her own words: "Our ship's ensign had become, wlia with the wind aud what with the bullets, a perfect shred; moreover we 1 were anxious to hoist a real union jack. A Geneva flag was discovered, but though sufficient red aud white were forthcoming to complete the crosses, no blue was to he found. Nothing daunted, the men 1 ante to me to inquire if 1 possessed such a thing as a bit of dark bine for the new flag, and, to their delight, I gave them "a serge dress of the desired color. A beautiful union-jack was very soon made aud hoisted, instead of the first." On the 2.itli of March the Boers kept up a furious cannonade and fusil lade all night. But the next morning, to the sur|irise of the garrison, a white flag was hoisted over the enemy's lines, and under its protection Lieutenant Baker of the Sixtieth KiHes bi ought them the humiliating news that peace bad beeu concluded with the Boers. ; So the gallant defenders marched out from the riddled and battered little fort which for 81 days tliey had held against ten tim s their number. Mrs. Long was so thin aud pulled down that lier friends iu Lydenberg ' hardly ku.'W her. The Boers cheered I her heartily as she passed them on her way into the town, and their com • mander, I'iet Steyne, trented her with the utmost courtesy. Indeo 1, such a chivalrous geutlem-n was this gal ant : Boer that ho seuteueed one of his men 1 to 25 lashes for shouting out duriug : the siege: "Come out, Mrs. Long, j and make us some coffee; we are so 1 cold." At the same time he threatened i double the penalty if any further in \ suit, were offered to the English lady. Lieutenaut Loug and his men we e publicly complimeuted in a general j order "for their successful and he roic defence." But lam disposed to think that the largest share of the . praise was due to the brave woman I who set them so noble au exa.uple.— ! Chambers's Magazine. DR TALMAGE7S SERMON. SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE B7 THE NOTED DIVINE. Subject: Capacity to Sleep—lt In the Poor Mini's mossing—Words of Comfort, For the Victims of Insomnia—Wakefulness a Means of Grace. fCopyrtght, l.ouis Klopscli. 1900.1 WASHINGTON, D. C.— IU this discourse Dr. Talmage treats of a style of disorder lot much discoursed upon ami unfolds what must be a consolation to many people; lext, Psalms Ixxvll., 4, "Thou boldest mine syes wuking." Sleep is the vacation of the soul; it is the mind goue Into the playgrouud of dreams; It Is the relaxation of tho muscles aud the solace of the nerves; It is the hush of ac -1 ivities; it Is the soft curtaining of the eyes; It is a trance of eight hours; it is a calm ing of the pulses; it Is a breathing much slower, though far deeper; it Is a tempor ary oblivion of all carking cares; it is the doctor recognized by alt schools of medi cine; It is a divine narcotic; it is a com plete aniFsthetlc; It is an angel of tho night; it is a great mercy of God for the human race. Lack of it puts patients 011 the rack of torture, or in the madhouse, or lu the grave. O blessed sleep! No wonder the Bible makes much of It. Through sleep so sound that a surgical Incision of I he side of Adam did not waken him came the best temporal blessing ever allorded 10 mail—wifely companioushlp. While in sleep on a pillow of rock Jacob -aw a ladder set up, with angels coming down and climbing. So "He giveth His beloved sleep," soliloquized tho psalmist. Solomon listens at the door of a tired workman aud eulogizes bis pillow by say ing, "The sleep of n laboring man Is -e voice of the bird." Let all aged men and women remember that they have beeu permitted to do a great deal of sleeplug iu their time and that if they do not sleep so well now as they used to It is because they do not require so much sleep. Itemark the seventh: Insomnia is prob ably a warning that you had bette* mod erate your work. Most of those engaged lu employments that pull on nerve ami brain are tempted to omit necessary rest and sleeplessness calls a halt. Even their pleasuring turus to work. As Sir Joshua Reynolds, the great painter, taking a walk with a friend, met a sun browned peasant boy and said, "I mu-t go home aud deepen the coloriug of my infant Hercules." The sun browned boy suggested an im provement lu a greut picture. By the time most people have reached midlife, if they have behaved well more doors of opportunity opou be fore them than they ought to enter, l'ower to decline, power to say "No," they should now cultivate. When a man is determined to be useful and sutan can uot dissuade him from that course, the great deceiver Induces him to overwork aud lu that way get rid of him. We havo thermometers to toll the heat, and barom eters to tell the air, and ometors hung in engine rooms to tell the pressure of steam, aud ometers to and measure almost everything. Would that some gouius would iuveul an ometer which, being bung around the uc -k and dropped over heart and lung, would by tlio pulsa tion and respiration, tell whether one Is under too great pressure or might carry more. All brain workers would waut sue t an ometer aud want it right away. For the lack of it how many are dying aud how many havo died of overwork.' \ proiuiueut Maunder who recently departed tills life was au officer in over 100 fluanclal and charitable Institutions. Thousands of editors, of lawyers, of physicians, of merchants, of clergymen, are now dying of overwork. I)o not be in tlie board of directors of more than three bank-? and two trust companies aud five life and lire Insurance establishments. Do not as pastor preach more than three ser mons a Kuuday and superintend your own Sabbath-school and conduct a Bible class the same day. Do not edit a paper aud write for three mngaztues and goto lour public dluuers where you will be called to make a speech more than four times a week. Do not go so deep In to the real estate business that before spring all tho real estate you will really possess will be a piece of grouud about six feet long and three feet wide. Your in somnia is the voice of nature, the voice of God, saying, "Better slow us!" Stop that long, swift train, the wheels or which are taking lire from the velocity and smoking with the hot box. Do not burn the caudle at both euds. Do not under too many burdens sweat like a camel trudging from Aleppo to Damascus. Do not commit sui cide. Remark tho eighth: All the victims of insomnia ought to be cousoled with the fact that they will have a good, long sleep after a while. Sacred and profane litera ture again and again speak of that last sleep. God knew that the human race would be disposed to make a groat ado about exit from this world, and so Hi in spires Job aud David and Daniel and John and Paul to call that condition "sleep." When at Bethany the brother who was the support of his sisters after their father and mother were goue had himself expired, Christ cried out in regard to him, "He is not dead, but sleepeth." Cheer ing thought to all poor sleepers, for that will he a pleasant sleep, in duced by no narcotic, disturbed by no frightful dream, interrupted by no harsh sound. Better tliuu any sleep you ever took, O child of God, will be the last sleep. In your sluinbors your home may be In vaded by burglars anil your treasures car ried off, but while here aud there, la one case out of millions, the resurrectionist may disturb tho pillow of dust the last sleep is almost sure to be kept from inva sion. There will be no burglary of the tomb. And It will be a refreshing sleep. You have sometimes risen in the morning more weary than when you laid down at night, but waking from the sleep of which 1 speak the last fatigue, tho last ache, the last worrlmeut, will be rorever gone. Oh, what a refreshing 9leep! 80 my hearer, my reader, "Good night!" May God give you such sleep to-ulght as is best for you, aud if you wake too soon may He till your soul with reminiscences aud expectations that will be better than slumber. Good niglill Having in prayer, kueeliug at the bedside, committed your self and all yours to the keeping of the slumberless God, fear nothing. The pestilence that wnlketh iu darkuess will not cross your doorstill, and you need not be afraid of evil tidings. Goi*d night! May you have no such experience as Job bad when he said, "Thou scarest tne with dreams and terrifies me through visions." If you dream at all, may It be a vision of reunions uud congratulations, and, waking, may you llnd some of them true. Good night! And when you come to the best sleep, the blissful sleep, the last sleep, may you be able to turn aud say to all the cares and fatigues and bereave meuts and pangs of a lifetime, "Good night!" and your kindred, standing around your illumined pillow, give you hopeful though sorrowful farewell as you move out from their loving embrace into the bosom of a welcoming God, G n od night! Good night! THE GREAT DESTROYER. SOME STARTLINC IFAQTS A3DUT THE VICE OF INTEMPERANCE. It Stings—Since tlio Craze For Strong Drink llhk Keen Diagnosed by Kx- l ,ep tt as a Disease Many States Have I'asHeii I.aws to Treat It ns Sacli. Thou sparkling bowll thou sparkling bowl! Though lips of bards tby brim may press, An