Part 7 (1/2)

Fearing the daylight, just before the sun rose, as the train was pulling up a steep grade, he leaped off into soht he walked He uarded, he had to ht prevented hi by day, walking by night, begging food from the Kaffirs, five days passed

Meanwhile, his absence had been at once discovered, and, by the Boers, every effort was beinghis description were sent along both railways, three thousand photographs of him were distributed, each car of every train was searched, and in different parts of the Transvaalarrested It was said he had escaped dressed as a woman; in the uniform of a Transvaal policeman whom he had bribed; that he had never left Pretoria, and that in the disguise of a waiter he was concealed in the house of a British syth of this rumor the houses of all suspected persons were searched

In the Volksstenificant fact that a week before his escape Churchill had drawn froland and over all British South Africa the escape created as much interest as it did in Pretoria Because the attempt showed pluck, and because he had outwitted the enemy, Churchill for the time becaave as rin to the Boers

But as days passed and nothing was heard of him, it was feared he had lost himself in the Machadodorp Mountains, or had succule toward the coast, to fever, and congratulations gave way to anxiety

The anxiety was justified, for at this ti the month in prison he had obtained but little exercise The lack of food and of water, the cold by night and the terrific heat by day, the long stu marches in the darkness, the anization of being hunted, and of having to hide from his fellow men, had worn hih it were neutral soil, in so exhausted a state he dared not venture into the swauese territory; and, sick at heart as well as sick in body, he saw no choice left hi so he carefully prepared a tale which, although ht still conceal his identity and aid hiht after days of wandering he found hie near the boundary line of the Transvaal and Portuguese territory Utterly unable to proceed further, he crawled to the nearest zinc-roofed shack, and, fully prepared to surrender, knocked at the door It was opened by a rough-looking, bearded giant, the first white man to whom in many days Churchill had dared address himself

To him, without hope, he feebly stammered forth the speech he had rehearsed The man listened with every outward mark of disbelief At Churchill himself he stared with open suspicion Suddenly he seized the boy by the shoulder, drew him inside the hut, and barred the door

”You needn't lie to me,” he said ”You are Winston Churchill, and I--ae”

The rest of the adventure was coineer naht-car, and hid him under sacks of some soft merchandise

At Kohteen hours the car in which Churchill lay concealed was left in the sun on a siding, and before it again started it was searched, but thethe search lifted only the top layer of sacks, and a few minutes later Churchill heard the hollow roar of the car as it passed over the bridge, and knew that he was across the border

Even then he took no chances, and for two days more lay hidden at the bottom of the car

When at last he arrived in Lorenzo Marques he at once sought out the English Consul, who, after firsthiave hiood luck would have it, the _Induna_ was leaving that night for Durban, and, escorted by a body-guard of English residents ar no chances of his recapture by the Boer agents, he was placed safely on board Two days later he arrived at Durban, where he was received by the Mayor, the populace, and a brass band playing: ”Britons Never, Never, Never shall be Slaves!”

For the next ralobe, so expeditions, others sent hiraphs of hiraphs of themselves, possibly to be admired, others sent poems, and soratulations on your wonderful and glorious deeds, which will send such a thrill of pride and enthusiash Great Britain and the United States of Alo-Saxon race will be irresistible”

Lest so large an order as ht turn the head of a subaltern, an antiseptic cablegra:

”Best friends here hope you won't gofurther ass of yourself

”McNEILL”

One day in carahted to find that it must have cost the man who sent it five pounds

On the day of his arrival in Durban, with the cheers still in the air, Churchill took the first train to ”the front,” then at Colenso Another ered After a month's iht have been excused for delaying twenty-four hours to taste the sweets of popularity and the flesh-pots of the Queen Hotel

But if the reader has followed this brief biography he will know that to have done so would have been out of the part This characteristic of Churchill's to get on to the next thing explains his success He has no time to waste on postmortems, he takes none to rest on his laurels

As a war correspondent and officer he continued with Buller until the relief of Ladysmith, and with Roberts until the fall of Pretoria He was in ements, and came out of the ith another medal and clasps for six battles

On his return to London he spent the su his second book on the war, and in October at the general election as a ”khaki” candidate, as those were called who favored the war, again stood for Oldham This time, with his war record to help him, he wrested from the Liberals one of Oldham's two seats He had been defeated by thirteen hundred votes; he was elected by a majority of two hundred and twenty-seven

The fewof the new Parlia tour at home, and in the United States and Canada His subject was the war and his escape from Pretoria

When he came to this country half of the people here were in sympathy with the Boers, and did not care to listen to what they supposed would be a strictly British version of the war Hisperanized for Churchill's first appearance in various cities, different reception committees