The Boer War

Summary

Gaslight flickers across gilded chandeliers as the Lamberts stage a charity masque for Empire’s widows; silk trains swish, champagne flutes catch firelight, and young Captain Doane, all braid and bashful ardor, slips a ring of promise on Jane Lambert’s gloved finger—an idyll shattered before the waltz ends. While the orchestra bleats, Jack Lambert, prodigal heir, hemorrhages guineas to a card-sharps’ consortium; desperate, he pilfer the iron cashbox his father had set down for mere seconds. War’s telegram arrives like a guillotine blade: Britain will march on the Transvaal. Patriotic thunder masks the household’s internal hemorrhage; Jack, branded by guilt, scrawls a confession and swallows a pistol barrel. Doane bursts in, intercepts the shot, and—without hesitation—claims the theft as his own, hurling himself into a purgatory of whispers, ostracism, and broken betrothal. Months later, half-dead from fever and dishonor, he enlists as a nameless private under the molten African sun. On the veld he meets Jack again; shells churn earth to crimson mud, and Doane—now orderly to the lad he once rescued—carries the boy’s bleeding body through a curtain of Mauser fire. A shell splinters; darkness swallows Doane’s sight forever. Back home, Jane, transformed from belle to battle-front nurse, learns the full truth, cradles her blind hero, and watches the War Office pin valor on a man who never sought forgiveness because he never believed himself worthy of it.

Synopsis

The Lamberts give a charity ball for the benefit of the Widows' and Orphans' Fund. Captain Doane is among the guests. The young officer is in love with Jane, the general's daughter. During the affair, he secures her consent to be his wife. Jane's parents both favor Doane's suit. General Lambert places the box containing the receipts of the ball on his library tale. A moment later he is called away. At the same time, Jack, his son, loses heavily at cards to a professional sharp. The man holds several I.O.U.'s for which he demands payment. Desperate, Jack promises to let him have the money at once. The boy hastens home. Entering the library, he sees the cash box. Abstracting the money. Jack gives it to the gambler, who waits outside. General Lambert receives a telegram, stating that war has been declared between Great Britain and the Boers. He spreads the news. The general relates an incident of the first Boer campaign, telling how one of his comrades had been treacherously slain by the Boers. Turning to Jack, the father bids him avenge the man's death in the coming fray. Jack, however, confronts the knowledge that he is a thief. Entering the library he desperately searches for a way out. He decides upon the course he must follow. Writing a confession of his guilt, the boy places the note where it can be found and then picks up a revolver. Doane enters the room and views the proceedings in amazed silence. He grasps Jack's hand, just as the boy is about to shoot himself. Jack breaks down. The note tells Doane the whole miserable story. He promises Jack to find a way to clear him. General Lambert and the board of trustees enter the room after Jack leaves. They are about to look for the money, when Doane announces that he has stolen it. Shocked, the general calls in the guests and tells them the story. Jane is brokenhearted at her lover's supposed dishonesty. Disgraced, Captain Doane returns home where he receives a note, demanding his resignation. He complies with the order. The next day, he sees his beloved regiment leave for the front. Another officer marches past, in command of the company that was his. His health undermined by the strain, Doane is stricken with brain fever. When her recovers, a few weeks later, the man enlists under an assumed name and is sent to the Transvaal. By rare good fortune, Doane meets Jack. The young officer recognizes in the private, the man who had saved him from disgrace. Jack succeeds in securing Doane as his orderly. The two armies meet in a terrific battle. The Boers, under General Jaubert, successfully hold the British in check. Lieutenant Lambert is sent to one of the British commanders with dispatches. He is accompanied by Doane. On their way they discover a Boer force creeping upon the British flank. Their warning saves the English troops from destruction. From the top of a hill, the Boers under Jaubert are inflicting terrible punishment upon the British by means of heavy siege guns. A charge gradually drives the Boers back. The British succeed in dislodging their foe from shelter by means of the hail of death from rapid-fire guns. With a superb rush, the English gain the ton of the hill and capture the battery that has inflicted the most damage. Jack and Doane are foremost in the fray. The battery is blown skyward. Jack and Doane's unusual valor win them the commendation of the general in command. Doane wearily returns to his tent. His mind goes back to the night of the ball. His hand wanders to the pocket over his heart and brings to view the picture of Jane. Sadly he gazes upon the face of the girl whose love he had surrendered. With a sigh, the man replaces the picture in its resting place. In another tent, a totally different scene is transpiring. Torn by his conscience, Jack is penning a confession which exonerates Doane, whom he has grown to idolize. Leaving his tent, he hands the letter to Doane, requesting him to keep it in event of his death. He informs his savior that should death overtake him on the field, he wishes to die with the knowledge that he had made reparation. Doane watches the boy depart. He slowly tears the letter to pieces. That day another attack is made upon the Boers. The hills are covered with the heavy smoke of artillery and thousands of rifles. The Lancers sweep the enemy before them in a heroic charge. Jack, leading a bayonet charge against a Boer battery, is struck by a bullet and falls. Fighting like fury, Doane rescues the boy and carries him off the field. Immediately afterward, Doane wires the Lamberts, telling them of Jack's injury. Upon receipt of the message, Jane immediately announces her determination to go to her brother's side. Her father's influence enables her to go to the front as a Red Cross nurse. She reaches Jack's force and is assigned to his hospital tent. As she enters the tent, she sees Doane bending over her brother. Doane is electrified at the sight of his sweetheart. Remembering the offense with which he was charged, the girl draws back in contempt. Jack sees the movement and realizes what caused it. With tears streaming down his face, and despite Doane's efforts to stop him. the boy confesses his story. Thunderstruck, Jane stares at Doane. The man turns away in distress. The next moment. Jane's hand is on his arm. She pleads with him for forgiveness. Surrounded, and facing defeat, the Boers fight with the desperation born of despair. Again and again their fire sweeps the charging British, mowing them down like grass. From the overlooking hills the batteries of the English hurl their deadly missiles in the midst of the shelters which cover the Boers. Doane, assigned to one of the batteries, imbues his comrades with heroic spirit. Time and again the Boers strive to capture the battery, their rifle fire brings the men down one by one. Doane finally remains the sole survivor, but the battery still belches forth the shots placed in it by the men who had manned them. A Boer shell lands next to Doane's gun and explodes. When the smoke lifts, the hero strives in vain to arise. Blood gushes from his eyes. Jane is by her brother's bedside when Doane is brought in on a stretcher. She anxiously hovers over the doctor as he examines the man. The surgeon finally declares that while Doane will recover, he will be blind for life. The girl nurses her sweetheart and brings him back to health. Jack tells his story to the commanding officer. He reveals Doane's nobility and the sacrifice he had made. When Doane recovers the story of his heroism has been spread broadcast. The War Office reinstates him to his former rank and in addition Doane receives a medal of valor. Jane is by her hero's side when the emblem is placed upon his breast.