Pittston Gazette

              } Oldest NewsDaDer in the Wvoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1891. A Weekly Local and Familv Journal. side cf iho story and pour forth their grievances into tho ears of next door neighbors, with whom, as likely as not, they became in turn embroiled within the year, while the quarrel with the original object of their wrath had been long since forgotten. His own policy had been to give every man his ear, but nonu his voice, when personal matters were under discussion. But he knew well that it would be expecting too much of most women that they should simply listen and not tell. There were admirable and truthful wives and mothers in tho little coterie, whose friendship he could have coveted for his wife; but one of the odd features of frontier life is that tho impulsive rush for the intimate friendship ofe. the newly arrived army bride is generally made by those who are most apt to betray her confidence when won, and to give her unfavorable impressions, "absolutely without having said one word against them," of the very ones whose stability of character makes them most desirable as friends and : correspondence to these willing hands, Mabel had learned to understand how unselfish was her devotion; and after her mother's death there arose between these two young women—the one widowed, yet cherishing a new born love; the other a wage worker and fancy free—a firm friendship, which gained strength with every month. It was to Georgia Marshall that Mabel, sobbing with emotion, had first confided the news of her engagement to Capt. Lane, and was amazed, yet rejoiced, at the fervor with which her friend had received the tidings. "At last!" she cried. "Oh, I am bo thankfnl! He has loved you so truly —so long!" And so, when from brother Reginald's letter Mrs. Lane read the story of Georgia Marshall's final difference with her employers, no time was lost in demanding that she should come to their army home for what Mabel termed a good long rest. She was determined that Georgia should have just as good a time, iust as much attention, just as many devotees as any girl that ever turned the heads of the bachelors of the Eleventh. For the week preceding the young lady's arrival she had been impulsively preparing the young fellows for Georgia's coming and sounding her praises to many a listening ear. Who would not listen to those pretty lips? And therefore there was distinct sense of disappointment among the subalterns when that much lauded damsel stepped from the train at the little station and was rapturously enfolded to Mabel's heart. Jim Wallace, who was Hearn's especial chum, and "Lazy" Lee declared that the new arrival was plain as a pipe stem, except that her hands and feet were particularly slender and shapely. And Mr. Martin, something of a connoisseur, declared that her eyes were the only redeeming feature of her face. But these gentlemen had seen her only at the station the afternoon of her arrival after a I dusty ride; and Hearn himself, being officer of the guard, was not presented until the following day. That evening, however, he was her escort to the little ' gathering at the colonel's, and was far frog) content that she did not second the cordial invitation extended by Capt. and Mrs. Lane to come in and chat awhile. AN ARMY PORTIA. several years ago, i am torn; but he has his own storo in town now, and they Say he's an awful cheat; no one will deal with him—from the post at least.1 1 don't know tho other man at all. He is a stranger." "Those men are making quite a racket in there, Stone. Who are they?"' asked the lieutenant. s-sayeo. W-w-what will you have, Mr. —Mr."  for a commission, was just coming from the hospital ward when Mr. Hearn, passing by the sad faced group of soldiers who were chatting at the steps, came quickly forward to meet the field officer. "How does he seem now, major? I had intended coming earlier, but was detained."though covered by the smoke of his own fire, tramped away across the parade, leaving the two officers gazing silently after him. The orderly, with hand to cap visor, sprang briskly past the pair and stalked away in the wake of his cane twirling commander. rank ana hie ot the army were treatea rather like dogs by their superiors. A man, he said, must be at the lowest ebb of self respect to enlist in the army; as though every one of his army of twenty thousand hard working, bard slaving men was not infinitely more at the mercy of a single official than could ever happen in the army of the United States. My own people, by Jove! were so impressed by what they had been reading for years in the papers of army life and army officers that they were perpetually urging me to quit the service and come in and begin life over again at forty-five— clerking or something. "A couple of fellows from town and We'oh, cf C troop." "I don't drink at all, thank yon," said Mr. Wallace briefly. "Come, Martin, going up to luncheon?" he said, turning shortly from the pair of invaders. By 0HARLE8 EZTNG1 U. S. A., Author of "The Colonei'a Daughter," "The , Deserter," "From the Ranks," "Dnn- "Welsh!" exclaimed Mr. Heam, who was glancing over the pages of a late "They are particularly rude in manner, it seems to me," said Mrs. Morris. "I wish the colonel would keep such people away from the reservation." "Don't go yet, gen'lem'n. Just one pap r. That man is on sick report, under the doctor's care. Has he been drinking?" " They've all been drinking, more or less. If I hsd known Welsh was on sick report I would have told Billy not to sell him anything." "Why, he ha3 no business here! glash champagne—good fellowship, yon know. Hopo I don't 'fend?" At last Kenyon spoke: "Come, Hearn, when you're as old as I am you'll not fret yourself over glittering generalities like that. Every colonel, I suppose, is full of wise saws and modern instances, and must shoot 'em off occasionally. Til be just as full, no doubt, if I live to be a colonel. It has taken me thirty years' soldiering to get out of company duty, and the Lord only knows how long it will be before I can swap this gold leaf for the silver. Come along, man; I'm going to Lane's a moment to ask the ladies to drive to town this evening, and there's nothing like the women folk tp help one out of the gruinps. There they are on the piazza now—the women, not the grumps. And by the powers! yonder coiucs young Lee in his riding boots to ask Miss Marshall to try a canter." But Hearn shook his head: "I can't go now; I'm all upset by this thing, major. By heaven! isn't it enough to make a man swear, that a low cad like that can come into his daily life and poison the ears of his friends and associates with slander and innuendo, and that I have to listen in silence to such rebuke as that the colonel gave me?' roven Ranch," "Two Soldiers." "Just holding his own. I wouldn't go in if I were you, Hearn. I think footsteps only worry the doctor now. There is no great change, men," he kindly spoke, as the little knot of soldiers respectfully saluted and looked inquiringly at him. "He has a good fighting chance yet, with his splendid constitution. We can only hope for the best. Come on, Hearn; I want to ask you something. What's this I hear about your having trouble with that fellow Schonberg?' "Oh, I had no especial trouble, major. He was out here drunk, I sonld say, and had got that man Welsh, of my troop, drinking, so the fellow was insubordinate again, and the officer of the day ordered him confined. Then Schonberg, it seems, went into the club room, and after he had been treating the men to beer in the bar insisted on treating to champagne and introducing ViimaAlf to several of the' officers who were there. Stone came in and ordered Vrim out, and when I happened along, hearing the noise, he appealed to me as to what the orders in his case had been, and as I knew that he had been forbidden even to come on the reservation I told him if he didn't go, and go at once, I would send some of my men to escort him. Of course he was very violent and abusive, but I paid no further attention to it." "That man likes to be impudent, Capt. Brodie says. Ho was put off the reservation some years ago and ordered never to come on again. Ho was caught smuggling liquor to the men, and had been for months lending them money at scandalous interest, and every one knew, and knows now, that he has the worst kind of influence on them. Indeed, Mrs. Morris, I wish the colonel would keep him out, althongh I suppose some of the men —the most vicious among them—would go to his place in town whenever they wanted money or liquor. He probably ventures out here because the Eleventh has just come to tho garrison, and he supposes Col. Morris to be in ignorance of his character and of the orders that had been given by his predecessor. Maj. Kenyon knows him well enough, and the colonel of the —th cavalry gave strict orders that he should not be allowed even to cross the bridge. But then none of your regiment knows him, I suppose." "Not a particle, sir; not a particle," said Martin. "Only you will have to excuse us. Wo can't drink and shoot too, you know. We've got to be on the rifle range in half an hour. Coming, Lee?" Mr. Lee had risen and was about to move, when Mr. Schonberg threw his arm over the young gentleman's shoulders, striving to detain him. {Copyright, 1890, by J. B. Ltpptnoott Company, Philadelphia, and pufatMad by special arrangement with them.] i(C0KTlNCEn.) CHAPTER m. "Why, that man was told that ho must stay in quarters all the time the command was at drill. It's a rule in the troop when a man is excused from any duty he must remain in quarters during the performance of it. Just tell him to step outside," said tho lieutenant. "Say I wish to see him." And picking up his cap and gauntlets Mr. Hearn strolled from the room and went around to the east front. There, through the open doorway, the conversation within became distinctly audible, and Capt. Brodie, of the infantry, who wa3 officer of tho day, returning from his morning inspection of the sentries down about the wood yards, hearing tho loud talk, turnpd and came rapidly over to -sard the store. "Why, only ten years before their homes had been rescued from the mob, after police and militia had been whipped to the winds, only by the prompt rush of the regulars from the frontier. Oh, they lionized the 'shoulder strapped autocracy' then, and for just about one week it wasn't fashionable for a decent paper to lampoon them, but the moment 'the danger was over their gratitude fled with their anxiety. I tell you, the papers that are sold for two and three cents in our big cities have to pander to the prejudices of the masses to keep alive, and there is no surer way of tickling the palates of the populace than by ridiculing or abusing the army officers, and in lending themselves to this the editors of course inflnence the judgment of people of a much better class—the great middle class, so to speak, of the whdle nation." "Kimily remove your arm, Mr.  Mr. whatever your name may be," said Lee, his brows knitting and his mouth setting angrily. "I object to drinking champagne in the morning, and to being embraced by strangers at any time." neighbors. But at this moment Mr. Stone, the post trader, came hurrying in. He looked aghast when he caught sight of what was going on. Springing forward, he seized the Israelite roughly by the arm. Lane noted that the women he most liked and respected were the ones whom sho was making visible efforts to regard as he did. Perhaps had he painted them in les3 glowing colors before she had seen for herself, a very different result might havo been reached; for if a man really wants his wife to like another wemau whom she has not yet'fnet the less he says of her perfections the better. Wisely Lane made no attempt to control her opinions, but as his duties kept him away from tho house much of the day, and as there was every prospect of tho entire battalion being sent on a long practice march during the summer, he was a trillo at a loss what companionship to provide for her during the inevitable separation. It was with genuine rejoicing, therefore, that he read one after their arrival a letter from her brother which she silently handed him, and then sat watching his face as he conned its three pages. "Come out of this, Schonberg," he ordered. "You kuow perfectly well you've got no right whatever to come on this reservation, much less in this room." "Who do you say wants me?" Welsh's voico was heard to ask, as he stood unsteadily at the bar. "Mr. Hearn knows him. Mrs. Brodie," promptly spoke a young lady who wore not inconspicuously tho gold crossed rifles of the infantry. "Pray do not disturb the gentlemen, Mr. Stone," said Martin. "We will gladly vacate in their favor." "The lieutenant—Lieut. Hearn, man; he's waiting for you outside," said the bartender, in tones that plainly told his anxiety. "Well, that's what you get for being m the army, my boy. Three days ago yon were taking issue with, me at Lane's because I said if I had my life to live over again the army was the very last profession I'd seek in this country, and you thought you loved it. Here's Lane, now," he continued, as the gray eyed captain strolled up and laid his hand kindly on the young officer's shoulder. "Don't you attempt to put me out of here, Stone," shouted the Jew. "I know you. I know what I'm about. You just touch me or let anybody else here in this d—d cowardly hole, and you'll see what'll happen." "It isn't at all so where I com9 from," interposed Hearn, promptly. "At home all my kinsi'olk are proud of my being in the army." "Why, how can that be when ho has been hero no longer than the other officers of the Eleventh?" was the immediate reply. "Ho be d—d! I ain't under hi» orders! Fm on sick report. The post surgeon is the only man who can give me orders today, and don't you forget it!" "Ton want to -do something for'her, don't "D—n that villain!" said the major. "He has done more to demoralize the men in this post than all the toughs and gamblers in the community combined. Our fellows have got to know him so thorouRhly that the best class of them at least steer clear of him entirely; but there was a time when a great many of them never went to town without getting drink or money at his place and having to pay very heavily for it afterward."It was a lovely May morning, and a warm south wind was blowing through the open windows of Capt. Lane's cozy quarters and billowing the dainty curtains of the breakfast room. Down in the westward valley, close under the bluffs, a white mfet was creeping upward from the shallows of the stream, and here and there among the furrows of the company gardens, and along the railway embankment, little wisps of fog hovered over the soaking earth. It had rained in torrents during the night, but Nature emerged from her bath glowing in the rays of a sunrise that the officer of the day pronounced simply gorgeous as ha turned out for reveille. you, Mabelt" "He was stationed here the winter following his graduation. He was still an additional second lieutenant then. You remember he did not get his promotion to the Eleventh until nearly a year after he left the Point. At least that is what Mr. McDonougli says." And Mr. Mq- Donough, being the owner of the crossed rifles, the damsel blushes becomi i^ly. "Ah! you're a southerner, Mr. Hearn, and your people are all Americans. All through the north, however, we have an immense foreign population that has fled from the Old World to escape military duty. They hate the very sight of a soldier. Three-fourths of the people of some of our big cities are of foreign birth or parentage. The papers seek their patronage, and in truckling to them they prejudice northern Americans against their own friends and relatives who have been idiots enough to become their defenders. It was bad enough before the war, God knows, but it's worse now. People wonder how it was that it took the north, with 3,000,- 000 soldiers, so long to subdue the south with less than a fourth that number. Now I see nothing to wonder at whatever. The south has always respected the profession of arms; the north has always derided it. Lee, with 60,000 " "Go instantly, Welsh, or I'll call for tho gu.nrd," said Mr. Stone. "You're more than half drunk now. Don't give that man another drop, Kirby. Go at once. Welsh." And now Lieut. Hearn's The three officers had silently left the room, and were now quietly walking away from the building, but at the sound of a scuffle Leo stopped short. "I'm trying to pull Hearn out of the grumpg, Lane. Haul him along with us, or he'll be doing somethin'g desperate. You remember how enthusiastic he was three days ago—loved his profession, would rather be a soldier than a railway magnate, wouldn't swap hi3 commission for a million in the four per cents. Fetch him along." "Here," ho said, and may do harm, Stone in the lurch." "those men are drank t. We mustn't leave ct C'jure appeared in the doorway. 1--h, come here." was all be said, md with snrly mien the soldier wering at hi3 superior, set D1 Dwn the gjass and then slouched across tii ■ floor toward the young oGicer, but halted short of the doorway. The captain finally laid it down and looked across tho table, a kind light in his gray eyes. "You want to do somethin;? for her. don't you, Mabel?" he smilingly asked. "Oh, I remember," answered Mrs. Morris. "Mr. Hearn told us he had been stationed hero for one winter; but he didn't seem to liko it much then."' Slowly Jrn'. l. £ "What's the trouble?" queried Mr. Hearn. who had been inspecting the dinner of hi3 troop and now came hurrying down the slope from the barracks. At this very instant, too, Schonberg pane oacKing out ot tne cluD room door snaking his fist at Stone, who silently and yet threateningly followed, and Schonberg's voice was shrill with rage. Behind them both, his hands in the pockets of his spring overcoat, saying not one word, but glancing quickly about from man to man, followed Mr. Abrams, of Chicago. "Oh, I knew him well the first winter I ever spent here," said Hearn. "He was clerk in the sutler's store then, and it was just before I left that he was discharged by his employer, who is dead now. Then he came prying around fie barracks at night, bringing liquor to the men, and gamblers out with him from town, playing in the non-commissioned officers' room, fleecing them so badly that they finally complained, and then the order was issued that he shouldn't be permitted on the reservation at all. He had a friend with him today whom he was showing around and whom he insisted on introducing. Martin says he called him Abnuns, from Chicago." "Abrams! I don't know anything about him, but the mere fact of his being here with Schonberg is enoueh to make me look upon him with suspicion. They were having a confidential talk with your man Welsh, I'm told. Now what do they know of him? Where have they met him before?" And between them, half laughing, half sympathetic, the two officers convoyed their junior toward the shaded veranda where were seated Mrs. Lane, Miss Marshall and other ladies busy with their needlework and probable gossip. Miss Wharton was of the party, and there were two or three callers. They had noted the colonel's soldierly figure as he tramped across the parade, and were quick to see the two officers coming along the gravel walk. Mrs. Lane half rose, and Bmiling brightly bade them enter. Forage caps were raised in acknowledgment and salutations exchanged, but the trio hung outside. The major by this time was talking vehemently. Lane was looking grave and anxious. The same perplexed expression was on his face that had been noted at the breakfast table when reading that letter just before Miss Marshall's entrance the day before. Hearn's face was clouded. "Indeed, Fred, I wish I could. She has had such hard fortune and she is each a trno girl. It is cruel to think of her now without a home and, as Regy says, without a chance of employment. I know the Woodrows would have been so glad to take her abroad with them as companion, but it's too late for that." "Wasn't Mr. Hearn a littlo wild in those days?'' inquired Mrs. Brodie. "It seems to me I have heard as much from some of the townspeople. You've no idea what gossips they are. Why, I've learned ever so much about your predecessors, the —th, that I never dreamed of before they left. A good deal about Mr. Hearn, too." And the lady looked tentatively at Mrs. Lane, as though inviting further question. But glancing an instant from that young matron's flushing face she finds Miss Marshall's big dark eyes fixed upon her with a scrutinizing, penetrating expression that in some way disheartens her. "I beg pardon though," she hastens to say; "I think I have heard Mr. Hearn and Capt. Lane were particular friends. Of course all this happened long ago, and he has probably outlived his youthful propensities."•'Come out here, sir,"' said the lieutenant ftornly, stepping a little to one side. "What for? I ain't on duty today," But now, three days after her advent, as she comes down to the pretty breakfast room, drinking in the soft balmy air that floats through the open window, Georgia Marshall's face is by no means plain. Her eyes are deep, dark, full of intelligence and life. Her mouth is large, but her teeth are pearly white and beautifully regular. The instant she speaks or smiles there is transfiguration in her looks, and her manner is all unaffected grace and gladness. Mabel raises her sweet face to meet the warm good morning kiss. The captain lays down the letter he is conning over and the perplexed expression vanishes as he cordially greets her: A man less joyous hearted than Capt. Lane might have found much to delight him in such a radiant morning. But those sunrises were old stories to this particular trooper, and though there was hardly a state or territory west of the Missouri in which ho had not turned out with the lark and welcomed in the new born day, ho seemed just as keen a worshiper of the sun god as in the buoyancy of his boyish days, when, nearly a score of years before, he had first joined the Eleventh cavalry. He was a man honored and esteemed in his profassion. He was well to do in the world, thanks to the prudence and frugality of his subaltern days. He had hardly a care in the world. He had charming quarters, had a charming station, and he was wedded only during the year before to a woman whom he devotedly loved, and who believed that the world had never contained a man so true and tender and noble as he. was the su n answer, "Xo arguments, Welsh, too much of that from you. We've had Go instant- —rters, an;l stay there. You pot excused from drill on account of ill- ly to your r "Regy doesn't say why she left Mrs. Withers, but I fancy I can conjccture," said Lane. "It was there I first met her at a dinner party one evening—when I wanted to be with you." jow. and you know perfectly well the roop rule. Yon have no business to leave Tacks, much less to be drinking "Mr. Hearn," said Stone, "you were here before I came, and yon know this man; were not the orders given that he should never again show his face on the reservation, and that he should be put off if he came?" Americans at his back, and only 60,000, knocked 00,000 out of Grant's overwhelming force between the Rapidan and the James. the bcr "The doctor didn't givo me any each " muttered Welsh, still hanging 'and he's my commanding officer "And yet were abundantly consoled, as I have heard you say more than once, sir. Oh, she has told me all about it, too. Indeed, if I weren't disposed to be mortally jealous of her wit and wisdom do you know what I'd do?" orders,' "Lee's CO,000 had the love of every Bouthern heart to sustain them. How many of the north, think you, had no personal interest in that struggle? How many thousands of the north today care nothing whatever for that flag"— and the ma jor pointed to the standard floating over the garrison—"and only ask to be let alone to make money their own way? God knows, Tm as loyal a Union man as ever lived, but I don't like to think of the new generation that has sprung up in this country; all soldiers in the south; all—what? in the north?' back. "Exactly," answered Hearn. "And the sooner yon leave it now, Mr. Schonberg, the better it will be for yon." today." For all answer Mr. H.arn sprang quicldy forward, grasped tun coat collar of the soldier in a muscular hand, and, without- violence bnt with uvick determination, marched him forth into the ranahinc. "I'm minding my own business" (he called it "peeznez"); "yon mind yours. Maybe you think I've forgot you; bnt ril show you. I've had it in for you ever since four years ago, young feller, and just you keep away now, and don't yon interfere, or you'll catch it where you don't expect it." "How can I divine, your ladyship?" asks Lane, his eyes twinkling. "Well, and how did the heroine of Fort Ryan rest last night?' , 'Td Write and bid her come here to us, and I'd marry her to the nicest fellow in the Eleventh forthwith. Oh, you shouldn't see anything of her, sir! I'd take good care of that. But," with sudden change of tone and manner, "wouldn't it bo lovely, Fred?" For every one, it seems, is talking of her pluck and promptitude—of the oddity of the thing that she, a new arrival, should have been the only one to hear the brief colloquy between that unknown ruffian and the corporal of the guard, that she should have been the first to reach and succor the still sense-' lees soldier, Brent. "I never heard of Mr. Hearn as anything but a most dutiful and excellent officer," said Mrs. Lane quietly. "Capt. Lane is very fond of him." "By G—d, lieutenant, you'll pay for this!"' screamed Welsh. "I don't allow any man to lay hands on ine." And then the instant ho was released ho turned and shook his clinched fist at his yonng superior. Beforo another word could be said the corporal of the guard with a couple of men, answering the signal of the officer of the day, came bounding to the spot. "I can't say, major; he was in the captain's 'household brigade,' and it is only recently that I have had anything to do with him. Of course he has been in and out of town a dozen times the past month, so he never lacked opportunity.""How can they encourage Maj. Kenyon to be dilating on his pet hobby!" petulantly exclaimed Mrs. Graves. "He is the most pessimistic, cynical, prosy old crank in the whole service, and will bore them to death. There, now he's backed them up against the fence, and there is no hope for them. Do come in here out of the hot sunshine, Maj. Kenyon; you can harangue all you like here just as well." But Kenyon paid no attention to his fair comrade of the infantry. For years the women of the th foot had made common cause against him despite the fact that he was one of their most devoted admirers. When Mrs. Lane again called to them to come in and sit on the veranda, however, the captain calmly took his two friends by the elbows and steered them through the gate. Another moment and the ladies were settling bask in their seats, and the major had the floor. 'Til give you thirty seconds to get in that buggy and drive off, Mr. Schonberg," was Hearn'a reply. "Unless you want to be hauled out by the guard you will start at once. It isn't the first time I've found yon stirring up insubordination here." "Certainly, if he had been a dissipated man, or a gambler, or—anything else," says Mrs. Morris, with proper spirit, "my husband would have been apt to know it; but"  A very lovely woman was Mrs. Lane, and a very sweet and winning hostess she made when doing the honors of her army home. There were tho3e, to be sure, who could detect a species of nervousness and a vaguo anxiety in her manner at times, and there were people —there always are, worse luck!—who could not quite forgive her her present happiness, or excuse it in her that after having been wooed and won by and wedded to the Adonis of the regiment some few years before she had again wedded, and this time the most eligible bachelor in the command, not much more than two years after the not untimely taking off of her first husband. "Wouldn't what be lovely?" this profound dissembler asks, though he knows exactly what she is thinking. "The doctor tells me you had to haul him out of the barroom by the coat collar, and that he threatened and abused yon. Take my advice, Hearn; don't ever touch a soldier, no matter how wrong he may be. You should have called for a file of the guard it he would not obey." And old Kenyon, flushed, almost breathless, paused and mopped his brow with a silk handkerchief as red as his face. "Why, to have her come and live with us and marry in the regiment." CHAPTER IV. "Oh, it wasn't that." interposed Mrs. Brodie. And just at this instant three or four officers came cantering up the slope, taking advantage of a brief rest to pay their devoirs to the fair spectators. "She isn't very pretty," said the captain doubtfully, but with the tact of a Talleyrand. "The boys might not admire her when Mrs. Lane was alongside."Ont along the graaev elopes the liveliest of trumpet calls were ringing. Long lines of mounted skirmishers were advancing in mimic attack against the bluffs to the north of the wide valley. Assembly and deploy, rally and charge, followed each other in quick succession, and the piff-paff of carbines far out on the eastern flank was answered by sweeping dash of whirling sabers and thunder of galloping hoofs. Here and there the bright hnes of the guidons lent color to the somber effect of service dress and treeless prairie. And along the bold crests that spanned the northern sky line groups of gayly attired spectators, "Take that man to the guard house," said Capt. Brodio, boiling over with indignation. 'Til attend to this case, Mr. Hearn. I witnessed the whole thing." Schonberg reached his buggy, but kept up his furious language. His companion, still silent, scrambled in, his restless eyes wandering from face to face. The thirty seconds were well nigh gone when the Jew, aided by Stone's supporting arm, lurched into his seat and picked up the reins. Shaking the whip over Stone's head he shrieked so that all could hear: There was silence a moment. Capt. Lane's kindly features wore an expression half grave, half quizzical. Hearn had edged around nearer where Miss Marshall was sitting, and that young lady had dropped her dainty embroidery in her lap and was listening attentively. Something in the gravity of her demeanor gave Kenyon encouragement. Miss Marshall noted that, as this group approached, the buggy with its objectionable occupants drove slowly away in the direction of the fort. Half an hour later, as they were bowling rapidly homeward over the hard prairie road, they came upon the infantry battalion, also skirmishing. Everybody but the guard seemed out at drill, and the post was practically deserted. Entering tUe garrison Umits Cassius, ttie colored coachman, guided his bays down the slope between the guard house and the post and then up the incline to the southwest gate, preferring this road to going along the garrison in front of the barracks of the men. The ladies were chatting blithely, but both Miss Marshall and Miss Wharton nqted that the buggy with the gray horse was halted at the store railing, and at the door stood the two men in civilian dress and a third in the undress uniform of the cavalry. And, swearing and struggling in the jrasp of the guard, Welsh was led away. Brodie saw him safely landed in the gu;ird room, then turned back to the store. The two civilians, who had silently witnessed this scene, were exchanging significant glances from time to time and some low whispered words. "His name's Brodie," Schonberg was he-ird to say. "You've got Hearn." Out when the officer of the day reappeared at the doorway they turned their backs aud were apparently absorbed in tha discussion of the cocktails which the barkeeper somewhat grudgingly 6et before them. Brodie took a good look at the pair, but, as they carefully refrained from showing their facee, he remained but a moment at the doorway, and then, with a dissatisfied shake of the head, turned .and walked over toward the garrison. "Now, Fred!" exclaims Mistress Mabel, provoked and pleased at once. "Yon know her eyes are glorious." "I had no authority over the guard, major, and I had over Welsh. I simply stepped inside, collared him and marched him out into the sunshine. Then Capt. Brodie came— Ah! here's the colonel." "Hum! Passably—when animated." "When isn't sho animated? She always enters into everything so heartily. She's so full of fun and life. Why, she would make the ideal army wife, PYed. That girl can do anything." "By G—d! you may dink you've heard the last of dis—dis outrage; but you'll see! youH see! If you don't get roasted for dis dare ain't any newspapers in dis country. I got your name down four years ago, Mr. Second Lieut. Hearn, and now, by G—d! you'll see"  They had turned into the quadrangle at the moment, and came face to face with the post commander, who, followed by his orderly, was crossing the green parade, swinging his cane in the nervous and energetic way peculiar to him. "Now you, Miss Marshall, are accustomed to social circles in the north. Tell me franldy, now, did you ever hearmen prominent in civil life express any other opinion of the profession of an army officer than that it was rather a useless, dawdling and unworthy occupation?' "No woman ought to be allowed more than one choice out of a regiment," was the half laughing, half rueful remark of some of the army wives who had sisters yet unchosen. They thought Mrs. Lane had rather too much good lack, despite the fact, now well and generally known, that her first marriage was a brief story of sudden disenchantment, of woe and wretchedness, of shame and sorrow unspeakable. Except among the women, the name of her first husband was rarely spoken in the Eleventh; bat, unworthy though he was, there were not lacking censors of her own to point ont time and again how impossible it would have been for them, had they lost a husband in the army, ever to think of taking another in "ie same reginJent, especially when it was known that No. 2 had been in love with her before she met the origmal conqueror of her maiden heart. That these remarks should in various forms come eventually to her ears one can hardly doubt; aud that a cloud should at times overspread the tranquil sky of her sweet home life no one who knew Mabel Vincent in her school days could fail to understand. No one at the post except her own loyal husband dreamed of the tears she shed over remarks that, wilfully or witlessly, were repeated to her. He strove earnestly to aoothe and comfort her. He redoubled his devoted and thoughtful attentions. "Yes, Mrs. Lane, I am a crank, as my good friend Mrs. Graves has doubtless told you; I have reason to be, and the crank's wound up today. Your husband and Hearn here have been combating my views about the desirability of the army as a vocation, and— I crave your pardon, Miss Marshall, for 'talking shop.'" "Then why condemn her to marrying in the army, Mabel?" "Mr. Hearn,"' he said in his quick, almost gruff manner, "the officer of the day tells mo he has confined Welsh, of your troop, for insubordination and for threatening you, and that he had been at the store with some men from town who were forbidden the reservation. You know the men, I'm told." "In peace times, I presume you mean, major?" Bet this question madam declines to answer. She comes quickly around the table, and with her arms about his neck nestles her soft cheek against his bronzed and weather beaten jowl, burrows under tho heavy mustache with her rosy lips, and kisses him lovingly. whose parasols and fans, scarfs and handkerchiefs, seemed fluttering in constant motioD, watched the busy scene on the flats below. Several buggies and canyalls had driven out from the neighboring town; three or four ambulances and Concord wagons were present from the post itself; and one light open barouche, drawn by two stylish bays and driven by a dignified negro, was evidently a center of attraction for many eyes. Herein were seated Mrs. Lane and her guest, Miss Marshall, with their near neighbors, the wife and sister of Mr. Wharton, first lieutenant of Lane's troop. And then, with an angry lash of his whip upon the flanks of his startled gray, Schonberg with his companion drove rapidly down the road past the stables. As they turned the corner Mr. Abrams drew from his overcoat pocket a fat note book and glanced back over his shoulder with a significant smile. "in peace times, certainly; though the f necessity for its existence then is as great You recollect what Washington said: 'In time of peace prepare for war.' "I'm deeply interested, Maj. Kenyon," responded that young lady. "Go on, I beg of you." "I confess that men who lead narrow lives in business or professions and never get beyond the groove are apt to say something ot wnat you suggest, major. But men who think and travel, especially those who have visited our frontier, come back with feelings of much admiration for the army, officers and men." "Say I may, Fred," she whispers coar- ingly. "Only one of them, sir. I knew that Jew, Schonberg, the first winter I was stationed here." You may, a dozen times over. 1 think I rather liko it." he laughs, his eyes beaming with delight. The trumpet was loudly pealing orderly call a few minutes later as the men came marching up from stables, their sabers clanking and their spurred heels ringing along the road. The instant the ranks were broken in front of the barracks a rush was made by dozens of their nuinl r for the cool refreshment of the trader's beer, and the bar was speedily crowded with their stalwart, dust covered for:l.y and ringing with their jovial voices. Some of them looked askance at the strangers, but Schonberg assumed an air of joyous goo 1 fellowship. " Well, my views are founded on long experience, and not the very pleasantest. I say—and I say it after years of reflection—that the more a man may love his profession, the better a soldier ho is, the more jealous of tho honor and reputation of his cloth, the less can he afford to take a position in the aumy of the United States. Why? Why, because the great mass of the people have no conception whatever of the duties that devolve upon us, of the life we lead, of the trials we encounter. CHAPTER V. "Well, Capt. Brodie says he also used threatening language toward you. What does it mean? What could he have to threaten you with?"' ah rnree starea intently at tne occupants of the barouche with that singular expression of mingled impudence and familiarity which is so marked a characteristic of the street loafers always hanging about the corners of certain thoroughfares of our western cities, where the police are not yet instructed in those rules of civilization which require such parties to bo moving on. As the ladies were whirled by Mr. Schonberg was seen to wink expressively, and the soldier, a dark faced, beetle browed fellow, with his hands in his pockets, looked after them and grinned. "You stupid boy!" She is shaking him now. "Say I may write and teU her to come right away. Reginald can bring her as far as Kansas City as well as not." "Nothing, sir," answered Hearn promptly. "At least," and now the hot blood seemed bounding to his temples, "at least nothing that I have any fear of. He is a blackruaru, and I was utterly inexperienced when I came here, so that he got me into some embarrassment in money matters at the time. It was settled long ago, and I have no idea what he. thinks he can trump up now. He used to be clerk and attendant at the store here when old Braine"  "Then I'll rest my case with the men who think and travel," said Hearn laughing brightly. "Come, you old cynic, don't make me believe I have no friends outside my profession, when it sometimes seems as though I hardly had one in it." Several ladies from the fort had alighted from their various vehicles and wgre gathered in lively conversation abont the barouche. Others, seated along the crest, were watching the evolutions and commenting, as is their wont, on the horsemanship or voice of this officer or that. Every now and then some town buggy would drive close beside the one stylish looking carriage and its occupants would gaze " ,4fr b ' " the party "She'll epoil our tete-a-tetes." "3he won't.' Shell bo having her own lDeforo she is here a week. Besides, you're getting tired of them already." She says this, of course, to be contradicted, and is promptly gratified. "Now, there you go, Hearn," interrupted Kenyon. "That's just exactly where you're wrong. You would trust to the few traveled and educated men; but what are they among the mass of voters, who know nothing of the army but what they read in the papers? Do you ever see anything good of an army officer in any paper until he's dead? Never, unlets it's something put in by a 'newspaper soldier;' and God save me from more of them! What could your thinkers and travelers do, even if they would condescend to bestir themselves in our behalf—which they don't—as against the masses and the press? No paper in the land is so low but what it can hurt and sting you." "In time of peace they think they have no use whatever for an army, and declare that we do nothing but loaf and drink and gamble. They are taught to think so by the press of our great cities, and, never having a chance to see the truth for themselves, they accept the views of their journalists, who really know no more about it than they do, but do not hesitate to announce as fact what exists only in their imagination. Ever since the war these attacks in the papers have gradually increased from year to year. Now, my home is in Chicago, and, naturally, I read the Chicago papers. I was five years tramping, scouting, skirmishing all through Arizona and Wyoming, without ever seeing the inside of a city or even of a railway car. We lived on hardtack and bacon and what we could pick up when we couldn't get them We lost many a good soldier in Indian battle during that time, and at last I got a wound that laid me up and sent me home. I hadn't seen the place in seven years. My boyhood had been spent there. "Dozens or npr relatives ana old schoolmates lived there, and I looked forward with pleasure to the rest and joy I should have at the old firesides. I didn't suppose that people really believed all the outrageous flings The Times and The News and The Sun and The Herald, let alone The Trades-Union Gazette and The Arbeiter Zeitung, had indulged in at the expense of the army. But I had to wear my uniform for three or four days about the old home, and not only street boys but grown men, respectably dressed, jeered and hooted at the dress that for years in the Confederate south and all over the frontier had never been treated with insult. Old schoolmates patronizingly asked me over their card tables at the clubs what on earth I could find to do with myself in the army, and why I didn't quit it and come in here and try to be something. Yon know perfectly well, Lane, that when you were recruiting in Cincinnati you had just such questions put to you, and you had been through one campaign after another for years. "The general manager of the Midland Pacific, every mile of whose road through the Sioux country I and my men had helped to build by standing off the Indians day after day, and having many a sharp fight .doing it—this general manager, I say, met me at the Union League and asked me how I had 'managed to kill time on the frontier,' and remarked that it must be a very demoralizing life. He was out next day in a circular cutting down the wages of some twenty thousand employes 10 per cent., but thought the The trumpet is sounding "first call," and the cr.ptain is compelled to go. "Do as you like, my darling," he gladly answers. "Any friend of yours is welcome, and—I think you might tell her that passes from St. Louis will be forthcoming.""Just in time, boys," he called aloud. "Come right up and have it with me. Here, Billy, ask all theso gentlemen to take a glass of beer. I always swore by the cavalry, anyhow; didn't I, Billy? That's right, boys; fill 'em all up; and when you get into town come around and boo my place." And with that he began distributing printed business cards among thorn. run much curiosity npoL "How annoyed Mr. Hearn would be," said Miss Wharton, "if he could have seen that performance!" "Yes, yes, I know," said the colonel impatiently. "It is odd that you young gentlemen will put yourselves in the hands of such people. Now that fellow has been kept off the reservation all these years, yet here he comes again because he seems to think he has a hold on you, and dares to disobey orders as a consequence." And now, barely two weeks later, Georgia Mart-hall for tbe second time in her life finds herself an inmate of an army garrison ana living a blithe and restful life after years of thankless toil. She was not originally one of Mrs. Lane's intimates in the home of their girlhood. "What do you meau, Lucy? Those horrid men again?" asked her sister; who, being on the back seat with Mrs. Lane, had not seen the soldier's face after they passed him by. Women at the fort simply raved over the lover like ways of Capt Lane to his wife, and never tired of pointing out to their respective lords and masters how tender and watchful he was. What charming Kttle presents he was always bringing her! "Where did he get such exquisite violets—snch lbvely carnations?" "Did you ever see anything trweeter than that locket he gave her last week? It was an anniversary of some kind. She blushed when 1 asked her, but wouldn't tell what. He's always finding excuses for giving her something," etc. And finally some of his brother Benedicks had come to him with gloomy faces to say that if he didn't "let up on this sort of thing" they would have to quit the regiment and the service; life was getting to bo all one invidious comparison between his loveliness as a husband and their own individual shortcomings in that capacity. Some of the men accepted the cards and tho proffered hospitality; others seemed to hang back. One or two noncommi&sioned officers drew away to one aide by themselves and signaled to tho barkeeper that they wished to be served privately and not included in tho Israelite's treat. "The men are impertinent, certainly; one expects nothing better of that class of people, but all the soldiers are so respectful and courteous to our ladies, generally, it is a pleasure to meet them. Haven't you noticed how different they are from—well, from that one, Miss Marshall?" At last Kenyan spoke: "Come, Hearn, when you're as old as I am"  "I protest, colonel," said Hearn, flushing hotly", "I am in no wise responsible for his actions. You can have the details of the trouble he gave me at any time, aud I can show you the papers that long since ended the matter. He has no hold on me, sir, whatever." And the young officer stooii before his commander looking both grieved and indignant at the imputation conveyed in the latter's words. They had known each other as children, had gone to dancing school together, but Mabel Vincent's "set" was made up mainly from the young people whoso parents were wealthy, and Miss Marshall's lather had had to struggle hard for the wherewithal to "keep the wolf from the door." She was only 17 when compelled to shift for herself. Her mother had been taken from her years l;:;fore. She had been a loving and devoted daughter to her sad faced father, and had comforted and blessed the hnrnble home to which he had been forced to retire after some disaster which had involved his savings. And here she worked and studied, and here she gave herself up to the task of cheering his declining years until the feeble thread of his weary life snapped suddenly asunder and she was alone. An anxious group had gathered that afternoon over near the hospital. Corp. Brent's symptoms were all indicative of concussion of the brain, and, though the surgeon said there had been no fracture of the skull, he was fearful that fatal consequences might ensue. Among his comrades of the infantry battalion the young soldier was by long odds the most popular and beloved man in the ranks, and that he should have been "slugged," as they expressed it, in the discharge of his duty by some scoundrel of a cavalryman was developing a very ugly feeling at the post. Murphy and Scanlan had been sent to Coventry among their own comrades for having lent a willing ear to tho wiles of the tempter, and so led on to the tragedy that followed. "How? I should like to know." "How? Simply by printing any low scandal at your expense; and no matter what your record or your character may have been, no matter how damnable a lie may be asserted of you, the mass of the people will read and believe, and your natural protectors—fhe generals and the war department—will call upon you to defend yourself against even anonymous assault." Meantime Capt. Brodie had gone in search of the commanding officer. The roll of tho drum anCl the peal of the trumpet sounding mess cull speedily emptied tho bar of tho blue bloused throng. But Mr. Sclionberg and his companion had been drinking just enough to be aggressively hospitable. The next thing that Kirby knew the former was lurching around the building with his friend in tow. and to his consterna "ion mado as straight as his legs would permit for the door of tho officers' club room. Three or four of the young gentlemen wero still there, sipping "shandygaff" and glancing through the papers. These looked up in evident surprise at the flushed features and flashy r.ttiro of tho stnixger who so confidently and jovially entered, his companion following closely in his wake. "Yes, indeed, not only here, but in the old artillery barracks where I once visited. I am sure Mrs. Curtis, my cousin, knew the name of every man in the two batteries, and always had a pleasant word for them when we met. They always took off their caps, though some of the old sergants, to bo sure, saluted just as they would to an officer. This man was a contrast to tho general rule." "Well, well, Mr. Hearn, I do not mean to say that he has any ground, only you young gentlemen cannot be too careful about your associates. Contact with such canaille as this must defile you just as much as pitch. Now, Maj. Kenyan, how is Corp. Brent?' "You do not mean that, major, do you?" asked Miss Marshall. Mr. Schonbcrg and Mh companion had been drinking. "I do, emphatically. I have seen officers time and again compelled to report to division or department headquarters that they were innocent of allegations made by nameless scribblers ia the daily nress. I have seen the most abstemious "Perhaps ho is not of our regiment," suggested Mrs. Lane, "and does not know the ladies." Several months had been spent abroad by Capt. and Mrs. Laos after a quiet •wedding which united them, and then joining the regiment at the fort on its return from the Arisona tour, they speedily settled in their army borne. Far a while the delights ot fitting up the quarters with all the beautiful rags, cnrtains. pictures, books and bric-a-brac tiwy had  Lane so busily occupied that sho had no therein. As a rule these gazers were women, possibly friends of some of the poet people, and this was not a matter to be much objected to. But one buggy, drawn by a gray horse, contained two Thus having the last word, and having conveyed to the young subaltern a distinct sense of rebuke, Col. Morris abruptly intimated his desire that nothing farther should be said on the subject. So long as he chose to transfer his attention to Maj. Ken yon the commander could of course prevent further remonstrance; but as Mr. Hearn stood there in evident readiness to resume his own defense, and as the colonel knew very well that he had hardly been fair to him, since Hearn's character had been most exemplary ever since his joining th» regiment, his better nature told him that he ought in further words to let the young fellow down easily, as the army expression goes. For reasons of his own Col. Morris did not wish to unbend, however, in presence of the infantry major, his second in command. No sooner had he finished his inquiries than he turned to Mr. Hearn again: "Unluckily ho is of 'ours,'" said Mrs. Wharton. "That is Welsh, of C troop, and he was Capt. Blauvelt's 'striker.' Mr. Wharton says ho is a bad character, and that there was something very strange about the way the captain kept him by him all the time he was here. Why isn't he at drill, I wonder?" Col. Morris had ordered that Goss should be confined in a cell apart from the ordinary prisoners; but when confronted with tho array of a dozen garrison malefactors neither Murphy nor Scanlan was able to fix on any one of them as the man who accosted them the men in the army heralded as drunk on duty by a sheet that withheld the name of its informant. But all the same the officers were called to account. When we were sent to aid the marshals in breaking up the whisky distilleries in Brooklyn; when the first colored cadets were sent to West Point; when Chicago was burned and we had to shoot some prowling robbers to rid th$ ruined city of the gang that flocked there; when we were hurried in again in '77, and all the great cities of the north were practically at tho mercy of the mob—at every one of those times, and heaven only knows how many times between, the press made scandalous assertions by name about one officer or another. for a tew months sne round a noma in the army in the household of a relative stationed at the barracks near at hand. But, being determined to launch out for herself, she had sought the position of teacher to the younger children of a wealthy manufacturer and of companion to his wife. This she had held for a few years, sorely tried at times, yet never complaining. She had ample opportunity at least to read, to study and to estimate character. Indeed it was her keen perceptions that brought about the final rupture between herself and the wife of her employer, herself a distant connection. It was in the days of an early widowhood that Mrs. Lane found herself so frequently in Miss Marshall's company. During the winter the young widow had spent in the south her mother's health was failing, and between the invalid and Miss Marshall there had sprung np a friendship and intimacy for which the daughter at the time could hardly account. keen eyes had noted as they passed the first time and closely scrutinized as they came down the next. One was flashy in dress; both were loud in their talk and swaggering in manner; both were smoking cigars of questionable origin, and one of them had the unmistakable cut of the German Jew. men whose Miss Marshall's "G'mornin', gen'lem'n," exclaimed Mr. Sclionberg, holding forth a pudgy hand and beaming effusively upon Lieut. Lee. "Possibly he's on guard," said Mrs. Lane. "The guard house is only a stone's throw awav." night of the tragedy and gave them drink at the southwest gate. Goss was like him in size and beard, they said, but that was all that they could assert. It was enough, however, to prompt some of the infantrymen on guard to scaring the prisoner's life almost out of him. He implored the officer of the day at his next visit not to keep him there—the "dough boys," he said, had sworn they would lynch him if Brent died—and again and again he declared himself innocent and the victim of some conspiracy. When Col. Morris was informed of the threat he decided to send the man to the neighboring town and the custody of the civil authorities, that he might bo tried by their courts in the event of a fatal termination to the corporal's injuries, but waited until afternoon lDefore issuing the orders in the time to think of possible criticisms. But it was not long before the captain saw that the cloud ho dreaded was settling on her sweet and winsome face. He did not need to ask what had been said to her; he could conjecture what that was full well. "He's never far from the guard house," laughed Mrs. Wharton, as sho sprang from the carriage at the Lanes' gate. "But he's not on guard today, unless he has taken off his belts. There! they have gone into the bar. How I wish the colonel would close that place!" "Welcome to Fort Ryan, gen'lem'n. Permit me to 'ntr'dlice m'self, Mr. Levi Sclionberg, 'n tuiz's my partic-ic-l'r frien' Mr. Abrams—Mr. Abrams, of Chicago, gen'lem'n. Miss'r Abrams, thiz's my frien'—Lieuten'nt—I—I didn't catch Any one could "place" even had he maintained silence, while, on the other hand, his coarse tones would in the blackest darkness have proclaimed his class. Both times they passed they stared boldly at the occupants of the carriage and critically inspected the team and appointments—the second time driving close alongside and perceptibly slackening up to have a better look. Mrs. Lane flushed under such bold scrutiny, and the other ladies looked embarrassed and annoyed. "My namo is Lee," said that young man shortly, and withdrawing the hand of which Mr. Sclionberg hi id {assessed himself. y"r name, sir." Taking her to his strong heart, he had kissed away the brimming tears, Baying, "Something has been said to wyy and annoy you, dear one. I do not • ,k you to tell me; but remember what I have always said: in nine cases out of ten, remarks about people sound very differently when repeated by women—and by a good many men, too—than when originally spoken." Half an hour later, all in a glow after their rapid drill, four or five young officers strode, laughing and chatting, into the clnb room at the store, and throwing off belts, cups and gauntlets proceeded to bury their mustaches in tho foaming glasses of cool beer which the attendant promptly supplied. Over on the other side of the establishment loud voices could bo heard in animated talk, and presently Lieut. Lee called out to the attendant to rh.se the door leading into the bar. Mr. Stone, the trader, entered at tho moment, lookins? a trifle vexed. [to de continued.] "Lee— Lieut. Lee, of the E'eventh cavalry, Mr. Abrams. Gen'lec.'n, I kneCv ull yonr frien's cf tho —tli U at was litre. We were intimate, all of .is, and—excuse me, I didn't catch );-your namo, sir," turning now on Lit at. Martin. "Gen'leia'n, we're just going to open a quart bottle—my xpense. Here, Billy, you son of a gun, bring in tho champagne glasses—the best you've got. Pommery Sec—Pommery See's my wine, gen'Lrtn'n. but if you prefer any other "I do not mean to say, sir, that any reason exists for that man's threats, only that I consider it most unfortunate that you or any young officer should ever have put himself in the power of that class of people." Tho man who tells you to.ifldentially just what will cure your cold is prescribing Kemp's Balaam this year. In the preparation of this remarkable medicine for coughs and ;elds no exp*i mi CfD spared to combine only •be best aod purest ma red inn t«. Held a TOttle of Kptnp's B*i8Dim to the light aoi look n rough it; notice the briaht, clea- look: iheo ®un oilier n mouips. bottles at all druggists', 50c and $1. Hold it to the Light* "Ugh! those horrid menH spoke Mrs. Morris, the colonel's wife, who drove up just in time to catch a whiff of malodorous smoke. "Who are they? and what are they doing here?" Long years of garrison life had taught him that in the almost endless little tiffs and jealousies among the women, and the occasional misunderstandings among men. .people rushed to confide their But when letter after letter came, telling how the girl managed to run over almost every day and spend an hour or two reading aloud, and then when Mrs, Vincent began to intrust much of her. Hearn would have retorted, but for a moment he could not find words at once respectful and convincing. The colonel having delivered this final volley from his entire line now promptly retired before the other side could rally, and. as "One is a Mr. Schonberg," answered Mrs. Brodie, of the infantry. "He used to be a clerk here at the post trader's case. Maj. Kenyon, who had taken a deep interest in Brent for some months past, and who had recommended him to study