Pittston Gazette

              ✓ I »VL!x^H"r.o.501 Oldest f'ewsoaoer in the Wyoming Valley PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1891. A WeeKly Local and Family louraaL AN AW PqRIiA said tlmt ho had her letter; bnt that is of doors are never locked; their rooms are empty half the time, and their pocketbooks empty ordinarily as their rooms; their books, papers, desks, even trunks, almost always lying unguarded about tho premises. Servants and orderlies move from house to house unquestioned, and the rear doors are unfastened day and night. "We have nothing worth stealing," is the general theory, "so why bother about locking an empty stable?" "Who is your servant?" asked Kenyon brusquely. ss value now." "And why?" asked Miss Marshall. "Beciu?o the widow married Schon- wile was true or not, it must De saia to her credit that she accepted the situation with charming grace, and was quite as frequent a visitor at the Lanes' as many of the younger women. Her own guests had departed, leaving her somewhat lonely, she said; and while she thought it by 110 means a proper or conventional thing that she should be so constantly visiting people who so seldom honored bar she could not but have ocular proof at all hours of the day that Mrs. Lane and her fair friend, Miss Marshall, could not sally forth to make calls except at the price of leaving a number of callers in the lurch. There were other young ladies in garrison just then—Miss Wharton visiting her brother and MissMeCrea staying at the Buruhams'. There were several pretty girls in the neighboring town who frequently came out and spent a few days with the families at the post, and all these of course, as well as the young married ladies, were the recipients of much attention on the part of the officers, young and old. It is a fact well understood in army circles that few officers are too old to tender such attentions and no woman too old to receive them. half vexed features of Capt. Lane, who had been fidgeting uneasily in his chair during her ladyship's exordium. Like many another excellent soldier, this practised trooper had no weapon with which to silence a woman's tongue. of his troop, or we probably could not have seen him at all. Seizing a moment when tho officers were away at drill Mr. S. sent a message asking the young soldier to enme out. ANSWERS FOE ASKEBS. must the Jew be merciful,' " BILL NYE FURNISHES FOOD FOR ANXIOUS MINDS TO DIGEST. quoted Miss Marshall "You'll find I'm right, Mrs. Lane. See if you don't," proceeded Mrs. Graves, all unconscious of tho coming pair. "You found I wasn't mistaken about Maj. Kenyon; and they are just as like as two peas in a pod—both of them." "A fine looking, intelligent man of ■about 25 years was presented to your correspondent, and briefly and simply told his story. It was enough to make an American's blood boil in his veins to note the emotion and humiliation it •seemed to cause him. He came of an ■excellent family in the east, but having long desired l'rom patriotic motives to become a soldier of the flag he had against their wishes enlisted under an assumed name. From the .very start hia cantain had compelled him to work about hit house like a common drudge. He had to black boots, build fires, sweep the kitchen, actually do chores for the cap-\ tain's cook. In vain he begged to be al- ' lowed to join his troop and learn his ! duty as a soldier; he was sternly refused. J It made his own comrades among the i soldiers look down upon him, and when he could find time to visit them at the barracks the sergeants abused him like a tkief. But the man who particularly hotmded him was Second Lieut. Hearn, a yovuig martinet fresh from Wesc Point, who never lest a chance of .cursing him for errors 011 drill or mistakes made afterward.Bu Gapt. Gfias. King, U. S. ft., Author of "The Colonel's Daugliter," "The And for a few moments not another word was spoken. It was that young lady herself who broke the silence: Be Gently Criticises the Work of t Western Poet, Talces s Fall Oat of • Western Man, and Discusses Etiquette and "Perhaps you tliink mo unduly apprehensive, Capt. Lane. That man's face made a powerful impression upon me when I saw him today, and perhaps Mabel has told you something of my own experience in trying to retrieve my father's fallen fortunes when he was too old and broken to do anything for himself. I learned then the worthlessness of spoken words, and t&at nothing but written contracts and receipts were bind- Deserter," "From the Ranks," "Dun raoen Ranch," "Two Jfolciier3." Then, recalled to the possibilities of the situation by the mirthful gloarn in Miss Marshall's eye and the audible chuckles of Mr. Lee, she whirled about and caught sight of the object of her dissertation. Sitting Ball. "Our black boy, Jake. He has taken care of my rooms and traps for three years, and works for willaeo and Martin, too. He's as honest a nigger as ever lived; has been with the regiment longer than I have." The past thirty days have been very productive of interrogatories by ™«i fat this department, and I desire at tJii« time to express thanks for the interest shown and the appetite for knowledge manifested by these frequent calls for information upon subjects so widely and so diametrically differing in character, the knowledge of which is yet so important to each writer in fitting himself or herself for the great battle of life. I trust that the somewhat bantering tone employed at times in the treatment of these subjects will not deter future correspondents from ever and again tapping this perennial font of varied, thongh sometimes' fly blown, information. [Copyright by Edgar W. Nye.] I Copyright, 1S90, By J. B.i,ippincott Company, l'liiladelphia, and published by special arrangement with them. ] (continued.) matter at all; it wasn't entered on Hearn's account. He paid it back in installments to the old man himself, or was doing it when he received his promotion and had to make the long and expensive journey to Arizona. "Oh, it's you they're laughing at, is it?" she hailed. "I was just talking about you." "Yes; Jako isn't half a bad boy. But was there no one else who had the run of the premises?" "In most cases there was no truth whatever in what was said; in every case, however, the officer was compelled by his superiors to establish his innocence. By heaven! Til never forget our experience in '77. We were ordered to lose not an instant in reaching Chicago. The strikers had sidetracked the Ninth on one road and blocked the cavalry on another line, and when we stopped for water the railway men attempted to leave us there. I put Lieut. Nairn with' a small guard at the engine and kept the strikers off, using no force, saying not a word, making no reply to jeers and insult, but the leading paper came , out next day and denounced Nairn and me as being armed ruffians, declared we were both reeling drunk, and gave most outrageous details of things that never happened. Of course as army officers were the targets of this abuse, the article was copied in eastern papers. Nairn was a man who never drank a drop, had a magnificent war record, was a general officer'of volunteers and a gentleman honored throughout the whole service. ins." "Not a soul. Jake himself is rarely here except when at work." "Then how could you find the heart to laugh, Mrs. Lane?" said the major, raising his cap with simulated reproach of mien. "Does it amuse you, to see fellow mortals flayed alive? Is it not bad enough that, like Sir Peter Teazle, 1 am never out of Mrs. Graves' sight but that I know I've left my character behind me? The doctor and I wero wondering whether there was a vestige left of the good impression we strove to make upon Miss Marshall." She had hardly ceased speaking when the gate was heard to swing on its rusty hinges, a resolute step creaked across the piazza, and somebody was fumbling at the bell knob. • "Except cadets when first joining, officers are not paid advance mileage. They must raise the money as best they can, and it is mighty hard on a young lieutenant. 'Old Cheery,' of course, advanced Hearn another two hundred dollars. The first wa* paid, all but fifty of it, and he told the boy when ho left that he had taken a big liking to. him, and that he could just return that at his convenience; but Hearn never lost a day after getting to his new post and obtaining his mileage, but bonght a draft for two hundred dollars and sent it to the old man at once, and said in his letter that he would remit the balance of the account and his storo bill just as soon as possible. 'Old Cheery' was a man who never wrote letters, but Hearn got a lino from his wife saying that Mr. Braine had received his pleasant letter with its inclosure, and sent his best wishes. There was a moment's silence. The major presently sauntered over and tried the door leading to the dining room. SITTING BULL'S SK3HATCBE. C. M., Springfield, Mass., writes: '•Who can that bo at this hour of the "Here is the key if you want to go in there," said Hearn. "I have kept all the rooms locked since Blauvelt left except this one and my bedroom upstairs. The back door is locked, too. Jake always comes in tho front way. I don't suppose any one has come through the kitchen since the day the captain's family left." "Dkaji Sm—Praying that you will not throw this letter into the waste basket before reading it, I will endeavor to give you the reason for its being written. I am a man of 40 years, married, and a constant reader of your work, and can asttire you a warm admirer of the same. night?" asked Mrs. Lane, as the captain went to tho door. Tho bolts were drawn back and a rush of cold night wind swept in, causing the lamps to suddenly flare and smoke. And Mrs. Lane was xejoicing in the success of licr projects for the benefit of Georgia Marshall. H& friend was a pronounced success from the day of her arrival; and yet it was somewhat difficult to say why. She was not a beauty, despite her lovely eyes; she had none o|, those flattering, soothing, half caressing" ways some women use with such telling effect on almost every man they seek to impress. She was not chatty. She was anything but confidential. She was rather silent and decidedly reserved, yet a most attentive listener withal: and then she had the courage of her opinions. Her prompt and prominent part in the little drama enacted the night of her arrival had made her famous in the garrison; her frank, unaffected, but gracious ways had done much to make her popular. Pimply Harris—assumed name, I judge —sprit':D r -n snen, Colo.: * Sm—I am the author of a number of little poetic bits, some of whom have been printed, and lately I have thought that although there was very little money into it I would do well, as a matter of prestige and in order to catch on to the drawing room element, if I would write some more ambitious pieces for the magazines. So I done so, and done it so as not to offend either publication, sending a poem to each, The Century, Scribner's and Harper's, also a little oriental pean to The Atlantic Monthly. "Please, sir, is the doctor here?" a voice was heard to ask. "I'm sure you ruined all possibility of that three days ago, major, when you showed her what a cynical old party you were. No wonder the young officers in our regiment lose all love for their profession after hearing you talk. If 1 were Col. Morris I wouldn't have you contaminating the lieutenants of the Eleventh the way you were trying it on Mr. Hearn the other day." "Tbo captain hud taught him that when at work for him he must not quit it to jump up and salute every lieutenant who happened along; and just because he remained seated and at work when Lieut. Ileara passed by, the latter cursed him liko a dog, had him thrown into a filthy dungeon, and there he lay until he was tried by court martial and sentenced by a gang of Hearn's comrades to fine and imprisonment for obeying k»j captain's orders. Another time, when he was cleaning the captain's horso, the lieutenant's horse, which was nest eim ou tho line, kept backing over "But, Mr. Nye, I have a brother who is no less so. Well, he is married for the past six months and is a very straightforward basinees man, but last Sunday while at church, seated in the same pew, I felt shocked to have him commence playing with his wife—taking her Bible from her, changing rings and fooling around generally to the constant annoyance of others—and the thought at once suggested to me to write you, knowing your remarkably peculiar way of writing on such topics, and suggest that if, when thinking of a subject to write upon, you should adopt this, it would be read with great interest by a great many, and you would confer a great favor upon me, and hundreds of mankind will rail you blessed." There can be nothing more reprehensible than the custom among frivolous people of carrying the customs and etiquette of the skating rink into the sanctuary. It is far more consistent to stay away from church entirely and read the Sunday paper on some pretext or other than to whisper and play tag through the litany. Of course young people are more difficult to manage in church, and their spirits are more buoyant than those of more elderly people, so they should not be so harshly dealt with; but a grown man with a full head of whiskers who will go to church and whisper and frolic through the service or the sermon may one day, when it is too late, turn on the fire alarm and get no response. •'No," answered Lane. "What's want- He left hero about twenty minutes Have you been to liis quarters?" ed? "Didn't "Welsh have to come here for his ttaps?" asked Lane. "Yes, sir; and they told me he was here, at Capt. Lane's. Corp. Brent is took worse, sir, and the steward thinks the doctor ought to see him. He's wild like and raving." "Yes; but he was trader guard at the time—had a sentinel over him—and both Jake and I "were here. He took nothing out of this house but his own personal belongings, and never entered this room at all that daj*. I couldn't help it, but after seeing him with Schonberg today the first explanation of my loss that occurred to me a moment ago was—Welsh. Yet how could he have been the man?" "Mabel dear, I'll be back in a moment," said Lane, reappearing at the parlor door. "Don't wait for me: I'm going to poo if the doctor is at Hearn's. They went away together. Corp. Brent is reported worse." "Where is Mr. Hearn, by the way?" asked Mrs. Lane, eager to put an end to such an unprofitable controversy. "He hasn't been in hero for nearly two days. Come, major—come, doctor, walk in and sit awhile. We want to hear how Corp. Brent is, too.'' "Some of these magazines wrote to mo by means of a job press that they liked my verse, but that it was not fitted to their columns. I wrote back for them to tell me how much the thing run over or how short it was of a page, and I would trim her up so it would fit, but to this I got no reply. I have decided from having gotten brief and rather conventional replies all around, together with the manuscript which I sent, that unless you have a pull as a poet on these magazines you might as well go to soliciting orders for fruit trees in perdition as to expect you can suit the morbid taste of these people. "All the same he and I were compelled to submit written denials to department headquarters, and all the satisfaction we. ever got was that the editor Baid his reporter had perhaps been nndnly influenced by the prejudice J statements of the strikers. Why hadn't this occurred to him in t'ae first place? Why didn't he know that these men, furious at being thwarted, would say anything to revenge themselves after wo h:i J gone on our way? He did; but just such sensational articles wouui make his paper sell among the masses, and because he knew that where the army officer had one friend he had a score of that was enough for him. Now. that and a host of similar experiences is why I say that no son of mine shall ever take up so thankless a profession. Of course if the country were in danger, the flag assailed, ho would fight a3 1 would. "A few months afterward the old man suddenly died; the widow moved to town; a new trader came and took the stos*,and when Hearn sent his next remittance of fifty dollars to the widow he was surprised in the course of a few months afterward to receive what purported to bo a statement of his account with the There was another moment of silence. Lane stood thoughtfully examining the lock of the desk, then strolled into the hall and tried the key of the front door. As he 6tood there under the swinging lamp the clink of an infantry sword was heard at the gate and the voice of Capt. Brodie. Throwing his cavalry "circular" over his shoulders Lano stepped forth into the night. It was moonless and pitchy dark. Tho lamps around the quadrangle were burning brightly, but hardly sufficed to illumine more than a small sphere in tho surrounding gloom. Across the wide valley a distant ruddy spark showed where some farm homestead was still alive; and far away to the westward the electric lights, swinging high over tho thoroughfares of the thriving town, shone with keen, cold luster, and were mirrored in some deep, unruffled pool of tho stream. Turning his back on these tho captain trudged briskly Sown the walk, tho hospital attendant following, and opened the little gate some fifty yards from his own. As ho surmised, the doctor was here, for his voice, and Kenyon's, too, could be heard before Lane tapped at tho door. him, treading on him, and knocking his brushes out of his hand, and because he simply pushed him back and spoke sharply Lieut. Hearn rushed in and swore ho had a mjnd to kick him black and blue. 'If holiad,' said Welsh—and The statement that she was an orphan and poor, combined with the fact, which the other women so speedily determined, that she was not pretty, had removed her, presumably, from the range of jealousy. The other girls found her very entertaining, since she let them do much of the talking, and were willing to accord to her a certain quiet style of her own. Tlio men were glad to be civil to any friend of Mrs. Lane's. And yet Georgia Marshall had not been there a week before, as Mabel confidently predicted, she was having in abundance tetes-a-tete of her own. "Brent seems easier, Mrs. Lane, thank you," answered the surgeon. "I cannot stop just now; we came over to meet the mall, for the orderly 6eema to have an unusually big load this morning. Here come the youngsters up from the postoffice now." estate of Thomas Braine, deceased—a store bill amounting to over a hundred dollars, and no less than five hundred dollars in borrowed money. He wrote instantly to a friend at Fort Ryan to see tho widow and have things straightened out. Ho protested that his store bill could not bo more than forty or fifty dollars; that old Braino h-: 1 lent him two hundred dollars at ono timo. which he had paid back to him all but fifty, and two hundred more when he went to Arizona, which ho had instantly repaid, so that the total amount of his indebtedness con! 1 not exceed one hundred dollars. Drti the widow said she didn't know anything nbout it. the young soldier's eyes blazed with pent up feeling—'I could no longer have controlled myself. I would have knocked him down and appealed to the people of America to uphold me.' For this he was again thrust into the vermin haunted dungeon, and this made him so ill that the surgeon himself had been compelled to interpose in his behalf. '1 would desert and end it all,' said the pooi- fellow, with tears in his eyes, 'but I have sworn to serve my country, and I shall keep my oath.' When told that The Palladium would see him righted, though the heavens fell, his emotion was something that would have melted the stoutest heart. "What are you youngsters doing at this hour of the peaceful night? Come out here and worship nature and visit sentries for me. Oh! beg your pardon, Lane; I thought it must be some of the boys." And as ho spoke perhaps half a dozen young cavalrymen, still in their riding boots and spurs, as though they had but just returned came slowly up the slope. Wharton had an open newspaper which he was reading aloud: the others were hanging about him, evidently listening with absorbed attention, to the neglect of their own letters. "I write a great deal of verse, because I have considerable leisure whilst herding sheep here for a man who pays me a mere pittance. It is an uneventful job, but I try to do it in such a way as to make myself necessary to the owner. Some of my verse is light and effervescent, like Charlotte Bonge, whilst other is more filling and heavier, like what you might call the rump steak of rhyme. "Maj. Kenyon and I have been keeping Hearn awake," was the answer. "We are just going." "Hello, Brodie," quoth the major, as he, too, came forth. "Have you been to see how Brent is?" It was the third morning after the escape of the prisoner Goss, and for fortyeight hours nothing else had been talked of among the soldiers, and nothing had excited so much comment among the families at the post Up to this moment not a trace had been found. The two iron slats in front of his window had been cut through swiftly and noiselessly from within with watch spring saws, and the tallow and iron filings lay about the stony window sill. He had been thoroughly searched before being put in that cell, and it was absolutely certain that neither files nor tallow were then in his possession. The guard swore that no man had had access to him afterward. A wire netting prevented anything from being thrown to him from the outside, and this had been forced upward and outward after the bars were cut. "What's the matter with the boys?" asked Kenyon, whimsically, as they approached. "They look as solemn as owls." "Delirious, I'm told. Only the doctor and steward are with him. I was just waiting for 12 o'clock to go down and stir up the sentries. There ought to be none but calvalry officers of the day at this post, by Jove! so that they could ride around among those outside sentries. It's too far for a Christian to walk twice in twenty-four hours. Thank God, there's the call now." As for me, Tm too oLl a dog to learn new tricks, and having lived my life in tho service I must die in it." And again the major paused lor breath. "Yon think fm an extremist, don't you, Lane?" he finally asked. Naturally all eyes were drawn toward the coming party. Lane, bending forward, saw that Hearn's face was pale, even under the coat of tan and sunburn. He would have passed them by, simply lifting his cap, as Wharton half folded the paper when thegroup filed in through the main gate, but again Kenyon spoke: "Come in," shouted Hearn in answer to the signal, and tho captain entered. "Mr. Bebonberg had kindly taken charge of all her affairs, and he had the books and c*D ervthing and all tho correspondence and knew all about it. Hearn, of course, refused to pay anything but t'.io hundred dollars. Then they threatened him with legal proceedings, and nc-st they importuned him through the war department, which, just as old Kenyon says, believed the blackguard and called on Hearn for an explanation. It nearly drove the young fellow mad. Ho was proud and sensitive. Ho couldn't bear to think of tho publicity and (scandal. He had never given Braino ahy receipt for tho money obtained from him; never had asked any for tho money repaid. Ho was too honorable to deny tho fact of having borrowed the money, yet had nothing to show, tho old man being dead, for the money that he had returned. I had heard something of his trouble, but was ordered east on recruiting service just _then, and began to get into troubles of my own, for it was there I met this young woman." And the captain, with eyes that belied his words, turned fondly to his wife. "But now comes the crowningpeak of blackguardism. Warned by some spy, doubtless, of the fact that his victim was telling his story to citizens, Lieut. Hearu suddenly appeared on the scene, and lDefore our eyes, with vulgar abuse and tyrannical bearing, ordered Private Welsh instantly to leave. In vain the young soldier respectfully pleaded that he had a right to speak with friends who came to see him. In vain he pointed out that he was on no duty at the time. In vain Mr. S. interposed in behalf of justice and decency. The brutal bully seized the weakened invalid in an iron grasp, dragged him like a dog to the gutter in front and then, with cuffs and curses, drove him before him into the guard house. Meantime Mr. S., who had formerly many friends at the post, hastened into the officer's club room, hoping to explain the matter and secure justice for the unfortunate fellow. But it was a hapless move. What business had lie, a civilian, to intrude uninvited into the mighty presence of half a dozen beardless young satraps in shoulder straps? He was rudely ordered to leave the premises: and when, in his indignation, he protested against such treatment. Lieut. Elearn himself came brick boiling with rage, calling for his t .-.opers t;D come r.nd eject these intruders from the garrison. We were actually driv. :i by force off the reservation. "I wish you would tell me, as between old frontiersmen and co-workers iH the literary vineyard, what in your opinion is eating the editors of the magazines. People who have not respect enough for whatever they are attending to keep quiet and listen, or let others at least, do more to make me doubt and distrust the wide open policy of CoL Ingersoll than most anybody else. "Yon aro asked for at tho hospital, doctor. They say Brent is delirious." At tins tue medical man dropped the cigar ho had but half smoked and left tho room. Lano was for going with him, bnt Hearn begged him to stay: "Perhaps so. major, althousii I admit that the pre;s has been most unjust; but I think we have more friends among the people than yon give us credit for." "I give you one stanza of a little epic which I drew off and sent to The Atlantic Monthly, to show you that because I don't live in Milk street or belong to the Papyrus club of Boston the romping children of my unshackled brain it seems has got to cut their front teeth on the cactus of Colorado, whilst the maddening aroma of hot beans comes dimly across the unquenchable distance: At the first words from the lips ofcjhe sentry at the guard house the lamps at the two western gates were promptly extinguished, and then the forms of two men could be discerned flitting from post to post, extinguishing each lamp in turn. Soon the entire quadrangle was wrapped in total darkness, and the silent stars gleamed all the more brilliantly in the unclouded sky. Far over to the westward the reflection of the electric lights, a pallid, sickly glare upon the heavens, suddenly faded into nothingness."What makes you look so likq a pack of mutes, lads? What's gone wrong? Is congress sailing into us again?' There are only two kinds of more contemptible people. One is the man who baits his lobster traps with his grandparents, and the other is the microbe who writes you anonymously on a postal card. "Not ono bit of it! You think the press knows better now and wouldn't do it all over again. That's what Hearn here would say. Now, you mark my words, gentlemen, 60 few are our friends in this country, that is, in the north at least—either in the press or the public, that any story at the expense of an army officer would be eagerly published by almost any paper in the land, and used as a text by hundreds of editors all over the nation to warrant a vicious stab at our whole army, and the people far and wide would eagerly read, and even those who declared they didn't believe it would bo influenced." "No timeliko the present, captain, and I want you to seo the papers in tho celebrated ease of Braino vs. Hearn while Maj. Kenyon is here. I'll beg Mrs. Lane's pardon in tho morning, and not detain you more than a minute." "Maj. Kenyon," said Martin, deliberated. haltiner in front of the eate. "I said some disparaging tmngs about your remarks here the other day. I beg your pardon, sir. You were right; I was wrong. Hold on, Hearn; don't go now and brood over this thine. Star here with the crowd, and we'll take it all together."*' Conpme HI Faw, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth street, writes: "What should I do with callers who come just as I am about to go calling myself? (2.) What sort of man was Sitting Bull, personally? Did you meet him while on the frontier?" Standing against tho wall in the midst of what had been old Blauvelt's sitting room was a plain wooden table with a pigeonholed desk upon it, the lid of which, turned down, made the writing shelf. In the pigeonholes were numerous folded papers, well filled envelopes, packages of tobacco, a brier root pipe, a pair of shoulderstraps, several pairs of gloves, some fishing tackle, some cartede-visite sized photographs, a damaged saberknot and the inevitable accumulation of odds and ends with which a subaltern's field desk is apt to be littered. But the pigeonholes had been quite systematically labeled. There were compartments bearing tho legends "letters unanswered," "letters answered," "personals," "bills paid," "bills unpaid" (both impartially occupied), "pay accounts," "maps," "field notes," etc. The sergeant of the guard was sure that no man had touched or even spoken to him, except when he himself had seen his dinner and supper ihasided in. There could have been no collusion on the part of the sentries, for the men on No. 1 all through the day and night were of the infantry, and warm friends of Brent, who would have lost no chance of putting a bullet through the supposed assailant in the event of his attempting to escape. The blacksmith said it would take several hours—at least five—to file through those two bars, aifd the man must have worked with the patience of a beaver. It was a drop of only seven feet to tho ground without, for the window overlooked the uphill slope back of the guard house; and yet, as he probably had to como through head first, that was quite a fall. The prints of his outspread luinds were found in the dust heap, aud it looked as though he must have lam there some moments before stealing away. "Soporific, beatific, And in much felicitude Lies Samoa in the vast Pacific, And her sons they are terrific. Lane had half risen, anxiety deepening in his dark gray eyes: "What is it, Hearn? Come in here, come in, all of you." Your attitude, Mr. Harris, toward the magazines is entirely unwarranted and cannot be supported at all. While your idea of obtaining a livelihood by herding sheep and writing pieces for the magazines in order to obtain social recognition shows great business foresight, you must admit that some of your verse lacks merit, and your clubfooted measures cannot possibly get there. You will excuse slang when I say that the verse you send me can hardly hope to get there, at least with both feet. Although they are mostly nude." A good way to cut short a disagreeable call is to come down stairs with your Bnalslrin sacque on. Some keep a winter cloak or bonnet handy for such emergencies, and do first rate without getting a reputation for rudeness. It is very painful, indeed, tg have a string of callers catch and hold you all through a pleasant afternoon, when you had made calculations on going out and making forty or fifty calls, and feeling sure that with the bright weather you would find no one at home. Sometimes it takes a week in uncertain weather, with more or lees people at home, to cover the ground yon might on a pleasant afternoon go over in two hours. "That's the first time the town clock and ours have been so close together since my coming to the garrison. Where did we get this custom of dousing the glim at midnight?" asked Lane. And Georgia Marshall, glancing from one face to another, noted the silence and gravity that had fallen on each. Some looked full of surppressed wrath, others simply perplexed and annoyed. Without a word to any one Hearn stepped in and stood beside her chair. "I can't think our people are such fools as to believe yarns that are evidently manufactured to malign," said Hearn stoutly. "Everybody ought to know that it is from deserters, or dishonorably discharged men, or low camp followers, that the reporters get their scandals." "The —th started that when they were here. Got it from town perhaps. Listen a moment," answered Brodie. "I want to near tne sentries down toward the bridge." "The next thing I heard of Hearn the matter had all been most fortunately settled—thanks to ono of our old captains, who, it seems, had known both Schonberg and tho widow Braine. He took the matter up" and the Jew was glad to drop it. Even Hearn does not know what hold ho had on them, but it was settled then and there. Hearn paid a hundred dollars, and Schonberg, I am told, had to pay tho lawyer whom he had employed. I often think, though, how hard would have been tho young fellow's fate if there had been no ono to come to the rescue. There isn't a better or braver officer in the Eleventh today than Hearn, and he is just as steady as a rock; but soldiers as good as he have been driven out of tho army for lack of some such friend as came to him in his extremity." "You best know your own papers, major; you read this aloud," said Martin. "Ought to know! Yes, I admit it. I i ave no doubt that the managing editors who publish the things do know; but the people don't. And now what has been your own experience, Hearn? How can you blame the people for believing what they read in the papers, when not an hour ago your own colonel, who knows you well, virtually rebuked you because of the vicious ravings of as unprincipled a cad as there is in all Kansas?" Faint and far, though borne on the wings of the soft night wind, the call of No. 7 had just sounded. It was now the turn of the farthest sentry, No. 8, whose post was down the winding road at the haystacks and wood yard. A rich, musical Irish voice, softened by distance, began its soldier troll. And Kenyon, looking about in momentary surprise, unfolded the great pages of the Chicago daily. His eyes gleamed as they caught the heavy head lines at the top of the sheet. Magazine editors are engaged in editing their publications, Mr. Harris, for the use of magazine readers. I do not mean that the magazine reader is entirely different as to his anatomy or diet from the reader of the morning paper. "I never knew the necessity of having soma sort of system about these matters until after tho experience I have been telling you of, captain, and I am indebted to dear old Rawlins for it. You never met him, did you, Maj. Kenyon?" "Hello! hello! what's this?" he said. "Army Brutality. Outrageous Treatment of Private Soldiers. Civilians Insulted and Abused. A Thug in Shoulder Straps. Lieut. Hearn a Cowardly Bully. Special Dispatch to The Palladium. Central City, May 3.—For years past the citizens of this thriving frontier town have had frequent cause for complaint as to the swaggering and insolent bearing of the officers of the army stationed at the neighboring post of Fort Ryan; but of late the feeling has reached fever heat, due to recent occurrences which attracted widespread attention. Acting under instructions, your correspondent reached this city five days ago, and has made a thorough, impartial, and exhaustive investigation into the matter; has talked with many, if not all, of the prominent citizens; has personally visited the post and conversed with a number of intelligent enlisted men; and, as a result of his painstaking observations, he is enabled to send you the following account, for the absolute accuracy of every detail of which he vouches unreservedly. "Your correspondent lias, of course, mace immediate and respectful represent. ;:ion of these facts to the general com:minding the department, and when next he visits the fort will do so with a safeguard that no bally in the uniform of a : econd lieutenant will dare gainsay. is but the prelude of further details still inoro disgraceful to the pampereil minions of a too long suffering public." 2. Yes, I knew Sitting Bull, and got D him to write in my album in the summer of 1876. I had a letter to him fror the Prince of Wales. Sitting Bull was personally-very gentle and courteous to his friends, bat a most disagreeable person to invite to your house to meet a mixed oompany. "N-umber 8. Tw-el-ve o'clock—and a-a-all's— Who goes there? Halt! Halt! Corp'l the gu-a-ard—Number 8!" Bang! The sentry far down by the wood yards, No. 8, stated that just as he was calling off and standing faced to the east so that his voico might carry to the guard house, he heard a sudden stumble And Georgia Marshall, looking up in surprise, saw the quick flush that leaped to the young soldier's face. "No, except just for a moment in the Shenandoah valley during the war. He was commanding hi3 regiment then." Hearn was the first of the four officers to reach the southwest gate. He could hear the footfalls of the officer of the guard running down the road past the stables, and without hesitation followed full tilt The guard was hurriedly turning out and forming. It was the sergeant who faced it to the front and made the customary report to Capt. Brodie, as the officer of the day came panting to the spot: A friend of mine asked Mr. Bull to come to dinner and meet the pastor at his house at one time, and he said he would never do so again. The great chief was not in good form. He was ill natured, and swore at table because his luxuriant hair got in the mayonnaise dressing. "Yes, and lived to bo shot down in cold blood by a lot of ambuscading Apaches nearly a quarter of a century after, and—nothing but a captain of cavalry." 9 behind him; a man tripped over a log between "him and the road, then ran like mad down toward the old station. It was too dark to recognize who it could be. Tho officer of the guard had stopped to interrogate the sentry on reaching his post, but Mr. Hearn had pushed ahead, and down at tho foot of the hill had plainly heard a horse's hoofs and the light rumble of wheels crossing the bridge and going at a spanking trot; yet soldiers returning from pass, reliable men, had neither seen nor heard horse or wagon anywhere on the flats along which lay the road to town. An effort had been made to trail the wheel tracks from tho bridge, but, though a place was found among the trees near the old station where a horse and buggy had evidently stood for two or three hours, it was impossible to determine which way they had gone after crossing tho stream, for tho farm wagons coming from every by road in the morning had totally obliterated the tracks. CHAPTER VI. For a few moments there was silence. Then the major glanced around his circle of listeners. "He had some little property here in town at one time," said Kenyon. "That was nearly ten years ago though, and it went at a sacrifice, I'm told. Perhaps it was while he was a local taxpayer that he f$t to know j our Hebrew friend of today." "Well, Hearn," said he, a* he folded the paper, "somewhere I have heard the expression 'Didn't I tell you so?' Dulce et dt-coram est pro patria mori. I don't wonder you love your profession." "You would have helped him, Fred dear," said Mrs. Lane, fondly, crossing over to the captain and stroking tho grizzled stubble about his brows as though it wero the loveliest hair in the world. Lane possessed himself of the soft white hand and threw his arm about her shapely waist. "Sir, the guard is present and the prisoners secure." Sitting Ball was married three times, two of his wives surviving him. He was liberal in his religions views and bitterly opposed to silk underwear among his people. He scoffed at the teachings of Delsarte, and did not go to hear the Rev. Joseph Cook lecture, though at one time he could have done so by walking less than nine miles. Sitting Bull, with better supplies and more encouragement from the war de- An audible snicker in the prison room followed these words. A corporal file closer stepped back into the guard room and gruffly ordered silence among the prisoners, which only evoked more tittering and whispering. A sudden thought occurred to the officer of the day. "! Purely they cannot believe such an outrageous tissue of lies," burst out Mrs. Wharton vehemently. "Surely the moment our side of the story is heard the public will see the difference." "He never told m'o what he knew of him. beyond tho mero fact that he was dishonest and a born mischief maker. Cut the moment ho took that case up for me Schonberg dropped it. For some reason the Jew was afraid of the old man, as every one called Rawlins." "I would certainly had I known, but nine out of ten do not happen to bo able to help, even when our inclinations would lead. And then, however much we believed in Hearn's story and Schonberg's rascality, who could prove it?" "Our side, my dear madam, is never heard. The newspaper has the public ear. Scandal spreads world wide: truth never reaches half as far. Hearn has only one recourse—grin and bear it, and pray God nothing worse may follow." "Bring your lantern here," he said, as he strode through the guard room into the narrow passage beyond. On one side was the prison room whence the noise proceeded, on the other were the cells. Hearn was turning over in his hand as ho spoke a packago of folded papers held together by elastic snaps. Removing the upper band, he began looking over the docketing at tho top of each THE MAN ABOUT TOWN. partment, would have made a very successful commander, but socially he had no standing at Washington, and so military leaders with less ability but more pull were promoted, while he was kept in the background like a poor boy at a frolic. "Who did prove it?" asked Miss Marshall, after a pause. "So far as the enlisted men are concerned, the people have no complaint to make. It is, indeed, the contemplation of their wrongs and sufferings that has roused the popular clamor against their aristocratic arid overbearing taskmasters. Just why it is that the instant a young man escapes from the hotbed of flunkeyism and snobbery, West Point, and dons the straps of a second lieutenant, he should imagine that he owns the earth and that the nations should bow down to him, is something no intelligent mind can understand. But to become convinced that it is so beyond peradventure, one has only to visit this representative army post, garrisoned as it is by large detachments of so called distinguished regiments; though, from all accounts, the distinction they have earned seems chiefly to be connected with drinking bouts and gambling tables. The magazine comes in at eventide each thirty days with an air of elegant deliberation. It comes with the gentle soothe which you cannot get from the clash and combat and hurrah and death and destruction told by the types of the daily paper. So you must write simply with that idea in view. Your highly art istic description of the island of 8a. moa is so soft and chastened that when yon strike your lyre with a discordant clash and refer to the scandalous oostume of the people there you shook every magazine writer from Maine to Mexico. "Well, no ono that I know of. All we know is that Schonberg was glad to drop the matter three years ago when Capt. Rawlins first tackled tho case. Hearn says he has never alluded to it from that time to this until the fellow's language toilay; but that was only some vague "What worse can follow, I should like to know?" asked Lne indignantly. "Open these doors," he ordered. "There's only one cell occupied, sir; the third." "What worse? Why, man, yon don't suppose a Chicago paper sends an emissary a thousand miles to work up only one scene in a sensation? Look for the next, -lay's issue and the next. Wait till the L'tters demanding explanation begin coming in from department, division and army headquarters. Fiat justitia, ruat caelum, will lie Tho Palladium's cry; Partnriunt montes, nascitur ridiculus mus, the outcome. But all the same, my frier. Is and fellow citizens, we don't get through this row without the biggest kind of a court martial. Ah, the orderly of the commanding officer! Whom dees he want?' Dauer, "Rawlins himself indorsed this particular packet for mo and showed me how it should bo done," he said. "I've often thought that if wo conld drop out .1 little slice of tho mathematical course at the Point, and have some coaching in this sort of tiling, how much better fitted wo should bo for the every day duties of life. Now, I— Why, this is o ld. I certainly had those papers in this very packet not three weeks ago. I in tho day I moved in here. I 3fDr overhauling this very desk at "Open that, then." Goss' escape while under charges of such gravo character was regarded as tantamount to admission of his guilt. "My Ood! tlwxc papers arc gone." The heavy door creaked on its hinges. A gust of cool night air blew through the cell. The window was wide open. The iron 6lats were sawed away. The bird had flown. Private Goss, the asjailant of Corp. Brent, was Kone. "Fred, what did Maj. Kenyon moan by his reference to Mr. Heara and some Btory about him?'' asked Mrs. Lane that evening aa the captain was locking up after their guests had departed. Miss Marshall, who was glancing over a photograph album, closed it and rose .as though to leave the parlor. • Meanwhile Corp. Brent's case seemed to have taken a turn for the better, and, though there was still danger, there was hope. What struck many inquirers was the fact that the doctor seemed ill at ease, and invariably evaded the question, when pressed its to the nature of Brent's delirium. This, of course, simply served to whet public curiosity; and tho young soldier became, all unconsciously, an object of greater interest than ever. Tho ladies of the infantry, who had known him by sight some time, were certain that from the very first he had borne all tho outward appearance of a gentleman, and in every word and gesture had "given tho world assurance of a man" of birth and breeding. Their sisters of tho cavalry, who had but recently reached Fort Ryan, were not slow in accepting their theories. drunken throat "But if. on the contrary, it should prove that he r.yant to make more trouble for Mr. Ilonm," asked Miss Marshall, "is Capt. Rawlins here?" P. S.—The sensational report that old Sit ma the illegitimate son of John Bull is absolutely without foundation. Ole, John and Sitting were in no way related CHAPTER VH "By Jove!" exclaimed tho captain, starting sudilenly to his feet, his face growing a . suddenly grave and sad, "that possibly explains the letter that came to me yesterday morning I was reading it ; you came down to breakfas—a low, anonymous thing, and I burned it. Now I wish I had kept that." The only real good, original thing you sent me, Mr. Harris, was written by Eugene Field. to each other. B. N. saw t "No, don't go," said Capt. Lane promptly. "I was sorry that Kenvon made any reference to tho matter, but since he did I want you both—indeed I think Hearn told me because he wanted you both—to know all about tho affair. He had never mentioned it to me, nor to any one, I fancy, before, because there was no need. It was all settled some time ago, but of course he felt sensitive about it. He was a green young lieutenant when he joined hero six years ago. This Jew Schonberg was clerk at the sutler's. The officers dealt very largely with him then, for town was not as accessible as it is now. •erne "Mamma," said a Brooklyn girl, "what would be an appropriate Christmas present to give Albert?" A Very Appropriate Gift. ho tin Alonzo Dowd, of West St Paul, writes: "I, too, would like also to do business in New York, but am deterred by the expense of living there. I can get twice as much salary there as I can here, but am told by a friend who has lived in New York eight years that he cannot on double his St. Paul salary keep the wolf from the door. How is that?" Nervoi ho ran through the package again, hi.s fingera rapidly turning the f olded pages, lus face paling with sudden apprehension. Not a word was spoken, and every eye was fixed upon the trim fi;ru.ro of the approaching soldier, who entered the gate and, halting respectfully a few yards away from the foot of tho steps, saluted: "How long has he been coming to see you?" asked mamma. "About four years." "About Mr. Hearn, was it?" Mrs. Lane anxiously. "On every side it was declared to your correspondent that civilians who ventured out to the fort were treated with contumely and insult; that the officers rudely ordered them off the reservation and forbade them to enter the sacred precincts of the barracks, and even caused their ejection from the public store and saloon, kept at the post by one Stone, who truckles, of course, to his official neighbors and obtains in return the mandate that the soldiers must spend their money with him at swindling prices and the prohibition against their having any dealings with the reputable merchants in the city. On the other hand, the merchants who have been so unfortunate as to trust the officers are not able to collect their bills at all, and are absolutely forbidden to enter the garrison when they seek to press their claims. asked "There was a letter here from Capt. Rawlins, two receipts of Schonberg's and the letter from Mrs. Braine, all bundled up together, and the indorsement of each in Rawlins' handwriting." Then h«rthrew down the packet and began pulling out the papers in other pigeonholes, Kenyon and Lane standing silently tDy. In vain he searched. Not a vestige of the desired proofs could be found. It was with a white face and eyes that were full of trouble that he turned upon his seniors: "Then I think you had better give him the sack."—Judge. "Yes; and now*.I can begin to understand it, too. Misa Marshall," said he, turning impressively toward her, "your qnestion goes to tho very bottom of this case. The . friend who blocked- their game three years ago is gone; Rawlins was killed in the last campaign in Ari- "The colonel's compliments to the officer of the dnv, and desires that Private Welsh, now in tho guard house, be sent to the office immediately." Well, possibly your friend has to keep the wolf from twice as many doors as he used to. That is often the case in New York, I am told. It is quite often the case, Mr. Dowd, that a prosperous man gets into tho toils of pleasing people who interest him and obtain control of him, and some day when he has eaten a hearty meivl of victuals and dropped de:id on receipt of tha bill his neighbors are surprised to see two sets 01 tomljstones erected by his two sets of families. Ktuonable Doubt. Blenkinsop—Don't fret, my boy; Santa Clans won't forget yon. "Aha!" said Kenyon as the soldier turned away. "Already somebody's been tickling the colonel with a telegram. He's hardly had tiin;; to read the papers. Now he will hear Welsh's story, and when Welsh has sufficiently blaekened the character of his commanding officer, Hearn will be afforded his chance. Hearn, my boy, my hearty sympathies are with you. By all means go ou and prosper in your profession, and learn to love it as I do. Martin, you and he have a moment to spare; como over to my quarters with me; I want to talk this thing over with you. Good afternoon, Mrs. Lime. Good afternoon, Mrs. Graves. A sudden thought occurs to me. . What was it Cambronne is reported to have said at Waterloo? 'The guard dies, but never surrenders.' Here's a modern epigram for you: The press lies, but never retracts." Tommy Blenkinsop—That's all right, dad. I ain't afraid he'll forget the tin whistle I asked for, but 1 can't help being a trifle nervous about his recollecting the bicycle and the watch and chain. —Puck. Such things were by no means uncommon in tho service; and wouldn't it be delicious, now, to have a romance in the ranks at Ryan? Only fancy, Mrs. Burnham, Mrs. Brodie, and, above all, Mrs. Graves, were quite ready to go to tho hospital at any time the doctor would permit and become the nurse of the young corporal; but the medical man almost bluntly declined the services of two of these ladies, and with positive insolence, said the third, had told her she could much better devote her ministrations to her own children. "Just as if I didn't know best what my children needed!" said the offended matron. zona." "Oh, Fred!" cried Mrs. Lane. "And was there no one else who had helped Mr. Hearn?" "The former post trader was a jovial, kindly sort of fellow, who was much liked by everybody, but he left his books and his business in the hands of Schonberg. I have often heard how open handed he was with his money, and how officers, and men too, never had to go to any banker or scalper if they needed money for an emergency. Anything a friend of his wanted was at his service. Hearn began as a good many boys of his genial temperament are apt to do at a big and expensive post —got in debt, for everybody wants to give credit to young officers jnst starting, and then the bills come in all at one swoop afterward. 'Old Cheery,' as they used to call Braine, saw Hearrfs trouble, and insisted on lending him money out of his own pocket. It wasn't a store "No one but our old Rawlins, Mabel; and of all men to help him now he would have been tho most valuable here with our new colonel, for he and Morris had been devoted and intimate friends in war days, and I am told the colonel was deeply cut up by the news of Rawlins' death. There was something romantic about their early friendship. Capt. Rawlins was a widower whoso wife had died within a few years of her marriage, and I have heard that both he and Morris when young officers were in love with her, but that she had chosen Rawlins." "My God! those papers are gone!" "George, dear," said a loving young wife, "what are you going to give me for a Christmas present?" A Liberal Husband. "Look-in your trunk, man," said Lane kindly; "don't give up yet;" while Kenyon himself began a search on his own account in the now disordered desk. "Hello! hello! what's thief" he mid, In the soft, June like weather of that memorable week at Ryan the ladies spent but little of their waking moments indoors, and even the broad verandas of the colonel's quarters on the north side were no more popular or populous than thoso of Capt. Lane at tho southwest corner. Mrs. Lane and Miss Marshall attributed this to the fact that the sun on its westward way passed behind their cozy home and left the front piazza cool and shaded, whereas even the canvas hangings in front of tho Morrises' could not quite shut out the glare. But Mrs. Morris laughingly declared that since their coming into the society of Fort Ryan she had become "a decided back number." You will find, n'o doubt, that too often while a man in a large town is salivating the wolf at one door, another animal of the same kind is scratching the paint off his other residence. I am sorry to know that these things exist, and no one can be more pained than I am to see two sets of widows tearing up the greensward and pelting each other with immortelles at the grave of one they have loved as one man; but it sometimes occurs, and if you contemplate removing to New York, and your wife favors it rather more than you do on acconnt of the great shopping facilities thus afforded, I advise you to show her this piece. Coming as it does from a litterateur and man about town it is of irreat value. "I am thinking of insuring your life for $10,000." "Was this always kept locked when you went out, Hearn?" asked the major. "Surely such important papers ought not to be left lying around loose." "Here is the brief history of one day's experience. In company with one of the oldest, wealthiest and most respected business men of this section your correspondent drove to Fort Ryan this morning to see for himself how far the facte would justify the allegations, and if a lingering doubt remained it was at once and forever rudely dispelled. A case of particular hardship had been brought to our attention and wo desired to see Trooper Welsh in person. He was on sick report, excused from drill by reason of the treatment that had been accorded him by the commanding officer "Oh, you dear, lovely old thing! that'll just be too nice for anything."—Judge. Locked? Yes. At least I never was Always Acceptable. away tor any time without lacking it'. Sometimes, just going out to receive report.1? at roll call, I would not lock up; for who would want to rob a poor fellow of papers of no value to any one but tho owner?" And it was about Dr. Ingersoll that Mrs. Graves was discoursing this very morning on Mrs. Lane's piazza, while her own olive branches were clambering the fences and having a battle royal with the progeny of Mrs. Sergt. Flynn at the other end of the garrison. And, as luck would have it, who should come along tho gravel walk but the major and the doctor, arm in arm, at which sight Miss Marshall's expressive eyes, brimming with merriment, sought the "Stop, Charlie, don't ask me. I've always regarded you as a good joko, that's all," said the fair maiden. "Well, I tell you what," returned Charlie, "you'd better snap me right up. Good jokes are hard to find nowadays." —New York Herald. "But, Capt. Lane," said Miss Marshall, whose thoughts seemed less fixed upon the romantic than upon the practical 6ide of tho case, "surely Mr. Hearn has receipts in full for this amount?" [to IIk continued ] The major looked grave. Lane's face wa3 fa'.l of anxiety, which he hardly knew how to conceal. Both well knew the almost universally careless habits of tho bachelor officers in garrison. Their Tnk« Warning And ''on'i let the iwum ol tint vile disease, CHtarrh.tako root and fl-iurish in your svHtem. 8ulpbur Bitters will prevem ibis and will roxke you strong and healthy.—[Editor Weekly Press. "I so understood him. Miss Marshall; and yet I do not know the nature of the papers to which ho refers. I think ho Primus—Does he foot his wife's bills? Secundus—I've seen him kick them.— Epoch. Aa Near aa Be Come* to It. Whether the theory of tho colonel's