Pittston Gazette

              I'lTTSTON, LUZERNE CO., PA., FRIDAY, JULY 29, 18!)2. ESTABLISHED 18MD. D VOL. X1J1. NO. 51. S Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming Valley.* A Weekly Local and Family Journal. i«M.5CD l»KH ANN I'M i IN ADVANCE. here, ana it is so unlike what » tancieo it might be." Father would rejoice in him—as I do. Mrs. Berrien." "And shall I get the colonel to detail Rolfe here to couduct me thither and turn me over to the asylum authorities?" queries the major, with a knowing cock of the head. "Rolfe hates city life as a general thing, but he would accept that duty. 1 fancy." years' roi caaice. Odd about that girl. She fanci ?s nobody." naa succeeaeu in stancnmg the now ot the blood from a jagged cut near the temple, and could suggest ready theory as to the cause thereof—in falling she had probably struck the edge of the little wooden post at the top of the balusters—but beyond this explanation there was absolutely nothing. Nita Guthrie would only account for her sudden terror by the half nervous, half laughing statement that she thought she saw a ghost. had played the coward and curned to run. tie used, and when, after certain repairs and alterations, the house was declared assignable as family quarters, the old wooden gallery had been condemned and torn down. Nevertheless, the beams which were its support yn the e.ist were found solid and firm. Captain Koire, unaltle to sleep, and making the rounds on his own account about one o'clock, found the sentry of the third relief gazing curiously in at the open back gate, anil questioned him as to what excited his attention. •A C©I»pibrY NYE ABOUT ROAID3. aouoness, mat we generally select our choicest and densest ass to superintend the building and repair of our roads, and in many cities our streets also. He works on the roads in summer and sits on the jury in winter. He is generally a man who is selected because he has never been outside of the county. He is noted for his gravity, glooitf and the opacity of his mind. "It is entirely unlike what life on the frontier used to be, Miss Guthrie," answers her hostess, the major's wife, in her calm, placid way. "Any one contrasting our beatitude of today with our life here, there and everywhere over the west during the Indian campaigns in which the regiment was incessantly engaged can only wonder how we found it possible to exist in those days. Social conditions have changed, too, and in the gathering of our troops in larger garrisons a great many of the unpleasant features of the old life have been eliminated entirely. Indeed. 1 wish you might stay and see more of us. But you are coming again, are you not?" Three hours later, the moon being well up in the heavens now, and the whole ps.rade shinina revealed almost as bright as (lay, both the verandas and the parlor of Hazlett's cozy home are thronged with officers and ladies, chatting merrily together. The lights are still blazing in the barracks. The truinjietera in full force are grouped about the flagstaff samiJing the last notes of tattoo. The Holdens have borne Miss Guthrie away with them, that the ladies might stow tlieir evening gowns in the waiting Saratogas and then don their traveling garb while the quartermaster's big wagon tC'Uidles the luggage down to the railway station. Presently this lumbering vehicle can be seen slowly roiling away from the Holdens' gate. an.I everybody at Hazlett's waits impatiently for the return of the party. Mrs. Hoiden is deservedly a favorite in the garrison, and Nita Gutlirie. as has been said, has won golden opinions. The evening air is growing chill, however, and of the dozen ladies present only the •/ounger, the girls, remain longer upon !he veranda. 4E THINKS SOMETHING OUGHT TO BE DONE TO MAKE THEM BETTER. "Nothing, sir." was the prompt reply of the trooper, as he threfw his carbine to the position of "arms port." "I was simply wondering how any man could have ventured in there this bright night and expected to get out nnseen, especially early in the evening, when men are passing to and fro ill the i ney projected tnrougn tne wall ot rough hewn stone, and an old time quartermaster, selecting the house for his own use, had thrown a light gallery out upon them. It made such a convenient place for flower pots, shrubs, bathtubs and things of that description, said he. Furthermore it was a place where he could go in the warm evenings and smoke and sip his toddy with his chosen associates, and not have every garrison gabbier crowding in to disturb their chat and absorb his precious Monongahela. The gallery had no roof, was only five feet wide and was inaccessible except through this one window, which the unsociable major had had cut down level with the floor. "Robbers' Roost" the disdainful subalterns used to call it in the days when bluff old Blitz had occupied the quarters and barred out all bnt his chums, and by the same name was it known when Hoiden moved in with his wife and olive branches and took up his abode there a few years before the opening of this story. Efforts to Hear a New and Attractive Mule and How Tliey Succeeded—Tlje "Captain Rolfe will be very welcome. Indeed. 1 only wish you might bring the whole regiment, major. Just think what a good time the girls would have this winter if that were only possible.". Young Mall on tlie Steamer Who Wll So Very Gay Another reason is the same that has been fatal to most all fanner movements, though started with the most holy and honest motives, viz., that we farmers cannot, like the resideuts of cities, see each other every twenty-four hours and plot against other trades. When we have done over nineteen hours Of work and another hour's wholesome thought interchange with our calf kindergarten, and then mutton tallowed our bunion, we must needs rest in order to be up and combating with the early bird for the ill advised worm.» MPTilgWT. IMS, BT J. B. kIPPINCOTT COMPANY. »NO Wltl«N«» BT MCCUk ARBAMBBM B NT WITH TH1T [Copyright 1802, by E4gmr W. NyeJ Every friend of good government and civilization will welcome with a shrill cry of delight the news that we are going to have better roads in this otherwise well groomed republic. For over a century we have "vied with each other to see which state ;ind which city would excel in its parks, its living wild beasts, its jails, its schools and its churches. Ever since the invention of the locomotive merchants, mechanics and farmers have fallen over each other in their efforts to see who could be fy\t to fran- CHAPTER I. Whan the Indian summer haze is hovering over the bluffs along the Pawnee in these dreamy, sunshiny afternoons of Bnt to the trained physician it was evident she had received a severe shock. Despite her pleadings Dr. Hoiden had refused to allow her to attempt the journey until three days had elapsed, during which time, though she laughed at him and laughed at herself, her condition continued so nervous and excitable that he would not permit visitors to see her This was pretty hard treatment, thought her many lady friends at the post, but he was wise and they could only obey When the evening came for the depar ture a large contingent, ladies and offi cers both, assembled to say farewell, and Nita. Mrs. Holden,*each of the children and even the nurse could have had two or three escorts to the train. But no one had opportunity to say much to the cen tral figure of all this sympathetic interest. Only at the last moment did she appear, and was ushered almost instantly to the waiting carriage by Hoiden. who had only summoned her when vigilant eyes had reported the headlight of the express visible far np the valley But then down at the dark platform of the station faithful, sad faced Rolfe was waiting, and in the minnte or two that intervened before the hnge train came glaring, hissing and thundering alongside he managed to have a word or two with her. "Berengaria says," bursts in the major again, "that if I only show you proper attention on this visit you'll 1*D sure to send us invitations to brin»• the whole family and spend six weeks at leas;." time." "What made you think any one had been there?" asked the captain quietly. "Everybody has heard by this time that there was a search made, and that the young lady had seen something to frighten her. Besides, Sergeant Ellis spoke of it to me.au hour ago." "What was the sergeant doing on your post at midnight?" late November, there is a languorous ■pell even in soldier life, and the troopen love to loll about the wide porches of the barracks during their brief leisure moments or while waiting the trumpet call for stables. There is scarcely a breath of air astir. The broad, fertile valley under the bluffs, forest fringed along the stream, gives forth a faint, "If wishing will bring it alDout 1 shall be with you again with the coming summer or early in the spring. I have prom ised Mrs. Hoiden that 1 will return to her if only for a fortnight." "Father, you outrageous fib Der!" gasps Winifred, rushing at him *nd placing one slim hand upon Ids mouth, while twining the other, with its D oft. white arm, about his neck. "Indeed, Miss Guthrie, you must be told that father is perpetually poking fun' at mother, making her say all manner of things Bhe never thought of. It is all well enough in the' regiment, where understand it and are prepared for his nonsense, but many strangers are completely deceived at times, and mamma never so much as remonstrates. " The enthusiasm excited among the girls and apparently shared by all the women present when this announcement is made ought certainly to convince Miss Guthrie that they most reluctantly part with her now and most pleasantly anticipate her future coming. The chtmor of voices is such that for a time no one is conscious of the fact that out on the parade the regimental line has formed, and that the band is already trooping down the front. Berrien had taken bis position as commanding officer. Several subalterns, whose heads were kept rigidly straight to the front, found their eyes wandering furtively over toward the major s quarters. In couples ami groups a number of the ladies come sauntering forth, gathering opposite the center uearer the colonel's bouse, from which point they generally watched the closing ceremony of the day. But still oblivious to any music but that of her voice a dozen of tlieii number hover about Miss Gathrie. Even guntire fails to distract their attention. It is not until the major himself returns, tossing off his helmet and tugging at his waistbelt, that they realize that parade is over and dinner waiting. "Why, sir. the captain remembers Sergeant Ellis is in charge of the firehouse and sleeps there. He came out a little before twelve and said he'd lost his pet pipe while he was hunting around with Lieutenant Brewster after he brought the ladder, and I let him pass in. sir. He said he'd been working there long after taps, and it would be all right. He found the pipe, sir, right at the edge of the wood pile, yonder. He showed it to ine as he came out." Still, somehow the foreign peasant in several European countries, far inferior to ours otherwise, has a road over which he hauls a carload as compared with the silly little convention jag which we see so often here. pungent, smoky odor, and the eye wanders across its soft undulation*. its vistas • of alternate glade, grove and shadowy pool, and sees it all as through some filmy, intangible veil. The sharp outlines so characteristic of the frontier at About this pretty group, laughing and ihatting, are four or five of the younger officers, Brewster, "the swell of tne subs," keeping close to Winifred Berrien, and claiming more and more of the glances of her big dark eyes. Down at the gate, the moonlight glinting on his polished 6aber, the officer of the day is exchanging a few low toned words with Major Berrien. Rolfe, who with silent and dogged resolution has taken his place at Miss Guthrie's side as she came down the stairs and escorted her to the iloctor's, has turned from there and gone slowly across the parade to his own quarters on the other 6ide. Everybody seems to see and know what has happened, and many half whispered comments are being made, not all in sympathy with the willowed lover. Everybody respects Rolfe. yet among the younger officers are several who feel no warmth of friendship for him. and. as between man and man, garrison girls can only side with the youngsters. Their story of their slight differences is sometim4k told again and again; the elders' seldom, for theirs would hardly be believed. I am patriotic, I liad almost said, to a degree. I shot away two solid hours of fireworks here this year, sfent to me hv the manager of Pain, the international pvrotechnicker and faller of Sebastapol, Peking, Rome and other cities that had formed the habit of falling; did it, too, where the celebration of the Fourfh of July has so long remained unobserved that the best bird dogs here tried this year to retrieve the common crackers, and looked thoroughly ashamed when they thought they had flushed a three, pound rocket; and yet I say that, patriotic and enterprising as we are in other things, in education for instance, and the ambition to have about eight more churches than we can support in each village, together with other real evidences of advancement, wfe have got the worst country roads that have been permitted since the days when the earth was a vast hot, steaming ball of rfud, fit only for a mighty lizard farm. other seasons, giving to the ridge to the northwest that razorback guise that inspired the original explorers, Kehtuckians and Missourians, to refer to the When the Eleventh marched out and the Twelfth came in. Colonel Farquhar, finding the dc-tor in possession, decided that the Holdens should not be disturbed —that there was abundant room for others in the new quarters. The Holdens entertained a great deal. Pleasant people were visiting them month after month, and everybody in the Twelfth blessed them for the brightness ami gay: ety their presence lent to the garrison. A sterling fellow was Holden, one of the best men in one of the very best corps, personally and professionally, in our little army; and as for his wife, an accomplished society woman, a St. Louis belle, •till in the beydey of youthful womanhood, everybody in the garrison delighted in her friendship and kindliness. There was no more popular parlor than Holden's, and night after uight the young officers gathered there. But "Robbers' Roost" bad fallen into disuse. The glass door was generally shut, and the Venetian blinds with which old Blitz had decorated it were ordinarily closed except when this, one of their two guest chambers, was occupied. Shades and lace curtains similar to those at the rear windows draped it within, so that from the interior this side door presented almost the same appearance as the windows themselves, and it stood dircctly opposite the hall door. Evidently mamma does not consider it worth while. range as "Hawg Buttes," are mellowed into softer curves. "It would be wasting time. Miss Guthrie, and we are wasting time as it is. Captain Hazlett will never forgive you, Major Berrien, if you keep dinner waiting another minnte. Captain Rolfe, will you esoort Miss Guthrie? Come. Richard, march 1" Captain Rolfe was silent a moment. Ordinarily none of the enlisted men had any right to be away from quarters after the "lights oni" signal, but this case was unusual. Furthermore, Ellis was a man superior in intelligence, a sergeant of more than a year's standing, and one who hi'd been selected for this especial duty for the very re;isou that, holding himself much aloof from the average run of the rank and tile, he would be apt to attend strictly to his duties as custodian of the fire house, and no ope had ever heard of his abusing his trust. His own/ little room was a model of neatness when the command ing officer made his monthly inspection of the garrison, and the hose carriage, the ho6k and ladder truck, the tire buckets and other apparatus were always in perfect order and readiness for service. No one, ever inspected Ellis quarters at any other time. The guard often noticed his light after midnight, and he had the reputation of being a good deal of a reader and student, tak ftig books from the post library very often, besides owning quite a number of his own. There is an echo sprite abroad hi the aatamn skies, for the distant whistle of the trains, the puff and pant of engines miles away, the ramble of the express as it flies across the wooden trass at Big Bend far down the valley, the lowing of cattle and the tinkle of their bells at the farms beyond the reservation lines, the shonts and laughter of village children Mooring the stream banks for the last of the year's crop of beech or butternut, the soft laughter of the ladie9 gathered in the veranda of the major's quarters, all come floating through the pulseless air to the listening ears of the sentry dawdling here along the poet at the western gate and distracting his attention from the purely military functions which he is called upon to perform. Over at the guardhouse many of the men are drowsing in the afternoon sunshine. Among the stables the horses are standing at the picket line, with drooped heads and lazily swishing tails The officer of the guard, knowing the colonel to be away on a late shooting excursion and the major held at home by the demands of hospitality, has propped into a doze while fitting bolt upright at his wooden desk. "After you, Rolfe," says the major, with a bow of oxtra ceremony. "After you." "Before them, if you please, you blind goose!" whispers his better half. "Haven't you sense enough to see he wants to speak with her and that this may be the only opportunity?" Mrs. Vance, had she been present, might have vowed that Nita shrank and clung to Holden's arm, bat others who were there saw her extend her gloved hand cordially, saw that Rolfe clunr to it an instant—charitable others wu«. could only wave adieu, for the party was hurried aboard, and away went the express. the tail lights of the rear sleeper disappearing in the dripping gloom around the bend, for, as though in sympathy with the mourning of the post, a drizzling rain had begun to fall just after retreat. Rolfe, gazing after them to the last, wore that look seen on the face of many another man many another time. There can be few sensatious more dismal than that of watching the disappearing lights of the train that bears away one's best beloved, especially in the eyes of him who stands rejected. "Let me drive yon home, Rolfe," said Holden kindly. "Two of a kind," was his mental addition. And Rolfe turned slowly away, neither man saying an other word until once more they stood at the gate of the now deserted home. "What! Rolfe wants to talk with her? Why, Miss Guthrie," he booms aloud, "1 hadn't the faintest idea"— But here the wife of his bosom lays firm hand upon his sunburned ear and fairly marches him forth upon the veranda. Miss Guthrie would indeed have been giad to lead, but ttolfe's hand, trembling slightly, as she cannot but note, is laid upon her wrist, restraining her. ON THE ASHEVILLE ROAD. "Now, you will come back next spring'/" "You will write?" "You won't forget to send me the photograph—minu, cabinet size—Miss Nita?" "Indeed if ever 1 get anywhere near St. Louis you'll be the first soul 1 shall come in search of." chise, grant, bond, mortgage and otherwise give bind, right of way, easement, conveyance and general, hospitality to railroads, yet in the meantime driving into town on three wheels with the tarred axle of tho fonrth one riding on a tamarac pole. Some states have by nature a delightful conntry road. Kentucky was born with good roads. So were Colorado and Wyoming. In the very heart of the Rocky mountains these last two states have a natural roadbed wherever it is needed. Forty and fifty miles per day. with an ordinary team is the rule rather than the exception, while in the spring, when the frost is coming out of the ground and the new milk oow is a burden in the land, the rich, deep, black country road of Iowa and Illinois cannot be passed even by a two-thirds majority. But what are we to do? We may laugh over it if vre choose. Some people have a wonderful control over themselves in their grief. Once there was a young man on board our steamer, coming from Queenstown homeward bound, who was the life of the party. When others were ill and had gastritis quite a considerably, he was always our bit of sunshine. He could tell stories—funny stories—tell them, too, so that they sounded like reading from a large leather covered v. It ifc a little flock of enthusiastic army girls surrounding her, maidens whost early lives had been spent wandering from river to mountain, from the gull to the Columbia, to whom city life was almost a revelation, and city belles beings from another World. Winifred Berrien is the leader of the coterie, a girl whose eyes are as dark as Nita's are blue, and they are ready to brim over at this very instant Little by little the chat and laughter subside. "Why didn't you tell me yon wanted to talk with Rolfe, Miss Guthrie?" queries the major over his shoulder, with every appearance of concern. "1 tould have fixed it all for you." "Oh, why doesn't come back?" pouts Miss Berrien. "The ambulances will be here in less than half an hour, and we won't see anything of her." A chorus of girlish voices echoes Winifred's views. Mrs. Berrien and Mrs. Parker at this moment come forth from the house and look expectantly up the road. Every industry has preceded the civilizing influence of practical roadbuilding. The time has come for emancipation. We have really overdone the building of railroads, and constructed them through space, hoping that agriculture would overtake the buffet car, but it cannot, because its wagon road( are impassable except to Seraphim. Observant officers who had glanced about when making the inspection with Colonel Farquhar noted that many of these were texts on miniug. mining en gineering. mineralogy and geology, and some had gone so far as to question the sergeant as to whether he had ever prac tically essayed mining. With perfectly respectful manner Eiiis replied to these occasional queries, merely saying. "Yes. sir; but without success." Asked where he had made his essay, his reply was rather vague, "In several western states and territories, sir—mainly Arizona and Colorado." Only once had he displayed anything like annoyance or impatience under such fire. He bad served his three years' enlistment, was entitled to his discharge, yet quietly notified his troop commander that he proposed to reenlist. in a somewhat sharp manner that official had whirled about. "Silence. Dick," stern:y murmurs Mrs. Berrien. "There is no fun in this affair, and I warn you—not another word." But Miss Guthrie had become enthusiastic over the lovely view down the Pawnee valley from that side gallery. She was frequently to be seen there. She had gone out for one farewell look as' the valley lay flooded in the light of the full moon, and this was immediately after changing her dress. She was exclaiming over its beauty as arrayed for her journey she came dancing down the stairs to join her hostess and the excited children In the parlor. She suddenly missed her gloves, remembered that she had left them in her room, had scurried up the stairs, had reached the landing at the top, but never entered her room at all, when there was heard that awful shriek of terror and a heavy fall. Holden at the instant was in his own room, the rear room on the opposite side of the bouse, and was changing his best uniform into something more suitable for a run down to the railway. '' 'VrWk "How long they are!" says Winnie again. "What can keep them, mamma?" "backing, 1 aonbt not. my cHUU.' "But the wagon's gone, trunks and all. It can't be that." D Twilight has fallen upon the garrison as they stroll across the parade. The men have vanished from the scene, but the tinkle of guitar and banjo tells where they have gathered Most of the officers are at dinner. One or two couples are just entering the gateway of Hazlett's quarters—guests invited to meet the fair visitor on this the last availing of her stay. Dr. and Mrs. Holden can be seen among them, Mrs. Holden gazing somewhat anxiously at Nina and her escort, for it is plain that Rolfe seeks to detain the woman to whom he has paid such unusual and devoted attention ever since the hour of her arrival. Silence and peace have rpread their wings abroad, hovering with the twilight over the broad reservation. and the Berriens, walking rapidly now, as the energetic lady can lead her expostulating sponse, come suddenly upon the sight of the great golden moon rising pbove the distant blnffs and peering in upon the garrison through the wide space that interposes between the surgeon's quarters and the barracks at the east end. "Here comes Captain Rolfe for you now, and we've got to let you go; but we'll all be down to see you off at train time." Men of prominence throughout the country have been receiving for some time well jDenned letters from-the typewriter of Albert A. Pope, of Boston, who has discovered, no doubt, that the reason we crowd into the cities to live is because we can get from one store to another without getting mired. "Come in and have a pipe." "Thanks, not—now, doctor." A long wistful pause, then—"Well, good night/ "Good night, old man. Come when you will; I'll be lonely now." And the doctor stood and gazed after him long and earnestly as the captain strode into the darkness out over the parade. Within the days that followed, when he had leisure to think it all over, Holden felt his perplexities increase. Up to the very last Nita had persisted in her statement that nothing had happened to warrant the absurd exhibition she had made of herself. "1 gap overwrought, nerv ons. unstrung." she niH "1 had not been feeling quite well. 1 had run np to the room for my gloves, which 1 had left upon the table. 1 had not reached the door, and it was just the waving of those white curtains in the draft from the side window. 1 must have thought I saw a ghost, and, like a fool. 1 screamed and tripped, and—voila tout." "Still, 1 would not fret about it, Winnie. Has she not promised to come next spring and pay us a long visit?" The man who enters at tire moment and stands just within the heavy Navajo portiere, smilingly looking upon the group and quite unconscious of the almost vengeful glances in the eyes of the young gills, is a cavalry officer about thirty-five years of age. He is a tall fellow, somewhat heavily built, yet well proportioned and athletic. His face is tanned by long exposure to the sun and wind of the wide frontier. His brown hair, cropped, has a suspicion of gray just 6ilvering the temples. His eyebrows are thick and Btrongly marked. The eyes beneath are deep set and fringed with heavy lashes. The mustache, sweeping from his upper lip, is of a lighter brown than his hair, but equally thick, heavy and curling. Otherwise his face is smoothly shaved, and is one which impresses those who look upon it, even carelessly, as strong and resolute. He still wears the double breasted coat, with shoulder knots and fourragere, just as he had come off (Darade, though be has exchanged helmet for forage cap, vyhich latter headgear at this moment is being dandled in one hand, while the fingers of the other beat rapid tattoo upon the visor. Comrades of Rolfe would tell you this is a sign that he is nervous; yet to look at him there, smiling upon the group, quite as though remarking what a pretty picture they make, no one else would be apt to think of such a thing. "Yes, but who knows where we may all be next spring, or what may happen meantime? Every paper we get is full of stories of the ghost dances among the Sioux, and if there should be another Indian war"-  It is now proposed to make a road department in the exposition at Chicago, wherein may be seen all manner of roads, roadbuilding material, tools, machinery, etc., from a rigjit of way with a rut in the center of it to a sprinkling cari that wait for the man with the fresh duck vest and the linen trousers mS newly polished boots before it wiH squirt. "Nonsense, Winifred! Don't think of such a thing. After all this regiment has had to suffer in Indian battle, you don't suppose we, of all others, would be sent from here to a winter campaign in the northern department? We've seen the last of such troubles. God be thankedf "Sergeant Ellis," said he, "if 1 had had your experience in mining it seems to me I'd find something different from staying in the regular army." As originally designed, the roadmaking machinery and material, as well as cross sections of roads, were to be so scattered over the ground, being in fourteen groups, that the visitor most look through five immense buildings, covering 79 3-10 acres of ground, in order to see what the world is doing in the way of making roads. Major Berrien, his interview with the officer C5f the day ended, has just started to rejoin the group on the veranda when he hears his wife's pious words. He whirls around sharply. ThU bad delayed him a second or two, ao that Brewster and Randolph, two of the most active of the junior officers, were foremost at Ms heels as he flew up the stairs. His first care was for Nita. hot the youngsters had bounded into the room and out on the gallery, as though expecting to overtake some intruder there. The side door was wide open, the shade up, the lace curtains drawn apart. If any one had been in the room escape to the gallery was easy euough. but from there there was practically none except by a leap of fifteen or tweuty feet to the hard ground below. No one had run oqt, either front or back, for Murphy and the Irish cook were at the rear on the east side, the rushing swarm of officers at the front. If any one had hidden there escape unobserved was well nigh impossible. No one was found—no trace of anyone. Indeed, when Nita was permitted to talk she vowed that uo one had been there. She herself, had left the blinds, door and curtains open as she came in from the moonlit gallery, had turned out her lamp and descended the stair*- The gallery doorway could not be seen from where she fell, aud as all was darkness in the room itself, how oau)d she have seen any oue? "Captain Gorham," was the unexpected reply, "if you had had anything like my experience you would be very glad of a berth in the army or out of it —preferably in." "Uy OodJ U't Nita Outhrle." Soma of the garrison proper seem inclined to follow his example, and the . tall, dark faced, black bearded soldier— a handsome fellow—leaning on the breast-high wall over at the east end midway between the hospital at the edge of the bluff and the junior surgeon's quarters, his chin on his arms, his cap polled well down over his eyes, seems to have been stricken by the general somnolence. It is only the ladies who are wide awake and alert, for this is Nit# Guthrie's last appearance, so to speak. 8he has been paying a brief visit to Dr and Mrs. Holden, kinsfolk of hen, but la to take the east bound train this very night. Mrs. Holden goes, too, leaving her lord, the junior medical officer of the station, to the mercy of the other worn en, and of all the families of some thirty married officers stationed in this big gaRrieon not one is unrepresented at Major Berrien's today, for Nita Guthrie ha* "Oh. captain, there's one thing I forgot to tell you," And the saber of the officer of the day clanks against his leg as Captain Porter faces about The younger officers go on with their blithe chat i but Mrs. Berrien has known her lord twenty long years, and no sooner has the officer of the day departed than she hastens to join him. But Holden bad known her for six years and felt well assured she was not of the stuff that is easily stricken with terror. With every confidence in her veracity in general he did not in the least believe ber now. The more he studied the matter he felt that she was hiding something from them one and all, even from Jennie, whom she dearly loved and whom ordinarily she frankly trusted. It was evident that Jennie too, believed, as did her husband, the doctor, that there was something behind it all. But Jennie was gone, and. except possibly Rolfe. there was no one to aid him in his search after the truth. Rolfe'* heart was now so shrouded in its own gloom that any phase of tragedy seemed credible. Rolfe evidently wanted to know fiolden'a suspicions or surmises, and again and again led up to the subject; but of all men in the garrison, much as he esteemed him, Rolfe seemed hardly the man to make a confidant of now. Was he not Nita's avowed though rejected lover? It was conceded after this episode that Ellis had a history and the faculty of keeping it to himself. The colonel was glad to have him re-enlist, even while wondering that he should do so. Many remembered how he.had come to them haggard and travel worn three years before and offered himself as a recruit. This was far out in the mountains. His language and manners were such that every one knew it to be a case of a man whom fortune had betrayed, and who "took the shilling," as many another has done, somewhat as a last resort. But before he luul won his first chevrons the men knew well that from some source or other Ellis was beginning to receive a good deal of money. When Sergeant Currie was killed by that tough in the public streets of Sheridan City—a cold blooded and unprovoked murder—aud Currie's wife and children had not where to lay their heads now that their support was gone, officers and men "chipped in" and bought them a little cottage on the banks of Rapid run, just at the edge of town. [TO BE CONTINUED.J "Now there is something Miss Guthrie really must see." says Berrien, halting short. "As one of her admirers and entertainers, I feel bound to call her attention to it." We have very often home grown I know as a farmer, which would yield something, if we could take a profitable load to our nearest town, but where we can only draw 500 pounds and take off a wheel en route we find that we had better lose the goods than try to market them under such circumstances. Referring to home grown horses, I will add that we need, if we could afford it, a strain of the better class of blood, such as the Percheron, the Norman, and well known English families dating back to William the Conqueror. , "Dick!—stupid!—move on at once. You must not speak to her now. Can't you see?" "Dick," she falters, "surely yen do not believe that there is any chance of the Twelfth going, even if there should be trouble? Dick, tell me." "See? Of course I see, and 1 want her to see—that's why 1 stop." Again half teasingly, he attempts to tarn as thongh bent on looking back. She promptly whirls him about and faces him in the proper direction. "Oh," he persists, "if it is something about her you wanted to me to see. can't you understand that 1 have no eyes in the back of my head and that therefore 1 should be allied to look about." SAMPLES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA ROADS, tome, never failing to put in the "Baid he," or the "oh, she replied," just as the book did. He could play the tumbleronicon and a voluntary on the mouth organ. He was like a bottle of champagne, ever fizzing and the life of the party all the way over. "Berengaria, beloved inquisitor," he begins, "I didnlt even know there was a row anywhere." "Ready in a moment, -Rolfe," shouts the major from an inner room. "Yon ready, Berengaria?" But she rebukes him by a single glance. "Tell me, Dick." she persists, and plings to his arm. "You don't think, after all we've been through, that, now that we are so happily settled here, there is a possibility of such a thing?' It isn't only for myself now. It's—it would mean more to Winifred than either of us dreams of." I was never more mortified than last week. I had endeavored on my stud farm at Buck Shoals to rear a new and attractive mule, and in May we were blessed with a little bunny mule of the clay bank variety, sired by a Kentucky papa and dammed on the place. "1 am always ready. Richard, as you well know," is Mrs. Berrien's placid response. "I think I never kept you waiting so much as a moment." When we got to Sandy Hook he broke off suddenly in the midst of a joke and said softly to a passenger whom he led aside behind the smokestack: "You see, sir, and understand the situation perfectly well as it is. You're simply bent on mischief. You know that Rolfe has been her shadow all day lone, hanging about her to sav his sav. "Promptest woman in the army or out of it," booms the major from his sanctum, his jovial voice resounding through the rooms of the bright garrison home. "Never knew anything like it, Miss Guthrie. Why. do you know, even when 1 wasn't half proposing she never let me finish the sentence! 'Twasn't at all what 1 was going to ask her—that day, at .least Meant to eventually/ of course, if 1 ever could muster up conrage, bnt this time 1 had only fonnd grit enough to ask for her picture, and 1 was engaged in less than ten seconds." won all hearts. But this, say those who have known her long, is an old, old story with Nita; she has been doing the same Mag for years. There is tang of suggestiveness about this statement; moreover, it is true: Mist- For years 1 have not been cursed by pride. Since the artist has been practicing on me with a view to some day illustrating a book called "Life Among the Lowly; or. Eighty Years on the Door for Mephistopheles," I can truly say that I am not proud, but a week ago I went to town with the mother of the new mule Marguerite, as I deemed it time to "I am gav, as you see; gay to the age. I spread joy among the passengers wherever I go. I am a ray of sunshine —here, there and everywhere. People cluster about me to get a hearty laugh and catch the contagion of my merry atmosphere and enjoy my inexhaustable fund of anecdote, but my heart is really sad on the inside. He looks at her in silence and amaze. Then—then comes sudden distraction. On the stillness of night tliere rises a scream of terror—a woman's voice uplifted in the expression of an awful shock and agony. Then a dash toward Holden's quarters, every man joining. He knows this to be his last chance. Everybody will be there the moment dinner is over. Everybody will surround her, and unless he speaks now he must let her go without a word." .Out on the gallery, of course, any one would have been revealed, thanks to the brilliancy of the full moon, almost as in the broad glare of day: but one bad to be at the hall door or in the square room itself in order to see the gallery at all, and Nita declared, as before, that she had not reached the door. What she fancied was a ghost, bathed in a pale, cold light, was probably the white curtains of the rear windows. But the light—whence came that? Of course, no time had been lost in jqaking investigation on the night of the occurrence. Even while the doctor and others were raising the unconscious girl from the floor, half a dozen officers were scouring the premises for signs of intruders and had found absolutely nothing. The room occupied by Miss Outline in the doctor's house was immediately to the left at the head of the stairs. The hall was broad, the landing roomy. It was one of the oldest sets of quarters at the post, and an oddity in its way. Entering the door of t|ie rear I'oom on the east, three windows appeared, two opening at the back and one at the side. The two at the back looked out over the roof of the rear porch. It was perfectly practicable for any one with a ladder lQ have clambered tq this roof, and, had the blinds been open, peered in the windows attheoccu pant. But there was no ladder. What was more, the blinds were tight shut and bolted on the inside. The shades within were drawn down, and the lace curtains looped over each. Guthrie is not in the first bloom ol youth. "Why, die must be nearly thirty," say some of the younger girls and younger matrons, who envy ber none the lees the freshness, the grace, the win sameness that hover about ber mobile face; but thoee who are in position t« know and have no reason to feel the faintest jealousy assert very positively that Nita is net more than twenty-five. "Well, why hasn't she married?" is the lastsiit query of Mrs. Vance, to whose Twlglilod mind it over appears that because a woman hasn't she cannot "Simply because the right man is yet to come," ia Mrs. Harper's equally prompt Easy Knough. "Berengaria, you amaze met. Are you conniving at hi9 capture? Didn't you tell me you knew she wouldn't have him?" "My God!" shouts Berrien, "it's Nita Guthrie." wean her. So we left Marguerite moored to the well curb and I drove on to Asheville to market a bunch of fat pine. "I am going home to bury my young wife. She died in Chicago and will be buried in Brooklyn on my arrival. Have you any idea what it costs to bring a remains from Chicago to New York over the Pennsylvania road?" Following the rush of Boldiers' feet, half a dozen ladies, too, have hastened. Winifred Berrien foremost of the lot. At the head of the stairs, on the landing of the second floor, dressed for her journey, lies the fair guest of the regiment, a senseless heap, with the blood flowiug from underneath her pallid face. "1 did; I know it now; but he is a man who wants to hear his fate from her own lips and plead his cause, too, like a man, unless I am very much mistaken in him. No, sir, don't you dare look back." The day was beautiful. The odor of clover and the sweet, seductive smell of the azalia seemed to lift me off the seat. A small black hornet also assisted in the great work. Winnie Berrien rushes from the parlor into the paternal den, voluble with protestations against such scandalous stories at mamma's expense; but Mrs. Berrien, slowly fanning herself, remains calmly seated, as though impervious to these damaging shots, at which everybody else is lau?hinir tnerrilv. The possibility of any one having been in the room was not entertained. Prompt and thorough search had been made in every nook and corner of the the upper story. The rooms of the nurse and children were on the westward side Of the hall, and the nurse was in one of fhem, putting on her hat. at the very moment. The front room on the east was nnocoupied. Nita had chosen the other because of that gallery and its lovely view. Then there was the rear Dpe of the main roof above the gallery. That, thought Holden, might have offered a way of escape, because it was out of -sight from the parade. Again returning to the matter of wagon roads, let every one who reads this letter resolve that he qr she will not rest content till our roads shall be equal in every respect to our boundless enterprise in other respects, instead of being at the everlasting tail of barbarism. They are inhuman »jt one thing. We form societies for the "prevention of cruelty to animals and then beat our dumb beasts through swamps and muck holes, over roads that it would bother a peri with eleven foot wings to go over lightly. "Poor devil! Why couldn't he wait till after dinner? she might be in softer mood then- 1 always am. That's why yon always wajt till after dinner, I pre- Bume, when you have anything special to ask. Now this will take his appetite away entirely." "Oh, joy! oh, joy!" I said; "what a gladsome day. Is it not indeed a plumb CHAPTER IL honey?" as we say in Hooper township. The air was impregnated with ozone, and now and then we could hear the neigh of my palfrey neighing. reply. "Nita Guthrie has had more often in six years than any woman i ever heard of." "Possibly you don't believe me." again booms the major, uis jolly red face aglow, as he is dragged forth from the den, still struggling with the sleeve links of his cuff. "Winifred, my child, unhand me. You'll never bring your old father's gray hairs in sorrow to the grave by such unwomanly precipitancy, unless it's a civilian with ten thousand a year: will you, dearest? Miss Guthrie, 1 never expect to be a rich man. 1 hadn't as many dollars when 1 fell in love with Miss De Lancy as I had buttons, and we only wore tingle breasted coats in those days, and 1 was tl»e junior captain. 1 pledge you my word 1 never would have had the cheek to offer myself. 'Twas the woman did it. 1 was going away for a week, and 1 said, 'You can give me one thing, if yon will.' 1 only meant to beg for that picture, and, by Jove! Bhe slipped her hand into mine. I was shaking all over. '1—b-beg pardon,' I stammered, '1 was only going to —beg for your p-p-p ' 'My promise?" said Berengaria, sweetly, looking up into my eyes. 'You have it. Richard.' Prompt? Why, she just jumped at me. Splendid arrangement, though, Miss Guthrie. She furnished th9 quarters and all the money, and 1 the vivacity and beauty of the household, until Winnie came; she contributes a little toward it now. But we're a model couple, aren't we. Berengaria?" And the major bends with playful tenderness, the fun sparkling in his eyes meauwhile, and kisses his handsome helpmeet's rosy cheek. She neighed for her absent child with a mother's neigh. The fact that bitter things had been said abont her and social ostracism had come with the little stranger did not steel her warm mother heart toward the little one. True, she could not remember any of her folks who ran so freely to ears as Marguerite did, but she recked not. "Then there must be something back of it all," responds Mrs. Vance, whose theories are not to be lightly shakeu. "Was there tome early affair?" "My dear Mrs. Vance, 1 have no doubt I could tall yon a dozen stories, all plausibly all in active circulation when last 1 ▼tatted St Louis and saw her ia society there, and all as near the truth, probably, as any we could invent here. Nobody knows bat Nita. and she won't telL" "As if he had any in the first place! Positively, Richard, you have no soul above a dinner. When a man js as desperately in love as Rolfe, do you suppose he cares much what he eats?" Miss Bagley—Yes, but now yon must forgive and forget. Let every one with an idea on roads go to Chicago with it, taking also a change of umbrellas and a scrip containing the price of two weeks' board and credit at the home bank. "Well, seems to me 1 was never off my feed." is Berrien's reply with preternatural gravity, looking straight to the front now and refusing to iheet his wife's dark eyes. Between them stood a long, old fash ioned mirror above the toilet table draped with lace curtains very much as were the windows themselves. No one from without could have been visible to any one within. No one within could have been seen by any oqe without. Moreover, the Haldens1 cook—an indomitable Irishwoman—was on the back porch at the moment of Miss Guthrie's fright saying gqod night to Corporal Murphy, who had long been Kathleen's devoted admirer, and both stood ready to swear that nobody was on that roof. The rear windows thus disposed of, the doctor had turned his attention to the window at the side, and here there was possibility of explanation. But Brewster and Randolph had both essayed to reach the eaves, and even when standing on the railing could barely touch them with the tips of their fingers. Then, again, a sentry walked along the edge of the slope leading to the river bottom south of the long row of officers' quarters and close behind the Tear fence, but he was at the eventful foment well down the row beyond Hazlett's house, whereas Dr. Holden's was at the eastern end of the line. The moon shone full against the back fence, said the sentry, and he was sure he would have seen anybody who ran out of the gate of the doctor's yard, and the first who appeared were the searching officers, Corporal Murphy with them. Several men had then come running from the direction of the laundresses' quarters to the west, and after them Sergeant Ellis. Indeed, it was Ellis who first suggested a search of the roof by means of a ladder. He was sergeant in charge of the fire apparatus kept in that long, low building at the east end. apd had the keys of the door. Miss Faraway—Oh, I can for™ive, but it's not so easy to forget. Miss Bagley—Nonsense! I can tell yon a hundred things I've forgotten.— Harper's Bazar. When I had marketed my fat pine kindling wood at the Kenilworth inn aud bought hay with the money, for I have to buy hay in order Jo feed my stock on the farm, so that they can cultivate mv farm, so that I can look forward to the time when I can buy more hay to feed my team, so that they will feel strong and well enough to cultivate the soil, so that I will be cheered on ta buy more hay for the same purpose. Mr. Pope also suggests that cross sections of wagon roads be shown at the exposition. "You!" with fine scorn. "You! Why, Richard Berrien, with all your amiable qualities of heart and weaknesses of head no one on earth would ever associate you aud sentiment in the same breatk Of course you and your appe tite are inseparable; but Rolfe is different; he is a lover." How aa the autumn eun, all red burnished gold, ia sinking to the horizon on this final day of a c Arming and memorable visit, Nita Guthrie is bidding adieu with laughing, kindly cordiality to the little coterie gathered in her honor. To one and all she has the same frank, gracious manner. Over all she throws the same odd magnetic spell, seeming to imprees each and every one in -turn with the same idea, "Now, you are just the most thoroughly delightful creature I have ever met, and 1 cannot bear to say goodbyto you." There is the lingering hand clasp, and yet not the faintest sentimentality. Nita's blue «yes—very blue —gaae straight into those of her friends. Armeilini, who prides himself on boing an accomplished portrait painter, after eighteen months' persistent toil had managed to complete the portrait of Mrs. Judith Baricoletti, and triumphantly hastened to present It to her. While Mrs. B. was contemplating the picture her son, a sprightly little rogue of eight summers, ran into the parlor, and Armeilini eagerly asked him if he thought it a good likeness. The Young; Art Critic. I am collecting a few in North Carolina, and am getting cans made to put them in. I have not decided yet whether to filter them or not. "You are simply a goose tonight Come, don't stop at the gate now; push right on into the house after the Holdens. I'll run up to Mrs. Harriett's room with Nita." "Well, what am I?" "When did uon shave off your beard, tenjeantr' As I stood at the porte cocliere of the hotel, looking down into the eyes of a bright young girl from Tuxedo, who is here for her father's asthma, though he is not here yet, I heard, borneacross the beautiful bosom of the Swananoa, the mellow bray of Marguerite. She came with a famished snort, and Sheridan some twenty odd miles away was nowhere. There was a rattle of tiny hoofs on the gravel drive, a little glad cry of recognition from the mamma, and the clay bank mule Marguerite was monkeying with what is called the maternal font. Indian summer was over and done with. The soft haze had gone. For three days the wind had been blowing hard from the northwest and the air was as clear as an Arizona sky, the distant outlines sharp as the tooth of the prairie blast. Colonel Farqmhar had suddenly broken off his shooting trip, and, without saying why, returned to the post. Captain Rolfe had "cut" the club, once a favorite resort, and was much in Dr. Hqjden's compauy—Holdeu, who was lonely enongli now that his wife and little ones were gone. Throughout the garrison there was one leading topic for conversation and conjecture- Miss Guthrie's strange adventure® the night of her intended departure and her equally strange conduct thereafter. She had remained senseless but a few moments.As has l% jn said, the Holdens' house was one of the oldest at the old frontier fort, but so solidly and substantially had it been built that, when others were condemned and ordered replaced along the row, the authorities had decided to retain "Bayard Hall." It was originally a double set. with hallway in common, intended for the use of four bachelor officers, each to have his two rooms, there being four rooms on the first and four on the second floor, while the kitchen and servants' rooms were placed in a wooden addition at the rear. The ground fell away rapidly frofn the front piazza, so that while the first floor front was but a few steps higher than the walk, the rear porch was a full story above the ground, giving abundant space for storerooms, etc., under that part of the house, and necessitating a flight of a dozen steps to reach the porch or the kitchen doorway. Around the front and sides of the second story there ran originally a broad gallery, but this was before the days of the war of the rebellion. durintr which the oost was lit- "Beautiful! Splendid!" exclaimed the little urchin. "It is just like mammaall but the face!"—Motto per Ridere. At a cricket match played in the park of a well known baronet in Sussex there was a scarcity of available talent. It was necessary in consequence to secure the services of one of the footmen of the hall as umpire. In due course the baronet, his master, went in, and the village bowler was put on. The second time he bowled the baronet stopped the ball with his leg, and the cry of "How'a that?"' was raised. ■What He Meant.' A dozen of the fort people only have been bidden to dinner, for hardly a dining room at the post is big enough for more, and on the porch anxiously await-( ing the coming of his guests is Hazlett. * Search for an Ideal. Carrathers—How does it happen that yon and Miss Pruyn are out? She imuu to advance a step or two, ait though eager to meet aifil take by the hial«Mh newcomer. Even the elders among the women find it hyd to go. and M for the girls. they linger spellbound; they cluster about her, watching the eunshine in her face, the play of her feature*, the sparkle of her eyes, drinking in her winsome words, her rippling laughter. "It's just the only chance we're had to ourselves. Miss Nita," protests Winifred Berrien. "Yon've been surrcnmded fay men ell the rest of the time, and we eouldnt see you now if it weren't that they had to be in stables. Oh, if you ObIt didn't have to co tonieht!" ''indeed, Winnie, 1 don't want to go. H MSSM to me nothing can be more delightful (ban life in an army post like thia. Certainly no girl ever had a better ftaae anywhere than you have given me "Where are Rolfe and Miss Guthrie?" asks he as men will ask. "All here now but them." Wait®—Well, I told her that I had long been seeking my ideal woman and 'had found her at last. "Coming at once; only a few steps behind us," promptly answers Mrs. Berrien. "Run in, major; I'll wait for Nita.*1 Berrien looks as though he meditated a mischievous remark, but something in her voice and manner tells him that instant obedience is expected. He gives one quick glance and steps into the hall. It was by his aid that some of the junior officers made a thorough examation of the roof and the frout porch. No more signs there than had hitherto been found. No, the sentry on the south nost was confident that no man came out of Holden's yard until he got to the gate, whither he had run the instant he beard the cry. He thought it might be a lamp explosion or a fire, and he was watching with eager eyes. He had been on post nearly two hours when the alarm came, and, except Corporal Murphy and the quartermaster's men who took the trunks, he had not seen or heard a man about the premises. Kathleen, the nursemaid, and the children had been home all the evening, and they had neither seen nor heard anybody. Carruthers—Didn't that please her? The reader can readily understand how the mule Marguerite, by connecting herself with my palfrey, had hurt me socially at Kenilworth inn, and how the young lady who cai.lfc here Ad try the balsam and the healing of the North Carolina mountains for her father's asthma excused herself to get a heavier wrap, thereby intimating that there was a coolness betweeu ns, also that I needed a heavier rap. Anyway, I have never seen her since. It was the footman who had to answer, and turning to his master he exclaimed in a half apologetic tone, "I'm afraid I must say, 'Not at home,' Sir George." "We have few crosses, certainly," replies Mrs. Berrien, whose own name is anything but Berengaria, that being, as she is frequently called upon to explain, some of the major's historical nonsense. "We have few crosses, and those of course I bear. But now," she continues, with much decision of manner, "if you are partially restored to sanity we will go, or keep dinner longer waiting. Miss Guthrie, do they allow lunatics at large in the streets of St, Louis? Major Berrien spoke of getting a month's leave this winter and going thither." Waite—I don't know. She said she had been just as long looking for her ideal man. but hadn't found him yet.— New York Herald. VTeeping Widow—You are sure, Mr. Boneplanter, you will conduct everything in a satisfactory manner? l*naniinous Approval. "Not at homer' cried the baronet. "What do you mean?" "Well, then. Sir George," Jamee made answer, "if you will have it, I mean that you're hout!"—London Tit-Bits. , Presently, while chatting with others of the arriving party, he is conscious of the swish of skirts passing up the stairway. The door to the veranda is still open, and glancing out Berrien can see Rolfe alone leaning against one of the wooden pillars, his head dVooping as though plunged in deep thought. Gentle hands had raised and borne her to the bed in the room she was evidently Just about entering when suddenly halted by some mysterious cause. Here, when restored to consciousness, an almost hysterical attack of laughing and weepinsr had followed upon her prostration. She insisted on attempting to nse and go to the train, as originally planned, but this Holden positively forbade. He Eminent Undertaker—Have no fear on that score. I beg of you, Mrs. Billhope. Of all the }Deople 1 have brtried in my long and successful career, I am proud to say that not one ever raised the slightest objection to my work.—London Tit-Bits. To return to our national roads, it is a wonder that we have, as Americans, so long submitted to the savage and dangerous ruts over which we haul our empty, wabbly, worn wagons. The reason is, He—Not a single sea serpent haa been Been along the_Atlantic coast this year. She—All! All married.—Detroit Fre# Her Thought "Oh, send him by all means, and lie shall be treated at our own asvluin. "Poor old chap! he's got his conge tonight Cuul thAt'a the anil of his two