Pittston Gazette

              fl Ol KKTAIiMKIIF.lD I HAM. 1 VOL. XUII. XO. «. i Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming alley. IMTTSTON, LUZERNE CO» PA., FRII DAY, AUGUST 19, 1892. A Weekly Local and Family I 91. SO FEB ANXUK 1 IS ADVANCE. fl Soldier's Secret Sioux—it is they who see the other side of the picture, and ask: "To what purpose? To what end?" herded in to the reservation and induced to give up all their arms and ponies, there will be no further trouble. The health and spirit of the regiment are excellent, and, while I hope no emergency will arise, I can bet that if there should be a shindy the TwelF h will give good account of itself. Farquliar keeps us on the alert and there is no rusting. Gorham has joined from leave, so that Brewster, to his infinite disgust I doubt not, has had to fall back to second place. He and Rolfe are about the only gloomy spirits in the command, and of Brewster I see very little. Ever since the episode of which I told you and her most significant appearance at the depot in town while we were being switched to the northbound track I have not felt like having anything to do with him. Hondo you suppose she heard of our move, since she left the hop before any one knew of it? There were a few other ladies there, I admit, for they were still with us when the orders came, and it had cleared by the time we reached the depot. garrison when yon get up there." And stepping into the waiting wagon ho bade the driver go ahead, leaving the detective to come up iu the iDost stage. lime lingnt stoown, but time was not accorded. Coming home late one night from a delightful dance their carriage stopped outside the massive portecochere of the Guthrie homestead instead of driving right in. "What is it, James?" asked Miss Guth- Editors do not feel bound to drop thatr work in the morning and play croqwt with the casual outcasts whom they mat ion of the leader who subject* tbem to needless risk. "Where away would you locate the agency, sergeant, if you were going to take a bee line for it?' NYE GIVES ADVICE Ana now one arter anotner tne roar troops ride into close column on the northward bank; the men dismount, unsaddle, and presently, with Bide lines in hand, each trooper leading his faithful steed, the four herds are guided to the separate grazing grounds already chosen and "pre-empted" by wide awake subalterns or sergeants. There the side lines are carefully adjusted, the bridles slipped off, three or four men remain in saddle as herdguard and the horses are left to graze. Rich with nutriment is that crisp, dry bunch, grasp—rich and plentiful. The mules of the pack train bray with impatience to shed their loads and join their envied four footed comrades, but presently they, too, following the bell, are streaming out upon the guarded prairie, rolling in luxury upon the frosty earth and kicking their legs in air in genuine delight From a dozen little fires among the bare limbed cotton woods the thin smoke is curling aloft, and the rattle of tin cup and plate and the jovial voices of the men seem to clamor for their soldier rations. In long rows the saddles and equipments were aligned upon the turf, each man's Outbreak has followed outbreak, campaign has followed campaign, each marked by bitter losses in many a regiment, each swelling the list of the widowed and the fatherless, each terminated by the final surrender of hoe tilt bands satiated with the summer's slangh ter wad shrewd enough to know thai they ha\e only to wave the white rag ol submission to be restored to public con fidence and double rations. Step asidt now, gentlemen of the army, bury youi dead, patch up your wounds, go back tc your stations and get ready for anothei shindy in the spring. You have had your annua,1 outing, the Indian only hit first innings. Now comes his secoqd. Now the bureau takes hold, and £waD go the prominent leaders of the red re volt in the annual pilgrimage, the an nual starring tour through the east, and the sentimentalists swarm to meet them, and wheresoever J:hey stop hosts of oui fellow citizens throng to smile upon them, eager to clasp aud shake the handf that less than a month ago were reeking with the blood of mutilated soldiery foi whom desolato women and bereaved little ones are waiting hopejessly today: Vsb victis! ' • __y Go oA in your 1rtumphal''fetfcoit, f%6 brothers Rain-iu-the-Faco* ThundeL Bear, Blizzard Hawk. Rejoice in thC sunshine of your prosperity; go back tc yonr new lodges and unload your chest* of plunder, the free will offerings ol your palefaced kindred. The war has made you rich. Your squaws and chil dren revel in food and finery galore, and should supplies begin to slacken up a lit tie with the coming of another spring shoot your agent, carry off his wife and daughters, and start in for another sum mer of fun. As for you, weeping widow and children of Captain Something—I've forgotten his name—shot from ambusb by the Sioux last fall, get back to the east as best you can,-dry your tears, and be happy on twenty dollars a month. It's what one must expect in marrying into the army. "Out off here, sir." "And they crossed that line going into the valley?" "They certainly did, sir, and— Look, major! look yonder I Another baud, and from exactly the same place." A little bevy of dark objects dart* suddenly into view from behind a curtainlike divide and goes skimming over • level stretch toward the lowlands of the valley. Berrien's glasses seem glued to his eye*. HE TELLS MR. SMITH 30METHII ABOUT BUYINQ A PAPER. Bj Captain CHARLES KING, U. S. A. That evening he wrote a short letter to Rolfe, and the gentleman from Chicago indited a long one—both of which would have served to surprise that calmly superior soldier not a little had they reached him in due course of mail, which, however, they did not. It was some time before he saw them at all, for when they were unloaded from the mailbags at the wintry cantonment Rolfe, with Berrien's battalion, was miles away. D not the editor's (Copyright, lfHB, by J. B. Lippincott company. aj»l published by special with them.] AIM Subsidising tba at Owm bptrlMOM OrtphiMU; Th« W»jr h Editor Should B* Ti Th« GCm4 Will or • Paper. [Co»yrl*ht, 1882, by Edgar W. Ny*.] Bock Shoaxs, N. C., Angmt The following letter from Georg aeema to require and call loudly for public reply, let the chip* fall « they may. i Mr. Smith is only one of a large each member of which have some of the * ,thia letter settled office to cheer "Another carriage ]Dere, miss. 1 think it's Mrs. Holden just jetting out." CHAPTER. Vtl "Jennie here! Why, how odd! She went homo half an hour before we started." Daylight at last, bat the son is hidden In banks of dripping mist Daylight, wan and chill and comfortless, and the lleary lamps still smoke and flicker about the parade. Daylight, yet without one spark of gladness. Even the birds huddle in the shelter of the autumn foliage, now so crisp and brown, and not so much as a chirp is heard. All around the big quadrangle night lamps are still aglow within the shaded windows, telling of sleepless vigil, of pallid cheeks Mid tear dimmed eyes. Only in the barracks of the men or the lively dens of lie bachelor subalterns do the windpwB Dlaze, uncurtained, undismayed. Then? " ""wiine wives, no end have It was Jennie, with a grave, anxious face, at sight of which Mrs. Berrien fairly sprang from the carriage. "Twenty of them in that party! What do they see? What*s their hurry? They would not expose themselves to out view unless there were urgent need for haste." in* the of l Getting no reply to his missives and little encouragement at the poet, the strange civilian suddenly departed after three days' apparently aimless stay, and the next heard of him was in the shape of a letter from Louisville. Could Major Keoyon procure for him anyhow, anywhere, a photograph of Sergeant Ellis? No, Major Kenyon couldn't, and was very short in saying so. "You have ill news, Mrs, What is itl Tell me at once." Holden. "This lias just come from ray husband," was the trembling answer as she held forth a telegram: "Maior Berrien's wound serious, but not fatal. Mrs. Berrien must not be alarmed. Do not believe sensational newspaper reports of disaster. Wounded doing well." "The old road comes in from that direction, air," answers Ellis. "We left it • few hoars oat from the cantonment, as you remember. Can anything have bean seen along that road to giro rise to signal smokes? Berrien tarns half over and looks keenly into the sergeant's intelligent face. "That - once and CHAPTER IX. She, however, seemed to hang on to him and nobody else fo the very last. 1 am distressed at what yon tell me about Winifred, and the more I think of it the more I am disposed to urge your instant acceptance of Miss Guthrie's in j vitation. It will be the very best antidote I know of—a few weeks in St. Louis society—if she has indeed, as yon And now December was come, and the air was crisp and keen in the valley of the Pawnee, the sunshine radiant and sparkling; but far to the north the wintry winds were howling about the flimsy cantonment "and whirling the snow through every cranny and crack, and the long nights on outpost and picket were bitter cold. But through it all the various battalions of horse were sent scouting in turn around the reservation, and more and more the young warriors dribbled away from the agencies and were liext heard of welcomed with acclamations by the savage hosts in the fastnesses of the Bad Lauds, and every hour increased the prospect of sharp fighting in the near future. But all the letters to the anxious hearts at home were full of hope and cheer, full of prophecy that everything would soon be settled. The renegade bands were all "located" and being slowly hemmed in. The Twelfth would eat its Christmas (linuer at Pawnee after all, they hoped. And in St. Louis Miss Guthrie was exerting herself to see that her charming guests were having the loveliest kind of a time. Dinners, luncheons, cards, theaters and dancing parties followed in quick succession. The new gowns wero being made as fast as famous modistes could evolve and construct them, and Winifred was rushed from one scene of Kavetv to another. "Nothingcould have been morecharming than our welcome," wrote Mrs. Berrien to her beloved Dick, "nothing more delightful than the round of entertainments to which we are bidden. One has hardly time to think. As for writing, this is the first opportunity I have enjoyed in three days, and we are home from the theater but half an hour. Mrs. Holden comes over every day, and we exchange such news a9 we have of the dear old regiment and the dearer ones who are our especial property. She is what I call a genuine woman, and I like her more and more. 1 must tell you something I learned through her. The day after our arrival wo were in the library, and my attention was attracted by a largo portrait, apparently a crayon copy of a photograph, that hung over the mantel. It was of a singularly handsome young man, and I knew at once he must be a Guthrie. 'It is my brother,' said Nita, in such a sad, constrained tone, 'taken just a few weeks before his death six years ago.' Of course I could ask no more, but Winifred and I both noted how utterly her face changed, how unspeakably distressed a look came into her eyes. We could see then why Mrs. Holden should have said she was haggard and ill, and yesterday Mrs. Holden told me something of his story. He was barely twenty-two, the idol of the family and immensely iDopular in society. He was assistant cashier in one of the big banks here, and one day the sudden discovery was made that in some mysterious way quite a large sum was missing, money for which he was responsible, but he could not account for it; neither could anybody else. The matter was investigated thoroughly. Pursuant to his orders, Major Berrien, with his battalion of the Twelfth, had been scouting the open country that lay to the northeastward of ttoe cantonment. So alarming had the sitoation become, so significant if not actually defiant was the mannor of ill* Indians whose lodges were pitched all over the prairie around the agency that the commanding general had caused intrenchments to be thrown np on every ridge overlooking that threatened settlement. Additional troops, including a strong force of infantry and detachments of light artillery, had been sent to the scene. Hotchkiss and field guns were placed in position commanding the Indian camp, and night and day the earthworks were heavily manned and sentries and outposts guarded every approach. no silently weeping wives, no clinging, sobbing little ones, crying Trbecatiat mamma cries," vet little dreaming f ur what cause, no thought ot ''TVhat will 2&5&K: all voices are ringing with •agerftesj, even exultation, as the nifen brace on their woven cartridge belt* and toss over their brawny shoulders carbine stings ind the straps of canteen and havefsack, come forth u '" t has been abandoned foi carbine and belt at his rolls of robes and i are , _ «k. A be coming ped and spread to while the troop officers are looking to the comfort and security of their hones, Major Berrien, followed by a single orderly, is riding about from point to point to satisfy himself that the guards are stationed where beat they can secure the bivouac against surprise. fear, become interested in him. Go by all means; it will do you good—do Winifred a worjd of good (get her some new gowns, and take in all the parties and all the gayoty you possibly can), and it will be a good thing for Miss Guthrie "too. sir; bat would not meet us, for Instance. be apt to k the road? 1 understood we were strike for it in the morning and fol Again bernen gazee long and earn ljr through the binocular. "They certainly heading for that road t riding at full speed. How many t have yon at this front?" he quic "Just eight, sir, all told, but ei more are aimoet within call over our left flank Yonder is the xi where my men are posted." And £ points to their left rear where lies low crest "Just keep a good lookout here, i geant 1 will move them over this i and then ride to the left flank. rod theu streaming upon t\ galleries muffled to the chin in the bl*i cavalry overcoats. Out on the parade the trumpeters ah gathered under the moist folds of thi flag, awaiting the signal to sound  •embly," and now the hand comp inarching in through the morning mis: aud the adjutant strides forth froth tj» office door. Merrily, briskly the stirring peal bursts from the bells of the brazen trumpets. Promptly the blue overcoat* leap iato ranks. Sharply they fwe tCC the left, aad the stern voices of the sergeants can be heard calling the rolls— the "here," "here," of the men responding in animation and hilarity sometimes so marked as to call forth a frown of rebuke. The troop commanders and then subalterns have hastened to their company grounds. The major has just come forth from his dimly lighted hull and is joined by the colonel at the gate, and now, slowly, these two are pacing oat to the parade. On many of the verandas dim feminine forms, mantled iu heavy shawl or cloak, have gathered ir the gloom. Some can be seen flittkif ghostlike through the mist, seekaif comfort and sympathy in the society o • near neighbor equally bereaved Brewster turns one longing glance! a the porch of the major's quarters, bu no one is there. Again,quick and spirited, as though fying the elements, the trumpets pea adjutant's call; the band bursts int( -• " - *« ■ 1' * - —8. A . - The ridge to the southwest is higher than those which limit the view at other points, and thither Berrien is now riding at easy lope, Rolfe and Haalett, watch- "Now, this is strictly entre nous. Holden is worried about her, and in course of a long talk we had last night he showed me a letter just received from Mrs. Holden. Of course she is all upset by his having to take the held, and wants to leave the children with her mother and come up here to him, but she couldn't be in cauip and there isn't a room to be had at the railway station. The place is just crammed with newspaper men and quartermaster's people. Mrs. Holden writes that ever since the night of that queer adventure of hers at the fort Nita has been unlike herself—strange, nervous, almost hysterical at times. She will permit no allusion to it, and seems striving to forget it all. She goes everywhere, morning, noon and night, but looks haggard and ill. I gather from what Holden said that, as you once surmised, there was an old affair which may have had something to do with her persistent refusal of every offer; but what that could have had to do with her fright at Pawnee I cannot imagine. Holden agrees with me, however, that it would be a capital thing if you and Winnie would pay her the visit she' urges; so again, I say, go by all meane. ing him for a moment, exchange an appreciative nod as they hear from the group of soldiers at the nearest camp tire some brawny son of the old'sod remark, "Just luck at the ould man now; sure it's a smart redskin that will ever get through the pickets he poets." Not since the days of old "Major Slowtrot," old "Pap" Thomas, has there been a battalion commander better loved by the rank and file. They know nothing will ever induce him to forget one precaution for their safety, and reward his care with a loyalty of devotion good to see. Watching him still further, Hazlett notes that a distant vedette has sig- Meantime the main body of the hostiles was still ghost dancii®; and howling through the wintry night far over to the north among the breaks and chasms of the Bad Lands-, so strong in numbers and so secure from assault within the lines of their natunU fortress as to laugh to scorn all premonition of disaster. Runners had gone to every tribe urging concerted action and united revolt. Every day brought new accessions, and all that was needed to enable them to bid defiance to the encircling force was the arrival of the great bands that had broken away from the reservations along the Missouri, followers and would be avengers of the old chieftain. Bitting Bull, who had died in harness, a rebel to the last. Brule and Ogallalla, Uncpapa and Minneconjou—here were the warriors, re-enf#rced by many a new grown son, who had fought the white soldiers* summer after summer, time and again, in the bloody days of the decade past—the Brules especially, once restrained by the wisdom of old Sintogaliska, now ripe for any deviltry and well nigh unanimous for war to the knife. wmAAUW AU V After this week they will And now the last of the blue column has passed through the western gate, and a throng of comrades surges after, every mpn in the garrison, not otherwise on duty, trudging down through the mist and mud to see Berrien's battalion to the waiting train. The guard springs to arms and falls in line—the guard whom Brewster was to have relieved at eight a. m.— and again the major lowers his saber in acknowledgment of their salute, and so, down the winding road, tramp, tramp, steadily, cheerily, even joyously, they go, and the~broad parade above is silent and deserted. Women are sobbing in one an other's arms, and Mrs. Berrien, seated at an upper window looking out to the west, is stroking Winifred's glossy, rippling tresses—Winifred, who, kneeling, has buried her tear stained face in hei mother's lap. Fainter and fainter the martial strains come floating up from the wooded valley. The band is playing another quickstep now, its prelude fell of vim and life and spirit, and then— What strange inspiration has possessed the leader? Listen! listen' Winifred raises her head and looks one instant with dilated eyes into her moth el's pallid, quivering face; then, covering her ears with her «lender hands, burrowing again into her mother's, lap, she.bursts into a passion of tears. Listen! Sweet,, soft, sad, the beautiful notes oi the thrice beautiful old song fre waited up on the gentle beeeze. God! to bow many a breaking heart, how many & world worn, weary, yearning soul hds it not spoken! Mb. Nnt—Yoq hone, orderly." And, . over the matter as be i spars into a lively canter tervening dip in the prairie, mischief ahead," he matters, an not speeding np that valley for n ing. We may have to saddle and over there." Mot two nnndred yards bas be nd when from the point which be has 8 an naled, uid that Berrien, slowly now, is riding np the slope to join A. sergeant has some question to ask at the moment, and when Haslett again ont to the southwest, major, orderly and redette have disappeared from view around a little shoulder of bluff. i vedettes can be Been at their posts C sides, and a few dismounted se o tM4 \ lying prone where, unseen they can scan the country to their fro But Haclett's curiosity is excited by fact that tiro men, mere specks in distance, are huddling together at crest half a mile away to the south* and evidently watching something C D 1 tbt . cp, 4nd moisture laden inarn* command. cdine the •With trdop- IfcrjM yjuBri  9k * BBN "By the way, I wish you would run over and see Mrs. Thorpe as often as you can. Her letters have a depressing effect on the captain. He tells me the only insurance he has in all the world is in the Army mutual, but three thousand dollars would hardly pay their debts and take care of them for a year if anything were to happen to him. Don't be alarmed by newspaper stories of the lighted skies and howling ghost dancers. Indians will dance all night on any provocation, and our fires light the skies quite as much a£ theirs. Bergeant Ellis, who volunteered to push through with dispatchdl to Buller's command somewhere on the other side of the Bad Lands, got back all right this morning and says he had hardly any difficulty in working a way through the hostiles. That fellow. I think, is coiner to make a name for himself in this campaign. He is always ready fqr anything that t*rns up. s orderly, "I martial rhythm Without noteworthy incident, Berrien's command had circled around to the east of the sacred lines of the reservation, liad spent a day or two exploring the breaks and ravines of a dozen little streams flowing into the Wakpa Washtay, had located t*ail after trail of travois, pony and lodge pole tracks, had scoured the wide valley of the main stream, but without sight of a single warrior, much less a war party. The still smokiug ruins of two ranches told, however, of recent visitation, and the hoof marks of cattle mingling with the pony tracks pointed unerringly whither the spoil had been driven. Meantime, while nothing could be sees of tho wily red man, every hour gave new proof that their own movements were closely observed. Signal smokes went puffing skyward on almost every side, and the night sentries declared that twice just before dawn of two successive mornings they had dimly seen shadowy horsemen darting over the neighboring ridges and had heard the thud of nimble hoofs. Even in the faded gray of the bunch grass, even on the hard froaen ground, experienced eyes could find cbrroboration of the story. then the dripping, at their front and motioning to the si geant back with the supports. Present this trooper, too, trots out to join thei Berrien and his party are still out ing air rings with the wordaof c*. as, in full ranks, the four troops swinging out upon the fnrf and'-al roadway around the parade fills ujother light blue overcoats, thoee'of sight from camp. "Captain, may 1 borrow your fieldglasses?" asked Mr. Brewster, swinging up to the fire where Hazlett stands. "1 hare lent mine to the sergeant of the guard." liTV * lop "Did yoa sw when the major went?" isks Hazlett by way of reply, u D bands the desired instrument. "1 last He rode and a mast have been calling to him. It seems to me they've been gone some time; so Qorham says 1 can ride ont and find out what it means." * Love not, lov« not, ye hapless sons of clay. It is too much for Mrs. Berrien. Brave, self controlled, uncomplaining as sb* lias been through it all, this is test beyond her strength. Down comes the window with sudden clash, and then, drawing her daughter to her breast, clasping her in her loving, sheltering arms, the mother heart gives way, th« sorrowing wife bows her head, and, rocking to and fro in worldless grief, mingles her tears with those of her beloved child. bone, reckless of the fact that be is armed only with revolver and that the ravine may be (oil of Indiana, the veteran soldier drives foil tilt at the charging braves. He thinks only of the fact that one of his men lies prostrate end helpless before them. They are almost upon Ellis before Berrien has galloped a rod. They are within twenty paces of him when, with a shout of delight, the major sees him whirl suddenly over, grasp his carbine, and, all in a second, the flame leaps from the bronzed muzzle, the foremost warrior drops his rifle, whirls up a clinching, convulsive hand and topples headforemost out of the saddle. Scott, the vedette, echoes with another shot that kicks up the dust close under the second pony's heels. Its red rider veers in broad circle to the right, and in the twinkling of an eye the feathered war bonnet bows low over the pony's stretching neck. Berrien's bullet whizzes harmlessly above, and the major himself, borne by the rush of his half maddened steed, dashes on past Ellis, now kneeling for another shot, and goes crash into the midst of a little knot of yelling warriors just bounding up out of the gully to the restoe of their stricken comrade. "Bess, my wife; Winnie," are the only words he has time or thought to mutter, for instant death seems inevitable. But all the old fighting instinct is uppermost, and almost in the face of the foremost Sioux his revolver Mazes its challenge, and horse and pony meet in tremendous shock, and the lighter steed goes tumbling and rolling over the turf. There is chorus of yells, shots, soldier cheers, thundering hoofs. There is a vision of glittering steel in front of his eyes, of hideous painted faoe, a sudden sense of stumble and stunning fall, a shrill whoop of triumph, changing instantly into the death cry, and while his Brule antagonist gott crashing down, pony and all, Berrienos conscious of the superb leap of a big black charger over his own prostrate form, of a stentorian cheer from half a down trooper throats, and the next minute Brewster is kneeling by his side, raising the honored gray head in his strong young arms, and the voice that thundered in battle cry but an instant agone is trembling now as he calls for a oanteeii of water and bids his half stunned commander not to strive to meve. / :• "I hear that Brewster and Ridgeway have had a row and do not speak. Some of the boys know what it's all about, but Won't tell me. Do you know? Now, nnless you wire to the contrary, I Khali iddress my next care of Hon. Warren L. Guthrie, St. Louis." '.Td go with yon, Brewster, but my horse is ont at herd. Take the glasses with yon, anyhow." Brewster's big black is led np at the moment, and the ft 700 are, after all, a lieutenant quickly mounts and canters easily away. Meantime, old Berrien, who has noted the signals of the vedette referred to, has joined him, with the brief inquiry, "What is it, 8cottT Then Kenyon got a letter. He was low commanding officer of the post, and was unremitting in nis tnougbtfulnes* and attention to the honseholds of the absent officers. It was Rolfe who wrote to him, and Kenyon. was well nigh at his wits' end in the endeavor to conjecture what it all meant. "They had detectives everywhere, and absolutely nothing could be brought up against young Guthrie. He never gambled, never dissipated in any way, was a model son and brother. Nita was wild with indignation at his having been even suspected. Mr. Guthrie offered to make good the sum twice over if need be, and to bind himself for all his wealth to establish his boy's honor, and for three or four days all was excitement, and then, in the midst of it, poor Jack was found dead in his room, a half empty bottle of chloral by his bedside. The world said suicide, guilty conscience, etcetera, but Nita and others knew that he had not slept a wink since the discovery of the loss and was crazed with misery. They have always maintained it was an accidental overdose. But it nearly broke Mr. Guthrie's heart, and it was three years before Nita would go into society in St. Lonis again. They went to Europe and staid there ever so long. 4t I Cheer upon cheer comes swelling on the morning air. Cheer follows cheei as Berrien's men return the soul stirring, soldierly goodby. Guidons wave from the thronging platforms. Bronzed faces peer from every window. Hats and forago caps are tossing on high. Men rush alongside the slowly starting train for one last handclasp of the departing comrades. The echoes ring to the rollicking notes of their old charging, fighting tune. The trumpets answei from the crowded care. The sun bursts through the eddying mist and streams in glorious radiance upon the scene. All here at fhe station throbs with soldier ,song and spirit and enthusiasm, but above—aboye, where in mournful premonition one poor army wife is weeping over thrwj little curly heads pillowed in her straining arms, there comes no sound of soldier triumph, no echo of soldier song. Sunshine and stirring music follow the swiftly speeding train, but all is dark and desolate now where gladness reigned bnt a day gone by. "Why. air, 1 ww posted here by the sergeant, and he had no sooner gone than 1 saw what 1 took to be horsemen in the valley several miles ont yonder to the southwest. The major can see the whole country from a butte that lies perhaps three hundred yards farther out beyond this ridge? But here comes the sergeant back, sir." r "Yon remember my saying I conld find that stolen picture if I could but have authority to search one room at the poet. It is my conviction still that the man who goes by the name of Ellis was the thief. He had a lock box at the postoffice in town, number twenty-three, apd letters have been forwarded to him here by the postmaster, two of which were not addressed to Sergeant Ellis or to Q. B. Ellis, Twelfth cavalry, but to Ralph Erroll, box twenty-three. When he returned from detached service this morning the sergeant major handed him his mail and asked him if those additional letters were his. He turned red, then pale, but said yes. Both these were from Louisville, as I happen to know; both were addressed in the same handthat of an educated woman—and there is no doubt in my mind that this Ellis or Erroll has a screw loose in his record. Brewster knows something of his past, but refuses to tell. It is of vital importance to me to find out who and what he is, for I believe him to have been guilty of a crime beside which the theft of that picture is as nothing. Dpe toon to know your honest ither it will be to my Interest t or not. I am deairou of I . Yours truly, J. P, are could be no wiser thl Imitb, 1 opine, than to do j hare done, Tlx., to cone f m where information ia Listen! listen! era and footmen, who wish with all (heir hearts it was their turn to go—that they, too, belonged to the First battalion. In a moment the line is formed; the carbines snap into the bared left hanis as arms are presented; Berrien leaves the colonel's Bide and takes post in front of the center, touches his cap iq wknowledgment of the salute and whips oat his 'own battle wont, blade. No speech making here. "Right forwai-d fours right!" rings the order, and ther arms at right shonlder It is Ellis, cantering briskly from the Advanced position Scott has designated, and coming to them now around the shoulder of the bluff a little to the right That Ellis has seen something is evident; his face shows it in an instant. T specialty of. Ton will do well not to wait too long for a unanimous call from the people. Ton can see how it has worked in my "An Indian war party, major, perhaps a dozen, rode from behind a long ridge over to the west and down into the valley of what 1 take to be a bran oh of the Porcupine. That bntte hides a good deal of the valley; bnt we can eee it from there, though." Almost in the face of the foremost Sioux • • -1 - kl 11- -i »• - I have been pa tie :al sense pure hi* revolver blazes iis'chaiiengt. band and train leading, Berrien's men, with elastic step, with swing and life fm ererf stride, inarch away across the parade, heajding /oad in front of Farquhar's quarrhe trumpet* strike up their pier peaL With one simultaneous carbines are brought to the md Berrien lowers his saber in to the griy haired colonel, whose and who bares for the moment * "das he notes the spir- Daring Indian scouts were ever on their flanks and front and rear, making no overt move against them, but keepimj the hostile camp fully informed of e'rything that was being done and watching restlessly for opportunity to cut off every straying charger, to cut down every straggling man. Knowing all this full well, Berrien had given strict orders—neither officer nor trooper was permitted to leave the column by day nor the bivouac by night; and now its mission accomplished, the column had started on return march, and up to this time no casualty had occurred. So long as the isolated battaliou was moving toward the hostile camp, nearing every hour the overwhelming array of the enemy and separating itself farther and farther from friendly supports, no bar had been put to its progress. But now the Indian scouts could see that it was turning back, probably in the hope of regaining the cantonment unmolested.and janntiness "You three men come with ma," says Berrien quietly. "We must look into »• 9t, I shon ig the fac ia public "What makes it seem probable that he was unjustly suspected was that the bank dismissed its cashier, Jack's moat intimate friend, a man two or three years older than himself, and a devoted admirer of Nita's. It was even supposed that she was engaged to him. He had no wealthy friends to stand up for him, and Jack's death made it appear as though there had been guilt; and yet such a sum could not well have been made away with except by tho knowledge or collusion of the cashier himself, and though proofs were lacking, he was discharged the very day poor Jack was buried. No one knows whatever became of him afterward, and people Fettled down into the belief that this Mr. Worden was the real thief. But now comes thqf strangest part of it all. The president of the bank was a widower who, for two years, had been a suitor of Nita's, a persistent suitor, despite her marked coldness and aversion. Four months ago rumors began to float as to the stability of the bank; then came a run, a panic; the bank had to close its doors; immediate investigation into its affairs was made, and then came the discovery that tho president had been a heavy speculator and had unquestionably used the funds of the bank to cover his losses. They found his body in the river four days afterward, floating down by the old barracks, where jon and I had such a happy winter twenty years ago. People say now that it was President Percival himself all the time, and that he threw suspicion on young Guthrie because ho knew the father would eagerly pay auy sum to cover tlx loss and hide the shame; but Jack's death balked tho scheme. have: far the Two minutes' lope brings them to the butte Ellis has pointed oat. Leaving their horses with the orderly, Berrien, the sergeaut and the sentinel go crouching up the hither elope, throw themselves on the ground and crawl to the summit. As the vedette has said, the whole country for miles in every direction can be seen—a country of bold contours, of bare, rounded bluffs and battee, of deep, shadowy ravines and gulches— a country bare of trees save the ghostly, leafless cotton woods perched by the banks of many a froien stream. Miles and miles to the north and northwest the wild Indian land spreads before their eyes. Close at hand, tumbling, billowy and abrupt, the ridges follow or intercept one another in rapid succession. ry, lively crash the CHAPTER VIII, Ah, I owe carry, Lettera from the front! What joy and comfort they bring!—for every writer seems bent ojD convincing the rnxious enes at home that there is no longer and little discomfort, after all. Telegrams and brief notes have been raining in ever since the departure of the regiment, bat now the two battalions are reunited under Farquhar's command; they hare got shaken down nto a species of winter cantonment "-numberof comrMe troops "hr» ijipned de- J not been Men and and no's and ey rode o the of coarse. Tour eyes fill  Ida handsome head as nt» _ ited bearing of the yien. And now the head of column, ha: reached the road and turns to the left and now tne trumpets cease ana tne rui band bunts into martial song anil all Along the row women are waring hand kerchiefs wet with tsars, even though many are sobbing as though their hearts would break, and little children art perched on the gallery railings, shooting in shrill treble their goodby to papa, who turns one brief glance, perhaps the ▼ery last on earth, and a big lump rises in many a husky throat and stern eye* are dimmed with unwonted tears, and God alone knows the secret thoughts that go surging throngh the soldier brain, the never ceasing whisper of that atill, small voice, "What—what will be their fate if I am taken?" God alone cam hear, God alone can know the huasility, the piteous pleading i» the muttered prayer that floats to him oq high, "Oh, guard and protect them, and if it be thy will in thy good time restore the father to his helpless little one#." Ah, it is one thing to go forth to fight for an imperuea country, for an insulted flag, to stake life and fortune and hope to guard the beloved ones at life to live over again 1 would n this shy feeling and firi my braix koumiss. Then I could come to and ask for the popular suffrage, sibly yon might object to firing brain. Some do, bat when a brain signs of incapacity and lack at ia I claim that it should be fired. t So far as platform is concerned, is, as yon say, no new one. Finan always offered a good opportunj Dm ingenious capper to go on "Now, I want you to do something for ma, A man will call on yon within a few days, presenting a letter of introduction from me. He is a detective from Chicago. He has certain inquiries to make at the post and in town before going to Louisville, and it should not be known that he is a detective at all. Give him every facility in your power, introduce him to the postmaster as a friend of mine, if you prefer it, and let him occupy my quarters while at the garrison. He will want to see the firehouse and apparatus and all about Holden's quarters. Kathleen is there in charge,'and Holden has no objection, though he pooh poohs the efforts 1 am making to get at the bottom of this strinnga business. I hope I am not asking too much of you. ate ia just I to OA Poayour*  -Sneaky sort of man! mean, air? Witness—Well, sort of man that'll never jht in the face until your -Tit-Bits. ribbins it studying theone clerk to another. "He waata em astral body 11 gasne for him."—life, judge a man," Mid the yy what hie near neighx If the most of them him, yon can depend on ****able individuality." wife a goodlv. •fenqr, HA li-.w tlttt ffael has lieoi ut and fur cap and "blizzard ooats" arc coming and the TOfflaus hover mg aboot the tamps seem deeply impressed the Bombers and at Uj" white wkkicrs and all there The face of the land is cut np into tor* tuous "breaks," the deep, narrow beds of countless little streams, all winding tributary to the river that flows placidly away to the northeast in the broad valley from which the column marched at dawn. Beyond that, west of north, clearly, sharply defined in the distance, already alternating glaring surface and ghostly shade under the slanting ray* of the westering sun, a tumbling mass of jagged, fantastic shapes, a tangle of vertical cliffs and seamed and furrowed walls, a labyrinth of gorges, gullies, washed out channels, deep, black crevices, and broad, yawning, impassable gulfs, the storied Bad Lands of Dakota, shunned by all except the renegade and outlaw in the past, now habitable only by the Indian. Beyond these, faint and dim in the distance, the snow covered, pine crested summits in the Black Hills. All the rest of the surface, east, west and south, a frozen sea of gray, glinting here and there in the declining rays; and there off to the southwest, perhaps five miles away, lies the valley into which the party of dusky warriors has galloped so short a time before—the valley beyond which, a long, long day's march away, stands the guarded camp of comrade soldiery awaiting their return. Berrien studies the scene long and carefully through his glasses. Intermediate ridges are not many, but they are sharp i and clearly defined. ; It was a sunshiny December afternoon; the air was as clear as a bell, the clouds that obscured the eastern sky at dawn had long since drifted out of sight, and in all its broad expanse the pale blue vault of the heavens wore not so much as a feather of vapor. Who that rode in the laughing, chatting, jaunty column that sparkling day could realize the change a few hour? might effect on the silent, breezeless solitudes around them? At noon the sun was so warm that many a trooper had stripped off his heavy overcoat and turned up the flaps of the rough fur cap. Except in deep ravines hardly any snow was to be seen. The dull gray surface of the rolling prairie, wave after wave, lay basking, and the leafless branches of the cottonwoods overhanging the frozen pools were glistening, sparkling in the lifegiving rays. The advance guard, after breaking the ice and treating their horses to a mouthful of water at the stream, had moved on at brisk trot, and now the stalwart riders were spreading out in e.-rtended order as they breasted the slope. Out to the west, full five hundred yards, the wary flankers could be seen, some crossing the stream farther down the valley, while other comrades appeared over the barren ridge behind, that no sneaking foe might crawl up unobserved and send a long rauge bullet from its shelter down into the swarm of troopers at the ford. So, too, the flank ers to the east and the sturdy little* knot of rear guardsmen just popping up over the divide so recently crossed, all lold of ceaseless vigilance on every side. Berrien has not ridden the Sioux trail a score of years for nothing, lie takes uo chances where the security of iiis com mand is concerned, aud lias small opin The day has gone by for a (Teat to borrow the money and elect to office. All the gieat nation ciers hare now exhausted thei I elated the last one several y but he was defeated and is bean bag at the poor farm thii with a gent who has a theory "We've got two of them, sir, all right," he whispers, breathless, but well knowing that to be the best news he can give. "The net got away and left a ballet hole in your shoulder."  "I saw Hearn last evening, just in from a ten days' scout with Lane's squadron over toward theWakpa Shicha. He asked after yon and sent cordial regards. There are two other fellows here who were on their honeymoon tour when their regiments were ordered to the field. It reconciles one to being a bachelor almost." W*U Trateed. At it 700114 the performance C*ncea at the atagaanc ay, Belle, can It be poejurtain's gone down? Bow Aownt I Wat know itwM y ao late. We've had a Mai nice haven't we?"—Boston Transcript. "Binka u the brighteat man I know." 'Doaa ha aa 7 aharp things?" "Not hat 70a ought to hear him keep still whan be ha* a chance to aay them."—Elmira Oaietta. — ■ 1— 1 I The little Boston boy had been chastised by bis school teacher. t 1 "Excuse the question," he said, "bnt bare you taoght school before?" "No." "Then you have children of your own." "Yes. How did you know?" oeoillattan," I just g»». work by the week. I knew that way myself, but I had m the coon try was such. Yes, it would be well to subsidise th« press. It would help you and at thC same time it would not offend the press. Subsidising the press should be done in a genteel way of course, not rudely oD coarsely. Do not go into the office while others are present «nd in a loud voice seek to swap a cigar with one warm, wet end to it for the never dying love of a paper that has come to stay. Ton only give offense and hurt your cause. Vulgarity is Just ss offensive to an.editor as it is to a man ot refinement Again, do not fancy because you are acquainted with the man who writes the musical column on Sundays that you can claim the political support of the paper. Do not, bemuse you have been out late with the editor, fool yourself with the idea that he will 1st yen the fireside, Mid to feel that one is battling for them, for. ti«ir honor, peace BuMtffl aerent to be torn from loving anna fed the smiles and sunshine in the little laces, the prattling and Usees of baby hps, to face ye«r after year a sa*agj foe, knowing full well that, defeated,iSnly death can be the soldier's fortune; that, Tictorious, the only reward wjll lie permission to Blink back to -fche station whence one came. It i»the conquered Indian who rides in triumph tp the nations capital and learns how gfeat and good a thing it la to teke the warpath e**y other year. It u all well enough for the young officers, the young tKDopert,to Unghand cheer. It 1b the husband and father among the seniors, the ekl cam] The major pot the letter down and pondered long, perplexed and annoyed. He had known Rolfe but a short time, and had learned to know him mainly through Holden. He knew him to be resolute, positive, even aggressive at times. He admired his soldierly qualities and respected his ability. But when finally he rose from his desk after stowing that letter away old Kenyon expressed himself about as follows: "That fellow needs a wife. He is too much accustomed to having his own way. I'll be hanged if I'll do any detective work for him or anybody else. If Holden wants his house searched, Holden can say so." "I perceived at once that yours was no unpracticed hand."—Washington Star. A Bitter MIL Ha—I thmk Dolly Orlggacm It terribly rodaD. lw telling bar oma at my baat storka this afternoon and'aha fall Hl(K|P She—That'* strange! She toldme yeeterday that aha waa troubled with in-. •omnia.—Lift. _ _ ( "Do you wonder now that Nita is sometimes overwrought and nervous: Poor girl! who knows what she has suffered? Who, to see her iu society, would dream that she had ever suffered at all: Do you suppose Captain Rolfe did not hear all about this when he was here cn recruiting service? Merritt—That wu a pretty hard doctor's Mil I had to pay. DeGarry—How was that? Merritt—You see, it was for injuries received by being thrown from a horse 1 was riding by the doctor's advice.—New York Evening Sun.  r~- -» "Now you ask me to tell you every thing about Winifred. Is she happy? Is she getting over her disappointment? 1 do not know just what to say. She i.' always bright and apparently joyous in society; always grateful for every kind ness aud attention shown her; but she israrely alone one minute front morning until late at night, and I cannot be .sure. She never speaks of him; and in all tlie whirl of «jcial gayety here, and the attention sho receives on every side, 1 think, I hope, she may forget her girlish Time will s.howt" Jess—I thought you hated Jack, and yet yon have accepted him. Bess—I did hate him; but he proposed under an umbrella, and said if 1 refused him he would let the rain drip on my new hat.—Mew York Herald. Took m Una Advantage. Two days later the major had the mournful pleasure of escorting Mrs. and Miss Berrien to the train, and as it steamed away eastward a man who had stepped from the day car as Kenyon placed his fair charges on the sleeper came forward and handed him a note addressed in Rolfe's characteristic hand. "Who was it reported that the advance saw signal smokes south of us at noon?" he asks. r jpaignet in tke rank and file—men who have 'been through many ami nuuiya bloody light within some twenty years of national peace and prosperity—men who have seen dozens, hundreds at their cherished comrades slaughtered in battle with the "It is my brother." Dollooto to m Fault. "We an* doing ty-st Bess dear," wrote Berrien, "an* »lf att?iojjpful that with the surroundfyrf Qf bitf band of hoetilee in the Bad River valley the most uncertain feature of tho business is at an end. If thev can be ouietlv Mrs. Slimaon—My Clara is an awfully delicate girl; she can't stand anything. Mrs. van Blumer—Neither can my Maude. She pot on a sailor hat the other day and it made her seasick.— Cloak Ksvisw. "Corporal Waite, sir; he and two oi the meu saw them plainly, and they seemed to be answered off here." And Ellis points miles away to the west. dictate the course of the paper. Yon might come in on him daring ana of hie lucid intervals and ht thrown put. "I know who you are," said Kenyon. "You will find me at my office in the Berrien uuuders a moment