Pittston Gazette

              Oldest Newspaper in the Wyoming Valley. PITTSTON, LUZERNE CO., 1'A., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 18!Dt. A Weekly Local and Family Journal. i "Couriers from the corral," is tno jubilant answer. "This Colonel May. uard's outlit?" "Aye, ayo, sonny," is theunmilitary but characteristic answer. "What's your news?'1 "Got tL imo and saved what's left of 'el-., t's a hell hole, and yon fellows aro wanted quick as you can come—30 miles ahead. Where's the oolonol?" The corporal of tho guard goes back to tho bivouao, leading the two arrivals. Ono is a scout, a plainsman born and bred, the other asergoantof cavalry. They dismount in tho timber and picket their horses, then follow on foot tho lead of thoir companion of tho guard. While the corporal and tho scout proceed to the wagon fly and fumble at tho opening, the tall sergeant stands silently a littlo distance in their rear, and tho occupants of a neighboring shelter—tho counterpart of the colonel's—begin to stir, as though their light slumber had been broken by tho smothered sound of footsteps. Ono of them sits up and peers out at tho front, gazing earnestly at tho tall figure standing easily thero in tho flickering light. Thou ho hails in low was telling. It would have boon ot interest to every soldier in the command, but to no ono so much so ;is to the two who were his absorbed listeners. Armitage, before their early march, had frankly and briefly set before him his suspicions as to the oase and the trouble in which Miss Ren wick was involved. No time was to bo lost Any moment might find them plunged in fierce battle, and who could foretell the results, who could say what might happen to prevent this her vindication ever reaching the ears of her accusers? Some men wondered why it was that Colonel Maynard sent his compliments to Captain Chester and begged that at the next halt he would join him. Tho halt did not come for a long hour, and when it did come it was very brief, but Chester received another message and went forward to find his colonel sitting in a little grove with the cavalryman while tho orderly held their horses a short space away. Armitago had gone forward to his advance, and Chester showed no surprise at the sight of tho sergeant seated side by sidowith tho colonel and in confidential converse with him. There was a quaint sly twinklo in Maynard's eyes as he greets! his old friend. commissioned officer whCjse recora was an honor to himself ai*d to his regiment, a soldier of whoa officers and comrades alike wero He never droamod—indeed, how few thero are who do—that a in;ui of his character, standing and ability is liofiorcd and roupected by tho very men whom tho customs of the service require him to speak with only when spoken to. Ho supposed that only as Fred ltenwick could he extend his hand to ono of their number, whereas it was under his soldier name ho won their trust and admiratiou, and it was as Sergeant McLeod the officers of the th »vero backing him for a commission tha| would make him what they deemed hini fit to bo— their equal. his scouting shirt ho mew a flat pado ». an Indian caso, which he carefully nn rolled, and there in its folds of wrap pings was tho lovely dircctoire photo graph. lntt ml me, •ge and complete my son numuianon, ana it is thn ono thing that is loft mo that will free yon. If will sting at first; but, like the surgeon's knife, its out is mercy. Nina, the very night I came to you on the bluffs, the very night you poriled your honor to have that parting interview, I went to you with a lie on my lips. I had told her we were nothing to each other, you and L More than that, I was seeking her love. I hoped I could win her, and had she loved me I would liavo turtiod from you to make her my wife. Nina, I loved Alioo Renwick. Good by. Don't mourn for me after tery and of his indignant refusal to attach one moment's suspicion to her. Shocked, stunned, outraged as she felt at the mere fact that such a story had gained an instant's credence in garrison circles, she was overwhelmed by the weight of circumstantial evidence that had been arrayed against her. Only little by little did her mother reveal It to her. Only after several days did Fred repeat the story of his night adventure and his theft of her picture, of his narrow escape and of his subsequent visit to the cottage Only gradually had her mother revealed to her the circumstances of Jerrold's wager with Bloat and the direful consequences, told 1 Whoso, then, was tho ono that Sloat had seen in Jerrold's room? It was this that) Armitage had gone forward to determine, and ho found his sad eyed lieutenant with the skirmishers. in;; i 1 him that I ho- I li I came by tho d, and he-pent ave I not paid int. Chester "Jerrold," said he, with softened manner, "a strange thing is brought to light this moruine. and I lose no time in tolling you. Tho man who was seen at Maynard's quarters, coming from Miss Renwick's room, was her own brother and the colonel's stepson. Ho was tho man who took the photograph from Mrs. Milliard's room and has proved it this very day, this very hour." Jerrold glanced up in sudden surpriso. "Ho is with us now, and only ono thing remains, which you can clear up. We are going into action, and I may not got through, nor you, nor— who knows who. Will you tell us now how you camo by your copy of that photograph?" Dr f.-Il ■! H' Vepfr his word to ■T, Vat what was it worth !encC: (ho pi to a v ln-en a week of wild anxi- ety and tho pros: It was this." that irried forward uit it reached CHAPTER XX [CONTINUBD ] so many 01 nis woanoa comrades wero sleeping tho sleep of tho tired soldier. Here he tore to fragments and scattered in tho embers somo notes and letters that wero in his pockets. They blazed up brightly, and by the glare he stood one moment studying young Rollins' smooth and placid features. Then he looked around on the unconscious circle of bronzed and bearded faces. There were many types of soldier thero—men who had led brigades through tho great war ai.d gone back to the humblo bars of the line officer at its close; men who had led tierce charges against the swarming Indians in tho rough old days of the first prairie railways; men who had won distinction and honorable mention in hard and trying frontier service; men who had their faults and foibles and weaknesses like other men and wero aggressive or compliant, strong willed or yielding, overbearing or meek, as are their brethren in other walks of life; men who were simple in heart, single in purpose and ambition, diverse in characteristics, but unanimous in one trait—no meanness could livo among them—and Jerrold's heart sank within him, colder, lower, stonier than before, as ho looked from face to face and cost up mentally the sum of each man's character. from t They were having a family conclave at Sablon. The furlough granted Sergeant McLood on account of wound received in action with hostile Indians would soon expire, and the question was, Should he ask an extension, apply for a disoharge or go back and rejoin his troop? It was a matter on whioh there was much diversity of opinion Mrs. Maynard should naturally be permitted first choice, and to her wish there wjjg every roason far according deep anti tender consideration. No words can tell of the rapture of that reunion with her long lost son. It was a scene over whioh the colonel could never ponder without deep emotion. The telegrams and letters by whioh he carefully prepared her for Frederick's oomfiig were all insufficient. She knew well that her boy must have greatly changed and matured, but when this tall, brcnztd, bearded, stalwart man sprang Cram tho old red omnibus and threw his one serviceable arm around her trembling form the mother was utterly overcome. Alice left them alone together a full hour before even she Intruded, and little by little, as the days went by and Mrs. Maynard realized that it was really hor Fred who was whistling about the cottage or booming trooper songs in his great basso profundo and glorying in hie regiment and the cavalry life he had led, a wonderful oontent and Joy shone in her handsome face. It was not until the colonel announced that it was about time for them to think of going back to Sibley that tho cloud came. Fred said he couldn't go. of his double the very nights on which Fred had maue his visitB, of the suspicions that resulted, the accusations and his refusal to explain and clear her name Mrs. Maynard felt vaguely relieved to see how slight an impression the young man had mado on her daughter's heart Alio© seemed but little surprised to hear of the engagement to Nina Ttaanhirai of her msh to his rescue and their romantic parting. The tragedy of his death hushed all further talk on that subject Th*#*was one of which she could not hear eaHagh, and that was about the man who had been most instrumental in the rescue of her name and honor. Alice had only tender sorrow and no reproach for her stepfather when, after her mother told her the story of his sad experience 20 years before, she related his distress of mind and suspicion when he read Jerrold's letter. It was then that Alice said, "And against that piece of evidence no mall, I suppose, would hold me guiltless?"CHAPTER XVIL Unable to penetrate tho armor of reserve and discipline which separates tho officer from the rank and file, he nevor imagined that the colonel would have boon the first to welcome him had he known the truth. Ho believod that now his last chance of seeing his mother was gone until that coveted commission was won. Then camo another blow. The doctor told him that with his heart trouble ho could never physical examination. He could not hope for preferment, then, and must see her as ho v, as and see her secretly aud alone. Then camo blow after blow. His shooting had failed, so had that of otherB of his regiment, and he was ordered to return in chargo of the party early on tho morrow. The order reached him late in tho evening, and before breakfast time on the following day he was directed to start, with his nartvfor town, thence bv rail to uis distant post, lnat nignt, in desperation, he made his plan. Twice before h« hod strolled down to the DOSt and with yearning eyes had studied ery feature of the colonel's house. He dared ask no questions of servants or of tho men in garrison, but ho learned enough Co know which rooms were theirs, and he had noted that the windows were always open. If he could only see their loved faces, kneol and kiss his mother's hand, pray God to forgive him, ho could go away believing that ho had undone tho spell and revoked the malediction of "his early youth. It was hazardous, but worth the danger. He could go in peace and sin no moro toward mother, at least and then if she mourned and missed him oould ho not find it out some day and make himself known to her after his discharge? Ho slipped out of camp, paving his boots behind and wearing ins light Apaeho moccasins and flannel shirt and trousers. Danger to himself ho had no great fear of. If by any chance mother or sister should wake, he had but to stretch forth his hand and say, "It is only I—Fred." Danger to them ho never dreamed of. the Colors D trail; that it could not Under the cloudless heavens, under tho starlit skies, blessing the grateful dew that oools the upland air and moistens tho bunch grass that has been bleaching all day in the fierce rays of tho summer sun, a little column of infantry is swinging steadily southward. Long and toilsome has been the march; hot, •dusty and parching the day. Halts have been few and far between, and every man, from the colonel down, ifMSoated with a gray mask of powdered alkali, the contribution of a two hours' tramp through Dead Man's canyon just before the sun went down. Now, however, they aro climbing the range. The morrow will bring them to the broad and beautiful valley of the Spirit Wolf, and there they must bavo news. Officers and men are footsore and weary, out no one begs for rest. Colonel Maynard, riding ahead on a sorry hack he picked up at the station two days' long march behind them, is eager to reach the; W rings at Forest Glade before ordering bivouac for tho niglit A week agoue no one who saw him at Sablon would have thought the colonel fit for a march like this, but he seems rejuvenate. His head is high, his eye as bright, his bearing as full of spirit as man's could possibly be at GO, and the whole regiment cheered him when ho caught the column at Omaha. A talk with Chester and Armitago seemed to have made a new man of him, and tonight he is full of an energy that inspires the entire command. Though they were farther away than many other troops ordered to the scene, the foot that their station was on th* railway, and that they could be sent by special trains to Omaha and thence to the west, enabled them to begin their rescue march ahead of all the other foot troops and behind only the powerful command of cavalry that was whirled to the scene the moment the authorities woke up to the fact that it should have been sent in the first place. Old Maynard would give his very ears to get to Thornton's corral ahead of them, but the cavalry has 86 hours' start and four legs to two. Every moment he looks ahead expectant of tidings from the front that shall tell him tho th were thero and the remnant rescued. Even then, be knows, he and his long springfields will be needed. The cavalry can fight their way in to the snocor of the besieged, but once there will be themselves surrounded and too few in numbers to begin aggressive movements. He and his will indeed be welcome .re-enforcements, and so they trudge ahead. Wolf :i to the valley of tin Spirit the I t t. it KU a fight, and that ■il in joining il ready there a us with the C vigorous a would lx: made on tho ■ws of tho rescue of the niton's command came a;i-1 with it the tidiit;:.; that Maynard and hi* rejriment were mot only 30 miles from the scene and were pushing forward. The next news came two days later, and a wail w. nt np even while men were shaking hands and rejoicing over the gallant fifrlit that had been made, and women were weeping fur joy and thanking (lid that these whom they held dearest wC re safe. It was down among jeants and other Indians. T snrvivt first. ■f Tl For answer Jerrold fumbled in his pocket a moment and. dxew forth two letters. toaes: "That you, Mr. Jerrold? What is tho matter?" And the tall figure faces promptly toward tho hailing voice. The spurrod heels come together with a click, tho gauntleted hand rises in soldierly salute to tho broad brim of the soouting hat, and a deep voice answers respectfnlly: "It is not Mr. Jerrold, sir. It is Sergeant McLeod, th cavalry, just in with dispatches.'' Armitage springs to his feet, sheds his shell of blankets and steps forth into tho glado, with his eyes fixed eagerly on the shadowy form in front Ho peers under the broad brim, as though striving to see the eyes and features of the tall dragoon. "Did you get thero in time?" ho asks, half wondering whether that was really the question uppermost in his mind. "Chester, " said ho, "1 want you to bo better acquainted with my stepson, Mr. Ronwiek. He has an apology to make to you." "I wroto these last night, and it was my intention to see that you bad them beforo it grew very hot. One is addressed to you, the other to Miss Beaubien. You had better take them now," he said wearily. "Thero may bo 110 time to talk after this. Send hers aftei it's over, and don't read yours until then." The tall soldier had rison tho instant ho caught sight of tho newcomer, and oven at tho half playful tone of tho colonel would relax in 11O degree his soldierly sense of the proprieties. He stood erect aud held his hand at tho salute, only very slowly lowering it to take the one so frankly extended him by the captain, who, however, was grave and quiet. veterans tl tiie wi lilt thoblC truck hardest at Sihley, forsthe stricken officers were unmarried men, while among the rank and file tin-re were several who never came hack to the little ones who lDore their name. Company B had suffered most, for the Indians had charged fiercely on its deployed hut steadfast line. Armitage almost clioked and broke down v, hen telling the colonel about it. j he Jay under the willows, first smile I had seen on his got back—that with which hed up in my eyes and whispered nd died, just after we drovo "Why, I don't understand this exactly," said Armitage, puzzled. "Can't you tell mo about tho picture?" "I have suspected as much since daybreak," be said, "and no man is gladder to know it is you than I am." "No. I promised not to while I lived, but It's the simplest matter in the world, and no one at tho colonel's had a hand in it They never saw this one that I got to show Sloat. It is burned now. I said 'twas given me. That was hardly tho truth. I havo paid for it dearly enough." "Yon are •wrong, dear," was her mother's answer. "It was powerless to more Captain Armitaga He scooted the idea of your guilt from the moment he set eyes on you and never rested until he had overturned the last atom of evidence. Even I had to explain," said her mother, "simply to confirm his theory at the light Captain Chester had seen and the shadows and the form at the window. It was just exactly as AjD mitage reasoned it out I was wretched Mid 'wakeful, aloeroine but fitfullv that night 1 arose ana toot some bromiae about 8 o'clock and soon afterward heard a tall or a noise like one. I thought at you and got up and went in nroom, and all was quiet there, but semed close and warm, so I raised D your shade and then left both your door and mine open and went back to bed. "I dozed away presently and then woke feeling all startled again, don't yon know—the sensation one experiences when aroused from sleep, certain that these has been a strange and startling noise, and yet unable to tell what it was? I lay still a moment, but the oolonel slept through it all, and I wondered at it I knew there had been a ehpt or something, but could not bear to disturb him. At last I got up again and went to your room to be sure yon were all right, and yon were sleeping soundly still, but a breeze was beginning to blow and flap your shade to and fro, so I drew it and went out taking my lamp with me this time and softly closing your door behind ma See how it all seemed to fit in with everything else that had happened. It took a man with a will of his own and an unshaken faith in woman to stand Arm against such evidence." And, though Alloe Ken wick was silent she appreciated the fact none the less. Dav after day she clung to her stalwart brother's side. She had ceased to ask questions about Captain Annitage and that strange greeting after the first day or twot but, oddly enough, she oonld never let him talk long of any snblect but that campaign, of his ride with the captain to the front of the long talk they had had, and then the stirring fight and the magnificent way in which Armitage had handled his long skirmish line. He was enthusiastic in his praise of the tall Saxon captain. He soon noted how silent and absorbed she sat when he was the theme of discourse. He incidentally mentioned little thingB "he" had said about "her" that morning and marked how her color rose and her eyes flashed quick, joyful, questioning glances at his face, then fell in maiden shyness. He had speedily gauged the cause of that strange excitement displayed by Armitage at seeing him the morning he rode in with the soout Now he wits ganging with infinite delight the other side of the question. Then, brotherlike, he began to twit and tease her, and that was the last of the oonfidenoea "Yon would have known it before, sir, had I had tho faintest idea of tho danger in which my foolhordiuess had Involved my sister. The colonel has told you of my story. I have told him and Captain Armitage what led to my mad freak at Sibley, and while I have much to make amends for I want to apologize for the blow I gave you that night on the terrace. I was far more scared than you were, sir." "It \ I hat nigh face ho 1 Hia hospitality had been boundless, his bounty lavish; ono and all they had eaten of his loaf and drunk of his cup, but was thero among them ono who could say of him, "Ho is gonorous, and I stand his friend?" Was there one of them, one of theirs, for whom he had ever denied himself a pleasure, great or small? He looked at poor old Gray, with his wrinkled, anxious face, and thought of his distress of mind Only a few thousands—not throe years' pay—had the veteran scraped and saved and stored away for his little girl, whoso heart was aching with its first cruel sorrow— hiB work, his undoing, his cursed, selfish greed for adulation, his reckless love of lova The morrow's battle, if it came, might leave her orphaned and alone, and, poor as it was, a father's pitying sympathy could not bo her help with the coming year. Would Gray mourn him if the fortune of war made him the victim? Would any one of those averted faces look with pity and regret npon his stiffening form? Would there be any one on earth to whom his death would be a sorrow but Nina? Would it even be a blow to her? She loved him wildly, he knew that, but would she were she to dream the truth? He knew her nature well. He knew how quickly such burning love could turn to fiercest hate when convinoed that the object was utterly untrue. Ho had said nothing to her of the photograph, nothing at all of Alice, except to protest time and again that his attentions to her were solely to win the good will of the colonel's family and of the colonel himself, so that he might be proof against the machinations of his foes. And yet had he not that very night on which ho crossed the stream and let her peril her name and honojr for ono stolen interview—had he not gone to her exultant welcome with a traitorous knowledge gnawing at his heart? That very night, before they parted at the colonel's door, had he not lied to Alice Renwick, had he not denied the story of his devotion to Miss Be&abien, and was not his practiced eye watching eagerly the beautiful dark faoe for one sign that tho news was welcome and bo precipitate the avowal trtmbling on his lips that it was her ho madly loved—not Nina? Though she hurriedly bade him good night, though she was unprepared for any such announcement, ho well knew that Alice Henwick's heart fluttered at tho earnestness of his manner, and that ho hod indicated far more than he had said "And this note explains it?' "Yes. You can read it tomorrow." CHAPTER XIX. good And tho morrow has come. Down in a deep and bluff shadowed valley, hung all aronnd with picturesque crags and pine crested heights, under a cloudless September sun, whoso warmth is tempered by tho mountain breeze, a thousand rough looking, bronzed and bearded and powder blackened men are resting after battle. CC jri "I think we can afford to forgive him, Chester. Ho knocked us both oat," said the colonel. In fact, tho colonel himself had been worrying a little over it As Fred Renwick, the tall, distinguished young mm in civilian costume, he would be welcome anywhere; but, though his garb was that of the sovereign citizen so long as his furlough lasted, there were but two weeks more of it left and officially ho was nothing more nor lees than Sergeant McLeod, Troop B, th cavalry, and there was no precedent for a oolonel's entertaining as an honored guest and social equal oi» of the enlisted men of tho army. Ho rather hoped that Fred would yield to his mother's entreaties and apply for a discharge. His wound and the latent trouble with his heart would probably render it an easy matter to obtain, and yet he was ashamed of himself for the feeling. Then there was Alice. It was hardly to bo supposed that so very high bred a young woman would relish the idea of being seen around Fort Sibley on the arm of her brother, the sergeant; but wonderful to relate, Miss Alloe took a radically different view of the whole situation. So far from wishing Fred out of the army, she importuned ViCrn day after day until he got out his best uniform, wth its resplendent ohevrons apd stripes of vivid yellow and the yellow helmet cords, though they were out humble worsted, and when he Forth in that dress, with the bronze medal on his left breast and the sharpshooter's silver cross, his tall, athletlo figure showing to such advantage, his dark, southern, manly features so awhAnnad by contrast with his yellow facings, she clapped her hands with a cry of delight and sprang into his one available arm and threw her own about his neck and kissed him again and again. . Even mamma had to admit he looked astonishingly well, but Alice declared she would never thereafter be reconciled to seeing him in anything but a cav* airy uniform. The oolonel found her not at all of her mother's way of thinking. She saw no reason Fred should leave tho servioa Other sergeants had won their commissions every year. Why not he? Even if it wore some time in coming, was there shame or degradation in being a cavalry sergeant? Not a bit of it I Fred himself was loath to quit He was getting a little homesick, too—- homosick for the boundless life and space and air of tho broad frontier, homesick for the rapid movement and vigorous hours in tho saddle and on the scout His arm was healing, and shoh a delight of a lotter had oome from his captain, telling him that the adjutant had just been to see him about the new staff of the regiment The gallant sergeant major, a young Prussian of marked ability, had been killed early In the campaign. Tho vacancy must soon be filled, and tho colonel and the adjutant both thought at once of Sergeant Mo- Leod. "I won't stand in your way, sergeant" wrote bis troop commander, "but you know that old Ryan is to be discharged at the end of his sixth enlistment the 10th of next month. There is no man I would sooner see In his place as first sergeant of my troop than yourself, and I hato to lose yon. But as it will bo for the gain and the good of tho whole regiment yon ought to accept tho adjutant's offer. All the men rejoice to hear you are recovering so fast, and all will be glad to see Sergeant McLeod back again." Chester bowed gravely. ' 'That was the easiest part of the affair to forgive," ho said, "and it is hardly for me, I presume, to be the only one to blame the sergeant for the trouble that has involved tw all, especially your household, coloneL" Hero and there on distant ridgo and point the cavalry vidottes keep vigilant, watch against surprise or renewed attack. Down along the. banks of a clear, purling stream a sentry paces slowly by tho brown line of rifles, swivel stacked In tho sunshine. Men by tho dozen are washing their blistered foot and grimy hands and fact's in the cool, refreshing water; men by tho dozen lie soundly sleeping, somo in tho broad glare, some in the shade of the little clump of willows, all heedless of tho pestering swarms of flies. Out on tho broad, grassy slopes, side lined and watched by keen eyed guards, the herds of cavalry horses are quietly grazing, forgetful of tho wild excitement of yestereven. Every now and then some one of them lifts his head, pricks up his ears and snorts and stamps suspiciously as ho sniffs at tho puffs of smoke that conic drifting up the valley from tho fires a mile away. The wsiking men, too, bestow an occasional comment on tho odor which greets their nostrils. Down stream, whore tho fires are training, are the Blackened remnants of a wagon train. Tires, bolts and axles aro lying about, but all woodwork is in smoldering ashes; so, too, is all that remains of several hundredweight of stores and supplies destined originally to nourish the Indians, but, by them, diverted to feed the flrei "\ * "It was expensive masquerading, to say the least,'' replied the colonel, ' 'but he never realized the consequences until Armitage told him today. Yon must hear his story in brief, Chester. It is needful that three or four of us know it, so that some may be left to set things right at Sibley. God grant us all safe return!" he added Diouslv and with deep emotion. "I can far better appreciate our homo and happiness than I OQuld a month ago. Now, Renwiok, tell the captain what you have told us. " them back. My turn camo later." Old Sloat, too, "had his customary crack," as lio expressed it—a shot through the wrist that made him hop and swear savagely until some of tho men got to laughing at the comical figure he cut, and then ho turned and damned them with hearty good will and seemed all oblivious of the bullets that went zipping past his frosting hi ad. Young Rollins', to his inexpressible pride and comfort, had a Indict hole through his scouting hat and another through his shoulder strap that raised a big welt on the white skin beneath, but, to the detriincut of promotion, no captain was killed, and ,TC rrold gave the only fde. hixpcrc 7by and died. Strong and atlilotic, despite his Blender frame, he easily lifted the ladder from Jerrold's fence, and dodging the sentry when he spied him at the gato finally took it down hack of the colonel's and raised it to a roar window. By tho strangest chance the window was closed, and he oonld not bndge it. Then ho heard tho challengo of a sentry around on the east front and had just time to slip down and lower tho ladder when he heard the rattlo of a sword and knew it most be the officer of tho day. There was no time to carry off the ladder. Ho left it lying where it was and sprang down tho steps toward tho station. Soon he heard No. 0 challengo and knew tho officer had passed on) waited «mie time, but nothing oocured to Indicate that tho ladder was discovered, and then, plucking up courage and with a muttered prayer for guidance and protection, he stolo up hill again, raised the ladder to tho west wall, noiselessly ascended, peered in Alice's window and could see a faint night light burning in tho hall beyond, but that all was darkness there, stole around on tho roof of the piazza to the hall window, stepped noiselessly upon the sill, climbed over tho lowered sash and found himself midway between the rooms. He could hear the colonel's placid snoring and the regular breathing of the other sleepers. No time was to be lost Shading tho little night lamp with one hand, he entered tho open door, stole to the bedside, took one long look at his mother's face, knelt, breathed upon, but barely brushed with his trembling lips, tho queenly white hand that lay upon the coverlet, poured forth one brief prayer to God for protection and blessing for her and forgiveness for him, retraced his steps and caught sight of the lovely picture of Alice in tho dirootoiro costume. He longed for it and could not resist She had grown 60 beautiful, so exquisite. He took it, frame and all, carried it into her room, slipped the card from its place aud hid It inside tho breast of his shirt, stowed the frame away behind her sofa pillow, then looked long at the lovely pioture she herself made, lying there sleeping sweetly and peacefully amid tho white drapings of her dainty bod. Then 'twas time to go. He put the lamp back in the hall, passed through her room, out at her window and down the ladder and had it well 011 the way back to the hooks on Jerrold's fence when seized and challenged by tho officer of tho day. Mad terror possessed him then. He struck bliijkly, dashed off in panicky flight, paid no heed to sentiys' cry or whistling missile, but tore liko a racer up tho path and nevor slackened speed till Sibley waa far behind. "It U not Mr. Jcrrold, Kir." "In time to save the survivors, sir, but no attack will bo made until the infantry get there." "Were you not at Sibley last month?" asks the captain quickly. "Yes, sir, with the coinpetitorsi" "You went back before your regimental team, did you not?" "I— No, sir; I went back with And briefly it was told—how in his youthful fury ho had sworn never again to sot foot within tho door of the father and mother who had so wronged the poor girl ho loved with boyish fervor; how ho called down tho vengeance of heavon upon them in his frenay and /listress; how ho had sworn never again io sot eyes on their faces. "May God strike me dead if ever I return to this roof until sho is avenged! May ho deal with you as you have dealt with her I" was tho curse that flew from his wild lips, and with that he left thein, stunned. He wont west was soon penniless, and caring not what ho did, seeking ohange, adventure, anything to take him out of his past he enlisted in the oavalry and was speedily drafted to the th, which was just Btarting forth on a stirring summer campaign. He was a fine horseman, a fine shot a man who instantly attracted the notice of his officers. The campaign was full of danger, adventure, rapid and constant marching, and before he knew it or dreamed it possible he had becomo deeply interested in his new life. ' them." "Youwero relieved from duty at Sibley and ordered back before them, were you not?" The moon la up, and it is nearly 10 o'clock when, high up cm the rolling divide, tho springs are reached, and, barely waiting to quench their thirst in the cooling waters, the wearied men roll themselves in their blankets under the giant trees, and guarded by a few outlying pickets are aoon asleep. Most of the officers have sprawled around a little fire and are burning their boot leather thereat The colonel, bis adjutant and the doctor are curled up under a tent fly that serves by day as a wrap far the rattans and cooking kit they carry on pack mule. Two company commanders—the Alpha and Omega of the 10, as Major Sloat dubbed them— the senior and junior in rank, Chester and Armitage by name, have rolled themselves in their blankets under another tent fly and are chatting in low tones before dropping off to sleep. They have been inseparable on the journey thus far, and the oolonel has had two or three long talks with them, but who knows what tho morrow may bring forth? There is still much to sottle. One officer, he of the guard, is still afoot and trudging about among the trees, looking after his sentries. Another officer, also alone, is sitting in silence smoking a pipe. It is Mr. Jtrrold. Cleared though he is of tho charges originally brought against him in the minds of his colonel and Captain Chester, ho has lost cjisto with his fellows and with them. Only two or three men have been made aware of tho statement which acquitted him, but every one knows instinctively that he was saved by Nina Beaubien, and that in accepting his release at her hands he had put her to a cruel expense. Every man among his brother officers knows in some way that he has been acquitted of having compromised Alice Renwick's fair fame only by on alibi that correspondingly harmed another. Tho fact now generally known—that they were betrothed and that tho engagement was openly announcvd—made no difference. Even in the pallid light Armitage could see tho hesitation, tho flurry of surprise and distress in the sergeant's face. Tho one question at Sibley was, What will Nina Beaubien do? She; did nothing. She would see nobody from the instant the news came. Sins had hardly slept at night, was always awake at dawn and ont at the icato to p t tlte earliest£'ipy of the mornbat the in ws reached them 11. and when some of the la- "Don't fear to tell me, man. I would rather hear it than any news you could give mo. I would rather know you were not Sergeant McLeod than any fact you could tell. Speak low, man, but tell me here and now. Whatever motive you may have had for thiB disguise, whatever anger or sorrows in the past, you must sink them now to save the honor of the woman your madness has periled. Answer me, for your sister's sake. Are yon not Fred Renwick?" inn papers, :xt nightfri dies from tJi; fort drove in to offer their sympathy ami condolence in the morning and to make tender inquiry the answer at the door was that Miss Nina saw nolxxly, that her mother alone was with lic r, and that "she was very stilL " And so it went for some days. Then there came the return of the command to Sibley, and hundreds «)f people went up from town to see the six companies of the fort garrison march up the winding road amid the thunder of welcome from the guns of the light battery and the exultant strains of the baud. Mrs. Maynard and Alice were the culy ladies of the circle who were not theie. A son and brother had joined them aftcr long absence, at Aunt Grace's cottage at Sab- Ion, was the explanation, and the colonel would bring them homo in a few days, after he had attended to somo important matters at the fort. In the first place, Chester had to see to it that the tongue of scandal was slit, so far as the colonel's household was concerned, and all good people notified that no such thing had happened as was popularly supposed—and "everybody" received the announcement with tho rem,-irk that sho knew all along it couldn't be so— and that a grievous and absurd but most mortifying blunder had been made. It was a most ■nnnlearC«at ehost to down, the shadow of that scandal, for it would come up to tho surface of garrison chat at all manner of confidential moments, but no man or woman could safely speak of it to Chester. It was gradually assumed that ho was tho man There Is a big circle of seething fiamo and rolling Bmoko hero, too—a malodorous neighborhood, around which fatigue parties are working with averted heads, and among them some surly and unwilling Indians, driven to 1 at Kir at tho muzzle of threatening revolver or carbine, aid in dragging to tho flames oarcass after carcass of horse and mule, and in gathering togethirr and throwing on the pyro un array of miscellaneous soldier garments, blouses, shirts and trousers, all more or less hacked and blood stained, all of no more use to mortal wearer. "Do you swear to me she is in danger?""By all that's sacred, and you ought to know it" "I am Fred Renwick. Now what can I do?" CHAPTER XVIII. Only in tho monotony of a month or two ill garrison that winter did the service seem intolerable. His comrades were rough in the main, but thoroughly good hearted, and he soon won their esteem. The spring sent them again into the Sold, another stirring campaign, and hero he won his stripes and words of praise from the lips of a veteran general officer as well as the promise of future reward, and thon the love of soldierly deeds and the thirst for soldierly renown took firm hold in hiB breast He began to turn toward the mother and father who had been wrapped up in his future, who loved him so devotedly. He was forgetting his early and passionate lovo, and the bitter sorrow of her death was losing fast its poignant power to steel him against his kindred He knew thoy could not but be proud of the record he had made in tho ranks of the gallant th, and then he shrank and shivered when ho recalled the dreadful words of his cursa Ho had made up his mind to write, implore pardon for his hideous and unfllial language and invoke their interest in his career, when, returning to Fort Raines for supplies, he picked up a New York paper in tho reading room and read the announcement of his father's death, "whose health had been broken ever since the disappearance of his only son, two years before." The memory of his malediction had indeed oome home to him, and he fell stricken by a sudden and unaccountable blow. It seemed as though his heart had given one wild leap, then stopped forever. Things did not go so well after this. Ho brooded over his words and believed that an avenging God had launched the bolt that killed the father as punishment to the stubborn and rocrc*aut 6on. Ho then bethought him of his mother, of pretty Alice, who had loved him so as a little girl. Ho could not bring himself to write, but through inquiries he learned that tho house was closed and that they had goue abroad Ho plodded on in his duties a trying year; then oamo more lively field work and reviving interest Ho was forgetting entirely the sting of his first great sorrow and mourning gravely tho gulf he had placed 'twixt him and his. The Hon la not an hour high, bat the bivouac at the springs is far behind. With advance truard and flankers well out, the regiment Is tramping its way, full of eagerness and spirit The men can hardly refrain from bursting into song, but although at "route step" the fact that Indian scouts have already been sighted scurrying from bluff to bluff is sufficient to warn all hands to be silent and alert Wilton, with his company, is on the dangerous flank and guards it well. Armitage, with Company B, covers the advanoe, and his men are strung out in long skirmish line across the trail wherever the ground is sufficiently open to admit of deployment Where it is not they spring ahead and explore every point where Indian may lurk and render ambuscade of the main column impossible. With Armitage is McLeod, the cavalry sergeant who made the night ride with the scout who bore the disnatohos. The soout has galloped on toward the railway with news of the rescue; the sergeant guides tho infantry re-enforoement Observant men have noted that Armitage and the sergeant have had a vast deal to Bay to each other during the chill hours of the early morn. Others have noted that at the first brief halt the captain rode back, called Colonel Maynard to ono sido and spoke to him in low tones. Tho colonel was seen to start with astonishment Then he said a few words to his second in command and rode forward with Armitage to join tho advance. When the roglinont moved on again and the head of column hove in sight of tho skimilshors, they saw that tho colonel, Armitago and tho sergeant of cavalry were riding Bido by sida and that the officers wero payioti Out on the southern slopes, just where a ravine crowded with wild rose bushes opens into the valley, more than half tho command is gathered, formed In rectangular linos about a number of shallow, elongated pits, in each of which there lies tho stiffening form of a comrade who but yesterday joined in the battlooheer that burst upon the valley with the setting sun. Silent and reverent they stand in their rough campaign garb. Tho osoort of infantry "rests on arms;" the others bow their uncovered heads, and it is tho voice of the veteran colonel that in accents trembling with sympathy and emotion, renders tho last tribute to fallen comrades and lifts to heaven tho prayers for the dead Then see! Tho mourning groups break away from tho southern side, tho brown rifles of tho escort are lifted in air, the listening rocks resound to tho sudden ring of the flashing volloy, the soft low, wailing goodby of the trumpets goes floating up the rale, and soon the burial parties are left alono to cover tho once familiar faces with the earth to which tho soldier must return, and the comrades who are left, foot and dragoon, come marching, silent, back to camp. Fear, not love, had drawn him to Nina Beaubicn that night, and hope had centered on her more beautiful rival when the discoveries of the night involved him in the first trembling symptoms of the downfall to come. And ho was to havo spent the morning with her, the woman to whom he had lied In word, while sho to whom he had lied In word and deed was going from htm, not to return until the gurman, and wen then he planned treachery. Ho meant to lead with Alice Renwiok and claim that it must bo with the colonel's daughter because the ladies of the garrison were tho givers. Then he knew Nina would not come at all and possibly might quarrel with him on that ground. What could have been an easier solution of his troublous predicament? She would break their secret engagement; he would refuse all reconciliation and be free to devote himself to Alioe. Bnt /U1 these grave complications had arisen. Aline would not oome. Nina wrote demanding that he should lead with her and that he should meet her at St. Croix, and then came the crash. He owod his safety to her self sacrifice and now must give up all hope of Alice Renwick. He had accepted the announcement of their engagement He could not do less after all that had happened and the painful scene at their parting. And yet would it not be a blessing to her if ho were killod? Even uow in nin sen annexation turn muei) he did not fully rttalize how mean he was—how mean he seemed to others. He resented in his heart what Sloat had said of him but the day before, little taring whether he heard it or not: "It would bo a mercy to that poor girl if Jerrold wore killed. Ho will break her heart with neglect or drivo her mad with jealousy inside of a year." But tho regiment seemed to agree with Bloat All the same it was an eager group that surrounded the colonel the evening he oame down with the captain's letter. "It settles the thing in my mind. We'll go back to Sibley tomorrow, and as for you. Sergeant Major Fred, your name has gone In for a commission, and I've no doubt a very deserving sergeant will be spoiled in making a very good for nothing second lieutenant (Jet you back to your regiment, sir, and call on Cad tain Armitaan as soon as von reach Fart Russell and tell him you are much obliged. He has been blowing your trumpet for you there, and as some of those cavalrymen have sense enough to appreciate the opinion of such a soldier as my ex-adjutant—some of them, mind voui I don't admit that all cavalrymen have sense enough to keep them out of perpetual trouble—you came in for a hearty indorsement, and you'll probably be up before the next board for examination. Go and bone your constitution and the rule of three, and who was the father of Zebedec's children, and the order of the Ptolemies and the Seleucidra, and other such things that they'll be sure to ask yon as indispensable to the mental outfit of an Indian fighter." It was evident that the colonel was in joyous mood, but Alice was silent. Sho wanted to hear the letter. He would have handed it to Frederick, but both Mrs. Maynard and Aunt Grace clamored to hear it read aloud, so he cleared his throat and began: "Fred's chances for a commission aro good, as th« inclosed papers will show you, but even were this not the case I would have but one thing to say in answer to your letter—he should go back to his troop who had dono nil the blundering and that ho was supersensitive on tho subject.Without being able to analyze his conduct the regiment was satisfied that it had been selfish and contemptible, and that was enough to warrant giving him the cold shoulder. He was quick to see and take the hint and in bitter distress of mind to withdraw himself from their oompanionship. He had hopod and expected that his eagerness to go with them on the wild and sudden campaign would reinstate him in their good graces, but it failed utterly. "Any man would seek that" was the verdict of the informal council held by the officers. "Ho would havo been a poltroon if he hadn't sought to go, but while he isn't a poltroon he has dono a contemptible thing." And so it Rollins had cut him dead, refused JKs hand and denied him a chance to explain. "Toll him he can't explain," was the savage reply he sent by the adjutant, who consented to carry Jerrold'H message In order that he might have fair play. "He knows, without explanation, the wrong he has dono to more than one. I Won't have anything to do with him." There was another thing never satis/'ictorily explained to some of the garrison people, and that was Nina Beanbien's strango conduct In less than a week elio was seen on tho street in colors — brilliant colors —when it was known she had ordered deep mourning, and then sho suddenly disappeared and went with her silent old mother abroad To this day no woman in society understands it, for when she came back, long, long afterward, it was a subject on which sho would never speak. There wore ono or two who ventured to ask, and tho answer was, "For reasons that concern me alone." But it took no great power of mental vision to see that, her heart wore black for him forever. When morning came, the order that they should go was temporarily suspended Somo prisoners were sent to a neighboring military prison, and hewas placod in cluirge, and on his return from this duty learned that tho colonel's family had gone to Sablon. The next thing there was some strango talk that worried him—a story that ono of the men who had a sweetheart who was second girl at Mrs. Hoyt's brought out to camp—a wt ory that thero was an officer who was too much In lovo with Alice to keep away from tho house even after the colonel so ordered, and that ho was prowling around tho other night, and tho colonel ordered Leary to shoot him —Leary, who was on post on No. 6. Ho felt bu*} that something was wrong 1 —felt sure that it was duo to his night visit—and his first impulse was to find his mother and confide the truth to her. Ho longed to see her again, and if harm had been, dono to make himself known aud explain everything. Having no duties to detain him, ho got a pass to visit town and permission to bo gone a day or more. On Saturday evening he ran down to Sablon, drove over, as Captain Annitage had already told them, and peering in his mother's room saw her, still up, though in her nightdresa Ho never dreamed of tho colonel's being out and watching. He had "scouted all thoso trees, and no ono was nigh. Then ho softly called. She heard and was coming to him, when again came fierce attack. lit had all a soldier's reverence for tho person of tho colonel and would never liavo harmed him had ho known 'twas ho. It was the night Watchman that had grappled with him, he supposed, and ho had no compunctions in sending him to grass. Then ho fled agarin, knowing that ho had only made bad worse, walked all that night to tho station next north of Sablon—a big town, where tho early morning train always stopped—and by 10 on Sunday morning ho -was in uniform and off with his regimental com tides under orders to haste to their station—thero was trouble with the Indians at Spirit Rock, and the th 1 Were held in readiness. From beneath Even Mrs. Maynard could not but sco tho prido and comfort this letter gave her sou. Her own longing was to hare him established in some business in the east, but ho said frankly he had no tasto for it and would only pine for tho old life in tho saddle. There were other reasons, too, said he, why he felt that ho could not go back to New York, and his voico trembled, and Mrs. Maynard said no more. It was the sole allusion ho had made to the old, old sorrow, but it was plain that the recovery was incomplete. And when the old regiment begins its homeward journey, leaving tho well won field to tho fast arriving commands and bidding hearty soldier farewell to the cavalry comrades whoso friendship they gained in tho front of a savage foe, tho company that was tho first to land its fire in th® fight goes back with diminished numbers and under command of its second lieutenant Alas, poor Jerroldl Ilis letter explained it all received it with a paroxysm of passionate grief and joy, kissed it, covered it with wildest caresses beforo she Ixtgnn to road, and then, little by little, as tho \vordrt unfolded beforo her staring eyes, turned cold as stone: She had There was a solemn little group around tho campflre the night before they ga Frank Armitnge, flat on his back, with a rifle bullet through his thigh, but taking things very coolly for all that, is baring a quiet conference with his colonel. Such of the wounded of the entire command oh are well The colonel and the doctor at Sibley believed that Fred could bo carried past tho medical board by a little management, and everything began to look as though he would have his way. All they wero waiting for, said tho colonel, was to hear from Armitago. He was still at Fort Russell with the headquarters aud several troops of the th cavalry. His wound was too severe for him to travel farther for weeks to ooma, but ho could write, and ho had been, consulted. They were sitting -under the broad piazza at Sablon, looking out at tho lovely, placid lake and talking it over among themselves. "Whatever our friends and fellow citizens may think on the subject, 1 hold that the profession of the soldier is to the full as honorable as any in civil life, and it is liable at any moment to be more useful I do not mean the officer alone. I say and mean the soldier. As for me, I would rather be first sergeant at my troop or company or sergeant major of my regiment than any lieutenant in it exoept the adjutant Hope of promotion is all that can make a subaltern's life endurable, but the staff sergeant or the first sergeant, honored and respected by his officers, decorated for bravery by congress and looked up to by his comrades, is a king amoug men. The pay has nothing to do with it I say to Ren wick, 'Come back as soon as your wound will let you,' and I envy hiiu the welcomo that will bo his. "It is mv last night of life, Nina, and I am glad 'tis so. Proud and sensitive ns I am, tho knowledge that every man in my regiment has turned from me; that I have not a fricud among them; that there is no longer a place for mo in their midst—more than all, that I deserve their contempt—has broken my heart. Wo will bo in battle before the setting of another sun. Any man who seeks deatli iu Indian fight can find it easily enough, and I can compel their respect in spite of themselves. Tiiey will not recognize me, living, as ono of them, but dying on the field they have to place me on their roll Others avoided him and only coldly ■poke to him when speech wan necessary. Chester treated him with marked aversion; the colonel would not look at him; only Armitage—his captain—had a deoent word for him at any time, and even he was stern and cold. The most envied and careless of the entire command, the Adonis, the bean, the crack shot, tho graceful leader in all garrison gayeties, tho beautiful dancer, rider, tennis player, tho adored of so many sentimental women at Sibley, poor Jerrold had found his level, and his prond and sensitive though selfish heart was breaking. And so in all that little band of comrades he could call no mail friend. One after another ho looked upon the uncon- Bcious faces, cold and averted in the oblivion of sleep, but not more cold, not more distrustful, than when he had vainly sought among them one relenting glance in the early moonlight that battle eve in bivouac. Ho threw his arms npward, shook his head, with hopeless gesture, then buried his face in the sleeves of his rough campaign overcoat and strode blindly from their midst. onougn to iruvtu s to ai» Ho thought time and again of his cruel words, and something began to whisper to him he must seo that mother again at onoe, kiss her hand and implore her forgiveness, or she, too, would be stricken suddenly. He saved up his money hoping that a/tor the summer's rifle work at Sibley ho might get a furlough and go east, and tho night he arrived at tho fort, tired with his long railway journey and' panting after a long and difficult climb up hill, his mother's fao« swam suddenly before his eyes, and he felt himself going down. When they brought him to, ho heard that the ladios were Mrs. Mayuard and her daughter, Miss Renwick—his own mother, remarried; his own Alico, a grown young woman. This was indeed news to put him in a flutter and spoil his shooting. lie realized at once tJiat tho gulf was wider than over. How could ho go to her now, tho wife of a colonel, and ho an enlisted man? Like other soldiers, ho forgot thut tho lino of demarcation was one of discipline, not of sympathy. Ho did not realize what amy soldier among his officers would gladly have told him—that ho was most worthy to reveal himself now, a Holi- railway go with Maynav l ami the regiment in tho morning, and Sergeant Mc- Lood, with hiii salier arm in a sling, is one of these. But. the captain of Company B must wait until the surgeons can lift him along in an ambulance ami all Tear of fever has subsided. To the colonel and Chester ho hands the notewhioh is all that is left to comfort poor Nina Beanbien. To them he reads aloud the note addressed to himself: "I have always leaned on Armitage ever sinco I first came to tho regiment and found him adjutant," said the colonel. "I always found his judgment clear, but sinco our last experience 1 have begun to look upon him as infalli- Armitage anil t)w, vcrycant of cavalry were rtdtiuj hUIc Ity Hde. "You are right in saying that the matter of my possession of that phC tograph should bo explained. I seek 110 longer to palliate my action. In making that puppish lDet with Sloat I did believe that I could induce Miss Renwi' i. Early in tho morning, an hour before daybreak, the shivering outpost, crouching in a hollow to the southward, catch sight of two dim figures shooting suddenly up over a distant ridge—horsemen, they know at a glance—and these two come loping down the moonlit trail over which two nights before had marched the calvary speeding to the rescue, over which in an hour tho regiment itself must be on tho move. Old campaigners are two of the picket, and they have been especially cautioned to be on tho lookout for couriers coming back along tho trail. They spring to their feet, in readiness to welcome or repel, as tho sentry rings out his sharp and sudden challenge. close attention to all tho dragoon was saying. All were eager to hear the particulars of the condition of affairs at the corral, and all were disposed to bo envious of tho mounted captain who could ride alongside the* ono participant in the rescuing c.hargo and get it all at first hand. Tho field officers, of course, wore mounted, but every line officer marched afoot with his men, except that threo horses had been pickod up at tho railway and impressed by the quartermaster in case of neCid, and those were assigned to tho captains who happened to command tho skirmishers and flankers. of honor Bitting alone under the trees, he had taken a sheet of paper from his pocket case and was writing by tfco light of the rising moon. Ono letter wjyp short and easily written, for, with a few words, he had brought it to a close, then folded and in a bold and vigorous hand addressed it Tho other was far longer, and over this one, thinking deeply, erasing some words and pondering much over others, he spent a long hour. It was nearly midnight, and he was chilled to the heart when he stiffly rose and took his way among the blanketed groups to the campflre, around which ''But now I trim to you. What have T boon, what nm I. to li.iv won such love i yours? Jfty God in heaven forgive ■ for my past! All too late I hate and mo man i nave uoeu—inu in.ui om yon loved. One last aot of jus-1 r' 1 (IV I without lt,i you mourn me faithfully, tenderly, ty, fCDr y.ir*, but if I tell the ou will t- o the utter unwopthi- ble. " Alice Renwiek's face took on a flood of crimson as shosat there by her brother's side, silent and attentive. Only within the week that followed their return—tho colonel's and her brother's— had tho story of the strango complication been revealed to them. Twice had she heard from Fred's lips tho story of Frank Armitago's groeting that frosty morning at the springs. Time and again had she made her mother go over the colonel's account of tho confidence and faith ho had expressed in there being a simple explanation of tho whole roys- or her mother to let nio have a copy but I was refused positively th"t "As for me, I am even more eager to get back to you all, but things look very dubious. Tho doctors shake their heads at anything under a month and say I'll be lucky if I eat my Thanksgiving, dinner with you. If trying to get well is going to help, October shall not be done with before B company will report me present again. know it was useless. This simply added to my desire to have one. The phot i -- raplier was the same that took the pit tures and furnished tho albums for ou 'emains. class at graduation, and I, more tl any ono, h;ul been instrumental in get ting the order for him against very activo opposition. He had always professed the greatest gratitude to mo and a willingness to do anything for me. I wrote him in strict confidence, told him of tho ness of the miui, raid your lovejwill turn to contempt; It is hard to do jthis, knowing that in doing it I kill the only genuine regret and dry the only tear that would bless my memory] but it is tho one sacriflco I can make to "I need not tell you, my dear old friend, how I rejoice with you in your —bum and haw and this is all about But no man had thp faintest idea What manner of story that tall sergeant Com finued on fourth page.