| Show I r 7r I if By Capt Charles King U S A 14 Author of DmRA YEN RANCH THE COLONELS I DAUGHTER MARIONS FAITH ETC Copyright by J B Lippincott Company Philadelphia and published by special arrangement with them PRELUDE r J 4E I 17I 0 fi Fill ri uti cJ1y Ji c = HaY1u sfm1ds mutdii looltisig down on the t stiff ninltf c uphisifathcrsoldfnend Ear up in the northwest along the banks > of the broad windingsstream SiouxcalhthesElk train of whitetop ped army wagons is slowly crawling eastward The October sun is hot at noonday tand the dust from the loose likeheavysTnokejand powders every face and form in the guarding battaiionvsotthat features anrwell nigh indistinguishable Four companies of stalwart sinewy infantry with their I brown rifleSrslnngiover shoulder are striding alongindispersed order cover 4 ingjthecsposedsoathemnanfcfrom sudden sud-den attack while farther out along the ridgedine3ndfarfto thc front an rear cavalry skirmishers and scoutsarerid ing to and frosearching every hollow and ravine peering cautiously over every divideand signaling halt or forward astheindications warrant And yetnot a hostile Indian has been seen not oneeven as distant vedette has appearedin rangeof thebinoculars Eince thescouts rode in atdaybreak to say thatrbig bands wereimthe i im mediate neighborhood Ithas been long hard summerswork for the troops and the Indians ha verbeen to all commands that blasted strengthor swiftness elusive as1 Irislunans flea tradition Only to thoso whoso numbers were weak or L v hosemovements were hampered have they appeared in fighting trim But combinations have been too much for thpj and atlast they have been herded herd-ed umvn to the Elk have crossed and are nw seeking to make their way with women children tepees dogs travois ami th great pony = herds to the fast nesses of the Big Horn and now comes the opportunity for which an old Indian fighter hasbeen anxiously waiting In a big cantonment he has held the main body under his command while keeping out constant scouting parties tothe east 1 and north He knows well that true to tiieir policy the Indians will have scattered scat-tered into small bands capable of reassembling reas-sembling anywhere that signal smokes 1 may call them and his orders are to watch all the crossings of the Elk and 1 nab them as they come into his district He watches despite the fact that it is hisprofound conviction that the Indians will be no such idiots as to come just where they are wanted and he is in nowise no-wise astonished when a courier comes in on jaded horse to tell him that they have doubled on the other column and are I now two or three days march away down stream making for the big bend q His own scouting parties are still out to I the eastward he can pick them up as I he goes He sends the main body of his I infantry a regiment jocularly known as j The Riders to push for a landing I some fifty miles down stream scouting I the lower valley of the Sweet Root on I the way He sends his wagon train I guarded by four companies of foot and I two of horsemen by the only practicable practi-cable road to the bend while he with ten seasoned troops of his pet regiment I regi-ment the th cavalry starts forthwith on a long detour in which he hopes to round up such bands as may have slipped away from the general rush Even as boots and saddles is sounding sound-ing other couriers come riding in from Lieut Cranes party He has struck the hwt1J n f n hiO Inn < 1 When themorriing sun dawns on the picturesque valley in which the cantonment canton-ment nestled but the day before it illumines illu-mines an almost deserted village and brings no joy to the souls of some two score of embittered civilians who had arrived ar-rived only the day previous and whose unanimous verdict is that the army is a fraud and ought to be abolished For four months or more some three regi raents had been camping scouting roughing it thereabouts with not a cent of pay Then came the wildly exciting tidings that a boat was on the way up the Missouri with a satrap of the pay department de-partment vast store of shekels and a f strong guard And as a consequence there f would be some 2000 men around the cantonment with pockets full of money and no one to help them spend it and nothing suitable to spend it on It was a duty all citizens owed to the territory to hasten to the scene and gather in for local circulation all that was obtainable of that disbursement otherwise the curse of the army might get ahead of them and the boys would gamble it away among themselves or spend it for vile whisky manufactured for their sole benefit GaUaiin Valley was emptied of its prominent practitioners in the game J I of poker The stream was black with Mackinaw boats and other craftY craft-Y There Macknaw was a rush for the cantonment Y that rivaled themultitudes of the mining days but all too laie tThecmad 34y ckuP = when the first contingent arrived and the commanding officer recognizing the fraternity at glance warned them outside out-side the limits of camp that night declined de-clined their services as volunteers on the impending campaign and treated them with such calmly courteous recognition of their true character that the eastern press was speedily filled with sneering comment on the hopelessness of ever subduing sub-duing the savage tribes of the northwest when the government intrusts the duty to upstart officers of the regular service whose sole conception of their functions is to treat with insult and contempt the hardy frontiersman whose mere presence with the command would be of incalculable incalcu-lable benefit We have it from indisputable indis-putable authority says The Miners Light of Brandy Gap that when our esteemed fellow citizen Hank Mulligan and twenty gallant shots and riders like himself wet in a body to > Gen at the cantonment and offered their services as volunteersagainstitho Sioux now de vastating homesteads and settlements of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone valleys they treated with aleys were teated haughty and contemptuous refusal by that bandbox band-box caricature of a soldier and threatened threat-ened with arrest i they did not quit the camp When will the United States learn that its frontiers can never be purged of the Indian scourges of our civilization until the conduct of affairs in the field is intrusted to other hands than these martinet of the drill ground I is needless to remark in this connection that the expedition led by Gen has proved a complete failure and that the Indians easily escaped his clumsily led forces The gamblers though baffled for the time being of course get square and more too with the unfortunate general in this sort of warfare but they are a disgusted dis-gusted lot as they hang about the wagon train as last of all it is being hitched into in-to leave camp Some victims of course they have secured and there are no devices de-vices of commanding officers which can protect their men against those sharks of the prairies when the men themselves bound to tempt providence and play There are two scowling faces in the cavalry cav-alry escort that ha been left back with the tin and Capt Hull the commanding command-ing officer has reprimanded Sergts Clancyand Gower in stinging terms fot their absence from the command during the night There is little question where they spent it and bothhave been cleaned clean-ed out What makes it worse both have lost money that belonged to other menin the command and they are in bad odor accordingly The long days march has tempered the I joviality of the entire column It is neai sundown and still they keep plodding onward making for a grassy level on the river bank a good mile farther Old Hull seems bound to leave the sports as far behind as possible if he has to march us until midnight growls the battalion adjutant to his immediate commander com-mander By thunder one would think he was afraid they would get in a lick at his own pile How much did you say he was carry ing asks Capt Rayner checking his horse for a moment to look back over the valley at the long dust enveloped column Nearly three thousand dollars in on wad I How does he happen to have such a sum sumWhy Why Crane left his pay accounts with him He drew all that was due his men who are off with Cranetwenty of themfor they had signed the rolls before be-fore going and were expected back today to-day Then he has somesix hundred dollars dol-lars company fund and the men of his troop asked him to take care of a good deal besides The old man has been with them so many years they look upon him as a father and trust him a implicitly as they would a savings bank Thats all very well answers Ray ner but I wouldnt want to carry any such sum with me Its different with Hulls men captain cap-tain They are ordered in through the posts and settlements They have a three weeks march ahead of them when they get through their scout and they I want their money on the way It was j I only after they had drawn it that the I news came of the Indians crossing and of our having to jump for the warpath Everybody thought yesterday morning that the campaign was about over so far as we are concerned Halloal here comes young Hayne Now what does he want Hiding a quicjr nervous urae nay troop horse a slim built officer with boyish face laughing blue eyes and sunny hair comes loping up the long prairie wave he shouts cheery greeting to one or two brother subalterns who plodding along beside their men and exchanges some merry chaff with Lieut Ross who is prone to growl at the luck which has kept him afoot and given to this favored youngster a mount and a temporary staff position The boys spirits and fun seem to jar on Rayners nerves He regards him blackly as he rides gracefully towards the battalion commander and with decidedly nonchalant non-chalant ease of manner and an offhand hand salute that has a air about it of saying I do this sort of thing because one has to but it doesnt really mean anything you know Mr Hayne accosts his superior Ah good evening captain I have just como back from the front and Capt Hull directed me to give you his compliments ments and say that we would camp in the bend yonder and ho would like you t post strong pickets and have a double tdtnigbt J a JCjcavome post double guards flow the devil does he expect me to do that after marclringall day Idid not inquire sir he might have told me twas none of my business dont you know And Mr Hayne has the insufferable in-sufferable hardihood to wink at the battalion adjutant youth of two years longer service than his own Well Mr Hayne this is no matter for levity saysRayner angrily What does Capt Hull mean to do with his own men if Im to do the guard That is another point Capt Bayner which I had not the requisite effrontery to inquire into now you mIght ask him but couldnt dont you know responds iiayne smiling amiauiy me while into the wrathful face of his su perior1 It serves only to make the indignant indig-nant captain more wrathful and no wonder There has been no love lost between tween the two since Hayne joined the Riflers early the previous year He came in from civil life a city bred boy fresh from college full of spirits pranks fun of every kind a wonderfully keen hand with the billiard cue a Imowing one at cards and such games of chance a college col-lege boys excel at a musician of no mean pretensions and an irrepressible leader in all the frolics and frivolities of his comrades He had leaped to popularity popu-larity from the start He was full of courtesy and gentleness to women and became a pet in social circles He was frank free off handed with his associates asso-ciates spending Invishly treating with boyish ostentation on all occasions living quite en grand seigncurfor he seemed to have a little money outside his paya windfall from a good old duffer it of an uncle as he had explained His father a scholnrly man who had been summoned to an important under office in the state department during the war of the rebellion had lived out his honored life in Washington and died poor as such men must ever die I was his wish that his handsome spirited brave hearted boy should enter the army and long after the sod had hardened over the fathers peaceful grave the young fellow donned his lust uniform and went out to join The Rulers High spirited joyous full of laughing fun he was Pet Hayne before he had been among them six But within with-in the year lie had made one or two enemies ene-mies It could not be said of him that he showed that deference to rank and station which was expected of a junior officer and among the seniors were several sev-eral whom he speedily designated unconscionable un-conscionable old duffers and treated I with as little semblance of respect as a second lieutenant could exhibit and be i permitted to live Rayner prophesied of I him that as he had no balandc and was burning his candlcat both ends he would II come to grief in short order Hajne retorted I re-torted that the only balance that Rayner had any respect for was oneat the bankers I bank-ers and that it was notorious in Washington Wash-ington that the captains father had made most of his money government contracts i I con-tracts and that the captains original I i commission in the regulars was secured I through well paid congressional influence The fact that had ence Rayner devcl I oped into a good officer did not wipe out j the recollection of these facts and he could have throttled llayne for reviving them I was a game of give and take I said the youngster and he behaved himself to those who were at all decent in their manner to him I was a thorn in Rayners flesh therefore there-fore when Hayne joined from leave of absence after experiences not every officer would care to encounter in getting get-ting back to his regiment that Capt Hull should have induced the geieral to detail him in place of the invalided field quartermaster when the command was divided Hayne would have been a junior subaltern in Rayners little battalion bat-talion but for that detail and it annoyed the captain more seriously than he would confess I is all an outrage and a blunder to pick out a boy like that he growls between be-tween his set teeth as Hayne canters blithely away Here hes been away I from the regiment all summer long having a big time and getting head over ears in debt I hoar and the moment he rejoins they put him in charge of the wagon train as field quartermaster Its putting a premium on being young and cheeky besides absenteeism he continues I con-tinues growing blacker every minute I I Well captain answers his adjutant I injudiciously I think you dont give Hayno credit for coming back on the jump the moment we were ordered out I was no fault of his he could not reach us He took chances Iwouldnt take Oh yes you kids all swear by Hayne because hes a good fellow and sings a jolly song and plays the pianoand poker One of theso days hell swamp you all sure as shooting Hes in debt now and itll fetch him before you know it What he needs is to be under a captain cap-tain who could discipline him a little By Jove Id do i And Rayners teeth emphasize the assertion The young adjutantthinks it advisable to say nothing that may provoke further vehemence All the same he remembers remem-bers Rayners bitterness of manner and I has abundant cause to LL 1 9 I n len LUC next morning uremia Cl11 I and pallid a change has come in the aspect as-pect of affairs During the earliest hour of the dawn the red light of a light draught river boat startled the outlying pickets down stream and the Far West answering the muffled hail from shore responded through the medium of a mates stentorian tones News thatll rout you fellows out The sun is hardly peeping over the jagged outline of the eastern hills when with Rayners entire battalion aboard she is steaming again 1 down stream with orders to land at tho mouth of the SweetRoot There the four companies will disembark in readiness to join the rest of the regiment All the train day long again wagon trin twists and wriggles through an ashen section of Les Mauvaises Terre It is a tedious trying march for HulUs little command of troopers all that is now left to guard the train The captain is constantly out on the exposed flank eagerly scanning tho rough country to the south and expectant any moment of an attack from that direction He and his men as welLas the horses mules and tejunfitersrare fairly stired out when at nigiuianthey park the wagons m a big semicircle with the broad river forming a shining chord to the arc of white canvas can-vas All the live stock are safely herded within the inclosure a few reliable soldiers sol-diers are posted well out to the south and cst to guard against surprise and the veteran Sergt Clancy is put in command com-mand of the sentries The captain gives strict injunctions a to importance of these dutiesfor lie is far from easy ill Irfn mind over the situation The Riflers lie knows are over in the valley of the Sweet Root The steamer with Rayners men i tied up at the bank some five miles below around the bend The th are far offf to the northward across the Elk as ordered and lust be expecting on the morrow to make for the old Indian ferry opposite Battle Butte The main body oil the Sioux are reported farther down stream but ho feels it in his bones that there are numbers num-bers of them within signal and he wishes with all his heart the th were here Still the general was sure ho would stir up war parties on the other i shore Individually he has had very little luck in scouting during the summer sum-mer and he cannot help wishing ho were with the rest of the crowd instead of here train guarding Presently Mr Hayne appears elastic and debonair a though he had not been working like a horse all day His voice sounds bo full of cheer and life that Hull h > oks up smilingly love Wei youngster you seem to this frontier life Every bit of it captain I was cutout cut-out for the army as father thought We used to talk it o el a good deal in the old days when I was stationed around Washington answers Hull Your father was the warmest friend I had in civil circles and he made it very pleasant for me HoW little we t thought it would be my luck t have you for quartermaster TK fllona cnarnnfl cflIirl 1 nf U heap in the Riflers at the idea of your applying ap-plying for me captain I was ready to swear it was all on fathers account and would have told them so only Rayner happened to be the first man to tackle me on the subject and he was so crusty about if i I kept the whole thing to myself rather than give him any satisfaction Larry my boy Im no preacher bu I i want to be the friend to you your father was to me You are full of enthusiasm en-thusiasm and life and spirits and you love the army ways and have made yourself very popular hdhe youngsters young-sters but Im afraid you are too careless and independent where tho seniors are concerned Rayner isiajgood soldier and you show him very scant respect Im toll Well lies such an interfering fellow I They will all tell you Im respectful the like enough toto captains Iko Thats just it Lawrence So long a you like man your manner is what it should be What a youngsoldier ought to learn is t be courteous and respectful senior officers whefcherlho Iikes then or not I costs an effort sometimes but it tells You never know what trouble you are laying up for yourself in the army by bucking against men you dont like They may not be in position posi-tion to resent it at the time but the time is mighty apt to come when they will be and then you arc helpless Why Cal Hull I dont see it that I way at all I seems to me that so long J as an officer attends to his duty minds I his own business and behaves like a gentleman no one canharm him especially es-pecially when all the good fellows of then the-n imcnt are his friends as they are mine I think in the Rulers Ah Hayne it is a hard thing to teach a youngster thatthat there are men who find it very easy to make their juniors ju-niors lives a burden to them and without I with-out overstepping a regulation It is harder yet to say that friends in the army are a good deal like friends out of itne only has to get into serious trouble to find how few they are God grant you may never have to learn it my boy as many another has had toby to-by sharp experience Now we must get a good nights rest You sleep like a log I see and I can only take cat naps Confound Con-found this money How I wish I could get rid of itl Where do you keep it tonight Right here in my saddlebags under my head Nobody can touch them that I do not wake and my revolver is hereunder I here-under the blanket Hold on Lets take a look and see if everything i all right He holds a little camp lantern over the bags opens the flap and peers in Yes all serene I got a big hunk of green sealing wax from tho paymaster and sealed it all up in one package with the memorandum list inside Its all safe so far even to the hunk of sealing wax What is it sergeant A tall soldierly dark eyed trooper appears ap-pears at the doorway of the little tent and raises his gauntleted hand in salute His language though couched in the phraseology of the soldier tells both in choice of words and in the intonation of every phrase that he is a man whose antecedents an-tecedents have been far different from those of the majority of the rank and fileWill fleWi the captain permit mo t take my horse and those of three or four more men outside the corral Sergt Clancy says he has no authority to allow it We have found a patch or excellent grass sir and there is hardly any left inside I will sleep by my picket pin and one of us will keep awake all the tie i the captain will permit How far away is it sergeant Not seventyfive yards sir close to the river bank east of us Very well Send Sergt Clancy here and Ill give tho necessary orders The soldier quietly salutes and disappears disap-pears in the gathering darkness Tliats what I like about that man Gower says the captain after a moments mo-ments silence He is always looking out for his horse If he were not such a gambler and rake he would make a I splendid first sergeant Fine looking fellow fel-low isnt he I Yes sir That i a face that one couldnt well forget Who was the other sergeant you overhauled for getting i t fleeced by those sharps at the cantonment canton-ment I Clancy Hes on guard tonight A veix different character I 4 h Tirr ft EnoTT hn ay signs as yes Well goodnight sir HI take myself off and go tomy own tent Daybreak again and far to the east the sky i all ablaze The mist is creeping creep-ing from the silent shallows under the I banks but allis life and vim along the shore With cracking whip tugging trace sonorous blasphemy and ringing shout the long train is hiring ahead almost at the run All is athrill with excitement and bearded faces have a strange set look about the jaws and eyes gleam with eager light and peer searchingly from every rise far over to tho southeast where stands a tumbling heap of hills against the lightening sky Off there are they says a burly trooper dismounting hastily to tighten up the cinch of his weather beaten saddle We can make it quick enough s soon as we get rid of these blasted wagons And swinging into saddle again he goes cantering down the slope his charger snoring with exhilaration in the keen morning air Before dawn a courier has galloped into camp bearing 3 dispatch from the commanding officer of the Rulers I says but few words but they are full of meaning We have found a big party of hostiles They are in strong position and have us at disadvantage Raynei with his four companies is hurrying tc us Leave all wagons with the boat under guard and come with every horse and man you can bring Before 7 oclock the wagons are parked close along the bank beside the Far West and Hull with all the men he can mustersome fftis trotting ahead on the trail of Rayners battalion With him rides Mr Hayne eager and enthusiastic en-thusiastic Before 10 oclock far up along tho slopes they see the blue line of skirmishers and the knots of reserves farther down all at a stand In ten minntpqthl ridAwit fnnmin rAin in behind a low ridge on which flat on their faces and cautiously peering over the crest some hundred infantrymen are disposed Others officers and file closers are moving and fro in rear They are of Rayners battalion Farther Far-ther back down in a ravine a dozen forms are outstretched upon the turf and others are bending over them ministering min-istering to the needs of thosewho are not past help alreadj Several officers crowdaround tbeleading horsemen mud Hull orders Halt dismount and loosen girths The gravefaces showthatthe has had and tilesit infantry h poor1luckandtimesit nation is summarized infe words The Indians aro in force occupying the ravines and ridges opposite them and confronting the six companies farthei over t thewest Two attackshavebeen made but the Indian fire swept every approach and both were unsuccessful Several soldiers were shot dead others severely wounded Lit Warrens leg is shattered belowtheknee CaptBlount killed Wheres Rayner asks Hull with grave l c Just gone ff witbrtho chief t o loofc at things over on the other front The colonel is hopping He is hound to have those Indians out of there or drop atry ing Theyll be back in a minute The general had a rousing fight with Dull I Knifes people down the river lasteven ing You missed it again Hull all the th ittavn thAT Knfr 1 on1 TT onI nl u V u course old Firewater wants to make a big a hit here The th fighting down the river last night asks Hull in amaze Yes ssvepfc clean round them and ran em into the stream tliey say I I wish we had them where we could Se em at all You dont get the glimpse ol a head even but all those rocks are lined with the beggars Damn them says the adjutant feelingly Well get our chance here then replies plies Hull l reflectively Ill creep up andtake a look at it Take my horse orderly Heis back in two minutes gravei than before bat his bearing is spirited and firm Hayne watches him with kindling eye Youll take me in with you when you charge he asks HIt is no place to charge there The ground is all cut up with ravines and gullies and theyve got a cross fire that sweeps it clean Well probably go in on the other flank its more open there Here comes the chief now Two officers comeriding hastily around I a projecting point of the slope and spur lat rapid gait towards the spot where the cavalry have dismounted and are breathing breath-ing their horses There is hardly time for salutations A gray headed keen eyed florid faced old soldier the colonel col-onel and he is snappingwith electricity apparently This way Hull Come right here and Ill show you what you are to do And followed by Rayner Hull and Hayne the chief rides sharply over to the extreme ex-treme loft of the position and points to the swule frowning ridge across the intervening There Hull there are twenty O thirty of the rascals in there who get a flank fire on u when we attack on OU side What I want you to do is to mount your men let them draw pistol and ball I b-all ready Rayner here will line the I ridge to keep them down in front Ill go back to the right and order the attack at once The moment we begin and you hear our shot you give a yell and charge full tilt across there so as to drive out those fellows in that ravine We can ravne I I do the rest Do you understand > I understand colonel butis it YOu i I order that I attempt to charge mounted across that ground I I Why certainly It isnt the best in I the world but you can make it They cant do very much damage to your men before you reach them Its got to be j done its the only way Very good sir that ends it is the calm soWierly reply and the colonel goes bounding away A moment later the troop is in saddle eager wiry bronzed fellows every one and the revolvers aro in handand being carefully examined Then Capt Hull signals to Hayne while Rayner and three or four soldiers sit in silence watching the man who is to lead the charge He dismounts at a little knoll a few feet away tosses his reins to tho trumpeter and steps t his saddle bass Havne too disjnpunt m a TakiBgkisvwatch and chain from the pocketof hunting shirt ho opensthe saddle > bon the near side and takes i therefrom two packets ono heavhy i sealed which hehands Hayne HI casol donfccome backrou know I wfaatto do with these as I told you st I night I i Iiayne only looks imploringly athins j I You are not going to leave me here j captain It I I Yes Hayne You cant go with us j t 1 Hark There they go at the right Are the packages ail right I I Hfyne with stnnned facultiesthink ing only of the charge he longs to mako no of the one he has to keep replies he knows not what There is a ringing buglo call far off among the rocks to the westward a rousing cheer a rattling volley Rayner springs off to his men on the hillside Hull sr > r in front of his eager troop holding high his pistol handNow Now men follow till I drop and j then keep ahead Come on I j There is a furious sputter of hoofs a rush of excited steeds up the gentlo slope I a glad outburst of cheers as they sweep across the ridge and out of sight then I the clamor and yell of frantic battle i I and when at last it dies away the rulers j i j are panting over the hard won position and shaking hands with some few silent 1 cavalrymen They have carried the I ridge captured the migrating village < squaws ponies travois and pappooses their long Toms have sent many a stalwart warrior to the mythical hunting hunt-ing grounds and the peppery colonels triumph is complete I But Lawrence Hayne with all the I light gone from his bravo young face stands mutely looking down upon the stiffening frame of his fathers old friend and his who lies shot through the heart CHAPTER I k JUII 4 Take this poe In the Pullman car of the westward bound express half way across the continent con-tinent two passengers were gazing listlessly list-lessly outover the wintryilandscape It was a bittr moring in February North and south thetreeless prairie rolled away in successive ridge and depression The snow lay deep in the dry ravines and streaked tho sea like surface with jagged lines of foam between which lay broad spaces clean swept by the gale Heavy masses of cloud dark and forbidding i f draped the sky from zenith to horizon and the air was thick with spiteful gusts I and spits of snow crackling against the I window panes making fierce dashes 1 every time a car door was hurriedly i opened and driving about the platforms like a myriad swarm of fleecy and ag I gressivo gnats raging for battle Every now and then responsive t some wider blast a blinding white cloud came whirl I ing from the depths of the nearest gully and breaking like spray over the snow fence along the line Not a sign of life was visible The tiny mounds in the villages of the prairie dogsiseemed blocked and frozen even the trusty sentinel had deserted post and huddled with his fellows for warmth and shelter in the bowels of the earth Fluttering owl and skulking coyote too had vanished from the face of nature Timid antelope fleetest coursers of the prairie and stolid horned cattle had gone none knew whither nor cared to know until the j blizzard had subsided Two heavy i engines fought their way panting into i the very teeth of the gale and slowly I II wound the long train after them upgrade i I up-grade among the foothills of the great i i plateau of tho Rockies Once in awhile a-while when stopping for a moment at some group of brown painted sheds and earth battened shanties tho wind moaned and howled among tho iron braces and brake chains beneath the car and made such mournful noise that it was a relief to start once more and lose sound of its wailing in the general rumble As for the scenery only as a picture of shiver provoking monotony and desolation would one care to take a second look And yet some miles ahead striving hard to reach the railway in time to intercept in-tercept this very train a small battalion j I of cavalry was struggling through the blasts officers and men afoot and dragging drag-ging their own benumbed limbs and half benumbed chargers through the drifts that lay deep at the bottom of every i coulee Some few spldicrs remained in saddle thoy were too frozen to walk at all Some few fell behind and would have thrown themselves fat upon the prairie the lethargy that is but premonition premo-nition of death freezing Like men hal deadened b morphine their rescue de1 ponded on heroic measures humane in their seeming brutality Officers who at t other times were l gentleness now fell i upon the hapless stragglers with kicks I and blows As the train drew up at the I platform of 3 station in midprairie a j horseman enveloped in fur and frost and steam from his panting steed reined up beside the leading engine and shouted to the occupants of the cab For Gods sake hold on a few minutes min-utes Weve got a dozen frozen men with us we must send on to Fort War rener And the train was held Meantime those far to the rear in the sleeper knew nothing of what was going on ahead The car was warm and comfortable com-fortable and mos of its occupants were apparently appreciative of its shelter and coriness i contrast 1viihthec1rlin 1 r r scene wfthouL A motherly J 2 womanhadxprod jsed her knitting1 anfr wasblithelyclicldnivaathare bltelyclckgvaYathrnee witile her enterprising so a youth of four summers and undauntediconfideaco inhuman nature tacked up nnd down the aisle and nde impetuous incursions on the various sections byterns receLv lug such modified welcome as could b accorded featurcSStreaked with 3 fentcstc withmingled candy and cinders sLfd fingers whoso propensity to cling to whatsoever they touchedwas duo no more t instincts of a predatory naturethan to tho adhesive proper ties of the glucose whi h formed s large a constituent of the confections < he had been industriously consuming since early morning Founnon playing > whist in tho rearmost section two or three commercial travelers whose intimacy inti-macy with the porter and airs of easy proprietorship told of an apparent controlling con-trolling interest in the road a young I man of reserved mans reading in a I cnnilnn 1 Ivr hm < Alf t KrvKtr elttftTOTvrr J r o quietly upon the seat opposite thetwo passengers first mentioned and aMalteso kitten curled up in the lap of one of them completed the list of occupants The proximity of the baby and the kitten furnishes strong presumptive evidence of tho sex and general condition condi-tion of the two passengers referred tp and renders detail superfluous A oaby rarely travels without a woman or a I kitten with a woman already encumbered encum-bered with a baby The baby belonged I to the elder passenger the kitten t the I younger The was a buxom matron I the other a slender maid In their ages I there must have been a difference of fifteen fif-teen years in feature thee was still j wider disparity The elder was a fine j looking woman and one who prided j I herself upon the Junoesque proportions which she occasionally exhibited in a stroll for exercise up and down theaude Yet no one would call her a beauty Her eyes were of asomewhat fishy an uncertain blue the lids were tinged with an unornainental pink that told of irritation of the adjacent interior surface face and of possible irritability of temper tem-per Her complexion was of that mottled mot-tled type which is so sore a trial to its I possessor and yet so inestimablea comfort I com-fort to social rivals but her features were handsome her teeth fine herdress bearing and demeanor those of a woman of birth and breeding and yet ono wha might have resented tho intimationthat she was not strikingly handsome She looked like avroman with a will of her own her head washigh her step was firm it was of just suchawalk a I hers that Virgil wrote his vera > incessu patuifc dea and she made tho young I man in tho section by himself think ot that very passage a ho glanced at her from under his heavy bushy eyebrow She looked moreover like a woman with a capacity for influencing people contrary to their will and judgment and with a decided fondness forthe exercise of that unpopular function There w the air of grandedameabouther despite the simplicity herdresswhich though 1 of rich material was severely plain I Shewore no jewelry Her hands were snugly gloved and undisfigured by the distortions of any ring except the marriage riage circlet Her manner attested her a person of consequence in her social circle and one who realized the fact She had repelled though without rde L ness or discourtesy ino giirriuuuauiiuru of the motherly knitter to besociable She had promptly inspired tho small candy crusted explorer with such awa that he had refrained from furtherwisita after his first confiding attempt to poke a sticky finger throughthe babysveLvety cheek She had spared little scorn in her rejection of the bourgeois advances of the commercial traveler with the languishing lan-guishing eyes of Israel he confided t his comrades in relating the incident that she was smart enough to see thafcit wasnt herhe was hankering to know but the pretty sister by herside aifd when challenged t provethattheywero sisters a statement which aroused tha skepticism his slirewd associates ho had replied substantially How do I know Cause Isawtheir pass before you was up this morning cully Its for Mrs Capt Rayner and sister and theyre going oufcherOto Fort Warrener Thats hoW I know And the porter of the car had confirmed the statement room in the sanctity of the smoking And yet such is the uncertainty of feminine temperament Mrs Rayner was no more incensed at the commercial cmmec gent because he had obtruded his attentions at-tentions than she a atrtho young man reading in his own section because ho had refrained Nearly twentyfour hours had elapsed since they crossed the MS all that time not had souri and in al tmo once at she detected in him a glance that betrayed be-trayed the faintest interest in her Ol still more remarkable the unquestionably unques-tionably lovely girl at her side Intrusiveness Intru-siveness she might resent but indifference indiffer-ence she would and did Who was this youth she wondered who not once had so much as stolen a look at the sweet bonny face of her maiden sister Surety twas a face any man would love t gaze uponso 1 L fair s equisit i contous I UI1U ILillUlL O < J JJUUiiJ Jli tULU iU VSln au jvau VljHJ UUt s lovely in tho deep dark brown of iti shaded eyes The bold glances of the four cardplay ers she had defiantly returned and vanquished van-quished Those men like the traveling gents were creatures of coarser moldj but her experienced eye told her the solitary soli-tary occupant 6f the opposite sectiorr > waa a gentleman The clear cut of his pale features the white slender hand and shapely foot the style and finish of h quiet traveling dress the soft modulation and refined tone of his voice onthe one occasion when she heard him reply t some importunity of the train boy with his endless round of equally questionable figs and fiction the book he was reading a volume of Emerson all combined speak of a culture and position equalito her own She had been over the transcontinental trans-continental l railways often enough t I know that it was permissible for gentlemen gentle-men t render their fellow passengers II some slight attention which would lead I t nmtualintrodnctionsif desirable and this man refused to see thatthe oppor I tituifcv was onen tohim TO BE CONTINUED YET SUNDAY |
