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Show H ' ' n iy - ' mm !THE GIRL AT THEll HALFWAY HOUSE i H A STORY OF THE PLAINS jjj BB IIV It. Ilill'.ll, AI'Tlln OF I II H HTf'HV fi V TUP filWHOY H BB VttmtMlnl . Itoa. bt 1) . Attltlm I c i I o rt T . fttw tort H B J CHAPTER III Continued. BB f In this part of the wood the dead BB woro mingled from both Hides of tin' BB contest, tlio faded blue nnil tho failed BB Cray sometimes scarce distinguishable BB 'Then there cntne u thickening of tho H rny, nnd In turn, hb tho trnvolur ad- BB vnnccil toward tho fence!! und nbnttln, BB tlio Northern ilenil predominated, BB though Btlll thoro were many faces yel- BB low-pale, dark-framed. BB Franklin passed over tho nbattls, BB over tho remaining fences, and Into BB tho IntrenchmeitH wliero tlio final BB stand had boon. Tho dead lay thick, BB nmong them mnny who wero young. BB Franklin stook looking out over tho BB fields, In tho direction of tho town. BB And thero ho Raw a sight fitly to ho BB called tho iilllniato horror of all theso BB thlnga horrible that ho had seen. BB Over tho fields of I.oulBlmrg thoro BB camo a fearful sound, growing, rising, BB falling, slopping tho singing nnd tho BB twitter of tlio blrdB, Across tho land BB there came a horrihlo procession, ad- BB vanclng with short, lincertnln, broken BB "pauses a procession which advnnccd, BB paused, halted, broko Into groups; ad- BB vanccd, paused, stopped, nnd stooped; BB a procession which camo with wall- BB ings and hitter cries, with wringing BB of hands, with bonds now and then BB laid upon tho shoulderB of others for BB support; n procession which stooped BB uncertainly, horribly. It was tho worn- BB en of Loulsburg coming to seek their BB slain a sight most monHtrous, most BB terrible, unknown tixn any Held of BB civilized war, and unfit to bu tnleratod BB even In tho thought! It Is for men, BB who sow the Holds of battlo, to nttend BB also to tho reaping. BB Krnnklln stood at tho Inner edgo of BB tho earthworks, half hidden by a llttlo BB clump of trees. He saw approaching BB him, slowly but almost In direct lino, BB two figures, an older lady and n girl. BB They camo on, as did tho others, nl- BB 'ways with that slow, searclilng attl- BB tudo, tho walk broken with pauses nnd BB stooplngs. Tlio quest was but too ob- BB vlous. And oven as Franklin gazed, BB uncortnln and uuablo to escapo. It BB Beoraod apparent that tho two had BB found that which they had sought Tho girl, tUjlitly In advance, rnn forward BB a fow paces, pnused, and then rnn BB back. "Oh, there! there!" sho cried. BB And then tho older woman took tho BB girl's head upon her bosom. With BB bnrcd head and his own hnnd nt his BB eyes, Franklin hurried away, hoping BB himself unseen, but bearing Indelibly BB pictured on his brain tho scono of BB which ho had beon witness. Ho wanted BB to cry out, to halt tho advancing col- BB umns which would soon bo here, to BB toll them that they must not como BB upon this field, made sacred by such BB woo. fl Near tho Intrciichmcnt where tho B bitter closo had been, nnd whom thoro BB was need nllka for noto of triumph BB and forgotfulnoss, tho band major mar- BB shalcd his music, four deep nnd forty BB Btrong, nnd swung out Into tho anthom BB of tho flag. Tho head of tho column BB broko from tho Inst cover of tho wood BB and camo Into full sight at tho edge BB of tho open country. Thus thoro came BB Into view tho wholo panorama of tho BB flold, dotted with tho slain and with BB thoso who sought (he slain. Tho BB music of triumph was encountered by BB tho concerted voice of grief nnd woe. BB There appeared for tho feet of this BB nrmy not a more rond, n mere battle- BB flold, bat n ground sacred, hedged high BB about, not rudely to be violated. BB Hut tho band major was a poet, a BB groat man. There enmo to him no BB ordor tolling him what he should do, BB but tho thing was In his oul that BB should bo done. There camo to him. BB wafted from the field of sorrow, n note BB which was command, n volco which BB sounded to him above tho voices of BB his own brasses, nbovo the tapping or BB tho kottlodrums. A gesturo of com- BB mand. and tho music ceased absolute- BB ly. A momont, and it had resumed. BB Tho forty black horses which inado BB up this roglmentnl band weto tho pride BB of tho division. Four deep, forty BB strong, with arching necks, with faro BB feat reaching far and drooping softly. BB each horse of the famous cavalry band BB passed on out upon the field of Louis- burg with such carriage ns showed It BB sensible of Its mission. The reins lay BB looso upon their nocks, but they kept BB stop to thti music which they fait. Bj Forty horses pacod slowly forward, H keeping stop. Forty trumpeters, each BB man with his right hand aloft, hold- BB tng hU Instrument, his left hnnd nt ills BB' .side, bearing tho rap which ho had ru- HHhgj moved, rode on across the Held of Ixiulsburg. The mtiKlc was no longor the hymn of triumph. Softly and sadly, sweetly nnd soothingly, sooth-ingly, the trumpets sang n melody of other days, nn nlr long loved In tho old-time South. And Annlo Laurie, weeping, hoard and listened, nnd wopt tho more, nnd blessed Ood for her tears! BOOK II. The Day of the Buffalo. CHAPTER IV. Datterilelgh of the Rile Irish. Col. Henry Untterslelgli sat In his tent engaged In tho composition of a document which occnsloned him con-corn. con-corn. Thnt Col. lfntterslelgh should ho using his tent as olllco and residence resi-dence for thnt such wns tho fact oven tho most casual glance must hnvo determined de-termined wns for him a circumstance offering no special or extraordinary features. Ills llfo had been Bpent under un-der ennvas, llrought up In tho profession pro-fession of arms, so long ns fighting nnd forngo wore good it had mattered llttlo to him In what clime ho found hln homo. Ho had fought with tho Kngllsh In India, carried sabro in tlio Austrian horse, and on his prlvnto nc-count nc-count drilled regiments for tho (Irnnd Sultan, deep within tho interior of a country which know how to keep Its secrets. When tho American civil war began ho drifted to tho newest scono of activity ns metal to n magnet. Chnnco Bent him with tho Union nrmy, nnd thoro ho found opportunity for n cavalry command. "A glntlamau llko Untterslelgli of tho Hllo Irish always rides," ho said, and natural horseman ns well ns trained cavalryman was Hat-terslolgh, Hat-terslolgh, tall, lean, lint-backed, nnd martial oven under his sixty admitted )cars. It was his boast that no horse H "Datterslelnh of the Rile Irish." on earth could unseat him. Perhaps nono aver had until ho camo to tho Plains. For this was on tho Plains. As all Amorlca wns under ennvns, It was not strango that Col. Dattcrslclgh should find his homo in n tent, nnd that this tont should ho pitched upon tho Western West-ern Plains. Not thnt ho had gono directly di-rectly to tho West after tho mustering muster-ing out of his regiment. To tho contrary, con-trary, tils first abodo had been In tho city of Now York, whero during his brief stay ho acquired n certain acquaintance. ac-quaintance. What woro tho financial resources of Ilnttcrslolgh after tho cessation of his pay as cavalry ofllcor not oven his best friends could accurately have told. It was rumored that ho was tho commissioner In America of tho London Lon-don TlmoH. Ho was crcdltod with being n Follow of tho lloynl Geographical Geo-graphical Society. That ho had a history his-tory no ono could doubt who saw him como down tho street with his broad hat. his swooping clonk, his gauntlets, Ills neatly varnished hoots. In reality Col. Henry Hatterslolgh llvod, during his city life, In n small, n very Htuall room, up moro than one lllght of Rtnlrs. This room, no larger thnn a tent, was military In Its neatness. Ilntterslelgli, bacholor and soldier, wns In nowise forgetful of the truth that personal neatness and personal valor go well hand In baud. The lied, a vory narrow one, hail but meager covering, nnd during the winter months Its single blanket rattled to tho touch. "There's nothing noth-ing in the world so warm as newspapers, news-papers, mo boy," said Untterslelgli. UH)ii tho table, which was a box. there was displayed always an Invariable Invari-able arrangement. Col. Hatter-sleigh's riding whip (without which he wns rarely seen In public) wns placed upon tho tnblo first. Above the whip were laid the gauntlets, crossed at sixty dogroes. On top of whip and glnvos rested tho hat, Indented novor moro nor less, lleyond theso, tho personal per-sonal belongings of Untterslelgli of the Hllo Irish woro nt best fow nnd humble. In tho big olty, busy with reviving re-viving enmmorce, thero were fow who cared how Hatterslolgh llvod. It was a vagrant wind of March that ono day blew aside tho clonk of Uatterslolgu as ho raised his hat In salutation to a frlond n vagrant wind, cynical nnd merciless, which showed somewhat of tho poverty with which llntterslelgh had struggled llko n soldier and a gentleman, gen-tleman, llatterslalgh, poor nnd proud, tbon wont out Into tho Wost. ' Tho t nt In which Col. Hattorslelsh wa-i now writing was nn old on yellow and patched In places In size It wn-i '-miliar to that of the bedroom In New York, and Its furnishings werw I much the : ame. A narrow bunk held a bed over which there was spread , Mnglo blanket. It wns silent In tin tent, sate for the scratching of the writer's pen; so that now nnd then there might easily have been heard a faint rustling of paper. Indeed, till" rustling wns cnused by the small feet of the prairie mice, which now and then ran over tho newspaper which lay beneath the blanket. Hatters-lulgh's Hatters-lulgh's table waH again a rudo one, manufactured from u box. Tho vls-lolo vls-lolo seats were nlso boxes, two or three in number. Upon ono of these sat Untterslelgli, busy at his writing Occasionally ho gazed out upon a swcot blue sky, unfrettcd by any cloud. His oyo crossed a sen of faintly faint-ly wnvlng grasses. Tho liquid call of a mllo-hlgh mysterious plover camo to him. In tho lino of vision from the tont door there could bo scon no token of n human neighborhood, nor could there bo heard any sound of human life. Tho ennvns houso stood alone and npart. Hatterslolgh gazed out of tho door as ho folded his letter. "It's grand, Just grand," ho said. And so ho turned comfortably to tho feeding feed-ing of his mice, which nibbled nt his lingers Intimately, ns had many mlco of many lands with Ilattcrslclgl' CHAPTER V. The Turning of the Road. At tho closo of tho war Capt. Ed-ward Ed-ward FrnriVlIn returned to a shrunkcu world, Tho llttlo Illinois village which had beon his homo no longor served to bound his ambitions, but offered of-fered only a mill-round of duties so petty, a horizon of opportunities so restricted, us to cause In his mind a fooling of distress equivalent nt times to absoluto abhorrence. Tho perspective perspec-tive of all things had changed. Tho men who had onco scorned groat to him In this little world now appeared In tho light of a wider Judgment, as thoy really woro small, boastful, pompous, cowardly, deceitful, pretentious, preten-tious, Franklin was himself now a man, nnd a man graduated from that severe and oxactlng school which so quickly matured a generation of American youth. As his hand had fitted naturally a weapon, so his mind turned naturally to larger thlnga than those offered In theso long-tilled Holds of life. Ho camo back from tho war disillusionized, irrovercnt, impatient, impa-tient, and full of that Btirglng fretful-ness fretful-ness which fell upon all tho land. To this young man, ardent, energetic, ener-getic, malcontent, thero appeared the vision of wldo regions of rudo, actlvo life, offering full outlet for all tho bodily vigor of n man, nnd appealing not loss powerfully to his Imagination. This Wost no man hnd como back from It who was not eager to return to It again! For tho weak and slothful sloth-ful It might do to remain In tho older communities, to reap In tho long-tilted fields, but for tho strong, for tho unattached, for tho enterprising, tlili unknown, unoxplorcd, uncertain country coun-try offered a sceno whoso possibilities mado irrcslstlblo appeal. For two years Franklin did tho best ho could nt reading law In a country olllco. Every Umo ho looked out of tho window win-dow ho saw a whlto-toppod wagon moving West. Men camo back and told him of this West. Men wrote letters let-ters from tho Wost to frlonds who remained re-mained In tho East. Presently tbeso frlonds also, seized upon by tomo vast lmpulso which thoy could not control, in turn arranged their affairs and dopartcd for tho West. (To bo continued.) |