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THE 
 
 ^<-^Oi^: C^ 
 
 COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DIIER. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 Capt. CHARLES KING, 
 
 U. S. ARMY. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 L. R. HAMERSLY & CO., 
 
 15 lo Chestnut Street. 
 
 1890. 
 
Copyright, 1890, by L. R. Hamersly & Co. 
 
AN ARMY PORTIA. 
 
 By Captain Charles King, U. S. A. 
 
 READY NOV. 20TH, 1890. 
 
 A thrilling- story of Love aud War, and altogrether 
 
 the most absorbing and entertaining Novel 
 
 that Captain King has written. 
 
 FOR DASH AND DRAMATIC EFFECT IT HAS NO SUPERIOR. 
 
 Now ready, and published in uniform style with the above : 
 "From the Banks," "Dunraven Ranch," and "Two Soldiers." 
 Mailed to any address in the U. S. or Canada, on receipt of 
 
 25 CENTS EACH. 
 
 Address LIPPINCOTT'S MAGAZINE, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 CMPTHIN BL-MKE. 
 
 By CAPTAIN CHARLES KING, 
 
 Author of "Starlight Ranch," "taramle," "Marion's Faitli," etc. 
 
 WITH ILLDSTRATIONS. 12M0. EXTRA CLOTH, $1.25. 
 
 This Novel is written in Captain King's usual sprightly and 
 attractive vein. In it we breathe the fresh and bracing air of the 
 plains, and are thrilled now and then by the adventures common 
 to frontier lite aud Indian warfare. 
 
 In the quieter times of peace we enjoy the social amenities of 
 camp life, with a due sprinkling of flirtation and love, in dealing 
 with all of which Captain King is an adept. 
 
 The illustrationa have been especially prepared under the 
 author's supervision, and add an attractive feature to the volume. 
 
 MAILED ON RECEIPT OF PRICE TO ANY ADDRESS. 
 
 J. B. LIPPINCOTT CO., 
 
 .^ F'HILA.DELF'HI.A.. 
 
 Mi8()49 
 
WOLFF <5^ RANDOLPH'S 
 
 CHRISTMAS GREETING 
 
 To iheir Friends of the Army: 
 
 WARM HEARTS, WARM HANDS and WARM FEET. 
 
 The latter liclp wonJrously to iiisure the former, and to secure Warm 
 F*eet provide yourself with 
 
 Wolff's ACME Blacking 
 
 FOR 
 
 Boots, Shoes, Harness and Aeeoutrements. 
 
 OPINIONS OF SO>EE FEW THAT HAVE USED IT. 
 
 . „ FuRT Mi-LA.DE, Dakota, September 5, 1888. 
 
 Messrs. Woi.rr & RANPOi.rn: . r j • 
 
 My troop will s-.on arivo at its new Kfation, Fort Keogli, Montana, and I desire 
 to have the men sujiplied with Acme Blacking. Send me t« Fort Keogh, so 
 that it mav be there on mj' arrival, one gro.ss. Payment will be made on receipt of 
 same. 'I'h'is blacking was used by my troop last winter, at Fort Davis, Texas, where 
 it wa-s kept at the Post Canteen. ^apt. EDWARD E. WOOD, 8th Cavalry. 
 
 ^ . „ FoBT Riley, Kans.\.8, October 10, 1887. 
 
 Messrs. Wolft A Randolph: ,' ^ . 
 
 After completing a march of 48 daj-s, with my Saddle and other Equipments 
 dressed with your Acme Blacking, I can say the result is all and more than 
 one can desire. It is in use throughout the Garrison. 
 
 Corp. T. WHITE, Troop C, 7th Cavalry. 
 
 ,, ,,, . o Fort Bufoed, Dakota, October 10, 1888. 
 
 M ESSRS. ^\ OLFF & RANDOLPH: ' ' 
 
 1 cannot praise Acme Blacking too much, as it is all that can be desired. 
 Our regiment made a four months march last summer, from the Rio Grande to 
 the mouth of the Yellowstone, a distance (.f 2:i0it miles. Before starting on this 
 campaign, I dressed my saddle with Acme Blacking, and at the end ot the march 
 it looked like new beside the others. I consider it indispensable to the cavalryman. 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON, Co. K, 8th Cavalry. 
 
 Messrs. Wolff & Randolph: F°«^ ^^'''O^". ^^^^'^^ October 11, 1888. 
 
 In regard to Acme Blacking, I take pleasure in stating that it is the very 
 best I have ever used for Saddles and Equipments, and one which every Cavalry- 
 man should use. ?,cx^i. ERNEST VON LORENZ, Troop K, 8th Cavalry. 
 
 „, . „ Washington Barracks, D. C, November 25, 1888. 
 
 Messrs. Wolff k Randolph : 
 
 I consider Acme Blacking the best in the world for shoes. 
 
 Sergt. C1I.\S. B. DANA, Light Battery C, 3d Artillery. 
 
 Sent in screw top boxes by mail to every one who will mention this 
 book, and enclose 15 cents to covev the cost of postage. 
 
 N. B. — This book must be mentioned or the 15 cents will be returned, as the 
 regular price by mail is 35 cents. 
 
 WOLFF &, RANDOLPH, 
 
 927 North Front St., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 At sunset on the 24th of December the commanding 
 officer of Fort Blank was mentally as blue as the trousers 
 of his pet orderly and facially black as the self-same 
 orderly's boots— minus the shine. The north mail was 
 just in, borne by a half-breed Sioux on a more than half- 
 starved pony, and thereby came the news that three 
 officials high in repute and moderately so in rank in their 
 respective corps would arrive late on the following day 
 and spend the night at the post. They had been far to 
 the northward, "investigating" at the Agencies along 
 the Wakpa Washtay, and had not even found a reason 
 for the misnomer. Ever\'body who was ever there be- 
 lieves that the water of that fabled stream was good only 
 when skillfully diluted. They had started for the distant 
 railway, hoping to reach their domestic friends by Christ- 
 mas Day. But bad luck befell them. A gale and blind- 
 ing snow-storm swept over the northwest from Boulder 
 to the Black Hills. Their driver lost the way— first— 
 and the mules next. The party camped in a canon 
 '■ until the clouds rolled by " — were found and towed into 
 an outlying cantonment b)^ a scouting band of troopers, 
 and now, here they were "coming to roost in my 
 rookery," said the Colonel, "when I haven't even a crow 
 to pick with them." 
 
 5 
 
6 THK C0IX)NEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 ,*, ''>'»» •• ••- 
 
 But this was not the sum total of his troubles. There 
 was worse news — or lack of news, which meant bad news 
 in this case — from the south. He had planned a quiet 
 little dinner — just half-a-dozen of his cronies and favorites, 
 and indeed there was but scanty room for more — the in- 
 vitations had been issued and accepted ; his worthy help- 
 mate and their eldest daughter were already deep in pre- 
 paration : when lo : — the fact he had to face on Christmas 
 Eve was that Christmas Day was apt to bring him double- 
 loaded tribulation. The same storm that brought him 
 extra guests had blocked the coming of the extra dinner. 
 
 Fort Blank's market-town lay just about a hundred 
 miles away, when the skies and roads were clear, and just 
 about a thousand when the}' weren't. The oj'sters, the 
 turkeys, the celery, the cranberries, the fruits ordered sent 
 by the stage due at Blank at 4 p.m. on the 24th, were 
 stuck in the snow-drifts an indefinite distance south. 
 Even the telegraph couldn't find them. 
 
 When a man's in trouble, in nine cases out of ten, the 
 quicker he tells his wife, the sooner it's over. The Colo- 
 nel went home overcome with the weight of his woe. For 
 a moment his better half was, apparently, as prostrated as 
 himself— no woman likes to have a dinner-party ruined, 
 either by having too little to eat or too many to eat it — 
 but no sooner did she note his profound dejection, than 
 she arose to the occasion. 
 
 " Never mind. Colonel, the missing dinner will turn up 
 in time, and if it doesn't, we'll make them so welcome, 
 after their hard trip, that anything will taste good. And 
 then, 5'ou know, there's the champagne we were saving 
 for Dot's wedding. It will cover a multitude of sins — 
 like charity. Don't you worr>^ I'll manage it." 
 
 And she did. 
 
 That woman was a marvel of energy, pluck, and 
 
IXTRODUCTIOX. 7 
 
 resources. She trotted over through the gloaming to her 
 especial crony, the Major's kindly wife, catching the 
 children peeping over the balusters ready to scream with 
 ecstasy at the sight of a possible Santa Clans. 
 
 She had brief consultation with her. She hurried down 
 the line to the bachelor dens and pounced on Mr. Briggs, 
 who, though devoted to " Dot," was as yet understood to 
 be on terms of probation. There wasn't anything Briggs 
 wouldn't do for her— now, at least — and Briggs, before 
 tattoo, was riding away through the glistening moonlight 
 over the rolling expanse of snow "scouting for that din- 
 ner "' with an all-night jaunt before him. ' She had roused 
 the sympathies of the garrison. Strangers are coming- 
 all unexpected — but must be welcomed. 
 
 It is a characteristic of frontier life that the verj- men 
 and women who entertain and express at times most un- 
 flattering opinions of their neighbors, from the "CO." 
 down to the " Sub," will turn to, when the honor of the 
 garrison is at stake, and help them out to the extent of 
 their spoons, salad forks, their most treasured china — 
 their last cent, and Fort Blank rallied to a woman to the 
 support of the Colonel and his energetic wife. 
 
 All through the crisp, sparkling sheen of the moonlit 
 evening, dark, muffled forms were flitting from house to 
 house along the lines of officers' quarters. Little pack- 
 ages of gifts — home-made, perhaps, but loving— were left 
 for the children ever\-where, and then there was perpetual 
 stamping of overshoes on the Colonel's porch and laugh- 
 ing greetings of party after party that came trooping in — 
 ever}'body bringing material aid and comfort. 
 
 And so before midnight the modest little dinner origi- 
 nally proposed developed into a phenomenal "spread." 
 Even by tight squeezing, which the jolly subalterns ad- 
 vocated, not more than ten people could be seated in the 
 
8 THK COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 frontier dining-room, but " hang the dining-room !" said 
 the Major. " Set a long table down this side of the house 
 — one end in the dining-room — t'other in the parlor. 
 Knock out the folding doors, of course — levy on all the 
 flags, curtains — Navajo l)lankets, lap robes, crazy quilts 
 and Indian shawls and their imitations in garrison. Call 
 in the combined resources of the bachelors' mess and pri- 
 vate establishments — and I'll bet you will make such a 
 dazzling table of it that even if we haven't turkey and 
 quail enough to go round they won't notice it. Then 
 just fall to and decide how many of us you want to ap- 
 pear, and we'll turn out in our best bib and tucker and 
 the old house will fairly sparkle." 
 
 The Colonel's wife sprang up and seized the speaker's 
 hands. "Just what I hoped for, only — we'll have to 
 borrow so much." 
 
 " Borrow^ anything we've got, and I'll throw in more 
 than a gallon of that old Amontillado of mine to boot." 
 
 ''Major ! That precious sherry ? You are simply too 
 generous ! ' ' 
 
 " Not a bit ! I'll be here to help drink it and I'd love 
 to see their faces as they sip it." 
 
 The Major's wife would have embraced him then and 
 there, but time was precious. His enthusiasm was con- 
 tagious, and this was the result. The bachelors' mess 
 contributed nem. co7i. two dozen plump quail from their 
 larder and enough celery to make "salad for sixty." 
 Captain and Mrs. Winston begged that they might be 
 represented by half-a-dozen bottles of some prized Chateau 
 Yquera they had stored away for special occasions. The 
 Waynes trotted out some dusty flagons of Pape Clement 
 which the Captain had laid away when servdng in New 
 Orleans. McManus, the jovial post trader, appeared with 
 a brace of bottles of his ' ' warranted twenty years old S. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 O. p., Curniel — and iver)^ limoii, fig, nut, raisin or 
 dhrop there is in the house." Fhiids were after a-11 the 
 hardest things to provide for : that is to say, fluids of 
 suitable quality, and yet this was galore. 
 
 "By Jove ! " said the Colonel, "This isn't my dinner. 
 It's the whole post that's doing it." But no! said the 
 post. "It's the Colonel's Christmas dinner, and we are 
 only too glad to help. ' ' 
 
 And lo ! What transformation scene was wrought by 
 Christmas afternoon. Briggs had found the stage thirty 
 miles out and had replaced its battered team by the well- 
 fed mules he had taken along. By noon its precious 
 cargo was landed at the Colonel's kitchen, where half-a- 
 dozen ladies were at work. Mrs. Waring had assumed 
 charge of the cake and pastry department. Captain 
 Wayne's accomplished wife was up to her lovely elbows 
 in flour. The Adjutant's better half was out in the 
 snow superintending the manufacture of orange ice and 
 chocolate cream (a whole box of McManus's Floridas 
 was squeezed into those freezers and ' ' divil a cint would 
 he iver take "). The Q. M. Department had knocked up 
 a temporar>^ kitchen in the back-yard, where a big range 
 was already firing up, and haunches of "black tail" and 
 a saddle of venison were hanging in the frosty air ready 
 for their turn. Over at Mrs. Morton's the soup had been 
 simmering ever since tattoo the night before — two troopers 
 from the " Grays" on watch over it lest the fire get too 
 hot or too low. 
 
 Nobody could beat the Quartermaster's wife in the 
 preparation of coffee — that was to be her province when 
 the time came. And as for delicious jelly, there was 
 bonny Mrs. Prime, the Doctor's wife, with him away till 
 the stage got in, and then it was too late for him to pro- 
 hibit the expenditure of certain hospital stores which he 
 
 1* 
 
10 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 aftenvards very gladly rcj^laced from personal funds. And 
 so all was bustle without, and willing hands had been as 
 busy within the improvised banquet hall. Kxtra tallies, 
 chairs, china, glas.ses of all shapes, styles and colors, 
 decanters, carafes, sconces, candelabra, dama.sk, cutlery, 
 silver, etc., had been poured in as fast as needed. No- 
 body had to be asked for an5'thing, everybody sent hi — 
 no ! her best. At 3 p. m., under a canopy consi.sting of 
 the great garrison flag, draped from the front of the 
 parlor to the rear of the dining-room, with all manner of 
 smaller flags, guidons, signal outfits, and improvised 
 drapery too intricate for description, the Colonel's Chri.st- 
 mas table was laid for twenty-four, and was a sight that 
 set his eyes glistening to match the array of crj^stal. No 
 flowers, of course, for 'twas in the heart of the Rockies 
 and the dead of winter. No w^ax tapers, for there wasn't 
 time to provide them, but in their stead, from scores of 
 brilliant (tin) sconces, from candlesticks, candelabra, 
 clusters by the dozen, there popped out the prim white 
 "best adamantine " of the Commissary Department. 
 "Bless your heart ! Mrs. Grace," said the A. A. C. S. : 
 " They'll make just as soft a light as wax, if there isn't a 
 draft, and just as brilliant if you burn enough at a time." 
 
 At four thirty the lookouts reported the ambulance 
 toiling over the divide five miles away. " Here they 
 come !" was the cry. " Now ever5^body who is to be at 
 the dinner scatter and dress. I close the banquet hall 
 against all comers until it's time to light up," ordered the 
 Colonel's w^ife, " and mind — be here sharp at six. They'll 
 be ravenous by the time they reach the post. ' ' 
 
 "Stop! stop! my dear — one minute!" shouted the 
 Colonel from across the hall. "Just listen to this." And 
 with twinkling eyes the veteran read aloud a little note 
 he held in a hand that trembled despite himself. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 " Dear Colonel Grace : 
 
 "All day I have been lamenting that there was nothing I could 
 do to show m\ interest in the dinner you are giving to our unex- 
 pected guests. The stage came in the nick of time. It brought 
 me from New York my special favorites of the club days a few 
 years ago. With my best wishes for the Merriest of Christmases 
 to all I send this box of Regalia Perfectos. 
 
 Yours most " 
 
 But he couldn't finish. 
 
 "Pills junior— God bless him !" shouted the Major, 
 "and I've been doing nothing but guy him since he 
 joined " 
 
 ''Colonel!'' screamed Mrs. Grace. "And we hadn't 
 room for him." 
 
 "Make it, b}^ Jove! Raise the roof! Wh)^ there 
 wasn't a cigar worth smoking on the post — and, damn 
 these medical chaps anyway, thej- — they " 
 
 ' ' They do the nicest things in the nicest way, ' ' prompted 
 Mrs. Grace. " Doctor Watts comes if I have to stand." 
 
 " Nonsense ! Two more seats can go in there just as 
 well as not," declared Miss Dot.! " I would like^ \.o 
 squeeze the doctor if you will put him next me." 
 
 " Dora ! you are excited," remarked mamma. " We'll 
 have the doctor here— next Mrs. Willis. You are to de- 
 vote yourself to Major Loomis. But that'll make twenty- 
 three. We must match him. Now, which — who?" 
 
 "I'll run right over and tell her— Kitty, of course," 
 and Miss Dora makes a dash. In vain Mrs. Grace would 
 have interposed. The Colonel settles it. 
 
 Kitty Wallace, by all means, or he wouldn't care to 
 come. Now, I've just time to go over and hug Pills my- 
 self." 
 
 Fancy the astonishment of those three hungry and 
 wear>' travelers, Colonels C and D and Major 
 
12 TIIR colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 Iv , when, as they were assisted, stiff and half-frozen, 
 
 from the ambulance and marshaled aloft to warm and 
 cosy rooms, they were told that dinner would be ready as 
 soon as they were, and a few friends to meet them. ' ' Wear 
 what you like," said the Colonel. "We know you have 
 only traveling garb." 
 
 But as they thawed out under the influence of the genial 
 glow, the abundant hot water, the sounds and, it must be 
 added, the scents from below, for a big dinner announces 
 itself all over the army quarters of those days before ever 
 the grace is said, the three gentlemen realized something, 
 at least, of what was in store for them. 
 
 "Fatigue uniform is the best we can do," said Major 
 Loomis. ' ' I can see shoulder knots and aiguillettes gath- 
 ering below. ' ' 
 
 "Fatigue it is," was the prompt response, and then 
 there came a sudden flock of dancing lights along the road- 
 way in front, the tramp of martial footsteps. " The band, 
 by Jove! "said the Major, and the band it was, for an 
 instant after there burst upon the frosty air the ringing, 
 joyous notes of a welcoming quickstep, only one tune, for 
 the valves of the clarionettes would freeze stiff" in less than 
 no time. But to that spirited music, marshaled by their 
 host, they descended upon a hall full of " fair women and 
 brave men " in all the gala of social dress. 
 
 "Dinner is served," announced the one colored facto- 
 tum at the po.st, throwing open the door at the head of 
 the hall. Mrs. Grace stole her gloved hand within the 
 arm of Colonel C , and before that distinguished sol- 
 dier had had time to bow to three people he was being 
 led down a banqueting board, the like of which he had 
 never seen or dreamed of seeing on the frontier in all his 
 years of gallant service. Speedily the guests were mar- 
 shaled to their places — every one seemed to know just 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 where to go. There was an instant of reverent silence as 
 the voice of the old chaplain quavered its thanks and its 
 plea for blessing on one and all. Then a rustle and sub- 
 dued clatter, hushed voices for a while as the party ex- 
 changed nods and smiles and stole covert glances at the 
 three storm- worn travelers as though seeking to read in 
 their bearded faces what they thought of the unusual dis- 
 play. Colonel C 's twinkling eyes were taking in the 
 
 pretty scene with frank and genial delight. Anybody 
 could tell from her smiles and heightened color that he 
 was sa3-ing to Mrs. Grace just the loveliest possible things 
 of the beautiful eflfect of the table — and well he might. 
 Under the bright-hued draper^' the glare of the candles 
 was skillfully toned by countless tiny screens of pink tis- 
 sue paper on wire frames. (Didn't three of those blessed 
 women spend hours in cutting, pasting and trimming 
 them ?) The " adamantines " on the table were all simi- 
 larly dressed with little pink bells, so that nowhere was 
 there flame in sight. Yet the light was amply strong to 
 bring out all the beauties of the board — the lovely cos- 
 tumes of the women, their own charming faces, the rich 
 variety in the appointments of the table, in crj-stal, in 
 china, in cut-glass. " Who on earth," said old Colonel 
 
 D , before he had been seated a moment, "would have 
 
 dared dream of such a sight as this ? Blue Points on the 
 half-shell in the heart of the Rockies ! " 
 
 The}' were not Blue Points — neither were they shells. 
 The}' were bound to utilize those oysters (canned ' ' se- 
 lects ' ' ) somehow, and this was an inspiration of the Ad- 
 jutant. At each place as the banqueters took their seats 
 stood a little block of clearest ice, six inches square and 
 two deep, hollowed out on the upper surface, and therein 
 reposed five of the smallest oysters that could be selected 
 from the ' ' selects. ' ' It was fun to see that energetic of- 
 
14 TIIK colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 ficial spending hours that afternoon with the piccolo 
 player and the bass drummer, sawing out those " shells " 
 from the huge blocks duly dumped in the back-yard and 
 then laboriously hollowing out the top of each by the in- 
 genious application of hot shot — a couple of stray twelve- 
 pounder howitzer shells that, long since emptied and un- 
 fused, had been kicking about the post since the memory 
 of the oldest log in the block-house at the angle. 
 
 And while these metamorphosed ' ' selects ' ' were being 
 tipped with lemon juice and horse radish and slipped 
 down past welcoming palates, white-gloved, solemn-faced 
 '* strikers " — the Major's eagle eye upon them — were fill- 
 ing the tiny sherry glasses (and half-filling those of 
 larger calibre) with his treasured Amontillado. A well- 
 drilled corps they proved — these extemporized Jeameses — 
 for while everything was being brought in from the door 
 at Mrs. Grace's end of the double room — everything went 
 out at the other. 
 
 " By Jove — what sherr}^ !" exclaimed old D . He 
 
 was too far away from the Colonel to be heard by 
 him, but Mrs. Grace smiled her pleasure at his satisfac- 
 tion and her eyes signaled "fill up again." Out went 
 the ice blocks. In came two huge tureens of fragrant 
 mock turtle and these were deposited on little stands on 
 each side of the table, where the plates were quickly 
 filled and set before the guests. " Capital idea that ! Mrs. 
 
 Grace," said D again. " By Jove, madam, you must 
 
 permit me to compliment you on such management. It 
 would be sure to cool if carried in plates from the kitchen, 
 and if there's anything hateful it's cold soup. Especially 
 when one has been exposed to storm and tempest and 
 zero weather for a week in the mountains as we have. 
 More sherry ? Indeed, yes. I'll lose no time in drinking 
 your health." 
 
INTRODUCTION. 16 
 
 And Mrs. Grace smilingly raised her glass and 
 bowed her acknowledgments and just glanced at the 
 
 humorous twinkle in the blue eyes of Colonel C , who 
 
 sat at the right hand, and who promptly sipped a ripple 
 from the surface of his sherry as token of his sympathy 
 in the toast. 
 
 And now the chat grew merry and general. Down the 
 table far to the right, handsome young Doctor Watts was 
 beaming into the blushing face of Kitty Wallace. Mid- 
 way on the other side, sprightly " Dot " was " doing her 
 level best" to fascinate dark-visaged Major Loomis, as 
 bidden — while Briggs, whose heroic efforts had been re- 
 warded by a seat at her other side, was scowling at the 
 situation and reaching for more sherry. It was McManus's 
 ' ' best ' ' that lay at his elbow, for the Colonel meant to use 
 his Major's Amontillado on Sam Ward's principle— a 
 thimble-full, and all who struck for more (except among 
 the guests from abroad) should take the local product. A 
 lovely woman, a visitor at the fort, was making play with 
 
 her beautiful blue eyes at bluff Colonel D , TA'ho took 
 
 her in ; but he was too full of his recent hardships to care 
 for comforts less material than those to be found in his 
 immediate front. Midway down the table the staunch 
 ally of Mrs. Grace— the Major's wife — finding Briggs 
 moody, decided on striving to console him, but at this 
 moment the blue-eyed dame, finding old D intract- 
 able and being unaccustomed to anything less than rapt 
 attention, took advantage of an instant's turn of Major 
 Loomis's head, and he was caught. "Dot," rejoicing in 
 her release from duty, turned to whisper to Briggs, 
 Smiles, social sun.shine, joyousness reigned along the 
 board, and the Major's wife, happy in such consummation 
 of their hopes, sent a significant look along over the wine 
 glasses and through the pink tissue candle-bells to her 
 
16 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 loyal friend and social chief at the head of the table, and 
 Mrs. Grace caught it behind her fan and smiled back as 
 the great haunch of venison came in. 
 
 At her right, beyond the senior officer of all — the low- 
 voiced gentleman in the quiet fatigue dress — sat pretty 
 Mrs. Wayne exchanging congratulations with the 
 aiguilletted Adjutant who was just beyond. Then there 
 was Mrs. Winston, wife of the soldierly, scholarly senior 
 Captain, who sat far down at the Colonel's end chatting 
 with Mrs. Quartermaster Drake over the trials and tri- 
 umphs of the day. Then there was the Captain w^hose 
 life was said to have been a romance, and the woman who 
 had not had too much of anything but reality, and who 
 could serenely and sweetly enjoy so bright a scene as this, 
 even though her thoughts were much with the little ones 
 at her modest fireside who had begged for some of the 
 goodies when she came home (I wash you could have 
 seen the load that the Colonel helped her to carry to those 
 sleeping cherubs, when we broke up — never mind at what 
 hour). And the Colonel had taken in the bride — the wife 
 of the Post Surgeon who wouldn't have been able to get 
 here at all, but for Briggs and his mules. And the gray- 
 haired chaplain and his wife were there and the quarter- 
 master, of course, and you may be sure old McManus, 
 the jovial trader, w^as bidden, but he wouldn't come. 
 "Lord! Currnel, I'd be like a fi.sh out o' wather, and 
 then, d'ye mind, it's the boys are all coming to the shtore 
 to-night for the bit of spread I'm givin' them." And so 
 what did the Graces and their counsellors do, but send 
 and insist his prett}^ daughter should come, the apple of 
 the old man's " oi," and nothing could have rejoiced him 
 more. 
 
 By the time the turkej^s were gone — wild and domes- 
 tic — people were well filled, and still there came another 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 7 
 
 course, the quails of the bachelor mess, vdth such mar\-el- 
 
 ous celer>- salad ! And old D had waxed eloquent 
 
 over the sauterne and exploded with amaze at sight of 
 Pape Clement in Wyoming, and wouldn't be admonished 
 by the disapproving glance bent upon him by his senior 
 across the table, and burst out with " But, madam, this is 
 magic. This beats Aladdin ; beats— beats anything I 
 ever heard oi—beafs the Jezvs ! You couldn't have known 
 w-e were coming more'n a day and you couldn't have done 
 better if you'd known it a year. Now I never heard of 
 Pape Clement outside of New Orleans before. Why ! I 
 couldn't have been more surprised if you had given us 
 Pompano ' ' 
 
 Pop ! went a champagne cork, just under his rubicund 
 nose. He buried his grizzled moustache in the hissing 
 fluid — Dot's wedding wine — and glanced about him a 
 picture of bliss, defiant of adverse comment or criticism. 
 
 And now, fun, laughter, witty sallies, jovial anecdotes 
 were criss-crossing over the board. The huge plum pud- 
 ding, all wealth and blue blazes, was borne aloft by the 
 sable functionary down the long length ol the room, and 
 there, by aid of comrade hands, placed in front of the 
 
 Colonel, whose face was as roseate and bhssful as D 's, 
 
 and round as the pudding's. Pop ! pop ! the champagne 
 corks went flying. Dot's wedding wine was to be taxed, 
 only enough to season the birds. Then again 'twas Mc- 
 Manus ad libitum. And ever3-body praised the pudding, 
 though few could eat it, and the health of the fair manu- 
 facturer was drunk, and the Adjutant's wife came in for a 
 general toast on her ices and cream, and McManus's fruits 
 were heaped before unheeding eyes, and at last came Mrs. 
 Drake's masterpiece — coffee so black and rich that it left a 
 stain on the dainty china in which it was ser\ed, and 
 then the Colonel arose, and people at his end of the table 
 
18 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 stopped talking, and little by little the silence spread. 
 " Fill your glasses," he said. "Soldiers, soldiers' wives — 
 and — soldiers' wives that ought to be." 
 
 " Bravo !" from D . 
 
 "Oh! I forget you, Dot," said the Colonel, amidst 
 shouts of laughter and applause, but glasses were filled, 
 and then as the old fellow raised his on high a sudden 
 hush fell upon them all. 
 
 " We don't often have such a chance as this, my friends. 
 I've no words to say what joy it gives my heart to wel- 
 come you all here at this God-given and blessed season of 
 cheer and gladness. I've no words appropriate to the 
 Christmas-tide, dearly though I love it, but I bid you 
 join with me in drinking — one and all — the toast that at 
 all times, at all seasons, wherever under God's provi- 
 dence we may be called to ser\^e, must ever be first and 
 foremost in the American heart : The President — and the 
 Flag!" 
 
 Bang ! went a gong somewhere out in the hallway, and 
 as all sprang to their feet there broke upon the still night 
 air without, in full swing, the crash of the band, joined 
 almost instantl}' by a score of manly voices, ' ' ould 
 McManus" leading the stirring strains of "The Star- 
 Spangled Banner." It was the climax of the evening. 
 They had been rehearsing an hour " down at the store." 
 
 ' ' And now, ' ' said the Colonel half an hour later, by 
 which time the enthusiasm had subsided to some degree, 
 " Our Guests " and "The Ladies" had been appropri- 
 ately toasted and responded for (the former doubly so, as 
 
 after Colonel C had spoken his few modest, well-chosen 
 
 words D sprang to his feet and waxed exuberant). 
 
 ' ' And now, ' ' said Grace, ' ' we have talked over our little 
 programme, the ladies and I. There's nothing for them 
 to do, if banished. They are all indulgent as to the mat- 
 
THE adjutant's STORY. 19 
 
 ter of good tobacco smoke. They have made this little 
 dinner — ever}- bit of it — the success our indulgent friends 
 have pronounced it, and it would break my heart if they 
 were to leave." (_" Break all our hearts !" shouts from 
 everywhere). " I read not long ago of a Christmas at Sea, 
 where the ward-room officers entertained the Admiral and 
 their Captain and, over the walnuts and wine, told their 
 stories each in turn. 
 
 " In almost every respect they had manifest advantages 
 over us fellows. But in one, which outrivals theirs com- 
 bined, we have the best of 'em. They had no ladies and, 
 thank God ! we have, and the best and dearest and 
 truest in the whole Armj^, if I do say it. (Deafening ap- 
 plause). 
 
 ' ' They have willed — and who dare disobey ? — that each 
 man here, when summoned, shall so contribute his share 
 to the enjoyment of our Christmas night. I have done my 
 share of the talk " ("No !— No ! "), "and my duties are 
 now at an end. It is the high privilege of the host to en- 
 courage his guests by leading off with the first story, but 
 it is the still more blessed right of the regimental com- 
 mander to transfer his burden to the shoulders of his stafiF. 
 In the exercise of that right, I call upon my Adjutant for 
 the first storj'. Mr. X., take the floor." 
 
 Amidst long-continued applause the gallant old sol- 
 dier took his seat, and then, one by one, regretfully, the 
 guests turned to the other end of the table, where sat Mr. 
 X. blushing over his aiguillettes. 
 
 THE ADJUTANT'S STORY. 
 
 "Well," said the Adjutant, " if somebody must start 
 the ball, I will try, though yarn-spinning isn't my forte. 
 
20 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 and I shall break dowu utterly if I see signs of satirical 
 comment anywhere." 
 
 " Oh, shut your eyes and tell it as ' Pills' does when 
 he sings for us," suggested the Senior Lieutenant, always 
 ready to have a fling at the Adjutant. 
 
 " Yes, and when I open them again find the room 
 deserted, as he did the night you got him to sing at IMrs. 
 Freeman's." At this there was a general shout of laugh- 
 ter, for the incident was still fresh in the memory of the 
 garrison. 
 
 " No," continued the Adjutant, "I'll try and tell the 
 story. It all happened the winter my old troop was stationed 
 at Fort Emor>^ and if you don't believe in ghosts you can 
 ridicule it as much as you like. ' ' 
 
 ' ' A ghost story ! ' ' exclaimed the lady with the blue 
 eyes. " Oh, that's delightful ! But we ought to have the 
 room darkened. ' ' There was no response to this sugges- 
 tion, however, and the Adjutant went on. 
 
 ' ' It was a mighty hard winter. It had been blowing 
 and snowing much of December, and by the time the hol- 
 idays came on, the whole country seemed buried under the 
 drifts. We were penned up in the post, for, unless there 
 was imminent need, nobody wanted to send out teams in 
 such weather. The mail was carried over to the railway 
 twice a week by Indians who made the trip in two or 
 three days by using up several ponies. Otherwise we had 
 had no communication with the settlements since the 
 twelfth of the month. Now that winter Jim Forbes and I 
 were living together. He was serving with ' F ' troop, 
 and I with ' K.' We had the set of quarters at the 
 lower end of the row, nearest the stables and farthest 
 from the commanding officer's. Colonel Hawes, of the 
 — th Foot, was in command. His family was with him — 
 his wife, three children and a distant connection of his 
 
THE adjutant's STORY. 21 
 
 wife's, Miss Frazier, a fragile, delicate girl of about 
 twenty, who had no home of her own, it seems, and who, 
 by being governess, and heaven knows what all besides 
 to those three youngsters, managed to eke out a living 
 and have a home under the Colonel's roof 
 
 "She was a shy, retiring sort of a girl, with big brown 
 ej^es ; something awfully pathetic about them, I thought at 
 times ; but I never saw anything of her when we called at 
 the Colonel's, and on pleasant days when she was out walk- 
 ing with the children she avoided notice in ever>^ way, and 
 seemed positively scared if any of us bowed or spoke to 
 her. She came out with Mrs. Hawes and the children 
 late in the fall, and the winter set in soon and put a stop 
 to her out-door pleasures, if she had any, and then 
 Forbes took to calling frequentl}- at the Colonel's by night, 
 and to taking notice to those graceless kids by day. As 
 he had hardly been on cordial terms with the family 
 before, it was evident there was some new attraction, 
 
 " I was very fond of Jim. He was a big, burly fellow, 
 rough as a miner and soft-hearted as a woman 
 
 " As a major, I thought you were going to say," put in 
 Mr. Briggs. 
 
 "Do be quiet, Mr. Briggs," pouted the Major's wife. 
 The Colonel frowned, and glancing around the table, Briggs 
 found that people were getting interested and that per- 
 haps he had better subside. The Adjutant took advantage 
 of the diversion to imbibe a little Dutch courage from his 
 champagne glass, and then went on : 
 
 " I say I was fond of Forbes. He was not a brilliant 
 fellow, like Briggs here, but he was stanch and true ; a 
 good son and brother, as I had reason to know while his 
 mother was alive ; but he was practically alone in the 
 world now, and rather solemn at times. He had one 
 pronounced fad. Without being a spiritualist, he somehow 
 
22 TIIK colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 believed in spirits. He used to sit in a big, easy rocking- 
 chair on his side of our centre-table nights when we were 
 alone and tell me about his mother and how often he saw 
 her and talked with her now. I told him it was all 
 dreaming ; but he believed in it, and used to wax really 
 eloquent, talking about his theories by the hour. We had 
 an open fireplace, and burned hickor>' logs then, and 
 though it was only a bachelor ranch, we were pretty snug 
 and comfortable. Night after night, as the winter came 
 on and the wind howled about tlie old shell of a shanty, 
 we sat there in front of the roaring blaze, he with his pipe, 
 and always rocking to and fro, to and fro as he talked, 
 and I got to know him better and like him better every 
 day. 
 
 " ' Why,' said he one night, ' you laugh at my thinking 
 I can hear mother moving around my bed, or sometimes 
 bending over to kiss me as she used to when I was a boy. 
 Now we've been pretty close friends here for a couple of 
 years, old man ; don't j'ou suppose that if I were to die 
 I'd want to come back and see how you were getting 
 along without me ? Why, it would be just as natural for 
 me to come drifting in some night and setting this old 
 chair of mine to rocking, and communing with you just 
 as I do now. I don't suppose I'd be visible to you ; but 
 it seems as though I could make my presence known. 
 I'll tell you what: If I'm killed or suddenly taken 
 away any time while you are here, and my theory is all 
 right, that our souls can rustle around on earth awhile, 
 I'll let you know I'm gone in that way. I'll just float in 
 here and start my old rocker going.' 
 
 ' ' Of course I simply laughed at him ; but there came 
 a night when I didn't. 
 
 " I didn't care to go often to the Colonel's; he was 
 very prosy, and would talk for hours on regulations and 
 
THE adjutant's STORY. 23 
 
 papers, but Forbes got to going up there two and three 
 and then four nights a week. Mrs. Hawes was quick 
 enough to divine the attraction, and as she hoped with 
 another year to live in a cit>' and educate her brood at 
 some fashionable school, she doubtless thought it a good 
 plan to marr}^ oft Miss Frazier, and Forbes would make a 
 capital husband. He was just the man a woman could 
 rule with a look. And so Miss Frazier was brought down 
 from the upper regions and made to sing and play for 
 him, which she did not at all want to do as it turned out : 
 and, as she was being obviously thrown at his head, the 
 result was inevitable : she began to hate the sight of him; 
 and big honest Jim used to come home looking bluer and 
 bluer, and sighing like a dozen furnaces, and yet saying 
 no word. I got ner\-ous about it, and was for getting 
 somebody to go and steer Mrs. Hawes onto the other 
 tack, when old Boreas himself took a hand and helped us 
 in a most unexpected way. 
 
 ' ' Jim had been in the depths of despond for a whole week. 
 It had been snowing night and day, when on the evening 
 of the 19th, I think it was, he came back from the 
 Colonel's earlier than ever. 
 
 " ' Where can I get a sleigh ? ' he asked. 
 
 " ' I don't know, Jim, unless the trader has one. Why ? ' 
 And then he told me. Miss Frazier had a brother, an only 
 brother, it seems, who was far from strong, and who had 
 grievously offended his aunt, Mrs. Hawes, a year or two 
 before. Miss Frazier' s heart was bound up in the j^oung 
 fellow, and she had received a letter saying that at last he 
 had obtained a good appointment in southern California 
 where the physicians had urged his going ; that he must 
 be in San Francisco on the first of January ; but that he 
 was coming around by the way of the old K. P., and 
 they would spend Christmas eve together. He could not 
 
24 TIIR COLOXKL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 go on to the fort, for he would not set foot under the 
 Hawes's roof She must come in to Grover City, the 
 nearest raihva}' town where there was a good hotel. 
 With the cheerful ignorance of all men who have never 
 been West, he thought it a perfectly feasible thing to 
 drive over the intervening forty miles at any time ; and 
 now there was not a trail that wasn't deep in snow. The 
 Colonel and his wife had coldly told her the trip was 
 simply impossible and bade her telegraph to him to hire a 
 sleigh and strong team and come out to the fort. In such 
 weather and for such a trip it would cost a fabulous sum, 
 and her brother had not a surplus cent. She was sobbing 
 aloft in her little room while Mrs. Hawes was dilating to 
 Forbes upon the utter absurdity of the whole thing. * It's 
 nothing but an absurd sentiment on her part. Of course 
 if there were any way of bringing them together I would 
 doit. But there isn't. The Colonel says no horses or 
 mules could possibly make the trip. She's just crying 
 herself sick over it. ' 
 
 ' ' Then what does Forbes do but scribble a note and send 
 it to her by one of her pupils, sa3dng in so many words 
 that he would either get her to town or fetch her brother 
 out to the fort, but at taps he was back in the house 
 again with a face as long as my story. There wasn't a 
 thing on runners in the post. The nearest sleigh that he 
 could hear of was at Rayburn's ranch, ten miles over on 
 the Saline At dawn he rode awaj', permission being 
 rather grudgingly granted, we thought ; took an Arrapahoe 
 guide with him and two Horses, and then we heard noth- 
 ing more until late in the evening, when he drove in with 
 a really good sleigh, but a played out team. He had 
 gone over thirty miles through unbroken drifts to get it. 
 
 " Next morning, with two fresh horses, hired of old 
 Grubb,' our post trader, he loaded up the sleigh with 
 
THE ADJUTANT'S STORY. 25 
 
 robes and rations, and was away at daybreak bound for 
 Grover City ; and though I didn't feel Hke talking with 
 Mrs. Hawes, I did want to see Miss Frazier, and tell her 
 how blithely Jim had started. He expected to drive 
 slowly all day long, with frequent rests and plenty of feed 
 for the team, and to reach Murray's ranch at night, 
 twenty miles away. After that he would find at least 
 partially broken roads and could get along faster. It was 
 a glorious, sunshiny winter's day. The snow sparkled 
 and glistened. The sun was so warm that the eaves 
 began to drip, and the women and children came flocking 
 out on the porches, snow-balling ■ from house to house. 
 The Colonel had ordered out a party to follow the tele- 
 graph line and locate the breaks, and I was really sorry 
 the detail had fallen to another fellow and not to me, as I 
 walked up to the Colonel's and asked for Miss Frazier. 
 She looked even more fragile than ever when she came 
 into 'the parlor from the school-room. Her big eyes were 
 full of anxiety and longing, and heavy tear-drops began 
 to gather the moment I told her of Jim's buoj^ant start at 
 dawn. She knew of his going ^-her window commanded 
 a view of what had been the road for several miles— and 
 yet, instead of being glad and hopeful, as I supposed, she 
 was profoundly depressed. ' I cannot help it,' she said, 
 throwing herself into a chair. ' I have been haunted by 
 most dreadful dreams ; tormented by all manner of fore- 
 bodings. Oh, I wish he had not gone ! ' 
 
 " Now this was not at all what I had expected or hoped 
 for, but I tried to cheer her ; told her Jim would find 
 rapidly clearing roads, and would have her brother at our 
 house before sundown on the 24tli, possibly by noon. 
 'And Mr. Frazier' s room is all ready for him,' I added; 
 ' and we'll have a jolly Christmas dinner there. Mrs. 
 Stanuard is coming to see you this morning. She will 
 
 2 
 
26 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 matronize the party, for it was arranged weeks ago that 
 she and Captain Stannard were to be our Christmas 
 guests. Then the next day we will see Mr. Frazier safely 
 over to the railway and off for 'Frisco.' And still she 
 was sad and unresponsive. I could not rouse her at all. 
 I went and got Mrs. Stannard to run over and see her. 
 And that night I went again. Mrs. Stannard said she 
 feared Miss Frazier would be ill, she was in such distress 
 of mind. ' She cannot sleep without being tortured by 
 dreams in which she sees Mr. Forbes and her brother lost 
 on the prairie and freezing to death in some terrible storm. 
 She cannot close her eyes without the picture rising 
 before her at the instant.' Now this was the evening of 
 the 2ist. The- detachment came in and said they had 
 followed the telegraph line for seven miles ; that many 
 poles were down and the wires were buried out of sight in 
 a thousand places. They also said that Forbes with his 
 sleigh had followed the line instead of the road. It was 
 straighter, but went up hill and down dale in a way no 
 wagon could follow, and it might be difficult for him. 
 
 " On the 22d about nightfall an Indian runner came in 
 with our letter mail. He said Forbes had got to Murray's 
 all right, despite several upsets. So far, so good. There 
 was a letter for Miss Frazier, and I was not surprised to 
 get a message before tattoo. Mrs. Stannard wanted me to 
 come to her a moment. 
 
 "Just as I supposed. Miss Frazier was there with her 
 brother's letter, and the poor girl was well-nigh heart- 
 broken. He had been seized with a hemorrhage at St. 
 Louis, and forbidden to start at the time proposed. He 
 could now reach Grover City only by noon of the 23d, 
 and it might be the last time, he said, that he could ever 
 hope to see her loved face. It was now arranged that for 
 a little change and rest she should remain with Mrs. 
 
THE ADJUTANT'S STORY. 27 
 
 Stannard a day or two. The dreams that so terrified her 
 might not pursue her there. 
 
 " But they did. When I went over to inquire the next 
 day, the poor girl was nearly wild. ' Is there no way, no 
 way to stop them ? ' she cried. ' They must not attempt 
 to come. It is death to both.' But we reasoned with 
 her ; pointed out how the skies were cloudless ; the 
 weather settled ; assured her that by this time Frazier 
 and Forbes were probably getting ready to start and 
 would spend the night at Murray's Ranch. She only hid 
 her face and moaned. ' I have brought this upon them,' 
 she cried. ' I have driven them to their death,' And I 
 went oflf feeling almighty queer, I can tell you. 
 
 ' ' Yet the sun went down in cloudless splendor. There 
 wasn't a breath of air stirring. I thought I would run 
 over to Stannard' s to get them out to see the sunset, 
 thinking it would cheer them. But the western sky be- 
 gan to turn yellow, not red, and I went back. At tattoo 
 I tramped over to the hospital to read the barometer, 
 hoping to come back and assure her that it said, ' Set 
 Fair.' But I went to the trader's instead and oflfered Jake 
 Cooley, one of our half-breed scouts, twenty-five dollars to 
 make the night ride to Murray's. He looked surprised, 
 said all right, jumped oflf the bar where he was sitting and 
 started down to the corral for his broncho ; but came back 
 in ten minutes and said he wouldn't tr\- it for fifty. The 
 wind was beginning to moan about the haystacks ; and the 
 guard were ordered to get their buffalo coats and overshoes. 
 
 "Before dawn the windows were rattling. Still there 
 was nothing really alarming in the weather. But when 
 the morning light came creeping in, the air was full of 
 snow-flakes again and the skies were heavilj' overcast. I 
 won't go into details. Those of us who were with the 
 regiment that winter will never forget the blizzard that 
 
28 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 followed. By noon a gale of seventy-five miles an hour 
 was raging from the north, a blinding storm of snow from 
 the sky and drifts from the surface was whirling into the 
 faces of the few who dared venture forth, and the mercury 
 had fallen to twenty below zero. It was simply awful. 
 And not a word of news had we from Forbes or Frazier, 
 even when nightfall came. 
 
 ' ' And now comes the strange part of my stor}^ : I had 
 been over at Stannard's trying hard to think of something 
 to cheer or comfort that poor girl ; but it was useless. 
 She was either staggering up and down the room, wring- 
 ing her hands, or else moaning on the sofa. Mrs. Stan-* 
 nard could do nothing to drive awaj^ her awful dread. I 
 tried to assure her that Forbes was so skilled a plainsman 
 that he would never think of quitting shelter on so threat- 
 ening a morning. But she shook her head. ' I know him 
 — I know him. He will only think of the promise he 
 made me, ' was her reply. At tattoo I left them and the 
 wind blew me down the line and past my own gate and 
 w^ould have whirled me to the stables if I hadn't grabbed 
 the fence. All sentries had been drawn inside. There 
 was no attempt to form companies for roll-call. Every- 
 body was indoors. A blazing fire was roaring in our 
 chimney place as I entered : but I confess I was ut- 
 terly depressed, the girl's foreboding had so affected 
 me. It was useless to attempt rescue of any kind. 
 All was dark as Erebus on the howling prairie, and 
 neither man nor beast could make his way northward 
 against that storm. I threw myself in my old padded arm- 
 chair and drew it close to the hearth ; but the blast roared 
 in the chimney and fairly shook the house from' roof to cel- 
 lar, rattling the blinds and sashes and driving the snow 
 through every crevice. Even our old cat and her frolic- 
 some kittens seemed uneasy and worried, and Tabby, 
 
THE adjutant's STORY. 29 
 
 who never so honored me when Jim was home, sprang 
 into my lap for petting and comfort that I was too heavy- 
 hearted to give ; and so with querulous ' miaow ' she 
 went back to her brood in the basket. And there I sat, 
 prett}' well worn out, I can tell j'ou, with distress and 
 anxiety, thinking despite myself of all Forbes had ever 
 said of coming back from the spirit world and rocking 
 here in his old chair. There it stood, looking so lone- 
 some, empty, silent, that I half turned as though to 
 stretch out my hand and give it a sympathetic pat, but I 
 could not reach it ; it was full five feet away. And just 
 then, — how he managed to blow in that storm, I don't 
 know, — but some one of the infantry buglers up at the 
 north end of the parade got out on the covered veranda 
 and began to sound taps. Never in my life had I heard 
 it like that : so wild, so weird, and so despairing. Many 
 a time it had wailed ' put out your light ' over the grave 
 of some poor fellow whom we had buried in Arizona or 
 under the shadows of the mountains ; but never did it 
 sound to me as it did that awful night, and for the life of 
 me I could not help thinking of her dream and of Jim's 
 strange promise to me. I felt a cold chill running all over 
 me, and I huddled closer to the fire as the last note died 
 away, completely ready now to believe with her that it 
 was their requiem. And then, — then if I had needed 
 something to banish the last lingering doubt, it came. Be- 
 lieve me or not as you choose, but as true as I sit here 
 and tell this story, — as true as I live and breathe, — just 
 as the last note of taps died away, without a sound, with- 
 out a touch from any source that I could see, without the 
 faintest reason — Forbes' big rocking-chair settled suddenly 
 back as though he had lowered himself into it, and then 
 rocked violently to and fro. 
 
 " No, I didn't faint or cr}- out or run. I just fell back in 
 
30 THE colonel's Christmas dinner. 
 
 my own chair with every hair standing on end, chilled to 
 the marrow. I lay back there glaring at that awful chair 
 as it slowly ceased its rocking ; and at last I got up, 
 reached the dining-room somehow, swallowed a glass of 
 whiskey and was striving to get back some vestige of 
 ner\-e when the front door burst open and a big burly man 
 plunged in. ' Help me get him out of the saddle ! 
 We're both frozen,' he cried, — and it was my blessed old 
 Jim still in the flesh. I yelled for our striker, and in a 
 moment more the three of us, between us, had lugged in 
 a fur-covered stranger, too exhausted to speak. The 
 horses fled to the stables down under the hill. The 
 striker ran for Stannard and the doctor, and in five min- 
 utes Helen Frazier, wild-eyed, tearful, but rejoicing be- 
 yond all words, was kneeling by her brother's side. 
 
 "' I'll be all right soon,' he whispered at last. ' I'm 
 not frozen. Look to the lieutenant ! He made me wear 
 his fur gloves and buffalo shoes. ' And then we found Jim 
 had vanished to the kitchen, and there he was ankle deep 
 in a tub of snow, while Bell, the striker, was plunging 
 his master's blue- white fingers into a bucket similarly 
 filled. 
 
 " And yet, with of course this exception," proceeded 
 the Adjutant after a pause, "our Christmas dinner the 
 next day was the most delightful I ever knew. As though 
 to make amends for its fury of the day before, the weather 
 was simply perfect. Most of us went to mom in g service 
 in our little chapel, and almost everybody came in to see 
 Jim and pat him on the back, for his hands and feet were 
 all done up in bandages; and over again Mr. Frazier 
 smilingly had to tell of that fearful trip from Mun-ay's 
 ranch. The wind being at their backs they had thought 
 to get along all right, but soon after starting the snow got 
 SO thick, the gale so violent and the drifts so deep that 
 
THE ADJUTANT'S STORY. 31 
 
 they were capsized again and again, and at last the pole 
 snapped short off. They abandoned the sleigh, and 
 Forbes had hauled his fur gloves and overshoes on his 
 companion's resisting hands and feet, for Frazier was ut- 
 terly unprepared for such an outing. Then Jim lifted the 
 young fellow on the off horse, mounted the near one him- 
 self, and so they were simply blown along for fifteen 
 miles. Again and again the horses fell in the drifts and 
 Forbes would pick Frazier up, set him back and then on 
 they would plunge, blinded, breathless, almost exhausted 
 and frozen stifi", w^hen at last the poor brutes landed them 
 within the shelter of the garrison. 
 
 ' ' Well, that evening we had our Christmas dinner, Mrs. 
 Stannard presiding at one end of the table, Stannard and 
 I doing the carving for the crowd ; for we had in the 
 chaplain and his wife and two daughters and two of the 
 bachelor officers, Mr. and Miss Frazier and Jim. Just a 
 dozen, though Forbes could not sit at the table. He was 
 bolstered up in that imp of a rocking-chair, with his 
 bandaged feet on another, yet jolly and happy as he could 
 be, for Miss Frazier cut up his turkey for him, and the 
 way she blushed made her look pretty as a picture. And 
 — that about ends it. I got a seven days' leave, and Fra- 
 zier and I made the trip to Grover City all right ; and 
 w^hen I came back at the end of the week and went over 
 to the Colonel's with a package Frazier gave me for his 
 sister, little Kitty Hawes showed me right into the parlor, 
 and there were Jim and Miss Frazier sitting side by side 
 on the sofa, and would you believe it ? instead of being 
 glad to see me when she jumped up, she ran right out of 
 the room, and was still red as a rose when Jim at last 
 coaxed her back. She is Mrs. Captain Forbes, of the 
 quartermaster's department now, and a mighty sweet 
 woman too. And her brother gained health and money 
 
32 THE colonel's ciirlstmas dinner. 
 
 both, at San Diego, and — d, — well, as I said, that's about 
 all there was to it." 
 
 " But, Mr. X.," exclaimed two or three feminine voices 
 at once, " you haven't accounted for that chair's behaving 
 so. I never heard anything so weird and mysterious in 
 all my life." 
 
 " Now do you know, " said the Adjutant, " that thing 
 puzzled me for a whole week after I got back. I wouldn't 
 tell Jim about it. It impressed me so strangely. And 
 now that he was spending all his evenings at the Colonel's 
 I wouldn't sit alone with the confounded chair. It gave 
 me cold shivers to look at it, and I used to clear out and 
 go calling, or down to the store, and one night I had to 
 be in for a minute, and all of a sudden, just as it did the 
 night of the gale, just as taps were sounding, too, that in- 
 fernal — I beg 3'our pardon— that blessed chair suddenly 
 began to rock again. Why, you ought to have seen me 
 start for the door. I grabbed my cap, flew around the 
 table, and then there was a fearful, blood-curdling yell." 
 
 " Oh, Mr. X.," shuddered the Colonel's daughter. 
 
 "Yes, a fearful, blood-curdling yell, I give j'-ou my 
 word. You see I stepped square on to the liveliest of the 
 kittens, just after the little brute had pitched off the hind 
 end of that rocker. Its weight was enough to tilt back 
 the chair and set it going. ' ' 
 
 For a moment there was a dead silence. People looked 
 at one another, and then the sentiment of the entire table, 
 doubtless, was voiced by the lad}- with the sweet blue eyes. 
 
 " Mr. X., I declare I think you're a fraud." 
 
 The Adjutant having scored a dead failure, it seemed 
 difficult for the moment to find a successor. Briggs was 
 called for, but begged off on the plea that if that was a 
 specimen of the light- weights' work, it was time to call on 
 the seniors. 
 
THE SENIOR LIEUTENANT'S STORY. 33 
 
 " Not a bit of it," boomed the Major in his ponderous 
 basso. " We want to give you bo3-s your day now — early 
 in the battle, w^hen people are not sleepy and eager to go 
 home, as they may be after hearing you talk." 
 
 " I appeal from the Major to the chair," laughed Briggs, 
 bowing diplomatically to the father of the feast. 
 
 " And the chair sustains the Major. Go on, Briggs. 
 Do what you can for the sake of the subs," replied the 
 Colonel. 
 
 "It's too much like voting on a court, ' ' said the lyieuten- 
 ant. "I'm glad the ladies are here to do away with the 
 idea that it is a court," and he glanced at the bright face 
 smiling by his side. It gave him courage, at least. " And 
 if I'm to be the next victim, the sooner it's over the better. 
 Here goes 
 
 THE SENIOR LIEUTENANT'S STORY. 
 
 " When Jack Talbot was thirty years old and had, after 
 eight years' service, attained the exalted rank of senior 
 second lieutenant of his regiment, he suddenly conceived 
 the idea of taking unto himself a wife. It is hard to 
 say exactly what put this thought into his head, for if 
 there ever was an army bachelor unsuited for matrimony, 
 it was Jack. 
 
 ' ' To begin with he w^as as poor as the proverbial church- 
 mouse, head over heels in debt Tthe interest he paid 
 would have supported a poor family), very extravagant, 
 and with about as much idea of economy or business as a 
 babe— and then again he had become so wedded to his 
 bachelor ways of life, that any radical change seemed 
 fraught with a great deal of danger. Jack himself never 
 appreciated these things — in fact he had an idea that he w' as 
 
 2* 
 
34 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 just the man to make a most proper and excellent head of 
 a family. ' Of course I'll have to make a great many per- 
 sonal sacrifices,' he mused to himself as the idea began to 
 grow on him ; ' no more card practice — no more staying 
 out late at nights— no more fast horses — no more — in fact, 
 no more foolishness,' and Jack pulled himself together 
 with a sudden virtuous determination that was delightful 
 to behold ; on the other hand, however, he continued, ' In- 
 stead of the aimless, shiftless existence I've been leading for 
 some years, there'll be something to live for — some one to 
 work for — some one to brighten and cheer my quarters, 
 and best of all, some one to sympathize with me when 
 I've had a row with " Old Graball," who, by the way, was 
 the regimental quartermaster, and the only man in the 
 regiment that John detested, and wnth w^hom he was contin- 
 ually skirmishing. Now when a man decides to marry, 
 there is generally some one in his mind's eye ; but with 
 Jack this was not at all the case. In fact, this important 
 feature seemed to have escaped him entirely, and he only 
 thought of the future Mrs. Talbot in a general hazy sort 
 of a way. ' Now there'll be no false sentiments about 
 this, ' he confided to his particular friend, Dick Abbey, the 
 first lieutenant of his company. ' I intend to make this 
 purely a matter of business. In the first place I shall select 
 some nice, sensible, w-ell-bred girl, who can pay her own 
 mess bill, state the case to her exactly, show to her the 
 mutual advantages of such a combination, and— presto ! 
 the thing is done. Then we'll settle down to a quiet, 
 home-like hfe, live economically, pay my debts, and become 
 the best of friends in the world. No, sir,' continued Jack, 
 becoming quite animated with his theme, ' no mawkish 
 sentiments for me ; given good hard common sense, mu- 
 tual respect and confidence, and the result is marital 
 happiness.' 
 
THE SENIOR LIEUTENANT'S STORY. 35 
 
 " There was an amused smile ou Dick Abbey's handsome 
 face, as, after listening to Jack's homily, be said : ' But, 
 old man suppose the girl says no ? ' ' Oh, come now — 
 she'll hardly saj' that, you know ; marriage is the 
 ultimatum, or rather the mission of all women,' Jack 
 continued ; ' there are plenty of just the kind of girls 
 I've described to you — that would be glad of the oppor- 
 tunity. Of course,' he continued, as Dick was about to 
 reply — ' of course I know what you are going to say — 
 that marriage without love means unhappiness, or affec- 
 tionate toleration, at the most ; but really, old man, I 
 think you're entirely wrong ; who is it that says, " Even 
 perfect love cannot last more than six j-ears ' ' ? Can six 
 years of even ideal love repay for years and years of vain 
 regret after the awakening has come, after all illusions 
 have been dispelled, and after the glamour has faded and 
 worn away. Nay, nay, my good Dick, prate me not of 
 woman's love.' And Jack looked at his companion with 
 an air of triumph, that reminded one strongly of Joe 
 Willet after one of his celebrated arguments. 
 
 ' "Well, old fellow, I wish you luck,' Dick said after 
 some little silence ; ' you know you have my ver}' best 
 wishes, but I would advise you to consider the matter 
 very carefully before taking any action ' And declining 
 Jack's hospitable offer of a toddy, he bade him a hearty 
 good-night, and left. For some time after his departure 
 Jack sat silently smoking an imported cigar (one of the 
 sacrifices in futuruni) and busily engaged with the 
 absorbing idea that had lately taken complete possession 
 of him. Clearly his thoughts were of the pleasantest, 
 for his face generally assumed a happy, contented expres- 
 sion until it fairly beamed, and, unable any longer to 
 restrain himself, he burst forth into : 
 
 ' Where art thou now, my beloved ' — 
 with (I must confess it) more ardor than harmony. 
 
36 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 " This was an unfortunate proceeding on his part how- 
 ever, for it aroused old Graball, who lived across the 
 hall, and who, as soon as he heard Jack singing, came to 
 his door and proceeded to give a very successful imitation 
 of a dog howling in great pain. 
 
 " For some time the harmonious blending of the voices 
 was kept up, until the absurdity of the situation striking 
 Jack, he ceased singing and burst into a roar of laughter, 
 much to the Quartermaster's distrust and surprise, who 
 thereupon incontinently fled. 
 
 " Peace having been once more restored, the matri- 
 monially disposed warrior donned his cap and cape and 
 proceeded leisurely to the club to give the fellows one 
 more chance before he left forever the charmed but 
 wicked circle of army bachelors. It was a gala night at 
 the club ; somebody was having a birthdaj^, and Talbot's 
 appearance was hailed with cheers and cries of a hearty 
 welcome. 
 
 " All the bachelors were there and a few of the married 
 men whose waves were temporarily sojourning in the 
 East. The affair was highly successful — all bumpers and 
 no heel-taps was the rule— and jollity and good fellow- 
 ship reigned supreme. It is hard to particularize at this 
 late date all that occurred ; it was even a moderately 
 difficult thing to do the next day ; but the great event of 
 the evening was a song by Captain O'Kellej^ which was 
 somewhat interrupted by the actions of the junior Lieu- 
 tenant of the regiment, who insisted on shaking hands 
 with the Captain after every line or two, and a speech 
 made somewhat later on by Talbot, entitled ' Matrimony 
 in the army,' in which he strongly advocated the mar- 
 riage of all officers, irrespective of rank. 
 
 " His little effort was well received by all present except 
 a few^ of the married officers and the irrepressible junior, 
 
THE SENIOR LIEUTENANT'S STORY. 37 
 
 who, immediately upon its close, rose somewhat unsteadily 
 to his feet, and with glowing eyes and dishevelled air 
 and manner desired to know if the eloquent orator in- 
 tended anything personal in his remarks. Having been 
 assured to the contrary, he gravely shook hands with 
 Talbot and disappeared from view, under the table where 
 he contentedly remained until the party broke up in the 
 wee sma' hours of the morning. 
 
 "The next morning, in conformity with his new resolu- 
 tions, Talbot omitted the customary cocktail or bracer, 
 and after the completion of his morning duties proceeded 
 to lay out the plans of his matrimonial campaign. 
 
 ' ' Unfortunately for him , there was a scarcity of eligible 
 material in the garrison ; in fact, to be precise, there were 
 only two unmarried girls present— one the sister-in-law 
 of Captain Dalton, temporaril}- visiting him, and, as she 
 informed everybody, ' from the East.' 
 
 "One requisite of Talbot's she possessed, viz., money 
 — she had monej', and, rumor said, lots of it — but then, 
 poor girl, she needed it. 
 
 ' ' A charming thing about our hero was his great love of 
 justice or equity, as he called it, and therefore ]\Iiss 
 Manon was duly entered on 'his list,' with probable 
 amount of fortune, and traits and characteristics duly 
 added. 
 
 "'list of eligibles.' 
 
 "'No. I, Miss Dalton, &c.,' &c., and then the list 
 ended. 
 
 ' ' The other garrison girl was practically out of the ques- 
 tion — that is, from a matrimonial point of view. 
 
 "'Dear winsome little Bessie Rawson.' And Jack 
 thought of her with a sigh — if she only had the wherewith ; 
 but it was not to be thought of, and even if she had the 
 
38 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 monej', there was her father, 'Old Rawson,' to consider, 
 a Captain in the regiment, and one of the worst old repro- 
 bates in it. 
 
 " Bessie was only nineteen, and Jack had known her 
 during his entire service in the regiment ; he had watched 
 her develop from a shy, awkward girl into as dainty and 
 pure a little woman as ever graced the sex ; and then she 
 was so pretty, and withal seemed so thoroughly uncon- 
 scious of the fact. 
 
 " As a child she had always been devoted to him, and as 
 they were in the same company, Mr. Talbot soon grew to 
 be Mr. Jack, a custom still rigidly adhered to. 
 
 " 'No, it won't do,' he exclaimed after some little 
 thought, ' it won't do at all ; but then, as she is the only 
 other young girl in the garrison, I'll put her down just to 
 see how it looks.' So down he jotted 'No. 2, Bessie 
 Rawson,' and then quite absent-mindedly added, 'No 
 mone}', but a fortune in herself.' 
 
 "Having exhausted the garrison eligibles. Jack con- 
 sidered the advisability of adding some of the girls he 
 knew way back in the States ; but before he could do so, 
 there came a sharp knock at the door, and following it 
 the head of the irrepressible junior, with the invitation 
 ' Come up and see my new fox terrier. Jack ; he's a bird ; 
 were going to have a christening ' and without waiting 
 for a reply, slammed the door and rushed back to his 
 quarters, 
 
 " A new dog — that was enough for Jack, and, dropping 
 the list, he started in pursuit of the lucky owner of the 
 fox terrier. 
 
 Now the desk at which he had been writing was nearly 
 in line with one of the windows of his room, and the day 
 being an exceptionally fine one for November, the 
 window had been left open. 
 
THE SENIOR LIEUTENANT'S STORY. 39 
 
 " All hour or two later, when Jack came back, the list 
 had disappeared. 
 
 "Whether the disappearance of the list had anything to 
 do with it, it is hard to say, but the truth is that Jack's 
 matrimonial fever abated somewhat during the next week 
 or so. Not that he had given up the idea ; no, indeed ; 
 he still preached matrimony to the junior (whenever he 
 could get that doughty warrior to listen to him), and 
 religiously adhered to all his good resolutions. 
 
 "November drifted rapidly away, and with December 
 came a cessation of all outside duties, except the absolute- 
 ly necessary ones, and an increase of gayeties. 
 
 "Jack seemed to share a great deal of Miss Manon's 
 time, and it was soon an understood thing (among the 
 ladies at least) that Mr. Talbot was really in earnest, 
 and that an engagement might be expected soon. 
 
 " During this period Jack saw little of Bessie Raw^son ; 
 she attended the hops and parties, but generally attended 
 by the young bachelor Doctor. 
 
 " And what a contrast there was between the girls ! 
 "Miss Manon was ahvays gorgeous, and Jack, who really 
 had an appreciation for the beautiful, would let his eyes 
 wander towards Miss Raw^son, charming and restful in 
 the plainest of gowns. 
 
 " In order to repay some of their social obligations, the 
 bachelors issued invitations for a swell hop on the 24th of 
 December, and Jack (dreadfully pressed by some of his 
 creditors), after carefully considering all the pros and 
 cons, decided to strike the last blow of his campaign on 
 that night. 
 
 " He had no fear of a refusal ; the girl seemed to under- 
 stand the affair thoroughly ; it certainly was a fair ex- 
 change. Miss Manon wanted a husband and he wanted 
 
40 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 money, and marriage meant— well, he hardly liked to think 
 what it might mean in the future ; and then there came 
 before him the face of Bessie, with her tender eyes, win- 
 some ways and 
 
 " P'shaw !— p'raps the girl had never given him a se- 
 rious thought — he was a fool to think of such things —to 
 be sure, they have always been the best of friends and 
 then p'raps after all Miss Manon might say— No, it w^as 
 not to be thought of. Money — money — he must have it 
 — he would pay off all his debts ; take a long leave ; do 
 the continent, come back to the regiment and then — 
 we'll 
 
 "When Talbot, rather low-spirited and dejected, called 
 for Miss Manon on the night of the 24th, he was positively 
 startled at the girl's appearance ; she was almost pretty in 
 a becoming gown, and there was a look of suppressed ex- 
 citement on her face that added very materially to it. 
 
 " And then the bright, happy manner in which she 
 chatted to him ; it was a revelation. ' By Jove !' thought 
 he, (' she's not so bad after all ;' and by the time they had 
 arrived at the hat-room he was more than half reconciled 
 to his apparent fate. Of course everybody was there,, and 
 looking around the room he -caught a glimpse of Bessie 
 Rawson and the Doctor comfortably seated in one of the 
 comers of the room, apparently quite contented. 
 
 " She gave him quite the brightest and happiest little 
 smile when she saw him, but before he could get to her 
 she was claimed and whirled out of sight. 
 
 " During the entire evening Talbot was restless and ill 
 at ease. 
 
 After all, it wasn't such an easy thing to propose to 
 a girl. 
 
 Of course, if one loved the woman it would be differ- 
 ent ; but then to cold-bloodedly ask a girl to marr>- you, 
 
THE SENIOR LIEUTENANT'S STORY. 41 
 
 simply because she had money ; it was a contemptible 
 thing, unmanly, cadish — but in this case quite neces- 
 sary,' sighed the poor devil, and he waited his chance. 
 
 ' ' Just before supper there was an interv^al of fifteen min- 
 utes, and, seizing the opportunity, he asked Miss Manonto 
 take a little stroll out on the porch — ' I've something 
 very important to say to you ' he continued, noticing 
 her surprised expression, and together they left the hop- 
 room. 
 
 ' ' There were few people outside, and they walked up 
 and down for a few" minutes in utter silence. 
 
 " Presently Jack said : 
 
 " ' Miss Manon— I,' and then came to a dead stop. 
 
 " ' Yes, Mr. Talbot?' encouragingl}-. 
 
 " ' I — Miss Manon, will you be my w4fe?' 
 
 "'This is very sudden, Mr. Talbot;' her voice was 
 wonderfully quiet and contained. 
 
 " 'Yes, I know it's sudden ; but then I w^anted to ask you 
 for some time. Of course I haven't much to offer j-ou. 
 I'm only a poor Lieutenant in a marching regiment 
 on a small salar}-, but -but — we've known one another 
 for some time now, and ^-ou've growm very dear to me, 
 and I'll try to make 3-ou happy,' and egged on by the 
 thought of his unappeased creditors, he warmed up to his 
 work and continued in the same strain for some little time. 
 
 ' ' She listened silently to all he had to say, and when she 
 raised her face to his, there was a soft light in her eyes and 
 a sweet, tremulous look about the mouth that argued well 
 in his behalf 
 
 " ' And you do love me ?' she asked 
 
 " 'With all my soul,' came his quiet reply, and Jack 
 bent over until his head was suspiciously close to hers. 
 
 " Only a moment, and then with a quick gesture the girl 
 drew herself away — 'And now take me in, please.' 
 B2 
 
42 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 " ' But your answer ?' he persisted. 
 
 " 'Shall be my Christmas gift to you to-morrow,' she 
 replied with a bright smile, and with this he was fain 
 to rest content. 
 
 ;(i ;;C jjc Jjc ^ ^ 'i^ 'i^ 
 
 ' ' For some time after the hop Jack sat in front of the 
 comfortalile fire in his quarters smoking and . thinking 
 over the night's incidents. 
 
 "The girl reall)' loved him and would make him a good 
 w4fe — that was evident ; and he — well, he liked her fairly 
 well. To be sure, he hadn't told the exact truth ; but 
 what was a man to say to a woman who asked such em- 
 barrassing questions — 
 
 " ' And you do love me ?' 
 
 " Why, of course he loved her (in a way), and no doubt 
 in a year or so of married life would become quite fond of 
 her, and, humming softly to himself, he put out the lamp 
 and went to bed. 
 
 " The next morning, when Jack came to breakfast at the 
 mess, he found all the fellows there, and lying in front of 
 his plate two envelopes addressed to him. 
 
 " He recognized Miss Manon's writing at once — but the 
 
 other— 'why certainly it w^as Bessie's,' and Jack opened 
 
 it first. 
 
 'Garrison, Dec. 25th, 18—. 
 
 ' My Dear Mr. Jack : 
 
 ' Do you remember a promise I made you, when I was a little 
 girl (years ago), that I would tell you of my first proposal? Well, 
 it has come, and I want to be the first to tell you of my engage- 
 ment to Dr. Roberts.' 
 
 " But Jack read no more. 
 
 " 'So Bessie Rawson was engaged ? well what of it? 
 wasn't he— or just about to be' — and then he slowly 
 opened the other envelope. 
 
CHILL AND FEVER. 43 
 
 "Great Heavens! what was this? a sheet of weather- 
 stained and soiled paper ; he unfolded it almost mechanic- 
 ally, and there he saw staring him in the face the lost 
 ' List of Eligibles,' and beneath it, in Miss Manon's wri- 
 ting : 'It's an ill wind that blows nobody good ' — and the 
 bachelors were all surprised when Talbot suddenly ex- 
 claimed : ' "Damn the wind '—and left the table, his 
 breakfast untouched." 
 
 " A beautiful moral lesson— in one respect at least, Mr. 
 Briggs," was the Colonel's comment, " and I'm glad to 
 learn that manners and morals have both improved in 
 Talbot's regiment since the days of which you tell. Now 
 Captain Rowan, mighty hunter of the — th, people down 
 this end of the table are clamoring to hear from you." 
 
 " But I haven't any Christmas story handy," said the 
 tall company commander, a bronzed, soldierly man who 
 looked the stories told of him— that years of his life had 
 been spent scouting, hunting, campaigning from Assini- 
 boia to the Gulf. ' ' I never saw spirits or ghosts, like X. 
 and never knew Briggs' friend Talbot " 
 
 "/// tell you when you saw ghosts— Indian ghosts, 
 Rowan. That was the time you were chased into Wallace. 
 Tell us about that," called Captain Wayne. 
 
 "Well— that's something that might happen to any- 
 body," laughed Rowan. " I call it my first experience 
 with 
 
 CHILL AND FEVER. 
 
 CHILL. 
 
 " Probably but a small proportion of those who read of 
 the wonderful sand-storms and mirages of the African 
 deserts are aware that the same, phenomena on almost 
 as large a scale can be seen in our own country. Along 
 
44 THE colonel's chrlstmas dinner. 
 
 the borders of some of the streams of Oklahoma, on the 
 plains of eastern Washington and Oregon, as well as on 
 the Gila desert in Arizona, the sand-dunes change their 
 forms with every passing wind, and the dry and shimmer- 
 ing plains of Kansas and Nebraska, as well as those near 
 Laramie and on the upper course of the Rio Grande, 
 furnish miragic views which astonish and charm the 
 beholder. Wide-spreading lakes tantalize the unsophis- 
 ticated traveler or hunter ; a buifalo skull with a raven 
 perched upon it becomes a white steed bearing a sable 
 rider ; the coyote sneaking across the field of vision a mile 
 away assumes the proportion of a lion, and, in the days 
 of buffalo, a herd seemed often aerial nondescripts, 
 deriving sustenance from the air in which they were 
 apparently floating. 
 
 ' ' Prior to the opening of the Kansas Pacific Railway, and 
 in fact, down to the 70's, the whole of the countr>^ lying 
 west of the settlements in Kansas, and along the Platte, 
 swarmed with game of all kinds peculiar to the plains. 
 Officers of the army stationed on the routes in Kansas, 
 could at times count buffalo by thousands, while stand- 
 ing at their doors ; antelope dotted the prairie in all direc- 
 tions, or, gathered in bands of hundreds, in the autumn 
 furnished sport for the hunter, as well as the finest of 
 meat for the soldiers' table. In the timber along some of 
 the streams deer could be found, and among the rocky 
 and storm-worn blulTs bordering other portions of the lar- 
 ger water-courses ' black-tails ' or ' mule deer ' repaid the 
 toil of the sportsman. There was a spice of danger, too, 
 to give a zest to the sport, and it was not certain that the 
 hunter would not become the hunted, if he ventured 
 far away from his ' base ' at the post or camp of the mili- 
 tary, or the train of wagons with which he was travel- 
 ing. 
 
CHILL AND FEVKR. 45 
 
 "Fort Wallace was situated on the Smoky Hill Run, 
 abouV420 miles west of Kansas City, on the line of the 
 stage-road from that place to Denver, and was for about 
 three years my army home. Directly across the insignif- 
 icant rivulet called ' the river,' and about two and a half 
 miles from the garrison, the steep bluffs bordering the val- 
 ley were broken into rough, rocky defiles and canons, 
 and in them a herd of ' black-tails ' had frequently been 
 seen, during the summer and early autumn of '70. No 
 signs of Indians had been discovered near the place for 
 over a year, and, thinking the venture a comparatively 
 safe one, one Novemljer morning concluded to ' try for ' 
 a deer. My own hunting-pony was not at hand, and I 
 borrowed from the corral one which had been picked 
 up on the prairie some time during the season, and would 
 stand fire without flinching. In fact, he would stand any- 
 thing, and stand it all day, and as for speed, any good 
 train-ox could outrun him, and he was warranted to en- 
 dure any amount of ' heel-persuasion ' his rider had lei- 
 sure or disposition to bestow upon him. But I had no 
 thought that speed would be required of him that day ; 
 and leashing my dog, a powerful and speedy lurcher, I 
 started early for the haunts of the deer. 
 
 "The morning was cold, and over the lower grounds 
 along the river a thick fog hid most of the countrj- from 
 view, and I found it yet more dense in the ' breaks ' among 
 the bluffs. Still, as I had a favorable wind, and could 
 see a short distance, I carefully picked my way among 
 the rocks, hoping to get a shot at short range. As the sun 
 rose the fog became less opaque, and above it I could see 
 the highest points of the bluffs, when suddenly, from 
 just at the feet of my pony, a jack-rabbit sprang up and 
 hopped leisurely away. The sight was too tempting for 
 the dog's obedience. A plunge or two parted the leash 
 
46 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 at his collar, and away went game and hound at racing 
 speed, up the ravine. I followed at the best rate of speed 
 I could get out of the pony over the rocky ground, but by 
 the time I had gained the head of the gorge, for such it 
 became before reaching the prairie, the game had time to 
 have left the countr>^ A thin haze then hid the face of 
 the landscape, and I could not trail the dog on the hard 
 soil. I was at a loss which direction to take, but rode to 
 the summit of the nearest swell of ground in the vicinity, 
 to reconnoiter. Nothing could be seen of the dog, and I 
 was turning the pony's head to try another direction, 
 when I saw something that drove dog and rabbit out of 
 my thoughts. My heart gave one bound, and stopped 
 beating for an instant, and the cold sweat stood out in 
 bead-like drops on my face, while down my spine ran a 
 chill that was ice-like in its intensit}'. Not more than 
 a quarter of a mile away, on the next rise of ground, half 
 a dozen swarthy figures loomed above the fog, and stood out 
 in bold relief against the horizon, and while I looked 
 others cantered up. Then, at a gallop, they started in my 
 direction. ' How fleet is a glance of the mind ! ' I was 
 at least six miles from the post, on a pony whose best 
 speed I could almost equal if on foot, if I chose to try the 
 ravine for shelter. I might not at once find a place where 
 they could be descended by my animal, and, once in 
 them, I was liable to be lost in the fog, only to be found 
 when it cleared away, with my retreat cut off— if I ran for 
 home. I must ride at least three miles before I could get 
 to a point where my flight could be seen by friends, and 
 assistance .sent. All this and more went through my 
 mind like an electric thrill, and whirling the pony sharp- 
 ly to the left, I plied the ' government brass ' in a way 
 that astonished him, and got all the speed out of him 
 that was possible. As I looked back I could see the 
 
CHILL AND FEVER. 47 
 
 heads of my pursuers, rising and falling upon the mist, 
 though apparently not gaining much. Half a mile to 
 the eastward of what I had supposed to be my position 
 when I started, the descent from the high prairie was 
 smooth and easy, and I had directed my course for that 
 point. But I found that I had lost the direction, and was 
 stopped by the perpendicular wall of a branch ravine, 
 which gave no foot-hold for man or beast ; so turning 
 squarely to my right, I continued my flight in that direc- 
 tion. As I changed I looked back, but the fog hid my 
 enemy from view. A few hundred yards on I reached 
 the head of the ravine, and turning again to the left, rode 
 in the direction of the garrison. But the pace was tell- 
 ing on my steed, and it was only by constant use of the 
 spur that I could keep him in even a moderate canter. My 
 only hope was that he could hold out till I could reach 
 the brow of the slope, whence smoke of shots could be 
 seen at the post; then shooting him, use his body as a 
 defence, and make the best fight I could, trusting that 
 succor would reach me as soon as possible. By the time 
 he reached it he was down to a walk, and finding a slight 
 ' wash-out,' just at the brow^ from which I could see the 
 post, I halted to fight it out. As I faced southward, I 
 found that a slight breeze, before which I had been run- 
 ing, had dispersed the fog behind me, and my pursuers 
 were nowhere to be seen. While I looked, my dog, fol- 
 lowing the trail of my horse, came into view where I had 
 struck the ravine, and a few hundred yards in his rear 
 were my pursuers — a band of eleveyi antelopes. The dog, 
 which was nearly white, had killed or lost his game, and, 
 returning to me, had attracted their attention, and, with 
 the curiosity which lures so many of them to their death, 
 they were following him. 
 
 " The reaction was in a degree pleasant, but, the tension 
 
48 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 gone, I found myself too weak to ride, and man and liorse 
 took a good long rest before going on to the fort. 
 
 " I said nothing of my stampede, till after I had heard an 
 older officer tell how he was ' scared out of his boots' 
 at the sight of a herd of elk on Laramie plains, thinking 
 them Indian ponies ; then I could afford to tell it. 
 
 II. FEVER. 
 
 "The plains of Western Kansas furnish a rich field for 
 'the fossil-hunters.' They have in pre-historic ages 
 been the bed of a shallow sea, and in the blue shale, 
 which underlies most of their area, and crops out to the 
 surface in the sides of the wind and rain-swept ' buttes,' 
 the geologist and paleontologist find many rare and val- 
 uable specimens. During the years in which I ser^^ed in 
 that region, several of the first scientists of the country 
 paid visits to the sections lying about Forts Hayes and 
 Wallace, and their discoveries were very valuable. They 
 generally came to the posts provided with letters or or- 
 ders from Department Commanders, or from the Secre- 
 tary of War, directing commanding officers to furnish 
 them with such escorts as could be spared, and the duty 
 was one sought after bj'- both officers and enlisted men. 
 ' The professors ' were generally genial men, good talk- 
 ers, and ready to impart information to any one who 
 wished it. One, a naturalist, who looked after the things 
 of the present as well as of the past ages, created a com- 
 motion at a dinner table one day, when a small snake, 
 which, for want of a better place to confine it, he had 
 placed in an inside pocket of his -coat, and covered with 
 his handkerchief, escaped from it to the table, just as the 
 company had seated themselves. The ophidian was 
 harmless as my antelopes, but the stampede was as bad 
 as mine, and the really strange and beautiful 'sarpint' 
 
CHILL AND FEVER. 49 
 
 was mashed out of all its proportions b}- the boot-heel of 
 one of the gentlemen present, before it could be re-cap- 
 tured by its possessor. 
 
 ' ' But ' the champion bone-hunter, ' as he was desig- 
 nated b}-^ the soldiers, was a professor of paleontology from 
 one of the principal eastern colleges, who was accustomed 
 to make extended tours with classes of students of his 
 favorite science, and who, except in the instance about to 
 be related, had no use for any bones which did not ante- 
 date Old Father Adam, and the farther back they had ex- 
 isted, the better. Not zcag-on -loads only, but mr-loads of 
 fossils were found and shipped by him, and he was known 
 to have worked for days, with a pick and spade, unearth- 
 ing a single specimen. 
 
 " His first visit was made the next autumn after the 
 events already related had occurred. With a dozen or 
 more of students, he had spent weeks in the valley of 
 Snake River, in Idaho, and, on his way back to the East, 
 stopped at Fort Wallace, with three or four of his party. 
 His time was limited, but he wished to take a look at the 
 country, and to see a buflfalo-hunt, as he had not seen any 
 of the animals in a wild state. They could be found with- 
 in a few miles of the post, and the morning after his arri- 
 val two officers, with about half a dozen mounted soldiers, 
 reported as his escort for the hunt. His party were fur- 
 nished an ambulance for the trip, and I handed him a 
 rifle and forty rounds of ammunition. The students had 
 their own Winchesters. He expressed his thanks, but 
 said he did not need it, ' had no thoughts of doing any 
 shooting, was onl}^ going to look on,' etc., but yielded on 
 being told that no one was allowed to leave the post 
 without being armed. The ground selected was that 
 over which I had been the time before alluded to, as an 
 examination of the rock-formations could be made better 
 8 
 
50 THE COI^ONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 there thau elsewhere near the post, and the officers took 
 seats with the party for the time, leading their saddled 
 horses, while the mounted enlisted men accompanied a 
 wagon taken along to bring in the beef. Only a cursory 
 examination of the rocky defiles was made, the savant 
 deciding at once that they contained no fossils, and the 
 party was soon near the head of one of the ravines, from 
 which egress to the prairie above was practicable for vehi- 
 cles. A man, sent ahead to reconnoiter, reported several 
 small herds on the prairie not far away, and tightening 
 their pistol-belts, and the ' cinches ' of their saddles, the 
 officers threw their outer coats into the ambulance, and 
 mounted for the run. The ' fossil-party ' were told that 
 they could see most of the chase from some rising ground 
 half a mile ahead, to which the driver was directed to 
 proceed, and also cautioned to keep a look-out for other 
 of the game, which was probably in other ravines, and 
 would run for the prairie as soon as they ' winded ' the 
 hunters. 
 
 "As the mounted men reached the upland, probably two 
 thousand buffalo, in small herds, were in sight, some of 
 them not more than two hundred yards away. The 
 charge was ordered, and, 'every man for himself,' the 
 hunters started. I kept up the chase till both my revol- 
 vers were emptied, and had dropped three, and then 
 pulled up to find myself alone, and more than a mile from 
 the nearest hunter. 
 
 ' ' There was always one danger in running buffalo in the 
 Indian Countr>^ The hunter, engrossed solely in the pur- 
 suit of his game, lost all idea of course or distance, and a 
 run of four or five miles was not an unusual thing, and 
 at the end of that the sportsman found himself alone on 
 the prairie, with empty pistols and a tired-out steed, in a 
 most defenceless state if suddenly attacked. 
 
CHILL AND FEVER. 51 
 
 " I was soon joined b}- the other officer, and we waited 
 for the wagon to come up and get our game, in the mean 
 time scanning the ground along the horizon for some 
 sign of the ambulance. But we looked in vain, and as 
 soon as the beef was loaded we retraced our steps in 
 search of the Professor. Nearly two miles back we met 
 one of the party, his face wearing a disgusted look, as 
 though he did not think much of buffalo-hunting. To 
 our inquiries about the others he replied, — 
 
 " ' I don't know where they are. The driver took us up 
 to that place you pointed out, and just as we reached it 
 a small herd came rushing up from the ravines, and " the 
 old man ' ' told us to get out and get a shot, and as we 
 jumped out another herd came along, and he told the 
 driver to drive on, and left us out in the cold, and by that 
 time the herd we had first seen had run ofi" out of reach. 
 The last I saw of the team it was away off in that direc- 
 tion (pointing to the southwest), and I think it was run- 
 ning away.' 
 
 " Turning in the direction indicated, we galloped off in 
 search of the lost man, and rode nearly two miles before, 
 as much farther away, we saw the ambulance halted, and 
 a man apparently at work on a carcass. Riding up, we 
 found the team all right, and the Professor at work. He 
 was a sight ! Had killed a j'oung bull (as the driver 
 told it, ' had filled him too full of lead for him to carry '), 
 had lost his hat, and in lieu of it had tied a white hand- 
 kerchief about his head, — throv/n off his coat, and, with 
 only a knife ' hacked worse than two saws, ' and which 
 had been used all the trip for digging fossils, he was en- 
 deavoring to cut off the animal's head as a trophy. His 
 hands and arms were bloody, his face dripped with per- 
 spiration, and in trying to wipe it away he had forgotten 
 that his hands were bloody, and had stained face, hair 
 
62 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 and the handkerchief with gore, till he looked worse than 
 a Chicago butcher. We sent the driver back to bring up 
 the wagon, and then proceeded to assist in getting off the 
 skin, as he said he must have it dressed and the head 
 mounted. After he had returned to the post, had a bath, 
 and cooled down mentally, he began to think how he 
 must have looked and acted, and after his return to the 
 East it was soon a tabooed subject. The driver's story, 
 told to his fellows, was expressed in language more forci- 
 ble than eloquent. Leaving out the expletives, it was 
 about as follows : 
 
 " 'He wasn't goin' to shoot no buffalo ! Oh, no ! But 
 after he got them young fellows out, he jest went plumb 
 crazy, an' when about the third bunch of 'em run past, 
 he poked his gun out past my head an' fired right over 
 my mules, an' they went in spite o' me. His hat blowed 
 off, and I wanted to go back fur it, but he sung out not 
 to mind the hat, but go on, and bime by he banged away 
 again, and then the buffaler stopped, an' I began to cir- 
 cle 'round him, and then the old fellow jumped out and 
 was goin' to run right up on him ; till I hollowed that 
 he'd git histedif he did, and then he jest stood off, and 
 pumped lead into him till he dropped. Talk about ' ' buck 
 ager "—if he didn't have " buffaler fever " I'm a tender- 
 foot.' 
 
 " The Professor came back the next year, and with him 
 came one of the same party. Scarcely had we shaken 
 hands when he said, ' Don't say buffalo to the old gen- 
 tleman, — it is a sore subject.' " 
 
 " And now it is time we had a love stor3%" exclaimed 
 Mrs. Grace. "And there's one man at least whom I 
 know will do the subject justice. Most of you have no 
 idea of it. Come, Major," and she glanced at a tall, sol- 
 dierly fellow sitting about midway along the joyous line 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 53 
 
 to her left. All eyes are alread}^ centred on him. In love 
 or war " the Major " was regarded as thoroughly at home. 
 
 " Drive on, Major. If any one has been there, it's you," 
 exclaimed Briggs from his seat across the board. , 
 
 No direct reply was vouchsafed the light-hearted young 
 gentleman. With much dignity of mien the Major 
 waited until the applause which greeted this especial call 
 had subsided, bowed to the lady of the bright blue eyes 
 and then to the table collectively, and began/ 
 
 TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 
 
 " Lieutenant Tom Carrington accounted himself an in- 
 vulnerable man so far as matters affecting the heart were 
 concerned. He had gone through ' West Point ' a shining 
 light in the ' Bachelors' Club,' the only known departure 
 from the tenets of his faith having been an enforced five 
 minutes' chat with Miss Mabel Stoughton, as he stood in 
 his official capacity, watch in hand, at the door of the 
 hop-room, waiting to give that awful signal which put an 
 abrupt termination to tete-a-tetes, and stilled the glowing 
 words upon beardless lips. This interview, short and 
 unsought as it was, brought upon him some measure of 
 suspicion, but he heroically lived it down and went out 
 into the world the following June, with an escutcheon 
 undimmed by any act of abrogation of his oath. But 
 five minutes' conversation with Miss Mabel Stoughton 
 was apt to create strange havoc even in the strong-hold of 
 youthful susceptibility, and as Tom Carrington walked 
 to camp that night he was forced to acknowledge to him- 
 self a remarkably pleasant sensation, and he seemed to 
 hear a faint melody as of silver bells, which he coupled 
 with Mabel's voice and before his eyes was the remem- 
 
64 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 bered glint upon 'curls of summer gold,' enframing a fair 
 young face. But he shook himself together and devoted 
 the rest of the night to the ' plebs ' who were on guard, 
 who, could they have known the cause of his extra atten- 
 tion to duty, would in their hearts have heartily cursed 
 that five minutes' delay in the beating of the drum. 
 
 " In the winter of i88- the Judith Basin was sparsely 
 settled — onl^ here and there, and that at long intervals, 
 low, rambling sheep-sheds proclaimed the nearness of a 
 Ranch. Time-honored signs had given the ranchmen 
 ample indications of the coming of a rigorous winter, and 
 fabulous wood-piles and tons of well-stacked hay stood as 
 answer to the warning. Beyond the mountains, mostly 
 amid the foot-hills, a few hastily constructed huts serv'ed 
 as shelter to a little colony of soldiers, dropped there as 
 a nucleus of an army post. Herds of buffalo ranged over 
 the rolling prairie-land towards the west, and among the 
 foot-hills elk and deer and antelope, grouse and prairie- 
 hen were as yet innocent of the invasion of their realm. 
 Centrally through the valle}- a rushing, bubbling trout 
 stream tumbled its limpid waters toward the Mussel-shell, 
 musical in its flow, freighted with the traditions of the hills. 
 And these stately hills, stretching north and south in rug- 
 ged, wild upheaval, hiding the crimson and passionate hues 
 outlining the purple shadows of the west from the gentler 
 suggestions of the nascent day, like kingly sentinels in crest 
 and nodding plume, dominated the far reaches of nature's 
 gentler aspect, toward the rising and the setting sun. Busily 
 the little colony worked from dawn to dark upon the rude 
 shelters which were their only hope against the ruder 
 blasts and snows of coming winter ; already the voices of 
 the pines upon the mountain were hoarse and muttering, 
 and here and there a peak, higher than its neighbors, had 
 caught the hoary mask of Time and proclaimed the 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 55 
 
 already numbered days of the fading year. Bedecked in 
 sombre vestment, the darkening mountain lay waiting for 
 the shock of winter's battle, with here and there a crim- 
 son gleam of ivy showing, like a ' rose which the west 
 has flung ' within the coil of a woman's raven hair while 
 along its rugged sides the echoes played of hammer and 
 axe and human call from the busy slope below. But time 
 and labor accomplish most things and November's sway 
 had scarce begun when the little garrison was snug as 
 need be for the winter. Only a couple of companies con- 
 stituted the garrison, with a Major in command, and tw'o 
 short of the half-dozen officers whose names were borne 
 upon the rolls ; but, then, there was the Dr., and he was 
 worth the other two and one to spare, beside. 
 
 ' ' There had been a good deal of speculation among the 
 juniors as to why the Major insisted upon that extra 
 room with two windows, with a southern exposure, espec- 
 ially as time was limited and the men overworked beside, 
 and when, upon mutual inspection and comparison of the 
 preparation for the long months to come, the dainty fitting 
 of this apartment was revealed to their astonished gaze, 
 with its light oak furnishing and accessor}' of blue and 
 white, its heavy rugs and bright warm curtains ready to 
 swing into graceful folds in opposition to encroaching 
 blasts, ' Confusion was worse confounded,' and Mrs. Wil- 
 der vouchsafed no explanation and the Major held his 
 peace as a wise and dutiful husband should. 
 
 ' ' A couple of evenings later. Dr. Archer and Lieutenant 
 Bliss, of the — th foot, were seated within the rather narrow 
 limits of that particular log hut which had been reared 
 for the accommodation of themselves and one other, and 
 which had been considered in the present emergency 
 adequate to the dignity of their rank and years, and were 
 in the enjoyment of one of those pauses in their game of 
 
56 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 chess which the replenishment of the fire and their pipes 
 required, and had, for the moment, forgotten the very 
 threatening attitude which the Dr.'s Queen's Bishop had, 
 by a masterly play just assumed, to discuss the important 
 matter as to whether lemon was an adjunct or real neces- 
 sity^ in a ' hot scotch ' brew — when Lieutenant Tom Car- 
 rington and a gust of wind darted simultaneously into 
 the room to the extinguishment of the light and the tem- 
 porary change of subject. ' Why the devil don't you 
 come down the chimney, Tom, or give notice of your 
 approach — one might prepare against the combination of 
 Tom Carrington and Boreas in such a case.' 
 
 " ' Teddy, I'm truly sorry, for light has such a mellowing 
 influence upon your voice and,' scratching a match, ' I'll 
 wager anything that you fellows are in j^our hearts glad to 
 be rid of the sight of each other even for a moment ; but, 
 there you are again, so take up the thread of your argu- 
 ment, and peace be unto you,' and Mr. Carrington began 
 softly whistling an air from Erminie, as he divested him- 
 self of top-coat and boots, and encased his feet in his slip- 
 pers and his form in his smoking jacket. ' B)^ the way, 
 did anybody say — Welcome ! Tom ? for if not, there may 
 be a dearth of information, which I am prepared to 
 impart. ' 
 
 ' ' ' Welcome ! Tom — thrice welcome ! ' came in chorus 
 from two pairs of healthy lungs. What is it ? Hurry up, 
 delays are dangerous — suspense, death.' 
 
 " 'Gently, gentlemen; gentle subjects should be ap- 
 proached with deference, and, indeed, upon second 
 thoiight, I think it hardly decorous to litter a young 
 lady's name in an atmosphere reeking with tobacco and 
 lemon and things, as this is. I won't ; but shall simply 
 content myself with the announcement that unto the 
 house of Mrs. Major Wilder a guest is coming for the 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GII^T. 5T 
 
 winter, and that guest is a j-oung lady, and that now the 
 mysterv' of the ' ' spare-room ' ' is settled and that to-mor- 
 row I, Thomas Carrington of the — th foot, depart upon a 
 journey, "and further deponent saith not,"' and the 
 notes of the lullaby song in Erminie fell upon the air 
 once more, and a wreath of smoke from the lips of Lieu- 
 tenant Carrington went curling toward the mantel, in an 
 inter\'al of pause. 
 
 ' ' ' And is that all that we are to hear ; will your Lordship 
 deign not one other word upon this momentous matter,' 
 exclaimed Teddy Bliss with a tone of genuine exaspera- 
 tion. 
 
 The subject is dismissed, gentlemen ; you may resume 
 your game,' remarked Carrington with the mock tones of a 
 commanding officer ; and the others knew, with all his 
 assumed mannerism, that he had his own reasons for say- 
 ing no more upon the subject ; but Teddy Bliss could not 
 resist the temptation of a final word which assumed the 
 rather indefinite form of—' Well, I'll be ' 
 
 " ' Indeed you will. Teddy,' interrupted Carrington, 'if 
 you do not control that unruly member, ' and with the 
 expression of the hope that his companions might have 
 sweet repose, happy dreams, sweet tempers and patience, 
 he filed into the little alcove which he designated his 
 ' sleeping apartment ' and disappeared for the night. 
 
 " By way of preparation, not only for the expected vis- 
 itor, but also for the long months of isolation staring the 
 little garrison in the face. Major Wilder had despatched 
 an ' escort wagon ' to the nearest town (some hundred 
 miles distant) for such articles of comfort and luxury as 
 the Inspector General had not recommended as necessary 
 or advisable among the ' stores which may be sold for 
 cash ' to officers of the U. S. Army, and this wagon was 
 to call on its return at a certain ranch in the Judith Basin 
 3* 
 
58 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 for such luggage as Miss Mabel Stoughton might see fit 
 to turn over to its driver, which latter part of the pro- 
 gramme had remained a matter ' lacking announcement' 
 until a few moments before Lieutenant Carrington's 
 abrupt entrance into the society of the Doctor and Lieu- 
 tenant Bliss, and the subsequent interchange of the 
 amenities of social converse cited above. 
 
 " On this particular evening, with some degree of men- 
 tal speculation as to the nature of Mrs. Wilder' s ' matter 
 of importance ' concerning which she wished to see Lieu- 
 tenant Carrington, that young gentleman had hastened 
 to her quarters, and had received so much of the informa- 
 tion regarding the matter at issue as has been already 
 imparted to the reader — and more. Partially in fulfill- 
 ment, Mrs. Wilder explained, of a long-standing engage- 
 ment with her Boston friend and schoolmate. Miss 
 Edith Barnes, whose father was trying the experiment of 
 a * Sheep Ranch ' in the Judith Basin, in the hope ot 
 regaining some of the health which the east-wind ot 
 Boston had seriously impaired, and partly that she might 
 be within hailing distance, as it were, of his half-sister, 
 Mrs. Wilder, when that lady should be ready to receive 
 her, Miss Stoughton had been only a day's ride from them 
 for several weeks, and the appointed time of her visit to 
 the post had arrived. The Major had intended riding 
 over for her himself, but he was suffering so much with 
 his old enemy, the gout, that he found it impossible to go 
 and, would not Lieiitenant Carrington come to the rescue ? 
 She knew she could trust Mabel to him, knowing that 
 he would take the best of care of her. He could go over 
 on the following day and return the next, staying the 
 intervening night at the ranch. Of Miss Mabel Stough- 
 ton' s relationship to Mrs. Major Wilder the young man 
 had been profoundly ignorant till that very moment In 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 59 
 
 the one year and a half he had been away from the 
 ' academy,' his mind had often reverted to that five min- 
 utes at the hop-room door, and always with a certain 
 thrill of pleasure which he could not understand. He 
 had never, that he remembered, met any one quite so fair 
 as she had seemed to him during the shortness of his 
 inter\'iew — ' the rose lip's witching glow ' upon the cheek, 
 her golden hair, the tone of her low and musical voice, 
 he had often thought of them ; but he had never thought 
 to meet her again. There had been no ■ bliss at meeting, 
 no parting pain.' She had heen but a fair figure upon 
 the fair earth, as it passed by his point of view, so that 
 Mrs. Wilder' s request somewhat staggered him. 
 
 " ' I am always at your service, Mrs. Wilder, ' he re- 
 plied, ' and shall be most happy, if you think the young 
 lady will not fear to venture — what did you say was 
 the name ? ' and as he heard it repeated he looked as 
 though it had never dwelt pleasantly upon his ear before, 
 and felt as though that kind destiny, which shapes our 
 ends, overshadowed him. 
 
 "As Carrington approached the ranch the following 
 afternoon the tones of a piano smote upon his ear in ac- 
 companiment to two voices, which came to him 
 
 ' Like the sweet South 
 That breathes upon a bank of violets ; ' 
 
 so he paused and listened till the music ceased, and, look- 
 ing far off toward the distant hills, over the stretches of 
 lonely prairie, into the unfathomable depths of trackless 
 grass-land innocent of human habitation, thought how 
 little it took to give the semblance of beauty to the world's 
 waste places. But if his surprise were great, it was not 
 more so than that of the two young ladies who, hearing the 
 sound of wheels, turned to look upon the tall, handsome 
 
60 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 young officer who was reining in at the door and who a 
 moment later presented his credentials in form of a letter 
 from Mrs. Wilder. There was no instant recognition on 
 Miss Mabel's part of her former unwilling captive. His 
 appearance seemed to feebly awaken some memory, but 
 nothing very tangible ; not till the drift of conversation 
 led back to the ' Point ' and individual experience there, 
 did it dawn upon her that in her coming escort she beheld 
 the ' member in good standing ' of the ' Bachelor Club.' 
 
 " ' It was very good of you, Mr. Carrington, to so far 
 subdue your principles as to consent to an eight-hour 
 drive with a young lady to whom you once begrudged 
 five minutes, ' remarked Miss Mabel as that evening they 
 were speaking of the morrow's ride. 
 
 " ' I think my principles only awaked, where your sex 
 is concerned, after graduation, Miss Stoughton. I hadn't 
 quite formed any before ; I was rather afraid of the sub- 
 ject, you see,' replied Carrington. ' Really, though, I hope 
 to atone for any past sins of omission bj' religious devo- 
 tion to your sex in the future. Pray accept yourself my 
 first cry of surrender. ' 
 
 " ' It will be hard upon you, I know, but I will promise 
 to be very generous and help you through the ordeal,' 
 said Mabel ; ' but tell me, Mr. Carrington, did you ever 
 forgive me for entrapping you that night ? ' 
 
 " 'I think the drum was all that saved me from ab- 
 solute capitulation — there is a note of forgiveness in that 
 confession, is there not ? ' answered Carrington. 
 
 " As they were talking, the rumble of wheels heralded 
 the approach of the wagon, and as the start was to be an 
 early one, the young lady's trunks were loaded that night, 
 and the next morning, before the sun had climbed one- 
 third the way to the zenith, Carrington and his fair charge 
 were bowling along toward the Judith River. 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 61 
 
 " It was Sunday morning and there was a Sabbath tone 
 in the air, and Carrington stole a glance at the lovely girl 
 beside him ; he did not wonder that it ' seemed no task 
 for the sun to shine upon so fair a picture.' Altogether the 
 young gentleman's state was a happy one, and he men- 
 tally evoked a blessing upon the Major for his opportune 
 attack of gout, upon Mrs. Wilder, first, for having so 
 sweet a sister, and again for her part in his assignment to 
 the pleasant duty before him— blessed that strange fate, 
 in fine, which had laid his lines in such pleasant places. 
 But a single little cloud drifted across the sky of his con- 
 tent, which assumed the features of that arch-tormentor, 
 Mr. Teddy Bliss. He could hear in anticipation that young 
 man's congratulations upon his success in having 
 achieved a triumph over his well-known diffidence ; he 
 could hear the pointed shafts which should inquire as to 
 the probable duration of his willingness to associate with 
 ordinary humanity, and whether he (Teddy) would be 
 expected to indulge a new suit in view of the coming 
 event ; he knew he would stop at nothing, and he was 
 very fond of Teddy, but—' well, if he does I shall simply 
 choke him, and that's all about it,' was his mental re- 
 solve. 
 
 " 'What did you say, Mr. Carrington?' inquired Miss 
 Mabel, rather astonished at the unexpectedness of this 
 last part of Tom's unwittingly-outspoken resolve ; ' whom 
 do you wish to choke ; not me, I trust ! ' 
 
 '"I beg pardon,' pleaded Carrington ; ' I was thinking 
 of ' 
 
 "'Never mind his name,' interrupted Mabel, 'but 
 please retain your faculties in this immediate vicinity ; 
 that off-horse of yours will need all the attention which I 
 can afford to dispense with myself.' 
 
 " ' Oh, he's all right ; he has only caught the infection 
 
62 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 of happiness from his master ; besides, he is proud of his 
 burden to-da}'.' 
 
 " And at that moment a ' coyote ' slunk across the road, 
 and his horse, not liking the skulking brute's appearance, 
 made a dash for freedom, and for a couple of hundred 
 yards Carrington had his hands full ; but he presently 
 quieted them down, and, looking at Mabel, who had be- 
 haved admirably, remarked : ' Splendid, Miss Stoughton ; 
 you're a trump ! ' 
 
 " 'Thank you,' said'Mabel, who was pale as death, but 
 could not resist the interrogatory : ' Of what suit, Mr. 
 Carrington ? ' 
 
 " ' Hearts, of course ; but here's the river ; ' and Car- 
 rington noticed that under the influence of the ' Chin- 
 ook,' which had come up in the night, it had risen, and 
 he concluded to see the wagon over safely before crossing 
 himself. 
 
 " looking at his watch, he found it just high noon, 
 and a few moments later the wagon came rumbling down 
 the hill behind them, and, at a sign from him, dashed 
 into the stream, struck boldly across, and, when nearly 
 at the other bank, stalled. There was a led horse behind 
 the wagon, and he, taking advantage of the situation, 
 proceeded to drink ; but scarcely had his lips touched the 
 water when there came from up the river a sound as of a 
 dozen cannons, and a moment later huge blocks of ice, 
 impelled with terrific speed, bore down upon the stalled 
 wagon. Faster and faster came the ice ; higher and 
 higher it piled against the wagon's side, which now 
 listed down stream. A moment more and animals and 
 vehicle would be swept away in the irresistible flow. 
 ' Cut the traces and save the animals and yourself,' 
 shouted Carrington, which, with the assistance of a man 
 to whom he had given a ' lift, ' the driver was able to do, 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 63 
 
 and an instant later down the seething, on-rushing, pitiless 
 flood, wagon and led-horse — first one on top, then the 
 other — disappeared round a cun-e, five hundred feet be- 
 low. Carrington's first thought was of Mabel's trunks, 
 and they found expression : 
 
 " ' My God ! Miss Stoughtou, your trunks, your 
 trunks ! ' 
 
 " ' I was thinking of that poor horse, ' she said ; ' if 
 only you can save him ! His look of dumb despair will 
 haunt me forever.' 
 
 "'That's the gentlewoman of it,' said Carrington. 
 ' Wait here till I run down the bank, the wagon may have 
 lodged,' and true enough, hurled by the force of the 
 water in a head of the stream, it had been thrown upon a 
 sand-bar high and dr>% or nearly so, and in the midst, with 
 a look of patient inquiry upon his face, stood the led-horse, 
 intact. To cross themselves was impossible, and theil 
 wagon was ruined, the hind wheels gone and it a wreck. 
 
 Mr. Carrington's trying situation had hitherto been the 
 result of a sympathetic relationship with the heroes of 
 those sensational works which had chanced to come to 
 his notice ; the last few moments had assigned to himself 
 the principal part in what seemed to him a most tragic 
 one. Retreat was impossible, for behind him every 
 ' coulee ' by this time was a torrent itself ; he felt himself 
 impelled to quick and decisive action. 
 
 " ' Miss Stoughton,' he said ; ' our position is one of 
 the most extreme embarrassment ; we can neither go back 
 or forward. I shall send one of these men to the Post for 
 succor. Will you give yourself into my keeping, freely, 
 as my own sister would, feeling that I will care for you 
 as tenderly. Your bed must be upon the prairie, but with 
 the wraps and robe in the buggy I can at least shelter 
 you from cold, ' 
 
64 THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 " Mabel Stoughton had as stout a heart as ever beat 
 within a woman's breast, but certainly it was put now to 
 a crucial test. She had lost everything and now found 
 herself, at the approach of night, alone upon the broad 
 prairie with a man whom she had known for five min- 
 utes only, before he had come, the night previous, to take 
 her for an eight hours' ride through an almost uninhab- 
 ited country, but that man wore the cloth which pro- 
 claimed to her the gentleman in every man who donned 
 it and she never faltered. She saw Carrington's distress 
 and pitied him. Putting her little hand in his, she looked 
 up to him with eyes all full of pity and of trust, and 
 simply said : ' Fate has overtaken us, my friend ; we will 
 brave it out together.' 
 
 " ' God bless you ! ' he answered ; ' you have given me 
 the fairest glimpse of womanhood I have ever known.' 
 
 " It was long after midnight — the moon had been look- 
 ing calmly down, shedding a dower of light upon the 
 earth and silveriiig the surface of the rushing water. 
 Scarcely a breath of air was stirring, but it was growing 
 colder. High up above the tree-tops, over in the west, a 
 few clouds came drifting lazily along — occasionally a 
 moan came from the distant hillside — the bark of a dog, 
 distant, indistinct, from somewhere beyond the river, fell 
 upon the watcher's ears, sharp, insistent — an owl's un- 
 friendly hoot sounded in hollow mocker}' — the shadows 
 which the moon had painted lengthened out into the 
 plain, shifting slowly and in grotesque shapes — the weird 
 impressions of the night filled all of Nature's spaces. 
 Carrington was looking with some dread at the drifting 
 clouds, knowing that in every one of them was ' some 
 story of storm to come or past, ' and he praj^ed that God 
 would temper the wind to his precious charge. Just then 
 a coyote barked and Mabel awoke. 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 65 
 
 " 'Were you pra\'ing, Mr. Carrington ? ' she asked. 
 
 "'Execrating that coyote for having disturbed you 
 Miss Stoughtou.' 
 
 ' ' ' No, sir ! you were praying, and I waked up to say 
 Amen ! good-night,' she said. 
 
 ' 'And the stillness was unbroken 
 And the silence gave no token,' 
 
 till by and by a faint flush crept over the eastern hills 
 and brought across the ' threshold of the skies ' the 
 blessedness of dawn. 
 
 ' ' An inspection of the river discovered the feasibility 
 of crossing ; the waters which the day before had burst 
 through the the ice-dam, carrying ruin in their path, had 
 passed by, leaving a wreck to tell the story of their fury 
 — now the stream flowed musically on and nothing barred 
 the way to progress. The ominous clouds which had so 
 disturbed Carrington during the night had dissolved, the 
 canopy of heaven was one unbroken field of blue and, as 
 the pink of dawn brightened into the golden glory of day, 
 the travelers left the river behind them and headed fqr 
 the distant hills. Midway between the scene of their 
 mishap and the post they met the relief party, which they 
 sent to gather up what they could from the wreck and, 
 a couple of hours later, Carrington deposited his charge 
 at the door of the Major's hut and in the arms of her 
 anxious sister. Leaving her, Carrington said, ' You will 
 understand, if I do not call this evening?' and for a 
 moment Mabel did not understand, but an instant later 
 she appreciated his thoughtful kindness and thanked him 
 in her heart. 
 
 ' ' Of course, speculation as to the non-appearance of the 
 travelers was rife throughout the little settlement the 
 night before ; the Major's gout, owing to his excited state 
 
66 THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 of mind, gave him an added twinge, which in u.o way- 
 tended to temper his irascibility. Mrs. Wilder, kind 
 and gentle woman that she was, felt that some good rea- 
 son had detained them ; but Mrs. McFarlane, whose forty- 
 five years of ' following the drum ' had been innocent of 
 any' known expression of charitable thought for any 
 human being, shook her head ominously, till the httle 
 curls at the back of her neck danced like puppets upon 
 the expanding field of her fair shoulders. To her Lieut. 
 Teddy Bliss felt himself constrained, in defence of his 
 friend, to remark that he had known Miss Stoughton for 
 some time, and Lieut. Carrington for years — that both 
 belonged to that category of gentility to whom a com- 
 promising situation was impossible, and that he regretted 
 the enforced conviction that there were some people, who 
 did not, with which satisfying shot he left the object 
 of his remarks to pursue undisturbed her communing 
 with the stars, and passed on and into the seclusion of his 
 own domain. Mabel, as was to be expected, took the 
 garrison by storm ; her beauty, the gracious and gentle 
 manner which she had for all, from the Major down to 
 the striker, won her only friends, and under the modify- 
 ing influences which she exerted, even Teddy Bliss 
 dropped his cynicism and became a wonder of metamor- 
 phosis. 
 
 " The last month of the year had come and the storm 
 kings were gathering their forces ; the little garrison gave 
 over its excursions to distant points, in deference to the 
 ominous mutterings of winter. Cards and cosy little sup- 
 pers, rambles over the neighboring hills, and occasional 
 forays upon the Ranch, down the valley, filled up the 
 spaces of their time. Carrington had no occasion to 
 'choke' Teddy Bliss; that young gentleman's views 
 of life unden^'ent perceptible modification, and few were 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 67 
 
 the days when, at one hour or another, he did not saunter 
 over to the Major's ' for the bracer the sight of that splen- 
 did girl gives one, you know,' as he said to the Doctor. 
 Carrington's position toward the young lady he defined 
 more accurately himself than others who had busied 
 themselves in the matter. He had become ver>' fond of 
 Mabel, of course, as had everybody, but he had said no 
 word of love to her ; he did not flatter himself that she 
 would be inclined to listen if he did ; the accident that 
 had thrown them together, under circumstances out of 
 common, had no bearing, to his mind, upon the case at 
 all— in fact, it would have rather had the efiect of retard- 
 ing any declaration, had he thought of making one. 
 Once or twice, of a night, when he and Teddy and the 
 Doctor were sitting round the blazing logs, within the en- 
 closure of their own four walls, and, tired of talk, had 
 settled themselves, with their pipes, for a little self-com- 
 muning, before bidding each other and the world good- 
 night, his fancy had wrought out of the glowing coals 
 pictures fair to look upon, and from out the picture look- 
 ing up at him were eyes of heaven's own blue, and within 
 his own, a little hand, soft and warm, lay passively, with 
 now and then a gentle pressure responsive to a heart- 
 beat, and as the ashes settled white and thick upon the 
 embers, and the fading light had its suggestion of clouds 
 drifting across his sky (the shadows of earthly trouble), 
 the pressure of the hand grew stronger, and from out the 
 gloom a soft, sweet voice seemed to come laden with the 
 tones of comfort and the accents of hope, and, yielding to 
 the soothing influences of the hour, and of his fancy, he 
 would close his eyes and let this ' dream of delicate beauty 
 melt into his heart's recess.' 
 
 The Christmas season was fast approaching, and ever- 
 greens and rose-berries and such pretty grasses as reared 
 
G8 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 their nodding tassels above the snow were brought into 
 requisition wherewith to bedeck their humble dwellings, 
 and on Christmas eve there had been a supper party and 
 some singing at the Major's, and Teddy had announced 
 that he proposed to hang up his stocking and thought, 
 considering his youth, that Carrington should do the 
 same, and the ladies had all agreed that if they did they 
 should find them filled in the morning, and Carrington 
 had asked ' Mabel ' what he might expect from her, and 
 she had told him that really she did not know ; that, after 
 Mr. Bliss' remark, she should have to think of something 
 suited to his years, at whic^ Mrs. Wilder spoke up and 
 said: 'Don't worry, Mr. Carrington; I might tell you 
 more about that myself than I shall ; wait and see.' And 
 as the little clock upon the mantel chimed out the mid- 
 night hour a very fair chorus of voices sang a Christmas 
 hymn and so they parted. For several days a large body 
 of Indians had been camped some three or four miles be- 
 low the park, a few of whom had been in to exchange a 
 friendly greeting, and a night or tAVO previous two or 
 three of them, having obtained some liquor, became trou- 
 blesome and, indeed, had fired upon the guard in their 
 effort to expel them, but nobody had been hurt and the 
 Major had let it go, thinking it only a drunken, crazy 
 freak which would not be repeated. Christmas Day 
 dawned bright and beautiful, and many of the men had 
 early set off to hunt in the mountains, leaving but a very 
 small number to guard the Post. There had been some 
 talk of a sleigh-ride in the afternoon down to the Ranch, 
 but an incident occurred which changed the plans of all 
 concerned and brought the speculations of Mrs. O'Keefe 
 and some others to an end. 
 
 "Toward the middle of the morning there appeared 
 down the valley, far as the eye could reach, a long, 
 
TOM CARRINGTON'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 69 
 
 black moving line winding in and out through the curv- 
 ings of the road and becoming gradually more distinct. 
 Carrington was standing with Mabel near the Major's 
 door admiring the wintr>' picture outspread before them, 
 and she had just told him that for his audacity the night 
 before in asking for it, she should not give him the pres- 
 ent she had intended, and he had begged to be placed on 
 probation till the New Year, when their eyes chanced to 
 rest upon this long, dark, moving mass, filing into the 
 plain below them and form into line, then move slowly 
 for\vard. There were some two hundred warriors, splen- 
 didly mounted — equipped for battle— the sunlight flash- 
 ing froni their rifle-barrels, their gaudy feathers tossing 
 in the wind. Steadily they moved forward, chanting a 
 wild, weird song, while before them one warrior rode from 
 right to left and left to right in wild careering, flourishing 
 a scalp-lock upon a pole and evidently leading in the song. 
 One by one they saw the men slip quickly within their 
 quarters and then reappear. It was a new sight to Car- 
 rington. It might mean nothing — it might mean much. 
 To Mabel it meant everything. But the one idea had 
 fastened upon her brain. It was to be but the repetition 
 of Fetterman and the Little Big Horn, and as Carrington 
 turned to go, saying he would find out what it was and 
 come soon to tell her, and noticed the look of terror upon 
 her face, he knew that her fears were not for herself alone. 
 Looking again at the line he saw it halted, and the leader 
 in parley with the officer of the day. 
 
 " 'See, Mabel,' he said ; 'it is nothing— only a Christ- 
 mas visit ; but may not I have this for my Christmas gift ?' 
 And he stooped and kissed her, and Mrs. Wilder from 
 her point of vantage at the window saw, and mutely sent 
 them her blessing." 
 
 "It's the Quartermaster's turn," suggested Miss Dot 
 
70 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 at this moment, while people were glancing about the 
 table as though in search of the next victim. 
 
 ' ' Yes, of course, ' ' loudly seconded Mr. Briggs. ' ' Come, 
 Vouchers, something's got to be done to redeem the Staff 
 since X.'s fizzle." 
 
 The Colonel laughed as he turned to his junior staff 
 officer. " Never you mind what Briggs says, Mr. Quar- 
 termaster. The staff can take care of itself. ' ' 
 
 "That's precisely the trouble, Colonel," shouted the 
 irrepressible Briggs. ' ' What we would like is that the 
 staff should occasionally take care of somebody else." 
 Whereat there was a burst of laughter. The line is ever 
 ready to applaud a hit at the staff. But the Quartermas- 
 ter only grinned — and began : 
 
 THE QUARTERMASTER'S STORY. 
 
 " Shortly before the 55th Cavalry was ordered to Ari- 
 zona, Captain Sabres had quite an acquisition to his troop 
 in the person of his second lieutenant ; and as he occupies 
 a somewhat prominent position in this narrative, a brief 
 description seems almost unavoidalile. 
 
 " Imagine ' Granville de Vigne,' ' Sabretasche,' ' Curly,' 
 or any other beau sabreur who is ' Ouida's ' conception of 
 a cavalryman ; then divest him of his paraphernalia and 
 habiliments, place to his credit the moderate bank account 
 of the average second lieutenant, allow him quarters and 
 emoluments in accordance with his rank, and you will 
 have a fair idea of Lieutenant Evan Tavistock. 
 
 " He was of that same immaculate order of being as 
 those sybarites whom I cite, and fancied his environment 
 in every way similar to theirs. One meeting him and 
 conversing on such topics as his antique bronzes, his old 
 
THE quartermaster's STORY. 7l 
 
 master paintings, his rare china, his thoroughbreds and 
 his traps, would scarcely believe that his sleeping apart- 
 ment was carpetless and his ivory bedstead a common 
 hospital cot. But such was really the case ; and his ex- 
 aggerated style and absurd pretention soon made him the 
 laughing stock of the regiment. 
 
 ' ' Nevertheless he was so thoroughly good-hearted and 
 unselfish, bore chaffing so well, and was all in all such a 
 divine, undisguised ass that none could truthfully say 
 they disliked him. 
 
 ' ' Mr. Tavistock had been in Arizona about one month 
 when he was ordered out in pursuit of deserters. He 
 reached Fort Burns — forty miles distant— and there tar- 
 ried ; sending the sergeant on after the fugitives, because 
 it was such a ' blawsted bore ' to go himself. When he 
 learned that there were three brides and several young 
 women at Burns, he felt greatly annoyed that he had not 
 fetched a few of his trunks. To be sure he had his top- 
 boots with their silver screw spurs, and his visorless cap 
 upon his person ; but his wardrobe consisted of his cordu- 
 roy breeches and a jacket with huge orange plush 
 shoulder-straps. He felt in a measure relieved when he 
 perceived that his attire was entirely unlike that of the 
 other officers ; it implied^distinction, he thought. At the 
 same time he could not fancy it the correct thing in con- 
 nection with brides, young women and dinner parties. 
 He liked the garrison immensely ; and there he enjo^-ed 
 himself during the week that his .sergeant was taking in 
 Tucson's places of amusement in quest of the missing 
 troopers. 
 
 "Though it did not take the veterans at Burns long to 
 diagnose Mr. Tavistock's case, yet by the ladies he was 
 pronounced perfectly charming. In describing to them 
 his surroundings at Fort Davenport, he had used ' de 
 
72 Till-: colonel's Christmas dinner. 
 
 Vigne's ' own words ; and it was not easy for these credu- 
 lous ones to believe it was all fancy or deception. In 
 taking leave of them, he invited all to eat their Christmas 
 dinner with him at Davenport, promising them wild 
 turkeys and other good things. He even went so far as 
 to tell the belle of the garrison that if she would agree 
 to come, he would run over for her and ' tool her down in 
 his tilbury ! ' 
 
 " Not long after his return to Davenport Lieutenant 
 De Canter had occasion to visit Burns on official business. 
 While there he naturally heard much of Tavistock, and 
 learned many details respecting the young man's visit. 
 He was not surprised to hear of the glowing account 
 Tavistock had given of Davenport — of his quarters, his 
 horses and his traps — for that was the creature's way. 
 But he really was amazed when he learned of the general 
 invitation to dine with him, which several of the fair ones 
 were anxious to accept. One of them, in fact, came to 
 De Canter and begged him to use his influence with Mrs. 
 Trolls to persuade her to chaperon them. 
 
 ' ' De Canter reflected that it might be a capital scheme 
 to let the ladies go over, anticipating a royal dinner with 
 Tavistock, he not to know of their advent until too late 
 to provide for them. This would naturally mortify him, 
 and might result in curing him of his absurd conceit. 
 De Canter had little difficulty in persuading Mrs. Trolls 
 to go, and he advised the beauty not to wait for Mr. 
 Tavistock and his ' tilbury,' but to come in the regula- 
 tion army landau, with its mule motive-power. 
 
 ' ' De Canter chuckled to himself as he mused on his 
 diplomacy, and the huge joke he had put up on Tavis- 
 tock. But it might have been more huge, had it not been 
 of that common brand — ' too good to keep.' He felt that 
 he must have some one to enjoy it with him ; so before 
 
THE quartermaster's STORY. 73 
 
 he had been back at Davenport half an hour he had let 
 two others into the secret. These regarded it precisely 
 as he had, so they followed his example and told others ; 
 consequently the whole garrison, Tavistock included, 
 knew of the entire plan a whole week before Christmas. 
 
 ' ' When it was learned that Tavistock w^as well in- 
 formed on the subject, general regret was expressed. De 
 Canter tried to defend his loquacity by sa^-ing it would be 
 an utter impossibility for the fellow to give a decent dinner 
 any way ; and, as the invited guests were surely coming, 
 the awkwardness of Tavistock's position would be just 
 as great. 
 
 ^' From this date poor Tavistock was made the target 
 for no end of chaff. The fellows went for him unmerci- 
 fully, asking him if the dinner was to be ' a la Russe ' or 
 ' How ? ' If the turkey was to be stuffed with his old 
 puns in lieu of chestnuts, and if he expected to catch his 
 menu card in the draw. These and similar asininities, 
 well calculated to annoy and exasperate, had no effect 
 whatsoever upon Tavistock. In fact he accepted all their 
 chaff pleasantly, and in the most approved Hyde Park 
 fashion, 
 
 "There were others in the garrison, however, w^ho 
 were far more exercised as day after day passed and they 
 saw no preparation being made for the promised repast ; 
 and they wondered how Tavistock expected to escape 
 from his dilemma. He apparently never gave the matter 
 a thought, but was far from idle. When he finally com- 
 prehended that there was on foot a preconcerted scheme 
 to embarrass and make him appear ridiculous, he at once 
 determined to do the best he could in the way of a dinner. 
 And with this resolve buried in his heart and sealed on 
 his hps, he sought the post trader. From this individual 
 he, for a modest stipend, borrowed everything he could 
 4 
 
74 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 possibly need in the way of china, glasses, knives, forks 
 and spoons. His own trunks furnished the table linen, 
 which was of fine quality, having once graced the table 
 of his great-grandfather. With the assistance of his 
 striker, he had already purloined from vacant quarters 
 several tables — the property of the government — and 
 these, when arranged in line and covered with a hand- 
 some cloth, really made a very respectable banquet board. 
 Horseshoe-nails were substituted for nut-picks, just be- 
 cause they smacked of the service ; and having quietly 
 and satisfactorily attended to these preliminaries, he de- 
 tailed a man from his troop to act as chef, and ordered the 
 great dinner. 
 
 " It was the 25th of December. Tavistock regarded it 
 as a stroke of good fortune that he was oificer-of-the-day. 
 The guests, who would shortly arrive, were sufficiently 
 conversant with arm}- matters to know that many duties 
 pertained to this office, and would excuse his frequent ab- 
 sences. Time would thus be given him, to be used to his 
 own advantage, ' Besides, ' he reflected ; ' I only asked 
 them to dine ; not to put up with me. ' 
 
 " In due time two ambulances from Fort Burns bowled 
 into the garrison. Mrs. Trolls, Mrs. Hinton and four 
 young ladies had accepted the kind invitation of Mr. 
 Tavistock ; so had — unasked— Captain Trolls and Mr, 
 Newburg. But these, as well as the entire party, were 
 assured by the officer-of-the-day that he was ' chawmed 
 no end ' to see them. Then they were spirited away by 
 different inmates of the garrison, better situated to dis- 
 pose of them, temporarily, than the would-be swell host, 
 
 " Tavistock had announced the dinner-hour as six 
 o'clock ; and as the appointed time drew near, much spec- 
 ulation was indulged in, especially by the inmates of the 
 garrison, respecting Tavistock's plans. The fact that he 
 
THE quartermaster's STORY. 75 
 
 had reall)' provided anj-thing never, for one moment, en- 
 tered their minds. 
 
 " At the proper time the company assembled at Mr. 
 Tavistock's quarters, where he warmly received them. 
 He was arrayed as immaculately as permissible with the 
 office he had that day filled His quarters had been 
 tidied up a little by McGoon, his striker ; that was all. 
 There was an absence of bric-a-brac, bijoicicrie, and in 
 fact of all ornamentation and decoration, which must 
 have struck the visitors as peculiar, when recalling the 
 previous description they had received. But naturally, 
 only such remarks as : ' Why, how nicely you are fixed ! ' 
 ' How pleasantly you are situated ! ' and other similar 
 flatteries were indulged in. 
 
 ' ' Some little time ensued, and the garrison guests pres- 
 ent were showing s^-mptoms of impatience, when a neigh- 
 boring do(5r was thrust open and McGoon, in swallow-tail 
 coat and white apron, in stentorian tones shouted : ' Cum 
 a runnin' ! ' 
 
 " It must be admitted that the words fell like a blow 
 on the ear of the elegant and refined host ; but the mirth 
 occasioned by the plebeian announcement soon banished 
 all embarrassment, and, giving his arm to Mrs. Trolls, 
 he passed into the adjoining room, followed by the rest of 
 the company. 
 
 " Great, indeed, was the surprise of everj'^ one. There 
 stretched a long table, neatly covered with spotless linen, 
 whose purity and fineness was at once remarked upon. 
 The silver knives and forks shone brightly beneath the 
 many lights, and there was nothing to indicate that they 
 were borrowed or plated. The china was a trifle superior 
 — as were also the glasses — to the average Arizona table- 
 furniture ; and the centre-piece, towering fi"om its mes- 
 quite embankment, was abundantly and tastefully filled 
 
76 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 wilh fruit from the commissary. The whole scene was 
 really quite attractive and alluring. 
 
 " After a brief survey of his surroundings, Lieutenant 
 De Canter, who was one of the guests, so far recovered 
 from his amazement as to mentally articulate : 'I'll be 
 d ! ' But hope had not quite deserted him ; he re- 
 membered the promised turke}-, and w^ell knowing that 
 one had never been seen in or around Davenport, felt, in a 
 measure, assured. Others of the garrison present were 
 also greatly astonished ; but the visitors accepted it all as 
 a matter of course. 
 
 " McGoon and Flynn — a brother trooper, who was act- 
 ing assistant — brought in the soup, which was pronounced 
 faultless. Then Flynn approached the host and asked : 
 ' Will the loot'unt have the lemmin edd now? ' 
 
 " ' Er — ah: 3-es ; a'Ou howling idiot ; ' muttered poor 
 Tavistock ; and a moment later, while the conipan}- were 
 convulsed with laughter, the well-disguised troopers were 
 filling the glasses with ' lemmin edd, ' flowing from bottles 
 whose labels were a guarantee of the excellence of their 
 contents. 
 
 ' ' All were cheerful ; everything was passing off" delight- 
 fully, and — 5'es, here comes McGoon with the promised 
 turkey, which he deftly places before the composed host. 
 
 " ' Oh, how lovely ! ' ' How awfulh' nice in 3^ou I ' and 
 other similar expressions from the visitors greeted Tavis- 
 tock, as he recklessly replied : 
 
 ' ' ' Told you I'd knock 3'ou one over, j'ou know ; thej-'re 
 as thick as cweam awound here.' 
 
 ' ' Then came the vegetables — canned to be sure ; but 
 who would suspect it, when prepared by a troop chef and 
 ser\'ed in McGoon's recherche style. 
 
 " And here comes the 'rum-pudding,' as Flynn called 
 it, ' blazing fer al the woorled loike a bloomin' shell ! ' 
 
THE QUARTERMASTER'S STORY. 77 
 
 "So far Tavistock had no reason to feel ashamed of his 
 spread. It is doubtful if another in the garrison could 
 have done better. Many and sincere were the congratu- 
 lations he received, and one fair guest remarked to him 
 she wished the officers at Burns were half so nice and 
 thoughtful. 
 
 " In addition to the astonishment which De Canter ex- 
 perienced, he felt decidedly cheap ; his supreme joke had 
 proved no joke at all. He did not enjoy his dinner be- 
 cause his skin did not fit him, as he afterwards expressed 
 it. He felt ill at ease, and, fancying a soup^on of cognac 
 might benefit him, strolled back to the dining-room to 
 help himself; but McGoon — and McGoon in tears— an- 
 ticipated his wish. 
 
 "'Why, what's the matter, McGoon?' he asked, as 
 he tossed off the brandy. ' Has anything gone WTong 
 with you ? ' 
 
 " 'There's not a dhrj^ oiej-e in the throope, loot'unt ; ' 
 sobbed the old soldier. 
 
 "'What do you mean?' asked the thoroughly per- 
 plexed subaltern. 
 
 " ' The pet's kilt ! murdurhed ! ' was the reply. 
 
 " ' What pet are you talking about ? ' inquired De Canter. 
 
 " ' " F" throope' s 'agle to be sure, that we brought al 
 the way frum de Platte ! He wus a foine bird, loot'unt, 
 so he was! He'd licked "C" throope' s goat, an' he 
 picked deoieye outen " G " cumpany 'starrier ! An' now 
 he's murdurhed ! ' 
 
 " ' Is poor old ' ' Grant ' ' dead ? ' asked De Canter ; 
 showing sympathy for the old veteran, who had worn 
 chevrons before he joined : ' What killed him ? ' 
 
 " ' That bloomin' doughboy lyoot'unt Thavisstock paid 
 to massacree 'im wid de sthable broom, to be sure. Bad 
 luck to 'im ! ' 
 
78 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 "'Why did Lieutenant Tavistock want "F" com- 
 pany's eagle killed? ' asked the innocent and unsuspect- 
 ing officer. 
 
 " ' To stuff de commissar}'- baskits of them women from 
 Fort Burns ! poor old " Grant " ! He masqueraded, sor, 
 as a wild turkey an' they et 'im, they did ! jist as pay 
 day's cuming an' we was a goin' to pit 'im wid "K" 
 throopes crower. Boo-hoo ! But it was sport, loot'unt, 
 to see the boys shling belting the doughbo}- outen the 
 post ! Be Gob, sor, he 3'elled loike a thayvin' Arrah- 
 payho ! ' 
 
 "So Tavistock's outrageous deception was laid bare, 
 to De Canter at the least ! The old eagle which had 
 been given by the 2 2d Cavalry in exchange for a lame 
 monke}', and for some time had been recognized as the 
 Sullivan pet of the regiment, had been placed before his 
 guests, who had devoured him, fancying they ate wild 
 turkey shot by their skillful and polite host ! Yes ; and 
 De Canter recollected that he also had eaten of the Na- 
 tional bird ! ' Ugh ! ' he remembered now of having de- 
 tected a peculiar flavor ; but had said nothing lest he 
 might betraj' his ignorance respecting swell cooking ! 
 And while McGoon drained in silence the unfinished 
 glasses, the disgusted officer strolled away to reflect in 
 solitude. But he was met by Lieutenant Curry, who gave 
 him information which caused him still greater surprise. 
 
 ' ' Curry told him that in an hour or so — after the guests 
 had thoroughly digested their dinner, it was the intention 
 of Tavistock — who fancied they were in the scheme with 
 De Canter — to make a little speech. He would open by 
 thanking them for coming ; he then would apologize for 
 the deficiency in the dinner by stating that he had re- 
 ceived no knowledge respecting their coming until he 
 beheld them in the garrison ; that then it was too late to 
 
THE quartermaster's STORY. 79 
 
 capture the promised turkey, so he did the next best 
 thing by appropriating a National bird, which, though 
 an old pet in his troop, he regarded as a fit subject to dis- 
 sect on a National holiday, etc., etc 
 
 " Tavistock was certainly in a position to crow ! 
 
 ' ' ' The infernal scoundrel ! ' exclaimed De Canter, 
 realizing the extent of his host's depravity, and fully 
 conscious that a portion of old ' Grant ' was sticking to 
 his ribs ; ' why, it will be a disgrace to the regiment, if 
 not to the corps ! ' Then turning to Cuny, he said : ' I 
 can't thank you enough, old man, for having told me 
 this ; I'll balk the beggar yet ! ' 
 
 "And together they went to Tavistock's quarters, 
 where the visitors and others were pleasantly conversing. 
 A few moments later De Canter — who had never addressed 
 an assemblage since the time he stood upon the platform 
 and told his schoolmates the thrilling storj- of the heroic 
 boy and the burning deck — arose and said : 
 
 " 'Ladies atid Gc7itlemen : I am conscious that it is 
 bad form to trumpet one's owm deeds ; but I feel it my 
 duty to inform you of a dastardly plot, of which you were 
 to be the victims ; which was frustrated by my interfer- 
 ence ! ' 
 
 "(The company express gratitude and surprise, and 
 Tavistock pales.) 
 
 " ' It appears that Mr. Tavistock regarded your pres- 
 ence here to-day as part of a scheme to embarrass him. 
 It is only proper for me to add that when he invited you 
 to dine he had no hope of your coming. But he event- 
 ually learned you would be here, and satisfied that it was 
 a trick to annoy him, and realizing his inability to pro- 
 vide the promised dish, he sought to turn the tables upon 
 you ! 
 
 " 'Through the instrumentality of a wretch, who I am 
 
80 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 thankful to say is no longer in the garrison, he had the 
 old pet eagle of " F " troop killed and placed before you 
 to pose as his wild turkey ! ' (Cries of ' The monster ! ' 
 ' The beast ! ' and various sounds which show the paucity 
 of orthography.) 
 
 " ' Yes, ladies and gentlemen, and it is his belief at this 
 moment that the bully of " F " troop has been devoured 
 by you ! But when I learned of his purpose, I quietly 
 sent the turkey which was to grace my own modest board 
 over to Mr. Tavistock's cook with instructions to prepare 
 it properly for you, and to decently inter the dead cham- 
 pion of " F " troop. From this you will perceive that it 
 was my precaution alone that rescued you from a fate too 
 hideous to contemplate. ' 
 
 "It seems needless to add that De Canter stock in- 
 stantly rose in proportion to the decline in Tavistock ; 
 and though the lie told by the former was far too dark to 
 be classed with the ' white ' ones, it completely foiled the 
 latter, and prevented sudden and serious illness among 
 the visitors. ' ' 
 
 " It is time we heard from one of our guests," said the 
 Colonel ; "local talent isn't exhausted, but these fellows, 
 like the poor, we have ever with us. Come, Major 
 Loorais. You told the best story I ever heard, one night 
 when we were camped at Warrenton, in '63 — " 
 
 "Yes, yes, Major Ivoomis," impatiently called a dozen 
 voices. 
 
 "But my 3^arns are all blood-curdlers." said Loomis, 
 gravely. ' ' The story Colonel Grace refers to was of the 
 supernatural nature, and I had happened to be so placed 
 as to have to hear -a good deal of that sort of thing some 
 years ago. 
 
 " I dote on ghost stories — and Mr. X. was such a sell," 
 pleaded the lady with those eflfective ej^es. 
 
THE major's story. 81 
 
 "Tell US one. Tell us anything, Major," came from 
 the table generally. 
 
 " Well," said he, " it needs a yarn like one of mine to 
 bring things to a rational temperature after hours of such 
 delight and festivity. List — list — oh, list — 
 
 THE MAJOR'S STORY. 
 
 "The more we are brought in contact with the known 
 forces of Nature the more we become impressed with the 
 fact that there are subtle influences exerted by them on 
 the human system. Many occurrences which, in this cen- 
 tury, we know are the result of contact with these known 
 forces were, in the last centur)-, accorded to ideas gen- 
 erated by superstition. While, therefore, enlightenment 
 throws a mantle over superstition, education seems to 
 have lifted the veil of spiritual matters to such an extent 
 that we no longer attribute to legerdemain the Mesmeric 
 power ; but are compelled to admit that there are those 
 who possess in a high degree the power to enslave the 
 
 human mind, and bend its every action to the vagaries of 
 that power. 
 
 "That there are persons who possess the gift of what 
 is known as 'second sight,' we do not for one instant 
 doubt ; but what force is exerted upon the mind to pro- 
 duce these glances into unknown mysteries has never 
 yet been discovered. We can only accept facts as they 
 appear. 
 
 "Captain Charlie Calverton, formerly of the — th In- 
 fantry, was a ^varm personal friend of mine, and a bach- 
 elor, somewhere in the neighborhood of fifty years of age 
 at the time of which I speak. I was visiting him a few 
 years before his death, at Fort Blanco. While at the post 
 4* 
 
82 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 a large dancing party wa§ given, and, of course I, with 
 ni}' host, attended. During one of the dances I was 
 seated near two ladies with whom I, at intervals, con- 
 versed. At a lull in the music one of them turned to me 
 and observed — 
 
 " ' Major, I believe you are one of Captain Calverton's 
 oldest friends ? ' 
 
 ' ' I admitted the fact, and paid some complimentary 
 tribute to his loyalty. 
 
 " ' Well,' said the lady, 'we have often wondered why 
 he has always remained a bachelor. He seems so defer- 
 ential to women, and apparently is pleased with their 
 society ; he loves music, yet I have never known him to 
 dance ; and he has a singular fondness for all kinds of 
 flowers — that is, if I except heliotrope ? Perhaps you 
 can solve the riddle for us ? ' 
 
 ' ' ' Why do you say that he loves flowers of all kinds 
 except heliotrope ? ' I queried. 
 
 ' ' ' Because he cultivates them whenever he has the 
 opportunity ; but amid the endless variet)- that I have 
 known him to have I have never seen the flower men- 
 tioned ; and to convince me that I was right in my sur- 
 mise, I have seen him turn pale at the sight of it. On 
 one occasion he was offered a boutonniere of heliotrope by 
 a ladv, and his rejection of it was really rude. You may 
 depend upon it he was never tendered another flower by 
 that lady.' 
 
 ' ' I drew my own conclusions as to who the lady was 
 that had been referred to, and therefore, to soften her 
 feelings a little, I told her that the captain had some very 
 painful recollections concerning a sprig of heliotrope. ^ 
 
 " • Oh ! then he has a history ? ' she exclaimed. ' Do 
 tell us what it is ; I'm dying to know.' 
 
 " She didn't look very much like expiring suddenly, so 
 
THE major's story. 83 
 
 I excused myself on the ground that the Captain's history- 
 was his own, and that I did not feel justified in saying 
 more than I had said. But that night, after the Captain 
 and I had gone to his quarters, and we were quietly en- 
 joying our cigars, I alluded to the conversation, when he 
 approved of what I had done, and at the same time re- 
 quested me never to allude to his past life in the presence 
 of others while he was alive. A telegram hurried me 
 away the next day, and so I was saved the trouble of re- 
 fusing the ladies a second time. But the Captain is dead 
 now — gone to investigate mysteries over which we con- 
 versed for many an hour. His spirit is often with me. I'm 
 not a spiritualist, either by faith or practice, nor can I ac- 
 count for the mysterious influence which causes me to 
 feel a spiritual presence ; but so impressed have I been 
 with that belief that I have reviewed his whole life, and I 
 have, for the first time, resolved to relate his singular his- 
 tory, showing a fatality about matters over which he 
 could exercise no influence. 
 
 " There is a period in the life of all children when they 
 begin to doubt the actual existence of the mythical per- 
 sonage known as ' Santa Claus.' Forty-five j'ears ago 
 this mysterious giver of all good things was a veritable 
 individual in the minds of children for a longer period 
 than at the present time. Hence it was that Master 
 Charlie Calverton, who had arrived at the sublime age of 
 eight years, had been kept in ignorance as to the identity 
 of the generous patron of Christmas daj'. This may have 
 been caused by several circumstances, for the largest 
 towns he had, up to this time, seen, were those of the 
 straggling village of Washington City, containing about 
 40,000 inhabitants, and the shipping port of Alexandria, 
 Va. ; and this experience had been confined to a single 
 visit of a few days to each of those places, for his home 
 
84 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 was ill one of the lower counties of Man-land, bordering 
 on the Potomac River. The facilities for communicating 
 with the outer world were very meagre in character at 
 the time referred to. 
 
 " But at this particular period of young Calverton's life 
 he began to have his doubts about Santa Claus, and had 
 learned from a primar}^ geography, in which he was being 
 instructed, that the earth was supposed to be 25,000 miles 
 in circumference. He therefore asked his father one day 
 if there was only one Santa Claus, to which he received a 
 reply in the affirmative. His next question was : ' Then 
 how can he travel so many miles in one night, and visit 
 so many houses ? ' 
 
 ' ' This was somewhat of a poser for his father, who did 
 not wish to destroy the pleasing fancy of childhood. So 
 Charlie was told that Santa Claus had reindeer as swift as 
 the wind. He had never seen a reindeer, and therefore, 
 trusting to his father's superior knowledge, he made no 
 more inquiries. - But as Christmas drew near in this, to 
 him, ever memorable year of 1845, from little remarks 
 that he had overheard among his elders, his doubts re- 
 turned in full force, and he determined that he would see 
 Santa Claus with his own eyes, even if he had to lie awake 
 all night. 
 
 "In order to have a clear understanding of events 
 which took place, it will be necessary to give a descrip- 
 tion of the home where Master Calverton first saw the 
 light of day, and where he was living at this particular 
 time. The mansion was quite unimposing in character, 
 although somewhat imposing in dimensions. It was a 
 kind of rambling frame structure, the central portion of 
 which, like many other Southern houses, was two stories 
 in height, with portico and large white pillars in front, 
 while the remainder had been built at different periods, 
 
THE MAJOR'S STORY. 85 
 
 as its succession of occupants had seen proper to erect ad- 
 ditional rooms, without symmetrj', and with no view to 
 architectural beauty. It was a sharp-roofed building, 
 just affording space enough for several sleeping apart- 
 ments above, while as many chambers below were allot- 
 ted for the same purpose. It was in the midst of a square 
 lawn, of rather large dimensions, around which towered 
 great Lombardy poplars, while extensive beds of beautiful 
 flowers of all descriptions cheered the eye with their varie- 
 gated hues. Some fifty paces from the front row of pop- 
 lars ran the shallow waters of Silver Creek. 
 
 " An immense hall ran through the centre of the house, 
 on the left of which, as you entered, were three rooms, 
 the front being used as a family sitting-room, while that 
 immediately in rear of it was the bed-room of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Calverton. The third was built as an addition on 
 the side, and communicated only wnth the sitting-room. 
 This latter was occupied as a chamber for Mr. Calverton' s 
 two children, Charlie and Joe. 
 
 "Christmas eve came. The boys' stockings, as well 
 as those of the parents and the domestics of the house, 
 were, as was customarj^ fastened to the sitting-room 
 mantel, and the entire family had retired to rest. From 
 the position where Charlie lay, tucked up in the bed- 
 clothes, could be seen the row of stockings, and while 
 awaiting the advent of Santa Claus he counted them over 
 and over-again, until it seemed to him there were hun- 
 dreds of them. 
 
 " He had watched the flickering flames make their last 
 leap into the wide-mouthed old chimney — had seen the 
 glowing embers in the fire-place die out one by one, and 
 was thinking he had imposed upon himself a useless task, 
 when, suddenly, the room became illuminated as if by a 
 thousand candles, and as his eyes expanded with aston- 
 
86 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 isliment, a human female form rose up as if from beside 
 his bed, and rushed through the open doorway into the 
 sitting-room. Charlie had always been considered a 
 brave little fellow, and though terribly frighened, jumped 
 from his bed, thinking that if Santa Claus came in that 
 manner a wonderful discovery would be made, and he 
 would have the pleasure of relating how he had caught 
 the old fellow in the act. He therefore followed the glar- 
 ing figure into the room. As he neared the centre he 
 gave one shriek and fell senseless to the floor. 
 
 ' ' His piteous cry awakened both father and mother, 
 who hastily sprang from their bed, and while the father 
 was engaged in lighting a lamp, the mother hurried 
 through the dark to the bedside of her children. Finding 
 that Charlie was missing and that Joe was asleep, she 
 returned to the sitting-room just as Mr. Calverton brought 
 the lamp, and there they discovered their senseless boy, 
 
 ' ' ' What could it mean ? ' ' What was he doing there ? ' 
 These were the questions that father and mother natu- 
 rally asked each other as they raised their little boy from 
 the floor, and endeavored to resuscitate him. But no 
 reply came from those childish lips. Charlie lay in a 
 death-like swoon, and the pulsations of his heart could 
 scarcely be distinguished. A man-servant was called and 
 dispatched for the doctor, who lived only two miles away. 
 In the meanwhile the mother exhausted all her ingenuity 
 in her applications for restoration. In the course of three- 
 quarte-S of an hour the doctor arrived, and after having 
 been informed of what had occurred, he commenced his 
 treatment of the case, succeeding so far that in a short 
 while they had the satisfaction of seeing Charlie open his 
 eyes ; but iipon discovering again a bright light in the 
 room, shuddered as with an ague and quickly closed 
 them, apparentl)' relapsing into his swoon. 
 
THE major's story. 87 
 
 " ' What is it, my son ? ' asked Mrs. Calverton. ' Mam- 
 ma is near you — nothing can harm you. Tell me, my 
 boy, what is the matter ? ' 
 
 "After repeating these words several times, while 
 bending over his prostrate form, Charlie again opened 
 his eyes, and throwing his arms about his mother's neck, 
 exclaimed, 'Oh, mother.' 
 
 ' ' This was all he could ssiy, and the doctor advised 
 that they leave all questioning alone until morning. So 
 the little fellow lay with his arms about his mother's 
 neck until sleep overcame him, when he was again placed 
 in his bed, while the mother watched beside him during 
 the night. At inter\^als his little face would warp as 
 with pain and his body tremble from head to foot. 
 
 ' ' When he finally awoke, some time after daylight, and 
 was questioned by his mother, he said : ' I was watching 
 for Santa Claus and thought I had found him, when I 
 discovered it was a lady all on fire, and she uttered such 
 awful cries, and was burning up so, that it scared me 
 nearly to death.' 
 
 " Mrs. Calverton tried to convince her son that he had 
 been dreaming — that no one had been on fire and that 
 there was no lady in the house but herself, so that he 
 must be mistaken. But Charlie insisted on it that he was 
 wide awake and saw ever^'thing. No one could conjec- 
 ture what it all meant. The father argued that the boy 
 had been troubled with a bad dream ; the mother was not 
 so well satisfied, as she had never known him to walk in 
 his sleep ; while the old negro cook said : ' Dere's gwiue 
 ter be sumpin' tur'ble happen — Mars' Charlie's done got 
 secon' sight.' There was one thing certain — Charlie 
 never watched for Santa Claus a second time, nor could 
 he ever be prevailed upon to sleep in the same chamber. 
 
 "The sunny days of childhood passed only too quickly, 
 
88 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 and when Charlie arrived at the age of fourteen years 
 both boys were sent off to school at Baltimore. At the 
 end of three years Charlie was appointed a cadet at the 
 West Point Military- Academy, while Joe continued at 
 school for two j-ears longer, and finally entered college. 
 
 "Charlie graduated in due time, and after spending 
 his three months' furlough at home was assigned to a 
 regiment then doing duty on the Indian frontier. But 
 the winter he spent there was harassing in the extreme, 
 on account of the secession movement, and he w^as actu- 
 ally glad when war was declared, and he was ordered 
 with his regiment to the East. This gave him the oppor- 
 tunity of paying a visit to his home, although he ran the 
 risk of being captured b}^ the enemy, who occupied the 
 lower Potomac at this time. Mr. Calverton had strong 
 Southern proclivities, but his wife was equally strong in 
 her support of the Union, and thus matters at home were 
 kept upon a neutral basis. The result, however, was that 
 Joe adopted the father's side of the question, and has- 
 tened to join the rebel army ; while Charlie, although 
 urged by his father to either go South or staj^ at home, 
 never for an instant flagged in what he considered his 
 du?ty to his country'. Thus it was that the brothers were 
 arrayed one against the other, while the mother's heart 
 was torn wnth anguish at the thought. With bitter up- 
 bra- dings from his father, and with blessings from his 
 mother, Charlie left home to take his place in the Army 
 of the Potomac, and to participate in the greatest strug- 
 gle that any nation has ever been called upon to endure. 
 
 ' ' During the Antietam campaign he received news of 
 the death of his father, but it was not until the armies 
 were confronting each other before Fredericksburg that 
 he could get away, and then only for a few days, he sim- 
 pl}' having to cross the Potomac River. His mother 
 
THE MAJOR'S STORY. 89 
 
 begged him to resign and stay at home ; but he argued 
 that it would be cowardly to do so during hostilities, and 
 a battle in prospect. He assured her, however, that as 
 soon as the war was over he would tender his resignation 
 and devote his life to her. 
 
 ' ' The day before he left for his station he came into 
 the breakfast-room looking pale and haggard, seeing 
 which, his mother inquired if he was ill, or if he had 
 passed a restless night. 
 
 " ' I am not ill, mother,' he replied, ' but I have passed 
 a restless night — all in consequence of some peculiar sen- 
 sations that I had before going to bed. When I retired 
 to my chamber last night, I sat by the window smoking 
 a cigar and watching a few filmy clouds that were passing 
 rapidly over the moon's face. Suddenly my mind became 
 fixed, as it were, and there opened before my vision a 
 beautiful stretch of country that I had never seen before 
 — a lovely valley between two prominent ridges. All 
 about me were fields of girain, green meadows and ripening 
 orchards. I found myself standing with an anny on one 
 of these ridges. Presently a great roar of artillery reached 
 my ears, the clash of arms resounded, and amidst the din 
 we moved forward down the slope and across the beauti- 
 ful valley. Then a great cloud seemed to envelop every- 
 thing. But, in a little while, a rift occurred, and while I 
 was watching it I saw father, as plain as I ever saw him 
 in life, stretch forth his hands, and in another moment I 
 saw brother Joe running to meet him with outstretched 
 arms. In an instant he was drawn to father's breast ; 
 and while they stood with arms locked about each other 
 the rift in the cloud closed and obscured them from view. 
 I called to them several times, and then the cloud broke 
 again ; but this time father and Joe were moving forward, 
 arm-in-arm, with eager expectation on their faces. I 
 
yO THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 called again, but they paid no attention to me. Suddenly, 
 out of the cloud on the other side of the rift, you appeared, 
 with a most radiant smile on your face, and rushed into 
 father's arms. Then all became black. With the per- 
 spiration standing in great beads on my forehead, I re- 
 covered from the mysterious spell with which I had 
 become transfixed, and saw that the clouds had gathered 
 in masses, and that the moon was peeping through % rift 
 in them. I tried to convince myself that it was a dream, 
 but it was of no use, and so I lay awake nearly all night.' 
 
 " ' It was but a dream, however,' said Mrs. Calverton, 
 ' caused by j'our watching the clouds. Of course it can 
 mean nothing, my boy. Do you remember what a dream 
 you had about Santa Claus when you were a child ? 
 Nothing ever came of that.' 
 
 " ' That is true,' Charlie replied ; ' and I trust nothing 
 will ever come of this, but I cannot rid myself of the in- 
 fluence.' 
 
 ^i ^ ^ *i' ^ ^ ^ 'T* •T* ^ 
 
 " It was the 2d day of July, 1863. Night had thrown 
 her mantle around the bullet-scarred face of the ' Round- 
 Top,' and over the shell-plowed furrows of the ' Peach- 
 Orchard,' through which the serried columns of both 
 Union and Confederate armies had successively charged 
 that day, leaving the blue and the gray intermingled on 
 the battle-field. 
 
 " The last boom of the brazen gun had died away upon 
 the summer air ; the last sharp crack of the rifle had been 
 heard, and the hostile armies that had confronted each 
 other on that fatal field of carnage— Gettysburg— were 
 lying peacefully sleeping, many of their members never 
 to awaken until the reveille of the resurrection arouses 
 them "from their slumbers. The wounded lay there, look- 
 ing up at the bright stars of heaven ; some wishing that 
 
THE major's story. 91 
 
 death would end their miseries, and others fondly think- 
 ing of their homes, wondering if they would ever see their 
 loved ones again. Mysterious-looking objects in human 
 shape were darting here and there through the Peach- 
 Orchard, flashing ever}- now and then the light of lan- 
 terns on the prostrate forms lying there in the starlight. 
 These were the surgeons and their attendants of the Union 
 army seeking out their wounded and having them re- 
 moved from the field. One of these flashes fell full upon 
 the face of a fine-looking fellow dressed in Confederate 
 gra}-, and one of the attendants remarked : ' Well, he's 
 a handsome corpse.' The words were no sooner uttered 
 than the individual referred to opened his e3^es and asked 
 for a drink of water. Certainly they would give it to 
 him, for no animosities exist between brave men when 
 they are placed hors de combat. One of the attendants 
 stooped down and raised the poor fellow's head while 
 another applied the canteen to his lips. After taking a 
 long draught, the wounded man said, as his head was 
 again placed upon the sod : ' Thank you ; I can die com- 
 fortably now.' 
 
 ' ' ' Are you so badly wounded ? ' asked the doctor. 
 
 " 'Mortally,' he replied. 
 
 " ' It may not be as you think,' said the doctor, pro- 
 ceeding to examine the wound. But in a few moments 
 he shook his head and said : ' I'm afraid it is all up with 
 3'ou, my boy. You can't live an hour. It would be 
 causing you useless pain to move you. Is there anything 
 you would like me to do for you — any message you would 
 like to send to 3'our people ? ' 
 
 "'Yes, doctor, thank you; I have a brother in the 
 Union army, and if he can bury me so that my body 
 might be recovered and taken home to Old Maryland — 
 to the old place — I would like him to do that much as 
 
92 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 the most he can do for me now. His name is Charlie Cal- 
 verton, of the Regulars.' 
 
 " ' My God ! ' came in solemn tones out of the dark- 
 ness, a few yards away ; and as the doctor turned to as- 
 certain from whence the sound proceeded, the voice con- 
 tinued : 
 
 " ' Doctor, doctor ! come this way, please ; I am Char- 
 lie Calverton ! ' 
 
 ' ' It was but a few moments before the blue and the 
 gray were lying side by side — Charlie with a leg fractured 
 above the knee, and his brother Joe with a mortal wound 
 through the abdomen. Charlie slipped his arm under 
 Joe's head and drew it to his bosom, and there, while the 
 summer breeze whispered a requiem, the two brothers, 
 who, but a few hours before, had been arraj'ed against 
 each other in mortal combat, breathed a last loving fare- 
 well on earth. 
 
 ' ' Having placed the brothers together, the doctor left 
 them alone, promising to come back. He then proceeded 
 with his attendants on his dreary rounds. When he re- 
 turned Joe's spirit had taken its flight. He could not 
 bear to separate them, and therefore the dead and the 
 wounded were taken together from the field to the rear of 
 the Union arni}^, where the final separation had to take 
 place — Charlie being placed in the hospital and Joe buried 
 in a spot that was marked by the doctor. 
 
 ' ' The news that reached the old Marj'land home from 
 that dreary field, through the press, shriveled the mother's 
 heart with a mighty sorrow, and prostrated her on a bed 
 of sickness, during which time she wrote to an old friend 
 in Baltimore — a Mrs. Meredith — to come to her in this 
 her hour of extreme trial. Mrs. Meredith promptly 
 obeyed the summons of her friend, and took her daugh- 
 ter, Nellie, along. The latter had just returned from com- 
 
THE major's story. 93 
 
 pleting her education at Boston, and was glad of the 
 oppoitunity thus offered for a little country life. 
 
 "After the annies had disappeared from the field ol 
 Gettysburg, Charlie Calve"rton was removed to a hospital 
 in Baltimore, and subsequently transferred to the hospital 
 for officers, at Annapolis, from which place he wTote to 
 his mother, giving her an account of the sad affair at 
 Gettysburg, and informing her that as soon as he was 
 able to get about he would obtain a leave of absence and 
 visit home. Upon lea\4ng Gettysburg he gave an accu- 
 rate description of Joe's grave to an undertaker, and 
 directed the body to be embalmed and expressed to his 
 mother's house, where it arrived in due season, and was 
 interred in the family lot. 
 
 "One bright, balmy day in the early part of September 
 found Charhe on crutches at the door of the paternal man- 
 sion ; but instead of his mother to greet him, there was a 
 strange lady. Beside her was a picture of youthful loveli- 
 ness, such as Charlie thought he had never seen before. 
 She was dressed in a ccrstume of simple white, with masses 
 of dark-brown hair forming a coronet to the beautiful face. 
 Lieutenant Charlie Calverton, U. S. A., was from this 
 moment a captured individual. He was warmly wel- 
 comed both by Mrs. Meredith and her daughter, and at 
 once conducted to his mother, who was still an invalid 
 and confined to her room. 
 
 ' ' After mutual embraces, and many inquiries regard- 
 ing the death of Joe, Mrs. Calverton obser\-ed-^' Now 
 that I have you again, Charlie, j'ou must never leave me ; 
 you must resign, and come home to live. I will not be 
 long on this earth.' 
 
 " ' Dearest mother,' said Charlie, ' I will stay with you 
 as long as I can possibly do so ; but it is doubtful if my 
 resignation would be accepted at the present time. The 
 
94 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 Goveniinent is straining ever}^ nerve to secure men. See 
 what New York City has had to undergo during the past 
 month on account of the riots produced by the draft. As 
 soon as the war is over I will return home and remain 
 with you all my life.' 
 
 " 'Ah, my dear son,' she languidly replied, ' it will all 
 be over with me before the end of the war, and I feel the 
 necessity here of your strong assistance. ' 
 
 " 'But, mother,' he added, 'you are feeling weak and 
 sick now — you will be better after awhile, and then we 
 will think about what you desire. Until then say no 
 more about the matter ; I am here, now, and here I will 
 have to remain until I can get about on my pins again.' 
 
 "'Very well, my dear,' she replied, 'I agree to your 
 proposition. Now give me another kiss, and go to your 
 room and make yourself presentable, for there is a very 
 lovely girl here w^hom it wall be pleasant for you to 
 meet.' 
 
 " ' I have met her already, mother, and, do you know, 
 I have fallen desperately in love ? ' • 
 
 "'Indeed!' exclaimed Mrs. Calverton, elevating her 
 eyebrows ; and then, as her son passed out of the room, 
 she said to herself, ' I trust it may be mutual ; ' for, after 
 having seen Nellie gliding about the house like a fairy 
 for the past two months, and heard her joyous ripples of 
 laughter, she could not but think that the charming girl 
 would make her son an excellent wife. 
 
 "When the family met at dinner that day Nellie Mere- 
 dith was more charming than ever, and in her beautiful 
 costume of white lace was, to Charlie Calverton' s eyes, 
 perfection itself. As they arose from the dinner-table a 
 white rosebud dropped from the flowers fastened on Nel- 
 lie's bosom, and Charlie quickly picked it up, saying, as 
 he did so, ' May I keep it ? ' 
 
THE major's story. 95 
 
 " ' No,' she replied, adding, ' it is not worth keeping.' 
 Then taking a sprig of heliotrope from the other flowers 
 at her bosom, she presented it to him, saying, ' This is 
 my favorite flower.' 
 
 ' ' Mrs. Meredith remained with Mrs. Calverton for 
 several weeks after Charlie's arrival, but, as she saw that 
 her friend was steadily improving, she finally took her 
 departure with Nellie — Charlie having, in the meanwhile, 
 availed himself of every opportunity to enjoy the beauti- 
 ful girl's society. In fact, he had become deeply in love 
 with her, but had advanced no further in making known 
 that fact to her than obtaining permission to call her 
 Nellie 
 
 ' ' Thus matters stood in the month of April of the fol- 
 lowing year, when Charlie felt that it was time for him to 
 report for duty with his regiment, his mother having ap- 
 parently recovered her health, and his fractured limb no 
 longer giving him trouble. After much opposition on 
 the part of his mother, he proceeded to Baltimore, deter- 
 mined to see Nellie Meredith before he took the field ; 
 but at the same time resolved not to make known his love 
 until he could ask her hand in marriage. He therefore 
 stopped at a hotel for a few days, although the Merediths 
 urged him to remain with them, and paid daily visits to 
 Nellie. It was the night before his intended departure 
 from the city, and having bade the famil}' good-bye, Nel- 
 lie accompanied him to the front door. 
 
 " She stood in the doorway like a framed picture, and 
 in the bright moonlight which flooded the front of the 
 house, her loveliness was plainly to be seen. The form, 
 dainty and small, was set off" by an evening dress of pink, 
 of some gauzy material. A fin« white Shetland shawl, 
 which should have co\'ered the shoulders and protected 
 them from the dews which were beginning to fall, had 
 
96 THE colonel's chrlstmas dinner. 
 
 dropped away and exposed to view the exquisitely 
 moulded form. Her face was upturned to the evening 
 sk}', in which CharUe discerned an air of wistfuhiess, al- 
 most amounting to longing. The contour of it was deli- 
 cate ; its beauty was of an order rare and peculiar. 
 Large, luminous and star-like were the dark ej'es. The 
 complexion was of a clear olive, with just a shade of col- 
 oring, which gathered into the deep crimson of her sweet 
 and tender lips. Great masses of dark brown hair were 
 drawn back from the pure and perfect face, and arranged 
 in coils around the head. 
 
 ' ' As Charlie stood beside her he feasted his eyes on 
 her loveliness ; in a moment he held in his own the dear 
 delicate hand. How tiny it looked, with the dainty ruf- 
 fles of costly lace almost covering it ! His heart beat so 
 quickly that for a moment he could not speak. The sub- 
 tle, nameless influence of the scene and hour was upon 
 him ; he w^as longing to take the small form into his 
 arms, to press fond, lingering kisses upon the sweet crim- 
 son lips. After a minute's silence she turned her great 
 dark eyes, filled with a soft, shy light, to his face. 
 
 "The innocent, child-like face, with its exquisite 
 beauty. How strongly, how deeply it moved him ! The 
 wild love surging within him would no longer be put 
 aside ; it cried out, demanding satisfaction. Ardent, pas- 
 sionate words rose to his lips ; it was with difficulty he 
 controlled his emotions as to speak wnth a semblance of 
 Calmness. Holding her little hand tightly in both of his 
 own he said softly, ' Nellie, I love you.' 
 
 " By the faint pale light he could see how the fast- 
 coming blushes dyed the delicate cheeks — how the white 
 lids, with their long heavy fringes, suddenly drooped over 
 the glorious dark eyes. 
 
 " ' I have loved you for a long time,' he said, bending 
 
THE major's story. 97 
 
 over the small form ; ' so dearly- that I feared to trust my- 
 self ill your presence, lest by word or look I might betray 
 my love.' 
 
 " Still the white lids drooped, and she shrank back a 
 little, where, in the shadow of the doorway, he could not 
 see her face so plainly. 
 
 " ' I dreaded lest I should betra}- my love, and so incur 
 your displeasure,' he continued. 'I feared, too, that 
 your mother might be annoyed if she learned that I had 
 presumed to entrammel her daughter just as I was going 
 to the field ; and so I resolved to quit your house to-night 
 and try to conquer my love until such time as I could 
 offer j'ou a home.' 
 
 "The little form shrank still farther back amidst the 
 shadowy dimness of the hallway. Charlie followed. 
 
 Nellie, it seems as though I had never known, until 
 this evening, the meaning of the word happiness— as if I 
 had never known before how fair was the earth. The 
 flowers seem to have gained new beauty ; even the moon- 
 light seems broader and brighter ; and all because I love 
 you. ' 
 
 " A great silence reigned around them— he was grow- 
 ing desperate. 
 
 '"Nellie, my love, my darling, can I dare hope that 
 you love me ? ' 
 
 " But still she did not speak ; and hope, which beat so 
 high in Charlie Calverton's breast, now began to fade 
 away. 
 
 '"My darling,' he pleaded, 'I love you so dearly— 
 give me some hope. ' 
 
 " But not a Avord did she utter. Hope died out then. 
 He released her hand with a heavy sigh and turned to go 
 away. 
 
 Forgive me,' he said, ' if I have pained you. Per- 
 5 
 
98 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 haps you may think I presume, even if my mother does 
 
 not think so ? ' 
 
 " He stood for a moment in the doorway. The moon- 
 beams falling upon his face revealed its deathlike white- 
 ness - its rigid, set expression of bitter pain. 
 
 "'Good-bye, Nellie,' he said; 'I pray that j'ou will 
 forget that I ever presumed upon your kindness. ' 
 
 " He stepped out on the porch, never looking behind 
 him. Wounded pride and love were making life seem a 
 most undesirable gift to him just then. 
 
 "Then there was a rustle of fabrics, a little faint cry of 
 ' Charlie,' and a tiny, trembling hand was laid upon his arm. 
 
 " Oh, the change that passed over his face— the joy 
 that flashed into his gray eyes ! 
 
 " ' Nellie, my love, my darling," he whispered, as his 
 arm stole about her delicate waist, and he bent over her 
 to catch the faintest whisper from her crimson lips. 
 
 " ' I love you, Charlie,' she murmured ; ' I have loved 
 you ever since I first met you.' 
 
 " He caught her in his arms and held her against his 
 loyal heart — the dainty form he loved sO well. He pressed 
 fond, lingering kisses upon the warm lips that were now 
 sealed to his own. 
 
 " ' My life, my love, my queen,' he murmured ; ' how 
 I love you — oh, how I love you ! ' 
 
 " They stood silently, then, she nestling to his side as 
 though there she had found her home. She was not a 
 grand, dignified w'oman, this Nellie Meredith ; she was 
 simply a clinging, sensitive, innocent girl, with a nature 
 which gave affection and craved the same in return. She 
 loved Charlie Calverton, and the knowledge that he loved 
 her so filled her heart with supreme happiness that her 
 lips refused to speak luitil despair seized her at the 
 thought of his leaving her. 
 
THE major's story. 99 
 
 " ' It may be years yet before the war terminates, Nel- 
 lie, ' he said ; ' but at the end of that time may I claim 
 you for my little wife ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes, Charlie, I will wait for you,' she replied, look- 
 ing into his eyes and then kissing him fer\'eutly. ' There,' 
 she said, * that's the first kiss I ever gave to any man, and 
 it is to seal mj- promise.' 
 
 " ' God bless and protect j'ou, my own dear love,' he 
 said, as he bent over her and took a last lingering good- 
 bye kiss. And then he left her with his heart full of 
 gladness— nay, unbounded joy — the remembrance of 
 which consoled him during man}- a hard march and fiery 
 battle in those uncertain days of '64, from the Wilderness 
 to Petersburg. At the first opportunity he wrote to Mr. 
 Meredith, telling him of his love for Nellie, and askinsr 
 her hand in marriage as soon as the war was over. He 
 received a ver\' kind letter in reply, stating that if he and 
 Nellie were of the same mind when that event took place, 
 he himself would interpose no objection. 
 
 "When the army had settled down for the complete 
 investment of Petersburg and the chilly days of winter 
 had come, Charlie Calverton was once more called upon 
 to witness the verification of his singular presentiment, 
 for Mrs. Calverton 's health rapidly declined on the ap- 
 proach of winter, and Charlie had barely time to reach 
 home after receiving the news of her illness, before she 
 passed over to the other shore to meet her husband and 
 Joe. 
 
 ' ' Charlie was now alone in the world — all the family 
 gone. The old Maryland home was too full of sad as.so- 
 ciations, and therefore leaviiig it in charge of an overseer, 
 he visited Baltimore and gave full authority to an agent 
 to dispose of the property. It is needless to say that dur- 
 ing the two days he was there he spent most of the time 
 
100 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 with his charming Jiancee, and then hurried back to his 
 regiment, to participate in the campaign of 1865. 
 
 ;!; ^ '^i -^ ;1; ;•; ;[: -^ -J^: ^ 
 
 "At last peace was announced, and one day in the 
 month of May Charlie started for the purpose of making 
 arrangements for his wedding-day ; but upon his arrival 
 in Baltimore he found that the family had gone to Lower 
 Maryland for the summer. Ascertaining their where- 
 abouts, he followed quickly, and upon his arrival was 
 astonished to find that they were living in his old home, 
 which Mr. Meredith had purchased from the agent, and 
 Nellie had purposely kept him in ignorance of the fact, 
 thinking it would be a pleasant surprise. And, indeed, 
 it was intended as such to Nellie herself, for Mr. Mere- 
 dith had remodeled the house materially and furnished 
 it in modern style, desiring to present it to her on her 
 wedding-day. The first Tuesday in September was, 
 therefore, fixed upon as the day for the happy event, after 
 which they were all to return to Baltimore for the winter ; 
 but when that time came, and Charlie applied for a leave 
 of absence, the authorities declined to grant it, but in- 
 formed him that he could renew his application after the 
 winter began. It was then decided that the family should 
 remain at the old homestead until after the Christmas 
 hohdays, and the wedding take place on Christmas day. 
 
 ' ' The holiday season came at last. The rooms fonner- 
 ly occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Calverton and the boys had 
 been decorated and furnished especially for the bride and 
 groom, and Nellie was occupying the boys' bed-chamber 
 already. Charlie had been at the house for several days. 
 Several friends of the family had arrived from Baltimore 
 and were attending to their own afiairs. It was Christ- 
 mas eve. The trousseau had all been prepared, and the 
 dressmaker, who had been summoned for the purpose 
 
THE major's story. 101 
 
 from Baltimore, was to see that ever}- thing was en regie. 
 Nellie concluded that while the others about the house 
 were engaged in their preparations for the festivities she 
 would try on the wedding-dress, under the supervision of 
 her mother. 
 
 " Accordingl}- she arrayed herself in her wedding ap- 
 parel, and then sent for Charlie to come to the sitting- 
 room and inspect it. Standing in the centre of the old 
 room, he first admired his promised bride at some dis- 
 tance, exclaiming, ' How beautiful you are ! ' and then 
 he gently drew her to his bosom and imprinted a loving 
 kiss on her tender lips, saj'ing, ' I love you ! I love 3'ou 
 — oh, so dearly ! ' 
 
 " As he released her from his embrace she stepped to a 
 table that was loaded with flowers, and selecting a sprig 
 of heliotrope therefrom, said : 
 
 " 'When we first met, Charlie, I gave you a sprig of 
 va.y favorite flower ; now I give you another, darling, 
 with the full force of all that its emblem implies — my 
 heart's devotion.' 
 
 " He took the flower, kissed her again and again with a 
 lover's fervency, and then she retired to her room, while 
 he proceeded to pin the sprig of heliotrope to the lappel 
 of his coat. He had barelj' succeeded in doing this when 
 a scream of anguish, that rang out upon the frostj^ air 
 like the wail of some tortured victim, reached his ears, 
 and before he could realize from whence the sound pro- 
 ceeded, the bright happy being, who had left him scarcely 
 five minutes before, rushed from her room enveloped in 
 flames from head to foot. The maid had placed the lamp 
 on the floor, the better to see how to unfasten her satin 
 shoes, when, by some movement of hers, it was knocked 
 over, the chimney broken, and the light, filmy drapery 
 took fire. The girl lost her presence of mind and threw 
 
102 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 herself on the floor. Mrs. Meredith, who was sitting on 
 the other side of the room, sprang from her chair to ren- 
 der assistance ; but NelHe rushed through the doorway 
 to the sitting-room for Charlie. Regardless of himself, 
 he grabbed at the fire until his hair and eyebrows were 
 singed, and his hands and arms burned to blisters, while 
 she, suffocated by the flames, fell dead in the centre of 
 the room, the sickening flames lapping and hissing as 
 they charred the beautiful skin into blackened parchment, 
 at the sight of which Charlie Calverton fell on the floor 
 insensible. 
 
 "This is the reason why, twenty years afterwards, he 
 died a bachelor. ' ' 
 
 ' ' We must have something to drive away the effect of 
 that. Come ! I have it. Place aux Da/ncs. And who 
 can bring us back to sunshine better than she who 
 drove me to it ?" quoth the Major, a moment later. 
 " Come, fair lady, — it is for you to speak," and he bowed 
 low to the blue eyes. In an instant the table echoed the 
 appeal. Pleas, objections, resistance— all were in vain. 
 At last the silver}^ tones of a woman's voice were alone 
 audible. All others were hushed. 
 
 DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 
 
 /. The Gift. 
 
 " Miss Dolly Devereux, aged sixteen, was the most in- 
 corrigible pupil in Madame I,a Pierre's ' select school for 
 3'oung ladies.' There were numerous others who, had it 
 not been for the dark background of Dolly's naughtiness, 
 against which their minor delinquencies were thrown out 
 white, by contrast, might indeed have been considered in- 
 tractable ; but her matchless depravity completely sur- 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 103 
 
 passed them all, and placed her on a pedestal quite alone. 
 Who set pins in the kneeling-bench, upon the precise 
 spot where the Reverend Dr. Dean's knees must press, as 
 he prostrated himself in prayer in the school chapel? 
 Who basely stole and secreted Madame' s best wig the 
 night she was invited to a grand dinner-party ? Who 
 personated a ghost, at the witching midnight hour, and 
 frightened Miss Meeks, the teacher of mathematics, into 
 violent hysterics ? Dolly Devereux ; and these misde- 
 meanors was Dolly guilty of committing within the lim- 
 ited space of two weeks, so that Madame' s long-suffering 
 spirit rose and boiled over to such an extent that ^Miss 
 Devereux was (as she expressed it) ' rusticated,' and sent 
 home for penitence and reflection before the Christmas 
 holidays began. Patience had ceased to be a virtue, in 
 Madame' s opinion, and she had felt that it would be more 
 than she could bear to tolerate the 3'oung vandal's pres- 
 ence a day longer than was absolutely necessar>^ beneath 
 her roof. This punishment was received with aggravat- 
 ing cheerfulness by the delinquent, who had not dared 
 hope to leave the establishment for any vacation, however 
 well merited and earned. She had been placed under 
 Madame' s care at the mature age of thirteen, or there- 
 abouts, and there she had ever since remained, without 
 once having gladdened the hearts and homes of her rela- 
 tives and friends. Her mother, after a decorous period of 
 widowhood, had wedded an army oflBcer high in rank, 
 when her only child was twelve years old ; and, after a 
 brief period, rendered lurid by the light of that weird 
 child's presence in the newly-formed family -circle, a 
 boarding-school in New York had been selected, and 
 Dolly's young idea had been invited to shoot in a novel 
 and unexplored direction. 
 
 ' ' Now her school career was summarily ended (for the 
 
104 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 present, at least), and she descended like a bomb-shell 
 upon the hitherto comparatively peaceful household of 
 her step-father, Colonel Everett Poppleton, at Fort Wash- 
 ington, Nebraska. 
 
 " It was the i4tli of December when she arrived, and 
 by the iSth she rejoiced in the acquaintance of nearly 
 everybody on the post, was intimate with several, had 
 befriended the laundresses, and made pets of the soldier's 
 children. She did not believe in class prejudices in the 
 army or out of it, she remarked nonchalantly to her step- 
 father, having scandalized him by presenting a paper of 
 peanuts to his immaculate and hitherto statuesque orderly 
 beneath his very eyes. 
 
 "Colonel, or General Poppleton, as he desired to be 
 called, spent his days in a maze of horrified incredulity, 
 excited by his step-daughter's alarming escapades. Mrs. 
 Poppleton speedily settled into a species of despairing 
 resignation, while those outside, whom Dolly's follies and 
 frolics concerned not, smiled leniently upon her, criticised 
 her good-naturedly, and admired and wondered over her 
 from a distance at which they felt themselves safe. She 
 was, be it understood, a remarkably prepossessing young 
 person in the trifling matter of appearance, with particu- 
 larly guileless blue eyes, short baby curls of a golden hue, 
 and a smile that could beguile the heart of the veriest 
 cynic. Therefore it was only those unfortunate enough 
 to be tied to her by the bonds of kinship, and thus able 
 to regard her charms from an entirely dispassionate point 
 of view, who found it possible to set Dolly down, once for 
 all, as a being totally obnoxious. Indeed, to General 
 Poppleton' s alarm and astonishment, the new and unwel- 
 come addition to his private family bade fair to prove an 
 unexampled favorite with the members of his official 
 family constituting the social life of the post. And in- 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 105 
 
 variably {perhaps it was a mere accident of fate) the 
 young lady selected as her ' most cherished ' those per- 
 sons in the garrison — unhappily numerous — who had 
 been so unfortunate as to come under the commanding 
 officer's ban. 
 
 " Lieutenant Oliver Renshaw, for instance, was on 
 ' official tenus ' only with his colonel ; and of course his 
 sister, Mrs. Lansing, was, so far as General Poppleton's 
 family was concerned, also socially ' tabooed.' It was, 
 therefore, to those who had made any attempt at studying 
 Miss Devereux's character, a matter for no surprise, but 
 rather the contrary, that she should select the said Mrs. 
 Lansing as first confidante and friend. Indeed, she went 
 so far as to rave over the last candidate for her affections, 
 in true school-girl fashion, at home as well as abroad. 'Such 
 a beauty ! ' she would cry, enthusiastically. ' The very 
 prettiest woman I ever saw, and with such charming 
 manners ! Only twenty-five, and yet a widow ; quite the 
 most romantic thing I ever heard. I only wish / were 
 twenty-five and a widow ; but I'm afraid there is no such 
 luck in store for me ! ' 
 
 " One afternoon she had entered Lieutenant Renshaw's 
 quarters without knocking, and had made herself verj'- 
 much at home by Constance Lansing's side, while the latter 
 busied herself with some fancy work which was to be her 
 brother's Christmas gift. Miss Devereux had sat in silence 
 for a moment, having hopelessl}' entangled several skeins 
 of 'crewel,' and not being able as yet to think of any- 
 thing more interesting to do. Suddenly she broke forth 
 in speech. ' I do wish I were an artist, so that I could 
 take your picture as you look now, with the firelight fall- 
 ing on your face and hair. Black is so dreadfully becom- 
 ing to you, you know, with your beautiful, fair complex- 
 ion ; but it isn't ever>' one who is lucky enough to be a 
 5* 
 
106 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 widow, and have an excuse for wearing mourning, you 
 know. ' 
 
 ' ' Constance Lansing laughed. She had not cared for 
 her husband, and therefore the tactless words found no 
 sensitive place in her heart. ' My husband died three 
 years ago,' she said, quietly, 'and I no longer wear 
 mourning. But I am fond of black. It suits my fancy 
 as well as my complexion.' 
 
 '"Just think!' soliloquized Miss Dolly. 'How nice 
 it was of him to die while you were so young ! as long as 
 he had to die at all, you see. You don't look much older 
 than I do even now, and I don't think of any reason why 
 it should seem disrespectful if I called you Constance, do 
 
 you ? ' 
 
 " 'Certainly not. Call me so if you like, and if you 
 don't find the name too hard to ' ' come trippingly off your 
 tongue. " I am glad you take enough interest in me to 
 wish to call me by my Christian name. ' 
 
 " ' Oh, that, of course. You know very well you are 
 far and away the most interesting person on the post.' 
 
 " ' Ah, you don't know everybody yet,' corrected Mrs. 
 Lansing, shaking her chestnut head in a provoking way. 
 " 'Why, 3-es, I do, long ago. At least everybody but 
 that horrid Mr. Dacre, who shuts himself up like a hermit 
 in his dilapidated old quarters at the end of the row, and 
 who is going to be court-martialed next week. Ser\-e him 
 right, too, I dare say.' 
 
 " Constance Lansing s face flushed with a redder glow 
 than the firelight had lent it. 'You are mistaken in 
 thinking Mr. Dacre horrid, my dear,' she said. 'And it 
 does not ser\'e him right to be court-martialed next week. 
 You shouldn't talk upon subjects you know nothing 
 
 about. ' 
 
 '"Hoity-toity !' ejaculated Miss Dolly, with more 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 107 
 
 force than elegance. ' I never, really ! But you don't 
 mean to say he isn't a fiend after all? I might have 
 known he was nice, though, just because General — no, 
 Colonel Poppleton, I mean, says such hateful things about 
 him every time he gets a chance.' 
 
 "'Your father hated him, I know,' said Constance. 
 ' It is through General Poppleton principally that all his 
 troubles have arisen.' 
 
 "'Don't call him my father!' cried Dolly. 'I'd be 
 ashamed to own him as such ; and there is no reason I 
 should, just because mamma happens to have changed a 
 pretty name for an ugly one. But you have quite ex- 
 cited my curiosity, so do tell me what this trouble of Mr. 
 Dacre's is.' 
 
 " ' I scarcely know if I ought,' began Constance, doubt- 
 fully ; but Dolly interrupted her with a peremptory- order 
 to 'go on.' 'Well, the beginning of it is quite an old 
 stor>' now, — three years old,' Mrs. Lansing said, retro- 
 spectively. ' I remember it w-as just before I came here, 
 after my husband's death. The whole regiment had 
 newly arrived from Dakota, and Mr. Dacre had been 
 quartermaster at his old post. In collecting property for 
 the sudden move, a few articles were missing, for which 
 he could not account. He knew they would be found 
 afterwards, and he might have been able to account for 
 them even then if he had wished to implicate another 
 officer, but he did not. Of course he was responsible for 
 them, at least according to General Poppleton. Finally, 
 without going so far as to injure the other officer in ques- 
 tion, he proved in a way satisfactory' to everj-body, ex- 
 cept those prejudiced against him by his enemies, that 
 the responsibility had passed from his hands, and he 
 would not pay for the alleged missing goods. He said 
 that to do so would be a virtual admission of his care- 
 
108 TIIK colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 lessness or guilt. The story is— but I must not tell you 
 that.' 
 
 " ' Yes, yes ; I insist ! I will know the rest.' 
 
 "'The story is, then, that there are certain papers 
 which have been "pigeon-holed" by General Poppleton 
 that would throw a good deal of light on the matter, and 
 the blame would be shifted to other shoulders than Mr. 
 Dacre's. But, of course, that can never be proved, 
 though most people believe it ; and, in the mean time, 
 Mr. Dacre's pay has been entirely stopped for the last 
 three years. He has very little to live upon, but has 
 been braving it out, hoping for the vindication which has 
 never come, and probably never will now, as this court- 
 martial— if the charges are proved against him— may 
 very likely end his army career. Poor, poor fellow ! 
 Such a bright, noble life marred and wasted ? ' The last 
 words she spoke as if to herself, with a strange look of 
 pain upon her fair face that passed unnoticed by self-ab- 
 sorbed Dolly. 
 
 "'He really isn't horrid, then?' the latter queried, 
 her head on one side. 
 
 "'No.' 
 
 '"And not old?' 
 
 " ' About twenty-nine or thirty.' 
 
 " ' Oh, that is not so very old — for a man. And is he 
 good-looking ? ' 
 
 " ' He is called handsome. Here is his photograph you 
 may see, if you like.' And going to her davenport, Con- 
 stance took from a locked drawer a picture of a young 
 man in uniform, — a young man with rather dark, smil- 
 ing eyes, black hair, well-cut features, and an expression 
 that was inexplicably fascinating, even beyond its evident 
 candor and intelligence. 
 
 " Dolly examined it critically. ' I like him,' she finally 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 109 
 
 announced ; ' and what is more, I am — going— to call on 
 him.' 
 
 " ' Oh, Dolly, impossible ! ' Constance cried. 
 
 " ' You will soon find, vay dear, that nothing is impos- 
 sible with me. I am going to do it, as he is in arrest and 
 can't come to see me, even if he cared to ; and I am going 
 this very afternoon. So, as it is growing late, I will say 
 au revoir, which is about all the French I lla^■e brought 
 away from Madame La Pierre's.' 
 
 ' ' Constance looked at her young visitor aghast. ' You 
 don't really mean that you will go alone to call on a 
 strange man you never saw before in your life ? Why, 
 5'our father would never forgive you in the world ! ' ' 
 
 ' ' ' Colonel Poppleton can attend to his own affairs, and 
 I will to mine ; but I say, would you like to have me 
 stop in later and tell you how I enjoyed the call ? ' 
 
 " 'Well, 3'es, if you are determined to go, and will not 
 take advice. Just for the curiosity, you know, I should 
 well enough like to hear what occurred.' 
 
 "There were three chairs in the room, all old, with a 
 suspiciously palsied look about their legs, and a depres- 
 sion about their seats which was apt to communicate 
 itself to the minds of those unwary enough to trust them- 
 selves to their ' tender mercies. ' There was a table cov- 
 ered by an ink-stained red cloth, a bit of carpet which 
 looked like a small oasis in a desert of bare floor, a home- 
 made book-case stored with well-worn volumes, and sev- 
 eral good pictures on the walls. There were also plenty 
 of pipes, tobacco-bowls, rifles, shot-guns, swords, stray 
 newspapers and cobwebs, and in the midst of this desola- 
 tion and confusion sat a young man clad in a uniform 
 ver}' much the worse for wear. But it was the best 
 he had (although it had seen two years of nearly steady 
 
110 THK colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 service), and so he had no thought of taking time to 
 change it before receiving the visitor who was unexpect- 
 edly announced. It had happened that Mr. Dacre's 
 'striker' was blacking Mr. Dacre's much-worn boots in 
 the back hall when the knock sounded, and so there was 
 some one to answer the door beside the master of the 
 house. Indeed, the latter might even have invented some 
 pretext for excusing himself had not the visitor followed 
 the 'striker,' who had announced her name, to the door 
 of the front room. 
 
 " ' I was so afraid you wouldn't see me, Mr. Dacre, if 
 3'ou just heard my name, and associated it with Colonel 
 Poppleton's, so I thought I would come straight in, and 
 you couldn't help yourself,' said Dolly Devereux's cheer- 
 ful voice, as Dolly's pretty face appeared in the doorway 
 and lighted up the dismal room. 
 
 "Dacre was electrified. It is possible that he had 
 never received a visit from an unchaperoned young lady 
 before, and the effect upon him was flatteringly pro- 
 nounced. 
 
 "'Aren't you glad to see me?' artlessly inquired 
 Dolly. ' I mean to be very nice to you. I have come on 
 purpose to be nice, and to cheer you up a little, because 
 people, and Mrs. Lansing especially, thought you needed 
 cheering up at Christmas-time.' 
 
 ' ' ' Heaven knows I need cheering ! ' Dacre thought, 
 but he only spoke aloud the last words of the idea taking 
 shape within his mind. ' So Mrs. Lansing sent you to 
 me? That was very kind in her.' And though Dolly 
 was pretty, undeniably bewitching, and dressed like a 
 grown young lady, he looked into her eyes, and knew 
 that at all events she had come to him only as a little 
 girl. 
 
 " ' No, she didn't. She said I musn't do anything of 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. Ill 
 
 the sort. But she also said " Poor fellow ! Such a brigrht. 
 noble life marred ! ' ' and she showed me a photograph she 
 kept locked up in a drawer ; so I was interested, and 
 came in spite of her, j-ou see. And I mean to make 
 your Christmas a merrier one than you think possible 
 now. Oh, you don't know what I can do when I just 
 make up my juind to it ! I suppose ' — suddenly — ' you 
 quite understand who I am ? ' 
 
 "'I think so, Miss Devereux. Several people who 
 have been so kind as to come and see me in my prison 
 have spoken of you. And of course I appreciate }'our 
 goodness in trying to give me a little Christmas cheer.' 
 
 " ' And 3^ou don't think I can do it ? ' 
 
 " ' You can, if anybody could. But I fear I must wait 
 until after next Wednesday before I can be beguiled into 
 a very hilarious mood, and then the probabilities are, you 
 know, that I shall be less inclined that way than ever 
 before. ' 
 
 ' ' ' Next Wednesday ? Why, what happens then ? ' 
 
 " ' It is the day set for my court. You see, they wanted 
 to give me a little entertainment for Christmas-eve. I 
 supposed 3-ou knew, or I would not have bored you by 
 the mention of it, Miss Devereux.' 
 
 "Dolly rested her rounded elbow on the ink-stained 
 table, and laid her chin in the hollow of her hand, while 
 she turned a face full of interest and sympathy upon Mr. 
 Dacre. 
 
 " ' It's a burning shame to have it Christmas-eve,' she 
 exclaimed, ' when j-ou ought to be thinking of hanging 
 up your stocking. But won't you please tell me just 
 what you are being tried for? Honestly, I don't ask it 
 meaning to be rude. ' 
 
 "Dacre smiled in genuine amusement. 'Certainly,' 
 he said ; ' but I doubt if you can understand. I won't go 
 
112 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 into the matter of charges and specifications, of which 
 there are a good many, but tell you simply that I am to 
 be tried for an alleged gross neglect of duty. It is imper- 
 ative that an officer before leaving the garrison should 
 ask permission of the commanding officer, while the 
 lieutenant must also ask the same of his captain. And 
 one officer of a company must always be on the post. 
 Now, I went to town one ev^ening, and my captain also 
 was absent. A little trouble occurred among the soldiers 
 while we were gone, and there was no officer of the com- 
 pany to attend to it. When we returned. Captain dow- 
 ser was called to account by the commanding officer (who, 
 by the way, is a great friend of his), and said that I had 
 never received his permission to leave the post. That I 
 understood perfectly his intention of going away for the 
 evening, and knew that I was expected to remain. I, of 
 course, asserted that I had had Captain dowser's permis- 
 sion to absent myself, and my words were construed as 
 disrespectful to both my superior officers — so that was an 
 additional offence. And thus it stands between us at the 
 present time.' 
 
 " ' Dear, dear ! ' ejaculated Dolly. ' How dreadfully it 
 sounds ! But, of course, you are not guilty ? ' 
 
 "'Of course I should be apt to say I was not,' re- 
 turned Dacre, beginning to laugh ; but, as he met her 
 ej^es beaming into his, a flood of sympathy, interest and 
 candid trust, his whole expression altered suddenl5\ He 
 was silent an instant, facing her, and then he said : ' No, 
 Miss Devereux, I am not guilty of the charges. I am in- 
 nocent, though I can scarcely hope that you will believe 
 me, and I most assuredly do not expect my judges to be- 
 lieve me next week. I have everything against me — 
 though I ought to have grown used to that in the last 
 three years— and I think I shall be convicted and sen- 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 113 
 
 tenced. It is my sole streak of luck to be alone iu the 
 world and have none to be injured by my fall. I have 
 only fought against fate for the past three years, and per- 
 haps the struggle may as well end now as any time.' 
 
 "'Yes, perhaps it may,' said Dolly, conscious that 
 Dacre had been speaking more to himself than to her ; 
 ' but there are different ways of ending things, you know. 
 And oh, what a life I shall lead Colonel Poppleton, now I 
 am quite sure of his being the fiend I have thought him 
 all along ! He'd better be careful where he sits, steps, lies 
 down, and what he eats and drinks after this, that's all 1 
 have to say, for he has got Dolly Devereux upon his track ! ' 
 
 "It was Thursday, the iSth of December, when Miss 
 Devereux paid her first call of condolence to her new pro- 
 tege, and that call was not, by any means, her last. She, 
 however, was not as general in her attentions towards her 
 various friends in the garrison, and she saw far less of 
 Mrs. Lansing than of old. As she had threatened, she 
 devoted herself strictly to her mission, and the unfortunate 
 General Poppleton 's life was rendered a burden to him by 
 salted coffee, sugared soup, mutilated newspapers and 
 slippers internally ' set about with little willful ' pins and 
 tacks. She also found time, however, for a very diligent 
 study of army regulations — a book popularly supposed to 
 be either be3'ond or beneath the appreciation of the fair sex 
 — and might have been seen pondering deeply over the 
 rules set down for the conducting of military' courts. Some- 
 times she frowned, sometimes she smiled, and on one oc- 
 casion General Poppleton was alarmed, but scarcely sur- 
 prised,, to find her executing sundry- eccentric steps and pir- 
 ouettes, indicative of exultation, all about the library, 
 which once had been so sacredlj' his own. 
 
 "The principal ornament of this library was a large 
 
114 THE COI.ONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 and very beautiful mahogany desk, which had belonged 
 (before Colonel Poppleton depleted his purse by purchas- 
 ing it of Sypher) to a celebrated Russian countess. It 
 was curiously carved and shaped to suit an elaborate sys- 
 tem of secret drawers ; and this mysterious article of fur- 
 niture possessed a degree of fascination for Dolly that was 
 positively painful. She became uneasy whenever she saw 
 its proud possessor seated before it, and yet, whenever he 
 w^as there, she managed to remain present also. One day 
 she had ensconced herself with a book in the bay-window, 
 and the heavy curtains had fallen between her and the 
 twilight of the room within. She had become absorbed 
 in her volume (which, by the way, was a naughty French 
 novel, a remnant of the general's bachelor days, which 
 had become stranded on that topmost of the book-case 
 shelves, where the cream of such literature is generally to 
 be found), and was not aware that any one had entered 
 the room until, hearing a sound, she peeped through the 
 aperture between the curtains, and saw her step-father 
 standing at the fireplace, unconscious of the keen eyes 
 dwelling upon his own. 
 
 " For a moment he stood with his hands behind him, 
 in front of the fender, and there was a perturbed expres- 
 sion on his countenance which suggested to Dolly an ex- 
 plosion of the latest of her plots against his peace. What 
 had happened now? she asked herself. Had he found 
 the ammonia in his cologne-bottle ? had he learned of the 
 exchange between the ink and mucilage? or had he 
 chanced upon the onions in his best civilian hat ? Evi- 
 dently, however, his emotion proceeded from matter ex- 
 ceeding even these in seriousness ; for, going to the desk, 
 he planted himself before it as if with a set purpose, and 
 //z^w— something which Dolly had long been vaguely 
 wishing for took place. 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 115 
 
 He remained for some time at the desk, and the cuckoo 
 inhabiting the Swiss clock over the mantel had appeared 
 twice, announcing the hour and half-hour, before he rose 
 and left the room. As the portiere fell behind his stout 
 form, Dolly laid her book down on the window-seat. 
 Then she waited a moment, with a hand upon the cur- 
 tain. The front door clanged unmistakably, and Miss 
 Dolly ventured from her hiding-place into the fire-lit 
 gloom of the empty room. She went straight to the desk, 
 and seated herself in the chair lately vacated by the gen- 
 eral. 'The first head to the left,' she said, half aloud, 
 putting a plump httle finger upon the nose of one in the 
 row of small, carved, grinning faces that ornamented a 
 panel on each side of the mirror set deep within the desk. 
 She pressed firmly, with no result ; then again, a trifle to 
 the right, and the mirror swung aside, revealing a set of 
 tiny drawers, one after another of which she hurriedly 
 opened. In the lowest lay several long, folded papers, 
 which Dolly glanced over with a rising color, and beneath 
 them was a torn envelope addressed to General Poppleton, 
 Fort Washington, and marked ' Personal.' Dolly looked 
 curiou.sly at the postmark, which was half gone, and 
 would not have been able to make out the word with the 
 meagre aid of the five connected letters ' Cheye, ' had not 
 a sudden recollection flashed into her mind. Oddly 
 enough, she remembered hearing General Poppleton say 
 the day before that he expected Captain Clowser to return 
 from his business trip to Cheyenne in time for Dacre's 
 court. This word, perhaps, then, might be Cheyenne, — 
 and the letter ? Yes, there was a letter inside ! 
 
 " Now Dolly, dark as was the road of depravity which 
 she had cheerfully traveled during the sixteen summers 
 of her active life, had not been in the habit of tampering 
 with the private correspondence even of her few enemies, 
 
116 TIIK COLONKL'S CHRISfTMAS DINNER. 
 
 and consequently she hesitated before inserting her thumb 
 and finger between the torn edges of the envelope. But 
 she did it at last, though the touch of the paper sent a 
 tingling sensation through every nerve in her venture- 
 some little body. ' I will just glance at the signature, at 
 any rate,' she thought. 
 
 " ' Rowland Clowser ' was the name scrawled along the 
 foot of the second page of note-paper, and just above it 
 were some words which Dolly's eyes fell upon almost— 
 not quite— \n spite of herself. ' Thanks for your assur- 
 ance that you will see me through this affair, as you did 
 through that unfortunate one three years ago. I shall 
 stick to the line I adopted at the first, and do not see how 
 Dacre can have the ghost of a chance. We will talk over 
 the matter together before the court meets Wednesday, so 
 that no discrepancies may arise.' 
 
 " Dolly's face flushed crimson as she read, or rather as 
 these words forced themselves and their full meaning 
 upon her consciousness ; and without an instant's further 
 hesitation she thrust the letter, envelope and bundle of 
 papers into her little pocket, already crowded wdth girlish 
 and innocent belongings. Then she shd the tell-tale mir- 
 ror back into its place, and the whole appearance of the 
 desk was as before. Equally deceiving was the expres- 
 sion of the pretty face, which by the time its owner had 
 tied on her hat and sallied forth in the crisp evening air 
 had assumed its wonted mask of youthful rectitude and 
 candor. A very superficial mask it was on this occasion, 
 however, concealing a storm of contending feelings, which 
 vibrated between joy, triumph and remorse. 
 
 "The last sensation she had nearly managed to forget 
 by the time she arrived at Dacre's quarters, and stood 
 knocking (with a heart which beat as loudly as her 
 knuckles) at the door. Dacre opened it himself, and 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 117 
 
 threw away his lighted cigarette when he discovered his 
 visitor's identity. 
 
 "'Isn't it rather late for you to be out alone, Miss 
 Devereux ? ' he asked, when he had greeted her, and be- 
 come convinced that it was her fixed intention to go in. 
 
 " 'Oh, it might be if it were any one but me,' said 
 Dolly, running before him into the house. ' Rules that 
 apply to other people don't to me, as by this time you 
 ought to have learned. I have brought the Christmas 
 present I promised you at last.' Her voice trembled as 
 she spoke, and Dacre instinctively felt that something un- 
 usual had occurred, although the lamps were not yet 
 Hghted, and he could scarcely see her face. 
 
 " ' I didn't know you had promised me one,' said 
 Dacre, smiling ; ' but I am sure I thank you all the 
 same. ' 
 
 " ' I promised myself to give it you, at any rate,' Dolly 
 amended. " From the first day I saw you I vowed to do 
 it if I could. I should have been glad to spite the col- 
 onel, even if it had not been that I liked j'ou so much. I 
 would have done this or anj'thing else — for j-ou. Do you 
 remember what daj- it- is ? ' 
 
 "'Yes,' returned Dacre, slowly and reflectively, star- 
 ing through the twilight at the silhouette Dolly's profile 
 formed against the window. ' Yes ; it is the twenty- 
 third.' 
 
 " 'And to-morrow j-our court is to begin. Well, my 
 Christmas gift reaches you just in time.' 
 
 " 'You speak in riddles,' smiled Dacre, really puzzled 
 by the girl's strange look and manner. ' But I must 
 light the lamps, and do your gift the justice it deserv-es.' 
 
 " Dolly waited until the bare room was illumined, and 
 then said, questioningly, 'Why is it, do you suppose, 
 Mr. Dacre, that people who have done something wicked 
 
118 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 don't destroy all evidence against themselves, but keep 
 enough put away secretly to tell the whole history of their 
 crime ? ' 
 
 " ' All that smacks a good deal of the ubiquitous dime- 
 novel,' said Dacre, ' and it is more than I can do to ex- 
 plain it ; but I believe it is generally admitted to be the 
 case, queer as it seems. However, that has nothing to do 
 with my Christmas gift, I suppose.' 
 
 " 'Judge for j'ourself,' cried Doll}', with pretended non- 
 chalance, as she handed Dacre a bundle of folded papers 
 and the letter she had replaced in the envelope. For a 
 moment he stood fingering them over in surprised si- 
 lence ; then his whole expression altered strangely, and 
 his face flushed and paled. 
 
 ' ' ' What are these papers, and how did ^-ou come by 
 them ? ' he questioned, in a strained, hard voice. 
 
 " Dolly became a little frightened, but bravel}- stood 
 her ground. ' I watched my chance, and when I saw 
 Colonel Poppleton put a letter in a secret drawer of his 
 desk this afternoon, I waited till he was gone, and took it 
 out with the rest of the papers that were there. Then I 
 —then ' 
 
 ' ' ' Then what ? ' very sternly. 
 
 " ' I— read them, and saw that, just as I suspected, they 
 referred to you, — to j^our trouble three years ago, which 
 Constance told me of, and also to this very court, — at 
 least the letter does ; and, oh, I was so glad ! ' She 
 looked up at him half furtively, half appealingly, and was 
 frightened at his face. ' Oh, Mr. Dacre ! ' she cried, 
 ' don't be hateful to me about it ! I can't stand it if you 
 are, after all I have gone through for 3'our sake. Don't 
 scold me, but just think what you are saved from. There 
 are the papers which fix all the responsibility of the loss 
 three years ago upon Captain Clowser, and there is the 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 119 
 
 letter which can prove to anybody yowx innocence in the 
 case that comes up to-morrow. You will be a free man 
 again ; the burden will be lifted that you have borne and 
 fretted under for so long ! ' 
 
 "'Good God! that an innocent-faced child like you 
 should prove such a temptress ! ' he exclaimed, staring at 
 her with a species of horror growing in his eyes. ' Do 
 you expect me to stoop to the basest dishonor in order to 
 vindicate myself in the eyes of my world? I would 
 rather be dismissed the service to-morrow, with an undy- 
 ing stain attached to nxx name, than so much as draw 
 that letter from its envelope, or remove the band that 
 holds those papers together. I owe neither of the men 
 you speak of any gratitude, but I would take no advan- 
 tage of them in the dark. If their honor lay in my hands, 
 I would give it back to them without exposing one stain, 
 and fight my own battle in my own way, stand or fall.' 
 
 " He had spoken in a loud, excited tone, but his voice 
 dropped as he concluded, and very quietly he laid the 
 papers down on the table. ' I ought not ha\'e spoken to 
 you so,' he said, turning to Dolly again with the expres- 
 sion which had frightened her fading from his ej-es, and 
 a strangel}' soft and pleasant light dawning there instead. 
 * I ought to have remembered your youth and inexperi- 
 ence, and how differently such matters must look to a 
 child like you from what the^' appear to a man. You 
 meant to ser\'e me. You risked a great deal for me, and 
 — I thank yon, but you did not know what you were do- 
 ing, and it remains with me to think for us both. Take 
 those papers back — I can't touch them again : they seem 
 to bum me — and put them where you found them. No 
 one shall ever know of your Christmas gift, child, except 
 yourself and me.' 
 
 " 'Oh, Mr. Dacre ! ' Dolly cried, ' j-ou have se disap- 
 
120 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 pointed me ! I can hardly bear it. To think I have 
 done all this for you, and 5'ou will not accept it, but only 
 blame, and — and perhaps hate me for it ! I wanted so to 
 help you, and now — you must suffer, and I can do noth- 
 ing for you an}' more.' As she spoke bright tears rose 
 and glistened in her eyes, then rolled unrestrained over 
 her cheeks. 
 
 " Dacre went to her and took her hand impulsively. 
 * Don't fancy for a moment that I could hate you,' he 
 said. ' What I feel for you is as far as possible removed 
 from hate. You have been a very dear little friend to a 
 lonely fellow who has few real friendships to call his own. 
 But I think, when you reflect, you would rather have me 
 suffer than do a wrong, or even voluntarilj^ profit b}' one 
 already done. And I shall never forget how you have 
 tried to serve me.' 
 
 " 'There is j^et one more thing I may do,' murmured 
 Dolly, through her tears. 
 
 //. The Court-Martial . 
 
 As described in a letter from Miss D0II5' Devereux to 
 her friend Miss Nettie Ainsworth. 
 
 "'Darling Netty, — When I wrote you last I was 
 very low in my mind. I scarcely know how to define my 
 frame now, "but there is one thing, at any rate, I can tell 
 YOVi. I don't see why people are always taking a woman 
 to represent an angel in pictures and stories. / think 
 now it ought to be a man, though, do yovi know, Nettj^ 
 men are awfully aggravating at times, — the very best of 
 them? Thej' don't care if they break a person's heart! 
 But I must not stop to discuss questions xn philosophy, as 
 I am sure you are pining to hear the conclusion of the in- 
 teresting story begun in my last. It couldn't have been 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 121 
 
 more romantic if it had been all a fib instead of real hon- 
 est truth, could it ? and I believe you will say so, more 
 than ever, when you learu the rest. Well, I wrote j-ou 
 on the twenty-third, the night Mr. Dacre refused to do 
 what I wanted him to, and his court was set for the next 
 day at eleven o'clock. I was desperate. I didn't care 
 what I did. You know I had been reading all about that 
 sort of thing in the army regulations ijsiich a stupid book, 
 my dear !j, and I was confident there was only one thing 
 for me to do, if I did anything more at all. It was an 
 awful risk, too, and the bare idea of it gave me a feeling 
 like little frizzles up and down my spine, while I didn't 
 even know if Mr. Dacre, with his queer fancies about 
 proprieties, would thank me for it ; but I wouldn't stop 
 to think of that. The court-room where he was to be 
 tried was in a big house called the ' ' headquarters build- 
 ing," and the hospital is in the same place. So I made 
 an errand to get some medicine, and then slipped up to 
 the court-room, which I had been in one day with an 
 officer, just to take a peep. It was xoxy early, and ho one 
 was there yet, which was just what I wanted, but my 
 heart was beating so I could hardly think. I did what I 
 had come for (what that was I will tell you by and by), 
 and then I had meant to go out and come back again to 
 sit in the room during the trial. Lieutenant Dean had 
 promised to bring me, if I would wear a veil. But, just 
 as I was ready to run, I heard some one outside the door, 
 and I had only time to rush into a closet at the corner of 
 the room without being seen, which would have spoiled 
 it all. There were shelves full of books and papers in the 
 closet, and I had to crouch down under them, which 
 cramped me dreadfully, and, besides, I was afraid I 
 should smother before I could get out. But even that 
 would be better than having any one come in upon me 
 6 
 
122 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 where I was. I was nearly frightened to death, too, on 
 account of spiders and other creeping things I quite knew 
 must be there. My head was high enough to let me peep 
 through the key-hole, luckily, and pretty soon the ' court ' 
 began to come in. I wondered what time it was, but the 
 clock was where I could not see it, and nobody even 
 glanced towards it, so they must have felt very certain it 
 was the correct hour to meet. The officers were all in full 
 dress, and appeared quite solemn and grand. I could see 
 Mr. Dacre, and his face was white, but he was perfectly 
 composed, and had a brave look in his eyes that made 
 my heart beat fast. A colonel from another post was 
 president of the court, and I thought he seemed kind 
 and just— so different from Colonel Poppleton and 
 Captain Clowser, who came in as witnesses, and looked 
 (at least, to me, who knew all) ready to drop with 
 shame and guiltiness. By the way, I had had the fore- 
 thought to empty the red pepper-box into the colonel's 
 pocket-handkerchief before leaving home, so that when 
 he came to use it in the court-room he had a really terri- 
 ble time, and I was afraid they would hear me laughing 
 in the closet ; but perhaps they thought it was a mouse. 
 Well, the trial went on, and every word was distinctly 
 audible to me. I felt like applauding, and shouting, 
 " Hear, hear !" when Mr. Dacre plead "not guilty," in 
 a firm voice ; and then again I could hardly help running 
 out to choke Colonel Poppleton and Captain Clowser 
 when they told the pack of falsehoods they had skillfully 
 gotten up. Poor Mr. Dacre had no witness on his side 
 at all. His case had to stand on his word alone, and of 
 course that could not amount to much in the eyes of the 
 court against that of his captain and the commanding 
 officer of his post. It was an exciting trial, and the court 
 did not adjourn at lunch-time, but went straight on with 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 123 
 
 its proceedings. Once the court was "cleared," as 
 they called it, when even the prisoner had to go out, and 
 then the members talked about Mr. Dacre in a perfectly 
 horrid way. No one but the president had a good word 
 to say for him. So, finally, when all was done, and the 
 court was "cleared for deliberation" for the last time, I 
 felt quite prepared for what would come. They took a 
 vote, begiiniing at the junior member, and every man 
 (even that nice, kind-looking president) said "Guilty," 
 without pausing for a moment's thought. Then they 
 talked awhile, and presently each one wrote out on a 
 piece of paper what in his opinion the sentence ought to 
 be. At last one was decided on, w^hich seemed to please 
 ever>^body in the court, after they had discussed the fact 
 of the prisoner's having alread)- been in disgrace with the 
 authorities during the last three years. He was to be 
 dismissed the service of the United States, and the cold, 
 cruel words made my blood boil within me when I re- 
 membered the uselessness and injustice of it all. But 
 there was still hope, and now was the time to prove the 
 success of what Madame La Pierre would call my coup 
 d'etat. 
 
 " 'Just as the president finished speaking, a bugle-call 
 blew outside the building. It was a call that ever>' one 
 there knew ver}' well ; and at Fort Washington it was al- 
 ways sounded at half-past three. The officers looked sur- 
 J)rised to hear it, and those I could see glanced up towards 
 the clock. Then I saw several take out their watches 
 and stare at them. 
 
 "' "Mr. President," said one of the elder members, 
 "this clock is much oo slow. We have exceeded the 
 hour prescribed for the court, and the proceedings there- 
 fore become illegal." 
 
 ' ' ' The president pulled out his watch and glanced at 
 
124 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 it, as though he could not believe the evidence of his own 
 eyes. 
 
 " ' " This has been done purposely," he said, looking so 
 very solemn and angry that I began to tremble and quake. 
 ' This clock has evidently been set back by some person 
 interested. It could never have so suddenl}' lost so much 
 time itself." 
 
 "'"That, however, does not alter the fact that this 
 trial will go for nothing, as all action taken after three 
 o'clock, according to the order for the court, becomes ille- 
 gal," replied the other man. " And no officer can be tried 
 twice upon the same charges." 
 
 " ' Every one looked exceedingly blank, and I was so 
 happy I forgot the cramps in my limbs that had come from 
 so long sitting still. 
 
 " 'Just under the president's nose, on the big table 
 around which they all sat, lay a volume of army regula- 
 tions. Nobody knew better than I that it was there. He 
 picked it up, almost as though I had mesmerized him into 
 doing it, opened it where a lot of papers were put in as if 
 for a mark — and of course he had to glance at the papers. 
 They had been arranged with the writing outside, so he 
 Couldn't help seeing certain words, if he tried, and he 
 couldiVt see immediately to whom they belonged. That 
 moment was the most tr3-ing one for me. I clinched my 
 hails into the palms of my hands till they cut me, and the 
 pain was almost a relief. But, oh, Netty ! it all came 
 right, and just as I had hoped and prayed, but hardly 
 dared to think it would. When the president had read so 
 far, he was bound to read more, and it was not till after 
 he had learned too much to ignore that he saw the papers 
 were private ones of Colonel Poppleton's. At least I sup- 
 pose that must have been the way, for he started so that 
 every one could notice it, and kept on reading, while his 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GIFT. 125 
 
 face grew ven- stem and grim. Presently he said he had 
 just made a discover}' that had a grave bearing on the 
 case in hand, and which it became his verj- painful duty 
 to take action upon. Then he stated what he had found, 
 and even told about the papers relating to the trouble 
 three j-ears ago. Of course it would change matters 
 completely, he went on, and he would be obliged to lay 
 the affair before the reviewing authority. It would be 
 ver>' serious for some persons concerned, but it was for^ 
 tunate for Mr. Dacre that this had taken place in the nick 
 of time. 
 
 " 'Well, that was virtually the end for that day ; and 
 when the members of the court at last left the room, I 
 slipped out of m}- prison, feeling perfecth' happy, but so 
 stiff and cramped I could scarcely crawl. I reached 
 home without being seen, but, much as I longed to, I 
 dared not go to Mr. Dacre with the blissful tidings of 
 what had occurred. I thought it would be better to let 
 him find it out in some other way. I went to Constance, 
 though, that same evening, when I found that I was pos- 
 itively expiring for a confidante. But, would you believe 
 it? she was just as unsatisfactory' as she could be. In- 
 stead of hugging and kissing and crj'ing over me, she 
 showed a feeling of jealousy on account of my success. 
 She was evidently ver}' low in her mind when I went to 
 call, and when I told her the news, she would scarcely 
 credit it at first. When she did finally, she' turned 
 ghastly pale, and looked ready to faint. And what do 
 you suppose she said? " And you have been able to do 
 all this for him — you, a child, almost a stranger, while I 
 — I have done nothing ? " 
 
 " ' I let her see that I was hurt, and couldn't resist the 
 temptation of remarking that, at any rate, Mr. Dacre 
 would appreciate what I had done, as he had already in- 
 
126 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 formed me he valued my friendship. And do you know, 
 Netty, when he said that, I wonder if he didn't mean 
 something more ? I am sixteen, you remember, and my 
 dresses are quite to the floor. 
 
 " ' Now I must close, and shall add a postscript, with 
 further developments, in a few days. 
 
 " * P.S. — It is too bad I have allowed such an age to 
 go by without finishing my narrative, Netty, but the 
 truth is the times have been so exciting I have not felt 
 able to write satisfactorily. This post has been exactly 
 like a wasp's nest, and at home things have been espe- 
 cially queer. I have found out, however, in spite of all 
 the mysteries, that Colonel Poppleton is going to resign, 
 and I shouldn't wonder if Captain Clowser did the same. 
 The inspector-general of the department has been at the 
 house closeted with the colonel several times, and on each 
 occasion the latter would come out after the inter\dew 
 with a smile the reverse of sweet. As for me, I am in 
 awful disgrace, though of course no one knows positively 
 what share I had in the affair ; and I am to be sent away 
 to a horrible school somewhere in Boston (the very most 
 rigid in that dreadful strait-laced place) I am informed. 
 I shall sigh for Madame La Pierre's as for the " flesh-pots 
 of Egypt," I'm afraid. It is now the twenty-fifth of Jan- 
 uary, and I am expected to be packed off almost any day. 
 I dare say 3'ou are wondering at m}' running on in this 
 fashion without a word of Mr. Dacre and my relations 
 with him. But, oh, Netty ! I cayinot bring myself to 
 write at length on that subject. Boxes and boxes of 
 candy could not make up to me for the disappointment 
 he has caused me to endure. Not that he was unkind, 
 or reproached me for what I had done. Oh, no ; when I 
 saw him he thanked me in beautiful words almost as nice 
 as men use in novels, and even kissed my hand as though 
 
DACRE'S CHRISTMAS GI^T. 127 
 
 I had been a queen. He said, whether or not he ap- 
 proved the action I had taken, and it was too late to speak 
 of that, he felt more grateful than he could ever express. 
 I had given him back something far dearer to him than 
 life — his good name — and now, when by an act of 
 Congress he should be enabled again to draw his pay 
 (thanks to me), he would beg leave to present me with 
 the finest diamond ring he could find at Tiffany's, just 
 to remind me continually of the gratitude which his 
 best words would be too poor ever to make me under- 
 stand. 
 
 " 'That was all very lovely, of course, but I expected 
 it to be only a preface to something more ; and, would 
 you believe it, Netty ? it zcasJi't that in the least. 
 
 "'It is only a month since Christmas, and since he 
 came out of arrest, but he has been at Constance Lan- 
 sing's every day regularly, and now they are said to be 
 engaged. I am even informed that he has been in love 
 with her ever since they first met, though he would not 
 ask her to many him on account of his misfortunes ; but 
 that, at all events, for my own vanity's sake, I shall try- 
 hot to believe. I shall endeaver to think he realh* did 
 care for me, but on account of Colonel Poppleton did not 
 dare " ask for my hand," as the people say in stor>'- 
 books. And oh, Xetty ! he is vay first love, except Jim- 
 my Allen and Tom Hastings, whom now I scorn to take 
 into account. Constance is very friendly of late, and can 
 hardly pet me enough, but I do not care to go to her 
 house as often as I used. And, Netty, I wish you would 
 advise me. If you were in my place would you take his 
 diamond ring.' " 
 
 The applause of the evening followed this fair lady's 
 gracious effort, and then no man was given the floor until 
 ' ' Dot, " " Dora, " " Miss Grace, ' ' had been appealed to by 
 
128 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 every voice at the table. It was only after a world of 
 coaxing that " The Colonel's Daughter " told her tale : 
 
 THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER. 
 
 " In my class at Vassar there were two girls — cousins, 
 and inseparable companions ; one was very fair, and was 
 the daughter of General Lennox ; the other was a very 
 brilliant brunette, with high cheek bones and small, snap- 
 ping black eyes. She was the daughter of Colonel Ivcn- 
 nox, a younger brother of the General, but her mother 
 was a half-breed Indian. Both girls bore the strange 
 name of Kiamush. 
 
 "I spent the Christmas holidays of my Senior year 
 with them, for their parents were in New York at the 
 time, and I learned all the particulars of the strange ro- 
 mance which invested their mothers' lives. 
 
 " It seems just like a story, and if the parties were not 
 living I think I would embellish it a little and send it to 
 some magazine. I will tell it now, with the versions I 
 learned from the different members of the family all 
 blended into one, so as to make it a connected tale : 
 
 " Many years ago, when the West was a desolate region, 
 with but few settlements, and mainly peopled by the In- 
 dians, who were far from friendly towards the whites, 
 Colonel Hartwell's regiment was stationed at one of our 
 distant forts — a place surrounded with the beauties of na- 
 ture, but in entire exile from any places of importance. 
 He brought his young bride with him — a beautiful girl 
 of eighteen, with blue eyes and a profusion of golden 
 curls — and, as there w^ere only a few other ladies in the 
 camp, she was naturally the belle of the regiment. Her 
 
THE colonel's DAUGHTER. 129 
 
 husband idolized lier, and was verj- proud of the admira- 
 tion she commauded, 
 
 " After two years of absolute happiness, notwithstand- 
 ing the cold and privations of two severe winters, and 
 several skirmishes with the Indians, in which the Fort had 
 been attacked, the Colonel's wife died, leaving as a leg- 
 acy to her husband a little, blue-eyed daughter, and the 
 remembrance of her owm sweet life. 
 
 " She had requested that the baby be called Kiamush, 
 after her Indian servant, wdiom she had deemed perfectly 
 faithful, and who had lived with her from the day she 
 came to the Fort, and to whose care she must now entrust • 
 her little one. The chaplain had christened the child at 
 the bed-side of the dying mother. With her own hands 
 Mrs. Hartwell placed around her little daughter's neck a 
 string of gold beads, which her own mother had put upon 
 her when she was a baby. The chain was so long that it 
 wound twice around the little slender throat. 
 
 " The Colonel was so broken down at his wife's death 
 that he was never willing to see the bab)', whose very ex- 
 istence he hated. She was wholly left to the care of the 
 Indian nurse, and the people of the regiment almost never 
 saw her. The winters were so cold and the accommoda- 
 tions so poor, that the officers' wives seldom attempted to 
 remain a second winter in the desolate region, but betook 
 themselves to the East before another set in. Several 
 years elapsed, and the Colonel still refused to take any 
 notice of his child, who the nurse always assured him was 
 well and happy. 
 
 ' ' After as long as furlough as was allowable it was 
 announced at the Fort one day that the Colonel was about 
 to return, and that he would not come alone. His rooms 
 were arranged, the grim Indian nurse was seen going 
 about looking more severe and stoical than ever, and the 
 6* 
 
loO THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 little six-year old child, who had been in such seclusion, 
 was seen at a window or door peeping out, but was al- 
 ways summarily jerked back by her nurse. It was cur- 
 rent at the Fort that Colonel Hartwell's daughter was 
 lacking mentally, and therefore had been kept all these 
 years in the background, and many pitied the new bride 
 for the responsibility she must assume. 
 
 "In an old lumbering stage plying along the prairie 
 towards the encampment came the Colonel again, bring- 
 ing a bride to the Fort, which had been much improved 
 the last year or two. 
 
 " ' My dear,' he said to his wife, as familiar landmarks 
 showed him that they were not far from their destination, 
 ' I don't know what you can do with Kiamush. I really 
 know nothing personally of my child except that she is 
 well and her nurse says happy. ' 
 
 "'Do you mean, Henry,' asked his bride, 'that you 
 willingly have had nothing to do with her? I supposed 
 your regimental duties were what had prevented your 
 seeing more of her.' 
 
 " ' I have never held her in my arms or even kissed her 
 since her mother died,' he answered, gloomily. 'And I 
 seldom see her ; she is frightfully tanned and does not 
 look like her mother or me. I fear you will have a very 
 hard time wdth her and that crotchety old nurse.' 
 
 ' ' ' Never fear, Henry, I have yet to see the child whose 
 love I couldn't win.' 
 
 " ' Or the grown person either,' said the bridegroom, 
 smiling ; for a weight was lifted from his shoulders at 
 the thought of such a guardian for his little neglected 
 girl. 
 
 ' ' It was late in the afternoon when the stage rumbled 
 up to the hotel which served as post-office and variety 
 store as well. Several of the officers were there to meet 
 
THE colonel's DAUGHTER. 131 
 
 their Colonel and convey him with honor to the barracks, 
 where the few ladies gladly welcomed the new addition 
 to their circle, and with feminine accuracy instantly de- 
 cided her age, and passed judgment upon her personal 
 appearance. 
 
 " Colonel Hartwell did not intend that his wife should 
 go to the nursery that night, but she insisted, though the 
 old nurse grumbled and said that the child was asleep. 
 Mrs. Hartwell, however, gained her point, as she always 
 did, and together the father, who had so long neglected 
 his child, and the new mother, who yearned over the lit- 
 tle one, and longed to fill a mother's place to her, stood, 
 candle in hand, beside the little bed. 
 
 " Long the Colonel gazed at the round, brown face, for 
 she was apparently very much tanned. Her crop of 
 short, dark hair was so unlike her mother's golden locks. 
 
 " ' You see, dear,' he said, ' there is no resemblance to 
 her mother ; I am afraid she is going to look like me.' 
 
 ' ' ' We will hope she will resemble both of her parents 
 in character,' said the bride, a trifle disappointed perhaps 
 herself. 
 
 "The next day after breakfast the little Kiamush was 
 brought to their room to assist at the unpacking and get 
 acquainted. She looked sullen and obstinate, and re- 
 fused to go to either her father or mother. But it was 
 not to be wondered at, for she had lived six years of piti- 
 ful isolation, the nurse always having refused to let her 
 play with the other children at the Fort. 
 
 " Mrs. Hartwell coaxed her to come, and held out a 
 gaily-dressed doll and a bright picture-book, but in vain. 
 She then decided to go on guietly with the unpacking 
 and see if, after becoming used to their appearance, the 
 shyness would not wear off. 
 
 " On the bureau lay a large silk handkerchief, with a 
 
132 THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 gay border, and a little coral necklace ; the latter was in- 
 tended for Kiamush. 
 
 " Thinking that they were not watching her, she crept 
 stealthily towards the coveted articles, looking behind her 
 to see if she were watched. Feeling that she was still 
 unobser\'ed, she proceeded to array herself. The kerchief 
 she put square over her shoulders, knotting the corners 
 in front ; being unable to unclasp the necklace, she 
 toasted it around her wrist. Then seeing some feathers 
 in a box, she tried to arrange them in her short hair, tr^'- 
 ing the effect in the mirror, and muttering some words in 
 the dialect of the Ojibways, although she could talk Eng- 
 lish after a fashion. 
 
 "Suddenly she saw that she was watched, and a defiant 
 expression crept over her face. But her new mother said 
 gently : ' That necklace is for you, dear, but it is meant 
 to go around your little neck ; let me unclasp it.' 
 
 " Kiamush looked at her distrustfully, but the pleasant 
 smile reassured her, and she stood gently while the chain 
 was arranged. 
 
 " From the box which the Colonel was unpacking he 
 had taken a violin and bow and laid them on the table. 
 The instant his back was turned the child had the bow 
 and tried to bend it into a shape suitable for an ' archer 
 bold,' and looked about, as if seeking for an arrow, but 
 finding none, cast it aside. 
 
 " Finally she took the doll, petted it, and, rocking it to 
 and fro, crooned a little lullaby over it : ' Ewa-yea, Ewa- 
 yea.' She then started for the door, calling her nurse, 
 and evidently eager to show her her treasures. 
 
 " Leaving her safe with her nurse, the Colonel returned 
 to his wife ; ' Ida,' he .said, ' I have only myself to blame 
 that Ki is .so like a little savage. ' 
 
 " ' Living only with an Indian, it is not to be wondered 
 
THE colonel's DAUGHTER. 133 
 
 at,' she answered ; ' and I can do but little with her until 
 I win her love; but it shall be won,' she added with 
 energ}-. 
 
 ' ' Weeks elapsed, and Mrs. Hartwell found that her 
 duties as step-mother were more arduous than she had 
 imagined. She at last won the child's love, but j-et she 
 would constantly break out in some flagrant act of dis- 
 obedience. If punished, as oftentimes was necessary, she 
 always planned and executed some act of revenge, — once 
 tearing to pieces an exquisite scarf which Mrs. Hartwell 
 had been embroidering ; another time she threw a bottle 
 of choice perfume out of the window, and unfortunately 
 it fell upon the head of the First Lieutenant, who stood 
 beneath talking to the Colonel. 
 
 "They suspected that these tricks were at the direct 
 instigation of the old nurse. 
 
 " Kiamush had had absolutely no religious training; 
 for how could an ignorant Indian woman teach what she 
 did not know herself? Kiamush had only some idea of a 
 Great Spirit, who, she thought, made the tops of the dis- 
 tant forest trees wave to and fro in the wind, and who 
 also sent the fierce thunder-storms. At times it actually 
 seemed as if she possessed no soul ; not merely that it was 
 unawakened, but that there was nothing spiritual to 
 arouse more thnn we find in any domestic animal. It did 
 not seem possible that the sign of the cross had ever been 
 traced in baptism upon her brow. 
 
 " One morning, after they were seated at the breakfast 
 table, she appeared with the curly scalp of her best doll 
 suspended from her waist by a cord ; and at night she 
 insisted upon sleeping on the floor in.stead of in her bed. 
 
 " The Colonel and his wife talked it over that evening, 
 and feeling alniost discouraged, they decided that some 
 means must be taken to separate her from the old nurse. 
 
134 THE colonel's Christmas dinner. 
 
 They disliked to turn her away, for the first Mrs. Hart- 
 well had been really attached to her, and the child was 
 also perfectly devoted to her. 
 
 " 'There is a tradition,' said the Colonel, 'that one of 
 my ancestors married an Indian, and heredity is such a 
 strange thing that it ma}' be some of her traits have de- 
 scended to my child. ' 
 
 ' ' Mrs. Hartwell laughed. ' We might as well believe 
 that in some former existence Ki was an Indian Princess, 
 and that her soul has merely taken to itself another 
 body. ' 
 
 "'But really,' said her husband, 'I was not jesting, 
 for in Colonial times my great-grandfather harbored some 
 Indians during one of the Indian wars, and thej^ vowed 
 that none of their tribe should ever harm a descendant of 
 the Leonards. That part of the story I know is true, but 
 whether he married into the tribe afterwards or not I 
 can't say.' 
 
 " ' Her nurse's influence would account for everj-thing, 
 I think,' said his practical wife. 
 
 "One day the Colonel called Kiamush to him, and 
 asked to see her string of gold beads ; she promptly held 
 up her little coral necklace. 
 
 " ' Not that ; your gold beads, I mean,' he had said. 
 
 " ' I never had any,' she replied. 
 
 "The old nurse being questioned, said that she had 
 put them carefully away, as the string was broken, and 
 she feared they might get lost. 
 
 " Christmas-tide was approaching, and every day Mrs. 
 Hartwell took little Kiamush in her lap and told her the 
 old, old story of that glorious night in Bethlehem, tr3'ing 
 to incite in her a love for the Holy Child and His teach- 
 ings. Day after day she talked to her on the blessedness 
 of living a true, pure life, w4th no secret sins or naughty 
 
THE colonel's DAUGHTER. 135 
 
 deeds to conceal. She told her in simple language of the 
 pain it brought to ourselves, and to our conscience — that 
 little light within us — and, what was still worse, that it 
 grieved the Holy Child and our friends also. 
 
 ' ' The stoical old nurse was usually in the room sew- 
 ing and listened with keen interest, but never betrayed 
 by word what she felt. One day, however, she gave ut- 
 terance to a deep groan and left the room. The next day 
 she could not be found ; then a week elapsed and she did 
 not return. Kiamush mourned her absence, for Christ- 
 mas was nearly there, and she was to have a tree for the 
 first time, and all the children at the Fort were invited to 
 come ; but she felt that it would be incomplete without 
 the one she still loved more than any one else. 
 
 " Christmas eve came and Mrs. Hartwell put Ki to bed 
 early, so she had had a good, long sleep before the caval- 
 ry- trumpet sounded for the extinguishing of the hghts. 
 After that she seemed restless, and called her mother sev- 
 eral times, saying she had dreamed the Christ-Child was 
 coming. She was much excited and it was long before 
 her mother could again quiet her to sleep. In the morn- 
 ing she awakened with the same exclamation, saying, 
 ' He has come and brought nursie with Him.' 
 
 " At breakfast one of the ser\'ants told the Colonel that 
 the old nurse had returned laden with such a roll of 
 blankets that she seemed scarcely able to stagger under 
 it. As the guard knew her he had let her pass. 
 
 " After breakfast Kiamush went back to her bed-room 
 for some of the little gifts which had been in her stock- 
 ing. A loud scream from her brought the Colonel, his 
 wife and others to the spot. 
 
 "There on Kiamush' s little bed lay a delicate child 
 with a profusion of tangled hair on its well-shaped head 
 and around its throat a string of gold beads. Crouching 
 
136 TITR colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNEft. 
 
 in the corner was the old nurse, thin and haggard, but 
 defiant in expression. 
 
 ' ' ' What does this mean ? ' demanded the Colonel. 
 
 "She remained in the same position, obstinate and 
 sullen, and the sternness of the Colonel prevailed nothing. 
 But Mrs. Hartwell went to her, laid her white hand upon 
 her shivering arm and said quietly, but firmly, 'You 
 miist tell me wiiat this means.' Then with little Ki 
 nestling in her arms she poured forth a rather incoherent 
 story which was similar to Tennyson's ' I^ady Clare.' 
 
 " ' Are ye out of your mind, my nurse, my nurse,' 
 
 Said Lady Clare, ' that ye speak so wild ? ' 
 'As God's above,' said Alice, the nurse, 
 
 ' I speak the truth ; you are my child. 
 The old Earl's daughter died at my breast ; 
 
 I speak the truth as I live by bread ! 
 I buried her like my own sweet child, 
 
 And put my child in her stead.' 
 
 ' ' Similar, I say to ' Lady Clare, ' but with this differ- 
 ence. When the nurse found that the Colonel took no 
 notice of the baby, and that it was frail and likely to die, 
 she had taken advantage of his absence one time to go 
 over the mountain to her people and leave the Colonel's 
 child to live or die as the Great Spirit should decide ; and 
 had brought back her own little motherless grandchild 
 from its forest home ; whose mother had died of a broken 
 heart because of the desertion of her white husband. 
 
 "She had kept up the deception until hearing Mrs. 
 Hartwell's teachings to Kiamush, but they had wrought 
 upon her to such a degree that she could bear it no longer. 
 So she had walked miles and miles through the great 
 snow-drifts and brought back the lost child. 
 
 " The truth of the story w^as apparent, for the slumber- 
 
THE COLONEL'S DAUGHTER. 137 
 
 iug child, ' the little Christ-child,' Kiainush called it, was 
 a perfect likeness of its own mother. 
 
 "The Colonel saw the same rosebud mouth, the long", 
 dark eyelashes and golden hair, the delicate taper fingers 
 and the small, perfectly-shaped ear, fitting close to the 
 head ; and when the noise awakened the real little Kia- 
 mush, the lifted eyelids displayed great baby-blue eyes, 
 with a timid, shy little heart looking out of them. Of 
 course she was tanned, and had been sadly neglected as 
 regards personal care, but, nevertheless. Colonel Hartwell 
 recognized his own child, the legacy which his young 
 wife had left him, and which he had despised. 
 
 ' ' He was too overcome to decide what would be a fit- 
 ting punishment for the treacherous nurse ; but knowing 
 that his own shameful neglect was the chief cause, he 
 ordered for the present she be put to bed after having 
 some food, and Mrs. Hartwell saw, herself, that she was 
 securely locked in. Then the new child, who seemed 
 much frightened, was put in a warm bath, then dressed 
 in one of her supplanter's white flannel night-gowns, and 
 after drinking a glass of warm milk she fell asleep once 
 more beneath her father's roof. 
 
 "The little Indian Kiamush was hardly willing to leave 
 the bedside of the sleeper, but Mrs. Hartwell bore her off 
 to matins, which the Chaplain was to say at eleven. 
 
 "The Colonel wished to remain to watch his child lest 
 the old nurse might repent of her repentance and secure 
 her again, and Mrs. Hartwell felt that his thoughts were 
 naturally in the past, and in them she had no share. 
 
 "The news of the strange arrival of the Colonel's real 
 child spread like wildfire, and soon everj- company in the 
 regiment was discussing the wonderful Christmas news. 
 
 ' ' After dinner the children all assembled at the Colonel's 
 apartments to see the tree, to which they had been in- 
 
138 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 vited. The little stranger from the forest, dressed in one 
 of Ki's little frocks, sat shy and frightened on Mrs. Hart- 
 well's lap, almost too dazed to or}- at the strange faces 
 about her, as the oflicers' wives crowded around, and yet 
 she looked every inch a little lady, for blood will 
 show. 
 
 " It had been a strange, eventful Christmas Day, and 
 the Colonel and his wife sat up late that night discussing 
 the future of the two children, same in age and name. 
 Mrs. Hart well, having become attached to Kiamush in 
 these weeks of teaching her and caring for her, wished to 
 adopt her, but the Colonel was opposed to it, for he felt 
 very bitter at the thought of her having so long sup- 
 planted his own child. Still his child could speak no 
 English, and the little half-breed could speak both lan- 
 guages to a certain extent, and therefore would be a great 
 help as an interpreter. 
 
 "They felt, however, that they need not decide that 
 night. 
 
 " Before midnight a hea\'y snow-storm set in, and the 
 drifts piled up about the fort, and towards morning the 
 thermometer fell rapidly. The next daj'- it was found 
 that the old nurse was missing, although her door had 
 been locked on the outside, yet she had escaped. Her 
 window was open, and there was a print beneath where 
 the poor, frightened creature had jumped into the snow ; 
 and then here and there, off towards the direction of 
 the forest a few struggling footprints, which had 
 not been effaced by the drifts. A search was made, 
 the tracks were followed, and by noon the dead, frozen 
 body was found partially buried beneath a snow-drift. 
 Thus the question of punishment for her, and the ques- 
 tion as to retaining the Indian child, were settled by a 
 Higher Power. 
 
THE colonel's DAUGHTER. 139 
 
 ' ' The little Indian was christened b}-- the name she had 
 always borne, ' Kiamush ; ' and now Mrs. Hartwell found 
 heart and hands more than full with the care of two chil- 
 dren so utterly diverse in character. 
 
 " The blue-eyed child could not speak her native lan- 
 guage, and had had the bringing up of a savage ; the 
 dusky, dark-eyed Kiamush, who bid fair to rival the 
 fabled ' Minnehaha ' in beauty, could speak the language 
 of both parents, but seemed to have inherited the char- 
 acter of some bold Indian chieftain. No ordinary' woman 
 could have filled Mrs. Hartwell' s position ; but love, com- 
 bined with that gentle firmness which alwaj-s commands 
 respect, conquered ; and at fourteen no more beautiful or 
 well-behaved children could be found in the camp than 
 ' Colonel Hartwell's twins,' as they were called. 
 
 "The little Indian was the mother's favorite, partly 
 because the Colonel was so fond of his own beautiful 
 child, and parth' because she was such an interesting 
 psychological study. 
 
 " She seemed to be forced to live more than the dual 
 life of flesh warring against the spirit ; hers seemed to be 
 a quadruple existence. There was the animal life of the 
 Indian and its spiritual superstitions ; ever antagonistic 
 to the mentality and spirituality which she inherited from 
 her white ancestors ; and the education she received never 
 wholly obliterated the diverse influences from her soul. 
 There was at times an uncontrollable desire for the free 
 life of the forest, for hunting, roving and other unfeminine 
 pursuits. But her devotion to the mother of her adoption, 
 and to the child who came to her the first Christmas in 
 her remembrance, never faltered. 
 
 ' ' At eighteen they returned from boarding-school to 
 Fort Snelling, where their father was then stationed, and 
 immediately became the belles of the regiment. Lieuten- 
 
140 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 ant Lennox and his brother, Captain Albert Lennox, 
 were the favored suitors for the hands of the ' twins. ' 
 
 " When the Captain asked the brilliant, dark-e5'ed 
 Kiamush to marry him, she replied proudly, with flash- 
 ing eyes : 
 
 " ' I am not the Colonel's daughter, and I am prouder 
 of my mother's tribe than of my father's ancestry ; but I 
 love you and will follow you, if you are not ashamed of 
 my parentage, but if you are I would scorn your offer.' 
 
 "The Captain admired her more than ever after this 
 outburst, for he had been sought after by the fair sex from 
 his cradle upwards, and it completelj' captivated him to 
 hear a girl say she could scorn an oJBfer of marriage from 
 him. 
 
 ' ' The golden-haired daughter of the Colonel, to whose 
 pure mind affectation and insincerity were unknown ideas, 
 and in whose thoughts alwaj'S lingered a dim remem- 
 brance of waving forests and wigwam fires, simply laid 
 her hand in the Lieutenant's and accepted him without 
 asking for ' time to think it over on account of its being 
 so sudden and unexpected.' 
 
 " A double wedding soon took place, with all the ele- 
 gance the Fort could command, and the Colonel and his 
 wife were congratulated on all sides upon the success of 
 their beautiful daughters. And the sisters by adoption 
 became sisters-in-law, but none the less continued to love 
 each other devotedly. 
 
 "Their little infant daughters, who came to brighten 
 the regiment, one cold, snowy Christmas season, were 
 each, of course, duly christened Kiamush, and the gold 
 beads were put upon one, and the little coral necklace 
 upon the other. 
 
 " In due time they entered Vassar and graduated with 
 honor, and there were no two more brilliant girls in my 
 class than they. 
 
THE SENIOR captain's STORY. 141 
 
 "What career lies before them in the future has not as 
 yet been determined. ' ' 
 
 "And now we'll hear from Princeton," said the 
 Colonel, decisively, with a Jove-like nod of his head 
 towards the Senior Captain. "Collegians are scarce in 
 this crowd " 
 
 "You forget Vassar, Colonel," promptly interposed 
 Mr. Briggs, with a glance that plainly intimated that he 
 had not forgotten Dot. 
 
 " I beg a thousand pardons — I should have said ' among 
 the men.' I meant it. Come, Captain, it is your turn," 
 and a murmur of approbation followed as once more he 
 turned to his staunch supporter — the right of his line in 
 more ways than one. 
 
 The Senior Captain twisted his moustache thought- 
 fully, and began : 
 
 THE SENIOR CAPTAIN'S STORY. 
 
 "I once attended a Christmas surprise party to 
 which I wasn't invited. If j-ou'll pass the Maraschino 
 I'll tell you about it, for it really was no end of fun 
 to me at any rate. It was at Fort Sage. Most of you 
 know the place. It was Christmas-eve, and there had 
 been the usual Christmas trees and small family gather- 
 ings at the married officers' quarters, and a rather stiff 
 egg-nogg at the mess. As I passed the quarters of 
 Colonel Hume a cheery light streaming over the spectral 
 snow seemed to hold out an invitation which I did not 
 care to resist. There was something in the old fellow's 
 dr>' and bitter humor which flavored his conversation. 
 Did you harbor any illusions or cherish any ideals, he 
 would dispel the one and dethrone the other with a cheer- 
 
142 THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 fill alacrity which reminded one of the merry hangman 
 in ' Quentin Durward.' Consequently he was much 
 sought by the youngsters whose hearts had been shriv- 
 eled in passing through the vSahara of West Point. Th^ 
 door was opened by Mrs. Lynch, relict of musician Mi- 
 chael Lynch, who in life had tortured the trombone. 
 Round and comfortable as to figure, with the frosty bloom 
 of a winter apple, she smiled indulgently upon me. 
 
 '"Is the Colonel in yet, Mrs. Lynch ? ' I asked. 
 
 " ' Indade he's not, sor, and it's no sayin' whin he'll 
 be ; but come in and kape out of the cold, sor; ye know 
 where ye' 11 find the j^ipes and the 'baccy.' 
 
 " I followed her into the Colonel's cosy den, which 
 he dignified by the name of library, and lighting a 
 favorite Powhatan, with a long cane stem, I sank 
 into a deep arm-chair and resigned m3'self to sen- 
 suous content made up of warmth, tobacco and egg- 
 nogg. I was roused from a delightful lethargy by the 
 Colonel stamping the snow off his boots. As he came 
 in, his jolly red face glowing, in his big buffalo coat, was 
 the picture of good humor ; but a second glance showed 
 the hard lines which trouble had graven deeph- around 
 his mouth, 
 
 'In the gloaming, oh, my darling,' chirped the old 
 gentleman. ' Musing over the coals like a true- 
 hearted bachelor, for which nature cut you out, my 
 boy ; but like many other duffers you knew better than 
 the old lady, and behold the result. You forsake the fat- 
 ted calf to browse on the husks, and that on Christmas- 
 eve. Come, now' — drawing up a chair beside me, and 
 filling his pipe — ' tell the honest truth ; isn't there a flavor 
 about the husks which you don't get in the domestic 
 veal ? Marriage, my boy, is a bit of music with lots of 
 variations, but somehow or other you can't arrange them 
 
THE SENIOR captain's STORY. 143 
 
 SO that the discords will not be heard. Gad, in old times 
 they used to make hermits out of scamps ; we've im- 
 proved on that, we reform them bj' turning them into 
 husbands. I haven't a word to say against love ; it may 
 be sill3', but it isn't incurable. Beside, love's a necessary 
 evil ; it was nature's first production, and she ought to 
 have stopped then; but, Hke a great many other successful 
 authors, she must try a sequel. She got too many prop- 
 erties on her stage ; tried to make a spectacular drama 
 out of a two-character piece written in the only language 
 which sur\'ived the Tower of Babel, with no scenery but 
 the grass under foot and the trees overhead. I liked the 
 original, but didn't care for the sequel. Too much style 
 and gew-gaws. 
 
 " ' Marian's married and I sit here 
 Alone and merry at forty year, 
 Dipping my nose in the Gascon wine ' — 
 
 " ' Speaking of wine, will you have a drink ? ' 
 
 " ' Thanks, none for me,' I replied, ' The egg-nogg was 
 decidedly potent.' 
 
 ' ' Silence fell upon us both and the Colonel seemed to 
 be seeking the dead past in the rapidly-fading embers. 
 
 " 'So you did have a Marian,' I ventured, feeling an 
 uncontrollable desire to drop a tentative lead into the un- 
 explored depths of the Colonel's past. 
 
 " ' Yes,' replied the Colonel. And a still longer silence 
 followed. 
 
 " ' I believed it all as fondly, as blindly, as besottedly, as 
 the poor dupe who went to sleep a caliph and woke up a 
 pauper. One day my happiness turned all I touched, 
 even the commonest things, to gold ; the next the heart 
 I believed priceless proved, at the sight and touch of gold, 
 base metal. I beg her pardon ; she was simply a dutiful 
 
144 THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 daughter. Her parents said, " Mj- child, a rich man 
 wishes to marry you ; throw that heart away and be a 
 woman." Of course she obeyed them; that's all there 
 was of it. But what's the use of abusing women ; I 
 haven't found men so much better. Did you know that 
 I had a nephew of whom I grew as fond as I think one 
 man can well be of another. I began to feel that fate had 
 made me some amends in giving me sympathy and good 
 fellowship in exchange for a dream. ' 
 
 ' ' Here the Colonel stopped. I rather indicated than 
 spoke a single word. ' Dead ? ' 
 
 " ' No, worse ; a blackguard, whether alive or dead, I 
 don't know. I did all I could, but he was bound to go to 
 the bad. The last thing I heard of him he had married a 
 pretty girl to spoil her life I suppose. What an infernal 
 muddle it all is.' 
 
 " The door sljdy opened and the rubicund countenance 
 of Mrs. Lynch diffused a mellow radiance. ' Kurnel, I'm 
 axin' 3'er pardon for presuming to inthrude, but the good 
 ladies have sint you an ilegaut Christmas gift what' 11 
 kape you warrm this bitter cold night and they laid a 
 promise on me that I'd show it you before ye wiut to 
 bed.' 
 
 " ' Christmas Carols and coals of fire all in a lump,' I 
 cried ; ' you undeserving sinner, j'ou've been abusing 
 your best friends. ' 
 
 "'Come along,' he replied, 'let's see what it's like. 
 If it's anj^thing to warm the inner man we'll take a nip.' 
 
 " Mrs. Iv5'nch led the way with conscious pride into a 
 cheerful room with a clear fire glowing in the grate and 
 brightly lighted by several wax candles in old-fashioned 
 silver candlesticks evidently to do honor to the gift. 
 There it was, laid across the bed -a rich, bright-colored 
 silk quilted coverlid, and slightly mo\-ing in the centre 
 
THE vSENIOR CAPTAIN'S STORY. 145 
 
 was something white, which, as we drew near in speech- 
 less surprise, revealed a veritable snow-flake, which might 
 have drifted on the winter wind from some far-oflf fairy 
 land. A closer inspection showed that the snow-flake 
 had a chubby fist crammed into its mouth and was wink- 
 ing contentedly at the firelight, as the Colonel and I 
 stared helplessly from the apparition to one another. 
 
 "Mrs. Lynch whispered, 'Holy Mother of God! it's 
 an angel came to us this blessed Christmas eve.' At this 
 critical moment, as if to disclaim such lofty origin, the 
 fist was slowly withdrawn, the eyes disappeared into 
 innumerable puckers and the snow-flake was merged into 
 a mouth which emitted a yell out of all proportion to its 
 size. Mrs. Lynch made a dash for the recreant cherub, 
 but the Colonel seized her roughly by the arm. 
 
 " ' Stuff" and nonsense ! some trick,' said he. ' Bridget, 
 have you a hand in this ; did you let that thing in the 
 house ? Take it away this instant. ' 
 
 " ' Indade and it's God's truth I'm tellin' you,' she 
 panted, trying to quiet the vociferous infant. ' When I 
 left the room to call you there was not a livin' thing in it 
 savin' the quilt, which I put on the bed wid me own 
 hands ; sorra's the day that I'd be bringin' throuble on 
 you, sor, and all that j-e've done for me and mine.' 
 
 " ' Take it away,' the Colonel repeated helplessly. 
 
 ' ' The little fellow, attracted by the buttons, for the 
 Colonel had donned his best blouse in honor of the even- 
 ing's festivities, stretched out his chubby little hands 
 with a gurgle of delight. The Colonel's face softened. 
 It wasn't in human nature, certainly not in his, to be 
 proof against that base infantile stratagem. ' I suppose 
 they trained you to do that, you little beggar, before 
 they sent you out to impose upon people — here, take it 
 away.' 
 
 7 
 
146 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 "'Where sliall I take it, sor?' whimpered Mrs. 
 Bridget. 
 
 " ' Anywhere, anywhere ! Give it to the Captain here'; 
 let him take it home to his wife.' 
 
 " ' You are very generous, but I could not think of de- 
 priving you of such a priceless treasure,' said I. ' Now 
 if you were to offer me the quilt I might be induced to 
 accept.' 
 
 " You be d — d,' he retorted, with such hearty emphasis 
 that I realized that any more teasing would imperil the 
 chances of the poor little waif, of whom I had already 
 become a warm partisan. 
 
 " Bridget had, in the mean time, drawn a chair to the 
 fire and, with her new-found treasure in her lap, was 
 rubbing and warming his little feet. She looked up 
 anxiously at the Colonel's explosion. ' Only mind 
 the little davlin' stretchin' his toes to the fire ; shure, sor, 
 you wnll kape the poor lamb this night. It wud be bad 
 luck, to say nothin' of ingratitude to the blessed Christ, to 
 turn one of His little ones away, and it the holy Christ- 
 mas eve.' 
 
 " ' What the devil can I do else ? ' snapped the Colonel. 
 ' Can I put five cents in his hand and tell him to go to 
 the next house ? Here, put him to bed and see that he 
 doesn't howl.' 
 
 " ' Howl, is it ? I am only hopin' ye may have as swate 
 a slape. My respects to ye both, gintlemin, and wishin' 
 3'ou a Merry Christmas, and ye' 11 desar\^e it, Kumel, 
 barrin' your talkin' of sendin' the craytureaway, and ye'd 
 not turn out a star\nn' dog,' and the good woman disap- 
 peared with a suspicious moisture in her eyes. 
 
 "The spectacle of utter content exhibited by the dire 
 disturber of our peace as he triumphantly rode off on 
 Mrs. I^ynch's shoulder was too much for even the Colonel's 
 
THE SENIOR captain's STORY. 147 
 
 worriment, and we both laughed heartily ; but with the 
 closing door he turned to me with an expression of hope- 
 less perplexity. ' Nice situation, upon my soul ! When 
 you see the Quartermaster to-morrow, my boy, ask him 
 if he will have a sign painted for my front door, Found- 
 liyig Asylum ! I might as well face the music ; by this 
 time to-morrow the old post gossips will have got the yam 
 in embellished form.' 
 
 " ' Colonel,' said I, ' what is your idea about this? You 
 do not suspect a trick, do you ? ' 
 
 "'No,' he said, emphatically; 'not in the way of a 
 joke. We have our fair allowance of fools, but I think 
 not any absolute curs ; beside, what woman would lend a 
 child for such a purpose ? There is no hope of any 
 such solution. Some one was watching Mrs. Lynch 
 through the window and slipped in as soon as she left the 
 room. You see it opens into that short passage with a 
 door leading to the garden. I am afraid it is a Booties' 
 baby business, and yet I do not think I have made any 
 enemy sufficiently clever to devise such a revenge.' 
 
 ' ' ' More likely,' I said, ' that some one, knowing that yow. 
 have a woman's heart under your bear's hide, has simply 
 put on you the onus of turning out a child that thej' were 
 unable or unwilling to provide for. ' 
 
 " ' Yes, possibly some poor devil on the verge of star\'a- 
 tion. Well ! I suppose I must keep it until I find its 
 owner. ' 
 
 " ' Good-night, old man,' I replied. ' I wish 3'ou suc- 
 cess in your new role — ^Japhet in search of a father or mo- 
 ther, you are not particular which. At any rate 3'ou 
 have a new interest in life, and I am almost tempted to 
 hope that the mystery may never be cleared up. It would 
 be so delightful to see your acceptance of the duties and 
 responsibilities of matrimony. You are atoning nobly 
 
148 THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 for the crime of abusing it. Good-night, papa! good- 
 night and a Merry Christmas to the whole family. I'll 
 look in to-morrow morning.' Then I left abruptly, for, 
 there were fire-shovels, canes, pokers and umbrellas un- 
 pleasantly handy for missile weapons. 
 
 ' ' Christmas morning came cold and clear, as it only 
 comes on the great plains ; so still that nature seemed to 
 have stopped breathing. Smoke floated up in a tall, ver- 
 tical column till it blended with the clear blue, and the 
 monotonous outlines of a woodless country assumed purity 
 and beauty veiled in maiden white. As one officer after 
 another emerged, hearty greetings and merry laughter 
 rang upon the frosty air, the only Christmas bells in that 
 distant region. About eleven o'clock I went to Colonel 
 Hume's quarters. Mrs. Lynch, rustling in the stiff dig- 
 nity of her Christmas gown, opened the door and ushered 
 me at once into the presence of His Majesty, who was en- 
 throned upon the kitchen table, where he could oversee 
 his realm, while his obedient hand-maiden cooked the 
 Colonel's Christmas turkey. In the corner was a branch 
 from one of- the few stunted evergreens which grew upon 
 the reservation, set in a tub of sand and ashes and hung 
 with gay-colored glass balls and strings of rock candy. 
 The little fellow was literally smothered in drums and 
 horses and woolly dogs, from the midst of which he crowed 
 delightedly. It was evident that Mrs. Lynch had sacked 
 the sutler's store at an early hour. I am almost ashamed 
 to say how much I was moved at the sight of this little 
 waif brought in from cold and hunger to the warmth and 
 welcome of a motherly heart, and I thought : ' Inasmuch 
 as ye have done it unto one of the least of these." Alas ! 
 the spirit of unrest and grasping ambition had entered 
 the infantile Paradise. In one of his frantic grabs at a 
 woolly dog, with evident intention of sucking the paint 
 
THE SENIOR captain's STORY. 149 
 
 off, he grasped his own toe, and, utterly unmindful of 
 feasible joys, he devoted every faculty to the task of get- 
 ting it into his mouth, with the result of rolling over, to 
 the injury of the dog, and at imminent risk of falling off 
 the table. A scream, a frantic rush, and the squirming 
 mass of baby and toe was rescued from its perilous posi- 
 tion. After duly praising and patting the prodigy I went 
 in search of the Colonel, pondering much over the dia- 
 monds in rough of some natures and the delicacy and 
 poetr}- inherent in the Irish heart. 
 
 "As it was about 12 o'clock, I bent my steps to the 
 mess, for I knew that there was high carnival there- As 
 I entered, bursts of laughter punctuated a story which 
 some one was telling. I found all the mess gathered 
 round the Colonel, and I concluded that he had taken the 
 bull by the horns and was telling the story on him- 
 self. 
 
 " On the table, in the centre of the room, stood a great 
 bowl of steaming apple-toddy of true Virginia make and 
 flavor, for had not one of the longest-legged sons of the 
 old Dominion that ever bestrode a calvar>'-horse mingled 
 the ingredients with loving care ? On a smaller table at 
 one side stood a glass bowl containing an insinuating and 
 deadly punch, the work of a scion of innumerable Knick- 
 erbockers, who brought to this far-off wilderness a flavor 
 of Rockaway and Tuxedo, our swell par-excellence Lieu- 
 tenant Cortlandt, the adjutant of the post. The Colonel 
 nodded pleasantly to me, and went on with his story : 
 'Where was I? oh, yes, T was just at the climax. The 
 old woman dragged us into the bedroom to see the pres- 
 ent ; and what do you suppose we found ? ' here he made 
 the usual dramatic pause. 
 
 " ' If the women on the post knew you as well as we 
 do,' drawled Brokenborough, the tall Virginian, in his 
 
150 TIIK colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 musical vernacular, ' j-ou found a five-gallon jug of good 
 whiskey.' 
 
 " 'To tell you the truth,' said the Colonel, ' that was 
 what I rather expected to find, but when we entered the 
 room we were partially blinded by the combined effect of 
 wax candles and the loveliest coverlid you ever laid eyes 
 on.' 
 
 " 'Kind that you win at a charity bazar and give it 
 b-back to be p-put up next night,' suggested Cortlandt. 
 
 " ' Nothing of the sort,' said the Colonel ; 'something 
 that such a graceless scamp as you need never hope to 
 attain. Well, as soon as our eyes became accustomed to 
 this blaze of glory, we noticed something wiggling in 
 the middle of the coverlid, and as I live it was neither 
 more nor less than a real, live, kicking baby.' 
 " ' Great Scott ! ' shouted the club in Gilbertian chorus. 
 
 " 'I pitched into the old woman, and she swore there 
 was nothing on the bed but the quilt when she left the 
 room to call me in and show me the present, and I do be- 
 lieve that to this moment she thinks it came from above. 
 I ordered her to throw it out of the window, but Bridget 
 and my friend, here the Captain, begged so hard for the 
 kid that I consented to give it a night's lodging.' 
 
 " ' You old dog in the manger,' I retorted, ' you felt that 
 it was nothing on earth but poetic justice overtaking j-ou 
 for the way you've abused men whose happiness 3'ou 
 envied, and you took your medicine like a little man. 
 
 " ' It's well you did, for I've just come from j^our quar- 
 ters, and if anj'body on this earth can truly sing "I'm 
 monarch of all I surve}^' it's that identical kid. Bridget 
 has it seated on the kitchen-table, with the whole contents 
 of the sutler's store spread around it, and a brilliantly- 
 decorated Christmas-tree in the ash can in one corner. 
 She stops basting the turkey to kiss the baby, and I am 
 
THE SENIOR CAPTAIN'S STORY. 151 
 
 afraid you will have under-done turkey and over-done 
 baby for dinner. 
 
 " The club laughed with evident enjoyment of the Col- 
 onel's discomfiture. 
 
 Brokenborough said, ' If you don't want him, Colonel, 
 you can turn him over to the base-ball club for a mascot.' 
 
 ' Give him to me,' said Courtland ; ' I'll make at-tiger 
 of him one of these days. ' ' 
 
 " ' Gentlemen, said old Paddy Byrne, the joUiest Irish- 
 man in the ser\'ice, ' 5'ou' re treating this event with undue 
 Ievit>'. It's a momentous step in the career of my distin- 
 guished friend, and there's fine precedents for it. Didn't 
 the Emperor Napoleon, when he was just as good as a bach- 
 elor, adopt Prince Eugene? I'm sincerely glad that this 
 Maverick has turned up to occupy a corner in the heart 
 that's intirely too large for the proprietor all by himself. 
 May it grow up to be the prop of his declining years. 
 Gentlemen, we drink the health of Colonel Hume and his 
 adopted son.' 
 
 "After this the fun became general and the Colonel 
 was given a respite. 
 
 " ' Come,' he said, taking me by the arm, ' let us go to 
 the house and see if there's any prospect of solving this 
 mystery.' 
 
 "When we reached the door, Mrs. Lynch rushed out 
 to meet us. ' Oh, Kurnel !' she fairly screamed, ' I've 
 found her !' 
 
 " 'The devil you have !' he replied. 'Twin sister, I 
 suppose. With your peculiar talent for finding babies, 
 Bridget, the whole family will be here before morning. 
 The fellow who takes rabbits out of his hat was a duffer to 
 you ; how do you manage it ?' 
 
 " ' How you will be talkin', sor ; I mane the mother, 
 and a fine, dacint woman she is, and she was starvin', and 
 
152 THE colonel's chrlstmas dinner. 
 
 she could get a place barriu' that she had the hdhy, and 
 so ' 
 
 " 'Well, well, come in and finish your story ; it is too 
 cold to be standing outside,' and he led her to the warmth 
 and comfort of the hbrarj'. ' Now, tell us how you found 
 her, what she has to say for herself, and why she brought 
 it here.' 
 
 " ' Well, sor, ye know I'd not be likin' to lave it long 
 for fear of itshurtin' itself, but I just stepped across the 
 way to Mrs. Redmond's to borrow from the cook a little 
 spice for me puddin'. Whin I come back, there was this 
 young woman down on her knees sobbin' over the baby 
 and smudderin' it wid kisses, and talkin' wild like, and 
 callin' down all the blessin's of heavin on thim that had 
 tuk pitty on her baby, and threated it like it was their own. ' 
 
 " ' I see it all, Bridget ; you need tell me no more. You 
 got up and looked at each other and then fell to hugging 
 the bab5^' 
 
 " 'Not at all, sor ; I was for orderin' her out o' the 
 house, but she stud up on her feet and looked me in the 
 face, and there was somethin' about her, sor, — not that she 
 was well dressed, but somethin' — you'll understand, sor, 
 — that told me she had seen better daj^s. ' 
 
 " ' I would like to see her,' said the Colonel. ' Can't 
 you get her to come in and tell me her story ?' 
 
 " ' I'm afraid, sor, that it'll frighten her away, and if 
 she goes off in this bither cold weather, she will be dead 
 before momin' — she's that wake and miserable.' 
 
 " ' Bless my soul ! ' exclaimed the Colonel ; ' I must go 
 and see her. Go ahead, Bridget ; but I am afraid it is 
 too late ; she must have heard us talking.' 
 
 " ' Niver you mind that, sor. I slipped the key in me 
 pocket, whin I came in the house, and she'll not get out 
 of the window, and she barely able to stand.' 
 
 "The Colonel followed Bridget, but as he approached 
 
THE SENIOR CAPTAIN'S STORY. 153 
 
 I heard a faint scream, and a woman dashed past him, 
 evidently making for the front door. Seeing me, she 
 stopped with the helpless look of a hunted animal, her 
 feet seemed to give way, and she fell into the nearest chair 
 and endeavoring to hide her face. The glimpse I had 
 showed a figure tall and well made, but painfully thin. 
 Her face, when ^hef ally raised it — well, I can't describe 
 a woman, but if any of you have ever seen the Beatrice, 
 — I don't mean the smiling damsel of the copies, who 
 has put on a coquettish turban for a masquerade, but the 
 soul-haunting picture of Guido— that face in which grief 
 has crushed out the beauty — you can fancy what she 
 looked like. The Colonel came in, evidently at his wits' 
 end, but when he saw that face the grand old fellow^ 
 showed of what stuff he was made. I wish some of the 
 women who think him only a bear could have seen him. 
 He spoke to her as gently as if she had been his own 
 daughter, come home after long and wear\' wanderings ; 
 and as she looked up at him, she seemed to read the 
 true goodness and tenderness of his heart, for she made 
 an effort to rise and speak. But he laid a kind hand upon 
 her, saying, ' Why do you wish to run away from us ? 
 We are your friends here. Come, tell me all about your- 
 self, and how you came to be in such trouble. Bridget 
 bring a glass of wine and biscuit,' and w^heeling her chair 
 up to the fire, he made her drink the wine ; then placing 
 himself beside her, he waited patiently till she had 
 strength to speak. 
 
 " 'Oh, sir,' she said, raising her tearful eyes to him, 
 ' what can I say, to thank j'ou and bless you for your 
 goodness i I had only meant to steal in and give my poor 
 baby one last kiss ; but the sight of his happiness, and all 
 that this good woman had done for him, overcame me 
 entirely, for, as you see, I am not very strong. 
 
154 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 " ' I had lost my husband, I was without a cent, and I 
 could get no work, burdened with the }Oung child. No 
 one wants a woman with a baby. In my distress, not 
 knowing where to tuni, I remembered my mother's 
 words : ' If you ever need a friend go to Colonel Hunie, 
 tell him frankly whose daughter you are, and though I 
 wronged him bitterlj', he loved me as only such men can 
 love, and will cherish no unkindness to the dead. ' 
 
 " ' Then you are poor Mary's daughter.' The old Col- 
 onel's lip trembled, and he took the poor, thin hand in his 
 and lifted it reverentially to his lips. * My dear, ' he said, 
 ' I never loved but one woman, and her daughter cannot 
 want a home or friend while I live — and who was j^our 
 husband ? ' 
 
 " ' I married against my parents' will, and a short time 
 after my father had money troubles, his health gave waj', 
 he died and we were left penniless. My mother did not 
 long sur\'ive him, and after her death my husband was 
 more and more unfortunate, and in his misery he sought 
 the worst of all consolations ; one thin.g after another was 
 sold or pawned, until nothing was left. He finally en- 
 listed, and died soon after he got to this post. I have 
 some skill as an artist, and managed to get together 
 enough to come to him when I heard of his illness. He 
 died before I reached here. The rest you know. Can 
 5'ou forgive the mad step I took, and think of me as a 
 w^oman who had but one ray of hope on earth and blindly 
 followed it ? ' 
 
 " ' Your husband enlisted as a private in the — th ; and 
 what was his name ? ' asked the Colonel. 
 
 "She answered, with evident reluctance: 'Arthur 
 Hume.' 
 
 * ' ' Great Heavens ! my unfortunate nephew ! ' 
 
 ** ' I know how badly you thought of him,' she pleaded, 
 
THE SENIOR captain's STORY. 155 
 
 ' but indeed he was uever unkind to me when he was 
 sober. ' 
 
 " Poor girl, what a pitiful revelation lay beneath those 
 words ! 
 
 " 'I'll say nothing hard of him now,' said the Colonel 
 gently, ' but I will hope, Marie, that your boy may fill in 
 both of our hearts the place of those we have loved and 
 lost.' 
 
 " At this moment Mrs. Lynch re-entered, bearing the 
 bab}' in her arms. Marie rose and clasped him tightly 
 to her breast. 
 
 " ' Never more to part, dear little one,' she said ; ' we 
 have found some one to love us.' 
 
 " ' Yes, my dear niece,' replied the Colonel, ' this must 
 be your home alwa5'S. ' 
 
 " ' Oh, uncle, that would be too much of a burden for 
 3'ou, a baby in the house. We will live near you, and I 
 can work.' 
 
 " ' No, no, my dear,' said Colonel Hume, stroking the 
 baby's cheek ; ' you gave him to nie and you cannot take 
 him back. This little child has brought again to me the 
 happy days of youth and love. He has found his wa}^ to 
 my old heart, and it shall be his as long as I live. Cap- 
 tain, bring your good wife over this evening, and we will 
 have a happj' Christmas, and 3'ou shall see how diligently 
 the old bachelor will make up for all the years of happi- 
 ness he has lost.' " 
 
 And then, with the " sma' hours " beginning to grow 
 anything but wee, the tireless party turned on the sol- 
 dier who sat at the place of honor at the right of the 
 Colonel's wife. No one could think of going home 
 without a story from his lips. He had told not a few, 
 but each was fresh, new, quainter even than its prede- 
 cessor, full of the oddest, brightest thoughts and sim- 
 
150 THE coLoxia's ciiristmas dinner. 
 
 iles, Inibbling over with a humor inexhaustible as the 
 famous spring of Rhenish Prussia, and to the full as 
 cool and sparkling. It was useless for him to beg oflf. 
 He might have known they would not go without 
 
 THE COLONEL'S STORY; OR, ORRIKER'S EARRINGS. 
 
 ' ' Probabl}' none of you ever met Lieutenant Orriker ? 
 I believe he was before your time. ' ' 
 
 " Never heard of him, Colonel." 
 
 This was said by the Assistant Post-Surgeon, in whose 
 direction the Colonel happened to be looking. Then 
 recollecting he was in his first year of service, the Assist- 
 ant blushed violently and resolved he would not be be- 
 trayed into another word no matter what turned up. 
 
 "Well, Orriker resigned years ago. He was an old 
 crony of mine, and what I am going to tell you is a bit of 
 genuine history." 
 
 Between ourselves, the incident was entirely of home 
 production, but a modest man talks more freely about 
 his neighbors than himself, so the Colonel took refuge 
 behind a personality only to be found in very old army 
 recollections. 
 
 Just here, however, the Colonel's wife, wdio wore a light 
 scarf upon her shoulders, folded this rather hastily over 
 her head, and the Quartermaster, who knew something 
 of drafts, got up and closed the door behind the madam, 
 for which he was rewarded with a smile that had in it, he 
 thought, as much amusement as thanks. And the As- 
 sistant-Surgeon looked grimly on and said to himself, 
 " Ah, ha ! she is a bit of a coquette still." 
 
 This little confusion over, the Colonel began : 
 
 ' ' It certainly was a singular ornament that attracted 
 
THE colonel's STORY. 157 
 
 the attention of Lieutenant Orriker as he passed the win- 
 dow — only a pair of earrings — but of such a curious make 
 that another look was inevitable, and then another, until 
 the conviction arose that those earrings were of no com- 
 mon origin or associations, 
 
 ' ' The pen that Tennyson uses, or the telescope that 
 Wellington held, may readily be supposed to acquire 
 some subtile atmosphere of their own that could strengthen 
 the poet's or the soldier's eye and help him to visions and 
 combinations beyond ordinary reach ; nor was the savage 
 altogether wrong who desired to dine on his rival's heart 
 in order that he. might secure some portion of his rival's 
 courage. 
 
 "So in the sparkle of these earrings the Lieutenant 
 seemed to see, as in a magic glass, the graceful forms and 
 draperies of foreign lands moving to strange melodies, 
 and even to him out there on the street came a faint fra- 
 grance of incense and spices that belonged rather to Ara- 
 bian than New England nights. 
 
 "In his walk the next morning he suddenly found 
 himself looking into the window as before, but the ear- 
 rings were gone, and he began to realize what an impres- 
 sion they had made, and how much he wanted them. 
 
 ' ' For he had found out that a certain birthday was not 
 far off which called for agreeable notice, and where selec- 
 tion was difl&cult it was wise to begin early. 
 
 " Nothing declared itself that had a tithe of the fascina- 
 tion of those earrings, and apparently he had lost them 
 by his delay. 
 
 ' ' A day or two passed, and again the Lieutenant stood 
 at the window, and there they were in the comer, half 
 covered by newer and far more conventional jewelry. The 
 opportunity, so strangely recovered, as the Lieutenant 
 thought, was not to be resisted, and they were secured, 
 
158 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 notwithstanding what looked like reluctance on the part 
 of the salesman to let them go. 
 
 " The conversation brought out a fear that they would 
 not be likely to suit, ' they were very old-fashioned,' etc., 
 etc., and the inference was permitted that they were 
 no part of the stock imported from the metropolis to 
 do credit to modern taste, but a parcel left for disposal 
 that had become necessary, rather than coveted. 
 
 "Truly they resembled all choice works of nature or 
 of art in that the longer you looked at them the larger 
 they grew, reaching out into the unlimited and ineffa- 
 ble, as if the matter ordinarily there was only a part of 
 finer existences, ever declaring themselves in wholes 
 more and more complete. 
 
 "We have been told, on very good authority, to go to 
 the ant, learn of her and be wise, wisdom evidently per- 
 taining to the female in case of this particular insect. But 
 the ant lays up a good deal she does not need, and men 
 are just as foolish. 
 
 " The earrings had been gained, the birthda}^ came, but 
 love's 3'oung dream had dissolved and left no use for the 
 trinket, which catastrophe belongeth not to this story-. 
 
 "Suffice it to say that the earrings w^ere temporarily 
 loaned to a S5'mpathizing cousin, who was to take care of 
 them till wanted, if, in the future, another vision should 
 materialize and remain constant long enough for a birth- 
 day to put in an appearance." 
 
 Here the Colonel's wife filled up his glass as a deli- 
 cate intimation that he was getting too morose for a 
 mixed audience. 
 
 "Thank you, my dear," said the Colonel; "I was a 
 little melancholy, thinking of poor Orriker." Then the 
 Colonel went on : " Coming home from church one da}-. 
 Cousin Cornelia, to her horror, discovered that one ear- 
 
THE colonel's story. 159 
 
 ring was missing. Oh, it was in the bonnet — it may be 
 on the table — it might have been dropped in the hall — it 
 could have fallen by the steps —it must be in the pew — 
 certainly. 
 
 " But the search, notwithstanding its thoroughness 
 deserved success, was unavailing, which was quite vexa- 
 tious, for Cousin Orriker really seemed in a fair way to 
 find further use for his investment. 
 
 "When told of the loss, he determined to recover the 
 earring, being one of those men who only get inter- 
 ested in impossibilities, he hunted sidewalk, street and 
 aisle, the search becoming occupation for any odd mo- 
 ment left over from guard-mounting and drill, which, in 
 those days, as later, formed the whole duty of the sub- 
 altern. 
 
 " But the earring remained a mystery, like the tomb of 
 Moses, till some time afterwards the lyieutenant found 
 himself on the ferry-boat, thinking of the Seminole war 
 and looking at a lady. Although she was not exactly 
 opposite him, yet his eye traveled back to her with a per- 
 tinacity that was annoying, and not to be accounted for by 
 anything peculiar in ribbons or complexion, when at last 
 he actually caught a glimpse of the earring upon her 
 bosom. 
 
 " It was a delicate matter to pursue, and he was re- 
 duced to such investigation as he could make in a tour of 
 the cabin, up and down, with his discovery as the objec- 
 tive-point. 
 
 " Sure enough, there it was,— a gold sphere, swinging 
 in a crescent, with a tiny gold star as pendant, and the 
 curious inlaid arabesque along both crescent and sphere, 
 dotted with ruby and diamond-dust. 
 
 " But it was mounted as the head of a shawl-pin, and 
 that, apparently, was its original shape. 
 
160 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 " Orriker determined to locate the bearer, but she went 
 to the railway-rooms and passed the gate at once to the 
 cars. 
 
 "The Lieutenant gallantly cut his military duties for 
 that afternoon, bought a ticket, as soon as he could, for 
 the nearest outside station on a venture. He was barely 
 in time for a train which he searched closely without 
 flushing his game, and upon inquiry learned that an 
 ' express ' preceded the ' local ' by a- minute or so, mak- 
 ing its first stop too far out to admit of further pur- 
 suit. 
 
 "He had the pleasure of a wait-over at East Essex 
 three hours or so for the down train, and did not improve 
 the opportunity by any exhaustive study of the adver- 
 tisement-boards, like the traveler way-bound at Didcot 
 Junction, who, it will be remembered, became so inter- 
 ested in the etymological possibilities of Edward Chap- 
 man Allington, and developed therefrom a long chroni- 
 cle of English history, as my audience under like cir- 
 cumstances are earnestly advised to do. 
 
 "The Lieutenant had some trouble in making his 
 peace with the post commander, to whom he had been 
 reported absent, and who, he felt, was too old a soldier 
 to take any stock in argonaut expeditions in these days 
 of schedules and clocks and subsidy steamers. He con- 
 cluded to take the matter up logically. His adventure 
 began with the . i p.m. ferry-boat. The lady evi- 
 dently was traveling on a season ticket ; a reason for 
 taking the 2 p.m. train on one Wednesday might hold 
 good for another. He wpuld be on hand accordingly. 
 
 "So he was often, and with no reward. Looking up, 
 however, from a brown study at a sudden stop of the 
 street-car one morning, there, right beside him, he saw 
 again the sparkle of the earring. 
 
THE colonel's STORY. • 161 
 
 "At least SO it seemed. Sphere, crescent, star, scroll 
 and all were visible enough, but unfortunately on the 
 bosom of a very different woman. He had made no cata- 
 logue of the features of the first, but certainly she was a 
 Saxon, while his present neighbor as certainly belonged 
 to the order of the olive. It seemed useless to follow up 
 the clue. There must be many individual ornaments of 
 the same type and he had the proof of it before him. 
 
 " So the Lieutenant took himself to the oldest jewelry 
 establishment ^4 thin his reach, left the odd earring to be 
 made into a charm for his watch-chain and encouraged 
 conversation on the subject. Mr. Goldsmith examined 
 the specimen closely and became very much interested in 
 it, pronounced it unique and said nothing of the sort had 
 been on the market within his recollection ; that, in fact, 
 it was totally opposed to current styles and properly be- 
 longed, not to a modern ear, but to the Museum. 
 
 "In this conclusion the Lieutenant recognized the 
 trade-mark and resolved to get back his earring if it took 
 him to Africa. He would put the quest on as high a 
 footing as the San Grael itself and prosecute it in single- 
 ness of heart without a thought of tactics, Tampa Bay or 
 trial bj' court-martial. 
 
 ' ' Ever>' Wednesday afternoon found him at the depot 
 with a fixed purpose to follow, though 
 
 " ' His path was rugged and sore, 
 Through tangled juniper, beds of reeds, 
 Through many a fen where the serpent feeds, 
 And man never trod before.' 
 
 "But it was a waste of time. His ticket for East Es- 
 sex, good until used, was as unprofitable an investment 
 as Lamon's ' Life of Lincoln ' or the ' Military Encyclo- 
 pedia.' 
 
162 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 ' ' It came to pass, however, that the Lieutenant, in 
 walking up Willington Street some days afterwards, met 
 an open gate which he kicked to rather unceremoniously- 
 just as an elderly lady appeared on the steps beyond and 
 started down the walk. She seemed quite feeble, and the 
 Lieutenant, afraid that, in his violence, he had thrust the 
 gate over its natural limit, pulled it back again with con- 
 siderable trouble. He had not, therefore, noticed that 
 meantime she had been joined by a much younger person 
 until, as they passed out together, suddenly the shawl- 
 pin flashed into view in the dress of the latter, but as- 
 suredly under a face that he had never yet seen. 
 
 "Now some faces grow upon you like the contents of 
 a walnut, which are the reward only of the most search- 
 ing examination. And some faces show all they have at 
 once, like a bunch of grapes, and some resemble persim- 
 mons, that are never sweet until after a touch of frost, and 
 give as little promise in the beginning of the result as a 
 California nugget offers of one of Cellini's medallions. 
 
 " Orriker was getting to be quite a connoisseur in phys- 
 iognomy, and his interest in the shawl-pin was almost 
 eclipsed by his sudden wonder who could own those eyes, 
 
 " ' Darker than the depth 
 Of water stilled at even.' 
 
 " This appearance, too, of no less than three shawl-pins, 
 all of them composed apparently of the lost ear-ring, could 
 onl}^ suggest to the baffled Lieutenant uneasy suspicions 
 of monomania. Was it not really getting to be the case 
 that he was projecting an ideal object of search into an 
 objective existence upon the bosom of every lady that he 
 met? 
 
 ' ' Not a little stunned by this last encounter and re- 
 volving the problem of entire ownership of his wits, he 
 
THE colonel's STORY. 1G3 
 
 had gone some distance before he recollected that it might 
 be useful to mark down the localitj- of this last surprise. 
 
 " He turned back and was confronted b}' a new puzzle. 
 There were no less than three houses all with like fronts, 
 like paths and like gates on the same side of the street, 
 and lyieutenant Orriker, more than ever convinced that 
 for him all roads were leading to Bloomingdale, went 
 home to get among friends and prepare for the worst. 
 
 "By a night's sleep he was greath^ refreshed and a 
 thorough wigging he received from his captain for failure 
 to sign up the clothing-book gave him much comfort. 
 He was enabled to orient himself and get a sure hold upon 
 his identity-. 
 
 ' ' He proceeded to distribute a score or so of autographs 
 over the company records with as much self-reliance as 
 ' Charles Carroll of Carrollton ' felt when he signed an 
 earlier and quite as valuable a document. Satisfied then 
 that life was not an illusion nor his sanity a dream in 
 spite of the three shawl-pins, he went into the necessan^'- 
 inquiries as to the occupants of Willington Street, but 
 only to be persuaded that the two ladies he had met bore 
 no relation to any of the houses in question except that 
 of visitors. 
 
 "Nothing that answered his description of the pair 
 could be developed as properh- belonging to that neigh- 
 borhood. Perhaps he was too oblivious of the fact that 
 beauty, like the prophets, is without honor in its own 
 countr>% and that everybody makes for himself his rain- 
 bows, and beaux yeiix as well. 
 
 " But during the campaign he one day stepped into the 
 locai Dorian's to get something to eat. L,ooking about in 
 the unpleasant quarter-of-an-hour that preludes the com- 
 position of your order, he suddenly lost all appetite in the 
 endeavor to comprehend that but a few feet from him 
 
1C4 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 were seated all three of the Graces. The longer he looked 
 the more certain he was, not only of t he passenger on the 
 ferry-boat, but also of his neighbor in the street-car, and, 
 above all, the angel by the gate. 
 
 ' ' Here they were seated at the same table, finishing their 
 lunch, but apparently in no hurry. Devoutly did the 
 Lieutenant pray for haste in his own case, and delay in 
 theirs, like the parishioners on opposite sides of the county 
 who wanted rain and dry weather in the same week. 
 
 " Finally they gathered up their gloves and wrappings 
 and a few minor parcels, and it then became evident that 
 one thing was lacking— truly the key to the whole posi- 
 tion. Nowhere was visible the shawl-pin — not a trace of 
 it on the person of any of the three. 
 
 ' ' Nevertheless, he was sure of the faces, and as they 
 got up to go, the Lieutenant bolted from the premises and 
 awaited them at the curb. 
 
 "Just then the waiter appeared with an anxious face, 
 somewhat relieved at sight of his customer, who was do- 
 ing considerable thinking to the minute. 
 
 " His first impulse was to toss the boy a dollar under 
 plea of a forgotten engagement. But in that view of the 
 case it was impossible to wait upon the convenience of the 
 ladies, who were leisurely talking to one another, as those 
 who had the whole day before them. 
 
 " Orriker nodded to John, and said : ' All right, I'll be 
 there in a moment ;' but John seemed suspicious, and 
 remained on guard ready for emergencies. The situation 
 was getting to be noticeable and had to be terminated. 
 Clearly he had no warrant for introducing himself. 
 American etiquette, though without its Brummell or 
 court-guide, does not permit a gentleman to accost a 
 group of girls, simpl}' because of 
 
 " ' Eyes that do mislead the mom,' 
 
THE colonel's STORY. 165 
 
 or inferences based upon the supposed possession of curious 
 jewelr}'. 
 
 ' ' The ladies passed out of sight round the comer, and 
 the Lieutenant went back to his chops and tomato sauce. 
 
 " Making his way to the table previously occupied by 
 the three fair strangers, and, astonished to find that 
 instead of marble, it was the plainest of pine, now they 
 had gone, he saw on one of the chairs a small parcel, 
 which he picked up and again rushed to the street, while 
 the v/aiter, turning in time to see this second hegira, fol- 
 lowed him with a frantic * Hold on, there !' that brought 
 matters to a crisis. 
 
 "To make a first appearance in the highest circles of 
 society as a fugitive from culinary complications, enforced 
 by an irate youth in a white apron, was not to be endured. 
 
 ' ' The Lieutenant pocketed for the present both parcel 
 and affront, brought back to his lunch the absent air of a 
 man much pre-occupied by business engagements, hung 
 up his hat with great deliberation and enlarged his order 
 to include a dessert and a pint of champagne, in order that 
 the establishment might be properlj- impressed with the 
 ways usual to him when he had time to spare. 
 
 " In fact he devoted the next hour in toying with his 
 meat and sipping the cider. Then he handed the waiter 
 a three-dollar bill, ignored the change as proof that he 
 owned more money than he knew what to do with, and 
 departed, having only succeeded in convincing the pro- 
 prietor of this particular resort that he was a man to be 
 kept under the closest obser\'ation hereafter. 
 
 " ATcanwhile the ladies had resumed their shopping. 
 As a matter of course, a soda-water fountain came in their 
 way, and there being an hour still to wait, they decided 
 to spend it in a photograph-galler^'. so reaching the rail- 
 road-station just in time for the 4 o'clock express. 
 
166 THE colonel's Christmas dinner. 
 
 "But now the loss of the parcel was first discovered, 
 with mutual exclamations of surprise and alarm. Each 
 was sure the other had it, and there was the familiar search 
 of pockets and reticules. ' Oh ! here it is ! — no — I remem- 
 ber now— this is it — where can it be ?' 
 
 " Train or parcel, which ? The result was, apparently, 
 a change of programme — Miss Louise to go to the gallery, 
 Miss Mary to the soda-water man, and Miss Jane to the 
 store, all to meet at the lunch-rooms, as they all duly did, 
 with no success. 
 
 ' 'After a brief discussion the proprietor and his assistant, 
 recollecting all that happened, declared their belief that 
 the young fellow with the three-dollar bill and the new 
 moustache was responsible for the trouble, on the satisfac- 
 tory- ground that if two odd things occur in the course of 
 an hour, one must be the cause of the other. 
 
 " Now follows a strange thing. Lieutenant Orriker had 
 been looking for an earring, and in a few days had found 
 at least three ; but here were six people hunting one an- 
 other : the waiter and Dorlon after the 5^oung fellow with 
 the new moustache ; the ladies carefully scrutinizing 
 everj^ wearer of that appendage, and Orriker himself 
 patiently devoting his leisure to the pursuit of the pretty 
 girl with the blue eyes, the beautiful girl with the black 
 eyes and that rare epitome of ever)'thing lovely, with 
 eyes that beggared Solomon's Song, deeper than the 
 speculations of Plato, darker than the iambics of Ly- 
 cophron, sweeter than the strains of the great god Pan, 
 when 
 
 " ' The sun on the hill forgot to die 
 
 And the lilies revived, and the dragon-fly 
 Came back to dream on the river/ 
 
 and all in vain, 
 
 "The Lieutenant had \'isited the railway station, 
 
THE colonel's STORY. 167 
 
 coming, of course, bj- one door as the girls left by the 
 other. Soda water and photographs were peculiarities of 
 feminine interest that had so far escaped his analysis, 
 and as for the lunch-rooms, he was creditably fighting 
 the doubt whether he could ever redeem his self-respect 
 without cuffing that waiter into some appreciation of 
 what a United States Anny officer really was. 
 
 ' ' But the astonishment of the Lieutenant may be im- 
 agined when, on opening the parcel, he found — the shawl- 
 pin itself ! 
 
 " It was, in every particular, the duplicate of the ear- 
 ring now swinging upon his watch-chain, and had evi- 
 dently been modified from its original purpose to use as 
 a pin, with slight additions, that had recently undergone 
 repair. 
 
 "The box into which it had been put bore no name, 
 nor was there any trace of ownership upon the wrapper 
 save a delicate reminiscence of wild-flowers that subse- 
 quently became very familiar to Lieutenant Orriker. ' ' 
 
 It was at this stage of the stor^- that the Adjutant 
 winked at the Quartermaster's wife, who filliped back a 
 crumb of bread with such accuracy that it knocked ofiF 
 the Assistant-Surgeon's eye-glasses, which he duly re- 
 membered in the ver}- next prescription he compounded 
 for that persistent invalid. 
 
 " The discussion over the loss of the parcel," continued 
 the Colonel, "grew very interesting. Miss Mary was 
 confident she had left it on the soda-water counter. Miss 
 Louise recollected seeing it at the photograph galler>^ 
 and Miss Jane knew for a certainty that it was at one 
 time lying by a box of ribbons on the end desk of the 
 store. In fact. Miss Jane as often as once a week there- 
 after made sly visits to the suspected spot, and glared 
 suspiciously at the pale maiden with tan-colored braids 
 
168 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 who was ill charge, but no scarf-pin ever came into 
 view. 
 
 ' ' It might be as well to state that Miss Jane lived in 
 town. Miss Louise resided some distance out on the 
 Manchester and Essex Railroad, at Palafox Park, while 
 Miss Mary belonged to our side of the Potomac, but was 
 visiting now with one and now with another cousin, in- 
 cluding Miss Jane and Louise, and I don't know how 
 many more, for if, with the limited facilities afforded by 
 devotion to business in the North, a Tremont Street man 
 might walk from Boston to Sacramento without finding 
 a relative on the road, a Roanoaker, as the result of the 
 leisure and mint-juleps of the Old Dominion, could take a 
 trip to the Gulf and claim kin on every plantation he 
 crossed. 
 
 " Sure enough, Lieutenant Orriker had found the ear- 
 ring, but no peace of mind came with it. What is sought 
 for ceases to please when secured. But it was those won- 
 derful eyes that turned night into day and made a har- 
 vest moon as dull as a Sundaj'-school library or an after- 
 noon in Alexandria. 
 
 " It so happened that shortly after these events an in- 
 vitation from an adjoining town was extended to the 
 troops at the station of the Lieutenant, to participate in 
 the ceremonies of Inauguration Day, and he himself was 
 included in the detail assigned to this amusement. 
 
 "Beside the ride, it involved some marching and a 
 dinner, as well as opportunity for a ball that was an ir- 
 regular appendix to the main affair, out of deference to 
 the instincts of the rural elector, who drew the line at 
 quadrilles and the waltz, of which he knew little, so as to 
 include negro minstrels, and an occasional circus, where 
 he felt more at home. 
 
 " No wine was on the table — another evidence of the 
 brotherly consideration that regulates the general appetite 
 
THE colonel's STORY. 169 
 
 by individual prejudice, or, in view of the 'moral vote,' 
 sips its champagne in the closet and shuts ofif the beer on 
 the street. 
 
 " Under these circumstances, the inauguration festivi- 
 ties were not especially attractive to the military mind, 
 but were patiently gone through with, like official boards 
 and tooth-pulling, as part of the discipline of life. 
 
 " The chairman of the committee in charge of this par- 
 ticular celebration was, however, something of a soldier 
 himself. His grandfather had serv^ed in the old French 
 war, and the present Major Moody felt the drum and fife 
 throbbing in his own blood, and practiced the manual of 
 arms up in the ancestral garret, as laid down in the tac- 
 tics of 1S12-15, having "first carefully locked the door to 
 prevent any intrusion upon this unhallowed sport. 
 
 ' ' He w^as determined that the army folks who stayed to 
 dinner should understand that he had outgrowm local 
 superstitions, and was posted upon all professional amen- 
 ities ; so, at the close of the parade, he touched the officers 
 upon the shoulder and invited them ' up-stairs. ' 
 
 "One or two more of the chief people, perhaps the 
 most bewilderingly solemn of all that solemn throng, fell 
 out and followed after, and Orriker was rather appalled, 
 expecting to encounter nothing but a corpse somewhere 
 aloft, for there was a tedious journey dowm one hallway 
 and up another, past this corner and that, until they all 
 filed into a spare room in the back attic, and Major Moody 
 reverently lifted a napkin and disclosed half a dozen glasses 
 and three decanters of whisky, brandy and Madeira. 
 
 "'I know something about campaigning,' said the 
 Major, ' and what soldiers want ; just step up, gentlemen, 
 and help yourselves— oh, excuse me, Captain, Lieuten- 
 ant, this is Squire Sanders, one of our old townsmen, and 
 this is neighbor Pulsifer ; now, what will you take ? ' 
 8 
 
170 THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 " ' Thank you, Major,' replied Captain Gilson ; ' I am 
 sorry j'ou should have taken all this trouble ; I never 
 drink anything, but I shall avail myself of your hospital- 
 ity to-day — the wine, if you please — Mr. Orriker, let me 
 help you — Mr. Clute, let me fill your glass.' 
 
 " Now this was a bold stroke on the part of the Cap- 
 tain, who knew that neither of his Lieutenants, if left to 
 themselves, would take a drop ; but he was determined so 
 great an effort to gratify the supposed tastes of strangers 
 in a strange land should not be wholly unrewarded. 
 
 " ' Come, squire, come neighbor Pulsifer, you will join 
 us.' 
 
 "'Why, Moody, ah, I should prefer a little of the 
 brandy, but ' 
 
 " ' We will both take brandy,' interrupted Captain Gil- 
 son, gallantly coming to the rescue and anxious the old 
 gentleman should make the most of so rare a chance, 
 'allow me the pleasure,' and four tumblers were filled 
 with three good fingers of something that had been in 
 the Major's cellar from before the time of Jeflferson's em- 
 bargo ' ' 
 
 "About 1807." murmured the Assistant-Surgeon to 
 himself ; ' ' how nice it would be now ' ' 
 
 " Good, Doctor ; I'm thirsty, too," replied the Colonel, 
 and, in due time, continued — 
 
 ' ' Well — on the return of the Heraclidse, that is, when 
 Orriker went down-stairs, right in the parlor doorway he 
 met the girl that had onl}- blue eyes, beautiful, of 
 course, and easier identified as Miss Jane. 
 
 " He was in his uniform, which would have prevented 
 any recognition by her ; but there were other difficulties. 
 That short mustache which so impressed the waiter, and 
 by which he was handed down in chop-house annals, had 
 been sacrified to a communication from the Post Adjutant, 
 
THE COLONEL'S STORY. 171 
 
 calling his attention to the predecessor of paragraph 
 1662, A. R., and the lyieutenant's face was as smooth as 
 Pope's poetry. 
 
 " ' May I speak to j'ou one moment ? ' said he, with the 
 most academic of bows to Miss Jane ; ' I cannot be mis- 
 taken, I think ; I saw you in company with two ladies at 
 Mr. Pattycake's some time ago. You left there a small 
 parcel, which I found and tried to return, but was unable 
 to discover j-ou.' 
 
 " ' I believe we left a parcel at Mr. Draper's,' said Miss 
 Jane, gracious, but positive, and by no means averse to a 
 discussion of the question with a young man who wore a 
 uniform as though he had never worn anything else, 
 
 " ' Possibly, but I found it at the lunch-rooms, a shawl- 
 pin.' 
 
 " ' Oh ! I am so glad ; we were afraid it was lost.' 
 
 " ' If you will be kind enough to give me your address 
 I will see to its return — I am ver>^ sorry I cannot stay ; 
 my company leaves on the first train ' 
 
 '"And the ball?' 
 
 " ' Oh ! that's for Captain Gilson and Mr. Clute ; they 
 remain.' 
 
 " ' How disagreeable— for you.' 
 
 ' ' ' Never regretted anything more. ' 
 
 " But the Lieutenant went home content. Miss Jane 
 ^;iad told him the shawl-pin wan Miss Mary's. It could 
 be left either in town, at 96 Willington Street, or at Pala- 
 fox Park, where Miss Louise and Miss Mary were stay- 
 ing. In fact, they were all to be together there the next 
 week, and would be glad to see Mr. Orriker should his 
 duties leave him time, as was hardly to be supposed. 
 
 "Mr. Orriker was very decidedly of the opinion that 
 with Palafox Park in prospect, his duties would have to 
 take care of themselves, and so stated, with an emphasis 
 
172 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 that had not been so very visible where Williiigton Street 
 was concerned. 
 
 " It might be as well to note that Miss Jane had views 
 on art that were incompatible with anything more than 
 toleration of young men, except so far as a uniform bright- 
 ened up the landscape and afforded material for effective 
 studies of color. 
 
 "Miss Louise was fond of experimenting with every 
 variety of the animal, just as Majendie likes to devote his 
 leisure to rabbits, and Miss Mary had serious ideas of life 
 and doubted the advisability of marriage with anybody 
 under a bishop. 
 
 ' ' The prospect for Orriker is by no means so roseate as 
 he thinks. 
 
 " However, he appeared at the Park Monday morning, 
 as there was no Sunday train, and Saturday afternoon 
 seemed a little premature." 
 
 *|C *fC *|C 5jC ^ 5|C yfi 5fC ^ ^f> 
 
 The Colonel shoved his chair back from the table. 
 There was a general burst of expostulation, to which that 
 worthy officer listened with an air of placid surprise, but 
 insisted that he had taken the story to the limits of his 
 own knowledge, and that he was opposed to historical 
 fiction, or mixed aliment of all sorts. 
 
 "Why, Colonel," observed the Major, " j-ou remind me 
 of the last war. ' ' 
 
 "Well, Major, you are alwaj^s logical, even in j-our 
 reminiscences; please explain." 
 
 "You started out on a question of search, and you re- 
 tire without any settlement of the issue. ' ' 
 
 " Ladies and gentlemen," replied the Colonel, "I refer 
 everybody to my wife. She knows the sequel better than 
 I do. I cannot express to 3^ou how flattered I am at the 
 interest you apparently feel in Orriker' s earrings. I am 
 
THE colonel's STORY. 173 
 
 going into the library to smoke. Those of you who pre- 
 fer cigars can join me. Those who prefer the storj- will 
 of course remain." 
 
 Now this was cruel, but for the credit of the regiment 
 we are glad to be able to say that the Colonel found the 
 library- by no means crowded. Xot a man budged except 
 the Adjutant, who knew something about the brand of 
 cigar the Colonel used, and would not have postponed 
 the chance of one for Scheherazade herself. 
 
 The madam conceded the Adjutant to the pecularities 
 of his taste and station, and, compelled by the presence of 
 the rest, took up the ston,- : 
 
 ' ' These cousins were all well known to me, and it may 
 relieve your curiosity if I say that Miss Jane abandoned 
 art, at the invitation of a professor of mathematics, who 
 married her, and died after working out the properties of 
 a newly-discovered curve, in an equation eight hundred 
 pages long. 
 
 * ' She subsequentl)' became the wife of a celebrated 
 authority in social statistics, and is now the author of 
 probably the best cook-book written, since it deals with 
 exact quantities, complete rules and ordinar)' material. 
 
 " Miss Louise married a lieutenant in the navy, with a 
 view of having some time to herself while he was occa- 
 sionally earning his three years' sea-pay, and as for Miss 
 Mar>' — her bishop remained behind the ivory gate." 
 
 " /7Z partibus infidel hivi,'" murmured the Doctor. But 
 the madam thought he was dreaming about some pre- 
 scription, and so left him to his scruples and drams. 
 
 "Nevertheless," said she, "Lieutenant Orriker had a 
 very pleasant visit at Palafox Park, judging from the 
 number of times it was repeated. 
 
 " The puzzling manifestations of the lost earring were 
 easily explained, inasmuch as when extended into a shawl- 
 
174 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 pill it became the coinmon property of the three cousins, 
 by whom it was regarded as what is now called a mascot, 
 owing to the myster}- attending its first appearance. 
 
 " It was found one morning at the foot of the stairway, 
 near the shawl-rack and umbrella-stand. 
 
 " Nobody knew anything about it and nothing could be 
 ascertained, so it was finally thought possible it had been 
 introduced into the house by the ghost of Miss Mary's 
 godmother, who had recently died in a far-away land and 
 who was reputed to have had, at least, two weaknesses, 
 a fondness for Miss Mary, and a craze for collecting bijou- 
 terie, pure and undefiled, by the methods and tastes of a 
 commercial and manufacturing age, all of whose work, 
 whether belonging to office or ornament, smacks of 
 petroleum. 
 
 ' ' It was very unpleasant for Mr. Orriker to shatter any 
 of the romantic ideals of Palafox Park, but he submitted 
 to their investigation the charm he wore upon his watch- 
 chain, and it seemed evident enough that it was the dupli- 
 cate of the pin and with it had constituted the purchase 
 formerly made by that gentleman. 
 
 " Nevertheless Aunt Mary — not the cousin, but a name- 
 sake of an older generation — always affirmed that these 
 same earrings had once belonged to the family, and main- 
 tained a silence as to their history that was very provok- 
 ing, but proof to all solicitation. 
 
 ' ' The girls at last admitted that if the dream of the god- 
 mother had to be given up, the Lieutenant would not be 
 an altogether unsatisfactory^ substitute ; but he was re- 
 quired to account for the transfer by any less than super- 
 natural means of the earring from the Barracks on the 
 island to Palafox Park. 
 
 "The Lieutenant undertook the investigation, but re- 
 solved to conduct it after the manner of Penelope, and 
 
THE COLONEL'S STORY. 175 
 
 women generally, who never finish anj'thing in order to 
 always have something to do. 
 
 " He ver>' soon satisfied himself that Cousin Jane had on 
 several occasions visited the island where was located the 
 Church of St. Thomas-by-the-sea. This was quite a 
 notorious institution for a variety of reasons. Its rector 
 was young and handsome ; its patrons, wealthy and gen- 
 erous. The harmonies in colored glass that abounded in 
 its walls, the voices of singing men and singing women, 
 that came down from the galleries above, or stole in upon 
 you through the arches and cloisters below, the decora- 
 tions and the embroidery on the sacred, and the milli- 
 nery and renown on the profane side of the chancel, made 
 one of the most thoroughly picturesque and attractive 
 interiors to be found in the diocese. 
 
 " Perhaps it was not so much a place to tempt a sinful 
 man to pray for mercy as a place of restful repose, where 
 one could recline upon velvet and think of his faith or for- 
 tune, just as predominated the wail of a litany or the 
 voluptuous swell of a hallelujah, 
 
 "Thus it happened that the aspirations of the artist and 
 the taste of the musician found much satisfaction at 
 Saint Thomas-by-the-sea, and so were brought together 
 Cousin Jane and that Cousin Cornelia of previous mention, 
 wholly unknown to and unconscious of one another then, 
 though one chanced to occupy pew 31, and the other pew 
 33, on the Easter Sunday of the year to which this story 
 belongs. 
 
 " This was a mere matter of dates, which the Lieuten- 
 ant quietly established, as well as the further fact that 
 Cousin Mary arrived, as arranged, at Palafox Park on 
 the very Sunday night in question, where she was joined 
 by Cousin Jane, and where, the next morning, the ear- 
 ring was found. 
 
176 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 " But Mr. Orriker afterwards said he saw no reason for 
 obtruding these facts, since, evening after evening, the 
 cousins resolved themselves into a committee of ways and 
 means upon the problem, and always preferred to accept 
 the benevolent interference of the godmother, who was 
 superior to any difficulties of time and space, and had no 
 further use for articles that are no part of spiritual furni- 
 ture. 
 
 " True, the intention was balked of its completeness by 
 the absence of the other ear-ring, but one should not be 
 too avaricious in dealing with the Immortals. Content 
 with what they give is the condition of the process, and 
 the story of the three wishes by which the peasant and 
 his wife found themselves, after all, no better off than 
 before, is a lesson in prayer not to be forgotten. 
 
 " So the girls waited, in the patience of true faith, for 
 the fulfillment of the business, and they were rewarded, 
 even beyond their expectations, and, as is the celestial 
 manner, on a wholly different scale, which is the weak 
 point of the drama of Job, where sheep, oxen, camels, 
 sons and daughters are taken awa}^ to be replaced, ap- 
 parently to the satisfaction of the patriarch, by more 
 sheep, more oxen, more camels, more sons and more 
 daughters. 
 
 " But if James die, doth George replace him ? David 
 knew better when he said, ' Oh, Absalom, my son Absa- 
 lom, would God I had died for thee, oh, Absalom, my 
 son.' 
 
 " The earring then on one side is clearly traced to pew 
 31 and Miss Jane from pew 33 to Palafox Park, where, the 
 same day, the ornament is subsequently found, conveyed 
 thither in some hospitable fold of the wrapping that re- 
 ceived it on its detachment from Cousin Cornelia's ear. 
 " Naturally at this point ends the stor}-." 
 " I have my doubts," said the Major, "about this last 
 
THE colonel's story. 177 
 
 part of the business, the carriage of the earring to Pala- 
 fox Park." 
 
 "Well," replied the madam, "as to the probabilities 
 of that I am willing the}- should be tested by the results 
 of an accident with which you are all familiar. Did you, 
 Major, ever lose a collar-button ? " 
 
 " Certainly — not a week ago." 
 
 ' ' Where did you find it ? " 
 
 " It was — let me see — " Here the Major was suddenly 
 seized with a violent fit of coughing. He was vigorously 
 thumped on the back in that insane way people have 
 when certain something must be done and ignorant of 
 exactly what to do. 
 
 In great seeming distress the Major rushed from the 
 room, and in a few minutes thereafter_could have been 
 seen with the Colonel, still quite red in the face, but re- 
 lieved in mind, and placidly smoking a Reina Victoria. 
 
 "I wonder what did become of the collar-button," 
 muttered the Assistant-Surgeon. 
 
 But nobody ever knew, except the Major's man, who 
 discovered it where it was never designed to be; but, as was 
 said of Vespasian's silver, recovered from a similar local- 
 ity, non olet . 
 
 "Perhaps," interposed the madam, " some other gen- 
 tleman has doubts " 
 
 "Certainly I could have none after my experience," 
 replied one of the younger captains. ' ' I was struggling 
 with my collar-button the other morning when it sud- 
 denly slipped out of my fingers and disappeared. 
 
 " I hunted everj^where, the more earnestly since I had 
 no other, and was dressing against time for the early 
 train to town. At last I had to content myself with a 
 pin, which narrowly missed the jugular, as I wickedly 
 thrust it into my shirt. 
 
178 THK colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 " But that was only a beginning of misery. My foot 
 pained me all day long, and spoilt a trip among the book- 
 stores to which I had been looking forward for a month, 
 and saving up enough for the especial purpose of securing 
 a two volume edition of Gen. Henry I^ee's Memoirs, with 
 notes on the margin, written, as I had reason to suppose, 
 by General Sumter. 
 
 "That evening when I reached home without my 
 prize, which had been disposed of just a moment before 
 I hobbled into the place, I unearthed the missing button 
 from the toe of my boot. 
 
 ' ' I keep a card of them now stuck into the looking- 
 glass." 
 
 "It would seem," added the madam, "that buttons 
 may be as evasive as earrings. ' ' 
 
 " I feel," interrupted one of the senior lieutenants, " I 
 feel as though I ought to contribute a remark or two on 
 this occasion. L,ike the saint who carried his own head, 
 so with the woman who unconsciously became the pos- 
 sessor of her neighbor's earring, it is only the first step 
 that makes the trouble. Once at large, these trinkets are 
 amenable neither to law nor logic. I have my doubts 
 about guardian angels, but am clear as to the exist- 
 ence of imps of depravity charged to try the tempers of 
 men. The toilet and the desk are their favorite fields of 
 operation. Not a pin, for instance, can be found on the 
 cushion, but a trip in bare feet over the floor detects any 
 number of them. 
 
 "A memorandum suddenly disappears that you know 
 you have seen but a moment before. The hunt for it 
 wastes a half-hour, and, after an explosion that gives 
 the devil a safe mortgage upon your soul, behold ! the 
 niemorandum appears right before you, looking more 
 innocent than a rose-bud. 
 
THE colonel's STORY. 179 
 
 "I, too, have a collar-button, onl}- one incident in the 
 histor>' of which I \yI11 give this afternoon. It vanished 
 when under process of adjustment, and there was nothing 
 to do but find it, unless I remained in bed, which was 
 impossible, for it was the last of the month, with mus- 
 ter and inspection pending, as well as a visit to the pay- 
 master and a subsequent lunch with my compadre. 
 
 " I am frequently complimented on my good nature 
 and sagacity, and I felt these were both at stake, and re- 
 solved to be firm and circumspect. The first thing to 
 do was to undress and examine carefully each article of 
 my clothing, which I did, pleasantly humming to myself : 
 ' We may be happy j-et.' 
 
 ' ' It was useless, so I turned to the bed and took off 
 spread, blanket and sheet, and deposited them in the 
 middle of the floor, still continuing the old familiar 
 strain. 
 
 "Then I closely examined the six sides of the mat- 
 tress, not forgetting the comers nor the melody. 
 
 "Giving my attention to the Hghter articles of furni- 
 ture in the vicinity, I piled them up, after examination, 
 upon the mattress. Drawing my sword, I began to rake 
 under the heavier pieces, but I was too tired to sing and 
 out on the parade I could hear muster in progress. 
 
 " My temper threatened to rise, and I felt that I must 
 rely upon bodily exercise to keep down spiritual rebellion, 
 so I struck up, 
 
 " ' Oh, won't it be joyful, joyful, joyful, 
 When we meet to part no more,' 
 
 and commenced to kick the smaller impediments about 
 the room. 
 
 "Just here the door opened and my wife appeared. 
 Edwin, oh, Edwin,' she shrieked, and rushed down- 
 stairs to send for the Doctor. Circumstances seemed to 
 
180 THE colonel's CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 be passing beyond my control. I stuck my sword into 
 the mattress, wrapped myself up in some of the drapery 
 and sat down on the washstand. I ought to state here 
 that I am troubled with //j'/>(?r^5///^^/a, and my wife knew 
 that at this time I was living mainly upon hot water in 
 the morning and sage tea at night. 
 
 " Pretty soon I saw her peering anxiously over the 
 banisters and I remarked in my mildest manner, ' Put- 
 ting aside any incompleteness in the way of wardrobe, 
 my dear Isabella, I may truthfully state that I am glad 
 to see you. ' 
 . " ' Edwin, what is the matter ! ' 
 
 " ' Rest assured I am neither mad nor drunk. I have 
 lost my collar-button, and am trying to find it.' 
 
 "The door-bell rang and m}' wife went down to dispose 
 of the Doctor. She said she had an intermittent head- 
 ache, acute pain at brief intervals over the left eyebrow. 
 The Doctor advised spectacles and diet, with a cessation 
 of all literary labor, which was a shrewd inference on 
 his part, from the contents of the table, consisting of a 
 cook-book, upon— ah — 'How to make bread,' and an 
 order for Lord & Taylor, which the Doctor evidently mis- 
 took for the manuscript of a novel. 
 
 "He promised to send over a lotion for topical applica- 
 tion, which he did, and my wife presented it to the cook, 
 who was always having 'miseries,' and who always felt 
 better after a little medicine. 
 
 "When my wife came back I was putting things to 
 rights. She loaned me her collar-button and I went over 
 to explain my absence to the commanding officer. He 
 was very grave at first, but the moment I mentioned my 
 accident he broke down completely. 'That will do,' 
 said he ; 'don't say any more. I have been there my- 
 self.' 
 
THE colonel's STORY. 181 
 
 " Late the next day, happening to be in the metropo- 
 lis, I felt thirsty and went into Stewart's to get a glass of 
 iced milk. I knew I had some small change in my pocket 
 and pulled out a handful of the contents to get a quarter, 
 and there among keys, dimes and sea-beans — there, con- 
 spicuously on top of ever>'thing, was my collar-button. 
 That is all I have to say.' " 
 
 " Maj- 1 ask a question ?" 
 
 This came from a lieutenant who, by virtue of frequent 
 detail as j udge advocate, had acquired a chronic interrog- 
 ative attitude. 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 ' ' Between the morning of j'our adventure and the time 
 of the iced — milk, had you not changed j'our dress?" 
 
 " Of course." 
 
 ' ' And you have no explanations to offer as to the be- 
 havior of the collar-button in this transfer ?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ; it was maliciously at the bottom of every- 
 thing then." 
 
 * ' One moment, if you please, ' ' said the Assistant-Sur- 
 geon. " If I heard rightly, you mentioned sea beans as 
 part of the produce of your pocket. ' ' 
 
 "I did." 
 
 " I wish I understood why anybody should burden him- 
 self with such things. ' ' 
 
 "As a sure specific against rheumatism." 
 
 " Is it possible you can believe that." 
 
 " All I know is that since I carried them, I have never 
 had an attack." 
 
 But the Assistant was not an adept in cross-examina- 
 tion. 
 
 " Your experience, gentlemen," interposed the madam, 
 "will, I think, convince you that there was nothing im- 
 probable in the undesigned carriage of the ear-rings from 
 St. Thomas-by-the-sea to Palafox Park." 
 
182 THE COLONEL'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. 
 
 The Judge Advocate, whose forehead ran back into his 
 occiput like a glacier bisecting an Alpine slope, still suc- 
 ceeded in maintaining as strong an appearance of judicial 
 dubiety as Lord El don's wig itself. 
 
 Then the Colonel's wife slowly unwound from her head 
 the scarf which at the beginning of our story had attracted 
 the kind inter\'ention of the Quartermaster, and aroused 
 the suspicions of the Assistant-Surgeon. He watched the 
 operation, and thought, "She still has a pretty arm, and 
 likes to show it. ' ' 
 
 But the Judge- Advocate saw something more. Slow- 
 ly he rose and with a profound bow said, " Madam, I, too, 
 am a believer." 
 
 And the Senior Lieutenant cried out, "Why, these 
 are the very earrings themselves." 
 
 And it was so. 
 
 But the Assistant-Surgeon, finding he was equally 
 wrong in both remarks and conjectures, went home and 
 resolved hereafter to secure entire freedom from all emo- 
 tion or desire and spend the rest of his life like the monks 
 of Mount Athos in the search of perfection bj' contem- 
 plating the pit of his stomach. 
 
 " Madam, before we go / would like a little informa- 
 tion on one point." 
 
 This was the Chaplain, who, practiced in thinking 
 by subdivisions up as high as fifteenthly, was better en- 
 abled than most to keep a firm hold upon any verbal 
 meandering. 
 
 "I judge from something said in the early part of 
 your most agreeable continuation of the Colonel's story, 
 that there is a hiatus, so to speak, in the genealogy of 
 these earrings. Is it not so ? " 
 
 "I'll tell you next Christmas." 
 
•' Gentle breath of yours my sails 
 Must fill, or else my project fails, 
 Which was to please." 
 
 Tempest. 
 
 "Fahtaff. Have you provided me here half a dozen suflScient men ? 
 Shallow. Marrj- have we, sir, 
 Fahtaff. Let me see them, I beseech you. 
 Shallow. Where's the roll ? where's the roll? 
 . . . . Let them appear as I call." 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS: 
 
 Introduction, By Capt. CHAS. KING, U. S. A. 
 
 The Adjutant's Story, " Capt. CHAS, KING, U. S. A. 
 
 The Senior Lieutenant's Story, . . . . " Lieut. THOS. H. WILSON, U. S. A. 
 
 The Senior Captain's Story, " Capt. EDWAED FIELD, U. S. A. 
 
 The Captain's Story, " Capt. HENET EOMETN, U. S. A. 
 
 The Colonel's Daughter's Story, . . . . " Miss CAEOLINE F. LITTLE. 
 
 A Major's Story, " Capt. W. 0. BAETLETT, U. S. A. 
 
 The Quartermaster's Story, "Mr. EDWAED L. KEYS. 
 
 The Major's Story, " Major WM. H. POWELL, U. S. A. 
 
 A Guest's Story, " ALICE KING LIVINGSTON. 
 
 The Colonel's Story " Col. H. W. OLOSSON, U. 8. A. 
 
There is no Nourishment in Tea or Coffee, but Plenty in 
 
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 THE DRINK QUESTION. 
 
 The most popular non-intoxicant is Cocoa, which is rapidly supplanting tea and coffee 
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 to the taste, nutritions, and a stimulant without any depressing after-effects. 
 
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 "Boots and Saddles." Illustrated. Tost 8vo., Cloth, Ornamental, $1.50. 
 
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