r::!ii! 
 
"FiHl X I.ITTI.E illN'UTE TIIKKE WAS SII.KNC K 
 
 Chapter V. Part 2. 
 
COMRADES IN 
 ARMS 
 
 A Tale of Two Hemispheres 
 
 BY 
 
 GENERAL CHARLES KING 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A KNIGHT OF COLUMBIA," "AN APACHE PRIN- 
 CESS," "A DAUGHTER OF THE SIOUX," "THE 
 COLONEL'S DAUGHTER," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 
 GEORGE GIBBS 
 
 AND 
 
 E; W; DEMING 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP 
 
 Publishers : ; New York 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1904, 
 BY 
 
 THE HOBART COMPANY 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Part One. 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE. 
 
 " Number Thirteen " and the Mess 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Shots at Midnight 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Accusing Insignia 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A Champion Missing 56 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Lady in the Case 72 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Knight and the Lady 85 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Red Man on his Way 97 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Tale of the Telegrams 112 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Tale of the Knight 128 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A Settled Score 141 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Last Seen — At Sunset 155 
 
CHAPTER XII. »AGE. 
 
 Abduction 165 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Number Thirteen — Gone 176 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 A New Arrest , 193 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Who Was the Woman ? 211 
 
 Part Two. 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED IN THE EAST. 
 Letters Preliminary 231 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Manila and the General's Ball 266 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Through the Enemy's Lines 275 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Bad News from Samar 286 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Devil's Work and Its Cure 300 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Brevet Lost— a Bride Won 312 
 
 Part Three. 
 
 WHAT HAPPENED IN GOTHAM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Another Soldier Rewarded 333 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 Frontispiece 
 
 ** There Is Just One Woman in Creation Who Can Set 
 
 Me Right " 95 
 
 "Then Came a Flash from that Clump of Willows" . 117 
 **The Lid Flew Open at Her Touch" ... ... 191 
 
PART ONE 
 What Happened in the West 
 
COMRADES IK AkMS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 '^NUMBER THIRTEEN** AND THE MESS. 
 
 THE first thing Pat Langham does when he gets 
 a new uniform," said Captain Sparker reflec- 
 tively, as he studied the approaching officer, " is 
 to pay the photographer a visit." 
 
 " And the last thing Pat Langham does," drawled Lieu- 
 tenant Crabbe significantly, "is to pay the tailor— any- 
 thing." 
 
 The first speaker was a man of forty — stout, ruddy- 
 faced, and sturdy ; a man of substance, thanks to a well- 
 to-do wife. The second was a man of thirty, spare, 
 somewhat angular, and possibly dyspeptic; a man of 
 many moods, few of them gracious. Both speakers were 
 component parts of a little group smoking and chatting 
 lazily on the veranda of the officers' mess. It w^as just 
 after luncheon on a June day, and the inspector general 
 was officially visiting the post. The sun was hot, the 
 shade was alluring. Every man was hoping the inspector 
 would not turn out the garrison in full uniform. Every 
 
4 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 man was ruefully certain that that was just what the 
 inspector would do. 
 
 At ithat Moment, however, the inspector was closeted 
 somewhere with the commanding officer. Luncheon had 
 been over and done with at the colonel's half an hour at 
 least, for the ladies had been out on the piazza scanning 
 the neighbors and fanning themselves just that length of 
 time. There were at the moment three of them in the 
 household of Colonel Mack — his wife, his wife's married 
 sister, Mrs. .Cullin, and his niece, Miss Flora Cullin. All 
 three were in evidence, as were the senior major, the 
 adjutant, and one or two "youngsters" — lieutenants being 
 much favored in the observant eyes of the niece. But 
 the post commander and his official guest were not of the 
 party, and the regimental quartermaster, who had lunched 
 with his colonel, declared as he came hurrying along by 
 the messroom that he hadn't even an inkling of what 
 the inspector's plans might be. " He's busy with the Old 
 Man behind closed doors," said the quartermaster irrev- 
 erently. " Something deep and mysterious, I dare say, for 
 " Old Hardtack " took the colonel aside before we were 
 fairly through lunch. Briggs and I had to choke off," he 
 continued regretfully, for Mr. Potts was fond of the good 
 things of life, and had not too many of his own at home. 
 " Mr. Fleshpots," Crabbe had delicately referred to him 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 6 
 
 on one occasion, still memorable at the mess. These 
 were the ante-reorganization days, when adjutant and 
 quartermaster were still, as they had been for nearly a 
 century, doing five officers' duty on one officer's pay — 
 when the regimental staff was chosen from the lieu- 
 tenants, not the captains. Potts, a poor man at best, was 
 wedded to a woman poorer than himself, a woman who 
 bore him many children and complaints, both of which 
 he accepted with Christian fortitude and resignation. A 
 meek man was Potts — in the family circle — but, like 
 many a wedded warrior, what he would submit to at 
 home was no safe criterion of what he might submit 
 to abroad. Crabbe discovered this the oft-remembered 
 night of his unwarrantable witticism. Potts turned on 
 him — it was a mess dinner in honor of a former colonel 
 become a brigadier — with a rejoinder that left its sting 
 to this day. Crabbe was not one of those that hailed 
 him as he came scurrying down the sidewalk. They had 
 exchanged no word since the episode referred to. But 
 Potts was bombarded with questions, for with every other 
 man of the party he was a pet. They had a way of say- 
 ing that Potts was " square from the ground up/* and 
 " without a mean streak in his build," and when men 
 speak thus of their quartermaster he is an official of 
 exalted virtue. 
 
6 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 But Potts couldn't stop. He was in a hurry. " Ask 
 Briggs," was his hasty answer, " Fm blessed if I know. 
 Got to send ambulance over to meet the Flyer." Then, 
 carrying the tail of his remarks clear across the road- 
 way, with his mustache bristling over the right shoulder, 
 he wound up with, " Or ask Langham — he was stalled 
 into the confab." 
 
 It was this parting shot that drew all eyes on the 
 designated officer. It was his spick and span, immacu- 
 late garb, coupled with the fact that there were four 
 different photographs of the one subject, that called forth 
 the comment of Captain Sparker. It was Madame 
 Rumor that reinforced the ill-natured fling of his brother 
 officer, Mr. Crabbe. In some way or other, every man 
 present had recently heard something to the same effect. 
 At all events no one verbally rebuked the epigram. Some 
 few rewarded it with a chuckle. One officer, however, 
 turned ; looked squarely at the speaker a second or two ; 
 thought better of an impulse to speak; arose; stepped 
 back into the darkened hallway ; took his forage-cap from 
 a peg; went through the reading room to the side ver- 
 anda, and from the Venetian window on that front, gazed 
 thoughtfully at the approaching comrade. 
 
 He merited a second glance, this new-comer, and gen- 
 erally got it, from men, and more than a second from 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 7 
 
 many women. He was tall, straight, and slender, sinewy, 
 finely built, and favored, moreover, with a well-shaped 
 head and singularly handsome, soldierly face. He was 
 fair of skin and hair, yet dark-eyed. His nose and chin 
 were of the Grecian type, his mouth finely chiseled, and 
 shaded by a sweeping, blonde mustache. He was 
 dressed with exceeding care in the nattiest of fatigue 
 uniforms. His cap, sack-coat, and trousers were new 
 and of most approved cut and finish. The gHstening 
 eagle, cord, shoulder-straps, and regimental badge were 
 of fine gold wire, deftly embroidered. The block letters, 
 U. S., on the black mohair braiding of the collar were, 
 as someone had ascertained, and advertised, of solid 
 gold, yet in shape and size closely followed the regula- 
 tions. This could not be said that year of the coat collar 
 itself, which was very high and stifif and straight — very 
 Prussian and military in effect ; very becoming, too, with 
 the narrow bordering line of gleaming white. The cap 
 visor, also, dodged the unbecoming slope of the regula- 
 tion of the day and curved closely down over the hand- 
 some dark eyes. The snow^y stripe of the trousers was 
 fully half an inch wider than authorized. The coat was 
 cut with very square-shouldered effect; very snug, too, 
 at the waist and back and hips, yet the flat braided edges 
 lay trimly together from the throat to the squared cor- 
 
8 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 ners at the bottom, innocent of the unsightly, gaping 
 effect so noticeable in so many specimens of that most 
 indefensible garment. Just as much of white cuff as 
 of white collar was visible. Just as snug-fitting and spot- 
 less were the white, wash-leather gloves. Just as im- 
 maculate and shapely were the natty boots. Take him 
 all in all, Mr. Langham was as presentable a soldier as 
 the regiment had ever seen. Yet there was many a man 
 in the regiment who did not seem to like him. There 
 were one or two whose dislike bordered close on hate. 
 
 Perhaps it was his serene indifference to either dislike 
 or hate, to comment or criticism, that made Mr. Langham 
 so distinctly a mark for the slings and arrows of his 
 detractors. They could have found it possible, perhaps, 
 to forgive his superiority in dress, bearing, and gen- 
 eral appearance. What they could not forgive was that 
 he should rise superior to every effort thus far made to 
 " take him down." He was twenty-seven, well-born, well- 
 bred, well-educated, well-favored. He rode, danced, and 
 " tennised " finely. He drilled, shot, and studied fairly. 
 He never meddled with other men's business, and he re- 
 sented their meddling with his. He never was uncivil, 
 even to those who would be, and had been, uncivil to him, 
 but his civility was of a sort that rasped them more than 
 overt affront — it savored so much of utter indifference. He 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 9 
 
 never spoke a woman's name except in respect, and never 
 at all when only men were present. He was genial and 
 courteous to men whom he liked, but such men seemed 
 few He had hardly a flaw in his physical make-up, and 
 as to moral obliquities, no man in the regiment could 
 hazard a sustainable criticism. He had entered service 
 from civil life five years earlier. He had been known to 
 this regiment only five months — promoted from one where 
 most men were friends, to one where all men were 
 strangers. Not one of the twenty who called to bid him 
 welcome within the week of his arrival had he ever seen 
 before. A limited few he had heard of — cared little 
 to see again. 
 
 He came from a command long stationed in the East, 
 to one that had never seen anything but the West — much 
 of the time a wild West, indeed. He played a fair hand 
 at whist, and no hand at poker. He seemed to like Bor- 
 deaux, but couldn't bear Bourbon. It was never on tap 
 at his quarters. He cared little for billiards, and less for 
 pool. He joined the officers' mess the day after his com- 
 ing, and was absent from dinner almost every evening 
 of the fortnight that followed. It added not to his popu- 
 larity among the bachelors that he was so welcomed of 
 the Benedicks. These latter were not to blame: their 
 wives enjoyed the talk of a man w^ell versed in society's 
 
10 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 ways, who was fresh from the far East, and could be 
 drawn out as to metropolitan doings, dances, dinners, and 
 the like. He looked well in the conventional black and 
 white of evening garb, and was doubtless surprised to 
 find that so few of his new brethren ever wore it. They 
 dined and danced in uniform, as we had for years on the 
 frontier, even after a merciful war secretary ordained that 
 for purely social affairs civilian evening dress might be 
 forgiven. He was properly attentive to all the married 
 women, from the colonel's wife to the bride of Second 
 Lieutenant Callow, only just joined. He was not too 
 attentive to any one of the few maidens, and thereby 
 piqued the curiosity and interest of nearly all. He spent 
 some time in fitting up his quarters, he or his servant 
 doing all the curtain draping, picture hanging, carpet 
 laying, rug beating, etc., etc., despite a hint or two from 
 a woman or two that in that sort of thing the touch of 
 a feminine hand, the taste of a feminine eye, was ever 
 essential to happy results. The men were speedily telling 
 tales about Langham's luxurious ways. " Silk bed- 
 spreads, begad ! " said Cross disdainfully, " and tissue 
 paper petticoats on the lamps, camel's hair shawls on the 
 floor — well, if it wasn't camel's hair what was it ? " This 
 to his wife. " Embroidered sofa-pillows, embroidered 
 pillow-shams; yes, more jimcracks and tomfoolery than 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 11 
 
 most any women I ever knew. Why, when I was a 
 youngster the best we had was a hospital cot and horse 
 blankets." 
 
 Langham raised a storm, however, when to his other 
 iniquities he added four o'clock tea, and smilingly invited 
 his various hostesses of that initial fortnight to drop in 
 and partake. They had all heard by that time of his 
 expensively furnished quarters, and many women were 
 eager to see and judge for themselves. Then it transpired 
 that Fox, the English servant he had brought with him, 
 was an adept in the gentle art of brewing tea, that Mr. 
 Langham's tea service was both pretty and costly, that 
 he had photograph albums filled with pictures of very 
 modish-looking people, one of them being given up to 
 professionals of the stage, many of whom had scrawled 
 their autographs across the polished surfaces. These 
 were mines of interest for maids and matrons both, these 
 exiles of the far frontier, and for these four months after 
 his coming no garrison function called forth so many of 
 the one sex and so few of the other as Langham's Sun- 
 day afternoons. It was an innovation his brother officers, 
 bar half a dozen, declared they " couldn't stand for." 
 
 But that wasn't all. There were six companies of in- 
 fantry and four of cavalry that spring at the post. The 
 officers often rode out with the hounds, the girls with the 
 
U COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 officers. With the exception of the few that owned their 
 own mounts, they all used troop horses. The men, to 
 a man, and to the best of their powers, rode the army 
 seat in the army saddle, either McClellan, Whitman, or 
 Wint. Langham came early in February, his household 
 belongings early in March, his horses, two, early in April, 
 and with them sensation, indeed. They were beautiful 
 bays, with black points and banged tails — ^blooded, mettle- 
 some creatures, as every trooper could see before ever 
 they were stripped. They were stalled in the little shed 
 stable in rear of his quarters. He never so much as 
 hinted that he would be glad to obtain government forage 
 — that might have opened a chance for a snub; it was 
 hauled out from town, a big load — oats, bran, and hay, 
 that must have cost him a month's stipend. But the 
 climax came when, after the two had been limbered and 
 exercised, groomed till they glistened — another func- 
 tion in which Fox excelled — the dancing, delighted pair 
 were brought round to the front of the quarters one 
 bright Saturday morning, equipped with Melton bridles 
 and English hunting saddles, with every bit, buckle, and 
 chain gleaming with polish, and Mr. Langham stepped 
 forth in a civilian riding suit, whipcord breeches and pig- 
 skin leggins and riding crop of the most approved pattern, 
 but something utterly strange to nine out ten denizens of 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 13 
 
 Fort Minneconjou. " Good Lord, look at them pants ! " 
 exclaimed one old-timer, disdain and amaze commingling 
 in his tone. Even the conservatives could see nothing to 
 approve of in those bulging, baggy, shapeless togs, tight 
 cut at the knee, for this was '97. Foreign fashions had 
 not then reached the far frontier. The old-school trooper 
 gazed in disgust at the hmite Scole outfit and swore that if 
 only a white man — by which he meant a cavalryman — 
 were in command of the post no such absurd exhibit of 
 monkeyshines would be permitted. The fact that Colonel 
 Mack should nod approval as the lieutenant trotted away, 
 " actually jiggering up and down," rising in his stirrups, 
 was past comprehension and much past patience. That 
 was bad enough as a starter; but, when challenged and 
 even dared to come out and ride " cross country " all cut 
 up with irrigating ditches and prairie dog holes, Lang- 
 ham calmly accepted, his fine bay guiding by a mere touch 
 of the rein, taking the leaps in his stride, trailing close 
 after the hounds every rod of a six-mile chase, and trail- 
 ing after him nine-tenths of the field. That night there 
 was well-nigh a mob at the mess, and Major Baker, of 
 the cavalry, presiding officer thereof, left his chair and the 
 premises. The youngsters were planning some devil- 
 ment, some scheme to " take Langham down," and Baker 
 would neither countenance nor condemn it. Langham, 
 
U COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 dining at the doctor's, heard naught of the plan until 
 nearly eleven. He had been playing whist. He was in 
 evening dress, civilian throughout, and under the lamp- 
 post nearest his quarters he met one of the few men to 
 whom as yet he had taken a fancy — Jim Gridley, a subal- 
 tern of cavalry, some years his senior, and Gridley pro- 
 posed their having a pipe in his rooms. There he quietly 
 suggested that Langham change to uniform if he intended 
 going to the mess before turning in. Langham asked why. 
 Gridley answered that, while the colonel had ruled in 
 Langham's favor that civilian evening dress could be 
 worn at social functions such as a dance or a dinner, it 
 would be unwise to take undue advantage and go else- 
 where, even to the mess, except in uniform. " You take 
 too many chances, as it is," said he as quietly. 
 
 " You mean I would be taking other chances if I went 
 there, now,'' said Langham, with a downward glance at 
 his broad shirtfront and dainty pearl studs. Gridley 
 gave no answer. " Let's go, then," said Langham. 
 
 " Not as you are," said Gridley, and the elder man and 
 stronger will prevailed. 
 
 But it chafed and nettled Langham. He knew there 
 was a feeling against him among the dozen that made up 
 the mess. " Baker's dozen " they named it after Lang- 
 ham's joining had made it thirteen. In part, he was told. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 15 
 
 it was due to the old superstition against the number and 
 the possibility of having to sit thirteen at table. In the 
 main, he was sure, it was caused by a certain narrowness 
 and provincialism in the mess, due to its long existence 
 beyond the pale of civilization and the light of social 
 amenities as practiced in the far East. That it would 
 have been wiser on his part to adapt himself, rather, to 
 their ways, and only gradually to introduce those that 
 obtained in his former regiment, had occurred to him 
 only to be rejected. Langham had the courage of his 
 convictions. What he was doing was right ; therefore 
 would it be wrong not to do it. Might it not be 
 more politic ? was asked. Doubtless ; but Langham could 
 never have succeeded as a politician. These were matters 
 he had talked over with Gridley before— that they talked 
 of earnestly that April night, and had never since dis- 
 cussed at all. Gridley found it useless, and so refrained. 
 It was about this time the mess began to refer to 
 Number Thirteen as " Pat " — as incongruous a forename 
 as could well have been combined with his strictly Saxon 
 patronymic. Only son of an English mother who had 
 early met, loved, and married a gifted secretary of the 
 American legation, he had been named for the father, 
 and that father for England's famous young statesman 
 of an earlier day and generation. As " William Pitt 
 
16 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Berkely Langham " the youngster was registered in 
 school days at Eton. " Mr. William Pitt Langham " he 
 later appeared on the rolls of Yale — the Berkely would 
 not have been elided had he gone to Harvard — and then 
 the sire was taken from earth, and the youth reverted to 
 the dominion of a fond, doting, and unwise mother, who, 
 when he chose the army for his career and old and influ- 
 ential friends of his father obtained his commission, had 
 his first cards duly engraved at Tiffany's : 
 
 Mr. Wm, Pitt Berkely Langham 
 
 — th Regiment of Infantry 
 
 £/. S, Army 
 
 This card went with him to Sackett's Harbor, where it 
 was speedily laughed out of barracks. He ordered his 
 own before he was shifted to Buffalo, finding his father's 
 wisdom unimpeachable, and did modestly well in society 
 as Mr. William P. Langham. But a winter in Washing- 
 ton, close to the throne and the embassies, plunged him 
 again into polynomials, and, at his mother's instance, a 
 new plate was prepared : " Mr. Wm. Pitt Berkely-Lang- 
 ham," this one read, and was her entire joy. She sounded 
 the most courteous of adjutants-general upon the pro- 
 priety of having her boy so gazetted in the annual official 
 register, and was surprised to hear that it could be done 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 17 
 
 only through Act of Congress. " Pitt," as he had been 
 dubbed at school, came out to the frontier with cards on 
 the Buffalo plan, which passed current everywhere, and 
 all might have gone well but for the mother's fatal pro- 
 pensity for enlightening the community as to her boy's 
 aristocratic lineage. She zi'ould address her letters in 
 her own way. He heard, of course, as people in garri- 
 son are apt to hear of fun at their expense, that men and 
 women both were saying satirical things, but he gave no 
 sign. One day, however, a telegram in its brown envel- 
 ope came to the mess, the Hibernian messenger, Bugler 
 Brannigan, inquiring inocently for '' Lootn't Pat Lang- 
 ham," and the mess went wild. Major Baker, as in duty 
 bound, would have rebuked the youngster, but Crabbe 
 had seized the envelope and, with a shriek of delight, pro- 
 claimed Brannigan guiltless. The fault lay with the tele- 
 graph people. The stigma went from the bugler to the 
 operator, but the name stuck to the victim. 
 
 Sparker's aspersion, recorded in the first paragraph 
 hereof, had some foundation in fact. Four photographs 
 of Mr. Langham had been taken in as many years, the 
 last one at the flourishing frontier city of Silver Hill, 
 close at hand. That three of the four, including the last, 
 were taken at the mother's behest, no one at Fort Minne- 
 conjou had been told. They drew their own conclusions, 
 
18 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 which, as a rule, were not weighty, and Langham let 
 them. From the time of his coming until on or about 
 the 15th of May that gentleman had seemed impervious 
 to either satire or criticism. Then on a sudden there had 
 come a change from the attitude of calm superiority. 
 " Pat " Langham, from being the most imperturbable 
 swell at the post, became, within a few days and two let- 
 ters, a sad, harassed, and obviously anxious man. Then 
 many letters began to come, letters that bore no seal, no 
 crest, no scrawling superscription — business letters, law- 
 yers' letters, tradesmen's letters, alas, in strange prepon- 
 derance. Then the adjutant's office developed a leak. It 
 wasn't Briggs, the close-mouthed, loyal adjutant. He was 
 furious when he heard of it. But it was some one of 
 Briggs's clerks. A well-known firm of tailors had sent 
 to the adjutant-general a bill of some $500 against Mr. 
 Langham. Another firm had contributed a second, less 
 in size but equal in age. Both declared that Mr. Lang- 
 ham declined to notice their appeals, and, therefore, they 
 demanded action. The matter had been referred through 
 intermediate headquarters to Colonel Mack, who in turn 
 referred it to Lieutenant Langham, temporarily his 
 own company commander, and the reply of that officer 
 was something beyond the powers of Crabbe and his cro- 
 nies to ascertain. Two things, however, became appar- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 19 
 
 ent at once — one was that Langham, who had been look- 
 ing careworn and anxious, " braced up " unaccountably. 
 " Treats me with hauteur and acts more like a lord than 
 ever," snarled Crabbe. " Why, if I'd had such a 
 complaint to answer Fd want to hide my head some- 
 where." 
 
 " Try your stein, Crabbe," smoothly suggested Gridley, 
 " it's big enough." It had become unsafe to sneer at 
 Langham when Gridley was by, and the mess got to know 
 it ; but what puzzled the mess more than a little was the 
 second thing that had become so suddenly apparent. 
 Lieutenant and Adjutant Briggs, one of the elders of the 
 subaltern element, a poor man financially, but a treasure 
 to his post commander, began to " cultivate " Langham, 
 and Crabbe watched the symptoms with astonishment that 
 was mingled with alarm. Briggs must soon reach his 
 captaincy and, whether he did or no, must surely lose the 
 adjutancy, for the law of the day limited him to four 
 years. Crabbe knew the colonel was already casting 
 about for his successor, loath as he was to part with him. 
 Crabbe long had had his eye on the adjutancy, and up to 
 the time of Langham's coming his hopes had been high. 
 It was incredible, he now said, that the Old Man 
 would pick out for the place a junior first lieutenant, when 
 he could have the choice of several seniors of experience ; 
 
20 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 but his heart failed him, even as he spoke — Mack had 
 shown such partiaUty for Langham. There was another 
 who looked on Langham with similar jealousy, but not 
 such virulent hate. One was enough for the purpose, 
 however. Crabbe heard of Langham's misfortune with 
 joy Hke that of Shylock over Tubal's tidings and the 
 wreck of Antonio's galleons, but joy turned to doubt, and 
 triumph to hate, when he saw that, so far from breaking, 
 Langham stood warmer with the colonel and the colonel's 
 staff, and this was the situation on this bright June day 
 when Sparker and Crabbe were launching their shafts at 
 the unconscious head of the coming man. 
 
 Reaching the broad plank-way in front of the mess, 
 Mr. Langham turned to his right and came straight up 
 the steps. That awkward silence had fallen on the group 
 that tells the observant latest arrival that he or she has 
 been the subject of unfriendly remark. Women dis- 
 semble better under such circumstances, if not under all. 
 Some of the youngsters made way for him. None of the 
 elders stirred. 
 
 " Any news, Langham ? " queried Palmer, seeking 
 relief and information in one breath. 
 
 " Lots," was the laconic reply, and Langham was look- 
 ing straight at Crabbe as he ascended the steps. 
 
 " What — for a starter? " asked Palmer, because he saw 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 21 
 
 he was expected to ask, even though good judgment 
 counseled silence. 
 
 *' For a starter ? " repeated Langham deliberately. 
 " Why, for a starter, it seems we've started the Minnecon- 
 jou School for Scandal, with Crabbe as Grand Gabbler." 
 
 Crabbe turned white as he squirmed out of his chair 
 and faced his accuser, whose fingers were twitching 
 eagerly. " I'll trouble you to explain that, Mr. Lang- 
 ham," he began. 
 
 But by this time other men were on their feet. Gridley 
 v/as coming swiftly round the corner. Sparker, senior 
 officer present, was heaving slowly up from the settee. 
 It was high time for him to interpose. Langham and 
 Crabbe, each white with wrath, the one cool, resolute, and 
 ready; the other quivering, raging, yet not unprepared, 
 were confronting each other not four paces apart. 
 
 " Gentlem.en, this must stop ! Not another word ! " said 
 Sparker, striding between them. 
 
 "If you say that of me," burst in Crabbe, over 
 Sparker's shoulder, " you're a liar ! " 
 
 " He does say it of you, and he doesn't lie," responded 
 another voice — Gridley's, in cool, measured tone. " Come 
 with me, Langham ; you know it means arrest if you stay 
 here." Then he whirled about and confronted the 
 astounded group. " My friend spoke the truth. Captain 
 
22 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Sparker, and you know it, and I'm with him if Mr. 
 Crabbe has anything further to say." 
 
 Down the line came the peal of the bugle, the summons 
 to duty — whatever it might be. 
 
 " I'll see you to-night when this — this business is over," 
 screamed Crabbe, after the departing pair. But Langham, 
 very straight, never turned to look back or answer. Grid- 
 ley was swiftly marching him away. 
 
 " By gad, it's inspection in full uniform ! See, there 
 goes the orderly ! " cried Palmer. " No time for other 
 foolishness." 
 
 " But I'll make him eat his words to-night," raved 
 Crabbe, his voice now hot with passion. " Both of them 
 for that matter." 
 
 Most men, however, were silent as they hurried to their 
 quarters. They knew Langham's justification. They 
 doubted his being made to '' eat " a word. They vaguely 
 dreaded the outcome, and they had reason. 
 
 But no man dreamed of such tragic sequel as was to 
 startle all Fort Minneconjou within the compass of the 
 coming night. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE SHOTS AT MIDNIGHT. 
 
 THERE was a dance that evening at the post. 
 They always had one when an inspector came. 
 They Hked to show him they could drill, parade, 
 march, maneuver all the livelong day, if need be, then 
 waltz or polka, or even poker, all night. The Slite of Silver 
 Hill drove out to take part, some of the best-known com- 
 ing earher to dine. The big assembly room was always 
 in readiness for garrison society, and society in readiness 
 for such gayeties, the band and certain elders among the 
 family men being the only growlers. This time the colonel 
 intimated toward evening to Mr. Briggs that, it being in 
 honor of the inspector general, the dance should be re- 
 garded strictly as a military function, and it might be well 
 to suggest that full uniform should be worn. The only 
 man in the least likely to think of wearing anything else 
 being Mr. Langham, Briggs dropped in at Langham's on 
 his way home to dinner, and found Fox brushing and 
 stowing away his master's parade uniform. The lieu- 
 tenant himself was not in sight. " Gone out to see the 
 'osses, sir," said Fox, his smug, clean-shaven face inscrut- 
 
 23 
 
24 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 able as ever. That man of Langham's was a living 
 menace to the peace of mind of many people at the post. 
 A soldier " striker " in bygone days had been the nearest 
 approach to a body servant ever seen in the regiment. An 
 English combination of valet and groom was something 
 almost unheard of on the frontier. Fox slept under his 
 master's roof, ate with the steward at the officers' mess, 
 and lived under his officer's protection, else might living 
 have at first been impossible in the land where every man, 
 not soldier-bred, was fiercely insistent on the theory that 
 he was as good as any other — if not vastly better. A posi- 
 tion of voluntary servitude no westerner could condone. 
 Even the rank and file revolted at sight of Fox. Hibern- 
 ian men-at-arms had a drubbing in mind for him before 
 he had been a day at the fort, but dropped all thought of 
 it within the month. Fox volunteered his services at the 
 garrison " show," and proved to be a low comedian and 
 ventriloquist of amazing powers. He leaped in a single 
 hour to the height of popularity. Who could ever think 
 of slugging a man who made mirth for everybody. 
 
 Off the stage, however, Fox maintained an air of pro- 
 fessional gravity and decorum absolutely unimpeachable. 
 His 'osses and his 'ouse, it would seem, demanded all his 
 care and attention. His eyes were blind, his ears deaf to 
 the allurements of kitchen doors along " the row " and 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS S5 
 
 the married quarters under the bluff. More than one 
 maid had ogled and simpered in vain. It was whispered 
 that Fox was already blessed, or burdened, with a wife 
 and children in the East, or somewhere, but no one knew. 
 He was a mite of a man, barely five feet two, and spare in 
 proportion. He had been a jockey perhaps, a stable boy 
 surely. What people could not understand was how it 
 happened that one so gifted as Fox should serve in so 
 hum.ble a station. 
 
 " That feller could get his hundred a month easy, and 
 I offered him that," said the manager of the Alhambra 
 Music Hall and Theater in town. But when Fox was told 
 of this munificent bid, he so far relaxed from his habitual 
 attitude of professional stolidity as to uplift both brows, 
 wink with one eye, and pronounce it all gammon. The 
 wiles and blandishments lavished on Fox at the few enter- 
 tainments he had been persuaded to attend might have 
 turned many a head, but thus far had been powerless to 
 draw from him aught of his past. Master and man, each 
 in his sphere, Langham and Fox were objects of more 
 interest, curiosity, and speculation than all the official 
 inquisitors that ever disturbed the garrison. 
 
 Now, Briggs did not wish to convey an official hint 
 through a domestic channel. It would have been easy to 
 say to the man, as he saw Langham's evening dress laid 
 
26 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 out in the back room, that full uniform was the rule for 
 the night, but he preferred to say it to the master. " I 
 wish to speak to the lieutenant," said he, and started to go 
 through to the kitchen, such being the free and easy way 
 of the frontier, but Fox was first. " I'll call Mr. Lang- 
 ham, sir," said he, as he dropped his brushes and darted 
 ahead. So the adjutant waited. Thinking of it later on, 
 it occurred to him that he waited a good while for a man 
 who had less than a dozen rods to cover. Langham was 
 a long time coming ; apologized for the delay, but did not 
 explain it. He was sorry that Briggs had burdened him- 
 self with so unnecessary a hint. " I should have worn 
 my war paint," said he, " but didn't think to tell my man. 
 Er — er, won't you sit a while ? " But Briggs said no, he 
 must hurry on, and so left him, and then, half way to his 
 own quarters, bethought him of another matter, turned 
 suddenly back, and bolted in, for the door still stood 
 invitingly open. 
 
 " Langham," he cheerily called, " you may have to 
 take Gridley's guard tour to-morrow. Grid's going 
 to " 
 
 But Langham wasn't there. Neither was Fox. This 
 time the adjutant pushed on through the bedroom to the 
 dens in rear. He thought to find his comrade at the 
 stable. He stumbled on him on the back porch. Master 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 27 
 
 and man both were there, so busily occupied that neither 
 had heard his call nor heeded his coming. Both were 
 bending over a chest in the endeavor to lift out a tray 
 that had warped or jammed. Some of the contents had 
 been removed, as two cases of japanned tin, called by our 
 English cousins " dispatch boxes," stood on the boarding 
 close by Langham's foot. Two revolvers of handsome 
 finish lay upon a chair. Some items of hunting garb were 
 tossed upon a bench. Between the busy workers and pos- 
 sible observers along the back porches hung a canvas 
 screen at the west end, and some India matting at the 
 other. Fox, tugging and breathing hard, was flushed 
 with his exertions. Langham, flushed possibly with im- 
 patience, was saying something that savored of rebuke 
 and displeasure. Briggs caught, as he issued from the 
 door, just these words : 
 
 " Knowing what you do, then, you should have got 
 everything ready at once. I may start — any moment." 
 
 Start at this very moment at the sound of the adjutant's 
 soldierly voice, he certainly did. Briggs was quite dis- 
 concerted at the effect of his sudden coming. All he said 
 was, " Aw, Langham, be ready for guard in case Grid — 
 why, what's the matter ? " and, this being said in the ver- 
 nacular of the service and most matter-of-fact tone, there 
 was nothing to cause or warrant agitation, yet the tray 
 
28 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 slipped from Fox's hand ; Fox slapped down the lid, and 
 then, recognizing the speaker and recovering his wits, 
 quickly raised it, mumbling, *' Beg pardon, sir. Did I 'urt 
 you, sir ? " for Langham, with a half-startled exclamation 
 and a stern " Look out, man ! " straightened to his full 
 height and stood almost glaring at Briggs. For a second 
 or two it seemed as though suddenly petrified. Fox was 
 the first to regain composure. He turned on his master, 
 all solicitude. " I am 'fraid I 'urt your 'and, sir. May I 
 look, sir ? " And that brought Langham to himself. 
 
 " You really startled me, Briggs," he said, with sur- 
 prising candor. *' We've had an eruption to-day — you'll 
 hear of it to-morrow — and Fm all nerves just now. 
 Guard, did you say? All right." 
 
 Then, having neither bid nor excuse to tarry, Briggs 
 turned and left. There was something about the whole 
 affair that gave him concern. In common with the rest 
 of the regiment, he had found it hard at first to get ac- 
 quainted with Langham. In common with none in the 
 regiment, that he knew of, save the colonel, he had been 
 taken to a certain extent into his confidence, and had 
 begun to respect his character quite as much as he had 
 admired his style. Briggs was a safe-deposit box of regi- 
 mental secrets and skeletons, a deposit box to which even 
 Mrs. Briggs held no duplicate key, and thereby hung a 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 29 
 
 terrible tale. Briggs never told it. " He never tells me 
 anything," was the lady's plaint to her every intimate, 
 and by turns, or by twos or fours, that is what they all 
 were — these other women. To keep one's place as regi- 
 mental adjutant one must keep his counsel. Possibly 
 it was because Briggs had early found that Mrs. Briggs 
 told everything, that now he told her nothing. Certain 
 it was that to no one but his colonel would he talk unre- 
 servedly of office matters. Many and devious were the 
 good lady's devices to extract information ; sometimes 
 merely suggestive, such as, " I hear Captain Forbes got 
 another wigging this morning ; " sometimes flatly asser- 
 tive, such as, "So * K ' Company has to go to Custer. 
 Then the Blunts will get Carter's quarters ; " sometimes 
 reproachfully pleading, " Everyone knows Mr. Gridley 
 didn't get back until reveille, and that you covered it 
 somehow, yet you hide it from me." They were all mat- 
 ters, he would say, the adjutant's wife should know noth- 
 ing about, but her creed was the contrary. There were no 
 matters she should not know about. Briggs's domestic 
 lot was not a happy one, nor was hers. Briggs took to 
 stopping at the mess on stormy nights, and having a social 
 game and a glass, for Mrs. Briggs was rarely alone, and 
 less rarely lonely. Yet she hated to have him away, be- 
 cause it looked as though he " had no use for home " or 
 
30 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 for her. Finding that he suspected her motives in cate- 
 chising him as to his movements, she resorted to the indi- 
 rect — a pet device w^ith many a spouse — and this, too, he 
 speedily sounded and set at naught. It v^as ** more than 
 many a saint vi^ould stand," was her declaration, both to 
 him and to her successive confidants, for Mrs. Briggs in 
 matters of feminine intimacy blew hot and cold, being 
 one day all impulsive gush, the next day barely on speak- 
 ing terms. 
 
 But while she learned nothing from him as to what 
 might be going on within the charmed circle of regimental 
 life, there is no question that he learned not a little from 
 her. Mrs. Briggs was all over the fort nearly every day 
 of her life, and whatsoever was astir in the air she was 
 almost sure to absorb, and equally sure to disseminate. As 
 a circulating medium Mrs. Briggs outclassed the national 
 currency. Briggs had not been home five minutes when 
 she came flying in from the next door neighbor's and 
 began on the threshold with : 
 
 *' Well, I suppose you'll tell me there hasn't been a fear- 
 ful scrap between Crabbe and Langham, and they are 
 going to meet to-night ? " 
 
 Briggs only tolerated slang in men; he loathed it in 
 women, and his hand went up at once in protest, even as 
 he turned his head away. Yet what she told him tallied 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 31 
 
 with what he had heard, and it explained in part the 
 obvious excitement and discomposure shown by Langham 
 at his sudden coming. He wouldn't discuss the matter 
 with his wife. He couldn't dismiss it from his thoughts. 
 He had to hasten back to his desk, he said, the moment 
 dinner was over, and did so. " Old Hardtack " wished 
 certain papers and returns to be in readiness for him first 
 thing in the morning, and the clerks were at work on 
 them now. Briggs promised to be home to dress for the 
 dance by 9.30, but he meant to know the truth about the 
 Crabbe-Langham imbroglio before that. 
 
 The colonel and his guests were still at table. Briggs 
 could tell that from the brilHant light in the dining room 
 and the sounds of chat and laughter floating out through 
 the wide open windows. The colonel was seizing the 
 opportunity of paying some social debts in town and pleas- 
 ing " Hardtack " at the same time. There were old friends 
 of the latter among the families of Silver Hill, and to 
 these a dinner at the colonel's was a rare treat. The band, 
 despite the fact that it had to play for review, inspection, 
 and parade during a long afternoon, and that half its 
 membership would have to play for the hop to-night, was 
 at the colonel's doorway discoursing sweeter harmonies 
 than dwelt at the moment in the individual breasts. ("The 
 colonel loves music with his meals," said the colonel's 
 
32 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 buxom helpmate, to the mine-owning magnate seated on 
 her left.) Briggs felt morally certain some of those 
 bandsmen would be in a state of revolt, or inebriety, by 
 thf time they were wanted for the dance, and thanked his 
 stars it was a matter the colonel and the hop committee 
 would have to settle, not he. The local laws prohibited 
 the sale of intoxicants even in diluted form, but such 
 things as " Kansas canes," " Nebraska hand brooms," 
 etc., were to be had in many a shop in Silver Hill — items 
 that were hollow shams when emptied, as it was found 
 that each cane, when first tapped, contained perhaps a 
 pint of burning fluid, and each whisk was but a receptacle 
 for whisky. Then, what couldn't be bought in one way 
 could be " found " in another. Drug stores, appropriately 
 so-called, were dispensers of spirits " for medicinal pur- 
 poses " to such citizens as would certify that their physi- 
 cian prescribed and their malady demanded stimulant. 
 The system resulted in prohibition to the reliable citizen 
 and plenary indulgence to the worthless. The neighbor- 
 hood of the fort had been cleared of the old-time " hog- 
 ranches " by the introduction of the " canteen," where 
 soldiers could be served with sound beer, and so saved 
 from evil. The " toughs " from town, toughs of both 
 sexes that used to haunt those fort-fringing hells, had 
 disappeared with the ranches. An era of " temperance, 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 33 
 
 soberness, and chastity " had dawned upon the garrison 
 with the advent of the post exchange, and even the moral 
 nature of Silver Hill had soared to unaccustomed heights 
 with the hegira of the harpies. The interminable shooting 
 and stabbing affrays that diversified the rolling years had 
 become almost obsolete. Desertions, once so frequent, 
 were now uncommon. The guard-house prison, once so 
 thronged at pay-day, knew hardly an occupant as a result 
 of a spree. The coroner who used to count on Minne- 
 conjou as a fruitful source of revenue, had lost faith in it 
 as a business proposition ; and the newspaper men of the 
 bustHng mining metropolis, six miles away, had learned 
 to look not upon the fort as longer '' red." There hadn't 
 been a ghost of a sensation there for six months, and 
 Silver Hill, unlike Chicago, had tired of paying cash to 
 read what wasn't true. 
 
 Briggs was thinking of all this and thanking Heaven he 
 was not a bandsman this close June evening, and wonder- 
 ing what he could do to stifle anticipated complaint as he 
 tripped on briskly past the colonel's and took his way to 
 the office. The day had been long, hot, and trying. The 
 sun had hardly yet said good-night to the valley, though 
 the fort lay deep-nestled in the shadows of the Sagamore 
 Range, and only the crests of the far-away heights to the 
 east still blushed at his parting caress. Briggs thought 
 
84 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 whimsically, as the gleam caught his eye, of another com- 
 plaint against Langham — his imported fashion of bestow- 
 ing gratuity on servants and " strikers." The colonel 
 had told Briggs he would better give Langham a hint, the 
 colonel being one of those easy-going mortals who pre- 
 ferred to bestow reproof vicariously. Briggs, just about 
 sunset, only six weeks earlier, had conveyed his colonel's 
 views to Langham, and Langham smiled and said it was 
 the example of the sun, a remark which called for further 
 explanation. 
 
 " Look at those heights," said he, " every one of them 
 tipped with gold." Briggs told Mrs. Mack of this jeii 
 d'esprit on the part of their recent acquisition. She was 
 of that honest and kindly and numerous class so puzzling 
 to our transatlantic visitors — people who describe each 
 other as most hospitable, as though the charming qual- 
 ity were something by way of an expectorant — and good 
 Mrs. Mack, not quite seeing the point, yet striving to be 
 appreciative, passed it on delightedly next day, as nearly 
 as she could recall it, to her crony, the chaplain's wife, 
 who naturally saw nothing either witty or apposite in 
 Langham's having said the eastern horizon was trimmed 
 with gilt. Nor could Mrs. Mack explain it. She only 
 knew, she said, that as Mr. Briggs told it there seemed 
 something real funny about the thing. Perhaps, after all, 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 35 
 
 she concluded, it was something " dooble ontong," and 
 that she despised. So the mot got no more notice than it 
 deserved. 
 
 " But, talking of tips," mused Briggs, meeting Lang- 
 ham's own man at the minute, just at the office door, 
 " that man is tipsy." Never before had Fox shown sign 
 of inebriety, at least at Minneconjou. Langham usually 
 left his sideboard keys with his groom, coupled with 
 instruction to see that comrade officers visiting in the lieu- 
 tenant's absence were invited to enter, rest, and have a 
 peg, a beer, or a weed, as the mood possessed the caller. 
 Fox had been discretion itself and all fidelity as to his 
 employer's instructions, to the end that certain officers 
 were more frequent callers when Langham v/as out than 
 when he was in, for Langham discriminated, which Fox 
 did not. Fox had appeared all straight at 6.30 P. M., 
 but now it was going on eight. He had had ample time 
 to get his master into evening dress for the doctor's din- 
 ner ; then, if so minded, to help himself to surplus Scotch 
 and soda. He had been over-tasked during the afternoon. 
 The resort to stimulant was not unnatural. Briggs noted 
 the glassy eye, the droop about the corners of the shaven 
 lips, and the hurried fumble at the hat brim as he touched 
 it in darting by, and Briggs had by no means forgotten it 
 when the summons came some hours later. It seems that 
 
36 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 what took Fox to the adjutant's office at this late hour 
 was a note. 
 
 Dear Briggs [it said] : I find I have to meet the westbound 
 express in town to-night. She was reported two hours late at 
 the Niobrara. I have to hurry to dinner at Dr. Warren's and dis- 
 like to call at the colonel's with my request, knowing how many 
 guests he has. May I ask you to arrange it for me. I regret 
 that it will probably prevent my attending the hop. Yours, 
 
 Langham. 
 
 It must indeed be an important matter that could take 
 Langham away from a dance, mused Briggs. Especially, 
 and now he was saying to himself what he wouldn't 
 breathe to any other soul — especially one that brought the 
 townspeople and pretty Mrs. BuUard with them. Mrs. 
 Bullard was a most winsome and attractive woman, a 
 beauty in the eyes of Minneconjous-male ; one who loved 
 to ride, dance, tennis, walk, talk, and none of these could 
 her husband essay. He owned the Baltimore and the 
 Crescent Queen, two of the richest mines on the range. 
 He thought he owned Mrs. Bullard, nearly twenty years 
 his junior, a New- York-made matron, who sang rejoice- 
 fully and spoke three languages, only one of which 
 Bullard could understand. The gossips, town and gar- 
 rison, had begun at her in March, and were buzzing hard 
 in May, for no sooner were the snows swept from the 
 valley than she appeared in saddle and a habit never 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 37 
 
 made west of the Hudson. She had not ridden to hounds, 
 at least, the previous year. She did not fancy, it now trans- 
 pired, the local " mounts " ; but late in April it began to 
 be told that a valuable horse had been bought for the wife 
 of Silver Hill's most opulent resident. Along in May, 
 horse, horse furniture, and hostler all arrived in a horse- 
 car, chartered for the trip. She could have had a groom 
 from Gotham as well as the expensive saddle and bridle, 
 had she expressed but a wish. She wanted no groom, 
 said she. Of course not, said gossip ; a groom would be 
 much in the way. 
 
 It was Langham who told Mr. Bullard where to order 
 the fine, London-made outfit. It was Langham who wrote 
 for him as to the horse. It was Langham who rode away 
 to town and saw to it that Roscoe was properly bitted and 
 girthed, and saw her safely in saddle for the initial ride. 
 After that it was unnecessary, as she rode, and Roscoe 
 guided, so well. It saved time to meet half way. Then, 
 when it pleased them to join the joyous party from the 
 fort, they were by long odds the most stylish pair in the 
 field. 
 
 Now, it must not be inferred that Langham was neg- 
 lectful of garrison equestriennes. There were only five 
 at the fort who really rode, two young matrons and three 
 maids, one of the latter a girl of only sixteen, another of 
 
38 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 the latter well-nigh thirty. Langham invited each in turn 
 to go with him, and rode with Flora Cullin more than 
 once. He even took her out on one occasion on his second 
 horse ; but — it may have been the fault of her hand — at all 
 events the brute began boring in a way that nearly pulled 
 her over the pommel, and, much as she longed to ride him 
 regularly, in the hopes of reforming him perhaps, Lang- 
 ham shook his head. The one girl who could ride Cham- 
 pion, bore or no bore — the girl who didn't care what he 
 did or how he ran — was blithe, merry Kitty Belden, the 
 sixteen-year-old referred to, and she was the one creature. 
 Fox excepted, to whom Langham was willing to trUvSt 
 him. Kitty could not understand it that her mother, an 
 energetic woman of much domestic piety, and little pa- 
 tience, soon discouraged her riding with Mr. Langham or 
 using Mr. Langham's horse, but this was not until after 
 Mrs. Bullard from town began to join the hunt and be 
 escorted more than half way home by their garrison beau. 
 On such occasions as Langham rode with some one of the 
 army women, Mrs. Bullard would be sure to lack no atten- 
 tion at other hands, for Crabbe, Palmer, Shannon, and 
 several more were eager to be at her side, and smilingly 
 she made her cavalier welcome. But, three riding days 
 out of five Langham met and joined her and saw her 
 safely almost, if not all the way, home — sometimes stayed 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 39 
 
 and dined with them in town, always danced three or four 
 times with her when she came to the hops, and never, 
 until to-night, was known to miss a hop when she was 
 said to be coming. This night, as Briggs well knew, she 
 was already here, one of the party at the colonel's. 
 
 Yet Langham had written that he must be in town to 
 meet the night express. Now, if by any chance Crabbe 
 should ask to leave the post, or he, too, should fail to ap- 
 pear at the dance, Briggs could know just what to expect. 
 He was fairly startled, therefore, when Captain Sparker, 
 seeing the adjutant at his desk, came slowly in and said : 
 
 " Briggs, if Mr. Crabbe seeks permission to be away 
 over night, I suggest that you suggest to the colonel that 
 he would be wise to say no." Briggs nodded. Sparker 
 sidled away " to avoid question," he explained later, and 
 w^hen the dance fairly and finally began, lo, there was 
 Crabbe, dancing and " gallivanting " as though nothing 
 had happened. It was not until midnight that he was 
 suddenly missed. 
 
 Somewhere after midnight — some minutes before the 
 sentries should begin calling the half hour — Kitty Belden, 
 like a plaintive, pretty Cinderella forbidden to see her 
 prince at the ball, was sitting at the open window of her 
 room, moping a bit and wishing she was two years older, 
 and listening to the soft strains of cornet and viol, mel- 
 
40 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 lowed by distance, floating from the brilliantly lighted 
 hoproom across the dim, starlit parade. Captain Belden 
 and his wife had come home half an hour earlier, and, 
 after brief admonition to Kitty, were now retiring for 
 the night The waltz music ceased, the silence of the 
 mountains, the far-spreading prairie, the over-arching 
 firmament, settled upon the fort and the broad surround- 
 ing valley. Somewhere out toward the southwest a faint 
 dull roar and rumble, now rising, now dying, told that 
 the night express, though belated, was boring on into the 
 heart of the Sagamore Range. Then even this sound died 
 away, and save a low murmur as of voices of the night, 
 the post seemed wrapped in slumber. Away to the east 
 the electric lights of Silver Hill were blinking in the dim 
 distance, and suddenly, between the window where she sat 
 and a low gap in the southeastward hills, a ruddy little 
 flash twinkled through the dusk, then another — two others 
 — quickly followed. Then, low, yet distinct, the sound of 
 three shots came pulsating through the night, and almost 
 instantly the sentry on Number Three, out on that front, 
 woke the echoes with a shout for the corporal of the 
 guard. 
 
 Then came the sound of echoing cries, then swift run- 
 ning footfalls, then the dull, distant, rhythmical thud of 
 galloping hoofs coming nearer and nearer, straight for 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 41 
 
 the gun-flanked entrance beyond the post of the guard. 
 There they swerved and quickened as though someone 
 had striven to head off and hah the runner. Then on they 
 came, bounding; then suddenly died away behind some 
 intervening buildings ; then windows began to fly up and 
 heads to appear and excited voices to ask what was the 
 matter ; and then the hoofs were heard on the soft ground 
 at the rear of the quarters, where stood the little shed 
 stables, and then Champion's eager neigh welcoming his 
 stable mate, now drooping and panting at the door. Kitty 
 Belden, hurrying through the hallway to the rear window, 
 got there just in time to hear the sentry's answer to some 
 hail from up the row. 
 
 " It's Lieutenant Langham's horse, ma-am, an' he's all 
 bloody." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE ACCUSING INSIGNIA. 
 
 THE dance went on. Someone had inspired the 
 string orchestra, for, to the adjutant's surprise, 
 there came no " kick " at midnight. They had 
 been " refreshed " in the anteroom, and were playing 
 with unaccustomed vim when the cap of the officer of the 
 guard appeared for a moment at a side window of the 
 cardroom. Potts, the post quartermaster, was summoned 
 from a game of dummy, and Briggs from the buffet. 
 They vanished through a side door with no woman the 
 wiser. Neither was valuable as a partner on the floor; 
 each had his good points at the game. But, when it was 
 noted that young Dr. Griscom was gone, and the senior 
 surgeon, Warren, was summoned, then people began to 
 whisper and ask questions, and some women to pale, for 
 Mr. Langham had not been at the hop. Mr. Crabbe, who 
 had been, was gone upwards of half an hour, and many 
 tongues had been telling with more or less elaboration 
 of the clash between the two young officers in front of the 
 mess, and of Crabbe's vehement threat that followed. 
 Such a thing, on general principles, is seldom told at the ' 
 
 42 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 43 
 
 time to the commanding and responsible officer. He is 
 apt to hear of it, to his detriment, only later. At 12.50 
 the colonel, looking at his watch and yawning behind 
 a broad, kid-gloved hand, was wondering how soon Mrs. 
 Mack would be ready to quit dancing (" bouncing with 
 the boys," Mack called it), and go home, when he noted 
 that the music had ceased again, that sounds of chat and 
 laughter were stilled, that people were huddling in groups 
 and murmuring in low tones, ominously, and with fear- 
 some glances, and then came the only woman in the gar- 
 rison that wasn't afraid of him — his wife — and her florid 
 face was filled with portent. " Have you heard, Mack? " 
 she hoarsely whispered. " They're bringing in Lang- 
 ham, shot. Now hware's Crabbe? " In moments of ex- 
 citement Mrs. Mack paid unwilling tribute to her almost 
 forgotten nationality, and Mack, sturdy soldier that he 
 was, if easy-going, never failed to realize in this symptom 
 the signal to be up and doing. It roused him as the trum- 
 pet rouses the war-horse. He was on his feet on the 
 instant, and out of the door forthwith, and with him van- 
 ished the last lingering doubt as to the truth of the flitting 
 rumor. 
 
 At this moment the sentries were calling the hour of 
 one. The carriages of the Bullards and Stringhams, rival 
 social forces in town, and the two livery carry-alls that 
 
44 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 had come laden with Silver Hill society not yet burdened 
 with the care of their own equipage, were waiting on the 
 road in front of the assembly room. Prominent among 
 those who came hastening forth in quest of accurate news 
 was Bullard himself, a burly man, and forceful. With 
 him were three or four officers and as many civilians. 
 The women, as a rule, remained within the room, mur- 
 muring together in knots of three or four. Some few 
 were tremulous. All were glancing furtively, eagerly 
 about in search of still another, and at the moment, at the 
 flag-draped archway to the ladies' dressing room, she 
 suddenly, smilingly appeared, looked quickly back at the 
 deft-handed maid who had been repairing a rent in her 
 flimsy skirt, then her bright eyes sought the ballroom in 
 search of her escort, who had unaccountably disappeared. 
 Then the bright color, the winsome smile, began to fade 
 as she noted that no women were seated, but all were clus- 
 tering in groups, white-faced, whispering; that most men 
 had gone. Then she came swiftly forward, the eyes of 
 all the room upon her, and hailed the nearest circle with : 
 " Something has certainly happened. Tell me what it is." 
 
 As luck would have it, Mrs. Mack, the ever resolute, 
 was of this group and first to answer. 
 
 " It's bad news, Mrs. Bullard. I may as well tell you— 
 Mr. Langham's shot and they're bringing him home." 
 
COMRADES IxN ARMS 45 
 
 Whosoever expected to see Mrs. Bullard faint or col- 
 lapse was destined to grieve. Mrs. Bullard actually 
 blazed with sudden energy. 
 
 " Shot ! When ? Where ? " she demanded ; and then, 
 as they seemed dazed and bewildered, away she sped to 
 the open doorway, passing unnoticed other groups that 
 scanned her narrowly, and then she fairly flung herself 
 upon her husband's arm. 
 
 " You're here ! " they heard her say. " Where is — 
 where did — it happen ? " 
 
 " Out on the flats, they say, near the ford," was the 
 reluctant answer. " They've gone for a stretcher." 
 
 " Gone for a stretcher! And you here with a car- 
 riage ! " Then down the steps she flew, and over the walk. 
 " Mr. Shannon ! " she called, to the young cavalryman 
 just hurrying by, " if you know where to find him, tell my 
 coachman and come." 
 
 " My coachman I " " My ladyship's orders ! " " My 
 lord passed by as of no account ! " " Lieutenant Shan- 
 non, — th Cavalry, U. S. A., imperiously bidden to drop 
 what he was about and go with my lady ! " Fancy the 
 verbal comments of the women that watched and waited 
 as the carriage went spinning away to the prairie gate, 
 my lady and Shannon silent within, the stretchermen 
 speedily left behind. As for Bullard, the burly and force- 
 
4G COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 ful, he stood a moment with gloom stamped upon his 
 face and a curse stifled on his lips, then made his way to 
 the cardroom, now deserted of all save attendants, and 
 stopped at the sideboard. 
 
 A mile away a shadowy little group had gathered about 
 a prostrate man. A bleeding and senseless head was sup- 
 ported on the young surgeon's knee. Briggs and the 
 quartermaster were bending anxiously over them. Some 
 men of the guard, with lanterns, were searching the neigh- 
 borhood where the bridle-path made a short cut over the 
 shallows of the creek. Other shadowy forms, singly or 
 by twos or threes, were hastening over from the fort. 
 Some one of these had shouted, " Hold up," as the BuUard 
 carriage whirled swiftly by, but the driver never held 
 until it reached the bank above the ford. Then Mrs. Bul- 
 lard sprang out, unassisted, never waiting for slow-witted 
 Shannon, and in a second she, too, w^as bending over them, 
 when young Dr. Griscom looked up in her white but beau- 
 tiful face. She needed to ask no question. 
 
 " Serious," he said, " and how serious we cannot tv^ll — 
 here." 
 
 " Then take my carriage and get him — Home. The 
 stretcher is nowhere yet in sight." 
 
 They lifted the senseless form, and it was a difficult 
 thing. The doctor clambered in, and the men hoisted. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 4? 
 
 Langham was placed with his head on the doctor's 
 shoulder and his legs doubled up on the opposite seat. 
 " Jump in," said she to Briggs, quick, commanding, and 
 he, long schooled to silent tolerance of woman's ways, 
 obeyed without question. " Help the doctor hold him," 
 she added. '' Now, drive carefully, James. Dr. Griscom 
 will direct you," 
 
 " But you, Mrs. Bullard ? We can make room for 
 you," began Briggs. 
 
 " Make room for nobody ! " said this Zenobia of the 
 frontier. " I'm coming afoot. Drive on, James ! " And 
 the carriage turned and rolled away. The colonel and 
 chaplain, more men of the guard, more officers on the 
 run, the stretchermen on the jog-trot, all these it passed 
 in its swift whirl to the post, leaving nearly a dozen men 
 hunting for sign, searching the banks of the stream and 
 the length of the road. 
 
 " Let the doctors look after Langham," said Mack. 
 *' What I want is the man who did this." 
 
 And that Langham was " done " was the first story sent 
 in circulation that woeful night. It was much after one 
 when they got him to bed and could examine his injuries. 
 By that time he had for a moment regained consciousness, 
 perhaps through pain, but, no more than the dead could 
 he tell who or what had felled him. xA-gain he had lapsed 
 
48 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 into almost deathlike swoon, and both doctors were plainly 
 anxious. By half an hour later while these skilled prac- 
 titioners and their two attendants worked over the bruised 
 and senseless form, the colonel with some of his older offi- 
 cers had been taking counsel and evidence in the front 
 room, the " parlor," sacred to the four o'clock teas in the 
 early spring, now invaded by solemn-faced men of various 
 grades. 
 
 Corporal Stone of the second relief, summoned before 
 them, had stated that the first he knew of trouble was the 
 cry of Number Three. There was talking at the guard- 
 house, and he had heard no shot. He ran because he knew 
 it was trouble. Number Three said there was shooting 
 out at the fords, and they could hear the galloping hoofs of 
 a horse coming home. Stone took two men who had run 
 after him, and double-timed out over the prairie, and 
 there at the first ford they found Lieutenant Langham 
 lying on his face, stunned and bleeding. Stone sent a 
 man back on the run for the doctor and to notify the offi- 
 cers. More men came, and they dashed water in the 
 Lieutenant's face and tried to stanch the bleeding, and 
 others hunted for tracks when the lanterns came, but 
 Stone knew nothing more. 
 
 Ramsdell, sergeant of the guard, stated that the horse 
 left blood tracks as he ran through the gateway. Num- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 49 
 
 ber Seven and other men who examined him back of 
 Lieutenant Langham's quarters, said a bullet had gone 
 across the breast; that he was foaming, panting, and 
 bleeding. The sentry on Number Three told of hearing 
 the first shot, turning instantly and looking southeast- 
 ward; then seeing two flashes and hearing two other 
 shots before calling the corporal. Fox was summoned 
 and couldn't be found. Fox had been conspicuous early 
 in the evening. Fox had saddled and bridled Mr. Lang- 
 ham's pet horse, and brought him round somewhere 
 about 945. It was after ten when the lieutenant rode 
 away. Fox and the lieutenant had some words, said 
 Captain Curran, who lived next door. The lieutenant 
 had rebuked Fox sharply and sternly, and Fox had 
 replied in a tone Captain Curran had never before heard 
 him use. He couldn't help thinking Fox might have been 
 drinking. On this point Mr. Briggs was positive: Fox 
 had been drinking. It was noticeable to him at the adju- 
 tant's office at eight o'clock — was probably more so to 
 Langham at ten. Colonel Mack gave orders that sys- 
 tematic search be made for Fox all over the post, and 
 every " shack " was ordered open to expedite the matter. 
 Most of the officers, whether bidden or not, had come 
 to Langham's to see what they could do, or to answer 
 questions if need be, but Mr. Crabbe was not one of these. 
 
50 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Nor did Mack send for him. By this time, of course, the 
 story of the afternoon's ugly clash at the mess had been 
 told to the post commander, and the situation, bad enough 
 at the start, became suddenly worse. Mrs. Bullard, walk- 
 ing back to the post with young Shannon, had gone to the 
 colonel's for certain of her wraps, she said, and Shannon 
 was sent to find her husband with the message that she 
 was now ready to go home. Bullard was a long time 
 coming. He explained that it was necessary to dry and 
 cleanse the deep blood stains on the back and seat of the 
 carriage. He, too, it seems, had driven out to the scene 
 of the affray, supposing, he said, his wife to be still there. 
 He went by the road and she came by the stream bank, a 
 favorite walk. They did not see the colonel to say good- 
 night. They left about two o'clock, without that cere- 
 mony, but not without reining up in front of Langham's 
 to inquire for the latest tidings of the wounded man. 
 Briggs, just back from the quarters of Lieutenant Crabbe, 
 came to the carriage door and answered Mrs. Bullard, 
 for, as usual, that spirited woman did the talking for 
 both. Mr. Langham was in very serious shape, was all 
 he could say, and both doctors agreed that the worst 
 might follow if he did not pull up by morning. Mrs. 
 Bullard was full of deep sympathy, interest, anxiety, and 
 then — she asked a curious question: 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 51 
 
 " How and where is Mr. Crabbe ? " 
 
 " At his quarters," said Briggs stoutly, " and he is very 
 much shocked and distressed." Briggs did not especially 
 like Crabbe, but he wouldn't have any woman supposing 
 that even a man he didn't like could so far forget his 
 station as an officer and gentleman as to be concerned in 
 so brutal, so mad, an assault as this. Briggs said good- 
 night, and slammed the carriage door resentfully. He 
 went in and told his colonel Mr. Crabbe was at his quar- 
 ters awaiting his, Colonel Mack's, wishes, and would not 
 stir from them until sent for, a species of self-imposed 
 arrest entirely unnecessary, and this, too, at a time when 
 Mr. Crabbe would gladly have felt himself at liberty to 
 go and make search on his own account. He had lost 
 the beautiful insignia worn by him as a Companion by 
 Inheritance in the Military Order of the Loyal Legion. 
 It was on the left breast of his full dress uniform, to- 
 gether with his sharp-shooter's badge and the cross of 
 the Sons of the American Revolution, when he was 
 dancing with Mrs. Stringham, for Mrs. Stringham had 
 remarked them and asked what they all meant and why 
 he didn't wear them every day. 
 
 They were all in place when he stopped at the side- 
 board in the cardroom a little later. Mr. BuUard and 
 others from town spoke of them while having a glass of 
 
52 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 punch together. About twelve he had gone over to his 
 own quarters, he said, to change a pair of patent leather 
 dancing boots for something older and more comfortable, 
 as the new ones had drawn his feet and been extremely 
 tight and painful. While there he saw that his collar 
 was wilted, as well as his shirt, and he concluded to make 
 a complete change. It took some time. He even put his 
 feet in a tub of cold water. It must have been 12.50, or 
 later, he said, when, on donning again his uniform, he 
 missed his Loyal Legion insignia. He was searching for 
 that about his own quarters when Captain Sparker came 
 hurrying in and told him the shocking news. This was 
 toward one. 
 
 All this detail had Crabbe hurriedly confided to Briggs 
 during the latter's brief visit in search of him, and Briggs 
 concluded it was of such importance that he took a sheet 
 of paper and jotted it down, reading it over to Crabbe 
 before returning to the impromptu council. Briggs 
 gave no more thought to the Loyal Legion insignia. 
 What was the loss of a bauble in face of a murder 
 mystery ? 
 
 He read off his notes to the colonel and the assembled 
 officers, and Major Baker, of the cavalry, the second in 
 command, sat and looked straight at him every moment 
 as he read. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 53 
 
 " You've got it exact, have you? " he asked of Briggs, 
 as the adjutant finished. 
 
 " Exact as I could, from a hurried narrative," answered 
 Briggs. " And Crabbe acquiesced in every word wlien I 
 read it aloud to him." 
 
 The major sat one moment in silence, then turned on 
 Captain Sparker : " How was Crabbe dressed and what 
 was he doing when you entered ? " said he, and the effect 
 was marked and instant. 
 
 " Why — in his shirt sleeves, and he seemed to be — 
 hunting round. He had his uniform coat on his arm." 
 
 " Room looked as though he'd been washing and 
 changing his shirt and — other things ? " queried Baker. 
 
 " Why, yes ; he said so. There was some disorder. 
 Things flung about. Tub and basin by the washstand, 
 but nothing in the least unusual." And Sparker's face was 
 clouding, his eyes were filling with a new light and 
 anxiety. 
 
 " That's all, then," replied the major, a grim look on 
 his weather-beaten face. " I'd like. Colonel Mack, to have 
 Mr. Crabbe come here and tell us a little more, if you'll 
 kindly send for him." 
 
 With that he arose and sauntered into the hall and 
 thence tip-toed to the room where Langham lay feebly 
 moaning at intervals. Warren's hand was at the patient's 
 
54 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 wrist, his sensitive fingers on the pulse, and his anxious 
 eyes sought those of Major Baker with a shade of dis- 
 pleasure. He disliked the intrusion. 
 
 "Any change?" whispered Baker. Warren slowly 
 shook his head. 
 
 " Can you say that he will live till morning? " War- 
 ren pondered a bit, then, still more slowly, shook his 
 head again. The major returned, angering. The veter- 
 inarian was giving his theory as to the injuries inflicted 
 on the beautiful bay, whose bleeding was finally stanched, 
 but who lay in his box stall back of Langham's, suffering 
 from shock and weakness, with Champion wonderingly 
 nosing the intercepting grating. They had had to break 
 in the stable to reach the stall. Fox was gone with the 
 keys. 
 
 And then came Briggs again, and Crabbe, the latter 
 very pale and very nervous, as all could see. No time 
 was lost in preliminaries. '' Have I your permission, 
 colonel?" asked the major, and wonderingly the colonel 
 said aye. 
 
 *'* The adjutant has read your statement, Mr. Crabbe. 
 You wish us to believe that you have not been outside 
 the post ? " 
 
 " Certainly, sir," was the prompt reply, yet the lips 
 and fingers both were twitching. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 55 
 
 " And that you had nothing whatsoever to do with this 
 attack on Lieutenant Langham? " And the major's eye- 
 lids were screwing down to a narrow slit. His tone was 
 menacing. 
 
 " Not a thing, sir," and still, though Crabbe spoke 
 promptly, confidently, he winced before the stern, level 
 gaze. 
 
 ''You lost your Loyal Legion badge after II.30, I 
 think you said." 
 
 " I did," answered Crabbe. Now all men's eyes were 
 fixed upon him, and there seemed to be a catching, a 
 holding of breath throughout the room. Deliberately the 
 major drew forth a glistening cross of gold and enamel 
 with a tri-colored bit of ribbon, from beneath the breast 
 of his coat. 
 
 " This is numbered seven thousand and blank — your 
 number, I think," said he, in a voice that shook in spite 
 of himself, " and I found it in the sand at the ford, not 
 ten feet from where Mr. Langham lay." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 A CHAMPION MISSIKG. 
 
 IN close arrest Lieutenant Crabbe had gone to his 
 quarters. Nay, more. So serious were Langham's 
 injuries — so doubtful the result — that, for the first 
 time in the history of Fort Minneconjou, armed sentries 
 stood at the door of an officer's room. The colonel's im- 
 promptu council had dissolved. Belden and Sparker, 
 brother captains of the 2 — th, trudged home together in 
 awed silence until they reached the latter's gate. Belden 
 was a man much esteemed for his modesty and worth. 
 Sparker was known rather for his money — or that of his 
 indulgent mate. Beyond comradeship in the service there 
 was little in common between the two men. Belden, a 
 strict disciplinarian in his own household, had no words 
 to waste on the management of others' — the most per- 
 sistent critics in such affairs being the men or women 
 negligent or ignorant as to their own. Sparker was a 
 sower of dragon's teeth, a man to whom was ever traced 
 much of the little meannesses afloat, like malignant 
 microbes, in the social atmosphere at the fort. With no 
 children of his own, Sparker was full of comment on 
 
 56 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 57 
 
 parental weaknesses as exhibited about him. With no 
 erudition beyond that picked up in a yawning contem- 
 plation of newspaper headlines, he was prone to sneer at 
 those who studied deeper. With no temporal anxieties 
 to teach him sympathy and charity, he overflowed with 
 captious criticism of those who fell behind. And, having 
 started nine-tenths of such garrison gossip as was of 
 masculine origin, he was now virtuously indignant at the 
 cavalry major who had " brought such disgrace upon 
 the name of the army." " Don't you think," he began 
 at Belden, as they reached the gallery, " he ought to have 
 gone privately to Crabbe and told him what he'd found, 
 and let — let him " 
 
 " Resign ? " said Belden quietly, " with a possible mur- 
 der to be accounted for ? " 
 
 " Well, perhaps not — that," stammered the captain. 
 " But don't you think he took the worst way of adver- 
 tising the whole business ? " 
 
 Sparker was an adept in that sort of dragging forth of 
 personal opinion by the roots, as it were, that enabJe.s a 
 man to triumphantly quote So-and-So and So-and-So as 
 backing his views, when, in point of fact, the men re- 
 ferred to seldom, if ever, were of his way of thinking. 
 Belden knew his neighbor of old, and could not be 
 trapped. 
 
58 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 " The business is bound to be advertised far and wide," 
 said he. " The major couldn't prevent it." 
 
 " Awe — well, but now, Belden, don't you think " 
 
 " I think," said Belden very calmly, " that it is high 
 time we got to bed, and tried not to think, if we're to 
 sleep at all before to-morrow's inspection." 
 
 " You don't suppose ' Old Hardtack ' will have us out 
 after — after what happened to-night ? " blustered Sparker 
 impulsively. 
 
 " Our orders are to be In readiness for anything," was 
 the answer. " Good-night, Sparker," and Belden broke 
 away, glanced up at a pallid little face that peeped be- 
 tween the white dimity curtains of a dormer window 
 above his soldier parlor, and, heavy-hearted, stole back 
 to bed. Matters at Minneconjou, though he would not 
 prate of them, were giving him sad cause for worry, and 
 that dearly loved face of his little girl was what troubled 
 him most. With all his heart he was beginning to wish 
 that Kitty had not won such fame as a rider, and that 
 " Pat " Langham, with his handsome face and handsome 
 horses, had never come to the regiment. He knew she 
 would be waiting for him at the head of the stairs, and 
 that she was waiting to ask for news of him, and there 
 she was at the landing, her glossy, rippling hair " falling 
 down to her waist," her big, beautiful eyes pathetic with 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 59 
 
 inquiry and supplication, her slender form shivering a 
 bit in its dainty night robe, but shivering not from cold. 
 Belden's big heart was moved at the sight, though his head 
 would have counseled reproof. His arm stole about her, 
 as he gently drew her to her own door. '' No worse, 
 at least, little woman," he said, " and sleeping quietly 
 when I came away. So be good, and go and do like- 
 wise." 
 
 But she clung to his arm. She would know. 
 
 " Is it — serious — dangerous ? " she pleaded. 
 
 " Serious, yes. Dangerous, I hardly know. I think 
 the doctors hardly know. But they are hopeful." 
 
 Again she shivered. " But, Daddy dear, do they say — 
 do they know — who did it? " 
 
 " Well, no. Why, where's mother ? " he asked, noting 
 that the marital chamber was deserted. 
 
 " She went in to Airs. Sparker's for news. She said 
 she was too excited to sleep. She's coming now." 
 
 Coming the good lady certainly was, coming with por- 
 tentous face, having learned that her liege had returned, 
 having waited only long enough to hear the startling 
 tidings of Crabbe's arrest and how it was brought about. 
 She was into the open hallway and up the stairs before 
 the captain could persuade Kitty to step within her own 
 threshold. She was upon him with the natural and im- 
 
60 (COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 pulsive exclamation : " Well, isn't that just too horrible 
 for anything? — an officer — becoming a vile assassin!'' 
 
 '' Hush, Kate," said Belden, striving to lure her away 
 from the subject and into her room. " It is — purely cir- 
 cumstantial as yet." 
 
 " Purely circumstantial, when his Loyal Legion badge 
 is found right there on the spot! Kitty, I told you to 
 go to bed two hours ago." 
 
 " Whose Loyal Legion Badge? Where was it? " de- 
 manded the girl, springing back, barefooted, into the 
 hallway. Mrs. Belden would have denied her further 
 information and had her lying awake in suspense and 
 terror until dawn, and then, when too late to mend mat- 
 ters, telling her as a last resort. It was Belden who 
 spoke, his theory being that it was always best to tell the 
 truth and end all mystery. 
 
 " Mr. Crabbe's Loyal Legion badge, my girlie," said 
 he, gently drawing her back to the little room. " It was 
 picked up at the ford, close to the spot. There had been 
 angry words between them, and — listen ! " 
 
 Somebody was knocking at the door, knocking vehe- 
 mently. Had there not been enough excitement for one 
 night? Belden hurried down, and there stood the adju- 
 tant. " You're dressed — already. Come right over as 
 you are. The colonel wants to see you at once," were 
 
COMRADES IK ARMS 61 
 
 his words, as he led on toward the little gate. " You'll 
 find the major there and — ' Old Hardtack's ' taking a 
 hand now." 
 
 It was then after two — long after. The barracks of 
 the men, the assembly hall, the storehouse, and offices 
 were all wrapped in darkness. Lights burned dimly at 
 the guard-room and at many of the officers' quarters, 
 while at the colonel's the ground floor was still brightly 
 illuminated. Two cavalry horses with heaving flanks 
 stood in front of the gate, held by a single trooper. His 
 comrade was at the hall doorway, chatting in low tone 
 with the orderly of the commanding officer. " We made 
 it in fifty minutes — there'n back," Belden heard him say, 
 as he passed quickly in. There in the flag-draped army 
 parlor stood the gray-haired inspector general, his lined 
 face full of concern. There under the chandelier, tramp- 
 ing nervously up and down, fretful and ill at ease, was 
 the colonel. There on the sofa, his hands thrust deep 
 in his trouser's pockets, his legs outsprawled, was Major 
 Baker, dubious, perhaps, and perturbed in spirit, as 
 shown by his most unsoldierly pose, yet truculent and 
 holding to his point. There was a fourth figure in the 
 room, that of a man in cool garments, and heated argu- 
 ment, with a fifth — the sheriff of Sagamore County. 
 
 In the first civilian Belden recognized Mr. Murray, 
 
62 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 landlord of the Argenta, one of the local hostelries of 
 the better class, the one most affected by post people when 
 they lunched or shopped in town. The moment Belden 
 entered the room Colonel Mack abruptly stopped his 
 nervous walk and strove to stop the debate, which, having 
 become pointed and acrimonious, bade fair to reach listen- 
 ing ears on the landing above. Both Boniface and sheriff 
 had long been at odds, rival candidates for office and 
 claimants for a hand, the sheriff winning both events to 
 the profuse and profane disgust of the rival. The land- 
 lord had come as a volunteer to launch valuable informa- 
 tion. The sheriff had come as a drafted man, straight 
 from his slumbers to controversy, for what Boniface had 
 said the sheriff scouted, and no one present could say 
 which man was right. 
 
 " I tell you," clamored the former, " I saw him talking 
 excitedly, you could almost say imploringly, with this 
 stranger at the train. I always meet the express, even 
 when it is late as it was to-night. They walked up and 
 down together as much as five minutes. Then this third 
 man joined them, and I knew him the moment I set eyes 
 on him. It's my business to know every face I've ever 
 seen before. It was Pyne, the young Britisher that killed 
 the soldier at Cheyenne the winter of '89." 
 
 " That man hasn't been seen or heard of in these 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 63 
 
 parts for six years/' burst In the sheriff. ** He went back 
 to England after his pardon* that was one of the con- 
 ditions " 
 
 " Hush, gentlemen ! " pleaded the colonel. " Not so 
 loud. Let me ask a question, as I wish Captain Belden 
 to hear. Captain, you were at Cheyenne at that time, as 
 I remember, and you saw this young man Pyne ? " 
 
 " I was in command of a detachment of recruits going 
 through," answered Belden gravely. " I saw him after 
 his arrest — after the affray, and again during the trial, 
 but that was all." 
 
 " I was running the Eureka restaurant at Cheyenne at 
 that time," again broke in the landlord. " He stopped at 
 my place. I saw him a dozen times, and I can't be mis- 
 taken. He was the man that rode away with Lieutenant 
 Langham to-night." 
 
 " Did you see him ride away ? " demanded the sheriff. 
 
 " I didn't see him ride away. I saw him walk away 
 with Langham toward the stable, and the stable hands 
 will tell you they rode away together, heading for the 
 fort, and it wasn't an hour after that the cry went up at 
 the bar that Lieutenant Langham had been shot out there 
 at the fords, and that's what brought me here. Find that 
 man Pyne/' 
 
 " And I'll bet that man Pyne isn't anywhere in these 
 
64 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 parts, and can't be," declared the sheriff. " So there 
 you are." 
 
 The colonel turned impatiently away. " You see how 
 it is, Belden," he began. " Our friend of the Argenta de- 
 clares somebody rode away from town with Langham. 
 He says two or three men can swear to that, lie says 
 the man was Pyne, who shot a soldier in your detach- 
 ment at Cheyenne in '89. There are so many hoofprints 
 all along the banks about the fords that I have had to 
 send men further in toward town, searching the trail with 
 lanterns. Somewhere it may be found that two horses 
 came loping out to-night together. There's someone 
 coming now ! " 
 
 It was Potts, regimental quartermaster, and Potts came 
 swiftly, silently in and stopped straight in front of his 
 colonel. 
 
 " It's so, sir. Half a mile east of the fords we found 
 two places on the trail where the ground was soft and 
 muddy. Two horses came this way, probably together." 
 
 The announcement was heard in almost oppressive 
 silence. It meant far more than was apparent at first 
 to all those present. Only the officers knew that, charged 
 with the crime. Lieutenant Crabbe was now in close 
 arrest. Only they could realize what intensity of relief 
 it would bring to Minneconjou could that crime be 
 
COMRADES IN; ARMS 65 
 
 fastened on a rank outsider and the stain be swept from 
 the uniform. 
 
 Murray's story, as hastily told long after one, was in- 
 deed of almost startling interest. Two of the colonel's 
 guests, he said, Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey, driving home 
 in their buggy at half past twelve, had stopped in front 
 of the Argenta and declared that they were overtaken 
 half way to Silver Hill by a horseman who galloped 
 wildly on toward town, and cried to them that Lieutenant 
 Langham had been shot by road agents. Nobody else 
 as yet, however, seemed to have seen this fleeing horse- 
 man ; but Murray, the moment he heard the news, " piled 
 into the bus," as he expressed it, and told his man to 
 drive like sin to the fords. He felt so sure he knew 
 the shooter, and that the shooter could be caught if 
 promptly traced and followed, that, when four miles out, 
 he came suddenly on two troopers scouting the prairie, he 
 did not hesitate to bid them gallop over to Sheriff Blos- 
 som's ranch on the North Fork, and west of Silver Hill. 
 They were to " rout out " that official and get him to 
 the colonel's at once. He was well on his way thither 
 before the conference at Langham's broke up for the 
 night. 
 
 It was Murray's profound conviction that the wild 
 horseman who had startled the Chaunceys was Pyne him- 
 
66 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 self, a man he had known when, young, friendless, and 
 without means, he had drifted into the Eureka at Chey- 
 enne, and there dwelt some days, as it turned out, at Mur- 
 ray's expense. The lad *' hocussed " him, he said, with 
 stories of wealthy kindred in England, and by the casual 
 display of a beautiful watch. He was waiting for his 
 luggage and remittances, but before these could come a 
 recruit train pulled into the station late one night, a 
 squad of devil-may-care blue-coats got away somewhere ; 
 speedily found whisky, and then, w^hen ripe for mischief, 
 ran foul of this lone young Englishman, whom they 
 forthwith proceeded to '' guy." He knocked two of his 
 tormentors into the gutter, and was then set upon by the 
 entire party. Within two minutes thereafter he would 
 probably have been kicked into pulp had he not, within 
 ten seconds, whipped out his pistol and opened fire. The 
 police swooped upon the party, capturing one dead and 
 one wounded soldier, and one battered, bleeding young 
 Briton with a smoking revolver tight-grasped in his fist. 
 The other recruits had scattered. When the case came 
 to trial, however, it was six against one. The soldiers 
 stoutly swore they were only " having a little fun with 
 him " when he whirled on them and shot two. Not until 
 after Pyne had been convicted and sentenced did his 
 friends begin to be heard from. Not until the state de- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 67 
 
 partment, through the diplomatic and consular service, 
 had had voluminous correspondence and the lad long 
 months of languishing in jail, did his side of the story 
 begin to tell on the public mind. At last came a pardon, 
 coupled with advice to quit the state and the practice of 
 carrying concealed weapons, both of which were readily 
 promised, and young Pyne was called for by English kin- 
 folk and whisked away eastward and then beyond. Two 
 men who knew him well in his few Cheyenne days were 
 Murray, then mine host of the Eureka, and Blossom, then 
 deputy sheriff; the former inimical because defrauded, 
 the latter friendly because he had profited by the bounty 
 of Pyne's kindred when they finally came. Possibly in 
 the face of graver things the lad had never thought to 
 tell his people of his little debt. 
 
 All this was set before the colonel and his chosen few 
 in the murmured conference that followed Murray's 
 truculent announcement. He was for having Blossom 
 take instant measures to run down the possible mur- 
 derer, who could be none other than Pyne, while Blos- 
 som sturdily scoffed at the whole theor>', declared his 
 belief that Pyne was not in America, and his conviction 
 that he was in no wise concerned in the case. Blossom 
 said his suspicions pointed to Fox. 
 
 "Why?" snapped the colonel and Major Baker, in a 
 
68 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 breath. They had kept him still in ignorance of Crabbe's 
 arrest, and Mack, at least, was overjoyed at the possi- 
 bility of clearing the cloth. Hardly another sound was 
 heard as the civil official began his reply. In strained 
 attention, every man now on his feet, they listened, 
 breathless. 
 
 " Because Fox has had some trouble with the lieuten- 
 ant. Because he was in town drinking two evenings ago, 
 and let fall some things about Mr. Langham he never 
 would have said if he hadn't been in ugly mood, and when 
 some barroom loafer laughed at him, probably to pro- 
 voke him into saying more, he declared that he could 
 tell things that would ' drive the damned snob out of the 
 army.' Those were his own words. He said he would 
 have quit the lieutenant's service six weeks ago if he 
 
 could have got his wages " And here the eyes of the 
 
 adjutant and quartermaster met across the parlor table. 
 " He said the lieutenant himself might have to skip the 
 country any minute, and then he'd get his pay out of 
 things the lieutenant couldn't take with him. Now, you 
 tell me Fox is missing. There's the man I mean to 
 look for." 
 
 For a moment no man spoke. Then the colonel turned 
 on Briggs. " You heard some strange words between 
 them this afternoon. What were they ? " 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 69 
 
 Briggs flushed and balked, painfully. It was one thing 
 to have to tell his commander, in confidence, of words 
 he had accidentally overheard that pointed to Fox as 
 having a grievance. It was another to tell it to a room 
 half full. Briggs looked appealingly at his colonel, but 
 Mack was obdurate. He resented Major Baker's melo- 
 dramatic method of bringing Crabbe to grief. He felt 
 that a stigma had been planted upon the fair name of the 
 regiment, and all through Baker's meddlesome action. 
 He held, and held with reason, that Baker's proper course 
 was to acquaint him, the commanding officer, with what 
 he had found, and then let the commanding officer in his 
 own way confront the suspected man with this unsus- 
 pected evidence. It would be a lesson to Baker if now, 
 after all, they could muster evidence so strong against 
 the servingman as to relax the pressure on the subaltern. 
 *' These gentlemen have all heard so much they may just 
 as well hear what you heard, especially Major Baker," 
 said the colonel sententiously, and with significant look 
 at the junior field officer. Thus adjured Briggs bluntly 
 said his say. 
 
 " They were packing or unpacking some things, revol- 
 vers, among others. Fox seemed surly or sullen, and I 
 heard Mr. Langham speaking somewhat angrily. What 
 he said practically was this : ' Knowing what you do, 
 
70 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 then you should have got everything ready at once. I 
 may start any moment.' " 
 
 Again there was silence. No one seemed to know 
 just what to say. Murray sank into a chair and sat 
 glaring at Blossom. The latter was the first to speak : 
 
 " That tallies with what I heard — with what I know — 
 Fox let slip in town. Again I say Fox is the man we 
 should be chasing, and you tell me he has not been seen 
 since ten o'clock, and had been drinking again ? " This to 
 Briggs. The adjutant bowed. It was as Blossom had 
 said. 
 
 " And you had to break in the stable door, I under- 
 stand, to get the wounded horse to his stall. If I were 
 in your place, colonel, I'd have that door replaced and 
 locked this very night. There's neither stage nor train 
 until afternoon, and if Fox skips, or has skipped, it's in 
 saddle probably. There isn't a horse hereabouts can 
 catch either of those runners of Mr. Langham's with 
 Fox up." 
 
 " He'd have to get him out right under the sentry's 
 nose," said the colonel. " But the suggestion is good. 
 See to it first thing in the morning, Potts. And here's 
 the officer-of-the-day now. I want you to give your sen- 
 try orders to watch that stable of Mr. Langham's espe- 
 cially." The colonel had turned, as he spoke, to a 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 71 
 
 solemn-faced, soldierly looking officer who come clank- 
 ing swiftly in. But they read tidings in his somber eyes 
 before ever he opened his lips. 
 
 " Mr. Langham's stable, sir ? " was the embarrassed 
 answer. '' I fear it's too late. The sergeant has just 
 come running to tell me that Champion is gone." 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE LADY IN THE CASE. 
 
 A NOTHER night had come to Minneconjoii and 
 /""% still other theories as to the assault. Langham's 
 few conscious moments had been spent in such 
 severe pain that the surgeons found themselves forced to 
 administer opiates. In answer to questions the injured 
 man gasped that he saw no assailant. The shots came 
 from the darkness. Now Fox and Champion both had 
 vanished from the scene. The gallant horse had been led 
 from the little stable while the sentry, either through col- 
 lusion or stupidity, was sauntering up his post full fifty 
 yards away. This according to his own wretched story. 
 He claimed that, until the sergeant's visit, he never saw 
 anything of horse or human after the veterinarian and his 
 assistants left at half past one. It was on the stroke of 
 three when the sergeant of the guard came running 
 up the road to tell his tale. Number Six had then been 
 taken off post, stripped forthwith of arms and equipment, 
 and confined in the guard-house. Number Six swore 
 stoutly that Fox hadn't been anywhere about the stable, 
 that if the horse was gone he had just broken his halter 
 
 72 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 73 
 
 shank ancl started. But Champion could never have 
 saddled and bridled himself, and saddle and bridle, Lang- 
 ham's handsome English set, were gone with the horse. 
 They trailed him with lanterns across the springy bunch 
 grass of the mesa, dow^n into the bed of the North Fork, 
 then away eastward toward the sheriff's ranch, and the 
 sheriff went lumbering to town to wire far and wide, and 
 warn all fellow officers to look out for the fugitive. But 
 no pursuit was ordered from the post. Fox and Cham- 
 pion could ride nearly two miles to a trooper's one. 
 Fox's self obliteration had, of course, concentrated sus- 
 picion on himself. But Briggs and Gridley had been 
 looking over Langham's quarters, and the amount of 
 loose change and trinkets in the upper drawers of his 
 bureau — items to which Fox had easy and frequent ac- 
 cess — caught their attention at once. If Fox had fled it 
 was strange he left so much cash and convertible assets 
 behind. True, after the assault there might have been 
 no opportunity to help himself, but there had been 
 abundant time before. And that the assault was planned 
 and premeditated was a thing no man could actually 
 assert, yet that all men felt. Langham, in the moment 
 that he could speak of it at all, had declared the shots 
 came without word of warning. He had swooned again 
 before tb&y could question him as to his companion. 
 
U COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 And so at noonday, the second of " Old Hardtack's " 
 official visit, there were no less than three different men 
 suspected of being Langham's assailant. Major Baker 
 and a few of his backers and believers held to the theory 
 that Crabbe was the criminal. There was the damning 
 and damaging evidence of his precious Loyal Legion 
 insignia. Sheriff Blossom, with Lieutenant Briggs and 
 almost all the junior officers, clung to the conviction that 
 Fox was the traitor who had done his master so near to 
 death. Murray, of the Argenta, with rather a large fol- 
 lowing of friends in town, believed that Pyne, the once 
 conspicuous, was the would-be assassin, and these 
 civilians were searching high and low for motive. 
 Several citizens had seen Mr. Langham in converse with 
 the two strangers at the station. Some had seen him 
 walk away in company with one of the arrivals on the 
 belated express. The train had changed engines and 
 stopped twenty minutes. The passengers, as a rule, had 
 taken supper at Murray's, or browsed at the lunch 
 counter. The train was far across the great divide and 
 spinning through the gorges of the Sagamore by the 
 time Silver Hill began investigating on its own account, 
 and meanwhile, first thing in the morning. Potts had 
 taken to saddle and the prairie; had gone again to the 
 ford and begun his researches afresh. At breakfast time 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 75 
 
 he was back at the post and the colonel's. He believed 
 he had found that which should relieve Crabbe at once, 
 and so expressed himself. Moreover, it disposed of 
 Murray's theory as to Pyne, and, more compactly than 
 before, laid the load of suspicion on the shoulders of 
 Fox. Potts had ridden half way back to town, and 
 studied the trail in a dozen spots and confidently de- 
 clared that, whether Fox was or was not the assailant, 
 it was Fox, not Pyne, that accompanied him on the home- 
 ward ride. 
 
 " How do you know ? " asked the post commander. 
 
 " Because, had it been Pyne, they would have ridden 
 side by side, but this man rode behind. In many a 
 place the hoofprints of the second horse almost obliterate 
 those of the first," was the answer, and the answer was 
 true. Blossom saw it for himself when he came out 
 again at midday, and Blossom had been asking questions 
 at the stable where Langham left his beautiful horse on 
 reaching town. The manager said that in half an hour 
 the lieutenant was back, that he ordered an extra saddle 
 horse ; gave no word of explanation ; said he would send 
 the horse home the following morning, and then rode 
 away, leading him. That horse wandered in at dawn, 
 very much wearied and looking as though he had been 
 ridden hard. Only one other thing attracted attention. 
 
76 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 The leathers had been shortened, three holes on each 
 side. It was remembered that Fox used a very short 
 stirrup. 
 
 Then the railway officials, thanks to Sheriff Blossom, 
 had been wiring after that night express. They wished 
 the conductor to ascertain the names of two passengers 
 in the Pullman who had had an animated talk with an 
 officer at the station platform. They wished to know 
 whither they were bound and whence they came, etc. The 
 conductor replied that the names given were Brown and 
 Jones ; that the parties evidently resented such inquiries ; 
 that they came from Chicago and were going "through"; 
 that several Pullman pasengers got out at Silver Hill, but 
 none remained there, in fact, they had two more passen- 
 gers than on arriving at that point. Then while Murray's 
 friend Pyne might have walked away with Mr. Langham 
 before the train started, he must have returned in time 
 and could not, therefore, have ridden forth with that offi- 
 cer. No, all things now pointed to the luckless Fox, and 
 by ID A. M. a liveryman was found who declared that 
 he brought Fox to town at 10.30 the previous night, 
 and had not seen him since. Then the bartender at a sec- 
 ond-rate saloon announced that Fox was there at eleven, 
 " pretty full " and wanted to borrow ten dollars, which 
 was refused him. Finally BuUard's gardener, out late to 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 77 
 
 see a sweetheart, declared he saw Fox reehng toward the 
 railway station just before the train pulled out to the west, 
 and a minute later passed Lieutenant Langham and a 
 stranger walking in the same direction. The chances were 
 that the lieutenant had overtaken his groom, noticed his 
 condition and had ordered him to be ready to ride back 
 to the post. No one ever saw Fox so full that he couldn't 
 ride. At noon, therefore, the possible Pyne had been elim- 
 inated from the case, much to the sheriff's triumphant sat- 
 isfaction, and suspicion was now divided between Crabbe, 
 the subaltern, and Fox, the scamp. 
 
 Then came still another searcher for information, and 
 Mrs. Bullard, who had sent a mounted messenger to the 
 post at eight, now followed in person at 4 P. M., and 
 dismounted at the gate of her hostess of the night before, 
 the wife of the commanding officer. There were dark 
 circles about the lady's beautiful eyes, and her face had 
 lost much of its bright color. '' I have not slept an hour," 
 said she, with frankness unlooked for. *'And Mr. Bul- 
 lard is quite as much distressed as I am, but he had to 
 be at his office. I told him I would come out to see what 
 we could do for ^Ir. Langham. It was a great relief to 
 hear that he was at least no worse." 
 
 Mrs. Mack stood stately and unresponsive — ^**just 
 drawed myself up," as said the good lady. But Mrs. 
 
78 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Mack's unbending attitude, physical and mental, received 
 distinct sense of shock with the stylish visitor's very next 
 suggestion : " I wonder if I could see — Kitty Belden." 
 
 Now, why on earth should the mature and prominent 
 leader of Silver Hill society desire to see the sixteen-year- 
 old child of the garrison. Mrs. Mack could imagine all 
 manner of reasons, but assert none. In spite of herself 
 and her resolution, she fairly bristled with curiosity and 
 interest. Still she was, to use her own expression, some- 
 what " dubersome," and her answer was hesitating. 
 " Why, I suppose so," was the reply, " though — you know 
 the captain and his wife have — notions." 
 
 " As to me, you mean ? Yes, I have observed ; but we 
 all have our likes and dislikes. Now, I greatly like their 
 child and fancy that I should like them were we at all 
 acquainted, but, since returning my call last winter, Mrs. 
 Belden hasn't been near me. And now, with this dread- 
 ful thing " Then suddenly : " You know Kitty used 
 
 to ride a good deal with Mr. Langham. Then " 
 
 " Then her pa and ma thought it time to call a halt," 
 said Mrs. Mack, " and it's good for her they did." 
 
 " Why ? " asked Mrs. Bullard, drawing her whiplash 
 through the slender fingers of her left hand, and looking 
 unflinchingly in the other's flitting eyes. 
 
 " Well, it ain't for me to say. Ask them," said Mrs. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 79 
 
 Mack. " She might have got — interested in Langham 
 
 Some women do." 
 
 "/ am one," said Mrs. Bullard, with calm and instant 
 assurance. *' He interests me more than any of your offi- 
 cers. As a class I find them rather dull. Mr. Lang- 
 ham has lived, read, seen, traveled.'' 
 
 Mrs. Mack could only gasp. This was brazen effront- 
 ery, thought she, yet never looked the woman brazen, 
 never was there in her placid, polished manner a symptom 
 of bravado. She spoke of her interest as something quite 
 beyond criticism or suspicion, something to be considered 
 a perfectly proper and legitimate regard, something as un- 
 objectionable in the eyes of her lord and master as it 
 should be, consequently, in those of her associates. Versed 
 in the ways of society East and abroad, Mrs. Bullard had 
 tolerance, but no sympathy, for the limitations of the 
 West. Society in the arm of the frontier could not under- 
 stand her, nor could she quite explain. Despite the dark 
 circles, she was very handsome in her stylish riding habit, 
 for her features were fine, her figure was still slender and 
 beautiful, and honest, buxom Mrs. Mack, her senior by 
 twenty unshadowed years, looked upon her enviously. 
 There were times when Mrs. Mack could even have ac- 
 cepted Mrs. BuUard's questionable morals could she only 
 have been gifted with her unquestionable graces. But 
 
80 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 this declaration of social independence shocked the stout 
 heart of the elder into silence. She really knew not what 
 to say, though vaguely she felt that it should be rebuked. 
 
 ** Why don't you go and — ask for Kitty if you want to 
 vsee her ? " 
 
 " Because, frankly, Mrs. Mack, I have questions to ask 
 her that are for herself alone. Now, even in telling you 
 this I have come to ask you to help me." 
 
 *' Well, of all the extryoniary women I ever heard of! " 
 ^Irs. Mack was saying to herself, when the trumpets 
 began sounding stable call at the cavalry barracks. Then 
 the bugler at the foot of the flag-staff pealed forth the 
 summons for afternoon police. The few prisoners at the 
 guard-house came filing forth under charge of the sentries, 
 and Mack, himself, coming from the adjutant's office, 
 orderly followed, stopped one minute at his gate to study 
 the thoroughbred and his handsome equipment, then 
 straightway entered the house and asked : " Where is 
 Mrs. Bullard?" 
 
 The voice that answered from a shaded nook in the 
 parlor was sweet and silvery. *' Here, colonel, and wait- 
 ing for you with a score of questions," and not at all did 
 Mrs. Mack approve it that instantly the lady left her side 
 and went with outstretched hand to meet the husband and 
 putative commander. " That woman has too many fasci* 
 
COMRADES IK ARMS 81 
 
 nations — and followers," said Mrs. Mack, " and Mack 
 himself is such a fool about — them." 
 
 But Mack came not in mood to woo or captivate. The 
 worries of the day and night gone by had left their im- 
 press on both his senses and his spirit. " Hardtack," too, 
 had had little of the laudatory to say as to the condition of 
 the command. He had, indeed, been somewhat captious 
 in his criticisms, and had not yet half finished his investi- 
 gations. " Hardtack " had gone so far as to intimate that 
 he, Mack, a colonel of Foot and commander of the fort, 
 had been derelict in his dealings with these subalterns, 
 lax in supervision, and the like. '' Hardtack " thought it 
 the duty of commanding officers to curb young gentlemen 
 who essayed extravagance of any kind. This business 
 of lieutenants owning fine horses and swagger outfits, 
 Corot pictures and Persian rugs, for instance, was never 
 heard of when he was in the line. " Hardtack " didn't 
 know a Corot from a chromo, possibly, but vaguely he felt 
 that Langham's plight was due to Langham's patrician 
 tastes and habits, and yet that all disaster might have been 
 averted had Mack but curbed him — that was the word — 
 curbed him at the outset. Now, Mack had been a fine 
 rider in his day, and loved good horseflesh and good 
 horsemanship to this. Therefore, if he knew anything at 
 all, he knew that curbing was a thing to exasperate si 
 
82 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 thoroughbred, and if it rasped and worried a horse sc 
 must curbing rasp a rider of spirit. So far as he was 
 concerned, he said, he wished all officers owned their 
 horses and could ride like Langham. " The regulations," 
 said " Hardtack," " do not contemplate such — er — possi- 
 bilities." And in the eyes of that accomplished officer 
 the revised regulations of the United States army and 
 the Holy Scriptures took rank in the order named. " As 
 matters have turned out," said he, " it seems that Lang- 
 ham was living much beyond his means, and couldn't 
 afford such luxuries." 
 
 " As matters have turned out," said Mack in reply, 
 " Langham has been temporarily deprived of means he 
 had every reason to count on when he came here, and I 
 know it. The luxuries had been bought and paid for long 
 ago — or else given to him." Nettled at this defense, the 
 inquisitor inspector had then said something as to Lang- 
 ham and Langham's conduct and Mack's apparent blind- 
 ness thereto that sent the colonel homeward with crack- 
 ling nerves and angering eyes. There at his own gate 
 stood, side-saddled, the evidence that the disturber of the 
 inquisitorial peace and the post commander's serenity 
 was probably within. 
 
 Mack came to question and remained to plead, for Mrs. 
 BuUard's first interrogation put him on the defensive. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 83 
 
 *' Colonel Mack, have you wired Mr. Langham's rela- 
 tives?" 
 
 Mack had not. He had devoutly hoped no one had 
 thought of such a thing. It would only terrify a mother 
 already, so he had been told, much broken in health. It 
 would only get into the Chicago papers, said he, and that 
 to Mack, once stationed at Fort Sheridan, meant noth- 
 ing short of sheol. That it was already in the Chicago 
 evening papers, and that managing editors of the morn- 
 ing sheets were wiring for full particulars, had not yet 
 occurred to him. He felt himself chafing at this woman's 
 presuming to question him as to what, in the line of his 
 duty, he had or had not done. He stood at the curtained 
 entrance from his hall to the spacious parlor, halted prac- 
 tically by her challenge. He felt a sneaking sense of 
 relief when the orderly's rap was heard at the open door, 
 and the orderly's voice in the announcement : " Telegram, 
 sir." 
 
 He turned, tore off the envelope, unfolded the yellow- 
 brown half sheet, and read from the office of the adju- 
 tant general at Washington the following message : 
 
 Sec. War directs seven days' leave granted Lieutenant Lang- 
 ham at once, to be extended from this office. Mother seriously 
 ill. 
 
 Slowly Mack refolded the message. His eyes wan- 
 
84 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 dered a moment, then returned to the contemplation of 
 the graceful figure before him. 
 
 " Mrs. Bullard," said he, " they are wiring for him 
 His mother, I fear, is desperately ill. Now, I'll have to 
 tell them." 
 
 '* Tell tlieni anything you wish, colonel," then with 
 almost commanding emphasis, " but unless you wish to 
 kill, tell her — or him — nothing." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE KNTGHT AND THE LADV. 
 
 THE wire that went to Washington in response 
 to the mandate of the war secretary merely 
 stated that Lieutenant Langham had met with 
 an accident, was unconscious, and unable to travel. Par- 
 ticulars by mail. But both Mack and his loyal adjutant 
 well knew by this time, and as a result of the confidences 
 growing out of the creditors' complaints heretofore men- 
 tioned, that between Langham and his devoted mother 
 there lived a degree of affection bordering on the intense, 
 — a tie stronger, yet tenderer, far than usually unites 
 mother and son. Knowing this, and having heard from 
 Langham's lips his version of the causes of the complaints 
 and the delays in certain payments, these two officers had 
 not hesitated to stand between the regimental dandy and 
 criticism from any source. " Everything has been ex- 
 plained to my satisfaction," said the colonel, a trifle pom- 
 pously, perhaps, " and in a short time these people will be 
 kicking themselves for ever having started proceedings 
 against him." And with this declaration Langham's de- 
 tractors found themselves confronted, and with the same 
 
 85 
 
86 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 were his defenders comforted. Now, through her own 
 impetuosity, Mrs. Bullard had revealed to Colonel Mack 
 that she, too, had been taken Into the confidence of his in- 
 dependent subaltern, and to an extent that enabled her, 
 probably, to know much more of Langham's affairs and 
 relatives than did the post commander. Whatsoever this 
 fact may have missed in significance, so far as the colonel 
 was concerned, it lost nothing in the eyes of his wife. 
 Mrs. Mack had listened with all her ears, which were 
 large, and pondered with all her soul, which was small. 
 It was not good that a woman in no wise allied to the 
 regiment should be the confidant of its most interesting 
 and eligible officer, when there were so many to choose 
 from at the fort. Mrs. Bullard was no favorite of Mrs. 
 Mack's when police call and stables were being sounded 
 at four o'clock. Mrs. Bullard was distinctly in madame's 
 bad books by the time the bugles were calling the men 
 into ranks for sunset dress parade. 
 
 It was the hour at which the valley of the Minneconjou 
 was at its best. The low, slanting sunshine threw long 
 shadows eastward toward the glinting spires and domes 
 of the busy little frontier city. Pine-clad heights to the 
 west and north fringed and framed the far-spreading 
 picture, even as they screened the garrison and its nestling 
 settlement from the rude blasts that came whirling and 
 
COMRADES IN, ARMS 87 
 
 whistling down the broad waste of the " bad lands " 
 away toward the Yellowstone. Southward the prairie 
 rolled, ridge after ridge, wave after wave, until it sent 
 its gray-green surges tumbling skyward far beyond the 
 tawny river and spanned the horizon from east to west in 
 the long barrier of Calumet Range. So too, lay even, 
 gentle slope, bold, rounded bluff, and gracefully winding 
 stream — all spread before the eye, unscreened by other 
 foliage than that of the scattered cottonwoods along the 
 shallow, sandy reaches of the river. Far beyond the 
 limits of the thriving county seat one could almost see 
 where the Minneconjou poured its swift-flowing, swirl- 
 ing tribute into the spreading flood of the broad and 
 turbid Cheyenne. Rollicking down from the beetling 
 heights behind the post, the North Fork came leaping, 
 sparkling, tossing its snowy spray, an almost ice-cold tor- 
 rent at any season of the year, the joy of the angler until 
 civilization scared away the trout ; the hope of miner and 
 prospector until science settled the silver question; and 
 now the boast of Silver Hill as laundry, lavatory, and 
 latent power all in one. Rushing into the valley nearly 
 three miles north of the fort, it left that martial bailiwick 
 far to its right and tore impetuously townwards, there to 
 lose its crystalline and incomparable sheen, and to emerge 
 at the eastward edge, soiled, bedraggled, and ashamed, a 
 
88 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 city sewer and nothing more; yet, even after its base 
 use and degradation, preserving much of the wild grace 
 that won it the Indian name of Leaping Water. On the 
 bank of the Fork, northwest of town, were the corrals 
 and buildings of Sheriff Blossom's ranch. On its left 
 bank, in the heart of Silver Hill, lay the costly and pre- 
 tentious home of Amos Bullard, banker and capitalist. 
 On both banks of the Fork, toward the eastward end of 
 town, were smelters, foundries, and machine shops. It 
 served them all, and served them well. It was but rudely 
 served in turn. The railway, leaving the levels of the 
 Cheyenne and the meanderings of the Minneconjou, 
 wound along the fork, leaping it here and there until it 
 reached the eastward edge of town, then curved abruptly 
 to the southwest and crawled snake-like away over the 
 open uplands, seeking the easiest grade to the Sagamore 
 Pass. 
 
 One of Fort Minneconjou's diversions was to stroll 
 or ride out southwestward, fording the lazier stream 
 from which it was named, and to line up along the wind- 
 ing right-of-way and surprise the passengers of the west- 
 bound flyer with hearty and stentorian cheer as it went 
 puffing, panting, straining up the divide, a marked con- 
 trast to the mate it met in the heart of the pass, that came 
 easily gliding or coasting, with smoke-spitting tires, with 
 
COMRADES IN, ARMS 89 
 
 wheezing complaint of the gripping brakes, and looking 
 in the black nights of winter like fettered meteor or fiery 
 dragon of old. Government had built a little station two 
 miles southwest of the post, and paid for a siding, with 
 the idea of a much shorter haul for its stores and sup- 
 plies; but passengers, it was observed, still preferred to 
 go and come via Silver Hill. Time was when a small 
 guard had been maintained at this lonely depot out on the 
 southwestward prairie, but Alack had long since with- 
 drawn it as unnecessary, yet this lonely June evening, as 
 he watched the prompt, soldierly formation of his regi- 
 mental line, and wondered if " Old Hardtack " would not 
 be in mollified mood as a result of so fine an exhbition of 
 precision. Mack was wishing he had never recalled the 
 outpost. Only half an hour before first call for parade, 
 and w^hile Mrs. Bullard was still at the post striving to 
 extract hopeful words from Dr. Warren, a strange tale 
 was told him by Lieutenant Gridley, Langham's one real 
 friend among the subalterns, and Gridley had been out 
 scouting on his own account and because of certain theo- 
 ries of his own. 
 
 The brief conference between the colonel and this 
 officer was ended by these words : 
 
 " Then with your permission, sir, I will not attend 
 parade, but will escort Mrs. Bullard home." 
 
90 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 '' So be it, Gridley. She — may tell you, as his friend — 
 what she would never tell me." 
 
 Turning away with parting salute, Gridley stopped one 
 moment to look at his faithful comrade, the troop horse 
 he had been bestriding many hours of the afternoon. 
 " Take him to the stables, orderly," he said, after an ap- 
 preciative pat or two. " He has done his share to-day," 
 then went briskly down the line, raising his cap to the 
 groups of garrison ladies seated on the verandas in readi- 
 ness to watch parade. At Dr. Warren's there was quite 
 a little gathering, Mrs. Bullard, in her stunning riding 
 habit, central figure of the party. They all looked up as 
 he entered the gate. They all knew that in Jim Gridley 
 they saw the closest friend of the sorely injured officer. 
 They knew he had been out during much of the day, 
 investigating on his own account, and, believing that he 
 acted on knowledge or information shared by nobody 
 else, were eager to hear the result. Gridley bowed 
 gravely and comprehensively ; said, " Good-evening, 
 ladies," to all, and then, giving no time for question, ad- 
 dressed himself at once to the one woman of the half 
 dozen present to whom he had hardly spoken twice in the 
 scope of a year: 
 
 " Mrs. Bullard, may I have the pleasure of escorting 
 you when you are ready to return ? '' 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS »1 
 
 Mrs. Bullard flushed with surprise and a certain embar- 
 rassment. Gridley's simple directness was a thing as new 
 to her as the invitation was unexpected. For certain 
 reasons, she had beHeved he disHked or distrusted her. 
 She had told Langham as much, and told herself that 
 Langham had told him. A moderate degree of courtesy 
 and attention Jim Gridley had ever shown to the women 
 of the officers' households at the post, but attention of any 
 kind to any woman not of the garrison circle was some- 
 thing never looked for in him. Nothing, therefore, could 
 have been much more pointed or significant than his thus 
 approaching the acknowledged leader of Silver Hill 
 society. Motive of some kind there must be and she 
 knew it, and naturally colored high under the instant 
 scrutiny of her associates and the calm gaze of his deep 
 eyes. 
 
 " You are very kind, Mr. Gridley," she replied, how- 
 ever. " Shall we say right after parade ? " 
 
 " I shall be ready at gun fire," he answered, with a 
 glance at the flag-staff where stood the adjutant and 
 sergeant major awaiting the band. Another touch of his 
 cap and he was gone, leaving them to marvel. Entering 
 Langham's quarters he paused long enough to inquire of 
 a nurse how the patient was doing; took one peep at 
 the drowsing, unconscious form in the bedroom; bor- 
 
92 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 rowed Langham's crop and steel spurs ; then hastened to 
 his own quarters. Adjutant's call had sounded and the 
 band w^as banging away at " King Cotton " as he passed 
 within the dark hallway of his little army home, shared 
 in common wath a brother bachelor whose habitat was 
 the second floor. The band had changed its tune and 
 >vas making its triumphal progress down the long, immov- 
 able line of blue and white — flanked, as Mack would 
 liave it, by yellow-plumed troopers parading afoot — 
 when, in .civilian garb, Mr. Gridley stepped forth into 
 the rear yard of his quarters and there, aw^aiting him, 
 pawing impatiently, and held by a remonstrating soldier- 
 groom, was Major Baker's own pet mount, Ivanhoe. 
 There, too, was Baker. Mack could not find it possible 
 to order his cavalry major to attend parade so long as he 
 split up the major's command, and Baker was glad 
 enough to be excused on such terms. This evening he 
 was more than glad. 
 
 Holding still to the belief that Crabbe had gone forth 
 in the dead of night ; had waylaid Langham on the prairie 
 and lost his Loyal Legion insignia, possibly in some 
 scufile, of which Langham had as yet been able to give no 
 account. Baker knew that he had incurred the hostility 
 of all of Crabbe's friends and most of his fellow officers. 
 Crabbe or Fox it must have been, said pretty much every- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 93 
 
 body at the post, with the chances leaning, said four out 
 of five, to Fox. Baker was distressed and unhappy over 
 the demonstration with which many of his fellow officers 
 had favoured him. Esprit de corps was still alive in the 
 army and had a flourishing growth in the 2 — th. There- 
 fore, when at noon that day, Jim Gridley, looking worn 
 and harassed, came in to ask permission to be absent 
 until parade and to ride afar. Baker opened his sore 
 heart and told his trusted subaltern his trouble. " Even 
 Mack," said he, " treats me Hkc a Pariah for what I have 
 said and done, and some of the women, by gad, have cut 
 me dead. If it should turn out after all that Crabbe 
 was utterly innocent and Fox the guilty man, I'd wear 
 sackcloth all summer." 
 
 " You'll not have to wear sackcloth then," said Gridley 
 quietly. 
 
 " Do you mean you — can prove — I'm right ? " asked 
 Baker eagerly. 
 
 " I mean," said Gridley, " that I expect to prove they're 
 all wrong. I want the afternoon to myself. I may want 
 to ride to town this evening, and I need a good horse for 
 that ride." 
 
 "Take Ivanhoe," said the major promptly, an offer 
 he had never been known to make before, and Gridley a-c- 
 cepted. No wonder the women looked surprised when. 
 
94 COMRADES INj !^RMS 
 
 just as they resumed their seats after loyally standing 
 through the '' Star Spangled Banner " Mr. Gridley came 
 riding into view at the east end of the row and riding the 
 major's precious and incomparable charger. Mrs. Bul- 
 lard's saddler was already at the gate, pawing as impa- 
 tiently as was Ivanhoe but the moment before, and casting 
 reproachful glances at his mistress ; much disturbed, too, 
 by the recent bang of the evening gun, and giving the 
 soldier in charge about all he could do to hold him. 
 Gridley noted the symptoms as he and Ivanhoe drew near, 
 and, glancing about him as he dismounted, signaled Mas- 
 ter Jerry Warren, the doctor's eldest, and bade him hold 
 Ivanhoe one moment while he looked to the girth and 
 curb of the lady's thoroughbred. She was by his side 
 and ready to mount even before he hoped, having said 
 adieu to all at his approach, and Gridley bowed to her with 
 appreciation in his eyes. Feminine farewells had always 
 seemed to him interminable. 
 
 " Hold with your right just below the bit, Doyle," said 
 he, to the orderly, " and stand close in to prevent his 
 swinging out his haunches." 
 
 But Mrs. Bullard had no fear of her favorite's jumping 
 from under. Already her gauntleted right hand was on 
 the pommel and the daintily booted left foot uplifted for 
 his aid. Gridley stooped ; took it, and the lady bounded 
 
(^.,^,^^i^ 
 
 "TlIKKK l.S JLST ONE \\'OMAX IN CREATION ^VHO 
 CAN SET ME RIGHT" 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 95 
 
 to her seat, light as a feather and quick as a kitten. It 
 needed only ten seconds to adjust skirt and stirrup. She 
 nodded a cordial good-night to the group at the piazza; 
 smiled graciously upon the admiring Irish trooper, adding 
 a silvery " Thank you ever so much," and with practiced 
 hand controlled the nervous curveting of her steed and 
 moved slowly gateward. Gridley swung into saddle and 
 trotted alongside. Together and in silence and both 
 gazing into the open doorway, they moved slowly beyond 
 Langham's quarters, then more swiftly past the statuesque 
 sentry at the gate, and were well out upon the open 
 prairie before the lady turned in saddle, looked squarely 
 into her escort's eyes and demanded, " Now, Mr. Gridley, 
 kindly explain what this means." 
 
 For answer the soldier at her side pointed southeast- 
 ward over the level of the " bench " along the left bank of 
 the Minneconjou to a point where the bridle-path dipped 
 down to the glistening shallows of the ford. 
 
 " Mrs. Bullard," said he, " the man I most like in this 
 garrison — the man who leans most on me — was all but 
 murdered from ambush right there at the fords last night. 
 Some men accuse Mr. Crabbe. Some men say Fox. I 
 have still another theory and there is just one woman in 
 creation who can set me right." He bent forward over 
 the pommel that he might look up and see her eyes, for 
 
96 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 now her head was drooping. Still she never shunned the 
 issue. There was no tremor in the tone with which she 
 queried, as she lifted her head. 
 
 " And who may she be, Mr. Gridley? " 
 
 The answer was the single word; 
 
 " You." 
 
CHAPTER VTl 
 
 THE RED MAN ON HIS WAY. 
 
 ONCE upon a time in the long-ago da^s of 
 the army it happened that a man listened in 
 unmurmuring, unprotesting silence to griev- 
 ous accusations laid at his door ; bowed his humbled head ; 
 tendered his resignation and departed forever from the 
 associations of the profession he loved. Within the 
 month that saw his name, by his own act, stricken from 
 the rolls, the men who had been his accusers woudl have 
 given almost their hopes of promotion could that sacri- 
 fice have atoned for and annulled his. 
 
 For there were women who had their wits about them, 
 who had ideas of their own as to the victim and the vic- 
 tim's helpmate, and these women never rested until they 
 were in position to prove that the man was innocent. 
 They had labored not because they loved him more, but 
 because they loved her less ; he had accepted and shoul- 
 dered the sin of his wife. Mack, colonel commanding 
 Fort Minneconjou in the year '97, had known them both. 
 Gridley, subaltern of cavalry, who had known neither, 
 >vas none the less known to have expressed strenuous 
 
 97 
 
98 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 opinions on the subject. Gridley had some history of 
 his own. He was regarded at the post as an3rthing but 
 a " lady's man." Without being a woman-hater, as some 
 women held, he was not a woman-worshiper. He went 
 but seldom in societ^: He was a man they declared to 
 be dangerous because^ of his detrimental views, but all 
 the more was he worth conquering for purposes of con- 
 version. The sight of him riding away with the Queen 
 of Silver Hill, as a local enthusiast had once described 
 her, so soon after the most mysterious tragedy Fort Min- 
 neconjou had ever known, was a thing to keep every 
 one of their number speculating for hours. 
 
 Already they had heard that she had expressed an 
 earnest wish to see and speak with Kitty Belden, and 
 that she had gone ungratified because it was learned 
 that Kitty was ill and confined to her room. " Over- 
 excited," said the doctor. " Overcome," said some of 
 her associates, by the distressing event that had so shocked 
 the entire garrison. Already they had heard, for such 
 news travels swiftly, that telegraphic summons to his 
 stricken mother's side had come to their Adonis, himself 
 stricken and incapable of thought or action. Already 
 they had learned that, while Crabbe lay housed in close 
 arrest and Fox was gone with the wide frontier to :choose 
 from, a third person originally connected with the crime 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 99 
 
 had been replaced in the eye of certain suspicion by still 
 another third as yet unnamed, and Colonel Mack was 
 even then sending forth a little party of mounted men 
 to follow a clue furnished by Lieutenant Gridley. 
 
 No sooner was parade over, and the officers scattering 
 to their quarters, than Mack was seen to turn away to 
 the administration building and there, accompanied by 
 the ever faithful Briggs, stood giving some instructions 
 to a sergeant of cavalr\^ who had dismounted to receive 
 them, while his detachment of four remained seated in 
 saddle a dozen yards away. Hundreds of keen eyes all 
 over the post watched that little party as it left the quad- 
 rangle and took the back road through the valley of the 
 Minneconjou and over the rolling prairie beyond, bound 
 obviously for that lonely station. 
 
 " This mystery is just making me down sick," said 
 Mrs. Sparker, a lady lavish in the use of the italic in 
 conversation, " and if it isn't settled by to-morrow 
 night, ril take to my bed, too. Has anybody seen Kitty 
 Belden?'' 
 
 Nobody in the party at Warren's, at least, had as yet 
 succeeded, though several had called, perhaps in hopes 
 of seeing, but Dr. Warren had been implacable, Mrs. 
 Belden vigilant, and the gentle little patient had escaped 
 the infliction. One girl, two girls, perhaps, she really 
 
100 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 wished to see and had so stated to her mother, but the 
 mother counsel had in this case prevailed. " If you see 
 this one or that, how can you refuse to see Flo Cullin 
 or any of these younger married ladies who are so atten- 
 tively inquisitive ? " And Kitty had the sense to see the 
 point and to refrain. Minneconjou had quite made up 
 its mind by sunset of that second day that the child had 
 lost her girlish heart to Mr. Langham, and was pros- 
 trated because of his serious condition. It was natural 
 enough. She was at a most impressionable age, and he 
 had been very cordial, very kind and to a certain extent 
 attentive to her — attentive, at least, in the way of letting 
 her ride his horses and even occasionally riding with her 
 himself. Whether the girl was in love with him or not, 
 she had been so shocked and distressed by the details of 
 the murderous assault that it was a mercy to put her to 
 bed and out of the way of prying eyes. 
 
 Naturally, too, if Mrs. Belden denied her daughter to her 
 one or two intimates, she would deny her to a comparative 
 stranger whom she neither liked nor trusted, and rest you 
 sure that some of the women, dropping in to inquire how 
 Kitty was, let drop the bit of information that Mrs. Bul- 
 lard was at the post and that " Mrs. Bullard was hoping 
 to see Kitty and have a talk with her." Mrs. Belden shut 
 her lips when the project was mentioned, and would not 
 
COMRADES in; ARMS 101 
 
 gratify her caller to the extei^t.- of.* giving v(3ipe;'to her 
 views as to Mrs. Bullard ajid Mrjs. Bi'ill^rd^fi [^p^pre^sed 
 wish. 
 
 " She hung about here as much as three hours," said 
 Mrs. Sparker, ** just waiting, I suppose, in hopes that 
 something might occur to bring you out, so then she 
 could ask you to let her see Kitty." And Mrs. Sparker, 
 the one moneyed woman of Fort Minneconjou, was noto- 
 riously jealous of Mrs. Bullard, who, with much less 
 cash at her command — for Bullard's allowance was not 
 princely as once had been his gifts — contrived to utterly 
 outshine Mrs. Sparker in the elegance of her toilets. 
 
 But even Mrs. Sparker's pointed references evoked no 
 quotable comment. Mrs. Belden had possibly been 
 warned by her husband to let no word escape her as to 
 Mrs. Bullard, for in this crisis of affairs the least harmful 
 in intent might well became a prodig)^ of accusation. To 
 the chagrin of Mrs. Sparker, the only words vouchsafed 
 by Mrs. Belden were: "Then Mrs. Bullard must have 
 been very late for dinner." 
 
 " Oh, she said Mr. Bullard had to go out to a m.ine 
 this afternoon and wouldn't be back until late at night, 
 and she was too sick at heart to eat. Did you ever hear 
 of so— so brazen a woman?" 
 
 And even that tentative' failed. Mrs. Belden merely 
 
102 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 smiled arsd hoi.''edv s;ome,body had given I^Irs. Bullard a 
 cui^ of- test,' whereat Mrs. Sharker withdrew, discomfited, 
 and, could she have done so, would have dodged the 
 dames she had so recently left at the Warrens' piazza; 
 but there they were anxiously awaiting her return and 
 eager to hear what Mrs. Belden had to say, and Mrs. 
 Sparker had to face them empty-mouthed and defeated 
 or else to invent, and inventions at Minneconjou paid 
 no better than many at the patent office — it was too easy 
 to trace a statement to its source. 
 
 " She just won't say a thing," said Mrs. Sparker. 
 " Her husband's doing, I suppose. I'd like to see myself 
 made a slave of, forbidden to speak or even think/' But 
 there were those among her hearers who sometimes 
 wished there were some power to put a stopper on Mrs. 
 Sparker's tongue. Night came down on Minneconjou 
 with no woman the wiser as to Mrs. Bullard's motive in 
 wishing to see Kitty Belden — no woman the wiser as to 
 Gridley's object in securing that ride with Mrs. Bullard 
 alone. 
 
 In the gloaming now gathering over the still and far- 
 spreading valley, the forms of the two riders had been 
 gradually lost to view. It was not usual for eques- 
 triennes to take the ford road. The longer way round 
 was the shorter way home with dry skirts, for even so 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 103 
 
 abbreviated and stylish a habit as Mrs. Bullard's would 
 be splashed where the horses plunged through breast deep. 
 Yet the watchers saw that Gridley and his fair and grace- 
 ful companion had turned from the main road and taken 
 the bridle-path to the southeast. When last visible they 
 were just descending the incline to the bed of the stream, 
 and once there, and beyond the vision of prying eyes at 
 the post, it would seem that they spent some little time, 
 ten minutes, perhaps, for the fresh hoofprints were very 
 numerous when studied in the morning. The horses had 
 evidently stood side by side much of the time, then gone 
 scouting about the edge of the waters and all around a 
 little clump of willows on the farther shore, the clump 
 from which the first shot seemed to have been fired. 
 Then, at long lope or hand gallop, the pair had speeded 
 away to town. At nine o'clock, as was later learned, Mr. 
 Gridley put up the major's favorite steed at the customary 
 stable and disappeared for nearly two hours, then re- 
 turned, remounted, and galloped back to Minneconjou, 
 meeting Bullard's substantial spring wagon, homeward 
 bound from the Baltimore mine, just at the westward 
 edge of town. Bullard's driver mentioned this the 
 following day. It is doubtful if Bullard knew it, 
 for the night was dark and no greetings had been ex- 
 changed. 
 
104 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 The Baltimore lay in the heart of the eastward spur 
 of the Sagamore Range, some eighteen miles northwest 
 of town. There were other, many other, mines and 
 some few mining camps and settlements along that pine- 
 iprested backbone. There were cattle ranches and a stage 
 station or two in the beautiful valley of the Belle Fourche, 
 thirty miles beyond the range. It was somewhere over 
 in that direction that Fox with Champion was supposed 
 to have gone, and it was believed that from the Belle 
 Fourche he would probably continue his flight northward 
 beyond the breaks of the Heecha Wakpa — beyond Deer's 
 Ears and the Bad Land, until he succeeded in reaching 
 the Northern Pacific somewhere near Medora. Already 
 the telegraph had flashed his description and that of 
 Champion to the Missouri, thence northward to Bis- 
 marck, and, long days before Fox could hope to reach 
 the railway many a deputy sheriff would be on watch 
 for him. Even if Fox were not "wanted," the horse was. 
 The fame of the splendid 'cross country hunter and 
 jumper had as yet spread only through western Nebraska 
 and South Dakota and eastern Wyoming, but nine out 
 of ten frontiersmen would see at a glance the fine points 
 in Fox's mount, and though the English pigskin saddle 
 could call forth nothing but derision, the horse would 
 fetch his price in dollars unless acquired by the less 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 105 
 
 expensive process of disposing summarily of his rider. 
 This could be so readily charged to the Indians. 
 
 Settled on their reservations in the Standing Rock, 
 Pine Ridge, and the Rosebud regions, hundreds of eager 
 young braves even now sought occasional opportunity 
 to set forth on hunting expeditions, with or without the. 
 consent of the agent, and then it took but little fire-water 
 and less persuasion on part of cowboy or settler to start 
 a row. The Indian on a tear was like a fire at a fort — 
 anything missing could be charged thereto, and there is 
 no point on which the cowboy is more credulous than the 
 culpability of the Indian. Hunting parties from Stand- 
 ing Rock went westward, as a rule, and those from near 
 the Nebraska line northward, giving Silver Hill and Fort 
 Minneconjou a very wide berth. But, once along the 
 head waters of Owl Creek or Grand River the Sioux 
 were on their old stamping grounds and perfectly at 
 home. Ogallalla or Brule, Uncapapa or Minneconjou, 
 they knew the neighborhood as the cat knows the cellar, 
 and whensoever they saw fit to revisit the scene of their 
 old-time glory, the rancher with a hankering for a neigh- 
 bor's stock or blood occasionally arose to the opportu- 
 nity. No frontiersman would suspect a fellow exile of 
 any crime so long as there were Indians loose upon the 
 land. 
 
106 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 And, just as luck would have it, not two days before 
 the sudden disappearance of the English groom, a letter 
 had come to Colonel Mack saying that as many as sixty 
 young men from Pine Ridge and Rosebud had recently 
 cut away from the reservations and gone a-hunting 
 beyond the Cheyenne. *' Keep a fatherly eye on them, and 
 don't let them get into trouble," said the agent, and Mack 
 promised that he would do so, and had meant to keep his 
 promise when along came " Old Hardtack " to inspect, 
 and then this miserable business about Langham, and 
 between the two Mack forgot all about the Indians and 
 the troop of cavalry he had intended sending into the 
 Owl Creek country by way of keeping the peace. And 
 so it happened that there was no one to oppose any white 
 man religiously and devoutly disposed to stir up a scrim- 
 mage with the Sioux, and whisky was abundant on the 
 ranges this bonny month of June. Fox could not have 
 chosen a better time to bring a blooded horse into the 
 Bad Lands — a better time for the native and to the 
 .manner born. 
 
 Plentiful as were the wild warriors in former days, 
 and numerous as were their descendants now limited to 
 the reservations, only a few of the once noble race of 
 red men could be found about the Minneconjou valley 
 in '97. A dozen half-breeds and half a dozen full-bloods. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 107 
 
 who had cast aside the blanket and taken to the cast-oflF 
 clothing of the white brother, were hangers-on about 
 the station and saloons in town, but contact with civil- 
 ization had robbed the aborigine of all that was pic- 
 turesque and much that was proper. He had little left 
 to recommend him. He was not even a voter, wherein 
 he lacked the value of thousands of imported fellow citi- 
 zens whose very names had been lost and who were 
 designated and known in mining regions far to the east 
 only by number. Lazy, shiftless, yet mildly inoffensive, 
 as a rule, Silver Hill's contingent of semi-civilized Sioux 
 were mainly in evidence at train time in town, and at no 
 time at the fort. Uncle Sam suspected his wards of a 
 propensity to steal, and warned his sentries to warn 
 them away. Beg they could and would wheresoever they 
 saw possibility of return. Work of any kind, save one, 
 they would not. There wasn't one of their number who 
 could be induced to weed garden, chop wood, curry a 
 horse, or carry in coal. But, send him into the hills with 
 a roving commission to hunt for game, or as a runner 
 to look up prospectors, strayed horses, or cattle, and he 
 would face a blizzard to earn a dime. Time was when 
 the snows hauled down Bullard's wires to the Baltimore, 
 the Calumet, and other mining and lumbering camps, and 
 he took to sending John le Gros, Louis Belles Pierres, 
 
108 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 and others of that ilk, bearers of dispatches to his 
 weather-bound employees, generally with good results. 
 One thing led to another, to the end that there were three 
 or four of these unsavory Mercuries ever within call of 
 Bullard's office, ready to run his errands to the recesses 
 of the Black Hills in quest either of men or game. They 
 would work in this way because it was congenial, and 
 Bullard would work them in this way because it was 
 cheap. The man said to be worth a million would haggle 
 with a bootblack over the price of a shine. 
 
 Now whatever Mrs. Bullard might have thought of a 
 Sioux chief in all the paint, pomp, and panoply of savage 
 war, she had no use whatever for a Sioux servitor in 
 foul-smelling garb. More than once she had been com- 
 pelled to eject the latter from her kitchen because " cook " 
 invariably took to her heels and fled whimpering to 
 the upper regions whenever Big Thunder or Smites- 
 the-Bear, familiarly known respectively as John and Joe, 
 put in an appearance. Once, it was told at the fort and 
 among her few associates in town, she had actually used 
 a broomstick with telling effect on the shoulders of 
 Smites-the-Bear, who had come in drunk and refused to 
 go forth uncomforted by more whisky. It is never good 
 to smite the red man, even drunk and truculent, for when 
 sobriety returns and reason resumes its sway, he remem- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 109 
 
 bers, and his dignity has suffered outrage. Colonel Mack 
 had looked concerned when told of this episode, and Mr. 
 Langham had remonstrated. She said that Mr. BuUard 
 said more and worse things than either the colonel or his 
 subaltern, but without shaking her resolve to renew the 
 lesson should John, Joe, or any one of their set venture 
 to repeat the performance. Mrs. Bullard was a woman of 
 grace and refinement, as has been said, yet one capable 
 of strenuous deed when occasion required. The " Indian, 
 His Uses and Abuses," was one of several topics, it had 
 begun to be rum.ored, on which she and her husband 
 could not agree at all. 
 
 And now, since it has been admitted that Mrs. Bullard 
 could cherish antipathies, it is time to announce that these 
 were not confined to the red men. For reasons of her 
 own, and mainly because she believed him inimical to 
 her, Mrs. Amos had begun to feel a fervent dislike for 
 Lieutenant Jim Gridley. She had owned it, in part, to 
 Langham, but excused it on the ground that she instinc- 
 tively felt that Gridley had attempted to warn his com- 
 rade against her. It was something Langham could not 
 truthfully deny, yet he could and did and promptly, too, 
 assure her it was not Mrs. Bullard whom Gridley dis- 
 liked, it was Langham's intimacy — no, that is too strong 
 a word— it was Langham's attention to her and her accept- 
 
110 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 ance of his attentions that Gridley had so positively 
 assailed. She was more than surprised, therefore, at 
 Gridley's seeking her out to show her attention this long 
 June evening. She was more than surprised, she was 
 startled, when he named the object. What could have 
 prompted him to turn to her as the one woman capable 
 of throwing light on this nearly deadly assault upon his 
 soldier friend and comrade? Mrs. Bullard's head had 
 drooped upon her breast in the effort to hide her pallor. 
 She was startled at his abrupt announcement. This man, 
 who had seemed to avoid and to disapprove of her, now 
 appeared gifted with the power of reading her very 
 thoughts. She knew that what he said was true. She 
 knew there was one woman who had reason to believe 
 in the guilt of some other man than those already 
 suspected. She was not unprepared for the words that 
 followed : 
 
 " Mrs. Bullard, I beg your pardon in advance for what 
 I have to say, but say it I must. You believe, and your 
 husband believes, that suspicion must speedily attach to 
 him." She lifted her head with a shiver as of cold, yet 
 the air was still warm, the pace was swift. She turned 
 toward him a face from which all vestige of color had 
 fled, even the soft lips were almost livid. There was agony 
 —horror in her dilated eyes, but there was no denial. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 111 
 
 " Bear with me a moment," he went on. *' I know you 
 but slightly. I know him still less, but I saw the look 
 you gave him when the news first reached you, and you 
 best know why you should suspect him. Then I saw his 
 face after you had driven him away. So sure was he 
 that suspicion would attach to him — so terrified, I may 
 say, that he was ready to do anything to avert it. Do 
 you believe Mr. Crabbe lost his Loyal Legion badge in 
 yonder last night ? " and he pointed down among the 
 sands about the ford. " Do you not know someone else 
 lost it there — for him ? " Again her head was bowed upon 
 her breast. She swayed forward over the pommel, a pic- 
 ture of grief and shame. She could not answer. They 
 had reached the edge of the bank and were winding 
 down the short descent to the broad stream-bed. The wil- 
 lows lay directly opposite, not fifty yards away. He 
 waited until once again they were on level ground, then 
 quietly reached over and took her rein. 
 
 " Let us wait here a moment. There is something you 
 should see. We know it was not his hand that fired the 
 shot, for he was there — at the dance, but you believe, 
 Mrs. Bullard, and I expect to prove that one of his hench- 
 men did it for him." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE TALE OF THE TELEGRAMS. 
 
 ONE of the best trailers in the cavalry was 
 'the sergeant sent out by Colonel Mack in 
 charge of the little party just after sunset 
 parade. Long years in Arizona, Wyoming, and Dakota 
 in the old campaigning days had made him mas- 
 ter of much that only the Indian is supposed to know. 
 Winsor, his name was, and of him a rival sergeant once 
 had said " he could trail the hind fut of a flea on a 
 marble flure," and Winsor had been chosen at Gridley's 
 suggestion to follow the clue last discovered of all. Grid- 
 ley had found it among the sands of the Minneconjou 
 half a mile southeast of the post, leading from the rocks 
 near that clump of willows. It appeared again in places 
 about the lonely prairie. It was lost there in the firm, 
 elastic sod, but it was dollars to doughnuts, said Gridley, 
 it would be found again somewhere up the valley, cross- 
 ing to the north bank and making probably for the mines. 
 It would be dark by the time the party reached that 
 out-of-the-way siding, but watchers at the post saw that 
 Winsor detached two of his men and sent them straight- 
 
 112 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 113 
 
 way west, up stream along the sandy shores, and the 
 colonel knew what that meant. They were looking for 
 the foot tracks described by Lieutenant Gridley, and both 
 they and the sergeant had with them powerful lanterns. 
 
 It was while Mack was still gazing after his scouts 
 that a message came to him from the junior surgeon, Dr. 
 Griscom. Langham was awake, semi-conscious, yet dazed, 
 and it might be well for the colonel to see him at once. 
 
 Never stopping to remove his full-dress uniform, Mack 
 went forthwith, found Dr. Warren hastening on the same 
 mission and joined forces with him. ** We ought to have 
 some one of his friends with us," said Warren, " and 
 Gridley — er — has gone home with " 
 
 *' Yes, I authorized that," said Mack, seeing the doctor 
 balk at what inight sound like gossip, " and for good rea- 
 son, I believe. Now, Briggs is busy. How would Belden 
 do?" 
 
 " Best man I know of," was the prompt answer, so 
 Mack shouted *' Orderly " over his shoulder, while never 
 checking his stride. The natty soldier on duty came run- 
 ning after and ranged up alongside long enough to receive 
 the message, his white-gloved hand never quitting the 
 salute until he turned. " My compliments to Captain Bel- 
 den, and say I desire to see him at Langham's quar- 
 ters at once, and — tell Mrs. Mack I may not be home for 
 
114 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 an hour. Lucky we dined this evening before parade," 
 he added, resuming his conversational tone. "Hardt — I 
 mean our inspector, will need nothing but a hand at whist 
 the rest of the evening." 
 
 Together they turned in at Langham's gate, many an 
 eye following, even as the orderly rang at Belden's door. 
 As luck would have it, the captain was at that moment 
 seated by the bedside of his beloved '' little girl," his pet 
 name always for that only daughter. He had been 
 fondhng her hand and telling her the while how many 
 people had been asking for her during the afternoon. 
 " Here's someone else now," he added, rising and going 
 to the hall, a whimsical grin dawning under the big mus- 
 tache, for Belden, who said so little about the vagaries 
 of his neighbors, saw so very much. A servant had gone 
 to the door, and the orderly's crisp sentences came shoot- 
 ing up the stairway, distinctly audible on the second floor. 
 " The commanding officer's compliments and would like 
 to see the captain at Lootn't Langham's at once." 
 
 Belden turned. The instant alarm and new distress 
 in the face he loved went right to his heart. " Don't 
 worry, daughter dear," he murmured, bending over to 
 press his lips to her hot forehead. '' I'll send mother to 
 you and you shall know in a few minutes what it means." 
 For answer she threw her arms fondly, clingingly about 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 115 
 
 his neck and kissed him twice. Then, without a word, 
 released him and turned her face to the wall. Belden met 
 his wife at the front steps. She had seen the o-rderly 
 from Sparker's window and hastened over. ** I wish 
 3-ou would stay with Kitty a little while," he simply said. 
 " I am called to Langham's." 
 
 " Is he worse ? The colonel has just gone there with 
 Dr. Warren." 
 
 '' I will send w^ord," he answered, and hurried along. 
 
 The light still held, though faintly, and as Belden 
 passed through the front room an attendant drew back 
 the curtain and lifted the shade at the bedroom wnndow 
 to the west. Swathed in bandages, Langham's head lay 
 wearily back upon the pillow, but his eyes, open and 
 alert at last, were uplifted to Warren's genial, bearded 
 face. His hand, long, slim, and almost nerveless, lay in 
 Warren's cordial, sustaining clasp. The colonel had hung 
 back a little. It was best that the doctor should first 
 satisfy himself as to conditions, and apparently the doctor 
 was finding encouragement. At all events, in tone 
 and manner he was giving it to patient and to visitors 
 both. 
 
 " Here's Belden, too," he was saying, as the captain 
 entered, and Belden drew near the bed, smiling appro- 
 priately, not knowing whether he would be welcome or 
 
116 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 not. Langham's pallid features twisted themselves into 
 the ghost of a grin. 
 
 '* Chair — for the captain, Fox/' he feebly spoke, and 
 the attendant quickly shoved one forward, then busied 
 himself back of the patient's range of vision, but Lang- 
 ham had seen. 
 
 ** Where's Fox? " he queried. " I want some tea." 
 
 " Out — riding," answered Warren, with misleading 
 truth ; " exercising Champion." 
 
 " Champion? Why, he's — sold. Both of *em." 
 
 '' Yes, I know," said the doctor hastily, *' but not yet 
 called for. How are you feeling — generally ? " 
 
 "Queer. Logy. What's happened, anyhow?" asked 
 Langham, the big eyes wandering heavily, wonderingly 
 from face to face ; all three striving to look lively and 
 sympathetic. 
 
 " You had a spill down at the fords. Don't you remem- 
 ber?" answered Warren, his tone still brisk and cordial, 
 but his scrutiny unsparing. 
 
 " Fox did," was the answer. " Didn't I tell you? Fox 
 was as full as a Where is that infernal rascal, any- 
 how ? " And again the somber eyes lighted up with 
 momentary wrath and eagerness. " He wasn't riding 
 Champion. He was riding a plug from town, and the 
 brute stumbled and rolled and spilled him — served him 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 117 
 
 jolly well right."' Langham passed his free hand over 
 his eyes. Some thought, some dim memory was striv- 
 ing for recognition and utterance. Warren strove to aid. 
 
 " Fox wasn't hurt and you were. So was Gordon. 
 Don't you remember? " 
 
 " Gordon hurt ? How hurt ? I guaranteed him sound, 
 wind and limb." 
 
 " Wind and limb are all right. Don't worry. It was 
 a shot across the breast that must have stung him like 
 the mischief. Don't you remember, Langham ? He nmst 
 have run and plunged, for you evidently lit on your head — 
 on the rocks, too." 
 
 "I know," came the answer, with reviving eagerness. 
 " I know. We stopped in the ford — to water. Both 
 horses were drinking. Then came a flash from that 
 clump of willows up on the little point. God, how he 
 jumped! Then two more, close together. I couldn't 
 hold him." And again the hand came up wearily at 
 the shadowy retrospect. " How'd I get home — walk.^" 
 
 " Carriage," was the sententious answer. " Couldn't 
 you see ? Couldn't you hear — anything to give us a clue ? 
 It wasn't Fox ? " 
 
 *'Fox? No! Fox wouldn't shoot at me. He ran, 
 though." And almost a chuckle came w4th this. " Ran 
 for town, I thought." 
 
118 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 '' Before the other two shots? " asked the colonel, bend- 
 ing forward." 
 
 " Oh, how are you, colonel ? Pardon my not rising. 
 What's the matter with me, anyhow, doctor ? " 
 
 ** A spill, as I told you, Langham. You'll be all right 
 presently. Only you must be patient and quiet. We won't 
 bother you with any more questions just now. You saw 
 — nobody, then ? " 
 
 "Not a soul. What time is it? Where was it? Did 
 Grid lug me in? Briggs said I was to take his guard 
 tour this morning." 
 
 " Hush, man ! It '11 be a week before you take any- 
 thing but rest and treatment. And I want you to go to 
 sleep again — sleep all you jean." 
 
 " Has the mail come ? " And still his eyes followed 
 Warren's every movement. 
 
 Mack looked apprehensively toward the little parlor. 
 There on the center table stood a packet of probably a 
 dozen letters. Warren, too, glanced thither, then shook 
 his head menacingly at the post commander. " Nothing 
 but circulars or business letters, Langham. Yoit don't 
 care to see them — now." 
 
 "Nothing from home? — from mother?" demanded 
 Langham wistfully. " It's four days " 
 
 " Nothing from — mother, at least. The mail's not in 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 119 
 
 yet to-night, you know. Flyer's late again. You'll have 
 'em when you wake. I want you to sleep now — and — 
 take this." A brimming teaspoon was held to the pallid 
 lips. 
 
 " It's lOo soon to hear from Billings/' persisted Lang- 
 ham, '' but mother — she hasn't been well. You haven't 
 let her know about — this ? " He suddenly roused 
 again. 
 
 " Not a v/ord, lad, but I shall have to be telling unless 
 you can be quiet — and sleep." Warren turned as he 
 spoke and jerked his head in signal to the others. Mack 
 and Belden tip-toed into the parlor, the colonel picking 
 up the packet and hurriedly glancing over the super- 
 scriptions. Two letters were from Langham's home and 
 neither was addressed in the singular hand affected then 
 by certain of the smart set — the hand so many of Lang- 
 ham's visitors had learned to know, for almost every day 
 throughout the long, reluctant spring had brought its 
 missive for " Mr. William Pitt Berkely Langham " 
 straight from the mother heart. It was significant, indeed, 
 that now there should be other letters from that distant 
 home — but nothing from her. 
 
 " It is useless to question," said Warren, joining them 
 in the parlor. " He knows no more of his assailant than 
 do you or I, and he's not yet strong enough to be bur- 
 
120 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 dened with any of the particulars. I'm almost thankful 
 his mother can neither write nor hear." 
 
 " He knows, or says, that Fox was not his assailant — 
 that Fox ran at the first shot, or his horse did for him," 
 answered Mack decisively. " Fox is a renegade and 
 horse thief, perhaps, but Blossom barked up the wrong 
 tree. Nor do I feel warranted now in holding Crabbe. 
 My officers are incensed at his arrest, bad as it looked 
 at first. I'm only waiting for Gridley, and news from 
 Winsor, to tell him so. I shall take the sentries off, 
 anyhow." 
 
 Belden^s fine face brightened at that. Crabbe was no 
 favorite of his, but he loved his regiment and the honor 
 of his cloth. His heart, too, was beating with no kindly 
 feeling for Langham. Fatherlike, he raged in spirit over 
 the thought that his little girl, his darling, had learned to 
 look upon their handsome subaltern with far too favoring 
 eyes, and, fatherlike, he reasoned that this could never 
 have been had not Langham sought to win the fresh, 
 sweet homage of her maiden heart. In public he would 
 have schooled himself to greet the disturber with all the 
 greater show of cordiality. It would never do to let any- 
 one, especially Langham, believe that Kitty cared for him. 
 Yet the father knew she was lying there awake, anxious 
 and impatient for his coming, praying, perhaps, for tidings 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 121 
 
 of the man who had won, designedly or unwittingly, so 
 precious a place in her regard. Even the prospect of hear- 
 ing something worth hearing as to the mission of Grid- 
 ley — the night search of Winsor, was nothing to him in 
 comparison with the pathetic, silent suffering in the little 
 face he loved. There was nothing more he could do at 
 Langham's, thought he, yet the colonel clung to him 
 and wished him to stay, believing, as he did, that Lang- 
 ham would yet speak and might yet say something to 
 throw light upon the subject that engrossed his thoughts. 
 Moreover, Mack had no desire to go home. Mrs. Mack 
 was playing his hand for him at the inspector's game, and 
 he knew " Old Hardtack " would expect him to take it the 
 moment he returned, and " Hardtack " was as exacting a 
 partner as he was an inspector, volubly critical of misplay 
 or inattention, and Mack was in no mood for whist. 
 Belden scribbled a few words to his wife, bidding her tell 
 Kitty that Mr. Langham had been awake, talking 
 rationally, and was evidently on the mend. Other mat- 
 ters were now coming up and the colonel would detain 
 him a while. The colonel's orderly took the note, while 
 the three officers, bidding the attendant warn them if Mr. 
 Langham began talking again, betook themselves to the 
 gathering darkness of the piazza. 
 
 It was then nearly nine. Over across the broad level 
 
122 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 of the parade the Hght streamed from the windows and 
 hallways of the roomy barracks. The trill of the pic- 
 colo, the tinkle of mandolin and guitar, and the cheery 
 voices of the men came wafting on the soft, southerly 
 breeze. Along the line of piazzas at the officers' quarters 
 the doors stood invitingly open, and many a group was 
 gathered — fair women and brave men — chatting softly 
 over the events of the day. Another dance, informal, 
 would have been on the evening programme, but for the 
 wretched affair that so abruptly ended the hop the 
 bygone night. The band was having an appreciated 
 rest — one that, an unusual thing, it really deserved. Every 
 now and then some young couple would come sauntering 
 down the row, and presently, as it became known that 
 three wise men were seated in earnest and confidential 
 iconference on Langham's porch, others, elders, too, took 
 to promenading, and, to Mack's disgust, stopping to ask 
 questions at the gate. He was in the midst of a recital 
 to Warren and the captain of such of Langham's affairs 
 as, without violating sacred confidences, he felt him- 
 self impelled to give to them. Interruptions were there- 
 fore annoying, and when annoyed Mack was prone 
 to say things not attuned to pious ears. When the fourth 
 couple had stopped and asked the same question Mack 
 opened the batteries of expletive the moment he thought 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS US 
 
 the disturbers beyond earshot, and wound up by bidding 
 the orderly *' Stand there at the gate and anybody that 
 asks about Mr. Langham, say he's better in every way 
 and trying to get to sleep if they'll only let him," then 
 whirled again on Warren and Belden, his silent auditors. 
 
 " He showed me the lawyer's letters explaining how 
 mistaken his mother had been as to certain investments, 
 explaining in detail how very much she had lost in the 
 shrinkage of certain securities, and how impossible it 
 would be for her to meet certain payments, including 
 several bills of his, until the next interest was paid ; then 
 the tailors and tradesmen, etc., would be settled with in 
 full. But what made it rough on Langham was that the 
 lawyer had promised practically the same thing last No- 
 vember, and there wasn't any interest worth mentioning 
 forthcoming. That's how he happened to be so much and 
 so suddenly, one might say, in debt. It really was no 
 fault of his, and that's why I stood up for him. The thing 
 weighed heavily upon his spirits, and Briggs said he was 
 trying to sell his horses. Now that he's down, I suppose 
 he'll get some more kicks. Then, though I've tried to 
 explain matters to ' Old Hardtack,' I mean — well, we all 
 
 call him ' Hardtack ' 1 shoudn't be surprised if he 
 
 recommended court-martial. It's like him." 
 
 An orderly trumpeter, hurrying down the sidewalk, 
 
124 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 turned in at Langham's gate and came straightway up 
 the steps. *' A telegram for Lootn't Langham, sir/' said 
 he, in response to a question. 
 
 " Let me have it," said Mack, and then began fingering 
 experimentally at the closed envelope. " It's from his 
 home, I am certain," said Mack, " and perhaps about his 
 mother. He can't see it, can he, doctor ? " 
 
 Warren gravely shook his head. " Gridley opened 
 one that came this morning," said he, " and looked mighty 
 grave over it, yet told me it was not about the mother — 
 at least about her illness." 
 
 "Then this one is more apt to refer to that," said 
 Mack, looking from one to the other of his counselors. 
 He needed to have them suggest opening it, but neither 
 spoke. " It may be late before Gridley returns and per- 
 haps — it has something Langham should know to-night." 
 And still neither officer hazarded a remark. " What say 
 you, Warren? The adjutant general may think it my 
 business to send him — ship him — east if he is too ill to 
 take care of himself. Shouldn't I open this ? " 
 
 " Possibly," said Warren, though without conviction. 
 Belden held his peace. The attendant came tip-toeing 
 quickly to the door and Warren popped up out of his 
 chair. 
 
 " He's talking wildlike, sir ; maybe only mumbling 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 125 
 
 in his sleep," but Warren waited to hear no more. A 
 dozen strides took him to the presence of his patient. 
 There he bent and Hstened. One moment and up went 
 his hand in imperious gesture, warning the attendant out 
 of the room. 
 
 It was nearly half an hour before the doctor reappeared 
 upon the piazza, looking weary. Hypodermics had finally 
 taken effect and Langham was babbling no more. The 
 attendant was once again in his easy rocker by the bed- 
 side. The colonel and Belden, reinforced now by Briggs, 
 were awaiting the result when Warren rejoined them. 
 But now the telegram was open in the colonel's hand, 
 and Briggs had brought another. Three grave faces were 
 these that looked solemnly into the doctor's, and the doc- 
 tor's that returned their gaze was to the full as grave. 
 Mack was the first to speak : 
 
 " Any — light on the matter ? " 
 
 Warren again slowly shook his head. " He was flighty 
 and — talking about other affairs — money affairs." 
 
 Mack reflected a moment. " Now let this be distinctly 
 understood," said he presently. "I am acting in this mat- 
 ter as I should want any other man in my place to act 
 toward my son, if I had one situated as is Langham — 
 unable to help himself. I assume we four are all his 
 friends." There was at least no dissent. " I shall go 
 
126 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 further and say that, though it may be that Langham has 
 not honored me with his entire confidence, I stand by my 
 faith in his integrity, even though I don't fathom or un- 
 derstand this." 
 
 Holding the paper in the stream of light from the hall- 
 way he read in undertone : 
 
 New York, 22d. 
 As your mother's agent, for reasons stated, I must decline to 
 honor drafts. Forbes Walton. 
 
 The name " Forbes Walton " as signature was strange 
 to all but Mack. '' The lawyer I spoke of," said he. 
 
 Then the colonel took from the hand of his adjutant 
 
 the second dispatch. It was already open. This, too, he 
 
 held to the light and read : 
 
 Billings, 22d, 7 P. M. 
 After full consideration Mr. Shafto feels compelled to decline 
 proposed arrangement. Pyne. 
 
 Warren looked up quickly. " Pyne ? Then Murray 
 was right in one way, and the sheriff wrong." 
 
 " Yes," said Mack, " but that's of minor consequence. 
 The question is, how am I to help this poor lad now, 
 with Hard — with the inspector general and the adjutant 
 general both insistent ? How on earth did he get in such 
 a financial hole? How on earth are we to get him out 
 of it? They say two thousand dollars won't begin to 
 do it." 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 127 
 
 Warren was silent. .He was thinking of the words poor 
 Langham had let fall in the torment of his dreamful sleep 
 or delirium — words that, though broken and disconnected, 
 told a wretched tale, words the doctor could not betray 
 even to these his friends, but that buzzed hatefully in his 
 ears, robbing him that night of hours of sleep, even after 
 his fretful patient had dozed restfully long past twelve — ■ 
 words that other ears, it seemed, had already heard, that 
 other lips had already repeated, and that must soon be 
 known to many another soul, to the end that Warren's 
 professional reticence would be all in vain. " I can't take 
 it. I won't. I wouldn't touch it if it zvere your money, 
 but it's his — his money, and I'm the last man he would 
 help." 
 
 Gridley knew of them wiien at midnight, with sad, stem 
 face he came to his comrade's bedside and looked sor- 
 rowfully down upon the sleeping man. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE TALE OF THE KNIGHT, 
 
 A MAN with a history, as has been said, was 
 Lieutenant Jim Gridley, but who at Minneconjou 
 knew that hIstor>^? So far as his army life was 
 concerned Mr. Gridley had nothing to conceal. Every- 
 body knew that. He was a " ranker," and a good one. 
 He had turned up in a cavalry regiment serving in Ari- 
 zona :n days when Geronimo, with a handful of Apaches, 
 was providing entertainment for a whole brigade. James 
 Gridley was the name he gave the adjutant to whom he 
 applied for enlistment. In ph>'^ique he was sound and 
 tough as hickory. In character he might be tough, and 
 by no means sound. He " hadn't any character, hadnt 
 any references, didn't know anybody," said the adjutant 
 to his commanding officer, and yet the enlistment had 
 been consummated without delay, for that adjutant knew 
 his business, and thought he knew men. Gridley left 
 some personal luggage in the hands of a hardware and 
 general merchandise shopkeeper in Tucson; was sworn 
 in one evening, and started for the Sierra Madre and the 
 Mexican line the next Old hands sought to chaff and 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 129 
 
 new hands to cultivate him. He took everything that 
 came without protest or petulance: gave neither "back 
 talk " nor confidence ; stood the wear and tear and hard- 
 ship of the campaign without turning a hair ; surprised the 
 sergeants by the ease with which he mastered the tricks 
 of the trade, and surprised nobody, by the time they 
 got into a real scrimmage with the hidden foe, by his 
 cool, quiet, business-like, matter-of-course courage. The 
 troop, from captain down to boy trumpeter, had- learned 
 to look upon him by the end of the fourth month as one 
 of their most reliable men. It was six months before he 
 saw Tucson again. The troop had a celebration in honor 
 of the close of the campaign, a jubilee that resulted in 
 the breaking of much crockery and a few corporals. It 
 was contrary to the tenets of the cavalry to put chevrons 
 on a first-year blouse, but in the case of Trooper Gridley 
 there were but few growlers. He accepted his appoint- 
 ment as he did everything else, without apparent elation 
 or depression. He did what the troop considered a re- 
 markable thing — " set up the beer " — a bulging half bar- 
 rel brought in refrigerator car to Tucson ; invited all hands 
 to partake, and never swallowed so much as a drop. He 
 said he was a teetotaller for the time being, but would 
 never impose his views on those who might differ with 
 him. 
 
180 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 He did another thing that tickled the troop. The 
 adjutant offered him a soft berth at regimental head- 
 quarters — a clerkship, ease, comfort — no stables, guard, 
 escort, or picket duty — no climbing and thirsting through 
 mountain and desert, and Corporal Gridley begged the 
 adjutant's leave to remain with the troop. More hard 
 work, campaigning, and fighting followed. Gridley got 
 his sergeant's chevrons before he had been a year on the 
 border, and a recommendation for the medal of honor 
 before he had been six months a sergeant. It was a curi- 
 ous thing about that recommendation. Gridley, with three 
 troopers, two of them wounded, whipped off a dozen 
 Apaches and stood a siege of thirty-two hours while con- 
 voying a small pack train to the command at the front. 
 He had risked his own life lugging a broken-legged packer 
 into shelter among the rocks. Captain, colonel, and com- 
 manding general in the field concurred in the recom- 
 mendation, but affidavits from witnesses were called for 
 long after, and couldn't be furnished because one had 
 deserted and two were dead. The medal, conferred as a 
 result of that episode, finally appeared on the manly 
 breast of an officer who hadn't been under fire at all, but 
 was fortified with affidavits to prove that he had displayed 
 much zeal in sending relief to the beleaguered party. The 
 cavalry swore; but, being far out on the frontier, could 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 131 
 
 not successfully compete with candidates at Washington. 
 They couldn't get the medal for their comrade, so they 
 started in with another year to get him a commission, 
 and in this, after one hitch, they succeeded. Sergeant 
 Gridley, being required by his colonel to state whether he 
 had wife or child, wrote : " I have had both. I now have 
 neither." 
 
 This " hung up " the -nomination a few months longer, 
 but by that time he had in the same matter-of-course way 
 won further and even higher recommendations. It then 
 transpired that his child was dead, that his wife had de- 
 serted, that he had heard nothing of or from her for 
 nearly three years, and Sergeant Gridley was ordered up 
 for examination forthwith. It further transpired then 
 and there that he knew more mathematics and history 
 than did some of his examiners. He was commissioned 
 in the infantry ; succeeded in effecting a transfer into the 
 cavalry, and before he had entered on his second year as 
 a lieutenant had won an enviable name — that of James 
 the Silent. 
 
 And now, the oldest man of his grade in the regiment, 
 if not in the service, he bade fair before long to be known 
 as the wisest. Never telling all that he knew, Jim Grid- 
 ley knew all that he told. " If Gridley says so, it's set- 
 tle<i," was the regimental estimate by the time he got his 
 
132 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 first lieutenantcy. They all had faith both in his grit 
 and his integrity, and that said, there was little left 
 to add 
 
 For, as an acquisition to the mess or to garrison society 
 Gridley was a failure. He did not talk, drink, play cards 
 or billiards. He smoked corncob pipes on his own piazza ; 
 read some hours every evening; spent many an hour in 
 saddle, and never a cent at the store. He had the simplest 
 outfit imaginable in the way of clothing and household 
 furniture. He had always one suit of uniform, dress and 
 undress, that was in immaculate condition, but he seldom 
 wore it. He could not be lured into semi-feminine games 
 like croquet or tennis, but he was a famous coach at base- 
 ball, and the cavalry nine, with Mr. Gridley as captain 
 and shortstop, won enviable distinction in the West, and 
 prizes wherever they went. Women were wont to say 
 this showed his humble origin, but the men, more demo- 
 cratic, thought less of his antecedents than his achieve- 
 ments. There wasn't an officer at Minneconjou, after a 
 few experiences, to lock horns with Gridley in matters 
 of science or history. He was a reader to some purpose. 
 He wasted neither time nor money. Whatever his past, 
 he was making good his present and his future. Even 
 the chaplain, despite the fact that Gridley never went to 
 church or prayer meeting, but was found doing helpful 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 133 
 
 things among the humble about the post, declared that 
 Gridley had more good in him than doctrine. 
 
 Nor had Gridley seemed to " take '^ at first to Lang- 
 harrt He rarely entered his quarters. He never attended 
 his teas, but they rode together, and explored the range 
 to the north and the rolling divide to the south. Lang- 
 ham was so new to the West that all this was a revela- 
 tion to him. They were both fine horsemen, though Grid- 
 ley owned but one charger, a serviceable fellow like him- 
 self, and no great beauty. He enjoyed his gallops with 
 Langham, for he loved to watch the magnificent action 
 of Gordon and the lissome grace of his rider. He had 
 been much with Langham before the advent of Mrs. 
 Bullard as a rival, but when that became an established 
 fact, though the rides together became rare, the days in 
 which Gridley did not see and talk with Langham were 
 rarer still. He, who so housed himself with his pipe and 
 book in the long evenings, and whose light burned often 
 until twelve, and who so rarely entered the quarters of 
 comrade officers, now dropped in on Langham almost 
 every night. He seemed to know the very hour at which 
 his new-found friend might be expected home. 
 
 And this had been the status of aflfairs at the opening 
 of our story. The cause of Crabbe and Sparker, Lang- 
 ham-haters both, bad never had so staggering a blow as 
 
134» COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 when Jim Gridley, James the Silent, turned on them with 
 his amazing and most unlooked-for defiance : " My 
 friend spoke the truth, Captain Sparker, and you know it. 
 I'm with him if Mr. Crabbe has anything further to say." 
 That eventful afternoon troop duties and the inspec- 
 tion occupied much of Gridley's time, but early in the 
 evening he had been again with Langham; had heard 
 with approval that Langham would not attend the dance, 
 and in silence that Langham must meet the belated 
 " Flyer." He knew it could not be to meet Mrs. Bul- 
 lard, for she was here at the post. He had reason to be- 
 lieve it was to meet certain old-time acquaintances and 
 with a view to business, for Langham had told him some- 
 thing of his hopes and plans. He had seen Langham 
 started, and had then gone to his lonely quarters to think 
 and read. It was his detail as officer of the guard for the 
 morrow, but he was temporarily commanding his troop. 
 It would be just like " Old Hardtack " to order the cavalry 
 squadron out for inspection or drill or in field rig before 
 finishing the infantry, and Briggs, for this reason, had 
 agreed to let Langham take his tour. It would be easier 
 doing officer of the guard duty than "trapesing" all 
 day all round afoot on endless drills or exercises. So, 
 even though Langham had to be out half the night, as 
 he said, it would make no great difference as to his duties 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 135 
 
 for the coming day. Not before twelve did he expect 
 Langham back. He was restless, anxious, worried — 
 gravely worried — about Langham and his various 
 affairs, and finally, having heard running footfalls past 
 the front of the quarters, and what he thought was a 
 faint, distant shout for the corporal of the guard, he 
 finally threw down his Carlyle, took his forage cap and 
 started across the road toward the brilliant lights of the 
 ballroom. He vaguely wished to see how she looked — 
 how she was enjoying herself with Langham away. He 
 saw one or two shadowy forms hastening toward the 
 eastward front, and wondered what was up. He noticed 
 some little commotion on the steps and piazza of the 
 assembly hall. He saw Bullard's agitated face, and then 
 saw and heard her. He turned and ran for the fords, 
 but the carriage passed him by. He reached the scene 
 just as the carriage started back with Langham's sense- 
 less head on the doctor's shoulder. He made his way to 
 Langham's quarters, and there, silent, alert, helpful, he 
 spent much of the night at his comrade's bedside, think- 
 ing, thinking. He had slept hardly an hour before start- 
 ing forth on the exploration that had been so pregnant 
 with result. Then came his resolution to carry his theo- 
 ries straight to her — to the woman whose coquetry, folly, 
 vanity, whatsoever it might be, had, as he believed, led 
 
186 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 up to the catastrophe. He had gone with her to rebuke, 
 perhaps even to accuse. He had shown her certain foot- 
 prints in the sands about the willows, footprints that dif- 
 fered perceptibly from the dozen others by which the 
 sands, even on the south bank, were trampled. He had 
 escorted her home ; lifted her from saddle, and left her at 
 the portal, and then, with his faculties dazed and bewil- 
 dered, had galloped back to the post to another night of 
 vigil and harassing thought, marveling much over what 
 he had seen and heard, and cudgeling his brain for 
 explanation. 
 
 It had not helped matters that Major Baker was still 
 up and awaiting his return, ostensibly to see that Ivanhoe 
 was carefully rubbed down and safely stalled, but mainly 
 to seek for further information. Baker had been grow- 
 ing more miserable with each successive hour, as little 
 by little he felt the conviction gaining ground that his 
 public accusation of Crabbe was indefensible, if, indeed, 
 the suspicion were not utterly unjust. A good soldier, 
 ordinarily, was Baker, and one tenacious of his preroga- 
 tive as squadron commander. Moreover, he liked and 
 respected Mack, in spite of the fact that the colonel split 
 the squadron in two for parade purposes in order to 
 make his line look symmetrical, or, as some of the troop- 
 ers would have it, " to beautify his flanks." Baker 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 137 
 
 couldn't bear Sparker, however, and spoke of him as a 
 snob, and Baker cordially disapproved of Crabbe, whom 
 he declared a sycophant and a mere tool of his captain. 
 Verbal tiffs between them had been frequent and inde- 
 cisive, for Baker lacked wisdom even as his opponents 
 lacked wit. Mess life at Minneconjou had been dis- 
 turbed as a consequence, and when at last Baker found 
 himself in possession, as he thought, of tremendous evi- 
 dence against the junior, at a most critical time he had 
 sprung his trap, remorseless and without thought of his 
 superior— -the very thing he would have most resented 
 and rebuked had it happened to himself. 
 
 No wonder Baker couldn't sleep and was growing 
 gray and haggard, but the care in his aging face was 
 barely the shadow of what, in surprise and concern, he 
 saw in Gridley's troubled eyes. Without a word Gridley 
 had dismounted; patted Ivanhoe's arching neck, and 
 turned him over to the waiting trooper, then, briefly mo- 
 tioning with Langham's crop toward the open door, fol- 
 lowed his senior to the little sitting room, sank upon the 
 nearest barrack chair, and began pulling off Langham's 
 steel spurs. Baker waited, charging a corncob pipe the 
 while. He knew Gridley's habit of saying nothing until 
 he was ready. The spurs disposed of, Gridley stood erect ; 
 turned up the dimly-burning student lamp, and placed 
 
138 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 himself with his back to the mantel, a large photograph 
 of Langham in his latest and nattiest uniform peering 
 over his left shoulder. 
 
 For the life of him Baker couldn't help thinking of 
 Mrs. Sparker's reference to the two oddly assorted 
 friends as " Beauty and the Beast." Never a beauty 
 even in his trimmest regimentals, though a forceful pic- 
 ture of a rugged, forceful man, Jim Gridley looked 
 almost uncouth in a civilian sack suit of the fashion of 
 four years back and two sizes too snug for him. It was 
 a " hand-me-down," at best. Gridley said he had no 
 cash to spare on custom-made " cits," and there he stood 
 glaring at Baker from underneath his shaggy eyebrows 
 until the senior grew fidgety and asked : 
 
 " Well, what have you found ? " 
 
 " I've found," said Gridley slowly, " a phenomenon." 
 
 " Well — er — how ? " said Baker, not quite sure in his 
 mind as to what phenomenon might mean. 
 
 " I've found a wise woman where I looked for — a 
 wanton. This is strictly between ourselves." 
 
 "How so?" 
 
 " I've been blaming her for leading Langham into 
 mischief. She's been trying to lead him out. He refused 
 her aid, or her husband's, despite the fact that it was 
 through her he learned the full extent of his liabilities. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 139 
 
 Bills and paper of his have been sent to Bullard's bank 
 for collection. This he knew. What he does not know 
 is that his mother's legal adviser and agent is a damned 
 scoundrel, and that she is desperately ill. He ought to 
 be spinning east of Chicago now'' 
 
 Baker was silent. This was all very interesting, but 
 what was uppermost in his mind, and what, in the sel- 
 fishness of suffering he thought should be uppermost in 
 Gridley's, was the question. Who waylaid Langham? 
 Gridley had gone forth full of that investigation, full of 
 promise to prove that the miscreant was not Fox, that 
 the roster of the suspected had narrowed to one, and that 
 one Crabbe, or some agent of Crabbe. For what else had 
 Baker lent Ivanhoe? And now Gridley was back, think- 
 ing nothing, apparently, about the criminal or of his 
 squadron commander's troubles ; thinking only of the 
 victim and the victim's fair friend turned guardian angel. 
 Baker waxed impatient. 
 
 " What I hoped you'd have to tell me was something 
 about the — msytery. Something either to clinch it on 
 Crabbe or release him. You're full of Langham's affairs, 
 and Fm naturally full of my own. What can you say 
 about the — assailants ? " 
 
 " You're right, major. I beg your pardon. I'm some- 
 what stunned by this accumulation against Langham. 
 
140 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Fm utterly puzzled about the case. I believe I really 
 know less than when I started out. My theory was that 
 some of those hulking half-breeds had been bribed to do 
 this thing. There were others jealous of Langham be- 
 sides Crabbe, and one, I feared, with far better reason. 
 Those are Indian footprints at the willows and at the 
 prairie station. Winsor's party is trailing them up the 
 valley. The man I thought most ready to do Langham 
 up is the man, it seems, who offered to lift his obliga- 
 tions. Langham refused, believing, I suppose, his 
 mother's agents would honor his paper. Now " 
 
 " Now," said Baker, puffing stolidly at the corncob, 
 " the first thing he's got to face when he comes to, is, 
 practically, that he's a bankrupt." 
 
 " Unless some of his friends," answered Gridley 
 wearily, " were to — chip in, you know." 
 
 " His friends ! What friends has he in that d-delight- 
 f ul regiment in position to help, even if they wanted to ? " 
 
 " None that I know of," answered Gridley slowly. " A 
 man's best friends are not limited to his own regiment, or 
 are they always found there." Then turning away to 
 the mantel where beamed Langham's handsome face 
 above the trim and becoming uniform, and lapsing un- 
 consciously into the slang of the day, he continued: 
 " But— there are others." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 A SETTLED SCORE. 
 
 HARDTACK'S official visit had come to a close, 
 and with it the colonel's patience. Five days 
 had " Hardtack " spent at and about Minnecon- 
 jou, the guest of the post commander. Time was in the his- 
 tory of the ante-bellum army of the United States when 
 veteran soldiers who had been at loggerheads ever since 
 the Mexican War were in like manner brought into close 
 social relationship — when men who had exchanged inim- 
 ical missives, and even hostile shots, were compelled by 
 the exigencies of the service to meet at festive boards, 
 exchange frigid bows and perfunctory compliments — 
 were even, on one memorable occasion, thrown into tem- 
 porary, yet unavoidable, relations as host and guest. And 
 something still lingered among the seniors in the later- 
 day service of the awful ceremonies necessitated by ex- 
 alted rank and official station. Something of the chiv- 
 alric halo that hovered ever about the brow of the old- 
 time soldier, as we juniors were taught to believe, still 
 lived. When Captain This and Dr. That fought their 
 famous impromptu duel on the parade of old Wahsatch, 
 
142 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 liberally peppering each other's systems until the lines- 
 man fell, did not the doctor instantly, and regardless of 
 his own serious hurts, drop the pistol and the hostilities, 
 and tender professional "first aid to the wounded" ? Mack 
 wished in his whimsical way it were possible to pick just 
 such a quarrel with his ever-aggressive, aggravating, and 
 now doubly antagonistic inspector. Mack, too, was an 
 old-timer who had marched and campaigned under Sum- 
 ner and Harney in the days when dragoon, mounted 
 rifleman, and light trooper — all three — were comprised 
 in the little cavalry force of the army, and coalesced like 
 oil and vinegar. He, too, had seen something of the 
 dying " code " in its last days, and with all his hot heart 
 he wished its resuscitation, if only to have it out with 
 " Hardtack," who had jarred and rasped him in every 
 conceivable way. 
 
 But that was not to be. To the very last moment of 
 his stay the inspector general kept up his ceremonious 
 attention to Mrs. Mack, overwhelming that excellent but 
 bewildered woman with the manners of a by-gone day 
 and generation, and even while prodding his host at the 
 desk, in the saddle, on drill, on parade, at the whist 
 table, maintaining scrupulous courtesy of demeanor on 
 all other occasions, and plainly ignoring or calmly sup- 
 pressing every overt indication of the coloners rising 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 143 
 
 wrath. Everybody knew Fort Minneconjou was coming 
 in for a scoring when " Hardtack " got back to headquar- 
 ters. The garrison was by no means what it should be. 
 But what the mess puzzled over more than a little was 
 why " Hardtack " should spend an entire afternoon over 
 the accounts of the disbursing officers, and so very much 
 time at Bullard's prosperous bank. Potts's papers and 
 vouchers were straight as a string. The post commis- 
 sary had a clean set of books and stubs, with his cash 
 balancing to the skin of a cent. Captain Grannit, con- 
 structing quartermaster in charge of the building of the 
 new cavalry stables, had a goodly balance to his credit 
 at Bullard's, and as many as the astonishing number of 
 seven officers kept their personal accounts there. Over 
 these seven, of course, ''Old Hardtack" had no jurisdiction 
 whatever, though, to his fame be it said, he fully believed 
 a government inspector should not only be permitted, 
 but required, to examine into the condition of each offi- 
 cer's private account. " Government ought to know," 
 said he, " just how its employees are fixed financially." 
 
 And then it became known that one officer's financial 
 affairs had been made the object of this inspector's scru- 
 tiny, and that one was Lieutenant Langham, still incap- 
 able of either aiding, explaining, or protesting, still so 
 shaken that the surgeon said he must know nothing about 
 
144 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 it for fear of the result. Mack heard of the affair, and 
 the storm in his heart gathered fury. It had not oc- 
 curred to him that instructions might have come direct 
 from superior headquarters, now informed on the one 
 hand of Langham's crippled condition physically, and 
 on the other of his crippled condition financially. Dis- 
 cussion over the matter waxed warm at the mess. Dis- 
 cussions, by the way, were things forbidden at table, but 
 could not be barred in the billiard and smoking room. 
 Sparker and a limited few of his following sided with 
 " Hardtack," mainly because Baker and his officers to a 
 man were hot against him, and on this point, at least, most 
 of the infantry sided with Baker. Baker held that Bul- 
 lard's people had no right to reveal the condition of a 
 customer's account. Sparker said a banker who held 
 drafts for collection, and couldn't collect, owed it to his 
 correspondents to bring the delinquent to terms. Bul- 
 lard had probably felt bound to invoke the aid of the 
 inspector, since it was certain Langham couldn't aid 
 himself, and since it was rumored that Mack wouldn't 
 help the bank. 
 
 *' If Bullard did anything of the kind," said Baker, 
 " I'll close my account to-morrow, and I'm betting Grid- 
 ley does likewise." 
 
 Where was Gridley?. Ever since the return of Win- 
 
 I 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 145 
 
 sor's party, after a twenty-hours' scout for a trail that 
 was lost in the rocks of the upper valley, Gridley had 
 been hovering about Langham's bedside. He had hardly 
 left it night or day, save when needed for troop duty. 
 Now, on this, the last day of '' Old Hardtack's " official 
 scourge, he was absent from luncheon, no unusual thing ; 
 had been away from Langham's all the afternoon; had 
 the squadron commander's permission to be absent from 
 stables and retreat, and had not appeared at dinner. Mrs. 
 Bullard, driving out to post in the cool of the late after- 
 noon, with a Silver Hill society friend to bear her com- 
 pany, had inquired earnestly how Mr. Langham was 
 doing, and whether she could see Mr. Gridley. She 
 seemed disappointed to learn that the latter was away. 
 
 " Hardtack " was to take the east-bound " Overland " 
 at 9 P. M. The officers had formally said adieu after 
 the march past of the men at the close of parade. Dinner 
 at the colonel's had preceded that function, and Mack 
 was fidgeting for tlie coming of his carriage and the 
 going of his guest, when a telegraph orderly appeared 
 with the exasperating news that the " Overland " had a 
 bad case of hot box beyond the Beaver, and wouldn't 
 be along before eleven. Everything was hot, thought poor 
 "Msjck, but nothing hotter than his temper. The inspector 
 sighed, and suggested that they might as well go tq 
 
146 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 whist, and Mack was resigning himself to the dread 
 necessity, when reHef hove in sight in the shape of the 
 sheriff. Blossom came loping in at the gate, full of im- 
 portance and news. *' Fox," said he, " has been found 
 in Deadwood, and Champion is traced to the Buffalo 
 outfit. We'll get him yet, meantime what '11 we do with 
 Fox? He's dead broke already — gambled away every 
 cent of the money he got — and was begging a job with a 
 traveling show when our people spotted him. It's God's 
 mercy he didn't go north, with them Brules and Ogallalas 
 out. How's Mr. Langham ? " 
 
 " Improving," said Mack shortly. " My dear," this to 
 his wife, " you take my hand at whist. I'm sure you can 
 do better than I to-night, and I'll soon be through with 
 Mr. Blossom. Ah, Sheriff, will you have — er — some- 
 thing before we go over to the office ? " 
 
 Well, the ride had been long, Mack's Monongahela 
 was a rarity, and the sheriff was not hard to persuade. 
 Together they adjourned to the dining room and thence 
 to the office, the orderly going for Briggs and Belden on 
 the run. Mrs. Bullard's styilsh barouche was in front of 
 the Warrens' at the moment, she and her fair fellow-citi- 
 zen chatting with the doctor and certain of the garrison 
 ladies. All had seen the sheriff's swift entrance and 
 straightaway cide to the colonel's. All were looking for 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 147 
 
 explanation, when other hoofbeats sounded on the hard 
 roadway at the gate and Jim Gridley came galloping 
 through. Jim Gridley caught sight of the groups along 
 the row, reined in, and, with the obvious purpose of dodg- 
 ing question and observation, turned short to his right 
 and sought the roadway in rear of the quarters, the track 
 of the wood and water carts ; sprang from saddle at his 
 own back gate ; slipped into his bedroom and out of his 
 *' cits " ; hastily soused his head and hands in cold water ; 
 donned his fatigue dress, and was out and away again 
 before even Baker could reach him. Straightaway to 
 the adjutant's office across the parade he sped, with his 
 long strides, and, almost at the heels of Mack and the 
 sheriff, entered the hall. The colonel's face lighted with 
 eagerness as he turned to greet him : 
 
 "Settled?" he asked. 
 
 "Settled," said Gridley. "Now, how about Fox? 
 The news of his capture is all over town." 
 
 " Taken at Deadwood," answered Blossom shortly. 
 " That damned operator at the station gives everything 
 away." 
 
 " It wasn't the operator. I saw a dispatch to Bullard 
 at the bank." 
 
 " Have you seen Bullard this afternoon ? " inquired 
 Blossom, with a curious uplifting of the eyebrows. 
 
148 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 " Just left him," answered Gridley, and subsided into a 
 chair, as Captain Belden quietly entered, followed by the 
 adjutant. 
 
 " I hope I have not kept you waiting, sir," said the 
 former to the commanding officer. " My daughter is 
 not quite well to-night, and we were with her." 
 
 " Not at all, Belden. We have only just come. But 
 I'm sorry to hear this of Kitty. What does Warren say? 
 Is there anything Mrs. Mack can do? She's as fond of 
 Kit — we all are, I guess — as though she were one of our 
 
 own. Mrs. Mack's playing whist with " a backward 
 
 toss of the head — " but she'd far rather be with Kitty." 
 Then he looked up in sudden surprise and embarrass- 
 ment. There stood '' Hardtack " at the door ; his footfalls, 
 deadened by the thick coat of matting, had given no 
 warning. 
 
 " We gave up our game," said the veteran with frigid 
 and studied calm. " The ladies — ah — were so palpably 
 excited by the tidings that, as others kept coming in and 
 the story had to be retold so often, signals failed to 
 attract attention, and I thought it a mercy to stop the 
 game. Then, being the only man among nearly a dozen 
 women, I — fell back on my supports," and the inspector 
 looked about liim in search of a smile. 
 
 " You are — most welcome, sir," aloud ; " God forgive 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 149 
 
 me the lie," low, said Mack, as he ceremoniously tendered 
 a chair. " I desire to consult with some of my officers 
 as to this matter of the apprehension of Mr. Langham's 
 a — groom of the chambers, so to speak." Mack, even in 
 his mood of depression and disgust, sought to lighten the 
 situation, especially as the inspector took his seat with an 
 expression of portentous gravity upon his thin-lipped face, 
 and with ominous symptoms of intention to participate 
 in, if not even to preside over, the proceedings. Mack 
 was quick to note it and to resent. " But you, sir, prob- 
 ably, have some matter in mind that should take prece- 
 dence. If so, we will postpone," said he, suggestively. 
 
 " Oh, not at all, not at all," was the prompt disclaimer. 
 " I am greatly interested in this affair that has — unfor- 
 tunately involved Mr. Crabbe, and — in fact, I desire full 
 information upon ever>- phase of the matter. I shall be 
 expected to report upon it immediately upon my return 
 to my station." 
 
 There was no help for it then. Like a basilisk there 
 sat the staff officer, his cold, gray eyes dominating the 
 silent and embarrassed council. " Well, Mr. Sheriff," 
 said Mack, baffled and despairing, " tell us all you know, 
 again, for the colonel's benefit." There was comfort at 
 least in that ffing, and Blossom, who had only told it 
 four times within the hour, was in no wise reluctant to 
 
150 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 again elaborate upon his far-reaching scheme to encom- 
 pass the rascal Fox. He looked up impatiently, the 
 others in some relief, when the orderly tip-toed in to ask 
 would Lieutenant Gridley step out a minute and speak to 
 a lady. It was the Bullards' barouche that stopped the 
 way. Mack nodded " Aye," and Gridley vanished. 
 
 Nor did he speedily return. Fox's coming or going 
 meant little to him now. The grave yet beautiful face 
 that bent toward him in friendly greeting; the winning 
 smile, even though tempered by anxiety ; the gentle, mod- 
 ulated voice — these were things rare indeed in his past 
 and bewildering in his present. 
 
 " I hope the colonel and you, too, will forgive me, Mr. 
 Gridley," she began, as he lifted his worn forage-cap in 
 grave salutation to both ladies. " I believe you know 
 Mrs. Lawrence." Another grave bow. " We must be 
 going in a moment. Mr. Shannon and Mr. Kirk will 
 escort us, so do not worry as to that, and I have tele- 
 phoned in to Mr. Bullard. But I thought you ought to 
 know that Mr. Bullard goes East to-night, and that he 
 expects to meet those English gentlemen, Mr. Shafto 
 and his friend, on the train — the ones, you remember, Mr. 
 Langham came to talk with at the station." 
 
 " Thank you, Mrs. Bullard," said Gridley. " It was — 
 thoughtful of you." 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 151 
 
 But she was studying his face. She had been surprised 
 by the tidings when told her at four o'clock. Gridley 
 obviously was not. 
 
 " Then — you knew it ? " she asked on the impulse of 
 the moment. 
 
 " I — had heard it," he replied. 
 
 " Then I believe that is all," said she, her fine eyes 
 still studying his face. '' Dr. Warren says we may hope 
 for marked improvement in Mr. Langham's case. You 
 will come and see us ? Mrs. Lawrence is to be with me a 
 few days. Good-night, Mr. Gridley." 
 
 The coachman touched his horses, the officer his cap, 
 and stood gazing after them as the stylish vehicle went 
 bowling away. Once she turned and looked back, but 
 the twilight had faded almost into darkness, and he could 
 not see her face. Nor did he move until the sound of the 
 swift hoofbeats died away far beyond the eastward 
 gate. 
 
 Conversation within the office had taken a livelier tone. 
 He had no desire either to hear or to participate. His 
 thoughts were centered here about Langham's fortunes 
 and that woman's face. He was slowly sauntering across 
 the parade when the orderly overtook him with the 
 colonel's compliments, and would the lieutenant be 
 pleased to return ? 
 
153 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 The atmosphere within the wooden walls was electric 
 as he entered. The storm had been days a-brewing, and 
 was now dangerously near a break. He could hear " Old 
 Hardtack's " icy tones, clear-cut and biting as were the 
 words. He paused one moment at the outer door to gain 
 such information as he could before facing what might 
 be a stirring situation. He had no difficulty hearing. He 
 did not hesitate to bid the orderly remain beyond the 
 gate. \Vliat the inspector was saying of the regiment 
 and of its management was not a thing to be heard, and 
 rejoicefully repeated, by the rank and file. Nine-tenths 
 of these in '97 were the colonel's stanch and loyal sup- 
 porters, but there is ever the little leaven of the vicious 
 and the disaffected. When finally Mr. Gridley stepped 
 quietly to the inner office, the inspector held the floor, had 
 quit his chair and his attitude of scrutiny, and with un- 
 usual gesticulation was emphasizing his winged words. 
 But oh, the boiling wrath in the face of the foremost 
 auditor ! 
 
 " I am not assailing you. Colonel Mack. I recognize 
 your right to stand up for, as you say, the honor of your 
 regiment, but, since you challenge my authority or my 
 rightful — er — prerogative of investigation in the prem- 
 ises, I will say that, in my opinion, the honor of the regi- 
 ment would have been far better guarded had its com- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 15S 
 
 mander from the first repressed all extravagance and dis- 
 play on part of — any of its officers, and had he promptly 
 and thoroughly investigated the numerous and damaging 
 complaints that had been lodged against — one of them — 
 instead of striving to conceal them even to the extent of 
 trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the — the author- 
 ized representative of the secretary of war." 
 
 Mack's face was well-nigh purple, but he saw Grid- 
 ley's quick signal, the forefinger at the lips, then the hand 
 uplifted, palm to the front, lowered, dropped. He had 
 seen the same sign among the Indians. With magnifi- 
 cent effort he surrounded himself, as it were; gathered 
 himself within the armor, swiftly forged, of repression 
 and reserve. It was full ten seconds before another word 
 was spoken. Then, though his voice shook, his hand 
 shook, the table shook, because thereon he rested his 
 hand. Mack replied : 
 
 " Promptly and thoroughly every charge referred to 
 m^e has been investigated, to the extent that I know more 
 and much more of the merits of this case than you, sir, 
 appear to think. Before a Court of Inquiry, if the Presi- 
 dent will but accord it, I shall answer the aspersions you 
 have seen fit to make, but this I tell you here and now: 
 There has been no effort whatever to mislead you. I 
 Said I had reason to believe that every claim against Mr. 
 
154 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Langham would be met in full — and within the 
 month " 
 
 " And his banker here assures me his Eastern agent 
 has dishonored his drafts and refused him another cent," 
 unluckily burst in the senior officer. 
 
 " In spite of which assurance, sir, I know that every 
 claim has been satisfied. So far as your informants are 
 concerned, Mr. Langham doesn't owe one cent." 
 
 The inspector turned sharply in his nervous stride and 
 glared at the post commander, who stood shaking at his 
 table, but looking his accuser squarely and straight in the 
 eye. Briggs sat squirming on the settee, downing with 
 infinite difficulty a longing to spring to his feet and shout. 
 Belden, pale and distressed but the moment before, now 
 uplifted his head, his face aglow with sympathy and sat- 
 isfaction. Blossom, utterly *' nonplussed," clung to the 
 arms of his chair and gazed uneasily about him. Grid- 
 ley it was who put an end to the suspense of the situation 
 by stepping quietly forward, placing on the desk under 
 the eye of the inspector a flat packet of papers, bowing 
 coolly, and saying : *' There are the receipts." Then he 
 turned and left the room. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 LAST SEEN — AT SUNSET. 
 
 A WEEK passed by. Langham was beginning 
 to sit up, and all Fort Minneconjou knew that 
 over and above the grievous distress and mis- 
 hap of the month gone by, there had come to him a poign- 
 ant sorrow — the news that his fond, devoted mother 
 was no more. Not until his ceaseless inquiries for her 
 letters, and his insistence on telegraphing for tidings of 
 her, warned Warren that further concealment would be 
 damaging, did they finally tell him. Not even now was 
 he allowed to know the purport of the telegrams that had 
 come to him from Billings and from the East. " Rest 
 content that your affairs are in good hands — that there is 
 now no need to act or even to worry," said Gridley. 
 " Get well ; get strong ; don't bother that bedeviled head 
 of yours with business of any kind until you are strong 
 enough to move about, then I'll talk with you." And in 
 his grief and weakness of body and soul Langham was 
 fain to comply. For some days he sat in a darkened 
 room, denied to all but the doctor, the nurse, and Gridley. 
 But he had sent a message to Colonel Mack before he 
 
 155 
 
156 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 had been up an entire hour, asking that proceedings of 
 any kind against Mr. Crabbe be dropped — that Crabbe 
 be released from arrest. The step had already been de- 
 cided upon, but Gridley took his words. Crabbe had 
 resumed duty, silent, but hating Baker almost as he had 
 hated Langham, and seeking opportunity to get square. 
 Those were peppery days at the mess, and Mrs. Sparker 
 was said to have laid her mandate on the captain not to 
 go there, which robbed Crabbe of his most assiduous 
 supporter. 
 
 Fox had been brought over from Deadwood and lodged 
 in the county jail. Fox was an aggrieved and injured 
 man. Fox said that 'e'd been drinking a bit, and couldn't 
 manage his 'orse that night, an' the bloomin' brute 'ad 
 run with him when the shooting began, carried him clear 
 to town, where more whisky was to be had, where he 
 soon heard he was suspected of the lieutenant's murder. 
 He feared the soldiers would lynch him. He just rode 
 out near the fort, turned loose the plug, took Champion 
 out when the sentry wasn't looking, and spurred away 
 for safety. They gave him knock-out drops at a ranch 
 near the Belle Fourche. Next thing he knew the stage 
 dumped him out at Deadwood, with Champion gone. 
 Drink did it all, and he begged they would let him see his 
 master and plead his cause. When reminded of his 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 157 
 
 treachery to that master — his threats to " show him up," 
 and drive him out of the army, Fox at first stoutly swore 
 he had never '' thought of such a thing," but, when con- 
 fronted with a crowd of witnesses, gave way to lamenta- 
 tion. " Never again, so 'elp me Gawd, will I touch a 
 drop of spirits — that's Hamerican made," said Fox, and 
 meanwhile resigned himself to his cruel fate. 
 
 Mrs. Bullard was sending frequently to Langham bas- 
 kets of choice fruit, delicacies of her own making, helpful 
 little notes and messages. How could the women be kept 
 from knowing it when her manservant came riding or 
 dog-carting almost every day? But Mrs. Bullard her- 
 self came not at all. Nor was she seen in town. For 
 nearly a week the lady had secluded herself, with Mrs. 
 Lawrence for sole companion, and Silver Hill and Min- 
 neconjou couldn't understand it. She had even given up 
 the idea of seeing Kitty Belden, though she had sent her, 
 too, fruit and flowers. Kitty herself was buoyantly 
 mending, and had just begun to resume her rides. Peo- 
 ple are less apt to ask questions of a swift horsewoman 
 or man, and Captain Belden sought to shield his child 
 from the torment of inquiry at the hands of prying neigh- 
 bors. Her mother, less gentle, but no less schooled in 
 the ways of the world, had given the child much more 
 sharp admonition than Belden would have countenanced 
 
158 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 had he known it, and Kitty Belden, as a consequence, had 
 bridged in a single week the broad gulf 'twixt fearless, 
 innocent girlhood and the viewpoint of the maiden, 
 shrinking, wondering, and ashamed. She would never 
 now, she thought, ride townward lest she should meet 
 the lady her mother so disliked. She would not care to 
 ride Champion now, yet could not say why. She could 
 not bear to ride with Flo Cullin, who was always " poky.'' 
 By the west gate, up the Minneconjou, therefore, she 
 took her lonely way. There were no more riding parties, 
 no more splendid runs behind the hounds. The summer 
 suns had come for good ; the days were far too warm. 
 
 But riding, solitary, with only a pet hound or two for 
 escort and companion, Kitty could watch and think, and 
 the afternoon of her third gallop, coming suddenly upon 
 a shoulder of bluff that commanded a grand view south- 
 ward toward the Calumet and the valley of the South 
 Cheyenne, she saw, down among the cottonwoods in a 
 dry fork of the stream, a little party of horsemen moving 
 slowly toward the distant roofs of Silver Hill. The 
 very fact that almost instantly they scattered, five of 
 them scurrying away southeastward toward the aban- 
 doned railway station, while two others jogged on 
 stolidly townward, told her they were Indians, for In- 
 dians sight every moving object within the limits of 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 159 
 
 their visioru She watched them until the fleeing five 
 were mere dots upon the distant prairie; took courage 
 from their evident alarm ; noted that the flag-staff and 
 the fort were barely six miles away to the east; con- 
 tinued boldly down into the valley; found the trail of 
 the unshod ponies in the sandy bottom, and riding 
 warily, held back until near the browsing herds of the 
 cavalr}% guarded by watchful troopers in saddle and 
 sidelined against stampede. Then on she sent her will- 
 ing pony, overtaking and passing the unkempt, uncouth 
 riders ahead, recognizing instantly two of the dawdling 
 half-breeds she had often seen hanging about the streets 
 or station. "How," "How," they grunted, in the fron- 
 tier fashion of the Sioux. She longed to make them 
 tell who were these, their friends, who had lashed away 
 at sight of a solitary girl, but well she knew they would 
 only profess ignorance of ever>'thing, including her 
 language. She had heard of the venturesome band of 
 young braves out on an Indian lark from the reserva- 
 tion, and marveled at their daring to come so close to 
 Minneconjou. She knew that were the cavalry only 
 mounted and ready, a troop would be sent in instant 
 pursuit, but now it would take half an hour to run the 
 herds back to the stables, there to be hurriedly saddled 
 by their assembling riders. She knew it would be an 
 
160 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 hour, at least, before the troop could get away in chase. 
 The wild riders were well nigh out of sight when she left 
 the bluff, five miles up stream; they would be a dozen 
 miles away, with night coming on apace, before pursuit 
 could even be ordered. Still she would tell the herd 
 guard, and excitedly she hailed the veteran sergeant in 
 charge, as she came cantering up the slope. He listened 
 respectfully, with his campaign hat uplifted. Every man 
 knew the captain's bonny daughter. " Five Sioux, ser- 
 geant," she cried, " were riding with those half-breeds 
 yonder. I saw them from Bonnet Bluff, coming out of 
 the Dry Fork Valley. They saw me before I could hide. 
 Away they went, full speed, out past the station, and 
 almost out of sight." 
 
 " Yes, miss," answered the trooper. " Sheriff Blossom 
 brought in a report of a band seen at two o'clock north- 
 east of hi« place. Lieutenant Shannon and some of " C " 
 Troop left at once on scout; and, I think, miss, there 
 are others out hunting for you." 
 
 " Thank you, sergeant," she answered, her cheeks 
 flushing with the exhilaration of the gallop and the 
 thought of her adventure. " I'll hurry right in that they 
 may know I'm safe." Again she put her pony to his 
 speed, glorying in the exercise, and, reining him in only 
 aft she neared the west gate, rode buoyantly on past the 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 161 
 
 band quarters ; turned suddenly to her left at the end of 
 the row and came face to face with Mrs. Bullard, fol- 
 lowed by a groom, riding her beautiful thoroughbred 
 and looking the picture of fem-inine grace and style in 
 saddle. Kitty was trapped. A burning flush swept to 
 her forehead, but her eyes never flinched. She raged in 
 her heart when, as though seeing no symptom of em- 
 barrassment, the elder, the accomplished society woman, 
 hailed her joyously, as with practiced hand she whirled 
 Roscoe about and brought him, snorting suspiciously, 
 alongside the panting pony. " Welcome and well met, 
 Miss Kitty, I was just riding out to join the searchers. 
 Did you see anything of them ? " 
 
 " I saw some Indians," answered the girl,, with scant 
 cordiality, and IMrs. Bullard marked, but never seemed 
 to note it. 
 
 " The news of their ha\ang been seen out to the north- 
 east started quite a commotion. I think your father 
 has gone, with others, in search of you. And there's 
 your mother, so I won't keep you now." Smiling kindly, 
 she raised her ivory whip handle in air in blithe adieu. 
 Then once more, so as not to repass the many sentineled 
 piazzas on the officers' side, turned Roscoe to the west 
 and at gentle canter swept clear round the roadway 
 bejxjnd the broad parade and appeared once more at the 
 
162 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 east end of the row and went straightway to Langham's 
 gate, where in waiting stood Lieutenant Gridley — James 
 the Silent, James the society shunner, ready to assist 
 her. Tossing to him her costly whip, with the eyes of 
 half the women of Fort Minneconjou upon her, she freed 
 her left foot from the stirrup, her right knee from the 
 pommel ; up went his hands to her slender waist ; lightly 
 her fingertips touched his shoulders, and down she came, 
 buoyant as a bird ; took his tendered arm and disappeared 
 with him within Langham's doorway, the first woman to 
 be permitted to visit the convalescent since the night of 
 that cruel stroke. Five doors away Kitty Belden had 
 sprung from saddle and stood listening to a torrent of 
 maternal admonition, complaint, and adjuration. Never 
 again must she ride out alone! (Never before had 
 escort been deemed necessary.) Never again must she 
 so worry her father; never again — but presently the at- 
 tention of both lecturer and audience began to wander; 
 the tongue of the elder woman stopped in stupefaction. 
 They saw Mrs. Bullard dismount and enter Langham's 
 doorway, and Kitty, darting to her room, never heard 
 her mother's virtuous comment flung across the gallery 
 to the adjacent Mrs. Sparker: "Well, what is that 
 woman made of ? " 
 
 By common consent the duration of Mrs. Bullard's 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 163 
 
 call exceeded half an hour. By the office clock it did not 
 touch ten minutes. Again they appeared, Gridley and 
 the lady, at Langham's gate, this time in earnest con- 
 ference. Again he bent, and she bundled into saddle. 
 Again she rode briskly away, bowing graciously to those 
 she happened to pass, gave Roscoe his head the moment 
 she was clear of the gate, and galloped on homeward, 
 with her groom lunging a dozen paces behind, and Jim 
 Gridley gazing after her until the graceful form was 
 hidden from view. 
 
 *' Why didn't you ask her to stay to dinner and 
 parade ? " inquired Mack of his better half, who had 
 watched proceedings from the vantage ground of her 
 high piazza. 
 
 "I did," was the reply, "but it's Bullard's first day 
 home from the East — much she cares for that," in under- 
 tone " I s'pose she wants to see what new things he 
 brought her — the old fool ! " As this sentence, like its 
 predecessor, wound up with an uncomplimentary com- 
 ment in inaudible tone, it is but fair to assume that Mrs. 
 Mack shared the general opinion that Mrs. Bullard 
 held her husband in but faint esteem, also that Mrs. 
 Mack's husband, whose domestic status was never ques- 
 tioned, had cautioned the lady of his house and name 
 against over expression of her views. 
 
164. COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 First call for dress parade was ringing over the sun- 
 swept valley as tlie riders rounded the deep bend of the 
 Minneconjou, where it circled northward between the 
 fort and town, then disappeared from view behind the 
 full fringed crests of the leafy cottonwoods that, spring- 
 ing from the moist and sandy shore of the stream, tow- 
 ered a few yards higher than the *' bench " to its left and 
 screened the roadway for another mile. The gate guard 
 had stood watching them, and that was the last seen 
 of Mrs. Bullard for the night — indeed for many a day. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 ABDUCTION. 
 
 THERE were associates of Amos Bullard, meet- 
 ing him as he stepped from the " Flyer " that 
 afternoon, who said to each other after seeing 
 him home from his office that " that the old man had aged 
 ten years in ten days." His was a bluff, brusque per- 
 sonality. Prosperity had made him dominant if not 
 domineering. Wealth had been won but slowly at first, 
 then fairly dumped itself into his vaults and coffers. 
 Wealth had brought him influence, power, high position 
 in his community and high credit in financial circles in 
 the East. Wealth had built and furnished and stocked 
 his sumptuous home, and wealth, it was said, had bought 
 its beautiful queen. 
 
 Silver Hill had known her three years, much to ad- 
 mire, if also to envy. Whatever it was in her liege lord 
 she saw to honor and to love society could not say. 
 Neither could it say that she had ever failed in render- 
 ing every outward homage to the husband who had won 
 her hand if not her heart— never until this last springs 
 when Mr. Langham came into her life and Roscoe and the 
 
 16& 
 
166 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 long rides followed. For three years she had appeared 
 in public onh^ with her husband, and his pride in her 
 beauty and grace was something almost inordinate. 
 Marriage had vastly improved him, said society. Mar- 
 riage had smoothed, softened, and tempered, even if it 
 could not sweeten and refine him. Bullard was too far 
 steeped in commercialism to come to that. Marriage 
 had even seemed to make him content and happy. His 
 head was held so high ; his step and bearing were so 
 proud, confident, commanding. Then, along in March, 
 he had begun to grow irritable again. In April, some- 
 thing was hanging heavy on his mind, for he would quit 
 his desk, his dictation, and, abruptly turning from affairs 
 that had hitherto absorbed him, go to the great window 
 and stand for long moments staring gloomily out 
 toward the ornate towers of his home rising there 
 above the roofs and chimneys on the higher bank of 
 the North Fork— the "Dancing Water." In May, the 
 fits of abstraction and nervousness had increased to a 
 marked degree, and women giggled and men sniggered 
 as they gossiped over the probable cause. In June, they 
 were seldom seen together, his wife and he, and from the 
 night of that calamitous assault on Mr. Langham out at 
 the Minneconjou fords Bullard had seemed a haunted, 
 hunted man. He had made a hurried trip to his mines ; 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 167 
 
 he had kept constantly on the move; he had suddenly 
 gone East — no one as yet knew just how far — and 
 had as suddenly returned, as so many said, " looking 
 ten years older in the last ten days." 
 
 Nor had she been at the station to meet him. Nor 
 was he pleased that certain fellow citizens had there 
 assembled, advised of his coming through an item in 
 the Morning Chronicle, dated Chicago the previous 
 evening, to the effect that Amos BuUard, Esq., of Silver 
 Hill, had disposed of certain of his holdings to an 
 English syndicate, of which the Hon. Percy Shafto was 
 representative, and Mr. Bullard was a passenger on the 
 " Flyer " westward bound. Bullard savagely damned the 
 Chronicle and its Chicago correspondent, a thing both 
 Chronicle and correspondent would only have rejoiced 
 in but for the distressing fact that Mr. Bullard was one 
 of the Chronicle's heaviest stockholders. Even his sec- 
 retary and stenographer had not been informed by wire 
 of his coming. Even his wife learned it through Mrs. 
 Lawrence, who having seen the item in the paper, ex- 
 pressed surprise at finding her friend in saddle and 
 going out to the fort. Mrs. Lawrence said later that 
 Mrs. Bullard opened her eyes wide, looked astonished, 
 but quickly recovered herself and said, " Probably a 
 newspaper conjecture. I think they would have known 
 
168 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 it at the office and notified me," then rode calmly on. 
 Who was it had said, " So long as she had Langham 
 she would have no groom, but now " 
 
 Nevertheless, Mrs. Lawrence remembered, as did 
 others who heard the words, the tone, the manner in 
 which this formerly model wife had accosted her hus- 
 band at the entrance to the assembly room the night 
 of Langham's mysterious misadventure. Then servant 
 folk of Silver -Hill had been quoted as telling of stirring 
 controversy between the married pair in the sanctity of 
 their apartment, sometimes in the dead hours of night. 
 All society felt certain that something most serious had 
 happened to destroy the peace and harmony that had 
 existed, and some women went so far as to say that 
 when a woman despised her husband as Mrs. BuUard 
 evidently despised him, it would account for much ap* 
 parent misbehavior with other men. 
 
 George Belden, a gentleman, could almost have throt- 
 tled his wife had he known that all this, and more, 
 she had been telling to his child. 
 
 It must have been somewhere toward 11.45 that night 
 that the telephone bell at the post quartermaster's office 
 began to ring. One of the clerks was supposed at all 
 times, sleeping or waking, to be within summons of that 
 useful, if distracting, instrument. But for long months 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 169 
 
 it had not been known to chirp at that hour unless there 
 was a dance or late dinner going on, and this time there 
 was neither. There was a girl at the ordnance ser- 
 geant's who twisted that clerk round her little finger, 
 and he was wooing while the elders slept. By the 
 merest accident a corporal of the guard going by heard 
 the insistent clamor; went in to wake the supposed 
 sleeper; found him missing; so answered himself. As 
 luck would have it, he was the corporal in charge of the 
 little detachment known as the gate guard, the three 
 men who, with their non-commissioned officer, spent 
 their tour at the little supplementary guard-house at the 
 side of the entrance — the very corporal who, with his 
 comrades, stood gazing after Mrs. Bullard and her 
 groom until they were lost to view beyond the fringe 
 of cottonwoods. This was the only telephone instrument 
 at the post, Uncle Sam declining to furnish his military 
 stations with such commodities, reasoning, perhaps, that 
 news of all kinds flies too fast as it is. Whenever people 
 wished to " talk with town " they invaded the ante-room 
 at the quartermaster's, and by day the thing was buz- 
 zing perpetually. Now, town was calling the fort and 
 in the dead of night. 
 
 "Hwat's that, mum?" shouted Corporal Haney. 
 "Was Mrs. Bullard here? No, mum. She went 
 
170 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 home at retreat. I seen her an' Jennings, myself. 
 Who'm I? Corporal Haney, mum, gate guard. Yes, 
 mum. I seen her go'n', watched her out 'f sight. 
 Niver got home? Will I call Loot'nt Gridley. Yes, 
 mum. An' who'll I say? Mrs. Lawrence, mum? Yes, 
 mum, right away. An' he's to call you up, Main 6i ? 
 Yes, mum." And away went honest Haney on the run, 
 and two minutes later was banging at Gridley's inner 
 door; the outer in midsummer was rarely closed. 
 
 Jim Gridley was out of bed and into his boots almost 
 before Haney had finished the half of his message. " Run 
 to stables and have 'em send up my horse at once," said 
 he. " I'll be at the telephone by that time." 
 
 It was midnight now, and the post was dark and 
 silent. The twelve o'clock call of the last man of the 
 sentry chain had just gone shrilling on the sweep of the 
 night wind, and Number One in melodious contrast was 
 moaning, " A-a-ll's well." Hooking his blouse as he came 
 springing from his quarters, Gridley took the short cut 
 across the parade, and was whirling the handle of the 
 old-fashioned 'phone before Haney had even roused the 
 stable sergeant of his troop. Central seemed expecting 
 him, for Main 6i answered almost instantly. It was 
 Mrs. Lawrence's voice, and Mrs. Lawrence was agitated. 
 What he gathered was this: That after eleven o'clock 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 171 
 
 Mrs. Bullard's maid came trembling through the night 
 to Mrs. Lawrence, who lived five squares away. Her 
 mistress had not returned ; neither had the groom nor the 
 horses. Mrs. Lawrence vainly strove to assure her there 
 was no cause for alarm. Mrs. Bullard had probably 
 stayed at Minneconjou for a dance, a concert, or some- 
 thing, but the maid said no, she w^ould not stay to dinner 
 or dance in her riding habit. She would never stay so 
 late without telephoning or sending word, and nothing 
 had come. She had tried in vain to ring up the forty 
 but the fort wouldn't answer. She had tried to find Mr. 
 Bullard, but he wasn't home, nor at the office, nor at 
 the hotel nor club. He had been at home between 5.30 
 and six. His room and his things were in much confu- 
 sion, and there were other things Mrs. Lawrence could 
 tell Mr. Gridley personally — she wouldn't, she said, over 
 the 'phone, wherein she was wise. Meantime, could Mr. 
 Gridley advise or suggest anything? Mr. Lawrence was 
 home and would do anything Mr. Gridley said. 
 
 What Mr. Gridley said was, " I'll be with you inside 
 an hour," and within five minutes he had written a line 
 to be given the adjutant at reveille, and mounting his 
 astonished and half drowsy steed, was trotting out of 
 the gate. Once well clear of the post he took the gallop 
 and the ford trail to town. It was too dark for scout- 
 
172 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 ing. One question he asked the guard : Had Mr. Shan- 
 non and his troopers returned? No? Then Indians 
 must have been seen and pursued and driven. What- 
 ever devilment had been planned prompt action had 
 blocked. It wasn't Indians that prevented the lady's 
 return. It wasn't until he reached town and left his 
 mount at the hotel stable that Gridley found a clue. 
 
 It was barely one when he rang at the Lawrences' 
 door and was ushered into the sitting room. A tearful 
 maid was still there and the faces of the Lawrences, hus- 
 band and wife, were very grave. It seemed best that 
 Mrs. Lawrence should tell the story, the maid couldn't 
 without frequent breakdowns. Until the previous win- 
 ter, she said, Mr. and Mrs. Bullard had been happy. 
 Then Mrs. Bullard got a letter along in February that 
 was shoved under the front door. All her mail came in 
 care of Mr. Bullard. Presently another came in the 
 same way, and finally one addressed to Mr. Bullard, 
 which Mrs. Bullard herself handed him when he came 
 home that night, and there was a terrible scene. More 
 scenes followed, Bullard begging and pleading and Mrs. 
 Bullard refusing. The maid seemed to know more than 
 she could have legitimately learned, and Gridley sur- 
 mised there had been no little listening at keyholes. 
 Matters went from bad to worse. Mrs. Bullard was 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 173 
 
 heard in May to tell him if he didn't do something or 
 other before July she would leave him forever, and it 
 was this he was trying to prevent. Early in June he 
 told her he had engaged a groom because he believed it 
 utterly unsafe for her to be riding so far from town 
 alone. She would not have him with her at first, but 
 late one afternoon two half-breeds actually dared accost 
 her on the prairie, demanding money, and sought to de- 
 tain her. Roscoe easily distanced their ponies, but after 
 that she had to take the groom along or give up riding. 
 None of the servants liked that groom ; he put on airs, 
 she said, and would have nothing to do with them. The 
 maid could easily have told more — probably had told 
 more to Mrs. Lawrence, but Gridley had heard quite 
 enough — more than enough. One question he asked : 
 Had she ever tried to see any of the mysterious notes? 
 and the maid, coloring violently and protesting that she 
 hadn't, convinced him that she had. So he asked an- 
 other: What claim had the woman on Mr. Bullard? 
 The maid bridled, and hadn't said it was a woman that 
 wrote. She gathered as much, however, from what she 
 heard accidentally of the altercation. The woman said 
 she was Mr. BuUard's lawful wife; had lived with him 
 two years, and he treated her shameful and deserted her 
 and her child. She'd been trying for ever so long to find 
 
174 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 him. Gridley did not answer this at once. He sat look- 
 ing intently, strangely, at the mincing, sniffling creature 
 as though he needed to know more, yet it shamed him 
 to ask. He had grown paler, too. Lawrence and his 
 wife both saw that. He finally asked if the maid couldn't 
 describe any of the letters — what they were like — 
 whether they were well written like those of an educated 
 person, or were crude and mispelled. The maid hadn't 
 noticed, and couldn't even say whence they came. They 
 bore no post-mark or stamp. They were slipped under 
 the storm door by someone about town — always in the 
 early evening. 
 
 And then there was silence a moment. Mrs. Law- 
 rence was still alarmed and depressed. Her husband 
 shared her sentiments. Gridley was distressed and 
 angered, but not* alarmed. Bidding the maid cross the 
 hall and remain in the dining room, he closed the door 
 and faced the couple, to whom until this night he had 
 been almost a stranger. 
 
 " There is no occasion for alarm as to her safety," 
 said he. " The explanation is simple. He started out 
 at seven in his big mountain wagon with the four-horse 
 team. He kept that, you know, at the Argenta stable. 
 He has gone to his mines, I haven't a doubt, and taken 
 her with him." 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 175 
 
 And before guard mount in the morning Mrs. Law- 
 rence 'phoned him confirmation. A brief letter had 
 come at seven, brought in by Mrs. Bullard's groom. It 
 was from Mr. Bullard, his wife being too chilled and 
 fatigued to write. It was to ask her to be so kind as to 
 :carefully convey Mrs. Bullard's jewelry, trinkets, val- 
 uables, etc., to the bank; to fill a certain trunk with such 
 clothing, etc., as Mrs. Bullard would be apt to need dur- 
 ing a ten days' sojourn among the mines and in the hills ; 
 to send that also to the bank, and to send Prim, the 
 English maid, to the cashier, wdth whom she would find 
 two months' wages and notification of no further occa- 
 sion for her services. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 NUMBER THIRTEEN — GONE. 
 
 A SEVEN days' wonder at Minneconjou was that 
 remarkable episode. It was known, of course, 
 all over the post before nightfall. Gridley, who 
 returned white and worn at three, never opened his 
 head on the subject until he saw the commanding officer 
 at nine, and thereafter to only one lady — one little lady 
 — in garrison. But some of the wives and mothers had 
 gone shopping in town and came back full of it. Mrs. 
 Lawrence had been boarded and carried by storm. Prim, 
 the lachrymose, had told her sorrowful tale to dozens of 
 listening ears, and by noon it was the current belief that 
 the banker had borne his wife to the wilds of the hills 
 solely to keep her from running away, presumably with 
 another man. Indeed it was from Prim that Mrs. Spar- 
 ker and Mrs. Belden first heard the news, and, forgetting 
 their shopping, they went at once in search of Mrs. Law- 
 rence to tender merely sympathy and suggestion, of 
 course, but incidentally their services in collecting and 
 storing Mrs. Bullard's many beautiful gems, and in pack- 
 ing that trunk; for Prim, having received her dismissal, 
 
 176 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 177 
 
 could not be expected, even had she been desired, to 
 aid Mrs. Lawrence in the work. 
 
 And such a time as had Mrs. Lawrence at the hands 
 of such expert examiners as were these two gifted lead- 
 ers ! and such a time as might have had Jim Gridley, 
 had not his grim jaws set squarely and refused to budge ! 
 As much as was possible he secluded himself through- 
 out Minneconjou's waking hours with his convalescing 
 neighbor Langham — now no longer a " center " or 
 barely an " outer " in public interest. 
 
 Yet Jim Gridley, who had gone to bed at 3.30, was 
 out again at five, refreshed by a cold shower and inspired 
 with new ideas. Stopping at the troop kitchen for a big 
 cup of soldier coffee, he supervised reveille roll-call ; re- 
 ported to the post adjutant and strode away to the 
 stables, where the herds were just being turned out to 
 browse for an hour on the dew-laden bunch grass ; called 
 for a horse ; mounted and cantered away to the cotton- 
 wood grove a mile or so down stream. Just as he 
 thought, unshod hoofs had made many a print in the 
 yielding sand. Three ponies had been tethered under 
 one tree as much as an hour. Moccasined feet had me- 
 andered hither and yon and had been planted shiftily in 
 juxtaposition with some white brother's boots, for these 
 latter had come down the bank from the beaten road- 
 
178 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 way; had clambered again to the crest, where a four- 
 horse spring wagon, capable of a shorter turn than were 
 those of government make, had gone about and, still 
 screened by the foilage from view of the fort, had with 
 clamping brakes coasted down a side track to the soft, 
 sandy bottom, and there, out of sight from the main 
 road but in view of the saddle track on the right bank, 
 had stood a few moments waiting for something or 
 somebody. Two shod horses and three shoeless ponies 
 had come bunched, struggling, plunging down the steep. 
 There had been a prodigious splutter close to the wagon, 
 then a scatter. The wagon had first gone toward the 
 North Fork over the prairie until it struck the Sagamore 
 road. The shod horses had followed — one of them, as 
 Gridley could tell, practically towed by the other. One 
 pony had followed the Minneconjou eastward toward 
 town ; two had gone eastward until within half a mile of 
 the fort, then out over the rolling uplands to the south. 
 It was as plain as a pikestaff to a trailer like Gridley. 
 Bullard, the mighty, had waylaid and abducted his own 
 wife. 
 
 Then, with gloom in his eyes, the lieutenant returning 
 questioned Corporal Haney's three watchers at the gate. 
 Their relief was already paraded and ready for guard 
 mounting. Yes, Private Nevins of Company " G," on 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 179 
 
 post during evening parade, had just dimly seen what 
 looked to be the canvas cover of a Concord wagon driving 
 over the distant flats, soon after gunfire. In these long 
 June days, and high latitudes, it was late when the sun 
 went to rest. It must have been eight o'clock or after 
 when Nevins saw the wagon top. It was after seven 
 when Mrs. Bullard rode away. Jim Gridley's big heart 
 sickened at the thought, but she had not easily succumbed ; 
 there must have been a desperate struggle. Gridley's 
 teeth set like a vise and his breath came in gasps at the 
 mental picture — that gently nurtured girl, as still she 
 seemed to him, in the hands of those unspeakable brutes. 
 When Mrs. Lawrence's letter came, telling him that 
 Jennings had returned bearing Bullard's mandate and 
 bringing the horses, Gridley's first impulse was to gallop 
 again to town and throttle that groom. Something, he 
 could not say what, compelled belief that the fellow 
 was the master's tool, sought, hired, and probably well 
 paid for his work. But before he could get ready came 
 word by telephone. The groom had gone again. He 
 had been to the bank; had seen Bullard's confidential 
 clerk; had returned; packed a valise; pitched it into the 
 dogcart and driven away. There was no one to question 
 his authority. At noon two of Shannon's men, coming 
 in with played-out horses, said that as they crossed the 
 
180 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Sagamore road near Blossom's ranch they saw the 
 dogcart driving toward the mines — the man probably 
 was gone to join the master. 
 
 But Gridley would leave no stone unturned that gave 
 promise of further discovery. He had gone dutifully 
 to Major Baker and with him to the colonel and told what 
 had been ascertained as to the affair at the cottonwoods 
 and something of what he had heard in town. Mack 
 and Belden, who were closeted together, told him in 
 return of Kitty's scrutiny of the two half-breeds she had 
 passed in the late afternoon, just as the herds were 
 coming in, and Gridley asked Belden if he might speak 
 with her. This was while Mrs. Belden was still in town. 
 Belden said surely, and went with him to the home. 
 Kitty was at her morning studies — lessons planned and 
 supervised solely by her father — but she came at once 
 at his call and put her hand shyly, trustfully in that of 
 James the Silent. She liked him for his loyalty to Mr. 
 Langham, even though she must no longer like Lang- 
 ham. Of course she could describe the half-breeds. She 
 had followed them nearly five miles and taken a good 
 look when she finally passed. One was round and fat, 
 with a greasy look to his brown face. He wore his hair 
 " bead-braided " on each side of the front and hanging 
 low at the back. He wore a shabby old felt hat and 
 
 I 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 181 
 
 shabby clothes — a blue flannel shirt under an old black 
 silk waistcoat, old gray trousers, somebody's castaways, 
 and Indian leggings, " like those the Shoshones make, 
 tied with buckskin thongs." He had a Henry rifle, a 
 quirt, and his pony was a wall-eyed pinto, with an old 
 ranch bridle and saddle. The other was a younger fellow, 
 with keen, sharp face. " What color was the pinto's 
 tail ? — Why, gray or a dirty white." " Like this ? " asked 
 Gridley, unreeling from his left forefinger a long strand 
 of coarse hair. " Exactly," said Kitty. " The other pony 
 was a claybank, with hardly any mane and tail- — a 
 scrawny little brute." 
 
 And then Jim Gridley sent the blood surging to Kitty's 
 very brows by lifting her slender hand to his lips and 
 bowing over it with most unlooked-for grace, and saying : 
 " Little lady, you deserve to be chief of scouts." Then 
 he turned to her father. " It's John le Gros, beyond a 
 doubt, with that cub of a nephew of his, and they were 
 at the Argenta stable when Bullard ordered his team and 
 wagon, somewhere about six. Then they disappeared. 
 He hired those beggars — again." 
 
 That little conference led to unexpected results. There 
 sprang up a confidence between the bonny, winsome army 
 girl, and that girm, taciturn, somewhat elderly lieutenant 
 — a confidence upon which Belden smiled approval, and 
 
182 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Mrs. Belden lavished astringent comment. They were 
 seen on the following day visiting Gordon in his lonely 
 stall, condoling with him on the prolonged absence of 
 Champion, his stable mate, and pityingly examining his 
 healing wound. McCrew, the veterinarian, gave it as 
 his opinion that it would leave an ugly scar across that 
 beautiful, glossy breast, and Gordon himself seemed to 
 be much that way of thinking, for he had contracted a 
 habit of cocking up his ears, arching his neck and 
 trying to see for himself. Nor had he been at all pleased 
 that anyone should touch or dress it. Yet he never 
 winced at the touch of Kitty's cool, slender fingers. 
 McCrew was presently of opinion that it would do Gor- 
 don good to be out for air and exercise. Matters at 
 Minneconjou had begim to stagnate. Mrs. Bullard, with 
 her liege lord, was reported " up the range " at Bul- 
 lard's remotest camp. " Entire rest and change of scene 
 and air," had been prescribed, wrote Bullard to the 
 bank. Mr. Langham was slowly mending physically, but 
 had displayed a reprehensible indifference to such femi- 
 nine consolations as had thus far been tendered. From 
 the night of the assault up to the fifth day following 
 the probably involuntary and possibly forcefully accom- 
 plished exit of Mrs. Bullard from the scene, only two 
 women had been admitted to his presence : Mrs. Bullard 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 183 
 
 herself just once, and Mrs. Warren, wife of the senior 
 surgeon, just twice. There were others who suggested 
 coming whom the convalescent did not seem to care to 
 see. There were others whom even in his deep despond 
 he would have welcomed, who did not seem to care to 
 come. There were home-keeping, home-loving gentle- 
 women among the dozen army wives at Minneconjou — 
 women who had enjoyed Langham's teas and Langham's 
 calls, but who shrank from what they feared might seem 
 intrusion, and let their sympathies exude only in the 
 shape of comfits and " kind inquiries." Langham's nurse 
 lived high on the jellies, ices, w^hipped creams, etc., that 
 came in such profusion, but the intended beneficiary sat 
 languid, inert, and sorrowing. It was obvious that he was 
 in heart and hope a sorely stricken man. 
 
 Then Gridley was riding out a great deal just now, 
 spending some hours each evening in town, following 
 some strange bent that had seized him and spurred him 
 to almost feverish activity. Mack had come and had 
 a conference — a long one — with his invalid and sorrow- 
 ing subaltern, and had gone with eyes suspiciously moist. 
 Other officers — many — had called and left their cards. 
 Letters and certain telegrams had been received from 
 the far East. Warren had said that, physically, Mr. 
 Langham would speedily be well enough to travel, if not 
 
184 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 to resume duty. Mentally it might be months before 
 he would be himself again. Briggs had a long talk 
 with Langham, and he, too, had come forth look- 
 ing almost lachrymose, but, to the mingled despair 
 and exasperation of his wife, " with those jaws 
 of his clamped shut tighter than ever." Some impor- 
 tant paper signed by Langham, after a long confer- 
 ence in which the colonel, adjutant, surgeon, and 
 Gridley had taken part, had been forwarded, sealed, 
 to department headquarters, and no clerk had seen the 
 missive. Mr. Briggs had personally briefed and then 
 endorsed it for the colonel's signature, but the colonel's 
 pencil memorandum for that endorsement had been torn 
 into minute fragments and cast to the winds. A space 
 in the endorsement-book, ink-lined off, showed the date 
 of the communication, the name and rank of writer, but 
 both purport and copy of endorsement were yet to be 
 recorded. This was rough on the clerks. 
 
 Then one wonderful day Gridley came riding out from 
 town, followed by a trooper uncomfortably bobbing on 
 Langham's English saddle girthed snugly to Champion, 
 restored in one sense, but by no means in all; for the 
 rough life of the range, no grooming, no sifte-d, sorted 
 oats, no equine luxuries of any kind, followed by a jolting 
 railway ride of over one hundred miles, had told upon his 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 185 
 
 spirits. The reunited steeds, however, neighed raptur- 
 ously as the stable door was opened and then nuzzled 
 each other over the plank partition. And Kitty Belden 
 surveyed the scene from the back of her shaggy pony 
 and went in to pat them both, and then came walking 
 thoughtfully away, James the Silent towering beside 
 her. 
 
 " Pardon me for asking you this. Miss Kitty," he 
 began abruptly, " but was it your mother or your father 
 who disapproved your riding Gordon ? " 
 
 *' It was mother. She did not wish father to know." 
 
 " To know I had asked you to ride him ? " 
 
 "Yes," said Kitty. 
 
 There was silence a moment. " The pony is too small 
 for you now," said he, as they neared the gateway at 
 the rear of the line of quarters. " And you rode Cham- 
 pion so well. He or Gordon, either, would now be the 
 better for your riding him. I think — I'll speak to your 
 father." 
 
 " I wish," said Kitty, " you would." 
 
 There was something Gridley wished to ascertain and 
 Belden, if he knew, would not be apt to tell, and Mrs. 
 Belden, if Gridley knew her, would be only too glad to, 
 so Gridley took the first opportunity of speaking to that 
 lady, and he had not long to wait. She was seated on the 
 
186 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 piazza as he came forth attired for dress parade, all blue 
 and buttons, gilt and glaring yellow. It was not yet time 
 to join his men. He turned squarely to the right, marched 
 straight into Belden's gateway and, bowing civilly to the 
 astonished lady, said : " Mrs. Belden, I have asked Miss 
 Kitty to ride Gordon or Champion every day. I infer 
 you have objection. Is it so? 
 
 " Why — yes, Mr. Gridley — since you ask, I have." 
 
 " Any other objection than that you did not wish her 
 to ride Mr. Langham's horses ? " And now this most 
 unconventional and untamable savage had the audacity 
 to stand looking unblushing into her indignant face. 
 
 " I never told — her — why I objected," replied the lady, 
 with rising color. 
 
 " You never had to, perhaps. But, is there ? " he 
 insisted. 
 
 " I think that one objection quite enough, Mr. Grid- 
 ley," said she severely. 
 
 " Then forget it, Mrs. Belden," said he. " The horses 
 are not Mr. Langham's, but mine." 
 
 Before she could recover, out came the captain, garbed 
 likewise for parade, and before he could speak Gridley 
 had spoken: 
 
 " We've been talking horse, captain. I've asked Miss 
 Kitty to ride Gordon, and Champion, too, when he's in 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 187 
 
 trim again. Mrs. Belden has no objection now. I hope 
 you approve." 
 
 " It is kind of you, Gridley," said Belden guardedly. 
 ** I'm aware Kitty has rather outgrown pony. And it's 
 very kind of Langham." 
 
 '' Langham always said, and so does the colonel, that 
 Miss Kitty rides better than any of us. I'm glad it's 
 settled. Good-evening." And lifting his plumed helmet 
 — the fashion of the American land service in such mat- 
 ters being contrary to that of the European — or of the 
 sea — Mr. Gridley stalked away. 
 
 " Did you hear what he said — that the horses were 
 his ? " demanded Mrs. Belden, while her husband stood 
 gazing thoughtfully after the tall, spare, sinewy form. 
 
 " I did, but Ah, good evening, Mrs. Sparker." 
 
 This to the lady just issuing from the adjacent doorway, 
 and Mrs. Belden had to wait. 
 
 It was a sight worth seeing. Kitty Belden in her 
 jaunty, trim-fitting habit, guiding Gordon into garrison 
 the following day, sitting him like a queen, controlling 
 his springy, spirited movements with the lightest touch 
 of the curb, with the clear, soothing tone of her voice. 
 Forth from Langham's doorway to meet her came Mr. 
 Gridley, who stood at Gordon's head and stroked his 
 glossy neck and looked up in her beaming, beautiful. 
 
188 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 happ3' face and smiled his grim, humorous smile; then 
 ducked his head over his shoulder toward the door. 
 And there, very pale, very languid still, supported by 
 the attendant on one side and a stout cane on the other, 
 there stood Mr. Langham, and in loose-fitting, cool, civil- 
 ian dress Mr. Langham came slowly forward, a gleam 
 of sunshine in his sad and sallow face. The color rushed 
 to her brows; the light flashed in her eyes. They met 
 at the little gateway, a dozen people seeing and scarcely 
 believing. The thin white hand went up to meet and be 
 welcomed by the warm little gauntlet, and Gridley held 
 Gordon by the bit and sought to moderate the transports 
 with which he was pawing up the gravel of the sidewalk, 
 but no one tame to chide. And all that evening^ Kitty 
 Belden hovered about her father, far too blissful for 
 words, yet telling herself and him it was all because of 
 Gordon. 
 
 Two days later she was standing in front of Langham's 
 gate, having just dismounted after a glorious and exhil- 
 arating gallop. Gordon was dancing and sidling away 
 to his stable, almost lifting his groom along with him, 
 as he clung to the bit with both hands. The groom was a 
 trooper and " twice the heft of Fox," said the men who 
 looked laughingly on, but he hadn't Fox's '* horse sense " 
 and both horses knew it. Gridley, who had whimsi- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 189 
 
 cally asked her to dismount there and escort him to her 
 father's door, he being their guest at dinner, left her for 
 a moment with Langham, while he went within on some 
 specious plea. She was growing quite tall for such a 
 slip of a girl of sixteen, and in her habit, with its straight 
 military collar, cut high and very like that of Langham's 
 own Gotham-made uniform, she looked her years, a mat- 
 ter that gave her keen delight and her mother much dis- 
 may. In love and loyalty to her father's corps and regi- 
 ment, she had obtained tiny crossed rifles in gilt and had 
 herself stitched them to the collar, but between them and 
 the hooked edges at the front were two vacant spaces, 
 and she saw that he had remarked it. 
 
 *' The letters are coming," she was saying, as Grldley 
 turned away. " I didn't quite like those at the ex- 
 change." 
 
 " Yes," answered Langham thoughtfully. " It should 
 be complete, and I hope you may wear them many a 
 year and — ride my old pets regularly. It is to be Cham- 
 pion to-morrow, is it not?" 
 
 *' Yes, Mr. Langham." She was looking at him wist- 
 fully, wondering that he should still speak as though 
 he might not ride for many a day. He seemed so very 
 sad and grave, yet he was surely better and stronger. He 
 needed no attendant now. He had been taken to drive 
 
190 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 that very afternoon. There was something she so much 
 wanted to say to him, yet the words would not come, 
 and Gridley did, and she had to go with him, and to bid 
 Langham good-night. 
 
 The Beldens were " dining " several people that even- 
 ing, one of those garrison functions that cannot well be 
 avoided, yet might be abolished. Mrs. Belden had insisted 
 that their social debts be paid, even if it had to be done 
 piecemeal. This was the third since Easter and was to 
 be the last, and Belden stood sturdily to it that Gridley 
 should be bidden and Mrs. Belden sighed and obeyed. 
 Kitty, though sixteen, had never yet been included on 
 such occasions, Mrs. Belden clinging to the last to her 
 youth and illusions. Kitty was to take tea at the War- 
 rens', to the great joy of the youngsters. It was after 
 ten when she came home and all save Gridley were at 
 cards. He had been " sent for," said her mother sharply. 
 At eleven, when her guests were gone and the lady of 
 the house came vvearily aloft, she stopped as usual at 
 Kitty's little white bed to kiss her daughter good-night. 
 " I never saw anyone so solemn and dull and poky as 
 that owl Gridley," said she. " But your father would 
 have him. It was like lifting a wet blanket when he 
 was called away. Why was he sent for? Do you 
 know?" 
 
' -r^, 
 
 g^—^^safr,. 
 
 
 "^^ Iv'f 
 
 4^\ 
 
 '^W 
 
 t 
 
 "The i.id fle^v open at her toik h" 
 
GQJMRADES IN ARMS 191 
 
 Kitty did not know. She rode as usual next after- 
 noon, and came home around by the east gate that Mr. 
 Langham might again see how fine Champion looked, 
 but the door was closed. Neither Gridley nor Langham 
 appeared, and wondering and a little hurt and much dis- 
 appointed, she rode on, passing through the lane to the 
 rear of the quarters, and there dismounting and scurrying 
 to her room. A little packet lay on her dressing table, 
 addressed to her in Langham's hand. Wondering more 
 she tore it open and a card dropped out — his caid, with 
 these words written on the back : 
 
 Wear them whenever you ride and don't let Gordon quite 
 forget. W. P. B. L. 
 
 Quickly she tore away the tissue paper. A little jewel 
 box appeared ; the lid flew open at her touch, and there, 
 on their dark blue velvet cushion, were the twin block 
 letter collar devices, each U. S. and its fastening in solid 
 gold — the very ornaments he had always worn on his 
 fatigue uniform. Bewildered, troubled, she looked about 
 her. A quick footfall was on the stairs ; a moment, and 
 her father stood at the door. .He was just from drill and 
 drawing off his gloves. Without a word she held her 
 prize out to him with the little card. He read : 
 
 " Yes, poor Langham," he slowly said. ** His resig- 
 
192 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 nation was accepted by wire last night. Gridley has 
 
 gone with him." 
 
 " Resigned ! Gone ! " she cried. " Oh— oh, Daddy ! " 
 He sprang to and shut the door. Then, with one sob, 
 
 *' My own Httle girl, I ought to have known/' caught 
 
 her in his arms. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 A NEW ARREST. 
 
 IT seems that the manner of Langham's going had 
 been planned by Gridley and approved by Colonel 
 Mack. Gridley, granted seven days' leave, was to 
 accompany him all the way to the Atlantic sea- 
 board. Gridley's leave was to be extended thirty days 
 or three months if he wished — it was the first he had 
 ever taken. Langham's belongings were left in charge 
 of the adjutant, some to be distributed at the post, some 
 to be packed and sent after him, some to be sold in town, 
 but Langham was still too feeble, physically, and far too 
 sad to stand the strain of saying good-by. The matter 
 of his resignation had been discussed in full by Mack 
 and Gridley and Briggs, and though opposed at first 
 by the colonel and his adjutant, was finally and fully 
 approved. The death of Mrs. Langham had been fol- 
 lowed by the announcement that her affairs were found in 
 strange confusion, and though she who was known to have 
 possessed abundant means, had died, so said her trusted 
 agent and business manager, almost penniless. Asked 
 for explanation, the agent, a gifted and brilliant lawyer, 
 
 193 
 
194 COMRADES iN ARMS 
 
 declared that of late years Mrs. Langham had developed 
 an insatiable mania for speculation, and against his 
 advice and entreaty had, one after another, sold out her 
 securities and investments for cash with which to meet 
 the demands of her brokers. Who were her brokers? 
 The agent did not know. But speedily again it was 
 rumored that there were few brokers that did not know 
 her agent — a man so widely esteemed and respected that 
 in m'any a will he had been named as trustee for the 
 widow and the fatherless, in many a noble charity he 
 had been chosen treasurer, and at least in one church 
 and Sunday school he had long stood as pillar, leader, 
 and financial adviser. A charming home, a lovely fam- 
 ily, had he. A blameless, beautiful life led he so far as 
 the church and society knew; but there were hard- 
 headed, graceless, Godless, sordid men of mammon irrev- 
 erent enough to say that the piety of this particular pillar 
 was not even skin deep, and that the kith and kin of other 
 widows would be wise to investigate him. Then it 
 was found that the gentleman had sudden business in 
 Montreal, but all should be open to his impertinent and 
 importunte investigators on his return, the following 
 week. (That return was only compassed long months 
 after by way of Central America and extradition proceed- 
 ings, after which came the statutory sojourn at Sing 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 195 
 
 Sing. But this is anticipating.) Old friends of Lang- 
 ham's father and mother had levied on certain of the 
 " savings" of the self-exiled, and Langham was needed 
 in person. 
 
 Here lay, then, the sorrowful secret — the skeleton in 
 the family closet that for long months had worried Pitt 
 Langham to the verge of nervous prostration. His poor 
 mother's faith in her adviser and business manager, her 
 husband's old familiar friend, had been childlike and 
 implicit. Pitt himself, until toward the last, had never 
 suspected him, and now he was gone, a fugitive from 
 justice, and the church and Sunday school, pious and 
 proper Society, and robbed and defrauded w^omen and 
 children by scores were mourning his downfall. 
 
 It was hard on Langham. He loved his profession. 
 He had come with high hope and resolve to his new 
 regiment, and now within six months had found it neces- 
 sary to abandon all. The little reported left of his 
 mother's estate would not begin to cover his debts, her 
 debts, and provide for the regular payment of certain 
 sums to certain dependents and kindred of the father 
 so long in his grave. His will had left this duty to her 
 and, after her, to the son, and ample means from 
 which to make the payments. There had been good 
 reason for so demising instead of willing a lump suxp 
 
196 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 to each, and now the bereft were clamoring for their 
 quarterly stipend. Energy and good management might 
 enable the son to recover sufficient to meet all these 
 just claims, but he must quit the army and take up 
 the burden. Even Mack and Briggs saw that Gridley 
 was right when Gridley said it was the only thing for 
 Langham to do. 
 
 And so without a word to anyone he was gone, and 
 Fort Minneconjou was to know him no more. About 
 the only message left was to Kitty Belden, but this came 
 through Gridley. Gordon and Champion were hers to 
 care for and exercise until Gridley should return; his 
 soldier groom was so instructed and Baker had promised 
 to see that the soldier did his duty. 
 
 Baker still presided at the bachelors' mess, where Spar- 
 ker showed less frequently and where Crabbe quite regu- 
 larly appeared in his usual place. A species of truce had 
 been patched up by disinterested associates of Baker and 
 the aggrieved lieutenant. Baker expressed his regret at 
 having harbored unjust, if not unjustifiable, suspicions, 
 and having made an unwarrantable charge. This Crabbe 
 somewhat awkwardly accepted. Crabbe took the seat on 
 the major's left at dinner that day, and the two conversed 
 with obvious effort, and thereafter greeted each other with 
 much solemnity of mien, for there was no bridging over 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 197 
 
 the antipathy. Baker still deemed Crabbe a sneak, and 
 Crabbe thought Baker a snob. Neither could or would 
 as yet hazard a reasonable theory as to how the Loyal 
 Legion insignia happened to be found at the fords. In 
 his innermost soul Crabbe believed that Baker had picked 
 it up in the dressing room and, instead of restoring it, 
 had carried it to and hidden it there, and then "found it" 
 in the sands of the Minneconjou. He knew that in this 
 belief he would stand alone. Of Langham they did not 
 speak at all. His name was often mentioned in low- 
 toned chat, in little groups of two or three, but seldom 
 referred to, and then only with constraint, in open mess 
 or meeting. It was conceded that he had "done the only 
 thing proper under the circumstances," but there were 
 still varying theories as to the real cause of his going — • 
 Crabbe and one or two fellow mental molluscs preferring 
 to believe that it was to escape court-martial and dis- 
 grace. But Crabbe was now a hopeful candidate for 
 the adjutancy, vice Briggs, slated for promotion. Crabbe 
 held that the colonel was bound to appoint him, if only 
 to make partial amends for his recent arrest and humilia- 
 tion, and therefore Crabbe could not safely say what he 
 so surely thought. Aspirants for the adjutancy should 
 of all things learn self-repression. 
 
 Tongues were loosened a bit by Gridley's absence, 
 
198 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 though there were still Baker, Field, and Shannon to be 
 considered in case any fellow felt tempted to say satiri- 
 cal things, and some few fellows so felt. Everybody 
 knew by this time that it was Gridley who had stepped 
 in and taken up every one of Langham's drafts, notes, 
 or bills presented for collection through Bullard's bank. 
 Everybody knew that his economy or parsimony, as some 
 called it, had enabled him to save quite a section of his 
 pay. Baker knew that he had made judicious invest- 
 ments, and several knew that he had a little balance to his 
 credit at Eullard's and a bigger one somewhere else. 
 And now, with Langham, he was gone to the far East 
 and might not be back for a month. " His troop will miss 
 him," said Baker, " and so shall I." 
 
 One question not asked aloud, either at mess or along 
 the row, was none the less whispered in many a con- 
 fidential chat about the post. It w^as an open question in 
 town. Was not Mrs. BuUard aware of Langham's pros- 
 pective eastward flitting? And this question had led to 
 others. If so, was it not to join him that she had threat- 
 ened to leave? Was it not to prevent her going with 
 Langham that Bullard had forcibly borne his wife away 
 to the mines ? Women, as well as women in the garb of 
 men, wished they could interview that injured young 
 person Prim, the English lady's maid. It was a pity 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 199 
 
 that she had been allowed to get away before revealing 
 what she knew, but Prim had shaken the dust of Silver 
 Hill from her straining shoe leather and departed. Bul- 
 lard's clerk had engaged her berth and seen her started 
 for Chicago. Two months' wages, it was said, represented 
 but a moiety of what she carried and what stood charged 
 to Bullard's personal account. 
 
 Then there was another matter Silver Hill and Minne- 
 conjou both had pondered over not a little. That Indian 
 scare had " petered out " in such a feeble fashion. As 
 many as two score and ten young braves had been out 
 hunting, said their friends — had been seen as far over 
 as the Belle Fourche ; had been scouting the ranches and 
 ranges, even as far as Crow Creek. But all on a sudden 
 they had scurried for home before levying tribute or com- 
 mitting depredation of any kind. All on a sudden, as 
 has been said, they had got wind of something that sent 
 them to the right about, one band, the Brules presum- 
 ably, had in wide circuit passed east of Silver Hill, Shan- 
 non's little party in hot pursuit. Another, the Ogallallas 
 these, had broken through the spur of the Sagamore 
 northwest of the fort and taken the shortest way back to 
 their bailiwick. Now, no sooner had it been whispered 
 that " the reds are out " than all save the most decrepit 
 of the loafing half-breeds about Silver Hill had taken 
 
200 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 flight. Two of these, Le Gros and P't'i Loup, his guile- 
 less nephew, came into town one evening just long 
 enough to have some brief talk with Bullard; then out 
 they had gone again, and it was remembered that the 
 day the raid was first reported, and cowboys and settlers 
 came spurring in to say there were dozens of " reds " in 
 the upper valley, Bullard had sent at once for Le Gros 
 and Loup, and, after ten minutes' talk behind closed doors, 
 together the two had galloped away to the northward. 
 Now they could not be found at all, and rumor connected 
 them in some way with the sudden panic that drove the 
 Indians back to their lodges and the startling abduction 
 that sent Mrs. Bullard, an unwilling prisoner, away to 
 the wilds, her husband in charge. From Mrs. Bullard, 
 even to her friend Mrs. Lawrence, not a word or line 
 had come direct. To Mrs. Bullard, both Mrs. Lawrence 
 and Mr. Gridley had written urgently, but they doubted 
 much that the missives would ever be allowed to reach 
 her. 
 
 One other thing had happened about this time that 
 gave new fuel to the flame of talk. Fox, the abductor 
 of Champion and the would-be slayer of his master, 
 had actually been released from custody, and this, it 
 ,was said, on Langham's motion, as Langham declared 
 he would never prosecute him. Fox had been his 
 
 I 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 201 
 
 mother's *' tiger " in days when she drove her basket 
 phaeton, with her beloved boy seated by her side. Blos- 
 som swore magnificently when notified of Langham's 
 decision, but all the blasphemy in his vocabulary, which 
 was profuse, could avail nothing now. Fox was free, 
 and, it was reported, was gone to Chicago for the summer 
 horse show. The station agent said he was aboard a train 
 within an hour of his release from durance, everything 
 evidently having been planned before. Now this was 
 treating an interested community more than shabbily, 
 yet even the Chronicle, Bullard's presumed organ and 
 possession, made no adverse comment. Within the scope 
 of a single week every man and almost every woman 
 who knezv anything definite of Mrs. Bullard, of her occa- 
 sional meetings in town or afield wdth Mr. Langham, 
 had taken wings and leave of Silver Hill. Prim, Jen- 
 nings, Fox, Jean le Gross, and P't'i Loup all were gone, 
 the half-breeds had followed the full-bloods. It was 
 rumored there w^as famous gambling in full blast at the 
 reservation. And this was the situation along and about 
 the Minneconjou Valley some days after Langham left 
 and when the next sensation came. 
 
 July was then a week old. It was Kitty Belden's 
 birthday. The Macks were giving a dinner in her honor. 
 Seventeen years had she lived now under the shadow 
 
202 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 of the flag and within the sentry Hnes of the 2 — th. Mrs. 
 Mack had abated not one jot her genuine and loyal affec- 
 tion for this winsome daughter of the regiment, though 
 her impecunious guests and kindred, the Cullins, were 
 less enthusiastic — Flo, because her somewhat gushing 
 temperament found no response in Kitty's deeper nature 
 and maidenly reserve ; Mrs. Cullin because her motherly 
 heart went sore over the fact that her prosperous sister 
 should see so very much to rave about in Kitty, and so 
 little worth mention in her artless Flo. Mack himself, 
 having no daughter of his own, should have accorded to 
 Flora, argued Mrs. Cullin, all the affection, and concomi- 
 tants, he would have lavished on a child of his flesh and 
 blood; whereas it was obvious that Mack the. -jht far 
 more of Kitty, who, said Mrs. Cullin, was nothing to 
 him whatever, and narrowly escaped saying " at all at 
 all.'* The sisters were never uncontrollably Celtic until 
 they waxed overexcited; then blood would tell. Mrs. 
 Mack excused her liege lord's apparent lack of appre- 
 ciation of her sister's offspring by saying Mack had 
 known Kitty almost from her baby days, but Mrs. Cul- 
 lin could not be readily placated. She found very much, 
 therefore, that was reprehensible in Kitty Belden's bring- 
 ing up. She had had very much to say about so young a 
 girl's being permitted to ride alone with certain officers — 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 203 
 
 young girl's heads were so apt to be turned by the silly 
 things young men were sure to say. 
 
 *' Do they say 'em to Flo? " demanded Mrs. Mack, well 
 knowing they did not and why. 
 
 " They don't, because Flo has been properly brought 
 up, and has too much dignity," said Mrs. Cullin, in appro- 
 priate reply. Mrs. Cullin had made much, very much, 
 of the strange fact that Mrs. Bullard so desired to see 
 and question Kitty the day after the mysterious assault 
 on Mr. Langham. Indeed it must be owned that many 
 other women were somewhat similarly impressed, pos- 
 sibly because Mrs. Cullin, in telling of it, laid such stress 
 upon the incident. " What could Kitty Belden possibly 
 or properly know concerning Mr. Langham that Mrs. 
 Bullard could so earnestly desire to hear?" was the oft 
 repeated demand. Kitty Belden, it will be remembered, 
 had not attended the dance. It was her mother's dictum 
 that Kitty should not go to " grown-up dances " until 
 she was a young lady, and that, so Mrs. Belden would 
 have people believe, was a much longer way off than 
 Kitty's face and form would indicate. Kitty had been 
 riding the very day of " Hardtack's " arrival and that of 
 the hapless quarrel at the mess — riding well out south- 
 eastwards, across the Minneconjou, for Mrs. Bullard, 
 driving out with friends from town to witness the review, 
 
204 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 had seen her scampering along the springy " bench " be- 
 yond the stream. Kitty had for many weeks deHghted in 
 watching Mrs. Bullard dance and waltz and " tennis " 
 and even ride, though in that accomplishment Kitty had no 
 rival in the valley. But Kitty's interest had changed 
 to avoidance, though she would say no word, and so 
 it happened that when (a few days after Langham's 
 misadventure and Kitty's reappearance on the piazza 
 and on pony-back) it was quite possible for Mrs. Bullard 
 to see and question her, the question was never asked. 
 In some other way, perhaps, the lady had discovered 
 what she sought to know, and now, when at last Kitty 
 would shyly and confidingly, perhaps, have spoken with 
 her, Mrs. Bullard was miles away. 
 
 A sore little heart was this that be<it in Kitty's breast, 
 the soft July evening of the colonel's dinner. There was 
 to be a garrison dance at the hall that evening, no 
 " grown-ups " bidden from beyond the sentry lines, juot 
 the lads and lassies of Minneconjou and their own elders, 
 all because Kitty was seventeen and Kitty's mother v.ould 
 have done nothing to mark the day. There were those, 
 indeed, who thought the colonel showed a spirit of mali- 
 cious mischief in the matter; that in pleasing Kitty and 
 delighting her father he was tormenting Mrs. Belden. 
 Perhaps he was. Mrs. Belden was set against it from 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS J£05 
 
 the start, saying Kitty had " had far too much nerve 
 strain and excitement during the past two months," but 
 Belden, believing and fondly hoping it might do Kitty 
 good and, as he whispered to his inner consciousness, 
 " take her out of herself," had as strenuously argued in 
 favor of the plan. Kitty, could she have declined with- 
 out remark, would gladly have escaped it all, but there 
 was now a sorrow that must be hidden from everyone, 
 even Daddy, and with all loyal show of gratitude and 
 every effort to be gay, she had accepted and was doing 
 her best. 
 
 Dinner was over by nine o'clock and the dance begun 
 before call to quarters was sounding on the night. The 
 bandsmen were playing their prettiest because it was for 
 Kitty, the captain's winsome child ; Kitty, the daughter 
 of the regiment, and for Kitty the 2 — th to a man would 
 do everything that was daring and devoted. There were 
 sergeants in the line who had trundled her in her baby 
 carriage, and had even borne her in their sturdy arms. 
 They and some of the regimental wives and mothers 
 and children were peering in at the windows, even as the 
 sentry started the shout half-past ten. There had been a 
 dinner at the mess, too, that evening, given to certain 
 brother officers from Meade and Niobrara, and while they 
 and most of the elders of the mess were still lingering 
 
^06 COMRADEb IN ARMS 
 
 over the cigars and chat, the Scotch and soda, the young 
 bachelors were all at Kitty's dance, and with them, some- 
 what unlooked for, though of course invited — Mr. 
 Crabbe. 
 
 Crabbe had been regarded as one of the best dancers 
 — perhaps the best — in the regiment until Langham came, 
 and to-night Crabbe was there to reassume his title. 
 He had not been sparing with the champagne at dinner. 
 He had reinforced its stimulus with occasional nips of 
 the colonel's capital punch, and, as the list of dances was 
 now well-nigh finished, he stood flushed with the sense 
 of exhilaration and triumph, after a delightful turn with 
 a most proficient waltzer — Mrs. Briggs — when Kitty 
 Belden, all in shimmering, gossamer white went floating, 
 circling by, barely supported by Shannon's entwining 
 arm. It had been an evening of manifold delights to 
 her. Everyone had been cordial and kind. Even Mrs. 
 Cullin had smiled. The colonel and his wife had over- 
 whelmed her with compliment and congratulation; so 
 for that matter had the young gallants, and with reason, 
 as they could not but remark, for in a single month the 
 tall slip of a girl had blossomed into the sweet and tender 
 loveliness of youthful womanhood. All on a sudden it 
 had dawned on every man present that Kitty Belden 
 was a beauty. '' That child dances like a dream," said 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 207 
 
 Mrs. Mack, whose own dances were all dreams in the 
 sense that they could no longer be realities. 
 
 " She dances as she rides," said Mack, who knew no 
 higher comparison, and Crabbe, hearing both comments 
 and seeing as he heard, and marveling much that he 
 had never seen it all before, and being, moreover, in over- 
 confident and exultant mood, marched straightway over 
 to where she now stood with Shannon, who, plying her 
 fan, was looking down adoringly into her sweet, yet 
 serious face. Crabbe was upon them before either was 
 conscious of his coming, and with both hands extended, 
 the right as though about to circle her waist, the left in 
 search of hers, and with never a *' by your leave " to 
 her partner, he spoke masterfully : 
 
 ** I must have one turn. Miss Kitty. It's the last waltz, 
 they tell me." 
 
 Shannon whirled on him, with a scowl. Kitty, wincing 
 as though stung, glanced up with something like terror 
 in her eyes and shrank from the contact of his touch. 
 It was all done in an instant, yet in that instant Belden, 
 the father, had seen it all, and in the next was at his 
 daughter's side. He knew, and was the only man who 
 could aid or interpose. 
 
 " One minute, Crabbe," he said, with quick but cool 
 decision, and the gold knot on his left shoulder heaved 
 
^08 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 forcefully between the subaltern and the shrinking girl. 
 *'A fond paternal had been waiting just two hours for 
 this very turn. It's promised, you see." And Kitty was 
 sailing away on her father's arm before the sentence 
 was fairly finished. Belden still danced gracefully and 
 well, and Kitty had ever loved to dance with him, yet 
 never so gladly, so gratefully as at this moment. " Oh, 
 Daddy, how splendid of you ! " she whispered. " But I 
 — I must dance with him — I know I must ! " Belden, 
 too, knew. What explanation could follow her refusal? 
 Crabbe was an officer of their own regiment, neither 
 honored nor liked, it was true, but what could justify a 
 point-blank refusal. " But — can you ? " murmured Bel- 
 den, his eyes anxiously searching her paling, downcast 
 face. Up it came at the question, pluck and deter- 
 mination in her gaze. She even smiled over her white 
 shoulder toward the discomfited officer as they circled 
 near. " Watch me," she whispered fondly, as she 
 pressed her father's arm. Another moment and the tire- 
 less, tiny, slender feet were twinkling to the spot where 
 Crabbe and Shannon stood at gaze, neither as yet speak- 
 ing to the other, and then, winsome, smiling, even almost 
 radiant, she swung from the captain's arm straight to 
 the senior subaltern's. *' I'm honored indeed," said this 
 arch dissembler, as in long, graceful, gliding step the 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 209 
 
 two went circling away in perfect time with the dreamy 
 waltz music, leaving Shannon in envious admiration, 
 Belden in amaze, and both in silence, staring after them. 
 That night it dawned on Belden that his precious daugh- 
 ter was a woman — a woman with both wit and will. 
 
 Never before on those informal occasions when the few 
 young girls of the garrison were present, had Mr. 
 Crabbe deigned to ask Kitty Belden to dance; never, in 
 fact, had he cared to notice her. This night he looked 
 upon her almost in fascination. This night, never dream- 
 ing how she rebelled at heart against the pressure of his 
 arm, the near presence of that glistening insignia on 
 his breast, he found himself marveling at the fairy 
 lightness of her step, the lissome grace of her slender 
 form. He saw that many an eye was watching them. 
 He knew that nowhere did he appear to such advan- 
 tage as in the dance. Spare and somewhat angular as 
 was his build, he had strength and elasticity, thorough 
 control and admirable idea of time and rhythm. Elated, 
 exultant, overstimulated, Crabbe outdanced himself and 
 overleaped the bounds of caution or convention. The 
 hot blood mounting to his brain, the soft tendrils of her 
 sunny hair sweeping his cheek and his face — downward 
 bent and coveteous of the slight, involuntary caress — 
 the faint contact of the graceful, gliding form, all served 
 
210 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 to blind his eyes to new conditions — to some new stir 
 and movement about the doorway, and to steep his senses 
 in a dream of conquest. " Kitty Belden," he murmured, 
 with a world of meaning in his tone, " do you realize 
 that you are simply — exquisite to-night ? " 
 
 The next instant he stood alone, and the room was reel- 
 ing. With sudden force she had thrust him from her; 
 had slipped from his clasp; had sprung to her father's 
 side, gasping. Belden was hurrying toward the gather- 
 ing group at the doorway, and, glad of anything to hide 
 her rage, her vehement agitation, Kitty seized his hand 
 and went speeding beside him. White, scared faces 
 were those that greeted them. Awe and consternation 
 spoke in the very silence that had replaced the babble 
 of the moment before. Someone, with sudden signal, 
 had checked the music, and only scurrying feet for the 
 moment could be heard. Then came the cause, the repe- 
 tition of the few dread words : 
 
 " Amos Bullard — shot and dying ! " 
 
 "In God's name — who? — how?" stammered the 
 colonel, and Baker, bearer of the news, repHed: 
 
 "I don't know, but— they've arrested — her/' 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 WHO WAS THE WOMAN ? 
 
 A UGUST. Amos Bullard still lived, and Eleanor 
 A-% Bullard, his wife, who for a time had stood ac- 
 cused of shooting him, had by his own admission, 
 given in faint, gasping whisper, been released from sur- 
 veillance, if not placed beyond suspicion. Indeed, there 
 had been days when it seemed as though her life, too, 
 hung in the balance, and Silver Hill's foremost physician 
 had been reinforced by the professional aid of both 
 doctors from Fort Minneconjou. There was even talk 
 of sending for still another from far Chicago. 
 
 And all the busy towns and self-styled " cities " of the 
 Hills had buzzed with excitement over the thrilling affair. 
 All the mining camps and cattle ranges knew that Amos 
 Bullard had borne his wife a prisoner to the uttermost of 
 his possessions; had held her there, secluded and with- 
 out feminine companionship or sympathy until, alarmed 
 by the symptoms, he had with secrecy and by short stages 
 brought her again to Silver Hill. It was speedily known 
 that the big wagon with its spanking four-horse team 
 had swept into town at four o'clock in the morning — 
 
 211 
 
212 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 the very morning of Kitty Belden's birthday; that Dr. 
 Draper, summoned by galloping courier, was on hand 
 with a trained nurse to attend her; that she had been 
 aided to her room and there ministered to by Draper, 
 the nurse, and the housemaid; that Draper had come 
 away " looking wrathful " at seven ; that the nurse left 
 Bullard's roof early in the afternoon, saying in explana- 
 tion of her return to her lodging that Mr. Bullard had 
 insulted her. Draper, who had a case to attend to at a 
 distant ranch, returned at 6 P. M. and was surprised 
 and disturbed to find the nurse awaiting him. It was 
 true he had informed Bullard that Mrs. Bullard had no 
 serious bodily ailment, that she was overwrought, un- 
 strung, nervously ill, that she required rest, that she 
 should be sent East to the seashore if he desired her 
 speedy resoration to health, whereupon Bullard had burst 
 into a torrent of invective, accused Draper of being in 
 league with his wife to get her away from her hus- 
 band's roof, and to enable her to join her bankrupt and 
 disgraced lover at some Atlantic summer resort. Draper 
 left in wrath too deep for words. The nurse, a middle- 
 aged and most respectable woman, quit in similar frame 
 of mind, after vainly protesting against Bullard's coarse 
 accusation and dangerous interference. 
 
 The unba|>py patient was left to the care of the maid- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 213 
 
 servant and the tirades of her legal master, and Draper 
 had just about decided that it was his professional duty 
 to go again and demand admission to the sick chamber, 
 and the nurse had gone to apprise Mrs. Lawrence of 
 what had taken place and to ask her advice, when about 
 9.30 in the evening a wild rumor rushed like the wind 
 through the town — Amos Bullard had been shot by his 
 wife. 
 
 This much was known to a certainty: The maidser- 
 vant had come running, weeping, from the house shortly 
 after nine, telling certain curious loiterers, attracted 
 by the sound of furious language on the second floor, 
 that Mr. Bullard had gone just stark, staring mad, and 
 she couldn't stay another minute. *' He was so wild- 
 like, somebody really ought to call the police," but she 
 dare not; he might kill her. Bullard was still raging at 
 somebody — " his poor wife that was nearly dead now," 
 sobbed the maid. Then more people came, and one or 
 two ventured into the wide-open doorway, but the maid 
 ran round to the gardener's cottage — her brother's, it 
 seems — and there was more furious raving aloft. " Will 
 you give me your word ? " was shouted thrice. No 
 response was audible. Then came the sound of a curse, a 
 blow — a heavy blow — a fall, then other tones, a woman's, 
 in vehement denunciation, then two shots in quick 
 
214 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 succession, a wild cry, and among the four or five men 
 and boys of the townsfolk, huddled at the broad front 
 steps, there was not one who dared enter until the gar- 
 dener and a constable came running. These two darted 
 in and bounded up the stairs. They found Bullard writh- 
 ing in agony and terror on a sofa in the hall, bleeding 
 and moaning. They found her, his wife, in a deathlike 
 swoon on the floor in her bedroom. There was an angry 
 red, puffing bruise spreading over the left side of her 
 face, a bruise that soon began to turn black and purple. 
 There lay close by her hand a revolver with three cham- 
 bers still loaded, with its bore and muzzle smudged and 
 blackened. Then Draper came springing up the stairs, 
 and the house was filling with pallid, excited, chattering 
 neighbors, street folk and strangers. Someone was sent 
 on the run for Draper's instruments, bandages, etc., — 
 someone for Mrs. Lawrence and the nurse — someone for 
 the cashier and other bank people. Some ran this way 
 and some that. There was confusion and coming and 
 going for as much as twenty minutes before a level- 
 headed town marshal finally cleared the premises of 
 strangers. Then other doctors, hearing the news, had 
 come, scenting possible professional employment, and 
 Bullard had been lifted, senseless now, to his bed, 
 undressed, and examined. " Dangerous, if not fatal," was 
 
COMRADES IN [A^RMS 215 
 
 the instant verdict, for both shots had told. Both had 
 been fired so close that the clothing was scorched. Mrs. 
 Bullard, too, had been borne to her couch, and women, 
 tearful but skilled, were caring for her. At ten o'clock 
 there was not a vestige of doubt in the minds of Silver 
 Hill that, stung, goaded, struck down, possibly in fear 
 of her life, Mrs. Bullard had fired the fatal shot. In 
 fact, who else was there ? When the maid came rushing 
 from the room she had left husband and wife alone. 
 Moreover, there was the pistol, Eleanor's own, one that 
 Bullard had given her the previous year. The maid 
 knew it well, knew that even that very day it had been 
 lying there on the dressing table, close to the spot where 
 it and its owner had fallen. 
 
 And yet when Eleanor Bullard was able to speak and 
 think, she solemnly declared to Mrs. Lawrence, to Dr. 
 Draper, to Dr. Warren, and his sympathetic wife, that 
 she had not even touched the pistol ; that she had fallen, 
 stunned ; that she never knew a shot had been fired until 
 the following day. But what was this against such array 
 of circumstantial evidence ? When Jim Gridley, hurrying 
 back from the seaboard on receipt of the news, sprang 
 from the " Flyer " four days later and asked for the latest 
 tidings, they told him that Mrs. Bullard stood charged 
 with the crime and was a prisoner in her own room, await- 
 
216 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 ing the verdict of the physician in her own case — and 
 in his. Whereupon Gridley amazed and much offended 
 his informants by saying the men or women who ac- 
 cused her were a pack of fools. 
 
 Between Hfe and death Bullard lay for two weeks. 
 Th!ice they thought him going; once they thought him 
 gone, and yet he rallied, and one evening, the last of 
 July, he waked from long stupor and asked for his wife. 
 He was woefully weak and emaciated. The feeble spark 
 of life that remained might be fanned to a flickering 
 blaze or blown out of existence by a breath; but the 
 great eyes rolled wistfully about in search of what he 
 craved, and Draper tip-toed to the opposite room and 
 told Mrs. Bullard of his appeal, and Mrs. Bullard rose 
 and followed, leaving Mrs. Lawrence to receive and 
 respond to the card just brought upstairs — that of a fre- 
 quent visitor, Lieutenant Gridley. 
 
 An unpopular man had the tall officer become among 
 the populace of Silver Hill. They had never too well 
 liked the beautiful but somewhat exclusive woman whom 
 Bullard had so proudly established at the head of his 
 board and household. By both education and antecedents 
 she belonged to a class of which there were not three 
 representatives among the w^omen, or five among the 
 men, of the sturdy young metropolis. Society at the 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 211 
 
 fort was the nearest approach to what she had known 
 in her past, but even there only a limited few of the 
 women had had her advantages. Mrs. Lawrence v/as 
 her only intimate in town. The other women, envious, 
 jealous, or regarding her as one of the detested " aristo- 
 cratic class," felt for her no scintilla of kindliness. She 
 had been courteous, even cordial at first, in her man- 
 ner to all. She had striven to make her husband's people 
 like her. 
 
 But the first to dislike, really, were the wives of the 
 other officers of the bank. There had been one sweet, 
 young wife and mother, the first year of her coming, 
 to whom Mrs, Bullard became much attached, the 
 helpmate of the division superintendent of the railway, 
 but he had been promoted and had taken her to other 
 fields. For that year the two women had been well-nigh 
 inseparable, and it was long before Mrs. Lawrence could 
 begin to fill the vacant place. Mrs. Bullard's preference 
 for fort society, therefore, had robbed her of the regard 
 of society in town. It fairly rejoiced over her apparent 
 flirtation with Langham. It prophesied — no matter what 
 — of her. It I-told-you-so'd the stories of the frequent 
 quarrels between husband and wife. It actually reveled 
 at her abduction at the hands of her own husband. It 
 was agape, but in no wise surprised, at the news that 
 
218 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 she had finally shot him. Therefore were they, men and 
 women both, incensed with Jim Gridley because of his 
 having said they were fools — that they believed in her 
 guilt. They derided him that he should declare it his 
 purpose to prove his words. They sneered at his closet- 
 ings with the sheriff and certain others in authority. 
 They scoffed at her statement, spread abroad by Mrs. 
 Lawrence, that she had been felled, knocked senseless, 
 and that she never heard or knew a thing for hours 
 thereafter. " What a pitiable lie ! " said Silver Hill. 
 Were there not half a dozen citizens willing to swear they 
 heard a woman's voice threatening, fearless, furious, 
 after the blow, after the fall, and before the shots, and 
 did not everybody know that, except cook in the base- 
 ment and cook's young girl niece washing dishes below 
 stairs, there was not another woman in the house ? There 
 was only one woman left in that room, or on that floor, 
 when the maid came away in her distress. There had 
 been, they said, no woman among the earlier listeners at 
 the front — none heard of elsewhere about the premises — 
 no one but that trembling maid-servant who had run 
 away to the gardener's. One or two men had ventured 
 up the steps in the dark and into the dimly lighted hall, 
 but not a sign of a woman. Yet a woman's voice " giv- 
 ing Bullard hell," said the hearers, had been plainly 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 219 
 
 heard just after the blow. Who could it Have been 
 but Mrs. Bullard? Mr. Gridley was himself a fool. 
 
 Possibly he was, but a busy one, at least. In every 
 direction he had been wiring after Prim, the former 
 lady's maid. At every opportunity he had been begging 
 Mrs. Lawrence to see if some trace did not remain of 
 the mysterious letters that had been slipped in under 
 the door, but all to no useful purpose. Prim, indeed, had 
 been found, but Prim vowed she knew no more now 
 than she did before, of the writer of those threatening 
 missives. Then, as Gridley could not see Mrs. Bullard, 
 or, rather, as she would not see him, at least not yet, he 
 besought Mrs. Lawrence to strive to obtain from her 
 some description of the wording of the letters, the sig- 
 nature, the writing, but no description of any value came. 
 Then he had interviewed conductors and station agents 
 as to women passengers arriving during the past three 
 weeks, coming from a distance to Silver Hill, and nothing 
 did this profit him, and now, when he craved the privi- 
 lege of fighting like a knight of old for her, a defense- 
 less woman, proving her best friend and her entire inno- 
 cence, she excused herself from coming down to see him. 
 She had gone instead to see the man who had vilified, 
 cursed, and beaten her. No wonder Gridley was sore! 
 
 And Mrs. Lawrence could not comfort him. She was 
 
g^O COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 speaking urgently when an attendant suddenly appeared. 
 " Will Mrs. Lawrence step up to Mr. Bullard's room ? 
 Mr. Bullard wants to see her right away." '' I'll wait," 
 said Gridley briefly, and she hastened aloft. 
 
 In five minutes she was down again, her eyes snapping, 
 her cheeks aflame with excitement. " Dr. Draper wishes 
 you to come at once," said she, and together they as- 
 cended the soft carpeted stairway, and for the first time 
 in a month Jim Gridley looked upon the face of Eleanor 
 Bullard, and a great pity surged from his very soul at 
 sight of her, and then he looked upon the wreck that 
 lay so feebly moaning there upon the bed — the broken, 
 fringing, helpless old man, and Gridley could have kicked 
 himself for the hours of impotent hate and wrath he 
 had lavished upon what had been a forceful, dominant, 
 even brutal leader of men and beater of women, now 
 nothing better than an abject, whimpering child. No 
 time was lost. " You, too, should hear this, lieutenant," 
 said Dr. Draper. Then, bending down over his stricken 
 patient, Draper motioned Gridley to do likewise and 
 asked : 
 
 " How was she dressed — the woman of whom you 
 speak ? " 
 
 " Man's clothing — felt hat, dark," was the whispered 
 answer. " O God, doctor! have I got — to die? " 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 221 
 
 " Don't worry about that. We're pulling you through. 
 Tell us what she said — before shooting. Then I'll get 
 you to sleep again." 
 
 " Cursed me ; called me brute and coward. I tried to 
 stop her and she grabbed the pistol and fired. Oh, can't 
 somebody — pray ? " Then came the piteous moaning 
 again, like that of a fevered child. 
 
 " You're sure it wasn't accidental ? " 
 
 " Sure ! She'd been threatening me nearly a year." 
 
 Dr. Draper arose, turned, took both Mrs. Bullard's 
 hands in his and solemnly said : " I ask your pardon 
 that, for a time, knowing the provocation, I believed. 
 Here stands a man who from the very first scouted the 
 idea and insisted you were innocent." 
 
 And unthinkingly, perhaps, he placed her right hand 
 in that of Gridley, and, lifting up her eyes, she looked 
 through shining tears into the soldier's rugged, twitch- 
 ing face. 
 
 Then Draper swept them from the room, for again 
 his patient went whimpering away into dreams of dread 
 and death. 
 
 Those dreams served some purpose. There were just 
 and righteous residents of Silver Hill quite ready to 
 swear that Draper kept his luckless victim in the convic- 
 tion that any hour might be his last, and wrung from 
 
222 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 him the so-called ante-mortem statement, that, duly 
 witnessed and signed, was speedily in the hands of the 
 constituted authorities. It was the expressed conviction 
 of many a Silver Hiller that Warren, of the army medi- 
 cal deparment, and Mack and Gridley aided and abetted 
 in the nefarious scheme. It was predicted that when 
 Bullard got well, as eventually he might, he would " go 
 back on the statement," but the prediction fell flat. 
 
 A strange story Bullard told, one that stamped him 
 at once as a man capable of almost any desperate deed 
 and of almost every despicable cowardice. Divested of 
 legal phraseology, and expurgated of oaths, groans, and 
 complainings, it was substantially as follows: He had 
 made the bulk of his fortune in Nevada. Business took 
 him frequently to San Francisco, where he had formed 
 a connection with a young and attractive widow. Not 
 until completely in her toils did he learn that she had a 
 husband living, and she professed to be in terror of him 
 and of his return. Bullard had been advised to try Carls- 
 bad, and he took her abroad with him. She had beauty 
 and grace. She fascinated him until her demands became 
 intolerable. The more he gave, the more she wanted. 
 They quarreled and he left her. She followed to Paris, 
 and finally she promised, if given twenty-five thousand 
 dollars, to worry him no more. Aleardy she had ensnared 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 a younger lover, and Bullard thought himself well rid 
 of her. In New York, the next year, he saw and loved 
 — these words were his own — " the noble woman whom 
 I finally induced to become my wife." Meantime his 
 investments in the Black Hills began to demand personal 
 attention. They were not turning out as he hoped. He 
 drew out of everything on the Pacific slope; settled in 
 Silver Hill. (There wasn't silver enough in the Saga- 
 more to pay the cost of smelting, though they did find 
 gold in limited quantities.) Then he went back to his 
 wooing. She and her kindred were poor. He bought 
 her with his promises and protestations. And she came 
 to this strange land and did her best, though he knew 
 she was pining for home and friends — until that infer- 
 nal creature, whom he had thought silenced forever, ran 
 him down and began writing. She had been deserted, 
 so she said ; was in New York " flat broke," must have 
 money and lots of it or she'd break his marriage. Bul- 
 lard refused aid or answer. She moved to Chicago and 
 opened her second parallel in the siege approaches, and 
 still he braved her. Then the letters began to come 
 from Omaha. Then, despite his vigilance, they were 
 slipped beneath the door and even to her, his wife, his idol. 
 Then came his wife's demand for explanation, and his lie. 
 Then came proofs of his lie, and his wife's contempt. 
 
224 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Then came fierce rage and jealousy and young Langham, 
 and when Bullard sought to interpose, she defied him, 
 asked him who was he to preach moraUty to her. He 
 now declared, upon what was probably his dying bed, 
 that he believed his wife had never met Langham alone 
 except on the open prairie when they rode together, but 
 for a time he had thought otherwise, and she disdained 
 to answer his accusations. 
 
 By this time the breach between tHem had become 
 impassable. She declared her purpose of returning to 
 her people. He had eagerly harvested all the claims 
 against Langham, thinking in that way to ruin him, 
 but overreached himself in taunting his wife with hav- 
 ing given her love to a bankrupt and swindler. She 
 knew Langham 's mother and Langham's people, knew 
 his mother's business manager, believed him to i)e dis- 
 honest, put Langham on his guard, to the nd that 
 Langham was on the point of demanding a full account- 
 ing. This would have re-established Langham and ruined 
 the agent. Indeed it was really Mrs. Bullard's urging 
 that led to " that Sunday school villain's " exposure. 
 
 Then Bullard — he owned it all now — in his jealous 
 rage, sought to temporarily, but forcibly and effectually, 
 put Langham out of the race. Le Gros and other half- 
 breeds had long been in his occasional employ. He 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 225 
 
 employed them again — Le Gros, Wolf, and Belles Pierres. 
 The plan was that they were to meet him, sham drunk, 
 force a fight, then pound him into a pulp. Bullard was 
 horrified, however, to hear the night of the ball that 
 Langham had been shot and killed at the fords. Earlier 
 in the evening he had heard of the quarrel at the mess 
 and of Crabbe's threats. He had just found Crabbe's 
 insignia on the floor of the dressing room. He was in 
 terror lest suspicion be cast upon himself, for he knew 
 the trend of town and garrison talk. He saw a chance 
 to divert suspicion to Crabbe, and — dropped the insignia 
 at the scene of the assault, just where Baker found it. 
 
 Then he learned that Mrs. Bullard had actually com- 
 municated with this woman who was hounding him, and 
 was perfecting arrangements to meet her in Omaha. He 
 had set the groom Jennings, " specially recommended " 
 for such duties, spying on her every act abroad, and had 
 easily succeeded in making a spy of the English lady's 
 maid, Prim. He did not trust even Jennings. It was 
 this man that drove him in the dogcart out to a disrep- 
 utable ranch southwest of town the day of the dance, 
 and had seen, though he could not hear, the conference 
 with Le Gros. That morning's mail had told of the com- 
 ing of Shafto, a first cousin of Langham's mother, and 
 his young secretary. He knew Shafto in business, knew 
 
226 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 that Langham would probably meet him at the train and 
 still be back in time to dance again and again with 
 his beautiful wife. Now was the chance for Le Gros 
 to act, and the miserable dog had gone away out to the 
 ranch, and was probably half drunk. Still, Le Gros seemed 
 to understand what was wanted, and driving home, the 
 banker believed his brutal plans would succeed and no 
 man be the wiser. Yet he shrank and trembled at sight 
 of Kitty Belden, riding away up the valley. Could that 
 child, too, have been spying on him? 
 
 Not daring to remain about Silver Hill, he went to 
 Chicago and Omaha, ostensibly on business, but really 
 to try to bring that woman to reason and to terms. Her 
 demands far outdid all previous flights. Through his 
 sacrifices to Shafto and others he had lost much, and it 
 would have ruined him, he said, to meet her claims. Now, 
 moreover, she avoided him. He spent days and nights 
 in futile effort. She would not be bagged. Then his 
 spies warned him he would better hurry home. He did so 
 and found his wife gone to the fort, riding. Then it 
 was he made his next essay. 
 
 He had paid Le Gros before going east, and the black- 
 guard was ugly and truculent. He had paid him to do 
 more — to frighten Mrs. Bullard and make her dread 
 riding alone. He now gave him, in his desperation, still 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 227 
 
 more to do. He knew that any day his wife might leave 
 him. Langham was mending and called to the East. 
 Lieutenant Gridley had surprised him, before his visit 
 to Chicago, with full cash payment of every claim he 
 held against Langham Bullard believed that his wife's 
 purpose was to find that horrible woman and then to 
 follow Langham. A wild idea possessed him of having 
 her run off by the renegade Sioux — she and Jennings 
 both! then he would follow and rescue her from the 
 traditional horror worse than death. But something 
 scared them off. Ever since Wounded Knee they had 
 been timorous, and Shannon's party sent one lot going, 
 and the mere sight of Kitty Belden was enough to 
 stampede those with Le Gros. There was nothing for it, 
 therefore, but to abduct his wife himself, and with the 
 aid of his blackguard henchmen this was done. She 
 fought so hard and then drooped so dreadfully that in 
 his alarm he brought her back. Then she had demanded, 
 and Draper had advised, that she be sent East at once. 
 She had received in some mysterous way further news. 
 Bullard thought it was from Langham, and went wild 
 with rage. That night he strove to bind her by promises, 
 and she would not even answer. Weak and broken as 
 she was, she defied him, and in his fury he struck and 
 felled her. A moment later a man rushed in from the 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 hallway and in a woman's voice damned him for all that 
 was damnable. He sprang for the pistol on the dresser, 
 but she, the woman he had dreaded, was too quick for 
 him. She grabbed it and fired. They knew the rest. 
 So vanished all his hopes and schemes. So vanished the 
 woman who had beaten him at last, for not a trace of her 
 was found. So ended the long, wretched lesson. So 
 ended " what happened in the West" 
 
PART TWO 
 
 What Happened in the East 
 
I 
 
PRELIMINARY LETTERS 
 
 The University Club, December 27, 1897. 
 
 DEARGRIDLEY: 
 ' Yours of the i6th came during a brief absence 
 in Boston. Shafto and I spent Christmas with 
 some of mother's relatives — rather a sad visit, yet fruitful 
 in result. You know they never quite approved of me 
 for having gone to Yale instead of Harvard, and there- 
 after to the army — and destruction. Shafto is no such bad 
 lot as you, and indeed I, thought. He knew nothing of me 
 except what mother and mother's agent told him, and the 
 first was as misleading one way as the second was the 
 other. She painted me a saint; he a sinner. Shafto 
 finally told me the fellow made him believe I had bled 
 her for years ; that she was almost swamped by my gam- 
 bling debts ; that I had forged her name, etc., etc., all, of 
 course, under promise that Shafto would not reveal his 
 knowledge to her or to me. That was the secret of his 
 treating me so cavalierly on his way west. Pyne has told 
 me still more, for it is so sore a point with Shafto he 
 hates to speak of it. Pyne continues steady as a rock, 
 
 SSI 
 
^8^ COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 and thoroughly rehable. Shafto says mother made Pyne 
 his secretary and missed it by not making him her own. 
 
 So poor, loving "Mummie's " prayers are answered at 
 last. " Cousin Percy " and her only Pitt are friends. 
 
 You couldn't help liking him, Grid, though I'm not 
 so sure he at first would like you. (His Christmas dinner 
 was spoiled because a semi-bucolical kinsman wore a 
 white tie with his Tux.) He's a horseman, too, though 
 you wouldn't think it to see him in saddle. (I fancy 
 what he'd say to see us in our Whitmans, for the cow- 
 boys' seats and saddles at Billings set his teeth and tem- 
 per both on edge for a week), but he has a head for busi- 
 ness and is a " comer " in the Street, despite which fact I 
 suspect him of a longing to sell out all his American 
 securities and hark back to Pall Mall. Indeed, I know 
 he would but for one thing — a determination to land that 
 psalm-singing, sermonizing swindler in Sing Sing. The 
 last heard of the cad was in Honduras, with his wife and 
 children here facing the pity of the pious. 
 
 Now, to answer your questions : 
 
 I. Yes, I have heard from Mrs. Bullard. She took 
 him to Nassau for the winter, as I told you. He's better, 
 seems to suffer much less in that soft climate, and then — 
 he is safe from his persecutor. Mrs. Bullard has prom- 
 ised to save any letter that may come, as you 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 233 
 
 urged, but the blackmailing lady seems to have quit 
 the business. 
 
 One thing Shafto learned from the bank that Bullard 
 did not mention and we did not know. Bullard had ac- 
 tually sent, to the place named by that feminine sharper, 
 fifteen thousand dollars as a bribe not to come near him 
 or his wife. It was sent just before the shooting, and it 
 is believed she got some share of it. That will keep her 
 quiet a while, but she will begin again, I fancy, when the 
 money is gone and she finds he has recovered of his 
 wounds. She is smart enough to know he dare not 
 prosecute her. 
 
 You come in for honorable mention in Mrs. Bullard's 
 latest bulletin, which was dated November 5th (reminis- 
 cent of Guy Fawkes), but it is mainly of him and his 
 prospects she writes. I fancy there is no chance of his 
 ever getting on his legs again, and to think of that blessed 
 woman devoting her life to what is left of his ! 
 
 2. Yes, the sale was neither forced, nor was it in any 
 sense a sacrifice. I was more than able to send the 
 cheque, though I could not begin to say with what grati- 
 tude. Dear old chap, the pecuniary side of my obliga- 
 tion to you, big as it was, is the only part of it I have 
 been or ever shall be able to meet. Of course it was 
 something of a wrench to part with the house that so long 
 
g34 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 had been mother's, but it was about the only thing — that 
 and her jewels, which are now safe in the vault — our 
 ingenious financial adviser had not succeeded in convert- 
 ing into cash. The property had greatly appreciated in 
 value, netting some seventy-two thousand dollars. Of 
 course much of this has to go into a trust fund for the 
 payment of father's old pensioners, leaving me with my 
 head above water and perhaps two thousand a year. 
 Shafto pays me twenty-five hundred more, and a small 
 interest, to hold down a desk in his office. I don't seem 
 to have to do much else, though he says I'm learning the 
 business. Forty-five hundred a year isn't bad for a bach- 
 elor even here, but of course one can't marry on it, as 
 Miss Amy Vane was prompt to assure me. " Oh, my 
 cousin — shallow-hearted," but wasn't that a wunner? 
 And what would poor " Mummie " have said ? From my 
 cradle days she had me engaged to that very superior 
 young woman, who has justified the confidence reposed in 
 her and won my undying esteem by seeing how absurd 
 was the proposition. We are far better friends. Amy and 
 I, than ever we could have been — coupled. She says 
 when she marries it must be a man with a million, like 
 Cousin Shafto ('pon my soul I think she'd cap him if she 
 could), or a man among a million, Jim, like — who do you 
 think? — like you. That girl's eyes brimmed over when 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 2S5 
 
 I told her what you had been to me, and may I be kicked 
 for calling her shallow-hearted! It's all off, however, 
 and I'm cad enough to be breathing freer. Yet mother 
 had so set her heart on it, and had been saving and scrap- 
 ing, and I dare say might have been speculating for me. 
 
 Shafto and I have a flat in Fifty-fifth Street, where we 
 sleep, take our matitutinal eggs, tea, and toast ; thence we 
 " elevate " to Rector Street ; thither we return toward five 
 to dress for dinner, and see no more of each other until 
 tub-time next morning. Sundays, after the fashion of our 
 forefathers, and because mother loved it, I sit with him 
 under the superb window in her old pew, and we follow 
 the service of the church, even though we cannot always 
 follow the sermon — Shafto has the blessed gift of sitting 
 erect and sleeping. That Sunday service, with the ap- 
 propriate top-hat and frock, is about my ony link with 
 the world in which she hoped to see me shine. Being in 
 deep mourning accounts for my non-appearance at func- 
 tions of other kinds, and saves me the explanation that 
 other extravagances are beyond my means. 
 
 Shafto's evenings go to whist at the Union Club ; mine, 
 as a rule, to drills at the armory. How do I like it? 
 First rate. Of course we can't have the set-up and style 
 we insist on with our fellows in the regular service, but 
 there's a heap of comfort to be got from the way the 
 
'236 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 officers study and work, and, so far as indoor drills and 
 ceremonies are concerned, even Briggs and Belden would 
 applaud. My becoming major of the second battalion 
 was an odd piece of luck. You didn't seem over-pleased 
 with my having accepted the inspectorship of small arms 
 practice on the division staff (Shafto growled, too, and 
 said it was such a waste of time), but, I say to you again» 
 Gridley, this nation of ours cannot run along much longer 
 without getting into a scrap somewhere, and then the 
 volunteers will have the best show, as they always have 
 had. I've learned this from older heads than yours or 
 mine. Well, to get back to business. One night in Oc- 
 tober Major Curtis was ill, the senior captain absent, I 
 was there as a spectator, and they asked if I wouldn't 
 drill the battalion. I did. Then they asked me to come 
 again, and I did. Last month Curtis resigned and went 
 abroad, and the regiment asked me to quit the staff and 
 come to the line. The general approved, and there you 
 are. Two nights a week we had battalion drill in prepa- 
 ration for the review, etc., before your old commander. 
 General Merritt. Two weeks ago it came off in grand 
 style, and the regiment never did better. There wasn't 
 room for regimental evolutions, so when he expressed 
 a wish to see a battalion drill, it was the second and 
 your humble servant that were told to take the floor, and 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 237 
 
 I wish you and Briggs might have seen it. Our major 
 general afterwards presented me to your major general, 
 and, by Jove, who should there be standing to his left and 
 rear but '' Old Hardtack " ! — here on leave, a looker-on, 
 in cits ! but he '' rung in " on them somehow, and you 
 should have seen his grim old face when I saluted, and 
 stood at salute until he shoved out his hand. He has to 
 retire next month, and is dying hard. 
 
 Yes, I do miss Gordon and Champion and the breezy 
 gallops and the pine-scented air, the band, and the kindly 
 faces and the pleasant chat over the afternoon teacups, 
 and my heart goes out in gratitude to Mrs. Warren, 
 heaven bless her! and to Mrs. Mack, as well as several 
 others. I've only myself and my pride, I suppose, to 
 thank for the fact that there were not more friends. I 
 love to picture Kitty Belden taking Gordon over the 
 ditches, and can readily imagine her as you describe. 
 Some little holiday " momentums " went to her, to sev- 
 ered others, and to you, that I hope to hear of as safely 
 rec ived. My hearty greeting always to the colonel, to 
 Baker, Belden, Briggs, Field, Shannon, Warren, and — 
 well, you know the men. As for you, Gridley, it is use- 
 less trying to say anything. *' Some day I shall meet 
 you." Yours as ever, 
 
 Langham. 
 
^38 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 P. S. — Dispatch in evening papers from Pine Ridge 
 says Tall Elk and Bites-the-Bear, Ogallalla Sioux, were 
 killed in row between Indian police and half-breeds, one 
 of the latter, " Fat Johnny," mortally wounded. Is that 
 our esteemed friend Le Gros? I'm ashamed of this let- 
 ter. Fear no further infliction of anything like this length 
 for at least another year. 
 
 Fort Minneconjou, January 5, '98. 
 
 Dear Langham : 
 
 It was good to get your letter. The only unwelcome 
 part was what you say about writing at that length only 
 once a year. The *' momentums " came in safety, and 
 the exclamations of delight and surprise at Warren's 
 were worth hearing. The children screamed over theirs. 
 I had been to town and came out in the sleigh with the 
 Christmas boxes, and dropped in at the doctor's to see 
 the opening. The colonel tells me Mrs. Mack was com- 
 pletely carried away by the bon-bon trays (Tiffany's, I 
 suppose), and — it was like you not to forget the Cullins. 
 They haven't too much sunshine in their lives, I reckon, 
 and dependent women must lead a dog's life at best — a 
 dog and cat life it would be, if Mrs. Mack were as cen- 
 sorious as her sister, which she isn't, but the best old soul 
 in the business, and always telling Mrs. Sparker what 
 
™ COMRADES IN ARMS 239 
 
 the regiment lost when you left it. Mrs. Belden, too, 
 comes in for an occasional rap, but Mrs. Belden has 
 moderated in many a way, it seems to me. You remem- 
 bered her very prettily, I am glad to see, and Belden 
 favored me with one of the priceless Partagas you sent 
 him. (I prefer my corncob and Army plug, thank 
 you.) 
 
 As for Miss Kitty — well, I presume she will be permit- 
 ted to write her thanks, but really that is an elegant 
 " crop," and, in spite of the snow, she was out with it on 
 Gordon the very next day, though what an army girl 
 wants with a crop is too many for me. Crabbe, I should 
 judge, regards it as utterly superfluous. That cross- 
 grained, ill-conditioned cub is completely daft about our 
 little girl — our tall " Lady Katherine," rather, and the 
 situation is getting serious. Belden never did like him, 
 nor did Mrs. Belden ; but he is conducting his campaign 
 on scientific lines — making love through the mother — 
 and while Kitty seems unimpressed, there is no doubt he 
 is gaining ground with the still-in-the-ring maternal. 
 Why, Langham, she is dancing more desperately than 
 ever this winter, and Crabbe says she was married at six- 
 teen. Who told him, do you s'pose ? 
 
 Baker and Crabbe have clashed again, and the Old Man 
 had to warn them both, for the major was fighting mad. 
 
^40 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 It all grew out of — but here, I hadn't opened my head 
 about it, and yet am raining ink. Briggs's commission as 
 captain came two weeks ago, and he has gone to Nio- 
 brara (F Company). Mrs. Briggs follows with the 
 goods and chattels next week. Briggs's was a recess ap- 
 pointment, and Mack managed to stand off permanent 
 selection of the adjutant until Briggs was confirmed by 
 the Senate. This enabled him to detail Field as acting 
 adjutant. Possibly he hoped Field might get his bar 
 before January, so that he could make him actual adju- 
 tant, but Field is still two files away, and Crabbe felt con- 
 fident. I think if he had spent more time at Mack's and 
 less at Belden's the Old Man might have been talked into 
 it, but Crabbe was too violently and blindly in love to 
 keep away. (One reason Kitty rides so much in this 
 bitter weather is because he can't begin to keep up with 
 her.) Last month, though, Merton, whom you never 
 met, threw up a college detail, arrived here unexpectedly 
 last week, and was announced as adjutant forth- 
 with. That settled Crabbe's aspirations, but not his 
 temper. 
 
 Now, as to your letter. I own that I did take it a 
 little amiss that you should consider it necessary to settle 
 with me the moment the situation admitted of your set- 
 tling with anybody. I never made a more satisfactory 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 241 
 
 investment. As to Gordon and Champion: the former 
 was getting somewhat reconciled to my hand last autumn, 
 and Miss Belden is gradually bringing even the latter to 
 look upon me without disfavor as a possible rider. They 
 are worth every cent they cost me, and I desire to part 
 with neither. Crabbe asked me what I'd take for Gor- 
 don a while ago, and I said twenty-five hundred dollars. 
 He said he believed I paid less than two hundred and 
 fifty, but — I feel sorry for Crabbe. 
 
 All you tell me of Mr. Shafto is welcome reading. 
 Stick to him and your fortune is made. How odd it is 
 that Pyne should turn up again; so near the gallows in 
 Cheyenne six years ago — Shafto's secretary, and your 
 associate, to-day. I wonder sometimes if that sort of 
 thing doesn't happen oftener than we know. There were 
 people I knew in the 8o's and haven't heard of since, 
 and don't wish to again ; yet, who can tell ? The world 
 is a pretty small place and I have seen, as yet, but a small 
 part of it, but somehow I feel as though the field were 
 widening every day. Through you I am getting to know 
 something of New York, where I have never been. With 
 you, I believe this nation can't go on much longer with- 
 out having to take a hand In the affairs of other people. 
 Things are pointing to Cuba, Cuba to Spain, and Spain 
 to — what? The army has been a humdrum place since 
 
242 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 the Indians succumbed, but another century is close upon 
 us, and before it dawns — we will see what we shall 
 see. 
 
 I wish I might see you at the head of your battalion. 
 I feel that I may see you at the head of something 
 bigger. Listen to no man who tells you a soldier is 
 wasting time studying and practicing his profession. 
 You and such as you are the ones who will be first in 
 the field when the clash comes, and the clash is coming. 
 Listen to the murmuring all over the country. Listen 
 to the speeches in both houses of Congress ! The Presi- 
 dent and the conservatives are doing their best for peace, 
 but — what are they among so many ? 
 
 The Old Man's eyes snapped when I told him of your 
 meeting with " Old Hardtack." He " scored us proper " 
 in his report, but didn't we deserve much of it — or most ? 
 I'm glad you saw our old cavalry chief. He should be 
 the first general at the front, yet — who is to decide it ? 
 
 Thanks you for tidings of Mrs. Bullard. The bank 
 hears but seldom, and I believe no good offer has been 
 made for the house. He cannot have too much ready 
 money, though his estate ought to yield handsomely. 
 Mr. Shafto bought in at a good time. If you hear how 
 she — how they are doing, I wish you would let me know. 
 And, write often, Langham, if only a few lines. There's 
 
 I 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS MS 
 
 nothing here worth telHng about that I haven't told, and 
 much I have told isn't worth the reading. 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 Gridley. 
 
 P. S. — Oh, about the row over at the reservation: It 
 seems that a gang of French half-breeds had been hang- 
 ing about there for months. They had to quit this 
 neighborhood, even before Bullard's confession. Blos- 
 som has tried several times to kidnap them, but finally 
 they became such nuisances that the agent ordered John 
 Sword and his Indian police to run them off. It led to 
 quite a scrimmage, unfortunately indecisive in result, as 
 Belles Pierres and Wolf got away. Le Gros they couldn't 
 miss. He was shot twice, and, though alive at last ac- 
 counts, will be in no condition for further mischief. 
 
 Did Mrs. Bullard ever mention losing anything in the 
 struggle at the cottonwoods? 
 
 University Club, New York City, May 7. 
 Dear Gridley: 
 
 This should catch you at San Francisco. How won- 
 derfully things have worked out! We are under arms 
 and expect marching orders any moment. I may even 
 have the silver leaves, for the colonel is a sure shot for 
 brigadier general, both senators being behind him. The 
 
244 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 senior major is at the head of a big mercantile concern 
 here, and business will go to the dogs if he goes to war. 
 He says, however, that he cannot resign until he has seen 
 at least one battle. I'm in big luck anyhow. Shafto has 
 given me two horses almost as good as Gordon, and 
 too good for the Cuban climate. We expect to go to 
 Jacksonville direct. 
 
 And you are destined for Manila. Six months ago 
 the man that said Uncle Sam would ever send an army 
 across the Pacific would have been jeered for a lunatic. 
 Six weeks ago, not one man in twenty could locate the 
 Philippines. Six days ago, the whole club was hunting 
 for Manila on the map. Hurrah for Dewey and your 
 namesake of the Olympia. (I didn't know you had any 
 kindred in the navy. I don't believe you knew. Per- 
 haps it isn't kin, but it's two of a kind.) 
 
 All good and glory go with you. Hearty greeting and 
 
 best wishes to all. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 Langham. 
 
 Camp Merritt, San Francisco, May 2y, 
 Dear Langham : 
 
 I send you this care of Percy Shafto, Esq., who will 
 doubtless forward. Yours reached me here, where 
 twenty thousand troops are gathering, and we go among 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 245 
 
 the first. The fourteenth beat your old regiment for 
 the first flotilla. You are by this time at Jacksonville 
 and your colonel has the predicted star, I see, so that 
 turns your leaves to silver. Good luck to 'em. 
 
 Did you see the Bullards before leaving, and where 
 can one address them ? Our squadron may not get away 
 until the second, or even third expedition, and there are 
 some matters I should like to settle before going on for- 
 eign service. Wasn't it odd that our squadron and the 
 old regiment should come here almost together? Belden 
 commands the second battalion. Colonel Mack got his 
 volunteer star, as you know, but has not yet received 
 orders. Some of the families came with us so as to be 
 on our side of the continent, they say, while we are on 
 the t'other side of the ocean. Mrs. Belden and Kitty 
 are in town at the Colonial, which is crowded with army 
 folk. Mrs. Mack, Mrs. Briggs, and some of the brides, 
 too, are there. Crabbe could have come out in command 
 of '' H " Company, but preferred to remain in " C " and 
 Belden's battalion, so as to be in the same train and Pull- 
 man with Kitty, who cried her pretty eyes out, and I 
 caught her at it, saying good-by to Gordon. I had to 
 leave them. Our four troops go dismounted. No horses 
 are to be taken by the officers, and what's more I heeded 
 what you said and sent for Fox, who had been having 2. 
 
246 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 hard, but I'm told reputable, time of it, and left him in 
 charge of them. 
 
 The bank had nothing of an encouraging nature to 
 tell of Bullard, and do you know anything as to their 
 financial condition? Now that he is no longer fit to 
 manage affairs, I somehow fear her interests may sadly 
 suffer. Try to ascertain and let me know. And, you didn't 
 answer my question as to Mrs. Bullard. Did she ever 
 mention having lost anything in the struggle at the cotton- 
 woods ? 
 
 Shall be sending you a cable code before we sail. It 
 will give me much comfort to be referring to you as 
 Colonel Langham, and I know how little Captain Sparker 
 and Lieutenant Crabbe will like it. Just suppose your 
 regiment had been sent to join the Manila expedition 
 (and why not, since Pennsylvania is — and New York 
 may be — represented) ? Suppose your regiment were 
 here and brigaded with your old one ! What possibilities 
 might not result! Belden has just dropped in to ask me 
 to dine with him and his in town. Sends best wishes. 
 Most of them say most cordial regards. I don't quite 
 understand Belden. You never had any difference with 
 him, had you ? He doesn't seem responsive, so to speak, 
 and I thought you liked him. It may be Mrs. Belden 
 has some lingering notion — some had, you know, about 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 247 
 
 the affair to which Bullard referred in his fool confes- 
 sion — and the best of men are sometimes influenced by 
 anything but the best of women. 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 Gridley. 
 
 Jacksonville, June 15. 
 Dear Gridley : 
 
 Good luck and God speed. I know you are glad to 
 be going. This may even be too late, but not until to-day 
 did we get the news that you as well as the old regiment 
 were slated for the next sailing. I wired Shafto to see 
 the Bullards the moment they reached New York. He 
 reports Bullard very feeble and quite childlike, and Mrs. 
 Bullard with him constantly. They have means suf- 
 ficient, but not abundant. Some properties are idle. 
 Shafto will keep an eye on them. I cannot remember 
 her having mentioned losing anything during her struggle 
 with her abductors. What was it ? The " codex " came 
 and shall be utilized. 
 
 I've got my step all right, and don't much like it. A 
 major amounts to something in the new dispensation, a 
 lieutenant colonel to nothing. The new head of the 
 regiment has long been a mere lay figure under our 
 former colonel, and now he has all manner of theories 
 to work out, and no more use for me than his colonel 
 
MS COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 had for him. We are all beginning to chafe with im- 
 patience. The regulars are being embarked. The State 
 troops are doing nothing but drill, stew, and swear. How 
 I wish we had been sent to the Pacific ! I feel it in my 
 bones you have stirring times ahead, and we have nothing 
 but stagnation. 
 
 What you tell me of Belden is both a surprise and a 
 sorrow. I liked and respected him more than any man 
 in the regiment — more, even, than dear old Mack, who 
 was so stanch a friend. I can't imagine what I have 
 done to make him distrust or dislike me, though Mrs. 
 Belden, as you suggest, seemed distinctly unfriendly at 
 times. As for Kitty, who would ever do anything that 
 would give her annoyance? God bless you, old chap! 
 You well know how eagerly I'll watch for news of you. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 Langham. 
 
 •New York City, May 20, '99. 
 Dear Gridley : 
 
 I brought .he regiment home in good shape, and we 
 were duly mustered out last month. Well, we had no 
 fighting such as fell to your lot and that of the old regi- 
 ment, but if I haven't had a valuable experience keeping 
 a sick and disgusted and disappointed lot of officers and 
 men in trim, long after every chance of distinction wa5 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 249 
 
 gone, call me a duffer. Long ago as last October they 
 began clamoring to be mustered out. In November 
 Colonel Marsden threw up the sponge and quit, leaving 
 to me his eagles and a sea of troubles. But — just glance 
 over these copies of letters from various brigade, division, 
 and corps commanders. (The originals are filed in the 
 family Bible, where Shafto goes and bKnks over them.) 
 Other copies, with a ripping letter from Governor Roose- 
 velt, went with my application for a lieutenant colonelcy 
 in the National Volunteers. Then, old chap, "we'll meet 
 at (the) Philippi-nes." Both senators are with the gov- 
 ernor, so it looks like a sure shot. Shafto says I'm a 
 fool to go, and offers me more than colonel's pay to 
 stay, but my heart's in it. 
 
 Interrupted, and now it's May 25, and it's come, by 
 Jove! They offer me senior major of the 3 — th, and I 
 accept. Had hoped, of course, for a grade higher, but 
 it's all right. Other field officers to be West Pointers. 
 Glad you have your captaincy. Look for us in the fall 
 or early winter. Belden is to be colonel of one of the 
 regiments. Don't know which. 
 
 Saw the Bullards last week. They live quietly, but 
 in apparent ease, on Long Island. He is still dependent 
 upon her for almost ever>'thing, and it is sad to watch 
 him, and touching to watch her. The doctors do not 
 
250 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 care to say how long he can last. Mrs. Bullard tells 
 me nothing has been heard from the once importunate. 
 What can have become of that woman ? 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 Langham. 
 
 U. S. Transport " Amanuensis," 
 
 Honolulu, October 20, '99. 
 Dear Gridley: 
 
 We dropped anchor just before sunset and must " lay 
 by " here the hoith of a week for repairs. The skipper 
 says our '* brand new hull has damned old holes," so I'm 
 sending you these lines by the Doric, sailing at dawn. It 
 has been an interesting voyage thus far, if not an event- 
 ful one. The death of our gallant colonel, whom, thanks 
 to his severe wounds, we never saw, gave me the silver 
 leaves again last month, and the command of the hetero- 
 geneous array on this marine monster. (God grant she 
 may not become a submarine before we leave her!) The 
 colonel, with band, and second and third battalions, 
 screwed ahead on the Sheridan, leaving me to bring the 
 first battalion — my old one — and the third squadron of 
 the — th cavalry, a number of Red Cross people, several 
 officers of the line and staff going out to Manila, among 
 them five returned from sick leave, and of these five, 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 251 
 
 Lieutenant Crabbe; finally, the wives and families of 
 certain officers already in the islands, among these, Mrs. 
 and Miss Belden, which accounts for the presence of 
 Crabbe. He could and should have gone by the Grant, 
 or, at least, by the Sheridan, but managed to hold over 
 for the Amanuensis, in spite of its being known that I 
 was to go in command. 
 
 And, Gridley, I foresee trouble. There was not the 
 faintest friction at the start. The officers of the cavalry 
 and these reporting as passengers were courteous, sol- 
 dierly, and subordinate. With only two or three excep- 
 tions they accepted the situation with every appearance 
 of cordiality. In Crabbe's case there was an objection- 
 able access of cordiality. He came on board as I was 
 giving instructions to the officer-of-the-day, and accost- 
 ing me as " Langham, old boy," expressed his delight at 
 going over with " a former chum," and all but clapped 
 me on the back. My own officers looked queer, and the 
 men amazed. I shook hands with him civilly enough, 
 but couldn't be, and wouldn't be, chummy ; we never had 
 been and he knew it. The moment I could take him into 
 my stateroom I did so, and there, privately, told him he 
 should have every right and courtesy due an officer of 
 the regular army, but that nothing in our past warranted 
 his assumption of familiarity, and it was something not 
 
252 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 to be repeated. He said he only meant to assure me that 
 bygones were bygones (which magnanimity I could not 
 quite reciprocate), but he looked black as the devil I'm 
 beginning to believe him to be. " Of course," said he, 
 " if you're going to spring your rank on me I've nothing 
 
 to say now, but " *' But what, Mr. Crabbe?" I 
 
 asked, and he muttered something about accidents in high 
 station ; then left, I ought to have called him back — and 
 to account — right then and there, but it might have looked 
 like " rubbing it in," don't you see, so I let it go. Mis- 
 take No. I. 
 
 Next. The arrangement of seats at table had to be 
 settled first thing. There were two tables at which ten 
 persons were to be seated. One of these was the com- 
 manding officer's, the other the ship captain's. The 
 others accommodated twenty each at the sides and two at 
 the ends. The quartermaster in charge asked me to 
 name the officers and ladies to sit at my table, and he 
 would assign the others. Looking over the list I found 
 the wives of two colonels (Hill and Belden), each with 
 grown daughters, Mrs. Hill with two, Mrs. Belden with 
 one. That settled it. Mrs. Hill sat to my right, Mrs. 
 Belden to my left; Dr. Forrest (I't. col. vols.) sat next 
 Mrs. Hill ; Lieut. Colonel Sheller (ordinance department), 
 next Mrs. Belden ; Daisy Hill next Dr. Forrest, " Topsy " 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 253 
 
 Hill (a joy of a girl she) next Colonel Sheller. My 
 adjutant sat facing me, with Kitty Belden to his right 
 and next Topsy. That left one seat, and Barton, the 
 adjutant, came to me in an embarrassed way and said 
 Lieut. Crabbe had been to him to say that he was an 
 old regimental and personal friend of the Beldens, and 
 that they especially desired that he should be seated with 
 them. We had pulled out from Folsom Wharf by that 
 time and were at anchor in the bay, waiting final instruc- 
 tions from headquarters. I had seen the Beldens but 
 twice since reaching 'Frisco — Mrs. Belden quite as for- 
 midable and Miss Kitty not as friendly, somehow, as of 
 old. She is a young lady now, very lovely, very cor- 
 rect, very everything, I dare say, she should be, but no 
 longer our Kitty, our sweet, winsome, daring, darling 
 Kitty, and she meant me, I thought, to see this, and see 
 it I did — and more. And then I saw how he stood guard 
 over her, and heard how inseparable they were, and, of 
 course, when this matter came up in such a way, what 
 could I say or do but assent? I had thought of giving 
 that seat to Train, major and quartermaster of volun- 
 teers, a capital fellow, obviously smitten with Daisy Hill. 
 I knew how he wanted it, but Barton prevailed against 
 his own wish, I believe, and I was just on the point of 
 saying, " Then give it to Mr. Crabbe," when, as I live, 
 
254 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 there stood Kitty Belden herself, and for the first time 
 looking as though she really wished to speak with me. 
 The table card was in my hand ; Barton had brought it, 
 and she had followed him through a swarm of people 
 along the port gangway bidding good-by to other 
 swarms on the McDowell. 
 
 " What is it, Miss Belden ? " I asked, stepping for- 
 ward to meet her. 
 
 " Oh, Colonel Langham," said she, with lowered voice 
 — and eyelids. "I know you are assigning seats, and 
 couldn't you put Major Train next Daisy Hill? You 
 don't know how they'd bless you, though she'd murder 
 me if she thought I mentioned it ! " And Miss Kitty's 
 beautiful eyes were ablaze, and her face — by Jove, Grid- 
 ley, you don't begin to know how pretty she's grown — 
 was all flushing with excitement, and it just suited me 
 to say : *' It would be a pleasure, but that would — sacri- 
 fice Mr. Crabbe." 
 
 " I didn't know," said Miss Kitty, " Mr. Crabbe was 
 even thought of." It was at the tip of my tongue — God 
 forgive me for being so mean, even for a minute — to 
 say, " He says it is at your request, or your mother's." 
 How we do — not you, but humans like me — have to buck 
 against our brute natures. What I did say was, " Well, 
 ]\Ir. Crabbe is your oldest friend on the passenger list, 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 255 
 
 and is of your own regiment." And the answer came 
 like a shot : 
 
 " Put Major Train next Daisy anyway. Then if you 
 must have Mr. Crabbe, Topsy and I can go to Major 
 Blake's table. We'd rather sit there anyhow ! " And 
 with flashing eyes and flushing cheeks, away she went. 
 Why, Gridley, those girls had talked it all over among 
 themselves, I believe — she and Topsy, at least, and there's 
 a brace of thoroughbreds that won't take gently to even 
 a snaflle. It ended, of course, in Barton telling Crabbe 
 there was only one seat that could be given, and that 
 went to Major Train, his senior. This is doubly rougH 
 on Crabbe, because Train was graduated two years after 
 Crabbe got his commission. 
 
 Now, I have had hardly ten words with Kitty Belden 
 during the ten days it took this tub to get from sight of 
 Alcatraz to soundings oflf Honolulu. She and Topsy 
 Hill have turned things topsy-turvy. A madder, merrier 
 pair of army girls you never saw in all your born days. 
 Even the fog of the Farallones and the heave of the sea 
 failed to dampen their spirits. They alone at my table 
 haven't missed a meal. One day I couldn't face the fam- 
 ily circle, though I never missed inspection. Crabbe was 
 woefully sick the fourth day out, and has been in the 
 dumps from the start. Everybody says she is tormenting 
 
256 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 him to the verge of insanity, yet whenever I come across 
 them she is listening with absorbed attention — ^and I seem 
 forever coming across them. To-morrow the ladies go 
 ashore to spend a few days at the Royal Hawaiian for 
 change, and most of the officers go too, except my own. 
 The staff and passengers, of course, require no permis- 
 sion. Crabbe has avoided me since the first day — never 
 sees me, or salutes. I ought to cinch him and would, if 
 he weren't Crabbe. Mistake No. 2. 
 
 We've got a lot of ammunition aboard, and the fifth 
 night out we were wallowing a good deal, I thought, and 
 many men were busy at the rail. Captain Che}Tie, of the 
 ship, grabbed me and whispered that there was fire below. 
 We had had fire quarters every day, for sake of drill and 
 discipline, wnth the alarm sounded at some odd hour, but 
 never at night. We got down there in no time. The 
 smoke was dense and suffocating. Some oil-soaked waste 
 from the engine-room started it, said Cheyne. The men 
 did well ; so did most officers. When I got out, after the 
 fire, my lungs were full of this vile stuff. Twas that that 
 made me so sick next day. There were a few minutes in 
 which I lost consciousness. It seems they hauled me out 
 by the heels, and the doctors had some trouble fetching 
 me round. Cheyne and I were first in — it was our busi- 
 ness, and he, too, toppled over toward the last. The 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 257 
 
 Court of Inquiry is sitting now, and it looks as though 
 the chief engineer would come in for a scoring. He's a 
 surly, truculent Scotch-Englishman, and Cheyne says he 
 must have been drinking on this voyage. Next evening 
 after the fire I was sitting out on the hurricane deck with 
 Cheyne, everybody else being on the promenade or else 
 below. We heard the chaff and comment between the 
 youngsters in the cavalry squadron and some of my junior 
 officers, and Crabbe came in for comment. 
 
 " He was scared into the lee scuppers," said young 
 Rafferty, of my battalion, and then came something I 
 couldn't hear, and Cheyne and I quit our seats and walked 
 out on the bridge beyond earshot, but he had heard and 
 looked queerly at me. " They don't seem to like Lieu- 
 tenant Crabbe," said he presently. " And I — well — I 
 don't wish to say anything about your officers, colonel, 
 but that man strikes rae as being a mischief-maker, to 
 say the least," 
 
 I like Cheyne. He's a seaman of the old school, but 
 he doesn't like his job or his ship or his engineer, and 
 I'm more than afraid he's going to resign and go back to 
 'Frisco. He can get a better berth, he says, with little 
 delay. Well, there goes four bells — 2 A. M. — and the 
 lights are dancing on the rising tide. I've written to 
 Shafto, and now must turn in. This is your one long 
 
S58 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 letter for '99. May we meet In the flesh, and that right 
 soon. Mrs. and Miss Belden both desire to be cordially 
 remembered. Mrs. Belden was really affable at tifiin. 
 She has seldom appeared at table during the voyage, pre- 
 ferring the seclusion of her cabin (mal de mer does play 
 havoc with women of uncertain age), but Mrs. Hill has 
 been a delightful companion. 
 
 Yet I wish the voyage was over and our passenger list 
 
 ashore at Manila. 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 Langham. 
 
 U. S. Transport "Amanuensis/' 
 
 Manila, November 20th, 1899. 
 Dear Gridley: 
 
 Major Blake, of your old regiment, who came out in 
 command of the squadron, said the reason this ship was 
 named the Amanuensis was that she wasn't self-righting. 
 He's a bird ! I used to hear Baker and Briggs and others 
 talk of him at Minneconjou, never dreaming that the 
 time would come when I should be commanding officer 
 to a fellow who had held a commission since before I was 
 bom. 
 
 Thank God I had such officers and men, for while I 
 might have been young for a lieutenant colonel when 
 we left Honolulu, I'm old enough now for anything at 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 259 
 
 the top, and all because we barely escaped going to the 
 bottom. 
 
 It was a dismal voyage for a fact. Cheyne resigned, 
 as I expected, at Honolulu, and his first officer took 
 charge ; a fair seaman, probably, but not the commander 
 Cheyne was. Some of the women, too, were wise and 
 stayed behind (the Hills among them, to Kitty Belden's 
 grief) so as to come in ahead. But many of the number, 
 including our old friends, stood by the ship. Things went 
 from bad to worse in the engine-room from the day we 
 started, and reached their climax when, after passing the 
 volcano, and near east longitude 130, we struck a typhoon. 
 Don't expect me to describe it. Most of the men showed 
 splendid nerve. So did many of the women, though they 
 were as a rule strapped in their berths. But the engines 
 " petered " and we could hardly keep her head on to the 
 tremendous seas. The chief engineer flopped, as Cheyne 
 said he would, and then got full and defied the new cap- 
 tain. He's been locked in his stateroom with a sentry 
 over him. ever since. Officers and men had to work at 
 the pumps when it was all they could do to keep a foot- 
 ing. Three seamen and four boats were washed away. 
 The bridge was smashed. No food except hardtack could 
 be served out for nearly three days, and in the midst of 
 the racket Blake was hurled across the deck and broke a 
 
260 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 leg. Several more were badly injured, but our friend 
 Crabbe is sound. He never showed outside his cabin 
 door. We limped in past Corregidor this morning, and 
 Belden was out in a steam launch to meet us before we 
 were near our anchorage. The Hills had arrived on the 
 Arizona, and told of meeting nasty weather and seeing 
 what must have been the tail of a typhoon. He had 
 almost given up, and his face was a sight when he saw 
 theirs. 
 
 Belden may have been hearing tarradiddles, but he 
 rather took me aback by the warmth of his manner when 
 he went over the side at sunset. Mrs. Belden was ex- 
 haustively expressive, too. I don't know what to think 
 of Kitty. She came out like a little heroine in the height 
 of the storm, and went back like a little clam when we 
 got in safe soundings. And now they're gone, and Vm 
 feeling used up. Belden says you are far to the north 
 beyond the railway, and that there's work ahead for all 
 of us. Our men are to disembark in the morning. At 
 last we are here ! Now, for business ! I hope and pray 
 it's with Lawton. 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 Langham. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 261 
 
 Manila, November 21. 
 Dear Gridley: 
 
 My wife and daughter reached me in safety yesterday 
 after a terrible voyage in a veritable tub, and Fm writing 
 this to you because I think you should know from me 
 what you will never hear from Langham — what an out- 
 and-out soldier, sailor, commander, and man he has 
 proved himself to be. Sheller, Blake (poor fellow, there's 
 no campaigning for him, I fear ; his left leg is broken in 
 two places), the ship's officers, as well as many of the 
 command, say Langham never lay down for sixty-eight 
 hours; never lost his head or hope; w^as cool, resolute, 
 master of the situation all through, and has more than 
 justified everything you ever said or thought of him. 
 Mrs. Belden is still feeling the effects of the tr>'ing expe- 
 rience, but she says what they all say, that Langham was 
 ever>'thing. She and Kitty join me in cordial regards. I 
 am proud of Kit and what they tell me of her. We shall 
 be here, at least they will, for several weeks. My regi- 
 m.ent is not yet in shape to take the field. Between our- 
 selves, old friend, I haven't the field officers I wish I had. 
 Why didn't you go in for volunteer rank? Langham 
 and his three majors are models, so their colonel declares, 
 and I know he was opposed to Langham at the start. I 
 own, too, that I may have been unjust to him in— certain 
 
262 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 ways. But there is no denying his splendid quahties as 
 
 an officer. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Belden. 
 
 To Captain James Gridley, — th Cavalry, 
 Pangasinan or Beyond : 
 
 Manila, November 25. 
 Dear Gridley : 
 
 Things are moving. To the disgust and disappoint- 
 ment of nine out of ten of our officers, the regiment is 
 ordered to detachment duty in the Camarines, with pros- 
 pects of Samar. The general frankly says it will be scat- 
 tered all over the provinces, company by company. The 
 field officers will be fifty-fifth wheels to a coach. Bel- 
 den's fellows are in far better luck. They go out to Law- 
 ton's division. I have talked the matter over with Colonel 
 Goodman, who is all the name implies. He is quite as 
 cut up as I am — as are his majors three — but he's a sol- 
 dier, a West Pointer, and can't say anything, and mustn't. 
 The majors are as badly off as he, but they've either got 
 to go and command one-company posts in measly little 
 bamboo villages, with never a chance of seeing their bat- 
 talion together, or a day of real campaigning, or else pull 
 ■wires for other duty. The colonel agrees with me : If I 
 wish to see sendee it must be with some field column, and 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS MS 
 
 he approves my applying for such duty. We're to see 
 the chief at eleven to-day. He has been most kind since 
 the Amanuensis story got out, though the engineer 
 skipped away to Hong Kong and says he means to make 
 an international affair of it if I don't put up a thousand 
 pounds hush money forthwith. Barton, who was my 
 adjutant, swears that he saw him and Crabbe champaign- 
 ing together aboard the Esmeralda just before she sailed. 
 I have not set eyes on Crabbe since we arrived. The old 
 regiment is under orders for Samar, and Crabbe, who 
 missed Zapote Bridge and half a dozen other keen scrim- 
 mages, must go with them. So he's making the best of 
 his time meanwhile. The Beldens are guests of General 
 and Mrs. Gillette, down Malate way, and I have seen 
 them driving each evening on the Luneta since we landed, 
 Crabbe usually in close attendance. That man has per- 
 tinacity in love and hate, I fancy. 
 
 I went there to call, but, while the elders are most cor- 
 dial, I am completely out with Kitty. You have no idea 
 how she has changed. A beauty? Yes, but such a 
 willful piece of coquetry ! Well, you wouldn't believe it 
 was our Kitty of Minneconjou days. Actually I feel 
 snubbed six times a minute — Crabbe's doing, possibly, 
 yet how can she put up with that cad ? 
 
 You know all about the Luneta, so I shan't describe, 
 
264 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 but how so many men can be content to be dawdling 
 about so many carriages, when there's so much going on 
 in every direction in the field, passes my comprehension. 
 Blake grins over the sight from a balcony window, with 
 his leg in splints and his jaw in a sling (he says to keep 
 him from swearing), and the veteran is having the time 
 of his life abusing the war department, the transport 
 service, the hospital corps, and matters in general. I'm 
 quartered with him until matters are decided. He is 
 twice my age, and yet a good deal of a boy. One thing 
 only has received favorable mention at his hands. Miss 
 Belden came riding by last evening in khaki and hat, on 
 an English horse and saddle, and the long-legged old dra- 
 goon said : " There's the one picture I've seen that makes 
 this life endurable, but look at Crabbe ! " He was strad- 
 dling a Filipino pony six sizes too small for him, with a 
 McClellan saddle six sizes too big for the pony. Here's 
 the colonel, so we must go. 
 
 6 P. M. 
 It's settled! I'm to take dispatches and the gunboat 
 Plattshurg, land somewhere along the coast line of Ilocos 
 Sur, and find the cavalry column anywhere inland, re- 
 porting to the general commanding for such duty as he 
 may decide. Good-by to the 3 — th for a time, at least; 
 Fm going for a trooper. Oh, for Gordon and Cham- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 265 
 
 pion ! We sail at daybreak, and if you and I don't meet 
 within a month, it will be no fault of 
 
 Yours as ever, 
 
 Langham. 
 P. S. — ^A letter from Mrs. Bullard followed me from 
 'Frisco. She says Mr. Bullard is much as usual. They 
 have no serious money anxieties, though, of course, his 
 investments have suffered. In answer to my questions 
 as to whether she lost anything that evening, she says 
 she wore no jewelry, of course, and had nothing she 
 could lose but her hat, crop, or handkerchief. Her hat 
 was ruined, her crop somewhat smashed, but the wrecks 
 went with her up the range. She never missed the hand- 
 kerchief. It was in the saddle pocket. She asks me to 
 deliver a message to Kitty Belden, who is going to the 
 dance at the Lawtons' to-night. I have too much to do 
 'twixt now and sailing time. No dance for me. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 MANILA AND THE GENERAL' S BALL. 
 
 FOR a man with too much to do to prevent his 
 attending a dance at the division general's, Lieu- 
 tenant Colonel Langham put in rather a good 
 part of the night. The captain of the port, a genial sailor 
 of the old school, had arranged to send his field kit to the 
 ship as soon as it could be trundled over to the office on 
 the north side. The captain of the Plattshurg had met 
 him at headquarters in the Ayuntamento and told him 
 the officer of the deck would be notified of his coming, 
 and all he had to do was get aboard before dawn. At 
 8.15 the quartermaster's people had called for his kit. 
 At 9.30, in immaculate white uniform, the bearer of 
 dispatches-to-be was driving over to the Puente Ayala, 
 and his tiny cochero and pugnacious little team were 
 ,' speedily swallowed up in a seething maelstrom of other 
 teams, vehicles, and cocheros in the paved and graveled 
 court of the beautiful old Spanish residence on the banks 
 of the Pasig. Army, navy, and civil societ>% American, 
 seemed out in goodly numbers, though the afYair was in 
 no sense formal. But a famous Filipino orchestra was 
 
 2QQ 
 
COMRADES IN :^RMS 267 
 
 playing delightful waltz music as Langham ascended the 
 broad stairway to the second story, and thirty couples, at 
 least, w^re revolving and reversing — men and women 
 both in cool, white raiment, as a rule. The dancing floor 
 was admirable, the scene was of gladness, peace, and 
 beauty. 
 
 Langham paid his respects to the hostess and to the 
 fair women receiving with her ; chatted a moment or two 
 with Mrs. Hill, who w^as not slow to note that his eyes 
 and thoughts were wandering ; watched the dancers, most 
 of them strangers to him; bowed, after a third attempt 
 to catch Kitty Belden's laughing glance as she went 
 floating by, waltzing with an appreciative A. D. C. of 
 the commanding general, and finally felt himself seized 
 by the elbows from behind and bidden in deep, tragic, 
 and commanding tone to " Brace, sir ; promptly ! " It 
 was Topsy Hill, as he knew at the instant, and Topsy, 
 merry, mischievous, irresponsible, was applying old cadet 
 methods to his unconsciously drooping carriage, his 
 spirits having gone to his shoulders. It was good to look 
 in Topsy's blithe, winsome, welcoming face. Besides, 
 she was Kitty Belden's " inseparable," and he had not 
 seen her to speak to except for one crowded moment on 
 the Luneta. He whirled about and seized the little hands 
 that had squared his elbows, and dropped one to shake 
 
g68 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 hands with the subaltern escort, whose name escaped 
 him, and who didn't Hke it that a man with a " Mex. com- 
 mission " should take up so much of her time, attention, 
 and—hands. He told her so when finally he managed to 
 lead her away, and got this for his answer : 
 
 " Pat Langham ! Thinking of me ! You lunatic ! Just 
 look at him! He has forgotten us both already. He 
 hasn't a thought for any soul on earth but Kitty Belden ! " 
 
 All of which was precisely true. 
 
 At 10.15, seeing Miss Belden seated for a moment 
 while her partner was foraging, Langham ventured 
 across the floor, and she saw him coming, without seeing 
 him, and she talked over her shoulder, through the open 
 casement, to a girl on the balcony. Crabbe, too, was on 
 guard, and sped to her side. Crabbe reached her quite 
 as soon as Langham, and stood close at hand, while she, 
 very pleasantly, returned the New Yorker's greeting and 
 asked if he were still feeling any ill effects from the 
 voyage. Langham knew Crabbe was at his elbow, and 
 as Crabbe for weeks had ignored him, he took no notice 
 whatever of Crabbe. But he would not in Crabbe's pres- 
 ence mention Mrs. Bullard, therefore withheld for the 
 time the message. 
 
 " I came to see if you had one dance for me, Miss 
 Belden." 
 
COMRADES IN !ARMS 269 
 
 "Rather late, isn't it, Mr. — Colonel Langham? How 
 is it, Mr. Crabbe; have we one left we can give — the 
 colonel ? " 
 
 The voice and manner were sweet as Persian sherbet — 
 iced, but the words were enough to make Langham bite 
 his lip. She seemed bent on using her queendom to com- 
 pel him to appeal to her escort, the objectionable, but this 
 Langham would not do. He turned slightly, bowed form- 
 ally, said " Good-evening, Mr. Crabbe," ignoring en- 
 tirely Crabbe's air of possession, and possible dispensa- 
 tion. For answer to the very superfluous question, Crabbe 
 held forth to her the little engagement card with every 
 space initial-scrawled — principally with his own. " Quite 
 filled, you see," said Miss Kitty, beaming radiantly up into 
 his darkening eyes. She was looking " intentionally 
 beautiful," as Mr. Howells expressed it, and Langham 
 knew it. 
 
 " I haven't much luck," he said, with abundant self- 
 command. He was thmking, though, of one fierce night 
 at sea when, at the fag end of the typhoon, for just one 
 minute, with the wild wind and the whirling spray beat- 
 ing into that same exquisite face, it had gazed up into his 
 with appeal, with faith, with so utterly different a light 
 in the brave, beautiful eyes — when her hands had clasped 
 one instant about one arm, while the other arm had seized 
 
S70 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 and drawn and held her to his side, and the mountain 
 wave that burst at the quarter and deluged the deck, 
 hissed harmlessly by. Crabbe was flat on his back in a 
 berth below, but now, as Crabbe would have put it, he 
 was " on deck " again. 
 
 She expected Langham to take the card and comment 
 on the imposing frequency with which " E. T. C." ap- 
 peared as claimant, but he would not, nor would he stand 
 and be trifled with for Crabbe's benefit. Nor would he 
 rejoice the soul of Crabbe by letting him see how her 
 trifling had stung him. 
 
 " I should have known how it would be," said he, with 
 exasperating civility. " Next time I'll — know better." 
 And then — Kitty had not looked for this — he bowed, 
 turned to his left, and was eflfusively greeting a lackadai- 
 sical fellow passenger she had never before seen him treat 
 with more than common courtesy. Down in the depths 
 of an aching, raging, rebellious little heart, the girl ad- 
 mired him for it, even as she raged, quite as much as she 
 did that awful night on the Amanuensis when he seemed 
 so splendidly unconcerned. And this was simply abom- 
 inable in him, yet nothing to what was still to come. She 
 meant him to beg for part of a dance, and to give him all 
 of one of Crabbe's, but he begged for nothing. He had 
 actually gone over and was talking now to her mother. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 271 
 
 Then Kitty suddenly bethought herself of something she 
 wished to say to her mother, and, rising, signaled to 
 Crabbe, who had been narrowly watching. 
 
 " It is our dance," he said, and led her away, unre- 
 sponsive, unresisting. She thought to stop when oppo- 
 site her mother's chair. Crabbe purposely kept her away. 
 She finally said, breathing quickly for her, " Over by 
 mamma, please." Crabbe was unaccountably thick- 
 headed, and worse. He bumped into a better dancer, 
 the aid-de-camp referred to, and stopped, all contrition, 
 to apologize to that gentleman and his partner. Lang- 
 ham was gone by the time they reached Mrs. Belden ; so 
 was Kitty's desire to see her, and Crabbe failed not to 
 note it. 
 
 '' His Highness is tr>'ing to get out of going with his 
 regiment to Samar, or somewhere," said he, as they 
 strolled to the balcony. 
 
 " That doesn't seem — ^like him," said Miss Kitty 
 wearily. 
 
 " It's so. They are to sail next week, and he was at 
 the Ayuntamiento twice to-day. Wants something soft 
 here in town, probably." 
 
 No answer. Kitty's eyes were on the star-reflecting 
 surface below her, the swift running Pasig. Several 
 naval officers were among the dancers. A steam launch 
 
272 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 and two men-of-war boats were moored at' the river wall. 
 The Jackies were lolling about them. The night was 
 very still without, and the music had died away. Some 
 of the guests were going, and people were flocking about 
 the grand salon and stairway, leaving these at the balcony 
 almost deserted. One or two blissful pairs were cooing 
 softly in the darkness, but Kitty could not coo and would 
 not allow it in Crabbe. Jovial voices rose from the court 
 below. Adieus were being exchanged. Three or four 
 navy fellows were hurrying back to their ship. Half a 
 dozen soldiers had flocked down to see them off. Jackies, 
 with boat hooks, stood at the bows, alert coxswains at 
 the stern sheets. Oars were tossed in one glistening white 
 cutter as the graceful craft danced out upon the waters, 
 two officers waving their white caps in farewell. The 
 steam launch backed swiftly out from the wall and turned 
 her nose westward. " Good-by, colonel. Good luck ! " 
 was shouted from the shore. " Good-by, Langham ! 
 God bless you ! " sang another rich, resonant voice — her 
 father's, and Kitty Belden sprang to her feet, Crabbe 
 again watching narrowly. 
 
 Borne on the breast of the swift-ebbing tide, the jaunty 
 craft darted away down stream, lost in a moment, but for 
 their lanterns, in the deep shadows toward the suspension 
 bridge. Kitty watched until they had disappeared, her 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 273 
 
 hand touching the railing; then turned; looked one mo- 
 ment into the scowling face of her escort. " Let us go," 
 said she; yet, never waiting for him, hurried straight 
 across the shining floor to her m_other's side. Colonel 
 Belden was still below. It was Colonel Sheller who, 
 plying the fan for the benefit of the matron, looked ad- 
 miringly up into the face of the maid. 
 
 " Why has — why have they gone and where ? " faltered 
 Kitty. 
 
 " The navy men ? Only the Plattsburg's — she's or- 
 dered off — somewhere," was Mrs. Belden's vague reply. 
 
 " But, Colonel Langham was with them." 
 
 " Yes," said Sheller. " Pat's given us the slip. We 
 had planned a dinner in his honor. He's gone to join 
 the cavalry column away to the north. It's the last we'll 
 see of him for many a day." 
 
 That night, long after the dancers had gone to dream- 
 land, Lieutenant Crabbe sat solus on the broad veranda 
 of the Army and Navy Club, gazing out upon the west- 
 ward heavens, studded with their brilliant stars. He had 
 driven home in attendance upon the ladies, Kitty huddled 
 in silence and a dark corner of the little carriage, Mrs. 
 Belden and her hostess chatting briskly. If he had hoped 
 for a word with the girl he so hungrily loved and so 
 persistently followed, he was doomed to disappointment. 
 
274 COMHADES IK ARMS 
 
 She sprang out, scarcely touching his extended hand; 
 scurried away up the marble stair to the salon floor, and 
 it was that keen-eyed social strategist, the general's wife, 
 who confronted him with, " Thank you so much, Mr. 
 Crabbe. Now, where shall Manuel drive you ? " Even 
 Mrs. Belden's good-night thanks had been brief and per- 
 functory, for her eyes followed her child. Crabbe read 
 the symptoms aright and took communion with himself 
 in solitude and bitterness of spirit. He was face to face 
 with his fate now, and he knew it. If he could not turn 
 that girl's heart to himself, he must turn it away from 
 that other far too fortunate man. There was only one 
 week left him. There was only one way. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THROUGH THE ENEMY'S LIKES. 
 
 SIGNALS from shore! Strange smokes puffing 
 skyward, the Plattshiirg had moored out in the road- 
 stead and her boat landed a Httle party at the beach. 
 Two miles away to the east, peering over the low fringe of 
 bamboo, the storm tower of a church, the gray cornice of 
 some public building, betrayed the existence of a town of 
 goodly size. Two miles away to the west, swinging at 
 anchor on the glistening bay, the jaunty lines of the gun- 
 boat, dull-hued in their leaden war paint, alone broke 
 the level of the horizon. Aloft the skies were almost 
 cloudless; yet faint, blue-white wisps of vapor hung 
 about the distant roofs and walls and feebly dragged 
 along the crest of the intervening trees. Close at hand 
 the only sound was the smothered boom of the surf and 
 the hiss of briny foam, charging, snow-capped, up the 
 strand, then seething back to meet the onward rush of 
 its follower. Drowned in the dull monotone other 
 sounds, distant sounds failed to reach the straining 
 ears of the blue-jackets tumbling up the beach, their rifles 
 at read^. Not a soul >vas in sight to challenge their, 
 
276 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 advance. The dazzling white parapet beyond the beaten, 
 brine-soaked sands at the shoreUne held not a sign of 
 lurking foe. The Jackies halted at their signal and, 
 kneeling, waited in extended rank the decision of their 
 officer. The boat's crew, some knee-deep in the rush 
 of the seas, looked curiously on. Beyond the heaping 
 ridges of tiny shell and pebble lay, far-spreading, a boggy 
 plain, carpeted with coarse, salt grass; beyond this, a 
 good mile away, the thick hedge of bamboo, curtaining 
 the further landscape like impenetrable screen; beyond 
 this onl} the clump of gray towers and cornice, and a 
 beividere or two of the otherwise invisible town ; beyond 
 these and afar, the blue, irregular line of distant moun- 
 tain. Curving in long crescent, its concave to the west, 
 the frothing shore faded into a misty void. Seaward, 
 blue, sparkling, flashing, and in places capped with snow, 
 the waters of the shallow bay melted into the broad bosom 
 of the China Sea. It was December, and the afternoon 
 sunshine blazed hotly down upon a shadeless beach that, 
 save for the scuttling sand crabs and a batch of alert, 
 silent men-of-war's men and their officer, showed no 
 sign of life. 
 
 " Well, there's your town, colonel, and here's the ren- 
 dezvous, and devil a troop do I see, friend or foe." It 
 was the navy's report to the army — the lieutenant to 
 
COMRADES IN [ARMS 277 
 
 the lieutenant colonel, and the latter looked " nonplussed." 
 Telegrams had been sent from the Ayuntamiento in 
 Manila to the commanding officer at Dagupan, the north- 
 ward end of the railway, directing him to send couriers 
 after the cavalry column, bidding the colum^n " feel to the 
 left," and look out for a strong Insurgent force reported 
 edging between it and the seashore towns of Ilocos ; also 
 for dispatches by the Plattshurg, coasting northward in 
 search of their flankers. Three days had she coasted 
 without sign of a hail from shore and now, in sight of 
 those distant, vapor-fringed roofs of that bamboo- 
 curtained town. Colonel Langham declared he must lose 
 no more time. There was a '' Yanko " garrison there, 
 caring for the sick and wounded of the column search- 
 ing through the eastward mountains, and Langham de- 
 clared he meant to make his way thither without more 
 ado. 
 
 But how strange that, with American soldiery not two 
 miles away, there should be not one of their number here 
 to exchange greetings with an American crew ! From the 
 bridge of the Plattshurg the church tower and the roofs 
 of several large stone buildings were in view. So was 
 the little patch of storm flag, fluttering in the faint 
 breeze. 
 
 From the town and from those roofs, and the little look- 
 
ms COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 outs thereon, the gunboat in the offing must be quite as 
 distincty visible to anyone on watch, yet, unless the 
 smoke could be considered, not a sign or signal had been 
 exchanged. Langham had confidently assured the ship's 
 commander of his ability to get through to town, and 
 that commander had no reason to doubt it. Still, cau- 
 tion prescribed a landing party. The landing party had 
 discovered nothing. Langham and his field kit were de- 
 posited there upon the booming coast line of Ilocos Sur, 
 and not a soul was there to greet him, either as friend or 
 foe, and the Piatt sbnrg had other matters to attend to 
 farther north. '' Better get back to the ship," said the 
 navy, and two minutes more the ship itself was signaling. 
 Whether Langham went back or no, the lieutenant would 
 have to, taking his men with him. 
 
 Then came a shout from the outermost Jacky, a leveled 
 rifle and a demand to " Come in out of that ! " All eyes 
 turned to the south, and there, from behind a little clump 
 of bushes, an odd little object hove in sight — a native 
 in fragmentary camisa and voluminous hat — a hat the 
 shape and size of a wooden mince-meat bowl, and the 
 rest of his costume was fishnet. Covered by the inquisi- 
 tive rifle, he came shambling in, trembling a bit and very 
 poHte. The army and navy both went forward to meet 
 him, and were agreeably surprised to find that he could 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 279 
 
 speak Spanish, at least as much as they could, and now. 
 the situation was explained. 
 
 The reason no comrade appeared to greet the Ameri- 
 can arrival was that every comrade in town was virtually 
 a prisoner. The field column, scouring the mountains 
 for the fugitive Aguinaldo and the sailor captives in the 
 hands of the foe, had stripped the coastwise towns of the 
 major part of their garrisons. The alert and friendly 
 natives, discovering this fact, had promptly assembled in 
 overwhelming force. The town, with its available fight- 
 ing men, perhaps fifty in number, guarding two hundred 
 and fifty sick and wounded, was compassed round about 
 by at least a thousand Tagalog warriors, variously armed, 
 but inspired with a single purpose — the annihilation of 
 the American garrison. It boded ill for the little com- 
 mand. There were two thousand native soldiers within 
 twenty miles' radius of that church tower, and not a 
 vestige of relief column anywhere. The Platfsburg lieu- 
 tenant decided that this was news his commander ought 
 to have at once. He and his people tumbled into their 
 cutter and pulled away, leaving Langham alone on the 
 beach. It was his own fault. He would stay. 
 
 Then a queer thing happened. No sooner was the 
 dancing boat well out beyond the surf line and pulling 
 swiftly for the ship, than white-garbed forms began to 
 
280 COMRADES IN 'ARMS 
 
 exude from the distant thicket of bamboo, from behind a 
 low bank southward, from sand dunes half a mile up 
 shore, and cautiously, but with concerted interest, these 
 forms closed in on the spot where Langham and his 
 piscatorial informant squatted on the sand were discuss- 
 ing the possibilities. In ten minutes other fisher folk by 
 swarms began to arrive, men and boys, women and 
 pickaninnies. 
 
 Langham looked out over the swarthy throng and then 
 at his watch, and the dark faces brightened with keen 
 interest at sight of that beautiful pocket piece, and the 
 circle grew smaller, whereat Langham looked for the 
 Plattsburg and couldn't see her because of the inter- 
 posing forms, some in snowy white ropas, some in mere 
 shreds. So he stowed that pocket piece and casually 
 drew forth another glistening object, a vicious-looking, 
 nickel-plated revolver; and, motioning aside a segment 
 of the circle, shouldered through till he come to the edge 
 of the waters — they could not so easily surround him 
 there — then awaited developments. 
 
 And the Plattsburg had seen and up-anchored and 
 was feeling a way slowly shoreward, to come, if possible, 
 within supporting distance, and another boatload shoved 
 off and was bounding toward him with bending oars 
 and spray-flashing prow, and the curious crowd began 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 281 
 
 to jabber and drift back. The forward oarsmen sprang 
 overboard into the surf as they neared the beach and 
 heaved their boat ashore, and a young officer in the stem 
 sheets presented the captain's compHments to Colonel 
 Langham, and would he please come aboard, and then 
 Langham, who had been listening hand to ear, inclined 
 his head again to the east, and so did others. A fleecy 
 mist was drifting above the bamboo tops and a shifting 
 land breeze brought to their ear a faint sputter and 
 crackle. The besiegers had scented the possible coming 
 of a relieving force and were making effort to " rush " 
 the garrison before the setting of the sun now low toward 
 the horizon. 
 
 Langham looked about him. One native had come on 
 his pony, and was eagerly watching proceedings. The 
 soldier ladled banknotes and silver, fifty pesos, into his 
 campaign hat, and lunging through to the horse holder, 
 offered the money for the beast. The native eyed the 
 money eagerly, but shook his head. The sun went lower. 
 The naval contingent grew impatient. " Take my kit 
 back to the ship," said Langham, " and my compliments 
 to the captain. I'm going to get through to that town 
 this night," and the rest was lost in the startled plunging 
 of the little steed, for, shoving the native owner aside, 
 Langham 's long legs had clamped the mite of a saddle, 
 
^2 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 the stirrups banging his leggings not a hand below the 
 knee. "There's your dinero!'' he shouted to the jab- 
 bering circle ; whirled the pony about, drove him clear of 
 the crowd, then faced them, revolver in hand. 
 
 And in disapprobation of such high-handed outrage, 
 doubtless, the sun went down and hid itself behind the 
 westward wave, as the Plattsburg's boat pulled back to 
 the ship, and two horsemen now — a tall Yankee whose 
 toes nearly swept the ground, a shivering little Tagalog at 
 the point of a pistol and the top of his pony's speed — went 
 scampering southward to the mouth of the estuary. As 
 darkness settled down and the tiny cook-fires of the be- 
 siegers began to gleam through the timber, the two were 
 heading eastward, making for the walls of the town. 
 
 It was a piece of cold-blooded effrontery, the like of 
 which the native Filipino had probably never conceived. 
 In the dusk and the gloaming, in silence and now at 
 cautious pace, they moved on side by side, for Langham 
 held the reins of both ponies in his left hand, while the 
 right kept the revolver at the small of the Tagalog's 
 back. In his khaki field dress the officer was little more 
 distinguishable than the guide. They passed near oc- 
 casional groups of native soldiery squatted about their 
 cook-fires, but not a sentry hailed them. They rode 
 within fifty paces of a post of the guard where forty men 
 
 I 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 283 
 
 were drawn up in line, their rifles at the '* order." They 
 passed within speaking distance of two or three horsemen 
 riding swiftly by, and still no one molested, no one hin- 
 dered. It grew darker every moment, with that swift 
 on-coming of night so marked in the tropics. The road- 
 way through the bamboo was like a tunnel, but for the 
 twinkle of the stars overhead. They came upon a little 
 picket post, the men under arms and staring out to the 
 front across open rice fields. Everybody they passed 
 seemed looking for the coming of something from the 
 direction of town. There were the nipa walls and 
 thatches of the outskirts only a hundred yards ahead. 
 Nobody seemed to bother about anyone coming from 
 the rear. It was now that danger could, indeed, be 
 looked for. The last line of Insurgent outposts was 
 reached, and the stupid, upturned faces of the two sen- 
 tries at the narrow, high-arching bridge expressed no 
 thought of hindrance — only dull surprise as the ponies 
 jogged doggedly by, both with back-set ears. Lang- 
 ham's heart may have been beating like a trip, but his 
 teeth were set and his eyes fierce with determination. One 
 hundred yards beyond the bridge, and there lay the open 
 road into the heart of the town, flanked at the outskirts by 
 deserted " shacks " of bamboo. There, at last, he tossed 
 the reins; and bade his shaking guide look out for him- 
 
284 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 self ; bent low over his pony's neck and, urging him for- 
 ward, listening eagerly for the challenge of lurking 
 sentry, dreading the flash of low-aimed rifle, still drove 
 eagerly on. The plaza opened before him, long pistol 
 shot way. Dim lights shone at door and window. The 
 huge bulk of the stone church loomed across the dim, 
 deserted square, and then at last it came, clear, sharp, 
 and sudden, snapping on the night like the lash of a 
 whip: "Halt! Who's there?" And, jerked to his 
 haunches, the pony's hoofs ploughed up a dust cloud, as 
 Langham's voice fairly thundered the answer: 
 
 "American officer — from the sea! " 
 
 Then at last the strain was over, and the daring feat 
 was done. Ten minutes later he was shaking hands with 
 the commander and his few wearied officers. No wonder 
 they had not seen the Plattshurg. Every roof, every win- 
 dow of the church tower had been swept clean by the 
 fierce fire of the besiegers. No lookout could have lived 
 a moment while the daylight lasted. Now, lantern in 
 hand, they went clambering to the tower, and before 
 eight bells had sent their tinkling chime across the waters 
 the anxious watchers on the gallant ship saw through 
 their night glasses the tiny, waving spark that told 
 through four miles of black darkness, across intervening 
 roof and thicket, swamp and strand and sea, that, daring- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 285 
 
 death, their passenger had pierced the Insurgent Hnes 
 and borne his message of support and cheer. That night 
 the sick and despondent took fresh courage, for were 
 not the blue- jackets close at hand, waiting only for the 
 dawn? That night, a few hours later, the Insurgent 
 swarms began to slink away; to secrete their rifles and 
 revolvers in the hollow of many a bamboo ; to busy them- 
 selves again in shop and school and field, for out to 
 the east the big horses came floundering through the 
 mud roads, for strange trumpet calls were singing 
 through the forests and echoing over the plantations, and 
 when at dawn ** Pat " Langham guided a little scouting 
 part>^ back toward the bridge he crossed at dusk, they 
 stirred up a swarm of protesting ami go s, eager to an- 
 nounce the swift coming of cahallos and cahalleros by 
 the score, and so it happened that in this distant, almost 
 unknown province of far Luzon, within sight of the China 
 Sea, two old comrades who, two years before on the 
 banks of the Hudson, sorrowing had said adieu, now 
 met face to face once more, with eager rescuers shout- 
 ing joyous greeting to the grinning and responsive res- 
 cued, and Jim Gridley, bending down from saddle, threw 
 a blue-shirted, clasping arm around Langham's neck. 
 There are things in soldier life worth living for. There 
 are some things in soldier life worth dying to attain. 
 
CHAPTER m 
 
 BAD NEWS FROM SAMAR. 
 
 THEN followed the swift mid-winter campaign 
 that scattered to the four winds the army of 
 Aguinaldo, and drove him, helpless and almost 
 deserted, to a refuge in the mountain wilds of the eastern 
 shore. Cutting loose from their supplies, the American 
 columns, horse and foot, dove into the canebrake ; waded 
 swamp and morass; swam turbid streams; clambered 
 mountain trails, pressing the fleeing foe at every point, 
 driving him from trench to trench, capturing arms, sup- 
 plies, records, prisoners, at every turn. The family and 
 treasury of the Insurgent dictator were overtaken Christ- 
 mas Day, the elusive chief escaping only by the sacrifice 
 of all he held dear. The gallant young general, his 
 escort commander, Gregorio del Pilar, striving vainly 
 at every pass to stem the indomitable charge of the long- 
 legged, sinewy " Yankos," died at last on the fighting 
 line, that his leader might live. Into the fastnesses of the 
 hills probed the insistent pursuers wherever went the scat- 
 tering natives, one little command recapturing brethren 
 of the navy, long held prisoners and driven like cattle 
 
 286 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 287 
 
 before their almost savage guardians; another releasing 
 hundreds of haggard Spaniards ; the general " prosecu- 
 tion " resting only when every pass and trail had been 
 explored, every town and depot had been surrendered, 
 every semblance of organized opposition had melted 
 away. They suffered much, yet it was as nothing in the 
 light of what they accomplished. They rejoiced much in 
 the words of praise with which the commanding general 
 rewarded their services. They swore considerably, long 
 weeks later, over the words of censure in the anti- 
 administration press, and wondered why " giving aid and 
 comfort to the enemy " was punishable only in their case 
 and not in journalism. They grieved unspeakably in 
 the one great loss of the campaign. All eyes were filled, 
 all hearts were burdened, when the word was passed 
 that La\\1:on would never lead them again. The dawn of 
 the new century found them scattered all over the north- 
 em provinces of Luzon, searching hither and yon for 
 hidden arms and ammunition, but with their heavier 
 battling done. And all these weeks of stir and strife 
 and peril Langham had lived with headquarters in the 
 field, serving his new general as eagerly, loyally, zeal- 
 ously as that brilliant and tireless leader served their 
 commander in common and in chief, and in all these 
 miles of weary marching and sudden attack, time and 
 
288 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 again he and the faithful comrade of Minneconjou days 
 were thrown together, and the friendship that began in 
 the foothills of the Sagamore Range of the far Dakotas 
 waxed and welded stronger here in the swamps and 
 jungles, the mountain trails of wild Luzon. 
 
 There was little time for talk — scant opportunity for 
 confidences. Never until the campaign was nearly done, 
 then only by accident, did the brigade commander hear 
 the story of the non-self-righting 'Manuensis. Never 
 until long weeks later still did that dignified soldier hear 
 the story of Langham's daring dash through the Insur- 
 gent lines to join the beleaguered garrison. He had com- 
 pleted then his report of the campaign, but the navy 
 had seen and heard, and, finding it unmentioned in army 
 chronicles, the navy came out with the tale that Lang- 
 ham had never told. 
 
 Then came a summons to the south. The insurrection, 
 crushed in the upper provinces, was spreading in the 
 lower. Regulars and volunteers, the regiments were 
 heading for the shores of Samar, Mindanao, and Panay. 
 The 3 — th had seen some weeks of skirmish among the 
 jungles of the Camarines. There was bitter work ahead 
 against the savage hosts that lurked in mountain fast- 
 nesses beyond the reach of landing parties and from 
 those safe coverts swooped down upon the settlements 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS ^89 
 
 and scattered depots of supplies, ambushing couriers, 
 waylaying small parties and striving to lure in larger 
 detachments the soldiery of the seaside camps into the 
 tangle of the wilderness. Time had come when these 
 wild islanders, too, should be taught the error of their 
 ways. 
 
 The 3 — th had once more assembled with the colors, 
 and its field officers were restored to their appro- 
 priate commands. The war that was over in the north 
 seemed only opening in the south. The first of March 
 found Langham once again in Manila, outfitting for 
 another mountain campaign, and with him this time came 
 his chum and constant friend, " Grim Jidley," as they 
 whimsically called him now; the silent, steadfast, inde- 
 fatigable fellow whose squadron, because of his active 
 and indomitable leadership, had given him still another 
 distinctive name, " Old Tough and Tireless." But grim, 
 tough, and tireless though he might be, Gridley could 
 not go on forever. A Mauser bullet had split the pom- 
 mel of his Whitman just as he was mounting, and, while 
 missing vein or artery, had ripped a furrow in the thigh 
 and spoiled for a time his grip in saddle. The general 
 had him bamboo-rafted down to Vigan, and thence to 
 the sea, where the navy took him over the side and into 
 their hearts, and away to Manila, where they rowed him 
 
290 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 up the Pasig to the shelter of the First Reserve, where 
 Langham could see him daily, and where he speedily 
 got well enough to be anxious to return straightway to 
 his fellows in the field. 
 
 This Langham was combating with all his force, 
 despite the fact that his own kit was even then aboard 
 the Sumatra and his order signed to join the regiment 
 at Catbalogan, and James the Silent was gravely listening 
 as he reclined in his easy wicker chair, when Dr. Bliss 
 came smirking into the breezy sanctuary, screened ofif on 
 the veranda, and without a word of warning ushered 
 in two ladies — Mrs. and Miss Belden, whom both officers 
 believed at the moment to be in Iloilo — who had 
 indeed but the day before returned from there, who had 
 been told of Gridley's arrival and Langham's departure, 
 and, not expecting to see the latter (for even Bliss did 
 not happen to know of his presence) there was unmis- 
 takable flutter all round. 
 
 Kitty Belden's lovely face went from rose pink to 
 red, then almost white. Langham, seated astride a hos- 
 pital chair, with his arms along its top, his breast against 
 his arms, his legs sprawled full length, his back to the 
 door — arms, back, and legs all in glistening white — 
 never saw the visiting trio until the light in Gridley's 
 hollow-cheeked, square-chinned visage told the story. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 291 
 
 Then up sprang the campaigner, down went the chair, 
 and, with one quick glance over his shoulder, the tall 
 lieutenant colonel, looking thinner than ever after the 
 months of hardship and privation, stepped quickly aside, 
 squarely intimating that he considered Gridley to be 
 the object of their visit, and solidly placing himself in 
 the background. To him Mrs. Belden bowed hurriedly, 
 yet with something like appeal in her eyes, as with out- 
 stretched hands she swept by to greet Captain Gridley, 
 for his part vainly struggling to rise. The maneuver 
 left nobody between Langham and the daring, darling 
 Kitty of two years agone, and she had to lift up her eyes 
 and meet the questioning gaze in his. For seventeen 
 weeks no word or message had passed between them. 
 Instinctively feeling her knees trembling beneath her, 
 the girl had put forth a hand and rested it on the little 
 table. Her sleeve, her handkerchief — something — dis- 
 lodged the letter that was lying there, face down, close to 
 the edge. It fell, face upward, at her feet, and glad of any 
 excuse to avert, if only for a moment, the meeting for 
 which she was so utterly unprepared, she swooped upon 
 it, quick, agile, graceful, and recognized the superscrip- 
 tion at a glance. It was addressed to Lieutenant Colonel 
 William P. B. Langham, U. S. V., Manila, and it had 
 come straight from Long Island and — her. So they were 
 
29« COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 corresponding still ! Kitty laid it, face down, just where 
 first she had seen it, and then faced him unflinchingly. 
 
 Even after that perilous voyage ; even after that won- 
 derful night when he had held her for one moment close 
 strained to his breast while the great billow tore its 
 way astern and the storm swept eastward in its wrath; 
 even after she must have felt the wild tlirobbing of 
 his heart that girl had looked up smiling into his face, 
 and for response to his invitation, had dared to turn indif- 
 ferently to a man he held in contempt and ask that man 
 if " we " had anything to give Mr. — Colonel Langham. 
 Even now, as she confronted him, gamely, but with who 
 could say what effort, Langham saw her again as she 
 looked in saucy triumph that evening at the La\vtons', 
 heard again the languid insolence of the tone with which 
 she turned to Crabbe, and though night after night and 
 day after day he had seen and heard her, and had sworn 
 to himself that he zvould see and hear and remember 
 her as the girl who had so recklessly stung him — for 
 the life of him he could not resist her beauty, her fas- 
 cination, her power, now. Then and thereafter he had 
 told himself she must have owed some allegiance to 
 Crabbe, even to the extent of engaging herself to him. 
 Since then, since his return to Manila, he had heard from 
 a man whase simplest statement was like gospel truth, 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 293 
 
 that he knew she had denied herself to Crabbe from 
 that very night; that she had sent a note to Crabbe 
 within twenty-four hours that set him to cursing sav- 
 agely ; that Crabbe had been hustled off to Sorsogon, or 
 somewhere, without so much as another word with her. 
 His informant was Gillette's own aid-de-camp, himself 
 a suspected victim, who, ignorant of Langham's state 
 of mind, was indignant that Langham should profess 
 to believe such a girl engaged to such a Crabbe. 
 
 And now here stood this " master of the situation " on 
 the storm-tossed transport, this nervy night rider of hos- 
 tile lines, staring stupidly at a sweet-faced girl as she rose 
 again to her full height and resolutely looked him in 
 the eye. 
 
 He had taken one quick stride forward as though to 
 retrieve the letter ; then halted short. He had succeeded 
 in hiding from Crabbe the chagrin he felt at her denial 
 of him, but this was self betrayal now, and he knew it 
 and branded it as awkward, under-bred, unworthy of him 
 and the name he bore. If only he had stepped forward 
 and hailed her cordially, rejoicefully, as though nothing 
 on earth had ever happened to kill their frank, jolly 
 friendship, that would have been admirable ; but, instead, 
 he had stood quaking, with his tongue cleaving to the 
 roof of his mouUi. 
 
294 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 It was all over in five seconds, but the five seconds 
 were an hour. Mrs. Belden had whirled about as soon 
 as she possibly could, and precipitating herself on Lang- 
 ham, made way for Kitty at Gridley's side, and then, 
 when the girl had shaken hands with her trusty knight, 
 and they had had a few joyous words — then it was easier 
 to bring the warring souls to a semblance of a greeting. 
 Kitty coolly said she was so glad to see Colonel Langham, 
 who, somebody said — who was it, mamma? — only that very 
 morning, had already embarked for Samar; and Lang- 
 ham, with fluttering heart, had taken her cool little hand 
 and said he was so very glad the Sumatra had not gone 
 on time — she was only waiting for the Logan's mail. Then 
 Kit turned back to Gridley and it was materfamilias 
 with whom he had now to talk — shrewd, man-reading 
 materfamilias who, as she chatted and questioned, marked 
 his flitting eyes and faltering attention, and saw again 
 and more clearly than before, the extent of Langham's 
 enthrallment, and she had known long weeks it wasn't 
 through pining for Crabbe or languishing at Iloilo 
 that her daughter's soft cheek had thinned, her daugh- 
 ter's glad voice had lost its ring. 
 
 " You must come to us for tea and a good talk, Colonel 
 Langham," said the lady, who had not seen the letter 
 from Long Island. " Mrs. Gillette will be so glad to 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 295 
 
 see you again." But she could say no more, for other 
 women were ushered in, ladies of both regiments, eager 
 to show mercy and kindness to James the Silent, now 
 that he was wounded, and still on the matrimonial " un- 
 assigned list." But Kitty added no such invitation when 
 they presently arose to go, nor did she see anyone but 
 Bliss awaiting to escort them to their carriage. With 
 him she chatted mercilessly, up to the very moment when 
 the cochero touched his cockaded top hat and cracked his 
 whip and released his mettlesome team. Then she barely 
 glanced at Langham, and lightly, laughingly, nodded 
 adieu; then beamed radiantly, sympathetically on Shan- 
 non, who came stumping suddenly into view on sprawling 
 crutches, and her voice was imperious as she bade the 
 carriage wait, and then honey sweet as she cooed a soft 
 torrent of soothing questions about that wounded ankle. 
 Shannon would have taken a shot through the other, 
 too, could it have held her another minute, but mamma 
 said they must go or be late at luncheon. And when a 
 second time they started though there were several hov- 
 ering convalescents about them, there was no m.ore Lang- 
 ham. He had had enough of her coquetry for many a 
 day. 
 
 " The Sumatra will not sail before dawn to-morrow. 
 The Logan's only just in and all the mails have to be 
 
^96 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 sorted," said the Man-Who-Knew — the general's aid, as 
 they sat at luncheon, but despite that fact no Langham 
 came to tea, though Kitty Belden declined a bid to ride at 
 four with that same aid-de-camp — not that she wished 
 to see Langham, but she wished him to see that she 
 neither sought nor avoided him — and when he came not to 
 see how little she cared to see him she became capri- 
 ciously insistent on driving to the Luneta to hear the 
 music and see the people. This, when people were 
 swarming in to see her, and of course, her mother. It 
 was awkward, because Mrs. Belden could not well go 
 while they kept coming. It was Mrs. Gillette who saw 
 and who solved the problem. " If you don't mind, I'll 
 take Kitty a little drive," said she in undertone. " She — 
 needs it, I think." Mrs. Belden would have protested 
 against it had it been anyone less in power and station 
 than the wife of a major general only two places re- 
 moved from supreme command in the islands. Kitty's 
 place was here with her mother, helping entertain, was 
 what the mother could now say only to herself. And 
 so they went, Mrs. Gillette easily disposing of the matter 
 by coming forth into the deep veranda arrayed for the 
 drive, and saying comprehensively, '' You're all here to 
 see Mrs. Belden and hear of everybody she left at Iloilo, 
 so we'll see you later on the Luneta," and then swept 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 297 
 
 Kitty with her into the carriage and away, ignoring even 
 the appeal in the eyes of the aid-de-camp. No, she 
 meant that seat for another man, and she meant to find 
 him. 
 
 But Mrs. Gillette did not know about that letter — the 
 letter that seemed so to sting and burn Kitty Belden's 
 fingers she could have dropped it again had not he stood 
 there looking on. Crabbe had told but simple truth when 
 he declared Langham still in correspondence with that — 
 woman. He had told her more that also might be true 
 — that Langham had dared to say, in so many words, 
 after a certain night on the transport, that he had but 
 to " whistle " and Kitty Belden would " come to heel." 
 It was Crabbe's only way. 
 
 Mrs. Gillette had counted on finding Langham along 
 the Luneta, where everybody went toward sunset, but 
 twice they slowly drove the long circuit, passing cap- 
 raising officers by dozen. Then madam bade her twin 
 diminutives on the box to go on up the Paseo de Santa 
 Lucia, past the tented fields where men in khaki spread 
 thickly along the iron fence on one side, and officers in 
 white strolled lazily along the graveled walk upon the 
 other, eyeing dames and damsels — Native, Mestiza, Span- 
 ish, or American, also sauntering, and still no sign of 
 Langham. And then Mrs. Gillette remembered suddenly 
 
298 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 that the general had charged her to see that Captain Blade 
 and Lieutenant Blind, sent in wounded from Cavite, 
 should want for nothing, and once at the First Reserve, 
 having inquired for these gentlemen, she wondered would 
 it be possible to see Captain Gridley? and would Kitty 
 mind going up with her? An attendant ran to ask, for 
 Dr. BHss was out for his brief, daily drive, and when Grid- 
 ley sent word he should be delighted, they went swishing 
 up the steps and out to his veranda, and other visitors — 
 two officers — arose respectfully and made way for them, 
 but there was no Langham there. He and the letter, too, 
 were gone, as Miss Belden remarked. Probably he was 
 answering it somewhere. Presently it came time to go, 
 and then Mrs. Gillette casually referred to Langham. 
 " Langham," said impervious, thick-skinned, thick- 
 headed Gridley, " Langham ! Why, where on earth is 
 Langham? He went out when you and Miss Belden 
 were announced, and I supposed of course he'd run down 
 to meet you." 
 
 But Kitty Belden knew he had run out not to meet 
 them, and when, flashing home in the fading light some 
 thirty minutes later, she caught just one flitting glimpse 
 of him, sitting very erect in a jogg>' carromata, and lift- 
 ing his white cap without so much as an inclination of his 
 stately head, she swiftly jumped to the conclusion that he 
 
COMRADES IN 'ARMS 299 
 
 had seized that opportunity to drive down, pay his re- 
 spects to mamma, to leave his card, compHments, and 
 adieux for each of the other ladies, and would be sure to 
 think she had been in chase of him — all of which, except 
 linking her in chase of him, proved warranted by the 
 facts in the case, and Kitty Belden easily persuaded her- 
 self that night she hated Pitt Langham — just hated him., 
 and in her fury could have scratched her own pretty eyes 
 out — the red and swollen eyes that later gazed out over 
 the placid waters at the dawn of the day and watched the 
 Sumatra vanishing into the misty horizon about Corre- 
 gidor. And now it w^as for no matter of months ; it was 
 a year before she again set eyes on Langham, and in that 
 year what had not happened to drive them farther apart ? 
 What could have happened, what now could happen, that 
 would ever bring them again together? 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 devil's work and its cure, 
 
 IT had been a year fruitful of humiliation and disas- 
 ter. Faithful to their duty and their flag, the men of 
 the twin services, the army and the navy of the United 
 States, had battled valiantly, until, after exceeding labor, 
 hardship, and privation, they had crushed the insurrec- 
 tion and scattered the Insurgents. Then campaign ora- 
 tors and anti-administration papers denounced and dis- 
 owned the deeds of the soldiery ; revived and restored the 
 spirit of rebellion, and the misguided natives, hearing 
 and permitted to hear only these treasonable vaporings, 
 believing the nation spoke and not a bigoted few, took 
 heart and anns again, and in many a province and many 
 a distant isle fell upon the far-separated detachments, 
 ofttimes with fatal effect. Lawton had died in December, 
 pierced by a bullet, as he himself had expressed it, that 
 might as well have been aimed by one of his own 
 people. 
 
 Everywhere over the archipelago sped the secret emis- 
 saries of Aguinaldo, scattering broadcast translations of 
 speeches and editorials that, almost in so many words, 
 
 300 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS tJOl 
 
 incited the Filipino to renewed and desperate effort. The 
 effects became manifest in an hundred localities and in- 
 numerable ways. Couriers, hunters, mail carriers, tour- 
 ists, even teachers, were waylaid and hacked to pieces. 
 Soldiers who chased the murderers into villages found 
 nothing there but protesting amigos, for whom salaaming 
 presidentes, who had voluntarily taken the oath of loyalty 
 to the United States, and in some cases were yet holding 
 commissions in the Insurgent army, vouched as innocent 
 of all participation in the deplorable crimes. Guides, de- 
 tailed by these officials, led scouting parties into ambush, 
 where they died fighting; directed others into narrow, 
 tortuous trails, where the ground gave way beneath the 
 leaders' feet and dropped them helpless to be impaled 
 on sharpened bamboo stakes, to writhe in agony until 
 reHeved by death; deserted them in dense forests to die 
 of thirst or starvation; delivered them into the hands of 
 overwhelming numbers of the enemy, some to languish 
 and linger in foul prisons, some to be entombed alive in 
 the sands of the seashore, with the helpless head exposed 
 to the sting of myriad insects; some to be gouged and 
 hacked and slowly butchered in sight and hearing of pin- 
 ioned comrades, powerless to help them; some to be 
 slowly starved in sight of plenty ; some, by dozens, to die 
 by the sword in the hands of a screaming, screeching, tri- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 umphant host that for long months had lived on their 
 bounty, thrived on their gifts, rejoiced in their friend- 
 ship and protection, knelt with them before the same 
 altar, worshiped with them the same God, adored with 
 them the same Saviour, and never by look or deed gave 
 hint of their foul purpose until summoned to the slaugh- 
 ter by the bell that morn, noon, and night for many a day 
 had called them in common to the sanctuary — and all this 
 because high exponents of a sect out of power at home, 
 seeking to discredit the administration in the eyes of the 
 people, recked not what fate it might entail on those 
 sworn to uphold the flag either at home or abroad. 
 
 " This thing has got to be stopped ! " finally swore a 
 sorely badgered general, as he read the last rueful report 
 from a column in the field. " Here's another scouting 
 party trapped and boloed in the bamboo, right under the 
 presidente's nose. Can no one nail these villains ? " 
 
 " You know the orders, sir," said his staff officer dryly. 
 " I used to think we were up against the press, the pulpit, 
 the people, and the Indians, too, when we had our annual 
 run for the scalp dancers, but that was a simple proposi- 
 tion as compared to this." 
 
 " Seems to me, with such men as we have in the field, 
 we ought to accomplish something," said the official head 
 of the most disturbed district in the ken of the chief at 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Manila. " Six months' scouting and we're worse off than 
 when we started ! " 
 
 *' It isn't the men — it's the measures," said the adviser, 
 at his elbow. " It's like the orders we used to get long 
 days ago at Laramie, when the Sioux had scalped our 
 herders : ' Make every effort to arrest the murderers, but 
 be sure to do nothing to excite the Indians.' There isn't 
 a better regiment in the service than the 2— th, though 
 Crabbe and Sparker do belong to it, but what can they 
 do ? What could / do ? What could yoii do if you were 
 turned loose in the hills yonder, with fifty men at your 
 back, bidden to put a stop to bushwacking and bush- 
 whackers, but be sure to do nothing to excite the fears or 
 animosities of the people ? Your men are boloed by night 
 and volleyed by day. You charge into the bamboo and 
 chase a lot of brown skulkers into a swarming village, 
 where the presidente bows and scrapes, and swears they 
 are todos ajnigos — hennanos — Americanos — everything 
 that is loyal and reputable. You say that half a hundred 
 armed ladrones took refuge within his bamboo walls. He 
 politely says it is impossible, and five hundred villagers 
 chorus impossible, too, some of them grinning in your 
 face. Don't you suppose that presidente knows — and 
 those grinning beggars kncm — ^>'Ou're forbidden to lay a 
 hand on one of them or on anything that is his from the 
 
804 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 church down to a chicken? You know — you're morally 
 certain — that that church is over a magazine, that altar 
 is an arsenal, just as we found them there about Manila 
 in February a year ago. But the padre comes out and 
 smiles benevolently and blesses you and hijo mios your 
 men. You know that in that gathering crowd, in their 
 white ropas, there are dozens that were shooting at you 
 from ambush not an hour back. Your dead and your 
 wounded are still uncared for. You are trying to carry 
 out your orders, but you can't, because of your instruc- 
 tions — the one blocking the other just as the War and 
 Interior Departments used to keep us between two fires 
 on the Indian frontier. You know there are hundreds 
 of Mausers and thousands of Mauser cartridges cached 
 somewhere in that village. You know that presidente 
 knows all about it, too, but the only way you can prove 
 it is to rip things to pieces until you find them, and you 
 are forbidden to rip. In short, general, the man who 
 wins out in this kind of campaigning does it only at the 
 risk of his commission." 
 
 " I wish," said the general reflectively, " I wish we 
 had a few of our old-time sergeants that knew how to do 
 things without — knowing how they did 'em." 
 
 " Those men," said the major, " belonged to the heroic 
 age when results, not means, were of first consequence. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 306 
 
 One thing is certain, sir, the 2— th will never get those 
 robber bands or their arms either. They are too— con- 
 scientious, or— conservative. But," he added suggest- 
 ively, " there're the volunteers. They've got to be mus- 
 tered out anyhow." 
 
 And the two veterans looked at each other across the 
 outspread map, and presently certain wearied detach- 
 ments, disgusted with their hampered and fruitless 
 efforts, came drifting in, and presently other columns 
 took the field, and not long thereafter other reports — very 
 different reports — very gratifying reports — began com- 
 ing to headquarters at Manila, and eyes that had long 
 been gloomy took on a light of triumph and rejoicing; 
 tongues that had been tied for fear of telling tales of 
 failure or of scant success, now wagged with eager free- 
 dom, for wondrous w^ork was this being done in the once 
 intractable providence. Long months, through tropic heat 
 and drenching rains and flooded streams and misty moun- 
 tain trails, had the searching columns peered and plodded 
 and " hiked " in vain. Before them vanished the wild 
 banditti and the guerrilla bands. Nowhere found they 
 anything but peaceable country folk or populous towns 
 all fervent in their hatred for Aguinaldo, their love for 
 Uncle Sam — all positive in their assurance that not an 
 iyisurrecto, not a bandit, could be found in field, barrio, or 
 
306 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 pueblo about them; yet the moment the columns disap- 
 peared, field, barrio, and pueblo would swarm with native 
 soldiery, armed with rifles or the silent bolo; and then, 
 here and there and everywhere, couriers would again be 
 ambushed, sentries be transfixed with winged arrows, 
 scouts and surveyors be found with gullets sliced; small 
 detachments be shot down by encircling, unseen riflemen ; 
 and they who had been sent to rid the province of the 
 scourge went handicapped with orders, dictated by a 
 policy of mercy to all — to all but these, the silent and 
 subordinate — orders that made them the derision of the 
 native and the laughing stock of lookers-on of other 
 nationalities. 
 
 Then at last there began a new dispensation. New 
 district commanders stepped into the field, some from the 
 regulars, some from the national volunteers. They were 
 men chosen because of certain traits of strenuous, vehe- 
 ment energy that had marked them in other sections and 
 at earlier stages of the game, and in this new dispensa- 
 tion the very thing Jim Gridley once wrote of as a strange 
 possibility came to pass as a petrified fact. Colonel W. 
 P. Langham, U. S. V., commanding the sub-district of 
 Cabeza Grande, found four companies of the old regi- 
 ment, two of them headed by Sparker and Crabbe, already 
 encamped within the limits of his bailiwick, and now 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 307 
 
 awaiting his orders. With these and with six companies 
 of his own regiment, the volunteers, the young com- 
 mander began his work. If two or three officers proved 
 somewhat lukewarm, the vim and determination of a 
 dozen others, regulars and volunteers alike, more than 
 counterbalanced. For now came thrilling tidings : First, 
 that one lively township had turned over arms and am- 
 munition for upwards of a hundred men; next, that the 
 presidentc of its nearest neighbor had surrendered the 
 murderers of certain soldiers cut off from their column — 
 three officers and fifty-seven of the Insurgent battalion, 
 with all their arms and supplies ; then, that his brother 
 official, ten miles further on, had followed suit with as 
 many more. Then more rifles and countless stock of 
 cartridges were unearthed beneath the fine old church of 
 Batabanga, and the sanctuary of Caringay was found to 
 be a storehouse full of clothing, arms, and munitions of 
 war. Then Coronel Caliente Cabeza was run down with 
 seventy followers in a bamboo thicket that had been 
 drawn a dozen times before without success. Then the 
 president e of the big and thriving town of Bongabing 
 surrendered the band of Capitan Bolo xA.gudo, and good- 
 ness knew how much plunder with him. Incidentally the 
 presidente gave up, with many apologies, his own com- 
 mission as captain in the service of Aguinaldo. Then 
 
808 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 another president e led a little battalion of nimble Yan- 
 kees up a twisting trail that ended in a mountain fortress 
 and a free fight in which, sword in hand, a score of na- 
 tives bit the dust and five score begged for mercy. i 
 
 It was not long before town after town, that never be- 
 fore had owned to harboring man or musket of the Insur- 
 gent force, was eagerly delivering both into the hands of 
 these new American leaders — leaders that looked so very 
 like and acted so little like their predecessors; and then, 
 at the demand of these urgent, wouldn't-be-denied in- 
 vaders, even the men who had boasted of the brutal 
 assassination of helpless victims — even the ring-leaders 
 in many a midnight raid and murder — were run down, 
 brought in and delivered over to the now successful and 
 triumphant Americans. 
 
 More than one officer had won credit and high repute 
 in this hitherto perilous and thankless duty ; but the man 
 who seemed to carry everything before him, who swept 
 the big island from end to end until he had scourged it 
 clean; the man whom the double-dealing and the lying 
 learned to dread, and the would-be peaceable to rejoice 
 in, was no less a personage than our four-o'clock-tea 
 friend of Minneconjou days, Colonel " Pat " Langham, 
 who, after four months of service the like of which had 
 never before been seen in that section of the archipelago, 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS B09 
 
 found himself with no more native foes to conquer, sum- 
 moned to Manila to receive in person the thanks of the 
 commanding general, but taken down with a burning 
 fever that presently robbed him of his faculties and 
 lured him to the confines of another world. 
 
 Then, just as Mr. Percy Shafto, some ten thousand 
 miles away by sail or steam, was rejoicefuUy receiving 
 congratulations at the club upon his nephew's daring and 
 successful campaign, upon the glowing tribute of the 
 press, and the recommendation of the governor general 
 that the star of a brigadier of volunteers be given as the 
 reward of such stirring and invaluable service; just as 
 officers and men in the armories of Gotham's guardsmen 
 were voicing their delight that it should be one of their 
 own that had so forged to the front and " done what the 
 regulars couldn't do," just as " Cousin Amy, shallow- 
 hearted," was sending her felicitations (she wasn't the 
 first woman to think better of an earlier rebuflF when the 
 rejected one became famous in the Philippines) ; just as 
 another fair hand was sending words of cordial and gen- 
 uine regard from the bedside of a babbling, broken-down 
 old man, there came the cabled news that Colonel Lang- 
 ham had been landed very ill at Iloilo. Colonel Belden, 
 commanding town, garrison, and sub-district, had had 
 him borne from ship to shore to his own quarters in that 
 
310 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 stately island city. Then came worse tidings still — strange 
 tidings. All on a sudden, scare-headlined into startling 
 prominence, came the announcement that charges of a 
 most serious nature had been lodged against this newly 
 discovered hero, and for a week the anti-administration 
 press went wild with tremendous tales of sensation ex- 
 traordinary. So far from deserving honor or reward, 
 this creature of an imperialistic usurpation was a brutal 
 bully of the lowest order ; a man guilty of " high-handed 
 outrage on the high seas," driving a subject of Great 
 Britain from his post of duty, ordering him to be bayo- 
 neted in the ship's dungeon (brig?) ; imperiling the 
 lives of helpless women, children, and soldiery committed 
 to his charge ; involving us in serious and embarrassing 
 controversy with a friendly Power. (Anything to down 
 the administration. Two weeks earlier the same papers 
 had been howling at the president and cabinet for 
 "truckling to John Bull.") Then, next came "Skulk- 
 ing from his regiment and seeking ' soft snaps ' when his 
 comrades were ordered to dangerous duty." Then, that 
 " the colonel wouldn't have him with the regiment, such 
 was the hatred of the men." All this vouched for by 
 " officers of high rank and indisputable veracity." 
 
 And finally and worse yet, taken up eagerly all over 
 the land, came that gruesome story that Colonel Lang- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS Bll 
 
 ham's alleged success in subduing the insurrectos in 
 Cabeza Grande and adjacent region was achieved only 
 through the cold-blooded butchery of natives, forced to 
 act as guides in regions where they knew nothing of the 
 trails, and by excruciating torture of peaceful, loyal, but 
 helpless native officials, some of high station and char- 
 acter, several of whom had succumbed to their injuries. 
 ** Disgrace and dishonor to the nation and to the flag ! " 
 proclaimed these patriotic sheets. " The Administration 
 Compelled at Last to Take Action ! " was the next. And 
 all this for many a day Pat Langham was spared, though 
 poor Shafto was not, for the brutal assailant of high- 
 minded ship's officers, the execrated of the enlisted men, 
 the cold-blooded butcher of helpless natives, the fiendish 
 torturer of priests and presidentes, lay in a delirium of 
 his own in far-distant Panay ; and for the time being at 
 least, envy, hatred, and malice, joining hands with fever 
 and a free and unterrified press, had our hero gagged, 
 throttled, and down, with none so poor to do him rever- 
 ence. Were there any now to do him simple justice? 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 BREVET LOST — A BRIDE WON. 
 
 IT seems there were. A general court-martial was 
 ordered to assemble at Manila, P. L, on the — th day 
 
 of , 19 — , for the trial of Lieutenant Colonel W. 
 
 P. Langham, 3 — th U. S. Volunteer Infantry, and such 
 other officers as might properly be brought before it. 
 The detail for that court was a matter of difficulty. Being 
 a volunteer, the accused could properly be tried only by 
 volunteers, and volunteers who '' ranked " him. Now, 
 these, though widely scattered in point of station, were 
 thought to be in close accord in point of view. Some of 
 them, West Pointers and Indian fighters of the line, 
 chosen, because of their energy in that line, to command 
 volunteer regiments against the Insurgent Islanders, had 
 been heard to say that the only way to thrash Indians or 
 Islanders was to tackle them Indian or Island fashion, 
 which was not with gloves, or close observance of a Gen- 
 eral Order devised for use in battling a civilized and not 
 a savage foe. Some few of them had gone so far as to 
 profit by Pat Langham's example. Some two or three 
 had courts-martial of their own to face m esse or in 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 813 
 
 posse. But a court was finally found, generals and 
 colonels in sufficient number to go on with the case, and 
 three months after the summons to come to Manila to be 
 commended and promoted, the lieutenant colonel lately 
 commanding the district of Cabeza Grande appeared 
 there in arrest — and readiness for trial. 
 
 And with him came as counsel Colonel Belden, and 
 there to meet them, just landed from Japan, were Mrs. 
 and Miss Belden, and if six months' sojourn among the 
 cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums and cooling breezes 
 could do no more for maiden bloom than they had done 
 for silent Kitty, such sojourns should in future be dis- 
 countenanced. She was paler, thinner, yet more feverish 
 than ever, and Belden saw it with a sinking heart. Being 
 in arrest, though with the limits of Manila and suburbs, 
 Langham found lodgment on the bay shore in Ermita, 
 close to the club, and there Captain Gridley came to join 
 and comfort him. Not quite a mile to the southward, 
 General and Mrs. Gillette still occupied their beautiful 
 Spanish-built, substantial house, and the Gillettes would 
 take no noes for answers. There the Beldens had to 
 come and stay. 
 
 Within a week of their arrival, in a big and breezy 
 room of the provost marshal's old headquarters building, 
 the court convened in solemn session, with a score of 
 
S14 COMRADES IN [ARMS 
 
 correspondents fringing the deep stone walls, and there, 
 pallid, thin, weak from long illness and confinement, but 
 with fire in his eye and fight in his heart, with dozens of 
 silent, anxious, and generally sympathetic comrades, and 
 not a few fair-faced women looking on, Pat Langham 
 faced his judges and his soldier fate. 
 
 " Object to being tried by any member named in the 
 order?" Not a bit of it; *' Though something I might 
 'plain," he said (to self and counsel), of the somewhat 
 obvious preponderance of officers who had done next to 
 nothing in the field. How said he to the charges and 
 their specifications? (which, after all, fell far short of 
 those prepared or predicted by the press). Not guilty 
 to every blessed charge. Not guilty to every specifica- 
 tion except to one or two which alleged in brief the ad- 
 ministering of the so-called " water cure " to a so-called 
 prcsidente, and to these: ''Guilty of the main facts as 
 alleged, but only as a military necessity, warranted by 
 the circumstances." Whereat there was mild sensation. 
 
 The first thing in order was the charge of abuse of 
 power, authority, etc., in the case of the engineer, and 
 that bold Briton was on hand to take the oath, tell his 
 story, and pocket his per diem, mileage, etc., which, as 
 he came from distant Yokohama at no personal expense 
 whatever, was no inconsiderable sum. Unblushingly he 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 315 
 
 unfolded a tale of having been^ by order of Colonel Lang- 
 ham, forcibly dragged from his post, thrust in a prison 
 cabin, threatened with gagging, *' spread eagling," even 
 with death ; all of which was duly recorded. Then came 
 Belden's turn, the cross-examination, and then another 
 exposition of the ludicrous impotency of our military 
 system as regulated by civil laws. To the chuckling glee 
 of brother Britishers present, the witness refused to an- 
 swer a question, and taunted the court with the well- 
 known and melancholy fact that, though compelled to 
 pay him heavily for coming and going and condescend- 
 ing to appear before it, it could not compel him, a civilian 
 witness, to open his head except when he chose. It could 
 not even punish him for expression of the contempt that 
 he felt. Chief Engineer Entwistle, late of the Amanu- 
 ensis, having placed on record everything he could think 
 of to hurt the accused, declined to submit to cross-ques- 
 tioning that would rip both his story and reputation into 
 shreds, and the court had no recourse in law but to 
 pocket his insults, while he pocketed the fees. It isn't 
 only our savage neighbors who, thanks to our legislators, 
 have the laugh on the military arm of the nation ! 
 
 But most men knew the real story of the trouble on the 
 transport. There were officers and men available who 
 could and did riddle the Entwistle version, to the end 
 
816 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 that certain discharged soldiers, doing business in a 
 small way in Manila, waited upon that burly derider of 
 American men and methods, and something happened 
 that compelled his remaining in the neighborhood — and 
 indoors — until a new outfit of clothing could be obtained. 
 Certain British residents, too, united in a letter to a 
 steamship company that created a vacancy in the engine- 
 room of a P. & O. Liner, and this while that unhappy court 
 was still in session, wrestling with other and graver 
 problems. 
 
 It was the seventh day of the case, and Lieutenant 
 Crabbe was writhing in the witness chair. It was he, as 
 now learned, who had given the correspondents of cer- 
 tain furiously antagonistic journals these reports as to 
 Langham, and now Mr. Crabbe was trying to explain. 
 
 It had been developed in the course of the trial that, 
 early in the reorganized campaign, Lieutenant Crabbe, 
 sent with sixty men to search for secreted arms and am- 
 munition in the Pueblo of Catamaran on the Pies Frios, 
 came back with fifty-five men, no captures, and a fish 
 story to the effect that the missing five had strayed away 
 and would probably return by river. Thereupon, it seems, 
 the lieutenant colonel commanding had taken personal 
 charge; the same men, the same road, the same pueblo; 
 had found the remains of the five missing, hacked to 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 317 
 
 pieces in the bamboo close to town; that he had there- 
 upon called upon the presidente to surrender the assas- 
 sins, the secreted arms, etc. ; that the presidente called on 
 the saints to witness that the perpetrators were not of 
 this pueblo; that all his people were friendly and true; 
 that they were poor and peace-loving, and had neither 
 arms nor cartridges, etc., etc. ; that the colonel had there- 
 upon told the presidente that he lied, that he knew he 
 lied, that he knew the perpetrators, knew that some were 
 at that moment in the jabbering throng about the church, 
 knew that abundant arms and ammunition were secreted 
 somewhere within the walls, and finally that he would 
 give him just five minutes in which to produce them. No 
 use to try to escape. Besides the men at the colonel's 
 back, were others occupying every road, pass, and trail 
 leading to the outskirts and to the open country-. The 
 presidente persisted. The townspeople echoed the denial. 
 Langham, watch in hand, listened, placid, but implacable. 
 " Five minutes are up,'' said he, and nodded to an old- 
 time sergeant, standing, as said a reluctant Irish witness, 
 " handy by." The presidente' s heels went suddenly from 
 under him. The presidente lit on the broad of his back 
 on the turf, and in the twinkling of an eye he was bound 
 hand and foot. Then, without hurting him in the least, 
 but holding him forcefully, certain experienced hands 
 
318 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 secured him to stakes, produced a tin funnel and a bucket 
 of fresh water. " Will you say — now ? " asked the offi- 
 ciating sergeant. The presidente's nerve had not yet 
 gone. He glared in wrath and hate, but held his tongue. 
 The tube of the funnel went into his mouth; cool water 
 into the bowl of the funnel, and the presidente had either 
 to swallow or choke. It didn't hurt ; it was simply incon- 
 venient. Few men care to be made to drink when they 
 do not wish to. One swallow led to another, and still the 
 presidente held out. No one further touched or hurt 
 him. The discomfort arose from having to absorb more 
 water than the system had room for, even after swelling 
 visibly. When finally he began to run over, the presi- 
 dente was lifted to his feet and asked very civilly would 
 he now point out the assassins, and the ammunition ? For 
 six months past, having been subjected to nothing but 
 questions, he had successfully concealed both arms and 
 the men through whose agency our people had been done 
 to death. But this resurrection of an old Spanish method 
 was far too persuasive. At first the presidente gurgled 
 no. Then another pint was suggested. The presidente 
 stood a few minutes' further application, then " threw up 
 the sponge." He would name the culprit. He would 
 point the way. Five minutes thereafter, from house after 
 house, aye, even from the church, protesting, cringing 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 319 
 
 creatures were dragged to light — three commissioned 
 officers among them. Then, within the massive walls, to 
 consecrated ground the presidente led the searchers, and 
 the little arsenal was found. A repetition of the process 
 persuaded a neighboring presidente to like revelation ; 
 and after that it was never needed. The story went 
 swiftly from town to town that at last the Americans were 
 led by an officer who couldn't be fooled, and who car- 
 ried a funnel. The mere exhibition of that suggestive 
 implement told further p resident es what to expect And 
 so ended the triumphant defiance of Samar and its mod- 
 ern Samaritans. 
 
 To no word of this did the accused officer before the 
 court oppose objection. He stood quite ready to tell it 
 all himself, if need be. No presidente had been more 
 than temporarily inconvenienced. Both officials were 
 quite well six hours after the '' treatment " ; but all this! 
 had been brought out by the evidence of two or three re- 
 luctant sergeants, who had acted under Langham's orders, 
 and, primarily, through the enterprise of Lieutenant 
 Crabbe, who, it seems, had questioned man after man in 
 the district, and then " considered it a duty he owed the 
 army and the nation to make it known." Asked why he 
 had not reported it to the military authorities instead of 
 giving it to the correspondents, Mr. Crabbe said he 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 feared the general was in sympathy with the heutenant 
 colonel, and would " pigeon-hole " the entire matter. He 
 had, therefore, taken the most effective way. 
 
 Of everything else the court could only find the ac- 
 cused guiltless. Of the allegation that he subjected cer- 
 tain native officials to certain " torture " in order to elicit 
 most important information, the court had no alternative 
 but to find him guilty. Belden's plea was eloquent and 
 forcible, but — orders are orders. No matter that our 
 people, soldier or civilian, were shot from ambush, boloed 
 in cold blood, trapped in pit-falls, flayed, flogged, and 
 tortured to slow and cruel death ; no matter that officials, 
 sworn to loyalty, should give refuge to assassins, should 
 conceal them, their arms, and their supplies — should 
 laugh and lie in the face of the officers sent in search — 
 the law and the prophets, the press and the pulpit held 
 that only by the rules of civilized war should even sav- 
 ages be handled. It was a far cry from the Philippines to 
 Philadelphia, from Balangiga to Boston. The blood of 
 betrayed and butchered comrades had little of the Quaker 
 strain at best, and who at home should care how men 
 died when obeying the orders of an obnoxious adminis- 
 tration? The few who clamored for the punishment of 
 the successful officers clamored loud. The many who 
 down in their hearts approved, were silent. The Gov- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 821 
 
 cmment had heard nothing from tlie many and much 
 from the few. Just as in the days of the Indian wars the 
 good folk farthest removed from the scene were loudest 
 in denunciation of the troops at the spot. To these latter 
 it was deatli if they lost, and defamation if they won. The 
 men who put an end to the most savage and intractable 
 side of the insurrection were summoned in turn to take 
 their punishment. The court being composed of soldiers, 
 could only find in accordance with the facts and sentence 
 according to law. But the men who so found and sen- 
 tenced came forth from the council chamber, after send- 
 ing their sealed verdict to the war office at home, and it 
 was significant that member after member shook the 
 hand of the accused officer, Colonel Langham, and " cut " 
 Lieutenant Crabbe. 
 
 Then came six weeks of waiting — six weeks in whicH 
 the recently accused had little to do but rest, recuperate, 
 and await results. Corregidor, with its sea breezes, had 
 been suggested by certain physicians, but James Gridley 
 said go to. 
 
 The Beldens, all, were billeted in the fair suburb of 
 Malate, and something more potent than sea breezes was 
 bringing the light to Langham's eyes. Kitty Belden, 
 who had never set foot near the court-room during the 
 ten days' trial, was taking unaccountable interest in the 
 
322 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 case, now that it was fairly closed, and Belden watched 
 her with grave anxiety. Crabbe, who had called thrice, 
 had not once been received. He had appealed to Mrs. 
 Belden, who said she could not influence her daughter. 
 He had gone so far as to beg that Belden should inter- 
 cede, and got for answer the discomforting assurance, 
 and Belden looked him squarely in the eyes, that he 
 would not influence his daughter if he could. Then 
 Crabbe got a hint from headquarters to the efifect that, 
 the court being scattered, he should make himself scarce ; 
 that a boat would be leaving forthwith for the south, and, 
 as Blake expressed it, " his company needed him if no- 
 body needed his company." Except one officer specifi- 
 cally instructed, there was no one to see him off. 
 
 But the letters that were speedily coming by every 
 transport from the States 1 Shafto was in a fury. Shafto 
 demanded that, no matter what the issue, no matter what 
 the sentence, his kinsman should quit instanter the service 
 of a government that could so ignominiously treat so 
 valiant and valuable an officer ! Shafto was amazed to 
 find so many of the clergy and the press against him, and 
 turned in wrath unspeakable from the door of his favor- 
 ite sanctuary after a pulpit reference to the case. Shafto 
 bored immensely the graybeards of the Union, the Con- 
 servative, the Avenue, and other eminently respectable 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 323 
 
 clubs that had few connections and less concern in a 
 campaign in the antipodes. To hear the scathing truth 
 and to learn genuine public sentiment in the matter, one 
 had to drop in at " The United Service," the armories, or 
 the gatherings of soldier societies growing out of the 
 wars. 
 
 i\nd the result was fully foreshadowed, though to the 
 last Langham persisted in the belief that a jury of his 
 brother officers would not, in face of such overwhelming 
 array of outrage on the part of the enemy, sentence him 
 even to censure. He forgot that a military court is given 
 no latitude; it must punish as prescribed by statute, not 
 sentiment. 
 
 And the result was announced in just the way to hurt 
 and humble him most. It was an exquisite evening on 
 the Luneta. The band had been playing its best. The 
 paseo was crowded with carriages and the broad walks 
 with sauntering throngs. Arm in arm, Langham and 
 Gridley came down toward the kiosk, lifting their white 
 caps occasionally to ladies driving by. A number of low- 
 hanging, open Victorias had been drawn up along the 
 curb, each attracting its little knot of gallants in cool 
 summer garb, and in one of these the friends caught 
 sight of Mrs. and Miss Belden. Langham's eyes, indeed, 
 had been looking for just one face, and found it here. 
 
SU COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Perhaps it was because of this preoccupation he failed to 
 note how very many men were regarding him curiously 
 and with strange sympathy in their gaze — how many 
 were the whispers passing from lip to lip. He had been 
 urged to call at Belden's, to come and be at home and 
 sure of welcome. The colonel himself had so assured 
 him ; but a sense of something — over-sensitiveness prob- 
 ably — had kept him away. Not until the case was 
 finished, the finding, acquittal, conviction, sentence — 
 whatever it might be — announced, would he accept invi- 
 tation even to call. He and Gridley had driven out to 
 ruined Guadalupe that afternoon, and, returning by Culi 
 Culi and Pasay, had reached the Luneta late and without 
 first going to their quarters, where at this moment, with 
 sorrowing face, an aid-de-camp of the commanding gen- 
 eral was nervously tramping up and down the gallery 
 awaiting their return. Quitting their carriage opposite 
 the south battery, the officers had walked but a short dis- 
 tance before coming upon the Belden carriage, and at 
 sight of it Captain Gridley bethought him of a man he 
 wished to speak to for a moment, and so, unwittingly, 
 left Langham to his fate. 
 
 Two men were in conversation with Mrs. Belden, who, 
 on the rear seat, next the curb, could not see the coming 
 officers. Kitty — even >vhile listening, apparently, to the 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 325 
 
 words poured into her ear — was sitting facing her mother 
 and looking for him who now, raising his cap, bowed to 
 both ladies, and as in dut>' bound, first addressed the 
 elder. Yet in Kitty's anxious eyes he might have read 
 some premonition, for there was trouble in every face in 
 and around that little Victoria. There were scores of 
 searching eyes, too, waiting now and watching on every 
 side. For an instant, as he addressed her mother. Miss 
 Belden believed that he must have heard — that he had 
 purposely come forth that all might see how bravely he 
 could bear this, too. But that hope vanished the instant 
 he turned to her, and in that instant, in her eyes, he saw 
 that the news had come, and that they knew it, these 
 people, before him. Strj^ker, colonel of volunteers, but 
 long of the old army, saw what Kitty Belden saw, and 
 his lips signaled w^arning to Shannon, who was at her 
 side. But it was to Shannon that, as Kitty Belden's 
 trembling hand released itself, Langham turned. His 
 face went very white and he strove to speak calmly, but 
 he spoke in terms that told he would have no denial. 
 " It's come, I see. What is it, Shannon ? " 
 Shannon's eyes flew to Stryker's and round the fur- 
 tively glancing circle, but Langham's voice brought them 
 sharply back to his. He shook loose, too, the hand that 
 Stryker laid upon his arm. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 " Out with it, man ! " he demanded, and instinctively 
 his left hand sought the carriage rail close by Kitty's side, 
 though he faced his old friend and comrade and held him 
 to his task. 
 
 " Langham, I can't " began the poor fellow. " Let 
 
 Gridley. He'll be here in " 
 
 " Out with it now, Shannon ! Is it ? " 
 
 " It's suspension," answered Shannon miserably, ** and 
 — reprimand." 
 
 One moment, in silence, Langham stood facing his old 
 associate, his face still very white, his lips quivering a 
 bit; his right hand, hanging by his side, closed and un- 
 closed once or twice spasmodically; his left, twitching, 
 still lay there on the carriage rail, close by Kitty's side. 
 He began slowly turning to his right — away from her — 
 until he could regain thorough self-command. Perhaps 
 she thought him going without a word, without having 
 heard a word of sympathy — that infinite sympathy that 
 seemed to surge in every heart. Whatever the cause, it 
 overcame all consideration of maidenly reserve, for with 
 sudden movement she swayed toward him — to him, as 
 though to arrest his going, and quick, light, unseen be- 
 neath the folds of her broad silken scarf, both her slender 
 hands had seized — her left hand had stolen into — his ; and 
 Langham, incredulous, wondering, even in that moment 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 827 
 
 of intense chagrin, turned again for one sudden glance in 
 her uplifted, swimming eyes, and in them read compen- 
 sation for a thousand ills, and thanked his God such sor- 
 row had not come in vain. 
 
 Not until some hours later were these two permitted 
 speech with each other — and without supervision other 
 than that of the Man in the Moon. It was past ten. 
 Callers at the Gillettes' were less numerous than usual, 
 nor did they long remain. Something was obviously 
 uppermost in the minds of the receiving party. Even 
 Mrs. Gillette did not, as usual, beseech her visitors to 
 come out on the back gallery and see the beauty of the 
 moonlit bay, with all the riding lights of the shipping, 
 the signal lamps of the fleet, the reflected radiance of the 
 myriad stars. Out over the placid waters the silvery 
 tinkle of the ships' bells had tolled the hour of ten, when 
 the sentry at the sea wall halted short, faced outward at 
 the gate, and presented arms to something he had never 
 seen before — an officer coming up the little flight of stone 
 steps from the broad, weed-strewn beach. A tall officer, 
 straight and slender, and one who moved none too briskly 
 for his years, was this, but the sentry could account for 
 languid action on part of many a man in uniform. What 
 he could not account for was Colonel Langham's coming 
 in the back way. Honest linesman that he was, Private 
 
328 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Rooney fixed his gaze on the far horizon as his salute 
 was hurriedly acknowledged. Possibly the sympathy of 
 his Celtic heart had gone out to the lately accused officer 
 — Heaven knows it was general throughout the rank and 
 file! Possibly Private Rooney, like the gallant Irishman 
 he was, had affairs of his own in mind and would never 
 spy on a fellow man. Certain it is that he stood rigidly 
 at attention, all apparent inattention to what might be 
 transpiring behind him, and Rooney never saw what we 
 saw, the little white hand that trembled on the balcony 
 rail above, while another white hand, cordial and clasp- 
 ing, met still another, extended by the new arrival, and 
 led him within, and, without delay, aloft. The general- 
 ship of some generals' wives would be a valuable asset in 
 some generals' noddles, were it only transferable. Not 
 even Mrs. Belden was in view when Mrs. Gillette — 
 Heaven's choicest blessings rain upon her ! — led Langham 
 to that seaward gallery and left him there. It was all 
 her planning, for well she knew how hard it would be for 
 him to have to run the gauntlet of dozens of sympa- 
 thizers along the Calle Real. "Come by the Calle 
 Marina — the beach," said she. " They'll all be going by 
 ten o'clock, and I'll meet you." 
 
 Long as he may live Langham will never hear four 
 bells sound without a thrill. Some belated mariners were 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 still tinkling, and in sweet, silvery cadence, the chime 
 came floating over the hushed and waveless waters as he 
 stepped forth into the shadowy veranda and looked 
 eagerly about him. For a moment he saw nothing but 
 the exquisite panorama of that moonlit bay, but that was 
 not the vision he sought. Then, just then, came a faint 
 sound, the rustle of a skirt a little to the right, and there, 
 faintly, he discerned a tall, slender shape, all in filmy 
 white. 
 
 There was no languor in his step now. Five 
 quick strides brought him close. Then out went both 
 his hands, searching. One moment they clasped two 
 others that trembled very much but without a struggle 
 for release. Then with a sudden impulse, for nothing 
 articulate had been said, he let them go, only to throw 
 both arms this time about the yielding form and hold 
 it close-pressed to an exultant, throbbing heart! It was 
 some minutes before he or she could speak coherently, 
 or in more than monosyllables. It was nearer five bells 
 than four when at last he could trust his voice with the 
 question — he could only murmur it even then: 
 
 " They may refuse my resignation, but, just as soon 
 as it is accepted, I shall go — home. Kitty, will — my wife 
 go with me ? " 
 
 For a little minute there was silence. Then she lifted 
 
330 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 up her eyes and looked him full in his, with such depth 
 of trust and love, mingled with sympathy for his soldier 
 sorrow, and then, low and clear, came her answer, sealed 
 one instant later by the first kiss of her pure lips: 
 " I will go with you — anywhere." 
 
PART THREE 
 What Happened in Gotham 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 ANOTHER SOLDIER REWARDED. 
 
 WHEN you've had enough of fighting savages 
 on scriptural principles, my boy, come home 
 and 'tend to business," wrote Shafto before that 
 sentence was announced. What Shafto said and wrote 
 after seeing that sentence in cold type will not be here 
 recorded. Langham's was not the only case that grew 
 out of the campaign. Sooner or later other officers trod 
 the path of humiliation, and later the homeward way, 
 where, however, were sometimes scenes and greetings 
 never contemplated by the framers of the Army Regula- 
 tions. Some men whose lot was cast in the regular ser- 
 vice had longer to bear the burden of official censure 
 than did Langham, lately of the volunteers. As between 
 a record for having done more and won more than any 
 officer of his grade, and the possession of a title in com- 
 mon with dozens who had won nothing else, Langham 
 probably got that which he would have chosen. Further- 
 more, he had won a reward and treasure beyond price 
 that, but for his soldier sorrow, might have been wooed 
 long months in vain. He was certainly the happiest-look- 
 ing man aboard the Teutonic when, with that sweet 
 young wife clinging to his arm, he gazed again upon the 
 
 383 
 
384 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 uplifted torch of majestic Miss Liberty and the towering 
 sky-scrapers of lower Gotham. They had journeyed 
 leisurely through Japan, and lazily through tropic seas to 
 India and on to Suez ; had wandered through Italy and 
 Switzerland, the Rhineland, and the north of France ; 
 had visited kinsfolk and charming country seats in the 
 Shires of England, and now, after many moons — all 
 honeymoons — following the final acceptance of his resig- 
 nation, and that very pretty wedding in Manila, whereat 
 Lieutenant Colonel Blake made one of his customary 
 speeches and referred to our Minneconjou brothers-in- 
 arms as seeking Minneconjou — gal relations, they were 
 coming home to Shafto and the great city, and to a wel- 
 come little looked for — that of the comrade and knight of 
 old, of Minneconjou days, for here with Shafto at the 
 White Star pier stood James the Silent. Whatever 
 could have brought that fervent campaigner so suddenly 
 to New York? 
 
 In Paris they had read the news of Bullard's final dis- 
 solution, leaving what was left of his fortune to the 
 widow. In the Shires they had heard that certain law- 
 yers had appeared in the interests of a very interesting 
 claimant — no less a claimant than a common-law wife, a 
 very dashing, handsome creature, who had abundant evi- 
 dence, documentary and otherwise, to prove her claims, 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 335 
 
 and such a pathetic, tear-starting tale to tell — all of a 
 young, trusting heart, a guileless girl lured from home, 
 friends, and fireside, tricked into a mock marriage, feted 
 a few years at home and abroad, then basely, cruelly, 
 shamefully, shamelessly deserted — just such a tale as the 
 press loves to exploit and the law to linger over. 
 
 One of Langham's first inquiries was for Mrs. Bullard. 
 She had rejoined her own kindred, said Shafto, was liv- 
 ing on the Hudson and would soon be coming to town 
 to call on Mrs. Langham. Captain Gridley, said Shafto, 
 could really tell more than he could, as the captain had 
 been twice to see her since his home-coming from Manila, 
 and Gridley, it seems, had at last availed himself of the 
 privilege of a long leave, and never, thought Langham, 
 had his trooper comrade appeared to better advantage. 
 Verily there was virtue in the tailor. Langham had al- 
 ways rather dreaded the coming together of Shafto and 
 this far Western rough rider, but to Langham's secret 
 joy, not unmixed with surprise, here stood his imper- 
 turbable friend garbed quite as appropriately as was 
 Shafto himself — and Shafto was an authority. 
 
 And these were not the only ones of the old set at Min- 
 neconjou to welcome eagerly the returning voyagers. 
 With delight in her eyes, Kitty greeted Mrs. Mack and 
 her general the vi^ry evening of their arrival, and it was 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 delicious to see Mrs. Mack's easy acceptance of Shafto's 
 civilities, and to listen to her tales of foreign travel. The 
 Macks, too, had come home by way of Suez and had 
 visited sections of Europe not comprised in the itinerary 
 of the younger couple — Greece and Ireland in particular, 
 which enabled the good lady to hold the floor unchal- 
 lenged, though Shafto's face was a study when she gravely 
 told her darling Kitty she'd missed the chance of her life 
 in failing to see Athens and the Esophagus by moon- 
 light. Shafto could never quite assimilate American army 
 ideas and methods, though he took to Gridley at the 
 start, and found much to approve of in General Mack. It 
 was the general's " lady," as Mrs. Mack preferred to be 
 announced, that Shafto could not successfully interpret. 
 " Is she a type of what one finds in the American serv- 
 ice ? " he asked his nephew. " Are Mrs. O'Dowd and 
 The Campaigner types of your own?" w^as Langham's 
 laughing answer. " If you're looking for types," he said, 
 " look there," and his proud eyes turned to where his 
 young wife stood at the curtained archway, bidding Grid- 
 ley good-night. Shafto was a worshiper there even be- 
 fore that first gallop in the park. After that he would 
 have made riding the one ceremony of the day had not 
 professional objections presently interposed, on learning 
 the nature of which Shafto ordered his horses into win- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS SSt 
 
 ter quarters and walked about the premises as though on 
 porcelain or pipestems. 
 
 Shafto had long approved of " Cousin Amy, shallow- 
 hearted," especially after she so deftly set her cap for 
 him, for in Amy's brilliant eyes what were the snows of 
 December when combined with such abundant bank ac- 
 count? But Cousin Amy struck a false note when she 
 sought to '' patronize," if not even to " form," her cousin 
 by the accident of marriage. *' This charming bit of 
 mountain heather," as she described her. Cousin Amy 
 dwelt rather too pointedly upon Cous'n Pitt's former at- 
 tachment and the possibilities of his again becoming 
 fickle, and in the most innocently kittenish w^ay in the 
 world succeeded in saying the nastiest little things 
 imaginable and leaving Kitty consumed with wrath until 
 Langham came home from the office. " Pitt " told it all, 
 wdth a whimsical grin, to Percy over their postprandial 
 cigar that evening, and Percy, w^ho had noted Kitty's 
 flaming cheeks and eyes at dinner, felt that something had 
 happened to vex her mightily, and blazed up and boiled 
 over at the recital of Amy's " ways and means," to the 
 end that all the blandishments of that hitherto successful 
 coquette were lavished on him thereafter in vain. A 
 busy man was Shafto. He had succeeded in running 
 down arrd bringing to the bar of justice the man whose 
 
838 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 villiany had wrecked so many modest homes and fortunes. 
 He was a " bear " on the stock market when a boom 
 seemed imminent. He was planning for Pitt's new house 
 and taking all manner of men, no wiser than himself, 
 into his confidence as to nursery accommodations. He 
 was at war with the administration, while secretly ad- 
 miring its vehement head and vigorous policy. He was, 
 in fact, a man divided against himself when that charm- 
 ing widow, Mrs. BuUard, came to consult him in a busi- 
 ness way about certain investments, and he was com- 
 pelled to say to her that any investment would be injudi- 
 cious until the courts had disposed of the mysterious 
 claimant against her late husband's estate. " If she come 
 into court and swear to the truth of her statements and 
 bring witnesses to prove the open existence of her rela- 
 tions with Mr. Bullard while abroad, I don't see," said 
 Mr. Shafto, " how the court can possibly put her aside." 
 
 It was at this stage of the proceedings that Captain 
 Jim Gridley, hearing through Langham of Shafto's dic- 
 tum, broke silence at last with just these three words: 
 
 " But I do." 
 
 This was late in November, and a peculiarity of the 
 case thus far was the fact that the fair claimant referred 
 to had been kept beyond the reach of what her lawyers 
 termed "possibly adverse influences." Shafto, who al- 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS S39 
 
 ways referred to the firm as " solicitors," had never en- 
 countered them in any way. All he knew of tliem and all 
 he could tell Gridley and Langham when successively 
 they arrived upon the scene, was that men on the Street 
 referred to them as '* energetic and aggressive " in their 
 profession — lawyers of the Dodson & Fogg variety, he 
 presumed. In her desire to avert publicity, to remain in 
 retirement and hear no more of the scandal attaching 
 to her late husband's name, Mrs. Bullard, it seems, had 
 besought her brother — himself a young beginner at the 
 law — to settle with the claimant's attorneys and have 
 done with it, even though it left her with a mere pittance. 
 But he had enlisted the interest and sympathies of certain 
 elders of the profession who, while not at first appearing 
 in the case, were yet keeping watch over it if for no other 
 reason than that the " aggressive " firm referred to would 
 equally bear watching. The demands of the claimant 
 v/ere pronounced by her attorneys " as no more than 
 her rights," but by everybody else as extortionate and im- 
 possible. It was beHeved that if she herself could be 
 found and reasoned with, a settlement far more equit- 
 able could be effected, but this her attorneys were evi- 
 dently determined to prevent. She could only be heard 
 of through them. She would appear in court at the proper 
 time to demand recognition of her full rights. " Mean* 
 
340 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 while," said these legal gentr}', '' she has placed herself 
 and her case unreservedly in our hands, and we shall pro- 
 ceed to extremities unless her just and moderate demands, 
 in view of all she has suffered, are promptly and fully 
 complied with." Mrs. Bullard had tearfully pleaded with 
 her brother and his older advisers to yield and save her 
 the anguish of having it all dragged to light and gloated 
 over by the public. " The longer you delay," said the 
 claimant's attorneys, " the more it shall cost you — in 
 more ways than one." It was the talk at two clubs that 
 settlement was to be made on the claimant's own terms, 
 when Shafto got that singular wire from San Francisco : 
 
 Just arrived. Tell Mrs. Bullard's attorneys to refuse settle- 
 ment. Reach New York next week. Gridley. 
 
 They had refused accordingly, and looked to Gridley 
 to explain, and Gridley, when he came, declined to ex- 
 plain until he had time to " look about a bit." " You will 
 see," said he, " they will be in no hurry to bring it to trial. 
 What they hoped was to force a settlement out of court." 
 And now, having looked about a bit as he said, and 
 after some lively comings and goings, and w^hen Shafto 
 had sadly made known to Mrs. Bullard that he did not see 
 how the court could possibly put aside the claims of her 
 alleged predecessor, Captain Gridley had dropped in 
 
COMRADES IN 'ARMS 341 
 
 most conveniently with his brief announcement, " But 
 I do." 
 
 And he did. Acting under his advice, Mrs. Bullard's 
 attorneys, now thoroughly aroused, scouted every claim 
 and dared their opponents to produce the claimant and 
 her case. It presently dawned on these astute prac- 
 titioners that some strange reinforcement had come to 
 the adversary, and for the life of them they couldn't tell 
 what. Subsequent offers of settlement, at half the orig- 
 inal rate, being likewise rejected, it finally resulted that 
 the case was set for trial, and ? grand sensation for the 
 press and the public, a savory piece of scandal, was prom- 
 ised for the morrow ; and then at the last moment the 
 whole dainty dish was dumped into the fire. The " aggres- 
 sive " practitioners and the eager reporters were left 
 mystified and discomfited. A dramatic scene or story 
 was utterly spoiled by the cold-blooded, calculating, con- 
 summate effrontery of a comparative stranger to courts of 
 any kind — a cavalry captain from the far Philippines, 
 James Gridley by name, and this is how it happened : 
 
 The case was set for a Wednesday morning, and a 
 crowded court was looked for. At nine o'clock on Tues- 
 day evening three men walked quietly into the main en- 
 trance of a very quiet up-town hotel. One of the three 
 stepped to the desk : showed a telegram to the clerk on 
 
342 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 duty, who glanced up with quick interest in his eyes, 
 looked at the clock and pointed with his pen to a corridor 
 leading to the ladies' entrance. Silently the three dis- 
 appeared beyond the curtained archway, and presently 
 stood opposite the elevator and under the full glare of 
 the electric lights, uncovering as a little party came forth 
 from the restaurant, passed them laughingly by, and went 
 aloft in the noiseless car. This left them for a moment 
 alone; the first of their number, tall, stern-featured, 
 square- jawed, and, but for his heavy mustache, clean- 
 shaven ; the second, bearded and bronzed, a clear case of 
 far Westerner in garb and bearing; the third a wiry, 
 keen-eyed fellow (the one who had stepped to the desk), 
 now keeping rather in the background. At them the 
 bell-buttoned door-boy looked with certain resentment — 
 " Gentlemen unaccompanied by ladies," being expected 
 to confine themselves to the main entrance, lobby, and 
 office. The boy stared with keener interest, when, a mo- 
 ment later, with much clatter of hoofs, a carriage drew 
 up under the porte cochere. The three came quickly for- 
 ward as he threw open the door, and a side-whiskered, 
 eye-glassed, angular man came up the steps with a sin- 
 gularly handsome woman, in deep mourning, leaning 
 lightly upon his arm. These two entered the brilliant 
 hallway, and instantly the tall, stern-featured man, pale, 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 843 
 
 and with lips close compressed, stepped forward and, con- 
 fronting the woman without a word, once more lifted his 
 hat. One glance into that face she gave, then with an 
 awful horror in her eyes, with a gurgling cry on her lips, 
 dropped as though shot dead, and lay in a senseless heap 
 upon the rug. 
 
 " What does this mean ? " gasped the spectacled man. 
 " This lady is my friend — my client." 
 
 " This lady, sir," was the icy answer, " is my wife." 
 Reporters stormed in vain that night. The house 
 physician forbade their entrance to the rooms reserved 
 by Messrs. Lyon & Spotts for their client, known to 
 them and to law, said they, as Mrs. Amos Bullard — the 
 other lady of that name being, as they claimed, an un- 
 authorized edition. But the legal practitioner present re- 
 linquished the case, nolens volens, to the medical, and was 
 further advised by certified minions of the law in at- 
 tendance, to-wit, Police Detective Corrigan of Mulberry^ 
 Street, and Sheriff Blossom, formerly of Omaha and 
 Cheyenne, later of Silver Hill, S. D., that the fair client 
 and claimant had no right whatever to the name he had 
 given as hers — there being a " priory attachment " in 
 favor of one James Gridley Barron, a citizen of Cali- 
 fornia in the eighties, but later known as Private, Cor- 
 poral, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain James Gridley, 
 
344 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 — th Regiment of Cavalry, U. S..A. Mr. Lyon retired 
 for the night and subsequently from the case, but the 
 doctors were longer on duty. 
 
 And this was Jim Gridley's sorrowful story, told later 
 to Langham, Shafto, and to the attorneys retained in 
 behalf of the legal Mrs. Bullard — four men who listened 
 in silence and in sympathy, then wrung his hand at its 
 close. Born and bred in the army, only son of an officer 
 of artillery, some of his earliest recollections were of 
 Sitka and Wrangell, and the ice floes of Alaska. His 
 mother, whom he deeply loved, had died when he was 
 only twelve. His father, who had deeply loved her, 
 brooded long over her loss, but saved and stinted then 
 and long thereafter, with the view and hope that their 
 boy might be educated as a gentleman. The lad's own 
 wish had been for West Point, but it had never been his 
 mother's. An expensive private school and then the 
 University was the programme, and he had studied fairly, 
 and all might have gone well had he not, when just 
 twenty-one, fallen deplorably in love with a very beauti- 
 ful girl whose home was in Sacramento. His father, 
 now aging, had investigated as to her family and asso- 
 ciates, and gravely disapproved. Infatuated, the son had 
 married against his father's wish, and yet the father had 
 forgiven, and tried hard to like his daughter-in-law, but 
 
COMRADES IN [^RMS 345 
 
 retired presently from active service, and then the trouble 
 began. 
 
 Of low extraction, yet gifted with beauty and strange 
 power of fascination, the girl's ambition was to shine in 
 society or on the stage. She had expected to be wel- 
 comed and feted at the Presidio, but found that denied 
 her. They could not afford to live in San Francisco. 
 Her young husband was almost dependent upon his 
 father, who built them a little home and came to live with 
 them, but, sorrowing deeply, happily died in time. His 
 entire fortune, a few thousands, he left to his boy ; and she 
 fretted, complained, and insisted they should move to 
 the city. The baby born to them she rebelled against 
 and neglected. Life with her became a burden, yet he 
 loved, and so sought to earn the means to indulge her 
 whims. A great opportunity opened in Alaska. Friends 
 of his father's were interested in the enterprise. She 
 could not go to so bleak and miseiaole a place. It would 
 kill their child, she said, if it didn't kill her. He left the 
 little home and his little nest-egg of a fortune in her 
 hands, and went hopefully, prayerfully his way to the 
 frozen north. In two months, having her infrequent 
 letters posted in Sacramento, she had left her little one 
 with her people and moved to San Francisco, as she said, 
 '* to study dramatic art." She lived in stvle at the Grand ; 
 
346 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 went home less and less frequently ; spent lavishly, specu- 
 lated, and in a few months ran through their entire 
 fortune. The little one died, thank God for that! The 
 mother sold the modest home; returned to the city as a 
 dashing widow in becoming mourning; soon found it 
 necessary to receive other support, and a Nevada mining 
 magnate stood ready. There was a stir and scandal at 
 the hotel ; a request for both to leave ; and young Barron, 
 summoned back by warning letters that had been long 
 months finding, and many weeks bringing him, returned 
 to find home, fortune, child, wife, and honor — all gone. 
 So far as he was concerned, they knew the rest. Enlist- 
 ing as James Gridley, his mother's father's name, he won 
 his way ; and as soon as act of Congress could amend his 
 record, he would resume his own. The past had been 
 buried, so far as he was concerned, until in Amos 
 Bullard's beautiful wife at Silver Hill he had found a 
 woman wronged and in peril, and in Amos Bullard's 
 assailant he felt confident he should find, some day, the 
 woman who had tricked and dishonored him; had gone 
 from bad to worse, had become a wanton, a swindler, and 
 adventuress. 
 
 For a time she had vanished, but, as foreshadowed, 
 came forward with her impudent claim so soon as the 
 broken old man was called to his final account. An 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 347 
 
 agent, long since employed, had sent him by cable the 
 single word, " Come." At San Francisco full details met 
 him. At New York he put the detectives on Lyon & 
 Spotts, and located her in a neighboring city. He let 
 her lawyers bring her to the metropolis that there, un- 
 wittingly, they might deliver her into the hands of the 
 man she most had wronged. It rested with him now to 
 deliver her into the hands of the law. In this the attend- 
 ing physician told him he would better be deliberate. 
 Mrs. James G. Barron was a stricken woman, but — Mrs. 
 Amos Bullard's name and fortune were safe. 
 
 Another summer was come. The new regiments of 
 the new army, enlarged and reorganized, had gone to 
 Manila. The old regiments had come home. The 2 — th, 
 in which Langham had spent his Minneconjou days, was 
 rejoicing in its stations on Champlain and the sparkling 
 Bay. Colonel and Mrs. Belden, " grandpa and grand- 
 ma'* now, had been having blissful days with Kit 
 and Pitt and " Precious," officially known as William 
 Pitt Berkely Langham, Second. Mrs. Sparker had 
 called at the charming new home away up near Central 
 Park. Mrs. Crabbe, a recent acquisition, had not. 
 " Cousin Amy, shallow-hearted," had flitted to England 
 for the summer, leaving Shafto still hovering about Man- 
 hattan, awaiting for the exodus of Kit, King Baby, and 
 
348 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 "my nephew, Colonel Langham," to the Adirondacks. 
 Mrs. Bullard was contemplating, so it was said, a sojourn 
 at the sea-shore, despite Kitty Langham's earnest " bid " 
 to come and bide a while with them in their bark lodge 
 in the Wilderness, when the plans of all our immediate 
 circle met temporary check by the coming of a missive 
 that might have been foreseen. 
 
 Fort Grant^ A. T., June — , 19—. 
 Dear Langham : 
 
 Poor old "Grid" is free at last. You know he brought that 
 fair incumbrance out to Mesilla, as advised by the doctors. It 
 was the only way to prolong her life; but he saw and she saw 
 the end was coming, and — well, you know Mrs. Blake was 
 always commanding officer, not I. At her suggestion they 
 brought the dying woman to Curtin's Ranch near us and nursed 
 and did what they could, but Jim— left last night with the mortal 
 remains for Sacramento, and Nan nearly cried her eyes out 
 bidding him good-by. She says he's the one man she knows 
 that deserves to be an angel— or marry one. He was too much 
 broken up to write and asked me to do so for him. 
 
 My salutations to the Heroine of the 'Manuensis, likewise to 
 the Princeling. She made just the wife for one of the best 
 fellows and soldiers I know. "Are there any more at home 
 like — her?" If so — ^but here my wife reads, interposes, deposes, 
 and says — and pulls my ear as she says it — that the undersigned is 
 a silly old gabbler. 
 
 Yours confidentially, 
 
 Gerald Blake, 
 Colonel Cavalry. 
 
COMRADES IN ARMS 849 
 
 " I wonder," said Kitty, as she read this over a second 
 time, *' I wonder " 
 
 " Well, what ? " said her expectant spouse. 
 
 " If — well — what Captain Gridley ever did with the 
 handkerchief — you know, the one he picked up at the 
 cottonwoods," and then the heroine of the 'Manuensis 
 bent to seize and snuggle the lusty little son and heir, for 
 Langham was regarding her fixedly. 
 
 " Katherine Belden," said he, slowly, mischievously, " I 
 begin — to believe — you are still — just a wee bit " 
 
 " I'm not," said Kitty promptly. 
 
 • • ■ • ■ 
 
 Nor has she yet had reason to be, but then, as dear 
 Amy says, he is still young and impressionable, and the 
 novelty hasn't worn off as has some of the bloom. At all 
 events it cannot well be on Mrs. Bullard's account, for 
 now, three years later, though Fox, Gordon, and Cham- 
 pion have long since reappeared, and the little lady of 
 Minneconjou days and her colonel ride daily and delight- 
 edly, there comes no rival on Roscoe from Silver Hill 
 or elsewhere. The handkerchief picked up at the cotton- 
 woods has found its way back to the original owner, and 
 that fair owner to the cottonwoods (though not those of 
 the Minneconjou), for James the Silent came and spoke 
 to some purpose, and the long missives received by the 
 
S50 COMRADES IN ARMS 
 
 Langhams from the far frontier, full of such womanly 
 tenderness and pride and love, are in the hand that penned 
 the superscription of the letter Kitty Belden capsized at 
 the Manila Hospital — the letter that seemed to burn her 
 pretty fingers then. The letters that are so eagerly, joy- 
 ously welcomed now — are signed Eleanor Barron. 
 
 FINIS- 
 
^ 
 
c. 6^, 
 
 7^ 
 
 9128V)6 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 

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