LIBRARY 
 ^University of California^ 
 
 IRVINE
 
 THE STOBY OF 
 
 FORT FRATISTE 
 
 BY 
 
 CAPTAIN CHAKLES KING, U.S.A., 
 
 Author of " The Colonel s Daughter," " Between The Lines," Etc. 
 
 Adapted from the drama of the same name of which, in collaboration 
 
 with EVELYN GREENLEAF SUTHERLAND and EMMA V. 
 
 SHERIDAN FRY, he is the author. 
 
 F TENNYSON NEELY, 
 Publisher. 
 
 CHICAGO. NEW YORK.
 
 PS 
 
 Copyright, 1895, 
 By F. TENNYSON NEELY-
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 There is a story within a story which should perhaps 
 be told in presenting to the indulgent reader this 
 tale of army life. Three years ago I was surprised 
 and pleased by an invitation to collaborate in the 
 preparation of an army play, for the invitation came 
 from those who had won high honors in their chosen 
 field. The months spent in the gradual develop 
 ment of our draina were full of pleasure, yet great 
 was our rejoicing when the work was done. But 
 then came blighting illness to her who was its 
 inspiration and long, long months of utter seclusion. 
 Then followed the mysterious disappearance of the 
 manuscript story of the play a manuscript of which 
 there was no copy, for it had not even been typed. 
 Finally came the suggestion that the story be 
 promptly rewritten and published, not in the origi 
 nal four parts corresponding to the four acts, but 
 in twenty chapters wherein the entire tale might be 
 told, and this was the work assigned to me. 
 
 Reading over now the completed pages, I realize 
 how very much I have missed the guiding hand of 
 one, the valued suggestions of the other, of my 
 gifted and gracious collaborators, and how many 
 apologies I owe to both. C. K. 
 
 JUNE, 1895.
 
 FOET FRAYNE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE snow was mantling the wild waste of barren 
 prairie stretching toward the white peaks of the Big 
 Horn, shrouding its desolation, hiding its accus 
 tomed ugliness, and warning scout, soldier or cow 
 boy to look well to his landmarks before venturing 
 
 O 
 
 forth upon its trackless sea, for even the cattle trails 
 were hidden, and the stage road lost to view. Be 
 tween its banks of glistening white the Platte rolled 
 black and swollen, for a rare thing had happened 
 one so rare that old trappers and traders said they 
 never knew the like before since first they sighted 
 Larruie " peak or forced the passes of the Medicine 
 Bow there had been three days of softly-falling 
 8ii ow, and not a whisper of a Wyoming gale. There 
 had been a thaw in the Laramie plains, preceded by a 
 soft south wind in the Park country of Colorado, 
 and whole fleecy hillsides, said the natives, were 
 "slumping off" in the upper waters of the river, and 
 that was how the Platte came to be tossing high its 
 wintry wave under the old stockade at the ferry and 
 sweeping in power, instead of sleeping in peace, be 
 neath its icy blanket, around the huge bluff where 
 waved the colors of old Fort Frayne.
 
 6 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 The roadway winding from the river-side up to 
 the adjutant s office at the southern end of the garri 
 son, was still unbroken. The guard at the ferryhouse 
 had been withdrawn, and as for the veteran stockade, 
 sole relic of the early days of the overland stage 
 route, it looked now in its silence and desolation, 
 heavily capped as it was with its weight of snow, 
 like some huge, flattened-out Charlotte de Russe, at 
 least that was what Ellis Farrar, daughter of the post 
 commander, likened it to as she peered from the 
 north window of their cosy quarters on the crest of 
 the bluff. "And to think of Christmas being almost 
 here, and not a chance of getting a wagon through 
 from the railway," she mumured, "and I so longed 
 to make it bright and joyous for mother. It is al 
 ways her saddest season." 
 
 These low-toned words were addressed to Captain 
 Leale of her father s regiment, a strong, soldierly-look 
 ing man of nearly forty years, who, with lield glass 
 in hand, had been studying the wintry landscape to 
 the north and east. He turned as the young girl 
 spoke, and, lowering his glasses, followed her eyes 
 and looked anxiously across the bright army parlor 
 to where the lire-light from the blazing logs upon 
 the hearth fell full upon a matronly woman whose 
 luxuriant hair was already turning gray and whose 
 sweet, patient face bore the unmistakable trace of 
 deep sorrow. She was seated at a desk, an unfinished 
 letter before her, and had paused in the midst of her 
 writing and dropped off into the dreamland of far 
 away scenes and memories. From a drawer in the
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 7 
 
 desk she had taken what was evidently a portrait, a 
 small photograph, and had been intently studying it 
 while the only other occupants of the room were busy 
 at the window. 
 
 It is you know Royle s, my brother s picture. " 
 whispered Ellis. " I know it, though I haven t seen 
 it in ever so long five years I think." 
 
 Again the captain bowed, inclining his head in the 
 slow, grave way, that was habitual with him. "I 
 know," he said, briefly, and the gaze he fixed upon 
 his colonel s wife was full of anxiety and sympathy. 
 "I have often wished that your father s promotion 
 had brought him to any other garrison in the army. 
 You remember he was stationed here when lieuten 
 ant-colonel, and it was from here that Royle went to 
 West Point." 
 
 I remember it but vaguely. That was nine years 
 ago, captain, and I was but seven. We saw him during 
 his cadet furlough two years later in 1883 and 
 that was the last. Mother only rarely speaks of him, 
 and father, never, unless unless," she added, with 
 timid appeal, "he does to you. Does he?" 
 
 Captain Leale paused a moment before replying. 
 Only that very morning had his colonel talked with 
 him, the most trusted of his troop commanders, of 
 Ellis s long-missing brother. Only within an hour had 
 Farrar sought again his advice as to one whom he could 
 not bring himself to name, and referred to in shame 
 and sorrow as "my eldest," and only rarely as "my 
 sou." First born of the little flock, the boy had been 
 given his father s name. The only child for several
 
 8 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 years, petted, spoiled, over-indulged by a fond, pure- 
 hearted mother, then reared among the isolated army 
 garrisons of the far West, the handsome, headstrong, 
 daring youth but all too early had shown a tendency 
 to wild companionship and reckless living. Fev>- 
 men in the cavalry arm of the service were held in 
 higher esteem than Colonel Royle Farrar, who, entering 
 the service with the first regiment to be sent to the 
 front from New York City in the spring of 1861, 
 had fought his way to the command of a brigade in 
 the last campaign, and then been commissioned as a 
 junior major of cavalry at the reorganization of the 
 regular army. The president himself had tendered 
 Farrar, long afterwards, a cadetship for his son, and 
 it was gratefully yet almost fearfully accepted. The 
 mother could not be brought to believe her boy would 
 not strive to do honor to his name at the Point. The 
 father dreaded that the wayward, reckless fellow, in 
 tolerant of restraint or discipline, would merit pun 
 ishment, and, being punished, would resent. Royle 
 stood the ordeal only fairly well at first. Demerits 
 in profusion and "light prison" twice had clouded 
 his record before the furlough year, but the mother s 
 eyes rejoiced in the sight of the handsome, stalwart 
 young soldier after his two years of rigorous train 
 ing, even though the mother heart grieved over the 
 evidences of dissipation and vice which speedily 
 marred the long-looked-for days of his vacation. Be 
 tween him and his father had been more than one 
 stormy scene before Royle returned to the academy 
 interviews from which the senior issued pale, stern,
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 9 
 
 sorrowful; the young man gloomy, sullen, and more 
 than half defiant. In his second class year came tid 
 ings of misdemeanor that almost broke the mother s 
 heart. Farrar hastened from the distant frontier to 
 the banks of the Hudson expecting nothing short of 
 dismissal for the boy, and promising the mother to 
 fetch him at once to her, but the court, even in sen 
 tencing, had signed a plea for mercy for the cadet 
 who bore so honored a name, a plea that his classmates 
 would never have indorsed, and the president re 
 mitted the punishment to a term of confinement to 
 barracks and camp. The father wasted no words in 
 reproach. He pointed out to the son that this was 
 his last chance. Royle, Jr. , had sullenly responded 
 that his disgrace was due entirely to spies and tale 
 bearers and showed neither contrition nor promise of 
 amend. A year later came the last straw. Reported 
 for a violation of regulations in having liquor in his 
 possession, Cadet Farrar wrote a lying explanation 
 to the effect that it was placed in his room by parties 
 unknown to him, and for the purpose of bringing 
 him into trouble, but he had been seen "off limits" 
 at a questionable resort in the neighboring village 
 the previous night, had been drinking and card play 
 ing there, had lost money and refused to pay, had 
 been seen returning by two lower classmen to whom 
 he offered liquor, then staggered to his quarters only 
 an hour or so before reveille roll call. He was placed 
 in close arrest after being confronted with the array 
 of evidence, and that night deserted and was seen no 
 more. Again the colonel made his mournful pil-
 
 10 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 grimage to the Point, and old comrades pityingly, 
 sorrowfully told him the whole story. He went back 
 to his regiment looking ten years older, took his wife 
 and two younger children, "Will and Ellis, to his 
 heart, and from that day never spoke again his first 
 born s name. It had been for years his custom to 
 sign all official papers in full Royle Farrar but 
 the very sound of the Christian name seemed from 
 that time on to give him distress, and R. Farrar be 
 came his signature personal or official. 
 
 The young man was heard of occasionally, how 
 ever, borrowing money from officers and friends and 
 relatives on his father s account. Then he went to 
 sea, then returned to New York and wrote a long 
 letter to his mother, telling how he mourned the old 
 days, and was going to lead a new life, and she too 
 gladly sent him all the money she had. Then there 
 was another interval, and, after a year, he again ap 
 peared as a suppliant for aid. He had been des 
 perately ill, he said, and kind, but poor, humble 
 people had cared for him, and they ought to be re 
 warded. The mother would have sent again her 
 last cent to him direct, but Farrar interposed. His 
 check went to a trusted friend, with instructions to 
 investigate, and that friend was his old comrade, 
 Major Feu ton, and, as he expected, it proved only 
 another lie. 
 
 Then there came an era of apparent prosperity, 
 and now the poor mother in joy besought her 
 husband to recognize the son, for he reported him 
 self in good employ, with a fair salary and brilliant
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 11 
 
 prospects. He even sent a draft to repay a small 
 portion of what lie termed his father s loan, but this 
 was soon followed by a draft on his father for 
 double the amount, and later another, and then 
 letters of inquiry came from his employer, and then 
 rueful complaint of how that trusting person had 
 been swindled. In her agony of grief and disap 
 pointment the mother s health was giving away, and 
 Farrar concealed from her particulars even worse 
 that their wretched son had won the love of his em 
 ployer s only daughter, and that she had followed him 
 from her father s house. There had been a secret 
 marriage. There was another Royle. This news 
 had come to the colonel but a day or two before. It 
 was this that had unsealed his lips and turned him 
 to Captain Leale for counsel and support. 
 
 "My daughter," wrote the bereaved father, "was 
 the idol of my heart, the image of the mother who 
 was taken from her long years ago. Yet she turned 
 from me in the passion of her love for him, and 
 they have gone God alone knows where. If you can 
 find him, say that though he has robbed me poor, I can 
 forgive him all if he will but be good and kind to 
 her. She was delicately nurtured, as carefully edu 
 cated as your own daughter could be, sir, and she 
 was more to me, for she was my all. I own that, 
 having married him, her duty was with her husband, 
 but why should she have hidden that marriage from 
 her father? My own fortune is well-nigh wrecked, 
 but she has her mother s little portion enough, if
 
 12 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 lie can resist his craving for drink and gambling, to 
 support them in comfort. I pray you help me save 
 my child." 
 
 All this sad history was now well known to 
 Malcolm Leale, and his eyes were full of sorrow as 
 he bent them upon the gentle, yearning woman at 
 the desk, lost in her study of her first-born s face. 
 Ellis in turn stood watching him. She was a girl of 
 sixteen, yet seemed older far, because of the years 
 in which she had been her mother s companion and 
 closest friend. Then as he made no answer to her 
 query and seemed plunged in thought, she turned 
 and stepped lightly over to the mother s side. 
 
 "Day dreaming again, Queen Mother?" she 
 asked, in the half-playful way that was habitual 
 with her. " If you don t go on with your letter 
 to Will, it won t be ready for the courier. Captain 
 Leale tells me they are to send one out at noon." 
 
 "Will they really? " asked Mrs. Farrar, rousing 
 suddenly. "Why, I had given up all hopes of 
 hearing from him this week, or of getting a letter 
 to him. Who is to go, captain? The pass must be 
 breast deep in snow." 
 
 "I think not, Mrs. Farrar. There was very 
 little wind, you know, and the fall seems to have 
 been very uniform. Corporal Rorke and a couple 
 of my men are getting ready now. The colonel 
 was only waiting, hoping that there might be still 
 some news from Red Cloud." 
 
 "Why, how can it come? The wires are down, 
 the road hidden, and the river unfordable," said
 
 FORT FKATNE. 13 
 
 Ellis, eagerly. "The last news was bad enough. I 
 own I don t want to hear further." 
 
 Over Leale s face a graver shadow fell. "There 
 are Indian riders who could easily make the 
 journey," he said. " Crow Knife, for instance, 
 whom the colonel sent over with the scouts five days 
 aero. The fact that he hasn t returned makes me 
 
 O 
 
 hopeful that matters are quieting down," but here 
 he turned again to the window to level his glass 
 upon the broad rolling expanse of white, stretching 
 in wave after wave to the bleak horizon. 
 
 "God forbid there should be further trouble," 
 said Mrs. Farrar, slowly, lingeringly replacing the 
 portrait in its drawer. "Surely the general has 
 force enough there now to keep those Indians in 
 check," she ventured, appealingly. 
 
 Leale lowered his binocular again. "He has, 
 provided the renegades captured on the Cheyenne 
 are not sent back there. Those people should not 
 be taken to the agency. They are Minneconjous, 
 Uncapapas, Brules, a turbulent, ill-conditioned lot, 
 who make trouble wherever the others are peaceably 
 disposed. They should have been disarmed and dis 
 mounted and put under guard at Fort Robinson until 
 this question is settled. What I fear is that Red 
 Wolf s band is still out and is defying the agent, 
 and that the revolt will spread to Kill Eagle s 
 village. If they go on the warpath, some of our 
 best scouts will be involved. That boy, Crow 
 Knife, is worth his weight in gold, but his father 
 and mother would follow Kill Eagle."
 
 14 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Do you think do you think that if they should 
 revolt, we our command would have to be 
 ordered out? " asked Ellis, anxiously. 
 
 " It might be," he replied, cautiously, " but I am 
 hoping that no winter campaign is in store for us. 
 Think of a march over such a waste as that," and 
 he pointed to the snow-clad scene before them. 
 "We couldn t cross the Platte this side of Laramie, 
 either, even if the stream were fordable. The run- 
 uing ice would cut the horses from under us." 
 
 Out across the parade, clear, yet soft, as though 
 muffled by the snow, the cavalry trumpet began 
 sounding orderly call. 
 
 "Rorkeand his men will start as soon as they 
 have had dinner, Mrs. Farrar," said Leale, "and 
 [ must see the colonel before they go. I will send 
 For your letters." He took up the glasses again for 
 3iie last survey, Ellis narrowly watching him, while 
 lier mother went on with her writing. For a 
 Moment the search seemed barren of result, as be- 
 Fore, but suddenly Leale started, stepped nearer the 
 window, and riveted his attention on one spot. 
 Ellis quickly noted it. 
 
 " You see some one? " she asked. 
 
 A brief nod was the only answer. Then, glass in 
 land, the captain suddenly turned to a side door, 
 et himself out into another room, and thence to the 
 >uter gallery surrounding the house. Here his view 
 >vas unobstructed. Two gentlemen were coming up 
 .he pathway from the adjutant s office, and a soldier 
 ;ii immaculate uniform and side arms following a
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 15 
 
 short distance behind, indicated that the one in uni 
 form was the post commander the elder one, a dis 
 tinguished-looking man of nearly sixty, whose pointed 
 mustache and imperial were well-nigh as white as 
 the new-fallen snow about him, whose complexion, 
 bronzed by years of exposure to prairie sun and 
 wind, was ruddy brown, almost like Russian 
 leather. 
 
 Over Leale s face fell the same shadow of anxiety 
 that was noted when he stood gazing in silence upon 
 the sorrowing mother at the desk within. The 
 colonel was talking in an earnest manner to the man 
 at his side, a civilian, so far as his dress would indi 
 cate, yet a civilian with the erect carriage and brisk 
 step of a soldier a handsome fellow, too, of perhaps 
 seven and twenty years. Leale turned from them 
 with some impatience. 
 
 " I d bet a month s pay, if I ever bet a cent in the 
 world," he muttered to himself, "that old Fen ton s 
 nephew had no thought whatever of hunting when 
 he came here in midwinter. The question is, What 
 else has brought him besides what I have already 
 learned, and why he haunts Farrar from morning 
 till night? " 
 
 At the window the fair, girlish face brightened 
 an instant at sight of the coming soldier, then 
 clouded as quickly as the civilian came in view. 
 "Mr. Ormsby again !" murmured Ellis below her 
 breath, and the bow of recognition which she gave 
 him in answer to the quick uplifting of his sealskin 
 cap lacked all of the warmth and interest that
 
 16 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 beamed in Ormsby s face at sight of her. Seeing 
 Leale, the colonel pressed on to join him on the 
 northward porch. Catching sight of Ellis, the 
 civilian fell back, entered the gateway, and came 
 briskly to the door. An instant later and his step 
 was heard in the hallway. Ellis turned to the 
 window in something not unlike aversion. The 
 mother it was who rose eagerly to welcome the 
 coming guest. 
 
 "Prompt as ever, Mr. Ormsby," she cried as he 
 entered the parlor, fresh and rosy from the keen air. 
 "I wish you might teach my husband to be more 
 punctual at luncheon." 
 
 "Indeed, I feared I was detaining him, Mrs. 
 Farrar. He s merely stopped one moment to speak 
 with Captain Leale. He was showing me over the 
 barracks. You have no idea how vividly interesting 
 all this is to me. I have shouldered the musket with 
 the Seventh for eight years, and have never visited 
 an army post before." 
 
 " Oh, didn t you see your uncle when he was at 
 Riley? He used to write to my husband of you 
 time and again, and of your pride in your regi 
 ment." 
 
 "No, he was in New York on recruiting service 
 then, a few years ago, you remember, and we used 
 to get him up to the armory or to our camp occasion 
 ally." 
 
 " And he was very, very kind to my poor boy, my 
 Royle," said Mrs. Farrar, wistfully, searching the 
 face of her guest, "and when you came to us with
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 17 
 
 Betters from our old friend, for we had known him 
 before our marriage," she continued, a faint color 
 rising to her cheek, it seemed almost like welcom 
 ing him. There was nothing too good for Major Fen- 
 ton that our home afforded after all he tried to do, at 
 least for him." The sigh with which she spoke 
 seemed to well up from the depths of the mother s 
 heart. Ellis, with light footsteps, had left the room 
 to greet her father on the piazza without, and for 
 the first time since his coming, three days previous, 
 just in time to be hemmed in and held at Frayne by 
 the great snowfall, Mrs. Farrar was alone with her 
 guest, "There is something I have longed to ask 
 you Mr. Ormsby," she went on, " something I must 
 ask you, for a mother s intuition is keen, and I feel 
 sure you have seen or known my poor boy in the 
 past. Have you heard do you know anything of 
 him now? " 
 
 "Mrs. Farrar, I give you my word I have not 
 the faintest idea of his whereabouts. " 
 
 "Forgive me if I am intrusive importunate," 
 she persisted. But Major Fenton he was MajdV 
 Fenton then, you know, and I think of him with the 
 title he bore when he was so good so friendly 
 when my unhappy boy most needed friends. You 
 were with your uncle often then. Did you not meet 
 did you not know my Royle? " 
 
 Ormsby s honest eyes betrayed the deep em 
 barrassment under which he labored, and she, watch 
 ing every sign with painful intensity, read the truth, 
 despite his faltering reply.
 
 18 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 "Once or twice, Mrs. Farrar, but I knew him 
 only very slightly." 
 
 Tell me still more, Mr. Ormsby. You have 
 been most considerate to me. You have sought to 
 spare me, but in my husband s sad face and ab 
 stracted manner I have read the truth. He has 
 heard news worse news of Royle, and so you have 
 been the bearer. Is it not so?" 
 
 But Orrnsby pulled himself together this time, at 
 least, like a man and braved her. 
 
 " I assure you it is not so, Mrs. Farrar. From 
 me, at least, the colonel has heard nothing new, 
 nothing worse. I beg you to dismiss the thought." 
 
 But he did not say that he had come prepared to 
 tell, aye, instructed to tell, of crowning disgrace 
 come with the written proposition of his employers 
 to relinquish pursuit of Royle Farrar, provided the 
 father would make good the sum they had lost 
 through the son s forgery. 
 
 " God bless you, Mr. Ormsby, for the load you 
 have lifted from my heart," she cried. " Ever since 
 you came I have dreaded more aud more each day 
 that you were the bearer of evil tidings of him who 
 has almost broken his father s heart, and yet can 
 not, must not, shall not be beyond redemption, if a 
 mother s love and prayers are of any avail. Even 
 Ellis has seemed to share my dread. I have 
 read it in her manner, as, perhaps, you have, too. 
 She did not mean to be unkind inhospitable to our 
 guest, but that sorrow has overshadowed us all. 
 Even my bright, brave Will, who is doing all a boy
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 19 
 
 can do to redeem the name at the Point even Will, 
 I say, is sometimes confronted by the record that 
 his erring brother left." 
 
 The tears were starting from her eyes now, and 
 in uncontrollable emotion she turned away. Then 
 came a loud rap at the front door, and a servant 
 hastened to open it. A loud, cheery Irish voice re 
 sounded through the hallway an instant later. 
 "Corporal Rorke to report to the colonel for dis 
 patches," and glancing thither, Ormsby saw a stout 
 trooper, with broad, jovial, ruddy face, his burly 
 form clad in winter service dress. Mrs. Farrar, 
 striving to hide and to check her tears, had turned 
 into the dining room. Ormsby stepped to the north 
 window and glanced out upon the little group upon 
 the porch, Ellis half shiveringly clinging to her 
 father s arm, he intently eying Leale, Leale, with 
 leveled glasses, steadily at gaze at some dim, black 
 object far, far across the turbid Platte, far out to 
 the eastward, across those snow-clad slopes. 
 
 " Can you make out what s coming, Leale? " 
 
 "I think so, Colonel." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 Leale slowly lowered the glass, and, nere- turn 
 ing, answered in low but positive tone: 
 
 Our inarching orders for the agency. "
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 AT noon that bright December day the barracks 
 and quai-ters of Fort Frayne were resounding with 
 song and laughter, and all "the good-natured, 
 soldierly noise " with which the garrison was busily 
 preparing for the blithe festivities of Christmas. 
 Two hours later, though the scene was unchanged, 
 the preparations were for war. 
 
 "Leave the band to guard the post, but take every 
 available trooper," were the injunctions that ac 
 companied the General s brief orders to Colonel 
 Farrar. "Strike when you find and wherever you 
 find Kill Eagle s Band." 
 
 Tearful eyes along officers row, watching the 
 silent group at headquarters, told all too plainly 
 with what dread the tidings had been received. 
 With the wires down, the railway blockaded, the 
 stage road deep in snow, there was only one means 
 of communication left, and two Indian scouts on 
 their hardy ponies, leaving the field column at dawn 
 the previous day, had made their unerring way 
 through the trackless maze of snow-clad ridge, ravine, 
 divide and coulee, through a labyrinth of Bad Lands, 
 bad enough in midsummer, and across many a fro/en 
 creek, until at last they struck the northern shore of 
 the swollen Platte, and followed on up stream until 
 opposite old Fort Frayne. 
 
 20
 
 PORT FRAYNE. 21 
 
 And now, indeed, was the road to the ferry broken 
 and plowed and speedily trodden hard, for hosts of 
 stalwart men had rushed to the river side, and out 
 from its winter hiding place they dragged one of the 
 huge pontoon boats a. .d launched it in the ice-whirl 
 ing flood, and the sweeps were manned by brawny 
 arms in blue, and with boat hooks driving at the ice 
 cakes and the foam flying from the oar blades and 
 from under the blunt and sloping prow, cheered 
 from the southern shore, they fought their way to 
 where, like black, silent statues, the riders waited 
 at the brink and then Indians and ponies both were 
 bundled aboard and ferried back again, landing two 
 hundred yards down stream; but even before they 
 could breast the bluffs and carry their dispatches to the 
 cavalry chief, the news they bore was shouted up the 
 heights: "Red Wolf escaped Kill Eagle s whole 
 village has jumped for the Bad Lands." 
 
 And that meant that the Twelfth must drop its 
 Christmasiug and fetch the wanderers home. The 
 old, old story told again, and just as it had been 
 time and time before. Absurdity in the Indian pol 
 icy; mismanagement in the Indian bureau; starva 
 tion in the Indian villages; murmurings of discontent 
 among the old warriors; talk of summary action 
 among the young braves; emissaries from disaffected 
 bands; midnight councils, harangues, dances, threats, 
 an arrest or two, escape, raid then a general rush to 
 join the hostiles in the field. 
 
 Prompt to act on this occasion, as ever before, the 
 moment he was enabled to learn, through the cha-
 
 22 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 grined officials of the Indian bureau, of the escape of 
 this turbulent leader, and the flight of Kill Eagle s 
 people from the agency, the general commanding 
 in the field dispatched a small force of cavalry to 
 interpose between the latter and the large bands of 
 hostiles already lurking in the Bad Lands, and, giv- 
 ino; the commander of this force instructions to turn 
 
 O 
 
 Kill Eagle westward, and by steady pursuit keep 
 him "OR the jump" toward his old hunting grounds 
 behind the Black Hills, he sent couriers across coun 
 try post haste to Frayne, with orders for Colonel Far- 
 rar to start at once with his entire force four fine 
 troops of the Twelfth Cavalry to cross the Platte at 
 the first possible point, and by forced marches throw 
 himself across the Indians front and strive to hem 
 them in. With the Platte sweeping along as it 
 was, bank full, a crossing might be impossible 
 nearer than the rocky shallows at the Fetterman 
 Bend, but that made no difference; prompt action 
 was the thing. 
 
 More than half expecting just such a contingency, 
 Farrar had long since completed his preparations. 
 His packers and their lively mules had been kept in 
 trim. Ten days rations were always set aside in 
 readiness to be packed on the apparejos the moment 
 word should come. Boxes of extra ammunition for 
 carbine and revolver were stacked up in the ord 
 nance storeroom, ready to be lashed, two to each, 
 on the sturdy little burden-bearers backs. Double 
 sacks of grain, precious as powder on a winter cam 
 paign, were banked at the quartermaster s corral.
 
 FORT FKAYXE. 23 
 
 Every trooper s winter kit of fur cap, gloves, fur- 
 lined canvas coat, boots, blankets and reinforced 
 breeches had been carefully inspected only a day or 
 two before. Every horse had been as carefully shod. 
 Extra shoes and shoe nails had been stored in each 
 pair of saddle bags. The horses themselves in their 
 warm, thick winter coats and uncropped manes and 
 tails, looked shaggy and far from "swell" from the 
 point of view of the eastern avenues, but were emi 
 nently fit for campaigning among the blizzards of the 
 plains; and as for the men, they were serving under 
 a soldier who didn t believe in letting troopers grow 
 "soft" and out of condition even in midwinter, and 
 so, no matter what the weather, Farrar had had his 
 people out for exercise every weekday of the year, 
 and the exercise during the snowstorm had consisted 
 in breaking roads in long compact column of fours 
 all around the plateau on which stood the great 
 spreading garrison, and the men liked it, and throve 
 under it, and came in each day glowing with health, 
 to the enjoyment of their substantial dinner, vowing 
 the colonel knew no end of tricks worth their study 
 ing, even if he wasn t a West Pointer, even if he had 
 gone into the army "from the militia" in the old 
 days of the war. 
 
 And now that all their Christmas fun seemed sum 
 marily ended and they themselves were to be hurried 
 forth upon a sharp and sudden campaign, they 
 sprang to their preparations with cheery vim, almost 
 with eager rejoicing. For three weeks they had 
 been excitedly reading and discussing the reports of
 
 24 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 the doings of their comrade regiment, the Eleventh, 
 around the agency far to the east, and coveting their 
 prominence and distinction. Already they had en 
 viously heard of one or two sharp affairs in which 
 the Eleventh had rounded up a party of young war 
 riors breaking for the Cheyenne country, or had sur 
 rounded and disarmed Tall Bull s little band of ugly 
 "bluffers." Even at the expense of Christmas trees, 
 Christmas dance, Christmas dinner, they didn t want 
 to loaf in garrison when other regiments were hav 
 ing stirring service in the field. And so, while 
 women wept, the barracks rang with shout and song 
 and cheery whistle, and the laugh and joke went 
 around as the troopers stowed their treasures in the 
 home chest and packed their bulging saddlebags. 
 Few of their number had wives or children to leave 
 behind. It was over among the officers quarters 
 that no laughter rang, and the only smiles were pit 
 eous through their mist of tears. 
 
 "I could bear it better at any other season, Koyle," 
 said the colonel s wife, as she clung, sobbing, to his 
 neck after he had donned his rough field dress. " It 
 seems as though the worst blow of my life had come 
 to me at Christmas just this time." He bowed in 
 silence, tenderly kissing her, yet even then checking 
 further reference to that crowning sorrow. He 
 could not shut out the recollection of how the news 
 of their boy s disgrace had been received on Christ 
 mas morning, and now with another Christmas BO 
 close at hand, he was keeping from her tidings that 
 still more had bowed his head in sorrow uncontrollable
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 25 
 
 that his wretched son had robbed, deceived and de 
 serted the sweet woman who had trusted him, leav- 
 her penniless to struggle unaided and unknown. Who 
 can say what would have been his shame had he 
 dreamed that this genial, kindly young New Yorker ; 
 this stranger within his gates, was the bearer of evi 
 dence that still further was the sou a felon in the 
 eyes of the law, and that to all his other crimes 
 Royle Farrar had added that of forgery? At noon this 
 very day Jack Ormsby was striving to nerve him 
 self to carry out his employer s orders and break the 
 tidings, but those few words of the gentle mother, 
 and the sight of her pathetic face again unmanned 
 him, and in the midst of his irresolution came these 
 sudden orders to the field, and that put an end to all 
 thought of anything else. 
 
 " I cannot help it," he was saying to Ellis, as the 
 girl, pale and sad, but uncomplaining, was busily 
 packing her father s mess chest. It would be ridicu 
 lous to say I could be of any use, but all the 
 same I want to go. It s the chance of a lifetime. I 
 have never seen an Indian campaign. I haven t an 
 idea what an Indian fight is like; but, do you kuow, 
 I could nt go back and face our fellows of the Sev 
 enth and tell them I saw the Twelfth Cavalry start 
 on its rush to head off Kill Eagle s band, and that I 
 didn t go, too." 
 
 "I should want to go if I were in your place," 
 said she. "I understand it fully. No doubt Cap 
 tain Leale can fit you out with campaign clothing, 
 everything you need . "
 
 26 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 "Then I certainly shall go," said Ormsby. " It ll 
 be something to tell about in I company for the 
 next ten years." 
 
 And that was how it happened that five days 
 later, in a blinding snowstorm, there rode with the 
 advance of the Twelfth Cavalry a sergeant of the 
 famous New York Seventh at the very moment when 
 the word came from the scouts that Kill Eagle s 
 village was not two miles ahead. 
 
 Left to his own devices in the matter of carrying 
 out his orders, Farrar had made a close and careful 
 calculation. With the La-ramie road out of sight in 
 snow it might take three days of hard marching to 
 reach the ford, with the prospect then of finding 
 themselves almost as far from the Indians as before, 
 for the fords lay some ninety miles off to the south 
 east, while, when last heard from, Kill Eagle was 
 striking across the country south of the Cheyenne 
 between the Upper Niobrara and the Mini Pusa. In 
 the deep valleys were scattered ranches and countless 
 herds of horned cattle, so he was living high on the 
 country as he fled, his rear well guarded by three 
 score young braves, who hovered just ahead of the 
 pursuing column, peppering its advance guard with 
 long-range shots from every ridge, and so retaixling 
 its movement as to enable their old war chief to 
 move his whole village, tepees, lodge poles, women 
 and children, pony herd, dog herd, and all, with 
 calm deliberation. By going southeast Farrar 
 would have taken the flooded Platte alongside on 
 his left hand, only to have to turn an acute angle to
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 27 
 
 the north again, march them over rough and broken 
 country, with old Rawhide Butte, perhaps, as his 
 guide, with every probability of finding himself far 
 behind the chase after reaching the broad, deep-lying 
 valley of the Niobrara. Wiser by far, he sent back 
 brief word by courier to Laramie, ordering it for 
 warded by wire from that point. 
 
 "We go westward up the Platte, confident of 
 lower water and a crossing this side of the big bend. 
 Thence we will swing around northeastward, and, 
 covering a broad stretch of country, keep sharp 
 lookout for Kill Eagle s band. We should meet him 
 somewhere among the breaks of the Mini Pusa, 
 southeast of old Cantonment Reno, and, unless they 
 will surrender, I shall strike at once and strike 
 hard." 
 
 And here among the breaks of the Mini Pusa, 
 after four days of severe winter marching, Farrar 
 had thrown his little command just as he had 
 planned, square across the path of the foe. Direful 
 were the tales that had reached him from ranchmen 
 and settlers, who, having abandoned their homes, 
 were fleeing for the protection of the frontier forts, 
 far back at the base of the Big Horn. Day after 
 day had the young warriors swooped from the 
 traveling village down upon the valleys on either 
 side, murdering men, women and little children, 
 burning the ranches, driving off such cattle as they 
 fancied, and ruthlessly butchering all the rest. And 
 still, one or two days march behind, the pursu 
 ing column plunged heavily through the snow.
 
 28 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Farrar was an expert, however, and had shrewdly 
 judged their route. Farrar was merciful, and even 
 in the face of the atrocities that had been committed 
 and undei the warrant of his orders and in the 
 belief that the band was few in numbers, he would 
 not strike when the blow might fall on women and 
 children, too, until he had given the red chief a 
 chance of surrender. 
 
 He had been marching since dawn and it was now 
 11 o clock. An hour earlier, far out at the front 
 along a low, snow-covered ridge that stood out 
 sharply against the black bank of cloud that spread 
 from horizon almost to zenith, the scouts began that 
 fierce sudden circling of their ponies that denoted 
 "enemy in sight." With their field glasses the 
 officers at the head of the column could see that one 
 of the number, dismounted, was lying close to the 
 crest, peering cautiously over and signaling excitedly 
 to his fellows who kept well behind him down the 
 slope. They, in turn, were signaling to the column, 
 and, leaving Leale in command with orders to move 
 steadily on, the colonel put spurs to his horse old 
 Roderick and followed by his adjutant and an 
 orderly or two, cantered on out to the front. Ormsby, 
 riding at the moment with Leale at the head of the 
 first troop, felt a thrill of excitement as the captain 
 coolly interpreted the meaning of the rapid move 
 ments of the scouts. Eagerly, too, the men seemed 
 to rouse from the almost slumberous condition of the 
 command after its hours of plodding, and a murmur 
 ran back from troop to troop: "Indians ahead!
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 29 
 
 Now for it, fellows!" And then all eyes were 
 strained on that low ridge against the sky line, and 
 unconsciously the horses seemed to close up toward 
 the head of the column, answering, perhaps, some 
 involuntary pressure of the knees, for suddenly, 
 while the leading troop continued its placid gait the 
 swift, steady, four-mile walk those in the rear of 
 the column broke into a jog trot and never resumed 
 the walk ao ain until the cautioning voice and 
 
 O O 
 
 hand of the captain seemed to restrain them. And 
 then they could see that Colonel Farrar, reaching the 
 ridge, had himself dismounted, and was lying on the 
 snow arid peering over as Little Bat had done before 
 him. Still no word came to accelerate the march, 
 and, at the same steady walk the long column, mov 
 ing by fours here, for the prairie was wide and open 
 and comparatively level, pushed on for the distant 
 ridge, and when at last they came within hailing 
 distance of the group at the front the adjutant 
 slowly raised his hand and gave the signal, "Halt !" 
 and in an instant the snake-like column stood in its 
 tracks and the men swung out of saddle and began 
 dancing and thrashing their arms in the effort to 
 start the sluggish blood. 
 
 All the morning it had been threatening snow, 
 and now it was sifting slowly down, but presently 
 the flakes fell thicker and thicker, and then in a 
 dense cloud that soon shut out even the crest ahead of 
 them. Captain Leale, a calm, thoughtful battalion 
 commander, picked out certain level-headed ser 
 geants, and sent them, with a few men each, out to
 
 30 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 the right and left front and flank, so as to guard 
 against surprise, and then as the men danced about 
 in the snow and sparred or wrestled laughingly, 
 many and many were the conjectures as to the cause 
 of the halt and delay. " What are we waiting for? 
 Why don t we pitch in?" were the queries that 
 passed from lip to lip, and many were the inquiring 
 glances toward the little group of officers smoking 
 and talking, and chaffing Ormsby at the head of the 
 column. With an Indian village barely a mile 
 away, an Indian fight probably not an hour ahead, 
 the Twelfth was taking things as coolly as befitted 
 the season, and Ormsby, after looking once more to 
 the chamber of his revolver and trying the breech 
 block of his Springfield carbine, joined in the chat 
 with all the coolness he could command, and strove 
 to appear more interested in what was being said 
 than in the immediate business at hand. 
 
 And yet when the adjutant came riding rapidly 
 back from the ridge, there was instant movement to 
 meet him. 
 
 "What s the trouble, Jimmy?" was the query on 
 many a tongue. "What are we waiting for?" 
 
 "They re going regularly into camp putting up 
 their tepees," was the answer. " It looks as though 
 they were waiting to palaver with the pursuit. The 
 colonel thinks they re willing to come to terms 
 rather than march further in such weather. I sup 
 pose the Eleventh can t be very far behind them, 
 and as yet they don t suspect we re over here at all.
 
 FOKT FKAYNE. 31 
 
 Luckily for us, too," said he, gravely, "for it s two 
 to one in their favor, if I m any judge at all." 
 
 "The devil you say! How many lodges are 
 there? " 
 
 "Bat says nigh onto seventy, though they re not 
 all up yet, and you can t see a thing now for the 
 snow. The old rip must have been reinforced 
 heavily. There seem to be two or three bands 
 rolled into one. What I can t understand is how 
 the Eleventh happens to be so far behind. We 
 thought they were right at their heels. I hate to 
 think how the settlers down the Dry Fork must 
 have suffered." 
 
 Seen or heard anything of them or of any 
 refugees?" 
 
 " Yes; two outfits passed up the valley going for 
 all they were worth this morning. Bat and Chaska 
 saw them from the ridge yonder to the south. The 
 scouts say they abandoned their wagons and took to 
 their horses." 
 
 Even as they were speaking there came indi 
 cations of some unusual object off to the right rear 
 of the column. One or two officers and men were 
 seen to ride out in that direction, and were quickly 
 swallowed up in the snow -cloud. A sergeant com 
 ing up from the rear saluted Captain Leale, and said: 
 "Captain Amory s compliments, sir, and there are 
 borne mounted men coming in who seem about 
 played out. He thinks they re settlers seeking pro 
 tection."
 
 32 FORT FRAYSTE. 
 
 And presently this proved to be the case. Out 
 from the fleecy clouds there soon came in sight four 
 or five horseman slowly escorting one or two riders 
 on broken down and exhausted quadrupeds, and 
 there was a general movement on the part of half 
 the men of the Twelfth to leave their linked horses 
 and gather about these new arrivals. There were 
 two men, rough bearded, typical frontiersmen, 
 garbed in the roughest of plain s wear men with 
 faces so drawn and haggard with terror and suffer 
 ing that they did not brighten even with the joy of 
 reaching the protection of a strong force of cavalry. 
 There was a third, a man heavily bearded like his 
 associates, but with dress of costlier make, with 
 features that told of gentler birth than theirs, but 
 whose eyes, shifting, restless, filled with a dread as 
 great as theirs, gave no symptom of reassurance. 
 Like shipwrecked mariners on the broad ocean, they 
 had sought the succor of the first craft that came in 
 sight, but even now seemed to dread the storm and to 
 doubt the stability, the safety of the rescuing ship. 
 " How many men have you? " they had eagerly asked, 
 and when told two hundred and twenty had wrung their 
 hands and implored their first rescuers not to dare 
 confront the Indians, who were at least a thousand 
 strong. " They have wiped out everything in the 
 valleys below, tired every ranch, murdered every 
 man. They ve got a dozen of our women prisoners 
 now in that very camp, and the first thing they ll 
 do will be to butcher them if you attack. For the 
 love of God come away," they implored, " and let
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 33 
 
 them by. The troops in pursuit must be fifty miles 
 behind." 
 
 Thus eagerly, incoherently, the two ranchmen 
 said their say. The third was strangely silent, yet 
 seemed to be full as eager to get away. 
 
 "What say you to this story?" asked the young 
 lieutenant, who had ridden out to bring them in. 
 
 "It s all God s truth! " was the answer. " You ll 
 je wiped off the face of the earth if you attack. 
 Give us some provisions hardtack, bacon any 
 thing, and some grain for our horses, and let us 
 go." 
 
 "Well, you ll have to come in and see the com 
 manding officer first," was the short reply. " He ll 
 decide after hearing your story." 
 
 " What s his name? " asked the stranger. 
 
 " Colonel Farrar." 
 
 " Farrar! Is this the Twelfth Cavalry? I thought 
 they were ordered to Arizona." 
 
 "We were, but the devil s work of the ghost 
 dance keeps us here. Now follow, and we ll get 
 you something to eat." 
 
 But the stranger said that he would go no further 
 to the front. "I m too near that cursed band now," 
 he protested, shaking his fist through the wintry 
 air. "Go, you, Mullen, and see the colonel. Get 
 what help you can. I m too weak to ride until I 
 can have something to eat." 
 
 Even then it was noticed that Mullen and his 
 friend seemed anything but cordial to their compan 
 ion. "Damn him!" they growled, as, sullenly,
 
 34 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 they left him dismounting at the pack train. " His 
 saddlebags are crammed with meat. He hasn t suf 
 fered. Other men stayed and fought and tried to de 
 fend Crawford s ranch and Morgan s. They are dead, 
 poor devils, but that sneak who calls himself Graice, 
 he only came among us six weeks ago, and if he ain t 
 a jailbird I m no judge. He s afraid to see your 
 colonel, lieutenant. That s what I believe." And 
 when Captain Leale heard their story at the head of 
 the column he called to his orderly, mounted and 
 rode back through the falling snow. 
 
 " Where is that third refugee?" he asked of the 
 pack master, "that man they call Graice." 
 
 "He was here just this minute, sir. He s worse 
 scared than the othei-s. He wants to go on. There 
 he goes now, by God! He s lighting out by himself." 
 
 Just then there came a movement along the col 
 umn. Every trooper was springing to his horse. 
 "They re mounting, sir," said the orderly. But the 
 captain was staring fixedly after the disappearing 
 rider, who clapping spurs to his jaded bronco was 
 hurrying away. "Where on earth have I seen that 
 form before?" said Leale to himself. "Orderly, 
 ride after that lunatic and bring him in here. What? " 
 he asked, turning quickly about in his saddle as a 
 trumpeter came trotting to his side. "Move where? " 
 
 "Off to the right, sir. The adjutant is leading the 
 way," and peering through the fast falling flakes, 
 the battalion commander saw the dim figures of the 
 horsemen already in motion.
 
 FOKT FRAYNE. 35 
 
 "Come on with your packs, Harry," he called to 
 the chief packer, "and when that fellow returns, 
 send him to the front." 
 
 Five minutes more and they were stumbling down 
 into the depths of one of the deep ravines which 
 opened out from the valley of the frozen stream to 
 the eastward. Then, and without a word of com 
 mand or trumpet call only the uplifted hand of the 
 troop leaders and observant sergeants, the column 
 halted. "Dismount!" was passed in low tone from 
 front to rear. "Silence now! No noise, men. Stand 
 to horse! " were the muttered cautious, and then once 
 again the foremost officers gathered in a little group 
 about the two refugees. 
 
 " We ll fight with you gladly. Count us in," said 
 one of them, refreshed by a long pull at Ormsby s 
 flask. " But that sneak that slipped away would see 
 you all in hell first. He s a fugitive iu more senses 
 than one. That man s fleeing from the law." 
 
 " How do you know? Have you any idea who he 
 is and where he came from? " asked Captain Leale. 
 "I didn t see his face, but somewhere before this 
 day I ve seen his back." 
 
 "I don t know him from Adam. He was on his 
 way to the Black Hills when the Indians jumped the 
 reservation and cut us off. He s been afraid to go 
 ahead and afraid to go back, and he s just been stay 
 ing there with us seemed to have plenty of money, 
 but there ain t a white man left alive from here to 
 the South Cheyenne now."
 
 36 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 And then in silent respect the group opened and 
 made way for the gray-mustached soldier who rode 
 slowly into their midst and addressed them in low, 
 quiet tones: 
 
 "Look to your men and horses, gentlemen. Big 
 as that village is, I think that all the warriors are 
 not there, and our best plan will be to attack before 
 they can send and call in those who are watching the 
 pursuing column. We will attack at once. "
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The enow was falling now in a dense white mist, 
 powdering beards and broad-brimmed campaign hats 
 and silvering the dusty black of the fur caps of the 
 men. Objects fifty feet away were invisible, and 
 all sounds muffled by the soft, fleecy blanket that 
 everywhere covered the earth. Silently, yet with 
 soldierly alertness, the officers hastened to look 
 quickly over their troops. Silently the veteran col 
 onel turned once more to the front and rode a few 
 yards out beyond the head of the column and sat 
 there on his horse, a white mantled statue, peering 
 intently through the slowly falling flakes. 
 
 "We move the moment Bat gets back," mur 
 mured the adjutant to Captain Leale. He crawled out 
 to locate the herds and pick our way. There are 
 some cross gullies beyond that ridge and down near 
 the village. Bat says he feels sure most of the war 
 riors are miles away to the east, but there are 
 enough and to spare right here." 
 
 "Is Kill Eagle still to be given a chance to sur 
 render?" asked Leale. "That was the understand 
 ing at one time, Avasn t it? " 
 
 "That was it yes, and Bat was to hail as soon as 
 we deployed within striking distance. Unless some 
 scouts or the ponies find us out, we can creep up 
 under this snow cloud to within a few yards, and 
 they ll be none the wiser. The colonel hoped that 
 
 37
 
 38 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 the show of force would be ample and that the old 
 scoundrel would throw up the sponge right here, but 
 I don t know," he added, doubtfully. "If only 
 the women and children weren t in that village, it 
 would be simple enough. We could pitch in and 
 double them up before they knew what struck them. 
 As it is " and here the young officer broke off with a 
 wave of the hand that meant volumes of doubt. 
 Then he turned and looked eastward again to where, 
 silent and stauesque still, Colonel Farrar was seated 
 on old Roderick. 
 
 The same thought seemed to occur to both officers 
 at the same instant. Ormsby, once more testing the 
 lock of his revolver and narrowly observing his new 
 comrades, remarked it at the time and spoke of it 
 often thereafter. 
 
 "Can t you make him keep well back?" asked 
 Leale. 
 
 "Won t you remind the chief he oughtn t to be in 
 the front?" asked the adjutant. 
 
 And then each shook his head, as though realizing 
 the impossibility of getting their old war horse of a 
 colonel to take a position where he would be less ex 
 posed to the fire of the Indian marksmen. 
 
 " You might give him a tip, Ormsby," said the 
 adjutant, in the cheery confidence the comradeship a 
 few days campaigning engenders. "You are his 
 guest, not his subordinate. Tell him what the Sev 
 enth thinks the colonel should do," he added, with 
 an attempt at jocularity that somehow failed to pro 
 voke a smile.
 
 FOKT FRAYXE. 39 
 
 But Ormsby in turn shook his head. "I haven t 
 known your colonel a week," said he, "but I ve 
 learned to know him well, and when he means to go 
 in, all you ve got to do is to go, too. That s what 
 I ve mapped out for myself, and doubtless so, too, 
 have these gentlemen," he continued, indicating the 
 two ranchmen, now eagerly fingering their Win 
 chesters and getting ready for business. The elder 
 of the two it was who answered: 
 
 "No man who has been through what we have, 
 and seen the sights and heard the sounds of their 
 raids on the ranches down the Fork, would do less 
 than thank God for a chance of meeting those brutes 
 on anything like equal terms. My poor brother 
 lies there, hacked and scalped and mutilated; his 
 wife and daughter, I believe, are somewhere among 
 those foul tepees now, unless God has been merciful 
 and let them die day before yesterday. We fought 
 as long as there was a show, and we got away in 
 the dark. These poor women wouldn t leave their 
 dead." 
 
 A tear was tickling down his cheek as he finished 
 speaking, but his lips and jaws were firm set. 
 " You gentlemen," he continued, "are going into 
 this thing just from sense of duty, but think what it 
 is to me and to young Crawford here. His old father 
 and mother were just butchered, by God! butchered 
 and the worst of it is that if that damned hound 
 Graice had stood by him ten minutes he might 
 have got them safely away. They were too old to 
 make any time, and it was no use. That fellow s a
 
 40 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 white-livered pup, and if I ever come upon him 
 again I ll tell him what I think of him." 
 
 "I wish you had seen that fellow, Ormsby," said 
 Loale, in a low tone " The more I think of it, the 
 more I feel sure he had some reason for fearing to 
 meet our party here. They tell me he seemed ex 
 cited and worried the moment he heard we were 
 the Twelfth Cavalry. I only saw his back as he 
 rode away, but I ve seen that man before some- 
 \vhere. lie rode like a trooper, and it s ten to one 
 he s a deserter." 
 
 " He s a deserter this day if he never was before," 
 said Ormsby in reply. "I judge we need every 
 man, do we not? " 
 
 Looks like it, was the brief reply. < All right, 
 gentlemen? " he continued, turning with courteous 
 manner to the two younger officers, his first and 
 second lieutenants, who came striding up through 
 the snow. Leale was famous in the cavalry for his 
 subalterns. lie had the reputation of never speak 
 ing hastily or harshly, and of getting more out ol 
 his men than any other captain in the regiment. 
 
 " All right, sir!" was the prompt reply. "Every 
 man in my platoon boiling over with ginger," added 
 the younger, his blue eyes flashing, though his 
 cheeks were pale and his lips twitching with pent-up 
 excitement. 
 
 "I see the guidon is being unfurled, Cramer," 
 said the captain, quietly. " Perhaps Sergeant West 
 wants to land it lirst in the village, but tell him to 
 handle his revolver instead, if we charge," and
 
 FORT FRA.YNE. 41 
 
 toucliing his fur cap, the officer turned hack. The 
 colonel has said nothing ahout the plan of attack. 
 We may be going to charge right in, for all I know. 
 I la! Orrusby, there conies the word!" 
 
 Looming up through the snow a young German 
 trooper rode rapidly back toward the little group, 
 and, reining in his horse a few yards away, true to 
 the etiquette of the craft, threw his carbine over his 
 shoulder and started to dismount before addressing 
 officers afoot, but Leale checked him. " Never mind 
 dismounting, orderly. What s the message?" 
 
 "The colonel s compliments, sir, and he would 
 wish to see Captain Leale a minute, and the command 
 Avill mount and move slowly forward." 
 
 Instantly the group dissolved, each officer turning 
 quickly to his horse and swinging into saddle. No 
 trumpet signal was given. "Mount," said Leale, 
 in the same quiet, conversational tone. "Mount," 
 repeated the first sergeant, halted alongside the lead 
 ing set of fours, and, all in a few seconds, the burly 
 forms of the riders shot up in the eddying fleece, and 
 every horse, far back as eye could penetrate the mist, 
 was suddenly topped by an armed rider. Then, 
 first thing, the fur-gloved right hands went up to the 
 shoulder and drew over the little brown carbines 
 and drove the muzzle through its socket. Then, 
 in the same soldierly silence the horsemen edged in 
 toward the center of each set, and there sat, boot to 
 to boot, erect and ready. One or two spirited young 
 horses began to paw the snow in their impatience, 
 and to snort excitedly. The adjutant trotted briskly
 
 42 FOUT FBAYNE. 
 
 back along the column in order to see that all four 
 troops were similarly ready, cautioned the rearward 
 troop leaders to keep well closed on the head of the 
 column and signaled " Forward," while Leale dis 
 appeared in the snow clouds ahead. 
 
 Not knowing what else to do, Ormsby ranged 
 alongside the senior lieutenant of Leale s troop, as in 
 perfect silence the column bore steadily on. A few 
 seconds brought them in sight of the colonel s form 
 again, and he waved his hand cheerily, as though to 
 say, "All right, lads, come on." Then, sitting 
 Roderick as squarely as ever, the gray-mustached 
 commander took the lead, a swarthy half-breed Sioux 
 scout riding on one side, the grave, soldierly Leale 
 on the other. The adjutant, the chief trumpeter, 
 sergeant major, and orderlies fell in behind, and the 
 crack battalion of the old Twelfth rode noiselessly in 
 to take position for the attack. 
 
 For perhaps a hundred yards they followed the 
 windings of the ravine in which they had been con 
 cealed, had concealment been necessary. Then, 
 turning abruptly to his left as he passed a projecting 
 shoulder, Little Bat looked back and motioned to the 
 colonel, "This way." And then the leading horse 
 men began to ascend a gentle and almost imper 
 ceptible slope, for the snow was sifting down so 
 thick and fast that the surface was invisible thirty feet 
 ahead. 
 
 "We might ride square in among them at this 
 rate," muttered the sergeant-major to his friend, the
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 43 
 
 chief trumpeter, "and never know it until we 
 stumbled into the tepees." 
 
 " How far ahead is it? " asked the latter. 
 
 " A mile, they say. We d be deployed by this 
 time if it were less." 
 
 Less than five minutes of gradual ascent, and the 
 crest of the divide was reached, and, one after 
 another, every horseman realized that he was then on 
 the downward slope of the eastern side. Somewhere 
 ahead, somewhere between this ridge and its nearest 
 neighbor, lay the hostile village, all unconscious of 
 foemen s coming, looking for disturbers as yet only 
 from the eastern side. Old cavalrymen used to de 
 clare their horses could smell an Indian village be 
 fore the sharpest eyes could "sight" it, and the 
 packers swore the statement was true, "if it were 
 only made of the mule." 
 
 "The colonel knows. He hasn t forgotten, you 
 bet," was the comment, as again the orderly rode 
 swiftly rearward with orders for the pack train to 
 halt just west of the crest, and then every man 
 seemed to know that the village couldn t be far 
 ahead, and some hands went nervously to the 
 holster flaps, others loosened the carbines in their 
 leather sockets, and men took furtive peeps at one 
 another s faces along the shadowy column, and then 
 at their officers riding so confident and erect along 
 the left flank. And still no man could see more than 
 the depth of three sets of fours ahead. " Ain t we 
 going to dismount and go afoot? " muttered a young
 
 44 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 recruit to his neighbor. "I thought that was the 
 way we always did." 
 
 " Of course; when one could see to shoot and 
 would be seen himself anywhere within five miles," 
 was the disdainful answer. " What d be the good 
 of dismounting here?" 
 
 And now in places the horses plunged deeper into 
 the snow and tossed up drifting clouds of feathery 
 spray as the column crossed some shallow ruts in 
 the eastward face, and then once more, snakelike, it 
 began to twist and turn, following the track of those 
 invisible guides, and then it seemed to take to evil 
 courses and go spluttering down into sharp, stecp- 
 bauked coulees, and scrambling out again on the 
 other side, and still the sure-footed horses tripped 
 nimbly on, and then, presently, his eyes a-twinkle, 
 the adjutant came riding back. 
 
 "Just half a mile ahead, Billy," he murmured to 
 the lieutenant riding in Leale s place at the head of 
 the first troop. "Form left front into line and halt. 
 I ll post the other troop." 
 
 Quickly the young officer reined out of column to 
 the left about. "Keep straight to your front, lead 
 ing four," he cautioned. Then barely raising his 
 voice and dropping for the time the conventional 
 commands of the drill book, he rode back along 
 the column, saying "Left front into line," until all 
 the rearward fours were obliquing; then back to the 
 front he trotted, halted the leading set, each of the 
 others in succession reining in and generally align 
 ing itself, all without a sound that could be audible
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 45 
 
 ten yards away. Almost at the same time the sec 
 ond troop headed diagonally off to the left and pres 
 ently rode up into line with the first, while the third 
 and fourth were halted in similar formation at troop 
 distance in rear. "By all that s glorious, we re 
 going in mounted!" was the word that seemed to 
 thrill down along the line. "Then we re not going 
 to wait not going to give him a chance to sur 
 render." 
 
 Another moment and the word was, "Hush! 
 silence there!" for dimly seen through the drifts, the 
 colonel, with his little party of attendants, came 
 riding to the front of the line. Long, long after 
 ward they remembered that clear-cut, soldierly, high 
 bred face, with its aquiline nose, keen, kindly, 
 deep-set eyes, the gray-white mustache, snow-white 
 now, as was his close-cropped hair. 
 
 " Men," said he in the firm tones they had known 
 so long and well, "fully half the band are some miles 
 away, but Kill Eagle, with over a hundred warriors, 
 is right here in our front; so, too, are his women 
 and children; so, too, worse luck, are some of our 
 own unhappy captives. You all know the first thing 
 those Indians would do, were we to attack as usual, 
 would be to murder those poor white women. This 
 snowstorm is in our favor. We can creep right 
 in upon them before we charge. The ponies are 
 down in the valley to the south. Let the first line 
 dash straight through the village and stampede the 
 herd, then rally and return. Let the second follow 
 at a hundred yards and surround the tepees at the
 
 46 FOKT FRAYXE. 
 
 eastward end what Avhite women are with them are 
 there. The Indian men, as a rule, will make a dash 
 in the direction of the ponies. Shoot them down 
 wherever you can, but mark my words now, be care 
 ful of the women and children. I had intended 
 summoning Kill Eagle to surrender, but we did not 
 begin to know he had so many warriors close at 
 hand, and did not know about the captives. Bat 
 has seen, and that is enough. There is no other 
 way to settle it. It s the one chance of rescuing 
 those poor creatures. Now keep together. Watch 
 your officers commands and signals and spare the 
 squaws and papooses. Be ready in two minutes." 
 
 And then every man took a long breath, while the 
 colonel rode through to say similar words to the sec 
 ond line. Then, returning, he placed himself just 
 in the rear of the center of the first squadron, the 
 second line noiselessly advancing and closing up on 
 the leaders, and then he seemed to think of another 
 point. 
 
 "Ask Mr. Ormsby if he will ride with me," said 
 he to the adjutant. " Now, Leale, forward at a 
 walk. Follow Bat. It s all level ahead of you. 
 You ll sight the village in three or four minutes. 
 
 The tall, stalwart captain touched his hat, took off 
 his "broadbrim," shaking away a load of snow, and 
 spurred out a little to the front. There, looking back 
 to both his right and left, he gave the signal forward, 
 and with almost a single impulse, the long dark rank 
 of horsemen, open at the center in an interval of 
 some half a dozen yards, without other sound than
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 47 
 
 the slight rattle of accoutrements and the muffled 
 rumble of five hundred hoofs, moved steadily forward. 
 A moment the colonel sat and watched them, smiled a 
 cordial greeting to Ormsby, who, pistol in hand, 
 came trotting over with the adjutant, then signaling 
 to the second line, he too gave his horse the rein, and 
 at a steady walk followed close to the center of Leale s 
 command. In his hand at the moment he held a lit 
 tle pocket compass, and smiled as he noted the line 
 of direction. 
 
 "Almost due southeast at this instant," said he. 
 "We ought to bag our game and be well across the 
 Mini Pusa with them in less than an hour." 
 
 Unconsciously the pace was quickening. Fore 
 most of all, well out in front of the center, rode the 
 half-breed Indian guide, bending low over his pony s 
 neck, his black, beady eyes peering ahead. Well 
 out to the right and left were other scouts, eager and 
 alert, like Bat himself. Then, squarely in the cen 
 ter, on his big, powerful bay, rode Leale, commander 
 of the foremost line, and Ormsby s soldierly heart 
 throbbed with admiration as he marked, just before 
 Leale was hidden from view, his spirited, confident 
 bearing, and noted how the eyes of all the line seemed 
 fixed on their gallant leader. And now some of 
 the horses began to dance and tug at the bit and 
 plunge, and others to take a jog trot, for the Indian 
 scouts were at the lope, and their gesticulations be 
 came every moment more vehement, and then Bat was 
 seen, though visible only to the first line, to grab his 
 revolver,and Leale s gauntleted hand almost instantly
 
 48 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 sought the holster, and out came the ready Colt, its 
 muzzle raised in air. Out in quick and ready imita 
 tion leaped a hundred more, and instinctively the jog 
 changed to a lively trot, and the dull, thudding hoofs 
 upon the snow-nmffled earth rose louder and more 
 insistent, and Ormsby, riding at the colonel s left, 
 gripped tighter his revolver and set his teeth, yet 
 felt his heart was hammering loud, and then dimmer 
 and dimmer grew the first line as it led away, and 
 still the colonel s firm hand kept Roderick dancing 
 impatiently at the slower gait and then, just as it 
 seemed as though the line would be swallowed up in 
 snow and disappear from view, quick and sudden, 
 two muffled shots were heard from somewhere just 
 in front, the first syllable perhaps of some stentorian 
 shout of warning, and then one magnificent burst of 
 cheers and a rush of charging men, and a crash and 
 a crackle and sputter of shots, and then fierce rally 
 ing cries and piercing screams of women and of ter 
 rified little ones, and like some huge human wave the 
 first line of the Twelfth rode on and over and 
 through the startled camp, and bore like a whirlwind, 
 yelling down upon the pony herds beyond. 
 
 And now comes the turn of the second line. Seek 
 ing shelter from the snowstorm, warriors, women and 
 children were for the most part within the tepees, as 
 the line crashed in. Some few were with the miser 
 able captives, but at the first sound of danger every 
 warrior had seized his rifle and rushed for the open 
 air. Some few, throwing themselves upon their 
 faces, fired wild shots at the foremost troopers as
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 49 
 
 they came bounding through, but as a rule only a 
 few opposed their passage, so sudden was the shock. 
 Then came the realization that the herds were 
 being driven, and that not an instant must be lost in 
 mounting such ponies as were still tethered about the 
 villages, and darting away in a wide circle, away 
 from the troops, yet concentrating again beyond 
 them and regaining the lead. And so, where the first 
 line met an apparently sleeping village, the second 
 comes cheering, charging, firing, thundering through 
 a swarming mob of yelling braves and screaming 
 squaws. Farrar, foremost in the charge, with the 
 civilian guardsman close at his side, shouts warning 
 to the women, even as he empties his pistol at the 
 howling men. Close at his back come Amory and 
 his sorrel troop, cheering like mad, battering over 
 Indians too slow to jump aside, and driving their hiss 
 ing lead at every warrior in their path. And still 
 the colonel shouts, "This way!" and Ormsby, Amory, 
 and the adjutant ride at his heels, and the sorrels 
 especially follow his lead, and dashing through a 
 labyrinth of lodges, they rein up cheering about two 
 grimy tepees at which Bat is excitedly pointing and 
 the ranchmen both are shouting the names of loved 
 relatives and listening eagerly for answer; and thrill 
 ing voices within are crying, "Here! Here!" and 
 stalwart men, springing from saddle, are rushing in, 
 pistol in hand, and tearing aside the flimsy barriers 
 that hide the rescued captives from the eyes of their 
 deliverers, and the other troop, reinforced again by 
 strong squads from Leale s rallied line, are dashing 
 
 4
 
 50 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 to and fro through the village, firing at the Indians 
 who are scurrying away. Just as Amory and the 
 adjutant charge at a little knot of scowling redskins 
 whose rifles are blazing at them at not a dozen yards 
 distance, just as the good old colonel, afoot now, is 
 clasping the hand of some poor woman whose last 
 hope was gone but a moment before, and even while 
 listening to her frantic blessings, finds time to shout 
 again to his half maddened men, "Don t hurt the 
 women, lads! Look out for the children! " a hag- 
 like, blanketed fury of a Brule squaw springs from 
 behind the shelter of a pile of robes, levels her re 
 volver, and, pulling trigger at the instant, leaps 
 screaming down into the creek bottom, leaving Farrar 
 sinking slowly into the snow. 
 
 An hour later, with strong skirmish lines out on 
 every side of the captured village, with a score of 
 Indian warriors sent to their last account and the 
 others scattered over the face of the earth, the little 
 battalion of the Twelfth is wondering if, after all, 
 the fight were worth winning, for here in their midst, 
 his head on Leale s arm, his fading sight fixed on the 
 tear-dimmed eyes of his faithful comrade, here lies 
 their beloved old colonel, his last messages murmured 
 in that listening ear: "Leale old friend find find 
 that poor girl my my son robbed and ruined and 
 deserted and be the friend to her you ve been to 
 me and mine. God bless 
 
 And this while the regiment, obeying its stern 
 duty, goes on in pursuit this is the news Jack 
 Ormsby has to break to the loving, breaking hearts 
 at Fray ne.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 ALL this was but part and parcel of the story of 
 the old Wyoming fort. Long years had it served as 
 refuge and resting place for the emigrants in the days 
 before the Union Pacific was built, when the over 
 land stage route followed the Platte to the Sweet- 
 water, and then past the Devil s Gate and Independ 
 ence Rock, old land-marks of the Mormons, and on 
 to the back-bone of the continent, where the mountain 
 streams, springing from rocky beds not long pistol 
 shot apart, flowed rippling away, the one to the Mis 
 souri and the Gulf of Mexico, the other to the Col 
 orado and that of California. Frayne was but a huge 
 stockade in the early days of the civil war, but the 
 government found it important from a strategical 
 point of view, even after the railway spanned the 
 Rockies, and the emigrant and the settler no longer 
 trudged the weary trail that, bordering the Sioux 
 country, became speedily a road of fire and blood, 
 second only in its terrors to the Smoky Hill route 
 through "bleeding Kansas." Once it was the boast 
 of the Dakotas, as it has been for generations of their 
 enemies, the Absarakas, or Crows, that they had 
 never shed the blood of a white man. Settlers of the 
 old days used to tell how the Sioux had followed 
 them for long, long marches, not to murder and pil 
 lage, but to restore to them items lost along the trail 
 or animals strayed from their little herds. But there
 
 52 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 came an end to all this, when, resisting an unjust de 
 mand, the Sioux being fired upon, retaliated. From the 
 day of the Grattan massacre beyond old Laramie, 
 there had been no real peace with the lords of the 
 Northwest. They are quiet only when subdued by 
 force. They have broken the crust of their environ 
 ment time and again and burst forth in the seething 
 flame of a volcano that is ever bubbling and boiling be 
 neath the feet of the frontiersman to this day. 
 
 And so Frayne was maintained as a military post for 
 years, first as a stockade, then as a sub-depot of supplies, 
 garrisoned by four companies of infantry and four 
 of cavalry, the former to hold the fort, the latter to 
 scour the neighboring country. Then as time wore 
 on and other posts were built further up in the Big 
 Horn, Frayne s garrison dwindled, but there stood 
 upon its commanding bluff the low rows of wooden 
 barracks, the parallel rows of double sets of broad- 
 piazzaed quarters where dwelt the officers, the long, 
 low, log-revetted walls of the corrals and cavalry 
 stables on the flat below. Here, oddly enough, the 
 Twelfth had spent a lively year or two before it 
 went to Arizona. Here it learned the Sioux country 
 and the Sioux so well that when, a few years back, 
 the ghost dance craze swept over the plains and 
 mountains like the plague, the old regiment was 
 hurried from its sunshiny stations in the south and 
 mustered once again, four troops at least, within the 
 very walls that long before had echoed to its 
 trumpets. Here we found them in the midst of 
 the Christmas preparations that were turned so
 
 FOET FEAYXE. 53 
 
 suddenly into summons to the field, and here again, 
 three years later still, headquarters arid six troops 
 now, the proud old regiment is still at Frayne, and 
 Fenton " vice-Farrar, killed in action with hostile 
 Indians," holds the command. 
 
 A good soldier is Fenton ; a brave fellow, a trifle 
 rough at times, like the simple plains-bred dragoon he 
 is, but a gentleman with a gentle heart in his breast 
 
 * O ~ 
 
 for all the stern exterior. Women said of him that all 
 he needed to make him perfect was polish, and all he 
 needed to give him polish was a wife, for at fifty-four 
 the grizzled colonel was a bachelor. But Fenton had 
 had his romance in early youth. He had loved with 
 all his big heart, so said tradition, a New York belle 
 and beauty whom he knew in his cadet days, and 
 who, so rumor said, preferred another, whom she 
 married before the war, and many a garrison belle 
 had since set her cap for Fenton, and found him 
 faithful to his early love. But, though the ladies 
 often speculated as to the identity of the woman who 
 had held the colonel s heart in bondage all these 
 years and blocked the way for all successors, no one 
 of their number had ever heard her name or ever 
 knew the truth. One officer there was in the 
 Twelfth who, like Fenton himself, was a confirmed 
 bachelor, and who was said to be possessed of the 
 whole story, but there was no use asking Malcolm 
 Leale to tell anybody s secrets, and when Fenton 
 came to Frayne, promoted to the command so 
 recently held by a man they all loved and honored, 
 it was patent to everybody that he felt sorely, as
 
 54 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 though he were an usurper. Fenton was many long 
 miles away, with another battalion of the Twelfth, 
 the day of the tragic battle on the Mini Pusa, and it 
 was long months thereafter before he appeared at 
 regimental headquarters, and then he brought with 
 him as his housekeeper his maiden sister, Lucretia, 
 and in Lucretia Fenton the dreamiest, dowdiest, 
 kindliest, quaintest, middle-aged prattler that ever 
 lived, moved, and had her being in the army the 
 ladies of the Twelfth found so much to make merry 
 over that they well-nigh forgot and forgave the 
 unflattering indifference to feminine fascinations of 
 her brother, the colonel. 
 
 When Fenton came, the Farrars, widowed mother 
 and devoted daughter, had been gone some weeks. 
 The shock of her husband s death had well-nigh 
 shaken Mrs. Farrar s reason, and for months her 
 condition was indeed deplorable. Loving him 
 devotedly, glorying in his soldierly record and 
 reputation, yet ever dreading for him just such an 
 end, she had been so prostrated by her grief that 
 Ellis almost forgot her own bitter sorrow in the 
 contemplation of her mother s woe. For months the 
 daughter was her main prop and comfort and attend 
 ant. Will, her bright, brave boy, could not be 
 permitted to leave his studies at the Point. Royle, 
 her first-born, was an outcast and wanderer she knew 
 not Avhere. Ellis, her youngest, her one daughter, 
 proved to be her chief dependence. Loving friends 
 and relatives she had in plenty, to be sure, and, 
 through the providence of her soldier husband, her
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 55 
 
 fortune was unimpaired, and, fortunately, more than 
 sufficient for her needs. And so, for over six 
 months after that fatal Christmastide, the widow 
 lay either apathetic or in the depths of an over 
 whelming grief, and Ellis never left her side. And 
 then they went for a summer at the seashore, for 
 Ellis herself was drooping, and then while visiting 
 at her own sister s home Mrs. Farrar began to 
 realize how all this time Ellis s education was being 
 neglected, and, despite her protest, the girl was sent 
 back to school in New York, where she could be 
 within call. This was her one stipulation, for Ellis 
 well knew what her mother only faintly suspected 
 that no more sudden shocks could come into the 
 gentle sufferer s life, without danger of ending it at 
 once. 
 
 And all this time Jack Ormsby had been so help 
 ful, thoughtful and attentive. It was he who met 
 them and escorted them, most of that miserable 
 homeward way. For the time being, at least, the 
 honored remains of the grand old colonel had been 
 laid to rest under the shadow of the flag at the post 
 he had so well commanded, but in the course of the 
 second year they were brought East and buried in 
 the beautiful cemetery near his own father s side, 
 and the veterans of a famous regiment bowed their 
 heads beside the helmeted regulars from the forts in 
 the harbor, and Jack s company sent a superb floral 
 emblem to be laid on the flag-draped coffin of the 
 commander by whose side their popular sergeant had 
 won his spurs in Indian battle. A famous fellow,
 
 56 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 with all his modesty and good sense, was Jack 
 Ormsby in the armory of the Seventh all the year 
 that followed his homecoming from the Sioux 
 campaign, and again and again did his comrades make 
 him tell the story of his sensations and experiences 
 when he followed Farrar into the heart of that fire- 
 spitting village, through that veil of softly falling 
 snow. How red it grew in many a place! What 
 scenes of carnage were there not after the noble 
 colonel fell! Jack s brain used to turn sick at the 
 thought of it sometimes, but still there Avas the 
 exultation of the rescue of those helpless captives, 
 those poor women, being dragged away to a fate to 
 which torture at the stake were mercy. There \vas 
 the triumph of the overwhelming defeat and punish 
 ment of that great village of hostiles even when it 
 was reinforced, as it soon was, by the return of many 
 of the warriors who had been watching and hinder 
 ing the pursuit of the Eleventh. Leale had taken 
 command, cool, yet raging over the murder of his 
 beloved chief, and while even then seeking to carry 
 out Farrar s injunctions to protect the women and 
 children, had dealt vengefully with the warriors who 
 had rallied to the attack. Ormsby was through it 
 all, and bore himself like a man and a sergeant, even 
 of the Seventh, and swore that his Creedmoor train 
 ing had been more than enough to help him empty at 
 least two saddles. If he had " only had my old Rem 
 ington," said he, "instead of a cavalry carbine, Kill 
 Eagle himself would have bit the dust, " for twice he 
 drew bead upon that savage chief when the snow
 
 FOKT FRAYNE. 57 
 
 clouds lifted late in the afternoon and let the battle- 
 Meld be seen. Great work had the little battalion 
 done that day, but all the same were they glad to see 
 the coming column of the Eleventh just before the 
 red, red sun went down. 
 
 Once, just once, after they had been home about a 
 month, Ellis made him tell her something of that 
 stirring, fatal day, but soon she shut her ears and 
 fled. Ormsby came again. He began coming often 
 so often that that became one reason why it was 
 deemed best that Ellis should return to school. Mr. 
 Ormsby was a very fine fellow, and all that, said 
 Mrs. Farrar s many relatives, but, really, "Ellis is 
 still too young, and she might do better," and so 
 poor Jack, who was learning to do nothing less than 
 worship that exquisite face, so pathetic above the 
 deep mourning of her attire, became dismal in his 
 turn and found no comfort in anything outside of the 
 armory or "Wall Street. 
 
 The next summer the Farrars spent at West Point. 
 It was Will s first class camp, and Will was cadet 
 captain of the color company, and a capital young 
 officer despite a boyish face and manner, and then 
 Jack Ormsby, who never before had " taken much 
 stock in West Point " the battalion looked so small 
 beside the Seventh, and the band was such a 
 miserable little affair after Cappa and his superb 
 array Jack not only concluded that he must go up 
 there every few days to pick up points on guard and 
 sentry duty and things of that kind, but Jack de 
 cided that Kitty, his precious sister, might as well
 
 58 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 go, too, and spend a fortnight, and she did, under 
 the wing of a matron from Gotham with daughters 
 of her own, and Kitty Ormsby, only sixteen, and as 
 full of vivacity, grace, sprightliness, and winning 
 ways as girl could be, pretty as a peach, and 
 brimming over with fun, coquetry and sweetness 
 combined, played havoc in the corps of cadets, and 
 could anything have been more fortunate? the 
 victim, most helplessly, hopelessly, utterly gone was 
 Cadet Captain Will Farrar. To the contsernation of 
 the widowed mother she saw her handsome soldier 
 boy led day after day more deeply into the meshes, 
 led like a slave, or like the piggy in the nursery 
 rhyme with the ring in the end of his nose, by this 
 bewitching, imperious, fascinating little creature, 
 and there was absolutely no help for it. Anywhere 
 else, almost, she could have whisked her boy under 
 her wing, and borne him away beyond range, but 
 not at West Point. She had to learn the lesson so 
 many mothers learn with such bewilderment, often 
 with such ill grace, that the boy was no longer hers 
 to do with as she would, but Uncle Sam s, and 
 Uncle Sam unfeelingly said stick to your camp duty 
 with its drills and parades, roll calls, practical 
 engineering, pontooning, and spooning in stolen 
 half hours, no matter what the consequence. Mrs. 
 Farrar couldn t carry Will away, and couldn t order 
 Kitty. About all she saw of her boy was drilling 
 with the battalion at a distance or dancing with Miss 
 Ormsby close at hand, and, on the principle that 
 misery loves company, she soon was comforted by a
 
 FORT FRAY3STE. 59 
 
 fellow sufferer, for just in proportion as the mother 
 heart was troubled by the sight of her boy s infatu 
 ation for this pretty child, so was Jack Ormsby 
 made miserable by seeing the attentions lavished by 
 officers and cadets alike on Ellis Farrar. 
 
 And yet the little blind god was doing Jack far 
 better work than he ever dared to dream. The mother 
 longed for Will and no one else could quite take his 
 place. The lover longed for Ellis, and what earthly 
 chance has a "cit" lover at West Point, even 
 though he be a swell and a sergeant in the Seventh? 
 It resulted that in the hours when the mother and 
 Jack had to sit and look on they were brought con 
 stantly together, and then in these hours of com 
 panionship Mrs. Farrar began to see more and more 
 how manful, honest, self-reliant was the gallant 
 fellow who had fought by her husband s side. Little 
 by little she learned to lean upon him, appeal to him, 
 defer to him, and to see in him, after all, a man in 
 whom she could perhaps confide even so precious a 
 trust as her daughter s heart, and that summer at 
 West Point Avon the mother even if it did not win the 
 lady of his love. 
 
 That winter the boys came down to New York, 
 half a dozen of Will s classmates, for Christmas 
 leave, and such a day and night of adulation as they 
 received! At last did Mrs. Farrar quit her seclusion 
 to give a little dinner in their honor, and consent to 
 attend, as a looker-on, the dance that night at 
 Sherry s, where Ellis gave Ormsby one blessed waltz 
 and Kitty gave Will the mitten. Oh, darts and
 
 60 FOET FKAYNE. 
 
 flames and furies, what a turmoil there was over that 
 Christmas dance! Will had to go back with his 
 classmates in time to report at a certain hour, but he 
 told his mother in tragic tone that all was over be 
 tween him and Miss Ormsby, forever- forever and 
 so, perhaps, it might have been had Kitty so minded. 
 She had flirted outrageously with Charley Bates, a 
 fellow Will Farrar simply couldn t bear, and, though 
 neither would admit that a girl hud anything to do 
 with it, there was the usual cadet challenge and as 
 spirited a midwinter "mill" as ever was seen in 
 cadet barracks a " mill " in which Farrar fought 
 like a hero and was only knocked out after having 
 been knocked down time and again, and then Kitty 
 was properly punished, for Will was still in hospital 
 when the New Year s hop came off, battered and 
 bruised and generally miserable, while Bates, though 
 mouse-colored as to his eyes, was able to attend, but 
 Kitty went up to Craney s with Mrs. Farrar, a 
 penitent indeed, and never went near the hop, but 
 had Will in ecstasy and a dark corner of the parlor 
 for a long, long hour, and cried and cooed over and 
 comforted him and surrendered at discretion. Will 
 Farrar was practically an engaged man when he was 
 graduated in June and only twenty-one. 
 
 All that winter Ellis had continued her course at 
 school, but was to come out in May, and during the 
 long months from September she was comforted in the 
 comfort her mother found in the companion that 
 had been chosen for her, a gentle, refined, and evi 
 dently well-bred woman, who came upon the recom-
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 61 
 
 mendation of their rector, and who was introduced 
 as Mrs. Daunton Helen Daunton, a woman with a 
 sad history, as the grave old pastor frankly told 
 them, but through no fault or foible of her own. 
 She had been married, but her husband was un 
 worthy of her, had deserted her some years before, 
 leaving her to struggle for herself. Dr. Morgan 
 vouched for her integrity and that was enough. By 
 the time Ellis was to return to her mother s roof 
 Helen Daunton was so thoroughly established there, 
 so necessary to her mother, so devoted to her in 
 every way, that for the first time in her life, even 
 while glad to mark the steps of improvement in the 
 beloved invalid s health and appearance, Ellis Farrar 
 felt the pangs of jealousy. 
 
 And this was Will s graduation summer, and they 
 had a lovely time at the seashore. Kitty was there, 
 and Kitty was an accepted fact and more so now. 
 Will would be content nowhere without her, and 
 would have married her then and there but for his 
 mother s gentle admonition, and Kitty s positive re 
 fusal. She had been reared from girlhood by a 
 doting aunt, had been petted and spoiled at home 
 and at school, and yet had not a little fund of shrewd 
 good sense in her bewilderingly pretty head. She 
 wouldn t wear an engagment ring, wouldn t consent 
 to call it an engagement. She owned, under 
 pressure, that she meant to marry Will some day, 
 but not in any hurry, and, therefore, but for one 
 thing, the mother s gentle heart would have been 
 content.
 
 62 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 And that one thing was that Will had applied for 
 and would hear of no other regiment in all the army 
 than that at the head of which his father had died 
 the Twelfth Cavalry, and no one could understand, 
 and Mrs. Farrar couldn t explain, how it was why 
 it was that that of all others was the one she had 
 vainly hoped he would not choose. He was wild 
 with joy and enthusiasm when at last the order came, 
 and with beaming eyes and ringing voice he read 
 aloud, " Twelfth regiment of cavalry, Cadet Will 
 Duncan Farrar, to be second lieutenant, vice Watson, 
 promoted, Troop <C. Leale s troop, Queen 
 Mother blessed old Malcolm Leale. What more 
 could I ask or you ask? What captain in all the line 
 can match him? And Kitty s uncle in command of 
 the regiment and post! Just think of it, Madre 
 dear, and you ll all come out and we ll have grand 
 Christmas times at Frayne, and we ll hang father s 
 picture over the mantel and father s sword. I ll 
 wire Leale this very minute, and write my respects 
 to Fenton. What s he like, anyway, mother? T 
 can t remember him at all nor can Kitty." 
 
 But Mrs. Farrar could not tell. It was years, too, 
 since she had seen him, " but he was always a faith 
 ful friend of your father, Will, and he wrote me a 
 beautiful, beautiful letter when we came away." 
 
 And so, late in September the boy lieutenant left his 
 mother s arms and, followed by her prayers and tears 
 and blessings, was borne away westward to revisit 
 scenes that were once familiar as the old barrack walls 
 at West Point. Then it required long days of travel
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 63 
 
 over rough mountain roads to reach the railway far 
 south of the Medicine Bow. Now the swift express 
 train landed him at the station of the frontier town 
 that had grown up on the site of the prairie dog village 
 he and his pony had often "stampeded" in the old days. 
 Here at the station, come to meet the son of their old 
 commander, ignoring the fact that the newcomer was 
 but the plebe lieutenant of the Twelfth, were the 
 ruddy-faced old colonel and Will s own troop leader, 
 Captain Leale, both heartily, cordially bidding him 
 welcome, and commenting not a little on his stalwart 
 build and trying hard not to refer to the very downy 
 mustache that adorned his boyish lip. And other 
 and younger officers were there to welcome the lad to 
 his new station, and huge was Will s comfort when 
 he caught sight of Sergeant Stein, the veteran standard- 
 bearer of the regiment, and that superbly punctilious 
 old soldier straightened up like a Norway pine and 
 saluted with rigid precision and hoped the lieutenant 
 Avas well and his lady mother and Miss Farrar. 
 " There s nothing, " thought Will, "like the discipline 
 of the old regiment, after all," as the orderly came 
 to ask for the checks for the lieutenant s baggage, 
 and all went well until the luckless moment when the 
 colonel and Leale, with some of the elders, turned 
 aside to look at a batch of recruits sent by the same 
 train, and Farrar, chatting with some of his fellow- 
 youngsters, was stowing his bags in the waiting am 
 bulance, and there in the driver Will recognized 
 Saddler Donovan s freckle-faced Mickey, with whom 
 he had had many a hunt for rabbits in the old, old
 
 64 FOKT FRAYISTE. 
 
 days, and then an unctuous, caressing Irish voice 
 fairly blubbered out: "Hivensaveus if it isn t really 
 Masther Will!" and there, corporal s chevrons on his 
 brawny arms, Avas old Terry Rorkc, looking wild to 
 embrace him, and even as Will, half ashamed of his 
 own shyness, was shaking hands with this faithful 
 old retainer of his father s household in years gone 
 by, the squad of recruits came marching past. The 
 third man from the front, heavily bearded, with a 
 bloated, ill-groomed face and restlessly glancing 
 eyes, gave a quick, furtive look at the new lieutenant 
 as he passed, then stumbled and plunged forward 
 against his file leader. The squad was thrown into 
 momentary disarray. The sergeant, angered at the 
 mishap at such a time, strode quickly up to the 
 offender and savagely muttered: "Keep your eyes 
 to the front, Graice, and you won t be stumbling up 
 decent men s backs," and the little detachment went 
 briskly on. 
 
 "I thought I d seen that man before," said Leale 
 an instant later, "and now I know it and I know 
 where."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE winter came on early at old Fort Frayne. 
 Even as early as mid-October the ice was forming in 
 the shallow pools along the Platte, and that eccentric 
 stream itself had dwindled away in volume until it 
 seemed but the ghost of its former self. Raging 
 and unfordable in June, swollen by the melting 
 snows of the Colorado peaks and the torrents from the 
 Medicine Bow, it spent its strength in the arid heat 
 of a long dry summer, and when autumn came was 
 mild as a mill stream as far as the eye could reach, 
 and fordable in a dozen places within rifle shot of 
 the post. Many a time did old Fenton wish it wasn t. 
 Frayne s reservation was big and generous, but, un 
 luckily, it never extended across the river. Squatters, 
 smugglers and sharpers could not intrude upon its 
 guarded limits along the southern shore, and the 
 nearest groggery that inevitable accompaniment of 
 the westward march of civilization was a long two 
 miles away down the right bank, but only a pistol 
 shot across the stream. 
 
 In his day Farrar had waged war against the rum- 
 sellers on the north shore and won, because then 
 there were only soldiers and settlers and no lawyers 
 outside the guardhouse within ninety miles of 
 the post. But with the tide of civilization came 
 more settlers, and a cattle town, and lawyers in abun 
 dance, and with their coming the question at issue 
 
 65
 
 66 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 became no longer that of abstract right or wrong, 
 but how a jury would decide it; and a frontier jury 
 always decides in favor of the squatter and against 
 the soldier. Fenton strove to take pattern after 
 Farrar and very nearly succeeded in landing himself 
 in jail, as the outraged vendor went down to Lara- 
 mie, hired lawyers there, swore out warrants of 
 assault and appealed to his countrymen. The fact 
 that no less than four of the Twelfth within six months 
 had died with their boots on, victims of the ready 
 knives or revolvers of the squatters across the stream, 
 had no bearing in the eyes of the law. Fenton had 
 warned the divekeeper a dozen times to no purpose, 
 but when finally Sergeant Hannifin was set upon and 
 murdered there one fine April evening within easy 
 range and almost within hearing of his comrades at 
 Fray ne, Fenton broke loose and said impetuous things, 
 which reached the ears of his men, who went and did 
 things equally impetuous, to the demolition of the 
 " shack" and the destruction of its stock of spirits and 
 gambling paraphernalia, and it was proved to the 
 satisfaction of the jury that Fenton did not interpose 
 to stop the row until it had burned itself and the 
 "shack" inside out. The people rallied to the sup 
 port of the saloonkeeper he, at least, was a man and 
 a brother, a voter, and, when he couldn t lie out of it, 
 a taxpayer. The officers at Frayne, on the other 
 hand, in the opinion of the citizens of that section of 
 Wyoming, were none of the four, and Bunko Jim s 
 new resort across the Platte was a big improvement 
 in point of size, though not in stock or sanctity, over
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 67 
 
 its predecessor. Jim ran a ferryboat for the benefit 
 of customers from the fort. It was forbidden to land 
 on the reservation, but did so, nevertheless, when 
 the sentry on the bluff couldn t see, and sometimes, 
 it must be owned, when he could. The boat was 
 used when the water was high, the fords when it was 
 low, and the ice when it was fro/en, and it was a 
 curious thing in winter to see how quickly the new- 
 fallen snow would be seamed with paths leading by 
 devious routes from the barracks to the shore and 
 then across the ice-bound pools straight to Bunko 
 Jim s. Bowing, as became the soldier of the repub 
 lic, to the supremacy of the civil law, Fenton swal 
 lowed the lesson, though he didn t the whiskey, but 
 Jim had his full share of customers from the fort, 
 and the greatest of these, it soon transpired, was the 
 big recruit speedily known throughout the command 
 as "Tough Tom" Graice. 
 
 Joining the regiment at the end of September, it 
 was less than a month before he was as well, though 
 not as favorably, known as the sergeant-major. 
 There is more than one way of being conspicuous in 
 the military service, and Graice had chosen the worst. 
 Even the recruits who came with him from the depot, 
 the last lot to be shipped from that once-crowded 
 garner of "food for powder," could tell nothing of 
 his antecedents, though they were full of gruesome 
 details of his doings since enlistment. He was an ex 
 pert at cards and billiards, said they for they had 
 found it out to their sorrow and a demon when 
 aroused by drink. Twice in drunken rage he had
 
 68 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 assaulted comparatively inoffensive men, and only the 
 prompt and forcible intervention of comrades had 
 prevented murder on the spot, while the traditional 
 habit of the soldier of telling no tales had saved him 
 from richly merited punishment. Within the month 
 of his arrival Graice had made giant strides to noto 
 riety. He was a powerful fellow, with fine command 
 of language and an education far superior to that of 
 the general run of non-commissioned officers, and it 
 was among the younger set of these he first achieved 
 a certain standing. Professing to hold himself above 
 the private soldier, proving himself an excellent rider 
 and an expert in drill with carbine or sabre, he never 
 theless declared it was his first enlistment and gave it 
 to be understood that a difficulty with the sheriff, 
 who sought to arrest him, had been the means of 
 bringing him to the temporary refuge of the ranks. 
 For the first few weeks, too, he drank but little, and 
 wearing his uniform with the ease and grace of one 
 long accustomed to the buttons, and being erect and 
 athletic in biiild, he presented a very creditable ap 
 pearance. The bloated, bloodshot look he wore on 
 his arrival, the result of much surreptitious whiskey en 
 route, passed somewhat away and it was only when 
 one studied his face that the traces of intemperance, 
 added to the sullen brows, and shifting, restless eyes, 
 banished the claim to good looks that were at first 
 accorded him. From the first, however, the old 
 sergeants and such veterans among the corporals as 
 Terry Rorke, looked askance at Trooper Graice. 
 " Another guardhouse lawyer," said the first sergeant
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 6& 
 
 of Leale s troop, as he disgustedly received the ad 
 jutant s notification of Graice s assignment. "Another 
 wan of thim jail birds like Mr. American Blood, the 
 newspaper pet," said Rorke, in high disdain. " We ll 
 have a circus with him, too, as they had in the 
 Eleventh, or I m a Jew. Where have I seen that 
 sweet mug of him before?" he added, reflectively, 
 as he watched the new-comer surlily scrubbing at his 
 kit, and the new-comer, glancing sideways at the 
 Irish corporal, seemed to read his thoughts, although 
 too far a*,ray to hear his muttered words. It was 
 plain to every man in " C " troop that there was apt to 
 be no love lost between Terence Rorke and Tommy 
 the Tough." 
 
 And there was another still who w r ore the simple 
 dress of a private soldier, whose eyes, black, piercing 
 and full of expression, w r ere constantly following that 
 new recruit, and that w T as the Sioux Indian, Crow 
 Knife, a youth barely nineteen years of age. He had 
 been a boy scout before the days of the ghost dance 
 craze. A valued and trusted ally of the white soldiers, 
 he had borne dispatches up to the very moment when 
 Kill Eagle s mad-brained ultimatum drove his band 
 into revolt and launched them on the warpath. With 
 them went Crow Knife s father and mother, and the 
 boy rode wildly in pursuit. He was with them, striv 
 ing to induce his mother to abandon the village, when 
 the warriors made their descent on the ranches of the 
 Dry Fork, and later, when Farrar s fierce attack burst 
 upon them like a thunderbolt through the snow- 
 clouds. Seizing his mother in his arms, the boy had
 
 70 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 shielded and saved her when Leale s vengeful men 
 rushed upon the nearest Indians, when unquestion 
 ably, yet unavoidably, some squaws received their 
 death wound in the furious fight that followed Far- 
 rar s assassination. Recognized and rescued by his 
 former friends, Crow Knife went back to Frayne 
 when the brief but bloody campaign was ended, and 
 then was sent to the Indian school at Carlisle. Re 
 turning in the course of three years, he had been en 
 listed in what was left of the Indian troop of the 
 Twelfth, and was one of the few of his tribe who 
 really made a success of soldiering. By the autumn 
 of this eventful year Crow Knife s comrades were 
 rapidly being discharged and returning to their 
 blankets and lodge life at the reservation, or hanging 
 about the squalid cattle town across the river. Crow 
 Knife, sticking to his cavalry duty and showing un 
 looked-for devotion to his officers, was regarded by 
 the Twelfth as an exceptional case, and was made 
 much of accordingly. 
 
 "AVhat do you think of that fellow, Crow?" 
 asked Corporal Rorke one day as he watched the ex 
 pression in the Indian s face. " You don t like him 
 any more than I do. What s the reason?" 
 
 "There is a saying among my people," was the 
 answer, in the slow, measured tones of one who 
 thought in another tongue, " eyes that cannot meet 
 eyes guide hands that strike foul. He-that-stabs-in- 
 the-darkis the name we give such as that man." 
 
 "D ye know him, Crow? Did ye never see him?" 
 persisted Terry. Ever since the day he came the
 
 FORT FRAYXE. Tl 
 
 captain has had his eye on him, and so have you, and 
 so have I. I can t ask the captain, but I can you. 
 Where have you seen him before?" 
 
 But Crow Knife shook his head. "I cannot re 
 member his face. It is his back I seem to know. Mj 
 people say that way they see their enemies." 
 
 And so Rorke could find no satisfactory solution 
 of the ever-vexing question. Twice or thrice he 
 accosted Graice and strove to draw him into talk, 
 but the new-comer seemed to shut up like an oyster 
 in the presence of the Irish corporal, a great contrast 
 to the joviality he displayed when soliciting com 
 rades to take a hand at cards. The recruits had 
 hardly any money left. Graice had won what little 
 there was on the way to Frayne, and now he had 
 wormed his way into the gambling set that is apt to 
 be found in every fort all comers who have money 
 being welcome and for a few weeks fortune seemed 
 to smile upon the neophyte. He knew, he protested, 
 very little of any game, but played for fellowship 
 and fun. Then he kept sober when others drank, 
 and so won, and then came accusations of foul play 
 and a row, and the barracks game was broken up, 
 only to be resumed at night in the resort across the 
 Platte, and there whiskey was plenty, and so were the 
 players, and there Graice began to lapse into intem 
 perate ways, and by the time the long, long nights of 
 December came, his reputation as a "tough" was 
 established throughout the garrison. All but three 
 or four of the most dissolute members of the com 
 mand had cut loose from him entirely, a matter he
 
 72 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 regretted only because pay day was at hand the 
 soldiers would then have money in plenty for a few 
 short, feverish hours. The squatters and settlers 
 had none until the soldiers were "strapped" and so 
 Graice and three or four Ishmaelites like unto him 
 self were left to the concentration of brutality to be 
 found in one another s society. 
 
 The winter, as has been said, set in early, and 
 when December came duties were few and hours for 
 sleep and recreation were many. Time was hanging 
 heavily on the hands of those whose brains were 
 empty among the households along officers row and 
 in the quarters of the married soldiers, although Christ 
 mas was not far away. Garrison balls were all the go 
 among the rank and file. Hops were frequent 
 among the officers and ladies, and, while other 
 soldier swains found bliss and enjoyment in the 
 society of the half dozen maidens wintering at the 
 fort guests and relatives of some of the officers 
 families one inconsolable fellow watched and waited, 
 watched and waited, with feverish impatience for 
 the coming of a certain train on a certain day, for 
 the coming of mother and sister to his own roof, 
 revisiting as inmates of the quarters of the junior 
 second lieutenant the post where three years gone by 
 they occupied the house of the commanding officer. 
 But boy lieutenants do not consume with feverish 
 longing for the coming of blood relations. Proud 
 and glad as was Will Farrar at the idea of welcoming 
 the " queen mother" and sweet sister Ellis to his roof, 
 it must be owned that the thrill of his impatience
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 73 
 
 was all due to the fact that the same train was to 
 bring Miss Kitty Ormsby to become for the time 
 being an inmate of the army home now presided over 
 by loquacious Aunt Lucretia. 
 
 And Will Farrar was not the only man in this big, 
 bustling garrison to look forward to this coming with 
 strange and sweet emotion. There are natures upon 
 which the first strong, fervent love of manhood 
 leaves an impress indelible even when the object of 
 that love has passed out of one s life, possibly into 
 the keeping of another and happier man. Aunt 
 Lucretia couldn t understand why on earth her 
 brother, the colonel, should be so fussy and excited 
 about Kitty Ormsby s coming. Why on earth 
 should he insist on sending away to Cheyenne for new 
 carpets, curtains, furniture, and all manner of 
 contraptions, to say nothing of swell new uniforms 
 from New York, all because that precious little chit 
 of a niece was coming to spend a month or so at 
 Frayne. Lucretia thought it was ridiculous. Of 
 course, it was her brother s own affair. He was a 
 well-to-do bachelor, with no one but her to take care 
 of, and he could do as he pleased, especially when 
 he pleased to insist on surprising her with some 
 charming addition to her maidenly store of gowns 
 and furbelows and kickshaws. Really, the idea of 
 Kitty s coming and turning everything topsyturvy 
 in the household didn t strike her as being so inap 
 propriate now after all, for Aunt Lou, whom Kitty 
 had not seen in years, was still young and volatile 
 enough to feel the influence of dress upon one s
 
 74 FORT FRAYNli. 
 
 views of life, and from being actually incensed at the 
 initial excitement and preparation, Lucretia first 
 grew reconciled, then, as her own remembrances 
 came with the early installments of goods and 
 chattels, manifestly interested, and later, infected 
 with all her brother s marked enthusiasm, for one 
 wonderful day Lucretia almost fainted with excite 
 ment and delight when the colonel came over from 
 the office wearing a face of unwonted perplexity and 
 dismay, and, when the maiden asked the cause, her 
 virgin heart stood still an instant, then fluttered 
 wildly at his reply. 
 
 "That blessed old day-dreamer Wayne is ordered 
 here for duty. Why! O Lord! yes, I remember." 
 
 Nearly twenty years before, when she was but a girl 
 of nineteen and Wayne a lone subaltern, there had 
 been a long winter in which life seemed to have no 
 joy for either Wayne or Miss Fenton save in the 
 hours spent in each other s society. Every one at 
 Leavenworth vowed they must be engaged. Indeed, 
 Lucretia believed it must come any day, but the 
 days dragged on, Wayne came ever, but the fateful 
 words were never spoken up to the moment when he 
 was ruthlessly hurried away to bear his part on a 
 frontier campaign, and rarely, and then only for a 
 moment or two, had they ever met again. Wayne 
 was one of the wonders of the army, the best fellow 
 that ever lived in almost every way, said almost 
 everyone who knew him, and yet at once a trial and 
 a delight. Without exception, he was the most 
 absent-minded, dreamy man in all the service and
 
 FORT FBAYNE. 75 
 
 the stories of his absurdities were innumerable. It 
 was Wayne who asked Miss Sanford to the german 
 at Leavemvorth and was found playing whist at the 
 general s at ten o clock. It was Wayne who kept 
 dinner waiting for his arrival at the same general s 
 two evenings later and was found by the orderly on 
 his way to town to call at the rector s. It was 
 Wayne who appeared at a garrison hop one evening in 
 cavalry trousers and a black "claw-hammer." Wayne 
 who implored his brother officers to keep him con 
 stantly reminded that it was Mrs. Burton now and 
 not Mrs. Hallet, as he had known her for years, upon 
 whom they were about to call, and who, after 
 infinite mental labor, had well-nigh finished the 
 interview without a break, only to dash it all by 
 precipitating himself upon the new possessor of these 
 charms and covering him with confusion by saying: 
 "Hallet, old boy, hearty congratulations!" It was 
 Wayne who immortalized himself at Royle Farrar s 
 christening when, as was the hospitable way of the 
 army, the officers and ladies were bidden to the 
 ceremony and caudle, by wishing the proud young 
 mother "many happy returns." It was Wayne 
 who hung his pince-nez on his finger and was seen 
 vainly struggling to set his seal ring on his aquiline 
 nose, Wayne who gravely took his post as captain 
 commanding battalion parade one evening with his 
 helmet wrong side foremost and without his sabre. 
 It was Wayne who, as senior officer present, had to 
 toast the mother of the bride at a gorgeous wedding 
 breakfast on a famous occasion and plumped down in
 
 76 FOET FEAYNE. 
 
 this sea expectant of joyous applause only to be con 
 founded by an awful silence, followed an instant 
 later by an outburst of irresistible, uncontrollable, 
 almost hysterical laughter, led by that blessed matron 
 herself, for poor Wayne had wound up his halting, 
 stumbling incoherencies with the astounding senti 
 ment, "And I am sure I can wish the lovely bride 
 no future more more delightful than that she may 
 grow ever more more beautiful than her beautiful 
 mother and and and m-more more er virtu 
 ous." 
 
 No wonder Fenton, with all his liking for the man, 
 felt appalled at the idea of having for second in 
 command an officer just as apt to get things in 
 extricably mixed on drill as he was in daily life. 
 No one could ever count on Wayne s getting a thing 
 straight. He was absurdity itself, as has been said, 
 and yet so penitent, so distressed when any one be 
 came involved through his propensities as actually 
 to win the affection of his very victims. He was 
 the soul of truth and honor and knightly bravery. He 
 woke up under tire to an enthusiasm that was grand. 
 He was generous, tolerant, kind as kind could be, 
 and, but for this one trait, as reliable and thorough a 
 friend as man could ask. But what could a woman 
 do with a lover like that? And, all of a sudden, 
 Colonel Fenton had recalled the almost forgotten 
 episode of Lou s early romance, and wondered what 
 new complication might not now arise. Verily, 
 it promised lively developments for old Fort 
 Frayne, did this bright and bracing December,
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 77 
 
 for, full a fortnight before the sacred anniversary, 
 the Farrars were to arrive the Farrars, with the 
 gentle invalid s now devoted and inseparable com 
 panion, Helen Daunton, and bachelor Will had 
 turned his whole little house into a bower for the 
 women folks, while he, as he expressed it, " took a 
 bunk in Billy s camp " next door. And Kitty was 
 to journey with them, and Will was to have leave to 
 go as far east as Omaha to meet them, for they were 
 to travel to that point unescorted, Jack Ormsby, 
 whom Will had looked upon as certain to be on 
 hand, being still abroad, and probably no one but 
 Ellis knew why. At the very time when, no longer 
 an employe now, but his own master and a suc 
 cessful, driving, thriving business man, Jack Ormsby 
 thought he had some chance of being looked upon as 
 a suitable suitor, at least from the point of view of 
 worldly goods, he found the lady of his devoted 
 love nervous, embarrassed, and anything but kind. 
 Ever since her father s death she had seemed to like 
 him well. She had spoken to him of the prospect 
 of his being with them when they went to the sea 
 shore the summer of Will s graduation, and he had 
 intended to go and join them when they returned 
 from the mountains, where they spent July, but first 
 there was the week of camp with his beloved 
 Seventh, and then, just as he was hoping to run 
 down the Jersey shore for a lovely Sunday by her 
 side, there came a summons to arms, and every man of 
 Jack s company answered the call, and the Seventh, 
 in fuller ranks even than it appeared in camp, went
 
 78 PORT FRAYNE. 
 
 striding away to face the thugs and toughs and 
 rioters of greater Gotham, and there was a week of 
 trying, exasperating duty, and then a fortnight of 
 invalidism as a result; for Sergeant Ormsby got an 
 ugly gash as his share of the casualties from brick 
 bats, and erysipelas set in. Not until late Septem 
 ber did he see Ellis again, just after Will had gone, 
 and then his doctor advised a sea voyage, for he 
 could not understand his patient s unfavorable symp 
 toms, and then followed a short sojourn abroad. 
 Wounded sorely in his honest heart, Ormsby went, 
 and when he returned to Gotham the Farrars were 
 gone to Frayne.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FOR several days Trooper Graice had been in the 
 guardhouse. Absent from check roll call, from his 
 quarters over night, and from reveille, he had 
 turned up at sick call with a battered visage and 
 all the ear-marks of a drunken row. He had been 
 hauled up before a summary court, Major Wayne s 
 first duty after reporting at the post, and received 
 sentence of fine with a scowling face and no word of 
 plea for clemency or promise of betterment. What 
 cared he for fines? He could win more in a night 
 than they could stop in a month. He was out again 
 doing penance with the police cart about the post 
 the day the available transportation came driving 
 back from the railway with a load of precious freight, 
 and Trooper Graice, splitting wood in the major s 
 back yard, dropped the axe with a savage oath and 
 turned a sickly yellow for one minute when he heard 
 the busy tongues of the domestics next door pro 
 claiming the arrival of Lieutenant Farrar s mother and 
 sister. The sentry on duty over prisoners bade him 
 stop his swearing and get to work again, for Captain 
 Leale was passing rapidly up the walk in front, and 
 Leale was a man whose eyes were ever about him and 
 whose ears seemed never to lose a sound, but the 
 captain merely glanced keenly at the soldier with his 
 brace of malcontents and hurried on. It was he who 
 opened the door of the stanch Concord and assisted 
 
 79
 
 80 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 the ladies to alight Mrs. Farrar, Ellis, and a 
 stranger, a gentlewoman, evidently, yet one who 
 seemed to shrink from accepting aid or attention, 
 and whose beautiful blue eyes ever followed Mrs. 
 Farrar. "My friend, Mrs. Daunton, my older 
 friend, Captain Leale, of whom you have heard so 
 much," were the words in which these two were 
 made known to each other, while Will and the 
 servants were tumbling out bags and rugs and wraps, 
 even as another and similar vehicle was being un 
 loaded in front of the colonel s. Leale dined en 
 famille at the Farrar s that evening, Will proudly 
 presiding, as became the head of the house and the 
 foot of the table, and beaming upon his mother, who 
 sat facing him and rejoicing in his happiness. Very 
 bright and cozy were the prettily-furnished quarters, 
 for, with boundless enthusiasm, the ladies of the 
 garrison had aided the young gentleman in making 
 them attractive against the coming of the wife of 
 their honored old colonel and his fair daughter, and 
 right after dinner the visitors began to arrive, wel 
 coming, army fashion, the old friends long endeared 
 to all the other members of the garrison, men and 
 women both; and, while Mrs. Farrar and Ellis had 
 hosts of questions to ask and answer, Captain Leale 
 found himself interested in entertaining the stranger, 
 to whom all this blithe and cheery intercourse, all 
 the cordial, hospitable, homelike army ways, were 
 so odd and new. It was tattoo when he rose to 
 leave, and met poor Will without Will, who had 
 twice gone up to Fenton s hoping to steal a word
 
 FORT FfiAYXE. 81 
 
 or two with Kitty, only to find that such portion of 
 post society as was not gathered about his mother 
 and sister was congregated at the colonel s and 
 then, fatigued by the journey, and showing plainly 
 the effect of the excitement of her arrival, Mrs. 
 Farrar was induced to seek her room, while Ellis re 
 mained in the parlor to chat with others still coming 
 in to bid them welcome home, and not until long 
 after ten were the lights turned down in No. 5, and 
 not until even later did they gleam no longer from 
 the big house on the edge of the bluff. 
 
 o o 
 
 Whatever trepidation her friend had felt as to the 
 effect of this return upon Mrs. Farrar, it was soon 
 evident that it was groundless. Even the day on 
 which she returned Lucretia s call and was received 
 in the familiar rooms, once her own, she controlled 
 admirably every sign of deep emotion. She seemed 
 happy in being with Will, her idolized boy, and was 
 never tired of watching him as he strode or rode 
 away upon his various duties. An admirable soldier 
 was Will, as all the officers admitted, devoted to 
 his duties, full of snap, spirit, and enthusiasm, a 
 fine drill instructor, and teacher of the non-com 
 missioned officers school, yet ever handicapped by 
 that exuberant boyishness and by the fact that to 
 save their souls the old soldiers and their families 
 seemed to find it absolutely impossible at first to for 
 get him as " Masther Will." Many of the old ser 
 geants and their wives had come to pay their re 
 spects to Mrs. Farrar, and to talk, as she loved to hear 
 them talk, of the colonel they loved so well and
 
 82 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 mourned so loyally. One and all they rejoiced in say 
 ing everything that soldier speech could frame in praise 
 of their new lieutenant, their boy officer, their colonel s 
 soldierly son, even while struggling against the im 
 pulse that ever possessed them to refer to him as 
 Masther Will, or, as he hated still more to be called 
 Master Willie. Little by little the army punctilio 
 had prevailed, and most of the men had learned to 
 refer to him respectfully as " the lieutenant," and 
 to brace up and salute him with all the gravity and 
 precision lavished on Fenton or Leale. Even the 
 Irish trumpeter, with whom he had ridden races and 
 played hookey, and gotten into all manner of mis 
 chief about the post in by-gone days McQuirk, at 
 first could not suppress the affable grin that over 
 spread his freckled " mug " at sight of his whilom 
 playmate as a full-fledged officer, bearing the presi 
 dent s commission. But Mac was savagely roasted 
 by Sergeant Stein and other elders, and did his best to 
 amend. It was Terry Rorke that was incorrigible. 
 Time and again he broke the rules he laid down for 
 himself, and, as Terry had been the household 
 " striker " in the days when it was Captain Farrar, 
 and they first lived at Frayne, he found especial 
 favor in the gentle eyes of the widowed mother, and 
 was encouraged to come and see her, for in all that 
 crowded garrison he alone could recall her first-born, 
 her handsome, daring, dashing Royle, when he was 
 a boy of fourteen. To all the world he was an out 
 cast, but the mother s heart had never yet been able 
 to quench the flame of love that, burning like a
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 83 
 
 beacon in her pure and prayerful heart, seemed ever 
 beckoning to him to return. Yes, Terry Rorke had 
 never forgotten " Masther Royle," and he alone 
 could come and talk with her of the son, when all 
 the rest of the world would only too gladly believe 
 him dead and forgotten. 
 
 Thrice had Will, bustling into the hallway, as was 
 his custom, without knock or ring, come suddenly 
 upon his mother in conference with his old friend 
 and hers, and Rorke had sprung to attention and 
 stood like a statue and had striven to say "the lieu 
 tenant," and not "Masther Will," in his reference to 
 his officer, but Will plainly showed he thought this 
 frequent coming an imposition. "Mother, dear," 
 said he one day, "if old Rorke is annoying you by 
 coming so often, I can give him a gentle hint." 
 
 "Annoying? Why, Willy, dear, I love to talk 
 with him. He was the most faithful, devoted creat 
 ure we ever knew. All through your boyhood he 
 watched over you, and he was almost the only friend 
 your poor brother seemed to have." 
 
 "I appreciate all that, mother," said Will, tug 
 ging uneasily at his budding mustache, "at least, I 
 try to, but all the same, you know, it isn t the thing. 
 Of course, Rorke never presumes exactly, I under 
 stand that, and he only comes because you bid him, 
 and then it is only to the back door ami all that, but 
 still it s the effect of the thing on the other men, and 
 it s time he was learning to understand I m decidedly 
 no lonirer Master Will."
 
 84 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Ah! there was the rub. Two days before in the 
 presence of Will s fair little lady love, had one of 
 Rorke s lapses occurred, and the lieutenant had been 
 Masther Willed and had reddened to the roots of his 
 hair, seeing which, Kitty Ormsby, as determined a 
 tease as ever lived, had taken to calling him "Mas 
 ther Will" on her own account, and thunderstorms 
 were imminent. There were other fellows, present 
 able fellows, in the garrison who were quick to feel 
 the fascination of this charming little niece of Fen- 
 ton s, and just the moment Will showed a disposi 
 tion to sulk she showered smiles and sunshine on 
 the first subaltern to appear, and thereby di-ove Will 
 nearly rabid. Had his comrades ventured to dub 
 him "Masther Will" there would have been a row. 
 Had any of the other belles of the garrison so trans 
 gressed he would have turned his back upon her then 
 and there, and so elegant a dancer and reputably 
 wealthy a young officer was not to be offended, even 
 before Kitty came. But Kit could and did torment 
 him without mercy, and without fear of consequences, 
 and, before she had been at Frayne a week, was mak 
 ing life a burden for the fellow who had prayed for 
 her coming as its sweetest blessing. 
 
 And so, like the big outside world, the little com 
 munity of Fort Frayne was living its life of hopes 
 and fears, smiles aud tears, love and jealousy and 
 hate, while Kitty had speedily made herself com 
 pletely at home, and was tyrannizing over everybody 
 at the colonel s as well as over Will, and tormenting 
 Aunt Lucretia by making eyes at Major Wayne, who
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 85 
 
 never saw them, while Wayne had got to drifting 
 over to his new colonel s almost every evening, just 
 as twenty years before he infested the quarters of his 
 old friend at Leavenworth, arousing once more all the 
 fluttering of that maidenly heart, and, while Mrs. 
 Farrar, rejoicing in the evidences of love and rever 
 ence in which her husband s name was held on every 
 side, and in the honors Will was winning in his 
 chosen profession, and even while she found comfort 
 in the fact that one faithful old friend could recall 
 her wayward boy as he was before dishonor and dis 
 grace had swamped him, she would have been less 
 than a woman had she been insensible to Fenton s 
 repressed but unvarying devotion. Never intruding, 
 rarely calling, he was gentleness, tenderness personi 
 fied in every look and word. It was evident that all 
 these years had never served to banish her image 
 from his heart. Mourner though she may be, can 
 woman live and not rejoice in knowing herself the 
 object of so much love on every side? Widowed 
 though even by a few brief months, does she resent 
 it that the man lives who would be glad to teach her 
 to forget? Life was not without romance, then, even 
 to one who had lost her best beloved not three years 
 gone by, and for whose first born she still shed bit 
 ter tears. 
 
 And to another sorrowing heart, to another gentle 
 and stricken soul this wintry sojourn on the far 
 frontier was bringing strange emotion. Day after 
 day had Malcolm Leale been a visitor at the Farrar s. 
 Time after time had he found himself seated in con-
 
 86 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 versation with the woman whose beauty of face had 
 thrilled him on the day of her coming, and whose 
 sweet, subdued but gracious manner had charmed 
 him more and more. First to notice his marked 
 preference for Helen Daunton s society, was Ellis 
 Farrar, who noted it with mixed emotions, with an 
 interest of which she felt ashamed, and which she 
 strove to repress. For months she had been strug 
 gling against herself or rather against some strange 
 distemper that was not herself, for the pang of jeal 
 ousy with which the girl had marked her mother s 
 dependence upon Mrs. Daunton when Ellis returned 
 from school, had deepened and taken root early that 
 graduation summer. Her jealousy had been doubled 
 by an event that occurred shortly after her brother s 
 last parade. Mrs. Daunton had not gone with them 
 to the Point, Craney s was crowded in June, and 
 Mrs. Farrar and Ellis would go nowhere else. For 
 the week they would be there the services and admin 
 istrations of a companion might, perhaps, be dis 
 pensed with, and Helen remained at the home. But 
 the evening after graduation, when they were all 
 seated in the parlor of their New York home, and 
 Will was lounging at the window, delighted with 
 the life and bustle of the city streets, and vaguely 
 longing to get out and air his new "cits," yet not 
 quite daring to go to Kitty s in them, because she 
 declared she d never speak to him except in uni 
 form, and Mrs. Farrar was leaning back in her easy 
 chair, fanning herself slowly, with her eyes and 
 thoughts on her boy, even though Helen Daunton
 
 TORT FRAYNE. 87 
 
 was reading aloud to her a long, interesting letter, 
 there came a shout from Will that brought the blood 
 to Ellis s face and drove it instantly from Helen 
 Daunton s. Confronting each other as they sat, each 
 saw and marked unerringly the effect upon the other 
 of Will s jubilant announcement. 
 
 "Here s Jack Ormsby!" 
 
 Helen made her escape from the room that night 
 before he entered, had never been in the parlor on 
 the occasion of his brief visits thereafter, yet had 
 seen him. Ellis never forgot how the evening of bis 
 last call, when his card came up to her she remem 
 bered that Mrs. Daunton was searching at that mo 
 ment for a book in the library back of the parlor. 
 
 1 
 
 She noted that Helen did not come at once away, as 
 had been her wont. She lingered a few minutes over 
 the last touches to her toilet, for, even though she 
 was distrustful, jealous of her lover, she was woman 
 enough to loose no chain that bound him. Her heart 
 was fluttering and her face was pale as she stepped 
 into her mother s room and stooped to kiss her fore 
 head, and Mrs. Farrar looked at her wistfully, as 
 though half ready to plead for the honest fellow she 
 had grown to trust and honor. From Mrs. Daunton 
 Ellis had wrung the admission that some years ago 
 she had met and known Mr. Ormsby. From Jack 
 Ormsby she had learned that he had never known 
 a Mrs. Daunton in his life, and her heart was filled 
 with misgivings as she went swiftly down the stairs, 
 turned sharply at the bottom and in an instant stood 
 at the library door. Just as she expected, there,
 
 88 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 peeping through the heavy meshes of the portieres, in 
 visible to any one in the parlor, yet able to study its 
 occupants at will; there, clutching the silken folds 
 in her beautiful Avhite hands, with her face pallid 
 and quivering with emotion, with great tears trick 
 ling down her cheeks, there, deaf to her coming, 
 stood Helen Daunton, gazing spellbound at the man 
 who had dared to approach her Ellis Farrar in the 
 guise of a lover. 
 
 And Jack Ormsby had vowed that never until he 
 met her had he known what it was to love a woman, 
 vowed that his heart had been all her own ever since 
 I lie winter of her father s death, ever since the bitter 
 day he had to break to her the dreadful news, and 
 yet, here before her eyes, was evidence that this 
 woman could look upon him only in uncontrollable 
 emotion. What folly to talk to her of never having 
 seen Helen Daunton before! And even then an idea 
 flashed upon her. Under some other name he must 
 have known her, and, though he might deny the 
 name he could not deny the woman. Jealous, doubly 
 jealous, she sought to bring them face to face, and, 
 entering the library, quickly turned on the electric 
 light, and would have opened the portiere and bade 
 him come to her there, but Helen Daunton turned 
 and fled. All Ellis could afterwards extort from her 
 was that in her unhappy past Jack Ormsby had be 
 friended her stood by her in the sorest need, and 
 she would be grateful to him to her dying day. 
 
 "And yet," said Ellis, ever doubtful and suspi 
 cious, "you refused to see him, you shrank from him,
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 89 
 
 and you would not meet him." But to this there was 
 no reply. 
 
 That night was Ormsby s last call before he went 
 abroad. And now, with Christmas near at hand, and 
 her jealousy ever wrestling with her better nature, 
 and the respect, even the regard she felt growing 
 within her for this lovely woman who was so devoted 
 to her mother, Ellis Farrar knew not what to think 
 or say when she noticed the unerring signs of Malcolm 
 Leale s growing love and of the evident pleasure, 
 despite all her gentle reserve, the woman felt in his 
 society. 
 
 Even to Helen then the coming Christmastide was 
 bringing that which women prize and welcome. Only 
 Ellis in all the busy garrison found no comfort in 
 the happy season, for the lover she longed and 
 longed to see was by her own act banished from her 
 life. 
 
 Day after day, as December wore on, and she noted 
 the faint color that had come back to her mother s 
 face, and even at this altitude, so far up toward the 
 heights of the Rockies, her mother s heart gave no 
 symptoms of distress, Ellis grew thankful for their 
 coming, even when she heard that Ormsby had at 
 last returned and was again in NCAV York. Day by 
 day, as she watched Mrs. Daunton, all her old fears 
 and fancies seemed shamed to silence, so gentle, so 
 pure hearted, so full of grace and loving kindness 
 she seemed. Sometimes it was even on Ellis s lips to 
 speak an impetuous appeal, to throw herself on 
 Helen s mercy, proclaim the injustice, the cruelty of
 
 90 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 her jealousy and her suspicions, but to implore her 
 to tell the whole truth. They who watched soon saw 
 that even in proportion as Mrs. Farrar grew in glad 
 ness and health and new lease of life from her com 
 ing to Frayne, it was Ellis who was drooping day by 
 day. Yet, proud and plucky, and determined, the 
 girl bore up against her sorrow, redoubled her devo 
 tion to her mother, strove hard to interest herself in 
 Will s friends, was attention itself to Will s impe 
 rious sweetheart, who little dreamed what thought of 
 brother Jack w r as really in that hidden heart, and was 
 making heroic efforts to believe that all would yet 
 come right, and perhaps Jack, too, when there came 
 an odd adventure and renewed jealousy and dismay. 
 Only four days more to Christmas eve! All prep 
 arations were being made for a genuine old-fashioned 
 Christmas ball for the officers and their families, and 
 a Christmas gathering for the rank and file. The big 
 assembly room of the post, over across the parade, 
 near the old log guardhouse, was to be the scene of 
 both. In loving memory of her husband, Mrs. Farrar 
 had had a large portrait painted in New York which, 
 beautifully framed, was to be hung in the assembly 
 room and presented as a Christmas gift. Already 
 detachments had been out in the Medicine Bow coun 
 try, bringing in huge load^ of evergreens and pines, 
 and the men were hard at work with the decorations. 
 Terry Rorke was in his glory, for, as major domo of 
 the Farrars long years before, he had never let 
 the year go by without rigging up the Christmas 
 trees and the bright festoons of green. Even Crow
 
 FORT FKAYXE. 91 
 
 Knife, heathen though he was from Terry s Catholic 
 point of view, seemed glad to take a hand, and the 
 sounds of bustle and preparation were so like those 
 that rang throughout the fort three years before that 
 people feared the thoughts inspired by the sounds 
 might only serve to sadden Mrs. Farrar. But, on the 
 contrary, she seemed full of sweet and gracious inter 
 est, Ellis, hovering about her constantly, found her 
 own fears allayed. Then came a typical December 
 evening, clear and sharply cold, with abundant 
 enow under foot and a cloudless sky over head. 
 The sun had just gone down, after flinging his royal 
 robes of red and purple about the distant mountains. 
 The gun had answered with its thunderous salute, 
 and the flag had come fluttering down. Far away 
 up the canon the whistle of the express seemed a 
 farewell to Frayne as the train sped swiftly on its 
 westward way. They had been out for a brisk walk, 
 Will and Kitty, Ellis and Lieutenant Martin, her 
 brother s chum, and several other young people of 
 the post. There was good skating down the Platte, 
 where the snow had been swept away, and many of the 
 little party came back dangling their skates in their 
 hands, and the keen air was joyous with laughter 
 and merriment as they climbed the bluff under the 
 colonel s piazza, and came in sight of Wayne and 
 Miss Lucretia sedately spooning at the gate, and 
 far out on the road to the station they caught sight 
 of the Concord spinning postward with the mail, and 
 Kitty was persuaded to come over a moment to No. 
 5, before dressing for dinner, and there at the gate
 
 92 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 the party had dispersed, Ellis and Kitty entering the 
 house, where Will promised to join them in a little 
 while, and there Mrs. Farrar had joyously welcomed 
 them, and there they were seated, the four, while 
 the servant came in to light the lamps and draw the 
 curtains, and Kitty was chatting like a magpie and 
 P^llis, listening with only languid interest, though 
 her mother and Mrs. Daunton were full of smiles 
 and sympathy when the Concord went bustling up the 
 road without, and still the chat went on, for no one 
 there was interested in the Eastern mail just then, 
 and all of a sudden Will s voice was heard without, 
 joyous, hearty, ringing, "By jove, old fellow! This 
 is just too good for anything! No-no, come right in, 
 right in here mother ll be delighted Kitty s here 
 and Ellis." And the door opened and two big burly 
 men in furs were ushered in, and Kitty gave a 
 scream and precipitated herself upon the breast of 
 the foremost and hugged and kissed and cried over 
 him a bit, even as he was striving to shake hands 
 with Mrs. Farrar, even as his eyes were searching 
 for Ellis, even as he was brought face to face with a 
 woman who had turned deathly white, who strove 
 vainly to squeeze past him to the doorway, who 
 bowed her head into her very breast as she sought 
 first to avoid, then to hurriedly acknowledge the 
 embarrassed, wondering, troubled salutation of the 
 new arrival, for at the instant his eyes fell upon 
 Helen the voice of Ellis fell upon his ear: "My 
 mother s friend, Mr. Ormsby, Mrs. Daunton." 
 
 And all he could find words to say was simply her 
 name, "Mrs. Daunton?"
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THAT night Ellis Farrar was as wakeful as the 
 sentries on their snow-bound posts. It was after 
 midnight when she returned from progressive whist 
 at the doctor s, and though luck had befriended her 
 and kept Ormsby from her side, she had been able 
 at times to watch him when chance brought him 
 near Helen Daunton. She noted with jealous misery 
 the appealing look in Helen s eyes when once they 
 were .for an instant left to themselves. She could 
 have sworn she saw a little scrap of paper handed 
 Ormsby at that moment and quickly stowed in his 
 waistcoat pocket. But the rest of the evening, it was 
 Leale who devoted himself to Helen, and Leale who 
 escorted her home, and this fact Ellis saw was some 
 thing that seemed to give Ormsby no concern what 
 ever. Had she not been blinded by her suspicions, she 
 would have seen that poor Jack had only one real 
 source of trouble that night, and that was her own 
 determined avoidance of him. 
 
 Wheels within wheels were whirring in the 
 garrison, and Ellis Farrar was perplexed and worried 
 more than she could say. Even placid, garrulous 
 Aunt Lucretia was involved in the recent compli 
 cations, for, within the past three days Major 
 Wayne had been, on no less than three occasions, in 
 close and confidential talk with Mrs. Farrar a talk 
 that on one occasion had left the gentle invalid in 
 
 93
 
 94 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 tears, and from which she had gone to her room, and 
 was found there, on her knees, by Ellis, half an hour 
 later. Explanation was denied her at the time. 
 "Xot now, Ellis, dear," was the pleading answer. 
 "I cannot talk to-night. Later after Christmas I 
 will tell you all about it," and with this the girl had 
 perforce been content. Yet here again she mourned 
 because, while refusing to tell her own daughter the 
 reason of her tears and agitation, Mrs. Farrar had 
 welcomed Helen to her room and found solace and 
 comfort in her society. 
 
 This lovely, placid, moonlit night, as they came 
 away from Dr. Gray s, old Fenton was plainly dis 
 appointed and Lucretia as plainly disturbed, when 
 Mrs. Farrar quietly and possessively took the major s 
 arm and led him, rather than leaned upon his 
 strength, on the homeward way. Ellis, escorted by 
 Mr. Martin anything to get away from Ormsby 
 this night had hurried homeward and then to her 
 room and out of sight, yet noted how long her 
 mother detained the dreamy major at the gate, while 
 Leale and Helen Daunton conversed in the little 
 parlor. There had been a gathering at the Amorys 
 that same evening, a little dinner party, as Mrs. 
 Amory expressed it, "in honor of those who are 
 engaged and those who ought to be," and pretty 
 Xell Wiiletts, a captain s daughter, and young Alton, 
 of "K" troop, were the first named, and bewitching- 
 Kitty and Willy Farrar, one couple, at least, in 
 cluded in the second. Mrs. Amory was a charming 
 hostess. She was of an old Kentucky family, had
 
 FORT FBAYNE. 95 
 
 wealth and beauty to add to her charms, and had 
 been wooed and won by her dashing husband long 
 years before, when he was a boy lieutenant doing 
 Ku-Klux duty in the distant South. She declared 
 Will was a dark-eyed edition of just what her Frank 
 was in the early seventies, and that Kitty Orrasby was 
 "too like I was twenty yuhs ago fo anything," and 
 Mrs. Amory was so loyal a Kentuckian as never to 
 forget even the sweet, soft dialect of the blue-grass 
 country she so fondly loved. Ellis, to Mrs. Amory s 
 relief, had begged off the dinner, saying she felt she 
 ought not to be away from her mother s side just 
 now, and frankly explaining to Mrs. Amory the 
 apprehensions they all felt on that mother s account, 
 especially at this trying time, so near the anniversary 
 of the colonel s death. 
 
 With all the worldly goods with which she had 
 endowed her husband twenty years gone by, pretty 
 Mrs. Amory couldn t add to the government allow 
 ance of quarters, and her dining-room would only 
 hold ten; so, as Ellis wasn t especially interested in 
 any man at the post, despite the attentions paid her 
 by Martin, Jessup, and other available fellows, Mrs. 
 Amory wisely decided her to be deeply interested in 
 somebody far away, and knew the man the moment 
 Ormsby came. So Ormsby and Ellis, as has been 
 said, went to whist and carne away dissatisfied and 
 unhappy, and Will and Kitty went to dinner and a 
 dance at Amory s, and had a thrilling tiff, as a result 
 of which she refused to ask him in when he took her 
 home, even though Aunt Lucretia, hoping it was
 
 96 FORT FRAYXE. 
 
 Wayne, beamed upon them, though it was after 
 midnight, from the doorway, and the colonel and 
 Brother Jack, looming up through a cloud of cigar 
 smoke, shouted to the suffering subaltern to come in. 
 Wrathful and stung to the quick by Kitty s coquetry, 
 Farrar turned indignantly away and sought his own 
 quarters. The lights were still burning in the 
 parlor, and he felt sure Leale and Mrs. Daunton 
 were there, and he was too "miffed" to care to see 
 them. A dim light was burning in his mother s 
 room, and he believed her to have retired earlier, 
 and so made it an excuse not to go for her good 
 night kiss and blessing. The door opened just as he 
 was hurrying by, and Wayne came forth into the 
 clear moonlight, and the boy wondered that he 
 should be there, instead of at Fenton s, as usual, but 
 he didn t wish to see or speak with him. He 
 slammed the door of his chum s bachelor den as he 
 bolted in, never noticing the bright light in Ellis s 
 window, or dreaming that his sister sat there alonr 
 in her trouble, while he, with a lover s selfishness, 
 saw nothing beyond his own. She heard his quick, 
 impetuous step, however, and peeping through the 
 curtains, saw the light pop up in the window- 
 opposite her own, and readily she divined that Kit 
 had been tormenting him again. Verily, the 
 Ormsbys seemed to exercise a baleful influence over 
 the Farrars, and, with all her admiration for Kitty s 
 better qualities and her remembrance of all Jack ;; 
 goodness in the past, her heart was hardening against 
 them, as it was, in jealous disquiet, against Helen
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 97 
 
 Daunton. At that moment she seemed to long for 
 the companionship of her brother and wished he had 
 come in. She heard her mother s gentle words 
 mingling with Leale s deep baritone and Helen 
 Daunton s low, soft voice, and again the feeling 
 gained ground within her that she, to whom the 
 mother clung with such love and dependence in the 
 past, was herself in need of advice and sympathy, 
 while that mother was finding other helpers now. 
 Wayne had gone, the servants had retired and still 
 the pleasant, friendly chat went on. It was all well 
 enough so far as Malcolm Leale was concerned, but 
 why should her mother so utterly confide in one of 
 whom she knew so little and of whom Ellis was be 
 ginning to suspect so much? Why should Helen 
 Daunton be allowed to accept those unmistakable 
 attentions from Captain Leale even when her actions 
 plainly showed that there had been some mysterious 
 tie between her and Jack Ormsby in the past? 
 
 Then, again, came recollections of the note she 
 had seen her slip in Ormsby s hand that night, and, 
 longing for somebody, for something, to distract her 
 thoughts from her own angry self, she tore aside the 
 curtain and peered out on the night. There, not 
 fifty feet away, was Will s window. There, to her 
 right, the snow-covered expanse of the parade, ter 
 minated at the far southern side by the black bulk 
 of the one-story barracks and the glistening lights of 
 the guardhouse tower, where, on the lower floor, the 
 sergeant of the guard and his corporals held their 
 sway. Off to the left lay the rolling slopes, all
 
 98 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 white and peaceful iu their fleecy mantles and 
 glistening in the moonlight, save where seamed by 
 pathways leading to the river and disfigured by the 
 wooden fences of the back yards. Far across the 
 Platte the red lights burned at Bunco Jim s and 
 some unhallowed revelry was going on, for even at 
 the distance the black shapes of horses could be 
 seen tethered about the premises, and one or two 
 more dim dots of pedestrians seemed slowly creeping 
 across the stream. The post of the sentry on No. 5, 
 at the north end of the garrison began back of the 
 colonel s quarters on the point of the bluff, and con 
 tinued on to the rear of the officers quarters at the 
 eastern front, where it joined that of No. 6, and 
 even as Ellis gazed from her window, she could see 
 that the t\vo sentries, approaching each other, were 
 apparently having some conference about the 
 situation. There was a lo\v fence separating their 
 yard from that next door, and the snow was almost 
 untrodden. There was no pathway around the 
 bachelor den next door, as there was around No. 5. 
 Post servants and orderlies thought nothing of 
 utilizing the hallways of quarters occupied solely by 
 subalterns. The back gate stood open, as she could 
 see, and the board walk leading from it to the rear 
 door was visible for half its length. That had been 
 cleanly swept during the day, and, leading from the 
 gate diagonally across the yard through the snow 
 drifts was the track of a man, and right at the rear 
 corner of the bachelors quarters, half concealed from 
 the front and peering eagerly around, evidently
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 99 
 
 studying the windows of the ground floor of the 
 house occupied by the ladies of the Farrar family, 
 was the man himself a big, burly, heavily-bearded 
 fellow, in the fur cap and rough great-coat of the 
 cavalry. 
 
 Even as half alarmed, half annoyed, yet certainly 
 fascinated, Ellis hung at the window, she heard the 
 party breaking up down stairs, heard Leale wishing 
 them a cordial good-night, and closing the door. 
 The silent watcher heard that, too, for at the sound 
 of the slam, without which few frontier-made doors 
 were ever known to shut, the dark figure popped 
 back and remained out of sight until Leale s soldierly 
 form had gone striding away down the row. Theu 
 once more, slowly, cautiously, it came partially into 
 view, steadily scrutinizing those lower windows. 
 
 Ellis was a soldier s daughter and no coward. She 
 was conscious of an impulse to throw open the win 
 dow and challenge the skulker, but even then her 
 mother s slow step was heard ascending the stairs, 
 and Helen s sweet voice, as the latter came on to 
 assist her. 
 
 " Indeed, you need not, Helen," Ellis heard her 
 say. " I have grown better and stronger with every 
 hour, every hour. Even the sadness has been sweet. 
 Even the old scenes have brought new comforts. 
 Even the new sorrow has brought relief and peace." 
 You have not yet told me of that, nor have you 
 told Ellis." 
 
 " She shall know, and so shall you, dear friend, 
 to-morrow. To-ni<>;ht I want to kneel I want to be
 
 100 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 alone." Then Ellis heard her hand seeking the 
 knob of the door. Hastily she turned to meet her 
 mother at the threshold. 
 
 " You are better, Queen Mother, God be thanked. 
 You have looked better every day. Will you not 
 come in, Mrs. Daunton? " 
 
 " Thank you, no; not just now. I will go and put 
 out the lights and leave you two together for a while. 
 I know Mrs. Farrar is pining for a peep at her sol 
 dier boy s window." Already Mrs. Farrar was mov 
 ing thither, and Ellis darted eagerly forward. 
 
 "One moment, mother dear," she cried. "Let 
 me draw the curtain it it doesn t work well." 
 
 And with the words she boldly threw aside the 
 heavy curtain, and noisily, ostentatiously raised the 
 sash. Just as she believed would be the case, the 
 skulker, alarmed, sprang back behind the corner of 
 the adjoining house and deep within its shadow. 
 Will s light was still burning brightly, and in her 
 clear, silvery voice his sister called his name. "He ll 
 answer in a minute, mother. Don t come to the win 
 dow yet," she added. Then again, "Willy, Willy." 
 
 And, as though answering her call, as though 
 watchful, ready, eager to serve, even though unsum- 
 moned, another form came suddenly into sight on 
 the moonlight walk in front, and a voice she well 
 knew hailed from over the low picket fence: "Will 
 has just gone up our way, Miss Farrar. I brought 
 him a message a moment ago. Can I be of any serv 
 ice?" And there, of course, was Jack Orrnsby.
 
 FOKT FEAYNE. 101 
 
 "Thank you, no," was the answer, in cold con 
 straint. "I had no idea lie had gone and that yon 
 were there. Mother merely wished to speak w r ith 
 him a moment," and with that she meant to dismiss 
 him, but her mother, pained l>yher tone of constraint 
 and coldness towards one whom she herself so greatly 
 liked, came to the window herself. 
 
 " Ellis, you are not even courteous to that honest 
 gentleman," she said, in gentle reproach. "Mr. 
 Ormsby," she added, in cordial tones, "are you 
 going anywhere? Are you busy?" 
 
 "Entirely at your service, Mrs. Farrar. I found 
 myself de trap at the house after the colonel took his 
 nightcap and his leave, so I came out for a stroll. 
 The major and Aunt Lou arc trying to remember 
 where they left off last night, and Kitty, I fancy, is 
 bullying the lieutenant." 
 
 " Then would you mind coming in one minute? I 
 have a little packet that I want Willy to find on his 
 dressing table when he comes in." 
 
 "Mother," pleaded Ellis almost breathlessly, 
 "I I 5 
 
 "Hush, dear. Mr. Ormsby will be glad, I 
 know." 
 
 And Mr. Ormsby was only too glad. Promptly he 
 came to the door. Promptly he was admitted by 
 Mrs. Daunton, who stood with palpitating heart at 
 the foot of the stairs. 
 
 "Thank you so much," was Mrs. Farrar s hail 
 from the landing above. "It is in my room and will 
 be ready in one minute, if you will kindly step into 
 the parlor."
 
 102 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 And then, as Mrs. Farrar passed on into her room, 
 and with no audible word, Mrs. Daunton and Jack 
 passed into the parlor, Ellis standing a moment con 
 fused, confounded, irresolute turned back into her 
 own room, and only by a miracle, recovered herself 
 in time to prevent the loud slam of the door. Then, 
 with heavily beating heart, she stood there in the 
 middle of the floor listening for, yet not listening to, 
 the sound of voices from below, the cold night air 
 blowing in from the open casement unnoticed, even 
 the mysterious prowler at the back of the house for 
 the moment utterly forgotten. 
 
 And, meantime, turning quickly upon Ormsby,the 
 moment she had led him within the parlor below, 
 Helen Daunton, in low, trembling, yet determined 
 accents, spoke hurriedly: "I had not hoped for this. 
 At best I thought to see you no sooner than to-mor 
 row night. You have read my note?" 
 
 Ormsby bowed coldly. "Yes, but no words can 
 tell you my surprise at seeing you here in this house 
 hold, and as the trusted companion of whom I have 
 heard so much. Do they know you arc " 
 
 " They know nothing. They have made me wel 
 come, and made life sweet to me again, after it was 
 wrecked and ruined by their own flesh and blood. I 
 meant God forgive me when first I came to them, 
 lonely, destitute, that some time they should know, 
 but from the first I grew to love her; from the day 
 of my reception under her roof my heart went out to 
 her as it has done to no other woman since my own 
 blessed mother died, long years ago; and then, then
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 103 
 
 I learned of her precarious health, and I temporized, 
 and now I love her as I love no other being on earth, 
 and, knowing that she never heard of her son s mar 
 riage for she has talked of him occasionally to me 
 I determined never to tell her of that cr of the 
 little one murdered by his brutality. I have hid it 
 all all. I hid from you, for you alone knew me 
 under the name she bears and loves and honors. O, 
 Mr. Ormsby! you were kindness, helpfulness itself 
 to me in those bitter days. Can you not see how 
 impossible it is for me to tell her now? Can you 
 not help me to keep the hateful truth? See, she has 
 been gaining here day after day. Don t let her 
 know don t make me tell her perhaps kill her with 
 the telling that I am Royle Farrar s wife." 
 
 "Hush," he whispered, for in her excitement, her 
 voice was rising, and he, listening nervously for a 
 footfall that he knew and loved and thrilled at the 
 sound of, heard Ellis pass rapidly along the narrow 
 hall above, as though in answer to her mother s call. 
 " Hush!" he repeated, "I must think of this. Tell 
 me has Miss Farrar at any time in any way seen 
 that you have known me before?" 
 
 "She has, Mr. Ormsby, and I, with all the deep, 
 deep gratitude I feel to wards you, I have been unable 
 to tell her the truth and explain what I cannot but 
 know has made her suspicious of me, has hurt you 
 in her estimation. Oh, what shall I do? what shall 
 I do?" she cried, wringing her white hands in grief 
 unutterable. "Keep my secret, I implore you, just 
 twenty-four hours, until this sacred anniversary so
 
 104 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 fatal to, so dreaded by her, has passed away. Let 
 no shock come to her at Christmas. Then if 
 need be" 
 
 "Hush!" he again warned, for Ellis was almost at 
 the doorway. I must see you to-morrow. Until 
 then And then though the sweat was standing 
 on his forehead, he turned with such composure as 
 he could assume, with yearning and tenderness 
 beaming in his frank, handsome face, to meet the 
 proud girl whom he loved and in whose averted 
 eyes he seemed to read his sentence. Never enter 
 ing the room, but halting short at the doorway, she 
 gave one quick glance at the woman, who, turning 
 her back upon them, first seemingly busied herself at 
 the curtains, and then moved on into the dining- 
 room, which opened, army fashion, from the little 
 parlor, and then was lost to sight. 
 
 "Mother desired me to hand you this,Mr.Ornisby," 
 was all that Ellis said, and then coldly turned away. 
 
 " Ellis! " he cried in a low, eager, sorrowing tone, 
 as he sprang after her. "Ellis Ellis! " 
 
 But instantly, with uplifted hand, she turned, 
 first as though to confront and warn him back, then 
 as though commanding silence. "Hush listen!" 
 she said. "What is that? " 
 
 Something like an inarticulate, stifled, moaning 
 cry came from the direction of the dining-room, and 
 rushing thither, swiftly, noiselessly as he could, 
 Ormsby was just in time to see Helen Daunton reel 
 ing back from the window and staggering toward 
 the sofa.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 TWAS the day before Christmas, and Frayne was 
 merry with the music of Christmas preparation. Ever 
 since reveille the men had been busily at work, and 
 while most of them were engaged in the decoration 
 of their barracks, messrooms, and the little chapel, 
 Terry Rorke, with a good sized squad, was still put 
 ting the finishing touches on the assembly hall. An 
 odd thing had happened that morning. No one had 
 ever known that fellow Graice to offer to do a stroke 
 of work of any kind, especially where Rorke had any 
 thing to do with the matter, yet here he came, right 
 after reveille, to tell that very man that if it was all 
 the same to him, he d take the place of Higgins, who 
 had been put on guard, and would help at the assem 
 bly room. 
 
 " There s no whiskey to be had there, Graice, if 
 that s what you want and ye look more n like it. 
 Answer me this now. Where d ye been whin ye came 
 running in at wan o clock this morning? " 
 
 "On a still hunt, Corporal," answered Graice, with 
 a leer. "It s to keep away from whiskey this day I m 
 ready to work with you. I m supernumerary of the 
 guard." 
 
 You were drinkin last night, and you ve had y er 
 eye opener and brain clouder this morning bad scran 
 to ye! There s an internal revenue tax on the breath 
 of you that would make an exciseman jealous. But 
 
 105
 
 106 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 God be good to us! av it s to kape mischief away 
 from the garrison this day, I ll go you. G wan now, 
 but whist you ve no liquor about you, Graice?" 
 
 "Devil a drop outside of my skin, Corporal." 
 
 Then kape out of reach of it and out of the way 
 of the ladies, lest the sight of yer ugly mug would 
 throw them into fits. Gwan!" and Graice went. 
 "Was it you, you black-throated devil, that gave 
 that sweet lady her fright last night? " he continued 
 reflectively. "There s no provin it beyond the boot 
 tracks, and they d fit worse looking feet than yours 
 it s the wan mark of the gentleman that s left to ye. 
 Yes, Sergeant, I ll kape me eye on him," he contin 
 ued, in response to a suggestion from the senior non 
 commissioned officer of the troop, who came forth 
 from the office at the moment. The captain s hot 
 about that business of last night, an like as not 
 there s the blackguard. Now, what on earth does he 
 want to be playin Peeping Tom about the oflicers 
 quarters?" 
 
 "No good, of course, but we can prove nothing, 
 as you say, except that he was out of quarters and 
 wasn t at Bunko Jim s after eleven o clock. He was 
 here and in bed when I inspected." 
 
 Very little was known about this episode. Mrs. 
 Daunton had quickly revived under the ministration 
 of Ellis and Mr. Ormsby, and, half laughing, half 
 crying, had declared that just as she reached the 
 window, the blind swung slowly back and the moon 
 light fell full on the head and shoulders of a man 
 with a fur cap, black beard, and soldier s overcoat.
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 107 
 
 She could describe no other features. He saw her 
 at the same instant. Each recoiled, but in her ex 
 cited, nervous state, it was too much of a shock. 
 Ellis, who, at first, had been prone to attribute 
 Helen s prostration to the interview with Ormsby, 
 recalled the prowler she herself had seen and could 
 not but corroborate Mrs. Daunton s story. Jack had 
 rushed out, only to find boot tracks in the snow and 
 an unfastened blind, but no other sign of a man. 
 Mrs. Farrar was kept in total ignorance of the affair, 
 and only Leale and Will at first were taken into the 
 secret, though the captain at once went to consult his 
 trusty non-commissioned officers. All the same, 
 though Helen laughed at her weakness Avhen morn 
 ing came, she and Ellis, parting for the night with 
 but few words, and each feeling conscious of the gulf 
 between them, passed a restless and disquieting 
 night. 
 
 Just what mischief that fellow Graice was med 
 itating puzzled not a little the honest pate of Terry 
 Rorke. For a time the man worked busily, silently, 
 lugging bundles of greens into the hall, and bare, 
 stripped branches out. Once or twice in answer to 
 chaffing remarks of the other men, he had retaliated. 
 Once again, colliding with Crow Knife at the door, 
 he had muttered an angry curse and bade the redskin 
 keep out of his way unless he coveted trouble. The 
 Indian s eyes flashed vengefully, but he spoke no 
 word. It was just after guard mounting that Graice 
 had offered his services, when, as supernumerary, he 
 really did not have to work at all, and was not prop-
 
 108 FORT FEAYNE. 
 
 erly detailable for any such fatigue duty. By ten 
 o clock, however, it was apparent to more than one 
 present that he was drinking more liquor, and had it 
 concealed, probably, somewhere about the premises 
 or in his overcoat. Rorke warned him and got a 
 sullen reply. Not a minute after, although strict 
 orders had been given against smoking, because of 
 the flimsy nature of the structure and the large quan 
 tity of inflammable material scattered about, he pre 
 cipitated an excitement. Right in the entrance of the 
 hall a big square box had just been placed by two of 
 the men, and Crow Knife was carefully removing the 
 lid, when Graice, lurching in from the dressing room 
 with a bundle of greens, stumbled against the edge 
 of the case, and dropping his burden with a savage 
 curse, he drew back his heavily -booted foot as though 
 to let drive a furious kick. 
 
 Instantly the Indian interposed. "Don t kick!" 
 he said. "Hold your hoof there!" shouted Rorke, 
 and others of the men joined in their cry of warning. 
 Wonderingly he looked about him on the quickly- 
 gathered group, swaying a bit unsteadily even now. 
 
 "Why not?" he scowlingly, sullenly, thickly 
 asked. "What harm s there kicking a rattlebox 
 that s almost broken my shin? What s the matter 
 with you fellow s, anyhow?" 
 
 "It isn t the box, you goneril, it s what s inside of 
 it! That s Col. Farrar s picture God s praise to him 
 for the finest soldier that iver rode at the head of the 
 Twelfth."
 
 FOKT FEAYNE. 109 
 
 "That Col. Farrar s picture?" muttered the man, 
 in a strange, half awed, half defiant manner. "Well, 
 I swear, that s that s queer." And then, in some 
 odd, nervous abstraction, he whipped out a cigar, 
 and the next thing they knew, had lighted it at the 
 stove and tossed the flaming paper among the sweep 
 ings on the floor. Instantly, there was a rush, a 
 trampling of feet, and just as Rorke wrathfully had 
 collared the stupefied man, Lieut. Farrar burst in up 
 on the scene, stamping out the few remaining sparks 
 and then turning angrily upon the group. 
 
 " Who dropped that fire? Who, I say? " he re 
 peated, for, in soldier silence, the men had stood to 
 attention, but, true to soldier ethics, would tell no 
 tales. "Don t let that happen again, Corporal," he 
 went on sternly. "You know well enough what a 
 lire would mean hereabouts with the cannon powder 
 stored in the tower yonder. Remember the orders 
 the guardhouse for the first man, fooling with fire. 
 Go on with your work." And then, as the men 
 turned silently away and Terry stood there looking 
 abashed and troubled at the implied rebuke, Will 
 sought to soften the effect. "Why, you re doing 
 great work here, Corporal; the old place is wearing 
 Christmas dress and no mistake." 
 
 "It is; Masther Will," said Rorke, delightedly. 
 
 " Masther Will!" repeated Farrar, indignantly. 
 " On my soul, Rorke, you 
 
 "I beg the lieutenant s pardon," said Terry, all 
 contrition and soldierly respect. " But I ve known
 
 110 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 him such a few weeks as lieutenant and so many and 
 many a long year as Masther Will 
 
 "That ll do, Corporal. Have the picture in its 
 place as soon as you can. Mother will be over here 
 to look at it." 
 
 "Yes, Mas yes, Sor." 
 
 And again, as Will turned angrily to rebuke the 
 poor fellow, there was a gathering of the men at the 
 window looking out upon the parade, and something 
 was said about a lady slipping on the ice, which 
 carried Will away like a shot. Two strides took 
 him to the door, and one glance sent him rushing to 
 the rescue. It was Miss Ormsby. 
 
 And then, while some of the men went on with 
 their work, others seemed to hang about Graice, who 
 was oddly fascinated by the box and cast furtive 
 glances at it, while Crow Knife, under Rorke s direc 
 tion, was quietly unpacking it. Again had Graice 
 wandered unsteadily over by the stove, and stood 
 there, sullenly kicking at it until one of the men 
 bade him quit, or he d start a lire in spite of them. 
 " You ll have us all in blazes before our time," were 
 the soldier s words. 
 
 " Not I. Fire s my friend," answered Graice, in 
 a surly tone. 
 
 "An likely to give you a long and warm welcome 
 if you carry to purgatory the spirit you so sweetly 
 manifest here. How yer friend?" retorted Rorke. 
 
 "I mean it saved my life a year ago in Mexico. 
 I saw a girl once too often for her lover s good- 
 hot-headed cur! He would have it and got it in
 
 FORT FRAYNE. Ill 
 
 the heart and I got in quod and our Consul couldn t 
 help me. I am not the kind of citizen the United 
 States hinders a foreign Government from sending to 
 kingdom come, and I was mighty nigh getting 
 there." 
 
 "And ye didn t," said Terry highly interested. 
 " The dispensations of hiven are past findin out." 
 
 "Fire s stood my friend, I say. I had my pipe 
 greasers ain t the damned martinets you have here 
 and a spark went into the straw. It blazed in an 
 instant. There was hell to pay, with the guard and 
 greasers and prisoners running every which way. 
 The prison had a little tower like that yonder," said 
 he, pointing to the wooden structure above the old 
 log guardhouse. "I saw my chance in the con 
 fusion and ran for it. It was stone and never took 
 fire, and I got safely away at night and vamoosed 
 the coxmtry, and read afterward how the flames had 
 devoured the ruffianly murderer Roy " and here he 
 caught himself, with sudden gulp, seeing Rorke s 
 suspicious eyes upon him." 
 
 "Eh, Graice, Roy, you were saying." 
 
 " Murderer, roisterer, and rascal, Tom Graice," 
 he went on. " So I ve nothing to fear from fire." 
 
 Rorke eyed him long and distrustfully, grunting 
 audible comment on the story, to which some of the 
 men had listened in absorbed interest, while others 
 were busily removing the picture and setting it in 
 place upon the wall. Then, as it was fairly hung, 
 Crow Knife stepped back across tho room, his eyes 
 reverently fixed upon the fine, soldierly face. Graice,
 
 112 FORT FRAYXE. 
 
 meantime, after a hurried glance about him, had 
 drawn a flask from his vest pocket, and had lifted it 
 to his lips when Rorke grabbed it. 
 
 " I thought so, ye mad-brained gabbler! You ll 
 be drunk before the day s half over. Get up and 
 look at the picture, man. It s looking at you 
 straight and stern." 
 
 " Who who s looking at me? What damned rot 
 are you talking? " shuddered Graice. 
 
 "The colonel is, and as if he didn t relish the 
 sight small blame to him." 
 
 " It s a Baying of my people," said Crow, in his 
 slow solemn tone, "Whom the eyes of the dead 
 call must rir.e and follow." 
 
 " You croaking " hissed Graice, leaping to his 
 feet and rushing at the Indian, but Rorke threw 
 himself between them. 
 
 " Play wid fire when ye may, man, but niver wid 
 a tame tiger. Hush, now. Go out this door and 
 cool that crazy head of yours. Here come the 
 ladies." 
 
 Instantly the excited group scattered, the men re 
 suming their work as though at no time thought of 
 crime or quarrel had entered there, but Rorke s heart 
 was thumping hard as he went to his station. First 
 to enter were Captain Leale and Mrs. Daunton, though 
 the blithe voices and cheery laughter of the others 
 could be heard without. Evidently there was fun 
 at Kitty s expense, and Leale had seized the oppor 
 tunity to draw Helen to one side. They were talk 
 ing earnestly as they entered.
 
 FOET FKAYNE. 113 
 
 " It seems providential that Will s first station 
 should bring his mother back to the old home. 
 Here and now at least she should be safe from 
 all shock, especially with your care to guard her, 
 Mrs. Dauntou. She said to me only yesterday: 
 Helen came to me only a little over a year ago, but 
 I think I have needed her for years. She is dear 
 to me, almost as my own daughter. 
 
 "God bless her foi those words," said Helen, 
 deeply moved. " I came to her as a dependent, but 
 she has taught me a new definition of motherhood." 
 
 " Motherhood has its sorrowful meaning for Mrs. 
 Farrar," said Leale, gravely, his handsome, dark 
 eyes fixed upon her face. " Has she never spoken 
 to you about Royle, her eldest son? " 
 
 " She has sometimes mentioned him," said Helen, 
 with great constraint. " But she can hardly bear to 
 speak of him, and I know the bitter sorrow he 
 brought to every one who loved him, but," she 
 added, quickly, as though eager to change the sub 
 ject, "how cozy and warm and Christmasy it looks 
 and smells! I shall have another new definition 
 what Christmas means. We learn many definitions, 
 do we not, as life goes on, and sometimes fate is 
 good to us and lets us learn the happiest last." 
 
 " And you have learned a sad one of Christmas? " 
 
 "I? A very sad one. My own baby died in my 
 arms on Christmas Eve." 
 
 Leale bent earnestly towards the sad, sweet face, 
 a deep emotion in his own, but at the moment Ellis 
 entered followed closely by Ormsby. She bowed in
 
 114 FORT FRAYXE. 
 
 evident constraint at sight of the couple already 
 there, and looked as though she would gladly have 
 turned about again. After her came Will and Kitty, 
 and other young people of the post, all eager and 
 intent on inspecting the preparations being made, all 
 full of compliment to Rorke for the success attend 
 ing his labors, all full of admiration of the portrait 
 which they grouped about and admired, while Ellis 
 hung her father s sabre underneath. And then once 
 again the whole party, chatting merrily, went drift 
 ing out into the crisp air and glorious sunshine, 
 leaving glowering after them from the doorway of 
 the little room that opened off the main hall the ill- 
 favored, ill-liked soldier Graice. 
 
 Two minutes later, and no one could explain how 
 it started, or what was its exciting cause, with 
 hardly a spoken word or premonitory symptom, two 
 men were clinched in furious struggle one heavy, 
 burly, powerful, and gifted with almost demoni.ic 
 strength, had hurled the other down. That other, 
 lithe, sinewy, panther-like in every motion, writhed 
 from underneath his huge antagonist, and had 
 sprung to his feet, while the first, more slowly 
 heaved himself upward, and then, like a maddened 
 bull, dashed at his foe. Springing lightly to one 
 side, Crow Knife, for it was he, whipped from its 
 sheath a glittering blade, and poised it high in air, 
 and Graice, even in his blind fury, saw and hesi 
 tated. There was a rush of the workmen to the 
 spot, but Captain Leale was first of all. Clear and 
 cold and stern his voice was heard: "Drop that
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 115 
 
 knife! drop that knife, I say!" and slowly, reluc 
 tantly, though his eyes were blazing with hate and 
 rage, the Indian turned towards the man he had 
 learned to trust, to honor, and to obey, and the 
 knife fell clattering to the floor. Graice made a 
 lunge as though to grab it, and Rorke s ready foot 
 tripped and felled him. Then, with both hands, the 
 Irishman grabbed him by the collar and dragged 
 him, dazed and scowling, to his feet. 
 
 "There are ladies coming, sir," was the low- 
 murmured warning of one of the men. 
 
 "Take that man out and cool him off," said Leale, 
 still calmly to the corporal. "I ll hear the story 
 later. Quiet now one and all," he added, as the 
 group dispersed. " It is Mrs. Farrar." 
 
 They met at the very doorway, the fair, radiant 
 woman, closely followed by her daughter, the dazed, 
 hulking soldier, led or rather driven forth by Corporal 
 Korkc, and instantly a change, swift and fearsome, 
 shot across the sweet, pathetic face. One glance was 
 all, and then, pale as death, she tottered feebly for 
 ward. Ellis sprang to her side in sudden alarm. 
 "Mother, dearest, what is wrong? How you 
 tremble ! " 
 
 For a moment she could not speak. "It is folly, 
 it is weakness!" she faltered. "But that face that 
 dreadful face! The look in those eyes the awful 
 glitter that only liquor kindles. I have not seen 
 that look since Oh, whenever I see it I say, God 
 pity, pity his mother."
 
 116 FOKT FEAYNE. 
 
 And then Helen Daunton came hastily in anil 
 helped to lead the agitated Avoman to a seat, and 
 there she knelt beside her and soothed and comforted 
 and cooed to her as women croon over a tired child, 
 and Leale hovered helpfully about, grave, strong, 
 and gentle, and it was on his arm she leaned, with 
 Helen at her side, when finally she stood to look at 
 her husband s portrait. And little by little she grew 
 calm and the fluttering at her heart ceased to distress 
 her, and Ellis, turning reluctantly away at the 
 bidding of her garrison friends, left her mother to 
 the ministrations of the woman whom with every 
 hour, more and more, she learned to look upon as a 
 rival; and then, saying that he would call for them 
 in a few minutes with his sleigh, believing that a 
 short drive in the exhilarating air would be of benefit, 
 Leale, too, left them, and Mrs. Farrar and Helen 
 Uaunton were practically alone. Mess call sounding 
 cheerily had called the men to their noonday meal. 
 
 The eyes of the elder woman had followed the tall, 
 soldierly form of Leale as he left the room, and then, 
 tenderly, questioningly, almost entreatingly, turned 
 upon Helen. 
 
 "I love him almost as I do my own son, Helen. 
 My husband died in his arms. Surely you must 
 realize that his great heart has belonged to you ever 
 since he first set eyes on your bonny face." 
 
 Mrs. Daunton almost started to her feet. 
 
 "Oh, not that ! Surely, not that ! He is my good, 
 true friend," she cried.
 
 FOBT FBAYNE. 117 
 
 "Not the less your friend because all your lover, 
 Helen." 
 
 "Oh, never my lover! I have no right I am not 
 free!" 
 
 "Listen to me, Helen," pleaded her friend. "Shall 
 one mistake blight a lifetime? I know your short 
 marriage experience was a cruel one." 
 
 "It was heaven knows it was," assented Helen, 
 shuddering. 
 
 "Then do not make youth s mistake, dear," con 
 tinued Mrs. Farrar, "and think the story ended 
 because one chapter is closed. I thought my story 
 ended when they brought me home my dead soldier. 
 I ve prayed many a time my story might end in the 
 years my first-born was an outcast. Helen, I have 
 hardly spoken to jon of my eldest boy, but I can tell 
 you now that, standing here to-night, I realize how 
 out of sorrow peace has come to me. Death, which 
 took away my husband, gave me back my son." 
 
 "Death!" cried Helen. "Royle Farrar is not 
 dead? " 
 
 "Helen, how strangely you speak. He has been 
 dead a year, though only recently did they give me 
 all the cruel facts. Major Wayne learned them from 
 the Consul in Mexico." 
 
 In uncontrollable agitation Helen Daunton had 
 turned away. "Royle Farrar dead!" she gasped. 
 " Then I Oh, God be thanked! " 
 
 The tears were blinding Mrs. Farrar, and for a 
 moment she saw nothing of Helen s agitation. The 
 bells of Leale s sleigh came trilling merrily up the
 
 118 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 road without. Hastily she dashed away the pearly 
 drops, and smiling fondly drew her shrinking friend 
 to her embrace. "Helen, dear, there is a new look 
 in your face," she whispered. 
 
 "It is because I rejoice in my soul that your heart 
 is at rest. It is because it is Christmas Christinas, 
 the time of burdens dropped, of old sorrows healed, 
 of new births and sweet beginnings. Dear, the 
 Christmas chimes are pealing in my heart. It is the 
 first real Christmas I have known in years." And 
 so, her arms twining about her friend, she led her 
 forth into the radiant day, with all its sunshine 
 beaming in her face. One minute only had they 
 gone when, crouching from the dressing room at one 
 side, his face bloated and distorted, the soldier 
 Graice sped swiftly across the floor and stopped to 
 peek through the eastern window. Suddenly, back 
 he sprang and stood swaying at the door of the 
 anteroom, as Helen Daunton hurriedly returned. 
 Coming from the dux/ling glare of the sun without 
 into the dimly-lighted room, she almost collided with 
 the hulking figure before seeing it at all. 
 
 "Mrs. Farrar has left her cloak," she faltered, 
 " will you kindly move from the way? " 
 
 " You thought I had moved from your way," was 
 the thick, husky answer, "but you re mistaken, my 
 dear." 
 
 Back she started as though stung, an awful terror 
 in her staring eyes, her blanching face. 
 
 "You Royle Farrar and here!" she gasped. 
 "You Royle Farrar Oh, my gracious God! "
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ALARMED at Mrs. Daitnton s failure to rejoin them, 
 Leale had tossed the reius to his orderly, and, 
 leaving Mrs. Farrar seated in the sleigh, hurried into 
 the building in search of her. It was a prostrate, 
 senseless form he found close to the inner door, and 
 only after a deal of trouble did she revive. Greatly 
 alarmed, Mrs. Farrar had caused her to be driven 
 straight home, and there the doctor came, and Ellis, 
 and ministering angels without stint, and questioners 
 without number, but meantime, Leale, with wrath 
 ful face, had gone to his troop quarters and sum 
 moned his first sergeant. Graice had not been with 
 the men at dinner, was that worthy s report. He 
 was at the post exchange eating sandwiches and 
 drinking beer at that moment, and Leale sent for 
 him. 
 
 Something had tended to sober the man, for he 
 came into the captain s presence, looking sullen, but 
 self-possessed. " I warned you, after that affray 
 with Crow Knife," said Leale, "that you were to 
 keep out of temptation and mischief until you were 
 sober enough to understand what I had to say to 
 you. Where were you between dinner call and 
 12:30?" 
 
 " Walking off niy heat, sir, as the captain di 
 rected." 
 
 119
 
 120 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 Leale stood closely scanning the swollen face of 
 the soldier. He was always grave and deliberate in 
 dealing with the malcontents of his command, rarely 
 speaking in anger and never in a tone indicative of 
 irritation. Under the captain s calm, steadfast 
 scrutiny Graice plainly winced. His bloodshot eyes 
 wandered restlessly about and his fingers closed and 
 unclosed nervously. 
 
 You have made but an ill name for yourself 
 thus far, my man," said Leale, " and this day s work 
 has not added to your credit. What started the 
 trouble with Crow Knife? " 
 
 " He struck me," was the surly answer. 
 
 "You have been drinking liquor to-day, Graice, 
 and it is said of you throughout the whole troop 
 that when drinking you are ugly and ill-tempered. 
 I have known Crow Knife a long time and never 
 knew him to be in trouble before. You are the first 
 man of this command to quarrel with him. Let it 
 be the last time. He bears a good name; you have 
 made a bad one. Another thing: you were working 
 there at the hall this morning under Corporal Rorke. 
 What became of you when the other men left and 
 went to dinner? " 
 
 " I was thirsty and went for a drink," was the 
 shifty answer. 
 
 " Went where? You were not then at the post 
 exchange." 
 
 The soldier turned redder, if possible, hitched un 
 easily, the bloodshot eyes still wandering warily 
 about, as though eager for any light other than that
 
 FORT FEAYNE. 121 
 
 which burned in the clear, stern gaze of his captain. 
 "I went for a drink," he repeated, "and I m not 
 bound to say where, and so get some one else in 
 trouble. I m not without friends here, even if I 
 haven t them among my officers, and I can be true 
 to those who are true to me." 
 
 "Such talk is buncombe, Graice," said Leale, 
 coolly, " and you know it. You will do better to 
 keep clear of friends who give you liquor. You are 
 sober enough to appreciate now what you hear and 
 what you say. Keep clear of it, I warn you, or it 
 will be your undoing. Are you not for guard? " 
 
 I am, sir, and ready to take my turn when 
 needed, but I can take no such affront as that red 
 skin slung in my teeth." 
 
 " Enough on that score! I ll hear your story to 
 morrow, when you re both cooled down. Now, go to 
 your quarters, and for the rest of this day keep away 
 from three things Crow Knife, liquor, and under 
 stand me the assembly hall." 
 
 The sullen eyes glowed with new anger. The 
 man had been drinking just enough to be reckless. 
 "I d like to know why I m not considered fit to 
 work, at least," he muttered. 
 
 " You are not fit to be seen by the eyes of gently- 
 nurtured women, Graice. Your face is bloated, your 
 eyes inflamed, your whole carriage tells of the havoc 
 liquor plays. You may as well know that the sight 
 of you was a shock to our guest Mrs. Farrar, and I 
 suspect that you could tell what it was that so 
 startled Mrs. Daunton."
 
 122 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 "I don t know any such " began the soldier in 
 the same surly tone, but Leale uplifted his hand. 
 
 " The less you say when you ve been drinking, 
 my man, the less you re likely to fall into further 
 trouble. You go no more to the assembly room to 
 day, because I forbid. Do you understand? 
 
 "I ve got rights to go there ay, or, where my 
 betters cannot go " burst in Graice in sudden fury, 
 but the instant his eyes met those of his captain the 
 words died on his lips, and the red lids drooped. 
 
 "You have said more than enough, sir," sternly 
 answered Leale. Then, turning sharply to a little 
 knot of non-commissioned officers who, at the barrack 
 steps, were curiously watching the scene, he called, 
 "Sergeant Roe!" and a young soldier in natty 
 uniform came springing forward, and, halting close 
 at hand, stood at the salute. 
 
 " I leaA r e this man in your charge. He is for 
 guard, I believe. Set him to work at his kit, and 
 see that he is in proper trim in every way for to 
 morrow." 
 
 "lie may be needed to-day, sir. He s super 
 numerary. " 
 
 "Indeed! Worse than I thought, Graice," said 
 Leale, calmly. "You will be wise to take a cool 
 bath and a nap then. At all events, see that he does 
 not leave the barracks this afternoon, sergeant." 
 
 "I will, sir. Come on, Graice." 
 
 And conscious that he had been indeed playing 
 with fire, yet raging over the sense of his en-
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 123 
 
 forced submission, the half-drunken fellow turned 
 and followed his young superior. 
 
 Meantime there had been anxiety and dismay at 
 the Farrars . Helen had speedily been restored to 
 consciousness, only to be overcome by a fit of hyster 
 ical weeping, succeeded by a nervous attack that de 
 fied the efforts of her fondest friends. Mrs. Farrar 
 had, of course, sent for the doctor, but Helen in 
 sisted that his presence was uttei^y unnecessary. She 
 begged to be left alone. She declared the attack to 
 be no new thing. She had suffered just in the same 
 way before, though not for two or three years. She 
 seemed eager to rid herself of all attendants. In 
 truth, her one longing was to be allowed to think 
 uninterruptedly. Even at night this might have been 
 difficult. By day, with sympathetic inquirers com 
 ing every few minutes to her door, and with her 
 gentle friend sitting at her bedside, she found it im 
 possible. If she closed her eyes, that leering, half- 
 drunken, swollen, triumphant face came to torment 
 and distract her. If she opened them, it was only to 
 find sweet, anxious features bending over her, full of 
 tenderness, sympathy, and unspoken inquiry. Do 
 what she could to allay it, Helen Daunton saw plainly 
 that Marjorie Farrar more than suspected that there 
 was some exciting cause for that sudden prostration. 
 In utter helplessness she lay striving to plan, striv 
 ing to see a way out of this new and most appalling 
 complication. That the man who had wrecked her 
 life should return, as it were, from the grave was in 
 itself horrible enough, but that he should reappear
 
 194 J OUT KKAYNK. 
 
 in (ho flesh hero, at Fray no, \vhoro his presence was 
 
 H menace tO the peace of SO many who \VtMV dear U) 
 
 her, and to tho very life, perhaps, of the gentle in 
 valid \vho was noaivst of all, was torment indeed. 
 For so mo hours sho lav thoro faoing hor fate, shut 
 ting out all thought of hor newborn hope and joy 
 thus summarily blasted, seeing only thinking only 
 of tho poril that involved her friend. The short 
 winter dav wore on. The spirits of the younger 
 members of the soeial eirele seemed undiinmed, for, 
 as stable eall was Bounding, she eould hoar merry 
 ohat anil laughter again in the parlor below stairs. 
 Kllis alone seemed to share with her mother the 
 anxiety or uneasiness whieh followed tho events of 
 the morning. She had refused to join the little party 
 that had gone up, as they expressed it, "to eall on 
 Kitty." She had refused partly from a feeling of in 
 disposition to any gayety, partly from a sisterly sym 
 pathy for \Yill, who, sho felt well assured, longed 
 for an uninterrupted half hour with his oaprieious 
 lady love, and partly boeausos ho shrank from appearing 
 in tho colonel s parlor, thereby possibly givingOrmshy 
 half a reason to think sho sought him. Evidently 
 the young people had had small merey on \Y ill. 
 Evidently Kitty had lent herself not unwillingly to 
 the fun at his expense, for, after biting savagely at 
 his linger nails ami tugging furiously at his mus- 
 taehe, the boy had pitched angrily out of the colonel s 
 house ami come home for comfort, and thither had 
 they followed him, two or three happier couples, and, 
 catching him in the parlor, all unconscious of Mrs.
 
 FORT FKAYVE. 125 
 
 Daunton s seclusion aloft, were as bent on coaxing 
 him to return with thorn as he, with assumption of 
 lordly indifference, was determined to make it appear 
 that he had no such desire or intention. He carried 
 bis point., too. He knew well enough that Kit s 
 complicity in the plot was for the express purpose of 
 teasing him. He couldn t afford to let them see he 
 was indignant at her or at them, neither could he af 
 ford to let her see that he was not justly offended. 
 And right in the midst of all the babel of protest and 
 appeal and laughter the door bell rang, and at the 
 head of the stairs, just as stable call was sounding, 
 listening ears heard the unctuous, jovial tones of 
 Corporal Korke inquiring for Capt. Leale. 
 
 Then Will s voice responded, and Will was very 
 distant and dignified. "Captain Leale is not here, 
 corporal. Have you been to his quarters? r 
 
 "Sun;, I went there furst, sorr, an they told me 
 he was here, if anywhere. Thin, bed ad, he s no 
 where." 
 
 "He s gone down to the stables already, perhaps," 
 said Farrar, "and you ll find him there. Yonder goes 
 the call now." 
 
 "I know, mast I know, sorr, but the th rouble s 
 right, here, sorr. Hi^rgins has been look ill on guard. 
 He was right out here on No. .0, sorr, back of the 
 quarters, and that spalpeen Graice is supernumerary, 
 an they ve sint for him, and the first sergeant s 
 afraid, sorr." 
 
 "What of?"
 
 126 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 "Graice had been drinking this morning. He s 
 sober enough now, sorr, but he s nervous, wild-like, 
 excited, tramping up and down the barrack flure like 
 a caged hyena, sorr." 
 
 "Then tramping up and down the sentry post will 
 be just the thing for him. It ll cool him off. Put 
 him on." 
 
 Very well, sorr. Just as the loot nant says. I ll 
 tell the sergeant at once. 
 
 Five minutes later the parlor was deserted and all 
 was silence below. Now, at least, Helen Daunton 
 could close her eyes and plan and think. He was 
 to be placed on guard. He would be on post 
 right out here on the bluff. Then what was 
 to prevent her slipping out in the dusk of the 
 evening when all the others had gone over to the assem 
 bly hall, speaking with him, pleading with him, im 
 ploring him to go away any where anywhere where he 
 would not again in drunken mood endanger that poor 
 mother s life by the sudden shock of his presence. 
 She would agree to anything, she would follow him, 
 slave for him, starve with him, be his wife or his 
 handmaid anything to get him away far away 
 from the sunshine, the smiles, the hopes and joys 
 and blessings that had been hers at old Fort Frayne. 
 One other plan. She had but little money, and in 
 their flight much might be needed. She must obtain 
 it, for that drink-sodden wretch would surely have 
 none. Go she must and would. Go he must 
 and should, for any day, before the whole gar 
 rison oh, shame unutterable! he might take the
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 127 
 
 notion boldly to throw off all disguise and 
 claim her as his wife. Possibly with money she 
 might bribe him to take kindly to her proposi 
 tion and agree. Then before he could spend what 
 she had given him, she could escape, return to the 
 East, and somewhere, anywhere hide her head from 
 him, from friends, from the world, and all. Home 
 she had none. That went when her father died, 
 lonely and heartbroken, two years before. 
 
 And in all that garrison to whom could she ap 
 peal upon whom could she call? One man there 
 was who, well she knew, would open his hand as he 
 had his heart, and its uttermost treasure could be 
 hers for the mere asking, and that man of all others, 
 was the one who she prayed might never know the 
 miserable truth that this was Royle Farrar that she 
 was Royle Farrar s wife. 
 
 Another there was, generous, helpful and kind, 
 who, did he but learn the identity of the man slink 
 ing here under that disguise given by years of drink 
 and debauchery, would aid her to his uttermost farth 
 ing, aid her as he had before oui of pity and com 
 passion, aid her now with eager hand through 
 thought of the shame that would come to the girl he 
 loved, the shock that might be in store for her 
 beloved mother. There was the man Jack Ormsby! 
 But how to see him and when and where! Not a 
 moment must be lost, because, now that Royle s 
 presence was known to her, his wife, any moment 
 might bring on the further catastrophe. She had 
 never known him to stop until sodden and stupefied.
 
 128 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Drink, drink, drink; in some form he would find 
 the poison and gulp it down, waxing crazed and nerv 
 ous if it were withheld from him, turning mad and 
 reckless if it were given. Drink lie surely would all 
 through this blessed Christmas eve, and at any hour, 
 any moment on the morrow she might expect him to 
 appear before them all, in the midst of their joyous 
 Christmas gathering, in drunken exultation, demand 
 ing his seat at his wife s side at his mothei- s board. 
 What that would mean to that gentle mother whose 
 very life seemed now hanging by a thread, God alone 
 could say. 
 
 And here she lay, hesitant, impotent, cowardly 
 when the lives and happiness of those dearest to her 
 were at stake, shrinking even now from an appeal to 
 Ormsby, who alone in all the garrison, probably, was 
 competent to advise and help, and Ormsby had already 
 suffered and suffered much on her account. In the loyal 
 observance of his promise he had brought himself 
 under the ban of suspicion, and with half an eye 
 Helen could see that Ellis looked upon their relation 
 with utter distrust. Great heaven! was she to be a 
 curse to every one who had been kind to her? The 
 thought was intolerable. 
 
 Helen Daunton amazed her friend by springing 
 from her bed and throwing up the window sash. 
 "Air, air! " she moaned. "I feel as though I were 
 suffocating," and leaning far out into the wintry 
 twilight, bathing her aching head in the cold, spark 
 ling air, she gazed wildly northward toward the 
 bluff. Aye, muffled in the heavy canvas overcoat,
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 129 
 
 the fur cap down about the bloated, bearded face, 
 slouching along the sentry post was the form she 
 dreaded hated to see, yet sought with burning eyes. 
 As she gazed he saw and stood and leering over the 
 intervening drifts of spotless snow, kissed his fur- 
 gloved paw and tossed his hand in half defiant, half 
 derisive, all insulting salutation. 
 
 "Mrs. Farrar," she cried, in utter desperation, 
 turning madly away from the hateful sight. I I 
 must get into the open air awhile. You won t mind, 
 dear. I must walk walk, run, rush in the cold. 
 No, don t come, and pray let Ellis keep with you. 
 In ten twenty minutes at most, I ll return." 
 
 "Ah, Helen, wait until Willy until Malcolm 
 Leale returns from the stables. See, they re coming 
 now. They will walk with you." 
 
 "Oh, no, no, no! Do you not see? I must be 
 alone. I cannot talk with any one. Let me go," 
 she cried. Then before either the mother could 
 interpose or Ellis, who came hurrying into the room, 
 could urge one word, she had seized a heavy wrap 
 and gone almost bounding down the stairs. 
 
 At the threshold she recoiled, for there, his hon 
 est face full of eagerness as the door flew open, stood 
 Jack Ormsby. "I I was just about to ring," he 
 faltered, " and inquire after you and for Miss 
 Farrar. You really startled me." 
 
 And up aloft they heard Ellis heard the eager, 
 low-toned, almost breathless answer. "Oh, Mr. 
 Ormsby. It was you I sought. Come right in 
 here."
 
 130 FORT FRAYXE. 
 
 And drawing him into the parlor she closed the 
 door, reckless now of anything Ellis might suspect, 
 thinking only of the peril that menaced one and all. 
 Perhaps Jack Ormsby s longing eyes caught one fleet 
 ing glimpse of feminine drapery at the head of 
 the little staircase. Perhaps his own wrongs and 
 woes had overmastered him. Perhaps he thought 
 that already he had been too heavily involved, all on 
 account of this fair sufferer and suppliant, but certain 
 it is he followed hesitant, and that it was with a far 
 from reassuring face he confronted his captor. 
 
 "Mr. Ormsby," she burst forth. "How much 
 money would you give, at once, this day, to rid this 
 post of the greatest shame and misery that could 
 be brought upon Ellis and her mother?" 
 
 "I can t imagine what you mean," was the uncer 
 tain reply. 
 
 I mean that Royle Farrar is here in this garri 
 son a private soldier in Capt. Leale s troop." 
 
 "Mrs. Daunton! Are you mad?" 
 
 " Mad? My heaven, I well might be! He came 
 before me this noon, with her, with his mother, not 
 twenty steps away, and taunted me and threatened 
 them. Oh, God, he means it he means to make 
 himself known to them and claim their kiliship in 
 the way to shame them most, and the shock will kill 
 her, kill her! There is only one earthly way. He 
 will go for money." 
 
 "He can t, if he s a soldier. It s desertiqn. It s 
 why, they follow them, capture them and it means 
 state prison or something for years."
 
 FOKT FRAYXE. 131 
 
 " I know nothing of that I know I m only a help 
 less, distracted woman, but drink and money are the 
 two things he worships. For them he will risk any 
 thing. I can see him this night. He is this moment 
 on post, out here on the bluff. You know him. 
 It s the man they call Tom Graice." 
 
 Ormsby s hat fell from his hand. "My heaven! 
 That man here again? " 
 
 "Here, here, and I have known it only for a few 
 hours. See what I am suffering. Do you not see 
 what it means if Royle Farrar makes himself known? 
 and he is capable of anything. Shame to Will, 
 shame to Ellis, heartbreak death perhaps to Mrs. 
 Farrar. Do you not see you must help me get him 
 away from here? You must for all their sakes and 
 keep his secret and mine." 
 
 "It is my secret, too, Mrs. Farrar," said poor 
 Jack, rallying to the rescue now that danger threat 
 ened. "I will do whatever you wish, whatever you 
 say. You shall have whatever money I have here 
 and more can follow. You re a brave woman. For 
 give me that I doubted you." 
 
 "Oh, never think of that now. Only keep my 
 secret yet a little, and let me see you before ten 
 to-night. That s the hour that relief goes on again. 
 I ve watched them so often. And and all the 
 money you think even a hundred two hundred 
 dollars. Oh, God bless you for the help you give 
 me! Xow, I know you wish to see her, and I must 
 get into the open air awhile."
 
 132 FOET FBAYNE. 
 
 Calling the maid servant, she bade her take Mr. 
 Ormsby s card to Miss Farrar, then hastened from 
 the house. 
 
 But the answer brought to honest Jack poor fel 
 low was that Miss Farrar begged to be excused.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A SNOW-CLOUD was hanging over Fort Frayne that 
 lovely Christmas Eve, and the moon shone down 
 through a filmy veil of lace and cast black shadows 
 on the dazzling surface. Everywhere about the 
 post lights were twinkling in the quarters, and 
 sounds of soldier merriment and revelry came from 
 the barracks. Over at the assembly room Rorke 
 and his party were still busily at work hanging 
 festoons of green and completing the decorations 
 for the morrow, while in the several households 
 among the officers dinner pai ties or similar enter 
 tainments called together under one roof or another 
 almost all the families, as well as the bachelors of 
 the garrison. The children were rejoicing in their 
 great Christmas tree at the chapel. The colonel had 
 bidden them all to his big house for a Santa Claus 
 party after the public ceremony of the post Sunday 
 school, and Aunt Lucretia, a garrulous, flighty, 
 feather-brained fairy of forty summers or more, was 
 doing her best to get the little gifts in proper order 
 against their coming, being aided in her perplexities 
 and complications by the dreamy, but devoted, 
 Wayne. Kitty was dining at the Farwells a tem 
 porary truce having been patched up between her 
 and Will about sunset and Ellis, too, very, very 
 much against her wish, was one of this party. 
 Oruisby was, of course, bidden, and had been placed 
 
 133
 
 134 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 next the lady of his love, but averted eyes and 
 monosyllabic answers were the only returns of his 
 devotion. Grieved and hurt at first, the sterling 
 fellow was finally stung to reprisals. He was guilty 
 of no wrong. He was worthy far kinder treatment 
 at her hands, and, noting her apparent determination 
 to talk only with the men across the table, or with 
 Captain Amory, who had taken her in, the New- 
 Yorker presently succeeded in interesting the lady 
 on his right, and, when dinner was over, arid the 
 women passed out into the parlor, was enabled to 
 make way for Miss Farrar with a very courteous but 
 entirely ceremonious bow. Ellis, flushed, but in 
 clining her head, passed him by without a word. 
 
 It was then nearly 8:30 o clock, and the gleeful 
 voices of the children could be heard returning from 
 the chapel, and, mindful of his promise to Helen 
 Daunton, Ormsby was already figuring for an oppor 
 tunity of temporary escape. It had been arranged 
 that most of the officers and ladies were to gather at 
 the hoproom after ten, "just to see if the floor was 
 in good shape for to-morrow," and Jack well under 
 stood that Ellis did not mean that he should be her 
 escort, arid, as matters now stood, he did not desire 
 her to suppose that such was his wish. Even as he 
 was pondering, over the cigarettes and coffee, how 
 he should manage the matter, and, giving but ab 
 sent-minded attention to the cheery chat about him, 
 Captain Amory suddenly lifted his hand and said: 
 "Hush!"
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 135 
 
 Out across the parade, quick, stirring, and 
 spirited, the cavalry trumpet was sounding " officers 
 call," and every man sprang to his feet. "What 
 can it mean? " "What has happened? " were the 
 questions that assailed them as they came streaming 
 out through the parlor in search of their great-coats. 
 
 " Did you ever know such a regiment? " exclaimed 
 the hostess, impulsively. "I do believe we never 
 get through Christmas without a tragedy of some 
 kind!" and then she bit her tongue as she caught 
 sight of Ellis Farrar s startled face. 
 
 "I think if you will excuse me, Mrs. Farwell, I 
 will go to mother a moment. She is at the chaplain s 
 by this time, and Mrs. Daunton is with her. Still, 
 I feel anxious. All this may excite her very much." 
 
 And so, while the officers went hurrying away 
 across to the adjutant s office, Ormsby found himself, 
 after all, tendering his arm to Miss Farrar. He was 
 the only man left. Kitty, excited and agitated, she 
 knew not why, had made some comical attempts to 
 detain Will, but his long legs had by this time 
 carried him half way to the scene of the sudden 
 summons. 
 
 "Thank you, no. I do not need it," said Ellis 
 coldly. "Indeed, I do not need escort at all to go 
 so short a distance." 
 
 "It seems to be the post custom none the less," 
 was the grave answer. "Besides,! think I am 
 justified in saying you have treated me with aversion 
 so marked of late that I am entitled to know the
 
 136 FORT FBAYNE. 
 
 cause. What can I have done to deserve it, Ellis? 
 Let us understand each other." 
 
 "There is only one way, then, Mr. Ormsby," she 
 answered, with sudden impulse. "Who is Helen 
 Dauuton?" 
 
 " Ellis, I cannot tell you now," was the sorrowful, 
 gentle answer. Be patient with me yet a little 
 while." 
 
 "Yet you know?" 
 
 Yes I know." 
 
 "And you say let us understand each other," she 
 answered, bitterly. 
 
 "Ellis, I said to you before when we spoke of 
 this, there are secret orders a soldier must obey and 
 not explain. In these last few hours secret orders 
 have come to me." 
 
 "And you accept secret orders from her?" 
 
 " I accept them from my honor, Ellis, for I have 
 given my word. No," he implored, as she hastened 
 as though to leave him, listen, for it may be my 
 last opportunity to-night. I know it seems hard and 
 strange to you that when I would lay rny whole life 
 open before you, I must not yet tell you this. But, 
 Ellis, I give you my honor, I am hiding nothing 
 shameful to that poor woman, nor to me. It is only 
 for a time I must be silent. When I can speak 
 you ll forgive me, dear. You will thank me that I 
 do keep silence now. Trust me, Ellis. Can you 
 not look up at me and say you trust me?" 
 
 Ah, .how pleading was his tone, how full of love 
 and fire and tenderness his manly face, as in that
 
 FORT FEAYNE. 131 
 
 still winter night he looked down into her eyes. 
 Over at the barracks there was a sudden stop to 
 all the music, but men s voices could be heard in 
 excited talk. Along officers row many a door 
 was opened and women and children were peering 
 out in search of explanation of the unusual summons. 
 Over at the adjutant s office a dark throng had 
 gathered, the officers of the garrison and other knots 
 as of soldiers or Indians could be seen, but Jack and 
 Ellis, saw, heard nothing of this. Her voice had 
 the ring of steel to it as she answered. 
 
 "If it were just a question of my own happiness, 
 I might trust you, but it is my mother s happiness 
 perhaps her life. I must know all there is to 
 know about that woman whom my mother trusts so 
 blindly, I must know for myself. In the name of 
 the love you offer me, will you tell me the truth 
 about her? " 
 
 Ellis, I cannot to-night. I have given my 
 word." 
 
 " Then keep it," said she with sudden passion. 
 <( Keep it and keep your love," then turned and fled 
 within the chaplain s gate, leaving him standing on 
 the snowy walk without, sorrowing, yet determined. 
 
 For a moment he stood there following her with 
 his eyes. Never stopping to knock or ring, she 
 turned the knob and let herself into the brightly- 
 lighted hall. lie caught a glimse of the gray-haired 
 chaplain bending over a womanly form. He caught 
 one fleeting view of Helen Daunton s anxious face. 
 Evidently the call had been heard there, too, and,
 
 138 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 coming as it did in the stillness of the holiday even 
 ing, it boded no good. Only on rare occasions or 
 some sudden emergency was Fenton known to call 
 every duty officer to his presence, even by day, and 
 he would be almost the last man to break in upon 
 the festivities of the season with a stern call to arms 
 unless arms and men both were needed somewhere. 
 The day had been one long trial to Mrs. Farrar, and 
 since noon one long torture to her cherished friend. 
 And so, as they were seated about the chaplain s fire 
 and the trumpet notes were heard, and a servant 
 hastening in said, "It s officers call, sir," just as 
 Ellis feared, her mother was seized with sudden faint- 
 ness. "My boy, Willy! They won t take him," she 
 faltered, and then sank back nerveless into her chair. 
 Ormsby turned and sped away for the office. At 
 least he could ascertain the cause of the summons 
 and bring them tidings if it meant no move, but the 
 first glance through the window at his uncle s face, 
 as he stood surrounded by his officers, told the New 
 Yorker, already experienced in frontier garrison life, 
 that something imminent was in the wind. Fenton 
 was talking rapidly, as was his wont when roused, 
 and the only faces in the group that did not seem to 
 kindle in response to the light in his keen, sparkling 
 eyes, were those of two heavily-blanketed Indians 
 standing sullen and imperturbable beside him. Out 
 in the snow half a dozen non-commissioned officers 
 were gathered in a group by the little knot of Indian 
 ponies and cowboy broncos An Indian boy lolling 
 in his saddle, replied in monosyllables to their eager
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 139 
 
 questions. A brace of cowboys, one of them ob 
 viously in liquor, sought to impress upon all within 
 hearing their version of some row that had evidently 
 taken place. Among the bystanders was Ormsby s 
 old friend, the sergeant major, and to him he ap 
 pealed. 
 
 "What s up, sergeant?" 
 
 " Been a fight, sir cowboys and Indians. Christ 
 mas drunk, I reckon. The cowboys were having 
 some fun with their lariats and they roped old Big 
 Road off his pony and shot at him when he showed 
 fight. Then his two sons shot Laramie Pete, and it 
 looks like a general scrimmage. Big Road s whole 
 village is camped only ten miles down stream, 
 and they re war dancing already. There s a lot of 
 drunken cowboys over at town and they swear they ll 
 rouse the county and clean out the whole Indian 
 outfit." 
 
 Thanking the staff sergeant for his information, 
 Ormsby pressed on to the crowded room and stood 
 in the outskirt of the throng of officers. Fentoii was 
 speaking as he entered the hall, and his voice had no 
 uncertain ring. He had been questioning one of 
 the cowboy leaders, a scowling, semi-defiant, but 
 splendidly built specimen of frontier chivalry, and 
 it was evident that the verdict of the commander 
 was against these turbulent gentry, and in favor of 
 the Indians. 
 
 "By your own admission, Thorpe, your fellows 
 are on a tear, and whether they meant it as fun or not, 
 it was rough fun at best, and nothing lss than a mad-
 
 140 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 brained trick in my eyes, and an outrage from the 
 Indian point of view. Big Road would have been 
 no chief at all if he hadn t resented it furiously. It 
 may be, as you say, that he was first to pull his gun, 
 but you pulled him off his horse. The men that did 
 it deserve to be shot, and I m sorry he missed. 
 You say there are cowboys enough in the county to 
 clean out a dozen such bands as his, and that 
 Laramie Pete s friends won t rest until they ve done 
 it. Go you to them right from this spot and say 
 for me there are not cowboys enough in all the 
 territory to lick this regiment, and you ve got to do 
 that before you can raise one scalp in that village." 
 
 "All right, Colonel Fenton. In the old days we 
 used to say blood was thicker than water, and in 
 many a tough place we ve stood by the soldier 
 against the savage. There was never a time we 
 went back on you, and this is the first time I ever 
 heard of an officer who would go back on us 
 
 "Don t distort things now, my friend," said 
 Fenton, coolly. "I never would go back on you, as 
 you say, if you were the assailed and the wronged. 
 This is a case of simple justice, and I interpose to 
 keep the peace until the rights and wrongs can be 
 sifted and settled. Take my advice and keep away 
 from the village." 
 
 " There s a higher power in the land than the 
 military, Colonel Fenton, and that s public opinion, and 
 public opinion says Big Road s people murdered 
 Laramie Pete. Public opinion says we want the 
 murderers, and by God! we mean to have em even
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 141 
 
 if we have to clean out the whole village. We want 
 no fight with you, but, through the press and Con 
 gress, we ll use you up till there won t be as much 
 left of you as the Sioux left of Ouster s crowd. 
 Take my advice and keep away from us." 
 
 And so saying big Ben Thorpe, "king of the 
 cowboys," as they called him on the Platte, strode 
 angrily out of the room, the officers parting in 
 silence to let him go. At the threshold he turned 
 and once more faced the post commander. 
 
 " Another thing, Colonel Fenton! " and as he spoke 
 Ormsby could see how the strong frame was quiver 
 ing with excitement and wrath. " You say we re 
 not the sheriff s posse and we cannot act in accord 
 ance with law. There s no sheriff in all Wyoming 
 nearer than Rock Springs, and I m sheriff in these 
 parts until he comes. I m sheriff enough to hunt 
 murderers, and sheriff enough to run down horse 
 thieves, and do it without waiting for warrants 
 either, and that damned redskin whom you re pro 
 tecting there by your side is one of the four that 
 shot Pete Boland. I ll send a sheriff s posse here in 
 ten minutes, and I ll give you warning here and 
 now we mean to have the law on him or you, and 
 you take your choice. Will you surrender him? " 
 
 Ormsby felt his nerves and muscles quivering. 
 This was indeed bearding the lion in his den. It 
 was a new thing to see a post commander braved in 
 his own bailiwick. Fenton, however, never showed 
 the faintest irritation. Checking with a gesture
 
 142 yORT FRAYNE. 
 
 the indignant move made by some of the younger 
 officers, he turned quietly to the officer of the day. 
 
 Captain Amory, let a file of the guard escort that 
 gentleman off the reservation." 
 
 " So be it, Colonel Fen ton, and let the country know 
 I was thrust off the post at the point of the sabre. 
 I ll wait for my escort." 
 
 He had little time to wait. Almost at the door 
 way already, the corporal s guard, obeying the 
 impatient summons of the young officer in command, 
 came trotting up at double quick, a non-commissioned 
 oilicer and two troopers. One of the latter, stocky, 
 heavily bearded, slouchy, with furtive, blood-shot 
 eyes, looked uneasily about him as the detail halted, 
 and, springing up the steps, the corporal lightly 
 touched the cowboy on the shoulder. Thorpe had 
 turned back as though to hurl some parting shot or 
 sarcasm at the oppressor, but at the touch of the 
 corporal s hand looked coolly around. Well, sonny, 
 what do you want? " 
 
 "Come along, Ben," said the corporal, quietly, 
 then started back involuntarily at the expression of 
 amaze and wratli that shot suddenly into the cow 
 boy s face. 
 
 "What! " hissed Thorpe, striding apace forward. 
 "You here? You officiating as policeman to show 
 me off Uncle Sam s jailyard. You, you sneak and 
 scum!" he shouted, shaking a fist in Graice s sodden 
 face. " You, you braggart and blackguard you 
 coward, who left poor Crawford s wife without a 
 defender; you cur you stole the last cent he had, and
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 143 
 
 then betrayed him to the Indians; you liar who brag 
 of being an officer s son, and dare not own your own 
 name. Stand back ! " he fiercely cried, as the 
 corporal once more strove to place a hand upon his 
 shoulder. "I ve no quarrel with you, Reddy, or 
 with this other poor devil, who can only do as he s 
 ordered, but I d die in my tracks before that white- 
 livered hound should escort me off this post. Out of 
 the way!" he cried, and with one magnificent bound 
 reached his horse, leaped into saddle, and dashed a 
 few yards away. Then, whirling about, he swung 
 his hat in air. "Good night to you, gentlemen. 
 Merry Christmas to you, one and all. You ve got 
 one of those bloody murderers here, so keep him if 
 you choose, but we ll have the other three before the 
 sun rises in spite of all the thugs and thieves like 
 that fellow you can muster in the cavalry." 
 
 And with a parting malediction at Graice and a 
 lash of the stinging quirt, he whirled his bronco and 
 dashed away at the gallop. 
 
 "Damn that fellow!" said Fentou. " I like him 
 in spite of all his deviltry. There s no help for it 
 gentlemen, the Twelfth has got to spend its Christ 
 mas standing between those rousrh riders and the 
 
 o o 
 
 very band that killed our colonel three long years 
 ago.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Just as first call for tattoo was sounding (no one 
 having thought to tell the orderly trumpeter that, 
 both on account of the holiday and the unexpected 
 duty for the garrison, "the rules were suspended,") 
 a long column of cavalry wound away through the 
 shimmer of the snowy moonlight and disappeared 
 from sight along the flats below the post. Fenton 
 and Wayne, with four of the six troops, had ridden 
 down stream for a ten mile march. His object was 
 to bring Big Road, with his little village, warriors, 
 women, children, ponies, dogs, dirt, and all within 
 the lines of the reservation of Fort Frayne. Once 
 there even cowboy dare not molest them, and uo 
 self-appointed sheriff could impose his authority. 
 With all Thorpe s bluster, Fenton felt reasonably 
 assured that even in so turbulent a corner of 
 Wyoming, the hustlers could not muster in force 
 sufficient to warrant an attack that night. Big 
 Road s braves were few in number, but they were 
 fighters to a man. Their sins, like those of all their 
 tribe and kindred tribes, had long since been for 
 given them by Uncle Sam, and it was not for his 
 vassals to keep up the feud. Rare, indeed, are the 
 cases when the soldier has long cherished a grudge 
 against the Indian. The Twelfth had fought like 
 devils after the murder, as they could but regard it, 
 of their beloved colonel, but when the opposing 
 
 144
 
 FORT FRAYNE 145 
 
 band had finally surrendered and accepted the situa 
 tion, all rancor speedily died away. 
 
 It seemed to the regiment, therefore, a perfectly 
 natural and obvious thing that it should hasten forth 
 to protect this little remnant from the revenge of 
 the whites. Laramie Pete, with all his faults, was a 
 frontier hero whose popularity was second only to 
 that of Thorpe, and at the latter s call, from far and 
 near, cowboy, ranchman, miner, and prospector, 
 would hasten to join forces under his leadership, 
 and in twenty-four hours or less he could count on 
 five hundred determined followers, fearless as they 
 were reckless, and defiant of any law that was not of 
 their own devising. 
 
 In the selection of his troops Fenton had been 
 governed by the time-honored tenets of the Twelfth. 
 Leale s men, having returned but a month before 
 from a tour of detached service, escorting a Govern 
 ment survey through the lands of the Shoshones far 
 to the west, were therefore the ones designated to 
 remain in charge of the post, being supported by 
 what was left of the so-called Indian Troop Crow 
 Knife s company, a band of swarthy cavalrymen that 
 took to Uncle Sam s clothing, pay, and rations with 
 avidity, and even to his drill and discipline, so long 
 as it was a new toy; but little by little the innate 
 sloth and restlessness of the savage nature prevailed, 
 and, one after another, non-commissioned officer and 
 private, the Sioux soldiery had been discharged un 
 til nearly all were gone. Of the dozen that remained, 
 however, were some of the noblest specimens of the
 
 146 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 race, men, who, like Crow Knife, seemed determined 
 to rise above the apathy of the past into some posi 
 tion of power and influence for their people in the 
 future, and it was almost unspeakable grief to these 
 that they should be told that they could not go with 
 the command. Yet Fenton s decision was a wise one. 
 Ever since Big Road s messengers (White Wolf 
 and Pretty Bear) dashed into the garrison at eight 
 o clock, claiming the intercession of the Great 
 Father s soldiers, the excitement among the remnant 
 of the Indian Troop was furious. For a mo 
 ment it looked as though they might cast off their 
 uniforms and, turning out in breechclout and paint 
 and feathers, indulge in a genuine old-fashioned war 
 dance on the parade. They were wild to get their 
 arms and horses and to gallop to the succor of their 
 kinsmen down the valley, but the lieutenant com 
 manding was a cool hand, and, aided by the persua 
 sive talk of one or two older warriors, measurably 
 quieted the disturbance. Then, as most of the men 
 on guard begged to be allowed to go with their com 
 rades, seven of the Indians were distributed among 
 the three reliefs, and Leale s men filled all the other 
 gaps. It was about 9:30, as has been said, when 
 the column marched away. It might be back before 
 Christmas night. It might not be back for a week. 
 
 O O 
 
 No one at the moment could say because, even now, 
 Big Road could have broken camp and started with 
 his whole village on a night march for the fastnesses 
 of the mountains, uncertain what f ite might be in 
 store for them if he remained. With the column
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 147 
 
 went White Wolf and Bear, the former generally 
 believed to be one of the four Indians engaged in 
 the fracas that wound up the earthly career of Lara- 
 mie Pete. Ahead of the column, full gallop, with 
 only a single orderly, but with instructions to tell 
 Big Road and his people to stay just where they 
 were, as the Great Father meant to come to their 
 protection, went Lieutenant Warren, and the maddest, 
 "miserablest" man in all the garrison was Lieuten 
 ant Will Farrar. 
 
 When a young fellow is full of soldierly ambition, 
 when he knows he is master of his work and is eager 
 for an opportunity to prove it, when everybody has 
 been treating him as a boy and he knows he has all 
 the ability of a man, when his sweetheart, even, has 
 been teasing and twitting him upon his apparent 
 lack of consequence in the eyes of the garrison, and 
 he is therefore all the more mad to prove at any haz 
 ard that it contains no more daring and spirited an 
 officer, such an opportunity as was here afforded 
 Mr. Farrar was not to be lost. He had implored 
 Colonel Fenton to let him be the bearer of the mes 
 sage, and was broken-hearted at the kind but firm 
 refusal. "The Indian is peculiar, Will," said the 
 old soldier, gently. " He never forgets or forgives. 
 If his father had been killed as yours was he would 
 hold it something to be avenged, although resent 
 ment had to be concealed, perhaps, for years. They 
 know you are his son. They know that the white 
 men are leaguing now to avenge the death of Pete. 
 They cannot understand such a thing as white
 
 148 FOET FEAYNE. 
 
 soldiers, from sheer sense of duty and justice, inter 
 posing against their own kind to save the red man. 
 In your coming they would read only treachery, and 
 would argue that you came to urge their remaining 
 so that we might join our white brethren in sur 
 rounding and wiping them out of existence. What 
 ever you urged, even in my name, they would be 
 sure not to do. No, I must send Warren. They 
 know him well and trust him." But Fenton was 
 thankful he had so good an excuse, for even without 
 it he could not have brought himself to send 
 Marjorie Farrar s only remaining son upon a mission 
 that might prove perilous that would certainly 
 seem perilous in her eyes. 
 
 Hastening to the chaplain s as soon as Thorpe made 
 his melodramatic exit, Ormsby was met at the door 
 by the good old dominie himself and begged him to 
 say to Mrs. Farrar that there was no cause for 
 alarm: there had been a fight between Indians and 
 cowboys several miles away, and Colonel Fenton 
 had decided to send a force out to keep the peace. 
 She heard his voice, and faintly but eagerly asked 
 that he should come in. It was Helen, not Ellis, 
 who bore her message, Helen, who noted with com 
 fort, and Ellis, with mixed emotion, that the mother 
 had learned to lean upon this stanch and devoted 
 friend. Mrs. Farrar took his hand and looked ap- 
 pealingly up into his face as he briefly told her what 
 had happened and what the colonel had decided to 
 do. 
 
 "Will Willy have to go? " was her one question,
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 149 
 
 and, ignorant as yet that Leale s troop would be 
 designated to remain, Orirsby gravely answered that 
 he presumed the entire command was ordered out. 
 "But," he added, reassuringly, " that fact itself is 
 the surest guarantee of peace. There can be no 
 further disorder in face of so strong a force." 
 
 For all answer slie bowed her head and hid it in 
 her slender white hands. No wonder it seemed as 
 though Christmas ever brought its tragedy to her at 
 old Fort Frayne. 
 
 And then came diversion that was merciful. There 
 was a rush of light footsteps, a flutter of silken 
 skirts on the porch without, a bang at the door and 
 in came Kitty, flushed, disheveled, tearful, indig 
 nant. 
 
 "What s this about Willy s going?" she de 
 manded. " Where is he? What business has he 
 Why! he cannot go, Mrs. Farrar. lie s engaged to 
 me for the german to-morrow night." 
 
 There was something so comical in her utter in 
 ability to understand the gravity of the situation, to 
 realize that a soldier s duty far outranked even so 
 solemn a compact as an engagement to dance with 
 his sweetheart that even Mrs. Farrar forgot her grief 
 and apprehension for the moment and opened her 
 arms to the imperious little lady and drew her to 
 her heart. 
 
 "Ah, Kitty, you have the same lesson to learn 
 that I had long years ago " she cried, as she sought 
 to soothe and console the child, but Miss Ormsby 
 was in no mood for petting. She was up in arms.
 
 150 FORT FRAYNli. 
 
 She was being defrauded. Uncle Fenton had no 
 business whatever to send Willy away on such a 
 quest at such a time. It was worse than incon 
 siderate. It was outrageous, and then Mrs. Farrar s 
 face went white again as she asked what Kitty 
 meant, and then Kitty s nerve gave way and she 
 buried her bonny face on that motherly shoulder and 
 burst into tears. 
 
 " I thought you d heard," she sobbed. "They 
 have only just told me. Captain Farwell came 
 home to change his dress, and I asked him where 
 Will was, and he said he left him offering his 
 services to Uncle Fenton to ride ahead to the 
 Indians, and he wanted to know if I didn t think 
 Will was a trump. I don t! I didn t! I think it s 
 simply h-h-heartless in him! " 
 
 And then Mrs. Farrar raised her eyes appealingly 
 to Ormsby, and he went without a word. He knew 
 what she needed, and hastened in search of Will. 
 He found him at Fenton s, whither he had accom 
 panied the colonel, and where he was still pleading, 
 and tugging at his tiny mustache and tramping up 
 and down and biting his nails, while Fenton, in the 
 adjoining room, was calmly getting out of his dress 
 clothes and into winter field garb. 
 
 " Would you mind dropping this and going down 
 to the chaplain s and comforting your mother and 
 my sister? " said Ormsby, as soon as he could get in 
 a word edgewise. 
 
 "Yes, go, Will," said Fenton, "and tell her 
 that there is nothing whatever in this affair to worry
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 151 
 
 about. We re merely going to bring old Big Road 
 up here to take Christinas dinner at the fort. There s 
 no chance for a fight, or you should go along. No; it s 
 useless arguing, ray boy. I d do anything for you 
 that s right, but this is absolutely unreasonable on 
 your part. Xow go and tell those two blessed 
 women that you re to remain on guard over them, 
 and they ll rise up and call me blessed at least 
 they ought to. 
 
 And so, finally, Ormsby got the peppery young 
 fellow out of the house and fairly started, Ormsby 
 keeping pace with him as he strode excitedly from 
 the room. 
 
 " I want you to do something for me, Will," said 
 he in a low tone, as they hastened along. " I m go 
 ing with the command, and I haven t a moment to 
 spare. Give this note to Mrs. Daunton for me as 
 soon as possible after you reach the house. May I 
 rely upon you? " 
 
 And as he spoke he held forth an envelope, evi 
 dently snugly filled, and Farrar took it mechanically, 
 and without reply. The boy was thinking only of 
 his own disappointment. "Do you understand, 
 Will? " persisted Ormsby. "It is of great impor 
 tance that she should have it before ten o clock. 
 You won t forget? " and wondering now, Farrar 
 promised, and Ormsby turned abruptly back. 
 
 " I Avish to the Lord I were in your place," was 
 poor Will s parting shout, as the guardsman hurried 
 back to dress for the night ride. Already the four 
 troops had marched to stables and were saddling.
 
 152 FORT FBAYNE. 
 
 Already there were sounds of excitement over across 
 the river, and much scurrying through the straggling 
 street of the cattle town of well-mounted ranchmen 
 and "cow punchers." Thorpe Avas as good as his 
 Avord. He Avas rousing the county with a ven 
 geance, hoping to ride down the A alley in strong 
 force within the hour and "wind up the Avhole 
 business" before the cavalry could come to the 
 rescue of the offending band. Will could hear the 
 occasional whoop and yell that came ringing OA er on 
 the still night air, and he Avas in a petulant mood, 
 bordering on exasperation, Avhcn admitted at the 
 chaplain s and ushered into the parlor, where Kitty 
 still lay, clasped in the mother s arms. 
 
 She scrambled to her feet the instant he entered 
 and began an energetic outburst, but the sight of 
 his woe-begone face checked her suddenly. Mrs. 
 Farrar read instantly the cause of his gloom, and 
 her eyes brightened Avith rejoicing. 
 
 " Willy, my boy, then you don t have to go? " 
 
 "Don t Jiave to go!" was the wrathful ansAver. 
 " Don t have to go! I ve been on my knees to that 
 stony-hearted old rip for the last ten minutes, and 
 he Avon t let me go! " 
 
 " God bless him! " were the mother s fervent 
 Avords. "lie knew he Avell kueAv Avhut it AA ould 
 cost me to have my only boy torn from me at this 
 time," Avas the thought that flashed through her 
 mind, and her eyes welled Avith grateful tears, 
 though she could say no more. It was Kitty Avho 
 restored the social equilibrium. " I won t have you
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 153 
 
 speak of Uncle Fenton in that disgraceful way, Mr. 
 Farrar. You ought to be thankful you don t have 
 to go, as you put it. Have you totally forgotten 
 our engagement for to-morrow night? " 
 
 " Oh, for heaven s sake, Kitty! What is that at 
 such a time as this? There won t 1>e a sign of a 
 dance, unless they all get hack in time, and I d 
 rather be dead than left here the first scout the 
 regiment has after my joining it." He threw him 
 self disgustedly into a chair, refusing to see his 
 mother s outstretched hand, and for the time being 
 absolutely indifferent to Kitty s reproaches. It was 
 the discovery of this fact that taught her how 
 thoroughly in earnest he was, taught her that there 
 was something alive in his heart of which she might 
 well be jealous, and for the first time in her life the 
 girl stood a little in awe of him, and, relinquishing 
 her purpose of upbraiding, she turned back, baffled 
 and defeated, and took refuge by the mother s 
 chair. 
 
 "Tell us who are to go, Willy," said Mrs. 
 Farrar, entreatingly. 
 
 " Everybody but me and Leale. They ll be off 
 in ten minutes, too. Even Jack Ormsby goes, and 
 I m ordered absolutely ordered to stay here, as if 
 I were some some baby in arms, unfit to do duty 
 with my fellows. I ll never forgive Fenton as long 
 as I live." 
 
 " And I ll never forget it," murmured the mother, 
 as she gently checked Kitty, once more about to 
 burst into impetuous speech. " I m sure Colonel
 
 154 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Fenton had grave and good reasons for keeping you 
 here, my son, and if so tried and brave a soldier as 
 Captain Leale can remain without reproach, surely 
 yon can." 
 
 "There s just the difference," answered Will 
 miserably. "Leale has been under fire and on try 
 ing duty time and again. His reputation was as 
 sured long years ago. I m treated as a boy by by 
 everybody in this garrison, high or low, and for 
 bidden a chance to do a thing. If you folks want to 
 see that command off the sooner you get out to the 
 bluff the better." 
 
 " But you are going to take us, Willy," said his 
 sister, sympathetically, "Kitty and I, at least, 
 wish to see the regiment. Do you care to go, 
 mother, dear? " she asked anxiously, and, then, 
 crossing over to her mother s side, bent down and 
 kissed her, but the question was no sooner asked 
 than she would gladly have recalled it "or will 
 you come home now with me? " she hastened to 
 say. 
 
 "I ll take mother home," said Will. "Goon if 
 you want to see them start, I don t. That s more 
 than I could possibly stand. The chaplain will take 
 you gladly enough." 
 
 And so at last did Miss Orrnsby begin to realize 
 that even in the eyes of the man she had captivated 
 she was for the time beins of no account. 
 
 O 
 
 It was one of Fenton s fads to have out the band 
 when the regiment or any considerable detachment 
 of it marched away, and now, even at night, he did
 
 PORT FRAYNE. 155 
 
 not depart from his practice. The chaplain had 
 opened the door to note the progress of the prep 
 arations across the parade. Orderlies with the 
 horses of the officers were trotting past. The non 
 commissioned staff were already mounting at the ad 
 jutant s office, and over at the band barracks the gray 
 chargers, the music stools of the musicians, were be 
 ing led into the line. A mounted band was something 
 that Kitty had never seen, and curiosity and coquetry 
 combined, led her to lend her ear to the chaplain s sug 
 gestion that she should come out and see the column 
 ride away and wave good-bye to her admirers among 
 the subalterns. If Will persisted in his ill temper 
 there was no sense in staying there, and perhaps the 
 quickest way to bring him to terms was to manifest 
 interest in his fellows. So, leaving him to the 
 ministrations of his mother, she danced away to the 
 front door, Ellis promptly following. The night 
 was still and beautiful, softly hazy, and not very 
 cold, and the scene across the snow-covered parade 
 was full of life and animation. Lights were dancing 
 to and fro among the company quarters. Two of 
 the designated troops had already marched up from 
 the stables, formed line in front of their barracks, 
 and dismounting, were awaiting the sounding of ad 
 jutant s call and the formation of the squadron. 
 Officers were mounting every moment along the row 
 and trotting out to join their commands, and 
 presently, from the colonel s big house on the edge 
 of the bluff came three horsemen clad in heavy 
 winter field garb, and even in the dim light there
 
 156 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 was no difficulty in recognizing Fenton s soldierly 
 form. These were joined by the adjutant as they 
 rode out upon the parade, and then one of the 
 group came jogging over towards the chaplain, 
 followed by an attendant orderly. It was Jack 
 Ormsby, and Kitty fluttered down to the gate to 
 meet him. 
 
 "You and Aunt Lucretia Avill have to keep house 
 by yourselves to-night, little sister," said he laugh 
 ingly, as he bent to kiss her good-bye. "Corporal 
 Rorke is to sleep at the house so that you will not 
 lack for guards. Where s Will? " 
 
 " He s with his mother in the parlor, and just too 
 miserable for anything," said Kitty, who, now that 
 she could sec for herself the preparation for a march, 
 began to feel far more sympathy for her lover, if not 
 actually to wish that she were a man and could go 
 too. Ellis, quick to notice Ormsby s coming, had 
 slipped back within the hall and partially closed the 
 door. Glancing over her shoulder she could see that 
 her mother had left her reclining chair and was bend 
 ing fondly over Will, smoothing his tumbled hair and 
 striving to soothe and comfort him, but it was evi 
 dent that Will was sorely hurt, for he turned away 
 in irrepressible chagrin and distress and covered his 
 face with his hands. Helen Daunton, forgetful for 
 the moment of her own bitter trouble, had sought to 
 aid her friend in consoling the boy, but it washer 
 first experience in such a case. She had never real 
 ized what it meant to a proud and ambitious young 
 soldier to be held in garrison when his comrades
 
 PORT FRAYNE. 157 
 
 were being sent, to the field; and finding presently that 
 she could be of little aid, she drew away toward the 
 window to join the chaplain and his wife, who were 
 gazing out upon the parade, when the stirring notes 
 of adjutant s call came trilling through the hazy 
 moonlight, and with a groan that seemed to rise from 
 the depths of his heart, poor Will threw himself face 
 downward upon the sofa, utterly refusing to be com 
 forted. 
 
 "Come," said the chaplain in a low tone, "They 
 will be better left to themselves. Let us go out and 
 see the troops form line," and hastily quitting the 
 parlor they came suddenly upon Ellis lingering at 
 the outer door. 
 
 "Mr. Ormsby was saying good-bye to Kitty," 
 she nervously explained, " and I remained here for a 
 moment. He is still there. " 
 
 Yes, still there, although he had said adieu to his 
 little sister and the squadron was rapidly forming on 
 the parade. Still there, and looking now and then 
 beyond Kitty s pretty, pathetic little face, clouded 
 with a trouble altogether new to it. Still there, and 
 louoino- for a sio;ht of the face he loved as he did no 
 
 O O ~ 
 
 other, despite all its coldness and aversion. Then 
 they came hurrying forth the old dominie and his 
 faithful helpmeet, the two young and beautiful 
 women and at sight of them Ormsby suddenly dis 
 mounted, and passing the reins to his orderly, ran 
 nimbly up the steps and extended his hand, " Good 
 night, chaplain Good night, Mrs. Ransom. We 
 count on eating our Christmas dinner here, despite
 
 158 FORT FRAYXE. 
 
 the night march. Good night, Miss Farrar," he 
 added, gravely, gently. "We still hope to be here 
 to wish you Merry Christmas. Please extend my 
 sympathies to Will. I know how hard it is for him 
 to stay. Good night, Mrs. F -Mrs. Daunton," 
 he stumbled on, and extended to her the hand which 
 he had withheld from Ellis. " Oh, pardon me. Did 
 Farrar give you a note I intrusted to him for you? " 
 
 " Not yet, Mr. Ormsby. He has hardly thought 
 of anything but his grief at being retained here." 
 
 "Well, ask him for it before ten o clock. It"- 
 and he was halting painfully now, for Ellis, with 
 drawing a pace from the group, was gazing straight 
 into his face "it it explains itself. You ll under 
 stand it. Good night, good night, all. I must 
 hurry." And with that he ran down the steps and 
 out of the gate, mounted quickly, and without a 
 backward glance rode quickly away to take his place 
 by the colonel s side. Another moment, and the 
 adjutant, galloping out in front of the long line of 
 horses, had presented the squadron to Major Wayne, 
 and that distinguished officer, unexpectedly awake and 
 lively, lost no time in preliminaries, but broke his 
 command at once into column of fours, and with the 
 band playing its joyous march music, and with old 
 Feu ton himself in the lead, away they went down 
 the winding road to the flats to the east. Once out 
 of the garrison, the band wheeled out of column and 
 played the troopers by, then trotted back to unsaddle 
 for the night. Men, women and children, the popu 
 lace of Fort Frayne, gathered along the eastern edge
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 159 
 
 of the plateau, and silently, and in not a few cases, 
 tearfully, watched the column out of sight in the 
 dim, ghostly light, and then little Trumpeter Mei- 
 necke came out from the guardhouse and trilled the 
 martial curfew that sent them shivering homeward 
 an ominous Christmas eve tattoo.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 TEN o clock and no one yet came riding back 
 from the column with later news. Almost as soon 
 as the command had disappeared from view Mrs. 
 Farrar had gone home, Helen, Ellis, Kitty and 
 Will in close attendance, and there they were pres 
 ently joined by Aunt Lucretia, whose volubility 
 even calamity seemed powerless to check, and 
 then to the relief of all the women, Captain Leale. 
 knocked and was promptly admitted. 
 
 " I am in search of my right-hand man," said he, 
 with his bright, cordial smile. "They tell me he is 
 playing Achilles and sulking in his tent, but I have 
 work for him to do, " and then once more did Kitty 
 look remonstrance, for she could form no idea of 
 work for him that did not involve deprivation for 
 her. 
 
 "You are not going to send Mr. Farrar away after 
 all," she began, but Leale laughingly checked her. 
 
 "Far from it," said he. "I need him at the 
 guardhouse, and mean to put him in charge of the 
 prisoners when they come in. The chances are that 
 the colonel will have to arrest not a few T of those fel 
 lows, and he ll do it in the interest of peace and good 
 order, despite the fact that he lias no warrant. Are 
 you ready, sir?" 
 
 "I m ready and willing to do any duty, Captain 
 
 Leale, " answered Will, ruefully. "But I was the 
 
 ico
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 1C1 
 
 first to volunteer for that courier ride to Big Road, 
 and I think the colonel ought to have given it to me. 
 I ll be officer of the guard to-morrow, anyhow, and 
 would just as lief begin now. Shall I come at once?" 
 
 "Yes, the second relief goes on in a few minutes, 
 and you would better inspect them. Everything is 
 started right. You have a capital sergeant of the 
 guard. I want the sentries on the north and 
 east bluffs instructed to listen for all sounds from 
 the east, and to keep a close watch on that plant 
 of Bunco Jim s. Watch every movement in that 
 rowdy town over yonder, though I believe most of 
 the populace has already ridden away at the bidding 
 of the so-called cowboy king." 
 
 Will bent over and kissed his mother s forehead, 
 "I ll get my sword and go at once," said he, "and 
 I ll be back as soon as I ve made the rounds of the 
 second relief. I suppose nobody here means to turn 
 in for an hour yet. We ought to have news of some 
 kind before midnight." With that he quickly left 
 the little parlor, and vaulting the low fence, let him 
 self in at his own door in the adjoining bachelor 
 roost. Mrs. Daunton, who had been occupying her 
 self close to Mrs. Farrar, presently arose and stepped 
 into the hall way, took a heavy wrap and noiselessly 
 quitted the house. Surprised, Captain Leale looked 
 about him for an explanation. Ellis had drawn aside 
 the curtain, and with pale, set face, was gazing 
 fixedly out upon the parade. Kitty looked bewildered. 
 It was Mrs. Farrar who spoke 
 
 "This has been a trying day for Helen. She is
 
 162 FORT FEAYNE. 
 
 not strong, I fear, and to-night she is so nervous and 
 unstrung that she seems to shrink from company or 
 conversation. I have never known her so distracted. I 
 fancy she wants to be alone a few minutes and to take 
 the fresli air on the gallery." Ellis moved impa 
 tiently, but said not a word. She could see that so far 
 from having stopped on the gallery, Helen Daunton 
 had hastened through the gate, and, turning to Will s 
 quarters next door, was there awaiting his reappear 
 ance. The boy came out in a moment, his sword at 
 his side, and wrapping his cloak about him, stopped 
 short in evident surprise at sight of Mrs. Daunton. 
 Ellis well understood the purport of the conversation 
 that ensued, though she could hear no word. Will 
 searched one pocket after another, then ran back into 
 the house, came forth again in less than a minute, 
 handed a square white envelope to Mrs. Daunton, 
 and, raising his forage cap in farewell, hastened away 
 across the parade. Ashamed of her espionage, yet 
 fascinated, Ellis lingered at the window and saw 
 Helen tear open the envelope, and draw forth a little 
 packet or roll, which she closely inspected and rapidly 
 counted over. Money! Treasury notes beyond ques 
 tion! Money, and paid her by Jack Ormsby! Ellis 
 dropped the curtain and turned away. She cared to 
 see no more. 
 
 Over at the guardhouse the second relief was being 
 formed as Farrar reached the spot seven soldiers in 
 their fur caps and gloves and heavy winter overcoats 
 and arctics. The corporal had just reported them 
 all present, and the lieutenant quickly yet closely in-
 
 PORT FRAYNE. 163 
 
 spected their equipment, then stepped to the front 
 again. 
 
 "In addition to the usual orders," said he, 
 "Numbers Six and Seven are cautioned to keep a 
 sharp lookout and to listen attentively for anything 
 at the eastward. In the event of any unusual sight 
 or sound, call for the corporal at once. Who is Num 
 ber Five? " 
 
 "Graice, sir," said the corporal. 
 
 The young officer s face darkened a bit. He had 
 no trust in the man whatever and knew well his evil 
 reputation. "Graice," said he, " you have double 
 functions to-night. You have not only the same 
 orders as Six and Seven, but the commanding officer 
 directs that you keep a special watch over the settle 
 ment across the river, particularly of the plant of 
 Bunco Jim. I believe you know it." 
 
 "There are plenty of others that know it as well," 
 was the surly and unexpected answer. 
 
 "That will do, sir," Avas the stern rejoinder. 
 "You were asked no questions, and will keep silent 
 until you are. Do you understand your instructions? " 
 
 "I am not deaf," was the sullen response. 
 
 "Answer my question, Graice," said Will, ting 
 ling with indignation, but keeping his temper. There 
 was a moment s silence, then 
 
 "I spose I do." 
 
 "There appears to be some doubt, however," said 
 Farrar, coolly. "Post your relief, corporal, and we 
 will look further after Number Five. Has that man
 
 164 FOKT FRATNE. 
 
 been drinking again? " he turned and asked the silent 
 sergeant, as the relief marched away. 
 
 "It s hard to say, sir. He s one of those steady 
 soakers. It would be difficult to find him when he 
 hadn t been drinking more or less. I think he has 
 been drinking all day, but he knows what he s doing, 
 and is as sober as he is at any other time." 
 
 Farrar gazed doubtfully at the relief as it trudged 
 away through the misty moonlight; shook his head 
 in some dissatisfaction, then turned in at the door 
 way of the tower. 
 
 " I will look over the guardroom and cells," said 
 he, "and visit sentries later," and, taking up his 
 lantern, the sergeant followed. 
 
 A big stove burned brightly in the center of the 
 guardroom, and the men of the third relief, sitting 
 or sprawling about, sprang up and stood to attention 
 as the officer looked in. Another stove, the mate to 
 it, was burning almost at red heat in the general 
 prison room, across the hall. Here were confined 
 some half dozen poor devils, the scapegraces of the 
 command; some drink-sodden and stupid, others 
 merely reckless and "ne er do weel." Following 
 the spirit of holiday decoration, and never expecting 
 the visit of an officer that night, one of the number, 
 with a fine sense of humor, had induced a comrade to 
 fetch him a parcel from the barracks, and now on 
 the bare wooden wall opposite the entrance there 
 hung a chromo with a flowery border and the pious 
 sentiment, "God bless our happy home." Will s 
 eye caught it at the instant. " Take that down! " said
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 165 
 
 he, with manifest indignation. " There is to be no 
 burlesque business here to-night." There was a 
 faint odor of dead tobacco about the grimy room. 
 "You ll have to search those men and that room," 
 said he to the sergeant, as they turned away. " There 
 must be neither pipes, matches nor anything with 
 which they can start a fire. If this old rookery ever 
 flames it will go like a flash. Do it at once! Any 
 men in the cells? " 
 
 "None, sir, and none in the outer prison room." 
 
 "Keep the other empty, then. The chances are 
 it ll be filled to-morrow when the column gets back. 
 Remember the orders about fire." 
 
 "No man s like to forget that, lieutenant, with 
 the powder stored there on the second floor." 
 
 " I know," answered Will, gravely. " How much 
 powder is there there? " 
 
 " Only a dozen cartridges for the reveille gun, sir, 
 but that s enough to blow the place into flinders. " 
 
 " There s no one in the light prison room on that 
 floor? " 
 
 No one, sir. That floor is empty. There s no 
 fire up there at all." 
 
 Presently the tramp, tramp of martial feet was 
 heard on the crunching snow, and officer and ser 
 geant both stepped forth to receive the relief of 
 sentries just taken off post. One of them was Crow 
 Knife. lie gravely saluted as he passed his officer, 
 and placed his carbine in the arm rack, then went 
 out on the east side of the little building and stood
 
 166 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 there, silent, listening for sounds from the distant 
 east. 
 
 " May I have the lieutenant s permission to go out 
 on the bluff awhile? " he asked, as Farrar came by 
 him. " I can hear the call of the corporal if we are 
 wanted for anything, and I am very anxious." And 
 Will, who at first would have said no, saw the 
 anxiety in the Indian s face and consented. 
 
 "Crow is strangely superstitious," said the ser 
 geant, after a moment s silence. "He has been like 
 that ever since he came on guard. He says the 
 ghost dogs were howling the death song last night, 
 and that somebody s to get his death blow to-night. 
 We can t laugh him out of it. " 
 
 Will turned away and watched the rapidly-re 
 treating form, growing dimmer every second. " I 
 suppose he dreads trouble for his people, and this 
 row makes him nervous," said he. "I m going the 
 rounds now, sergeant, and Avill leave you here in 
 charge." 
 
 " It is just 10:30 now, sir. Shall we call off? " 
 
 "Ay, ay, let it go," was the answer, as the 
 young fellow stalked away in the direction of the 
 stables. It was his purpose to take the sentry posts 
 in inverse order, so as to visit first those on the east 
 ern flank. 
 
 Without a break the watch-cry went from man to 
 man, Number Five shouting a gruff, stentorian, "All s 
 well," that again directed the attention of the officer of 
 the guard to his probable condition. The last sentry 
 had called off and Number One had given, loud and
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 167 
 
 prolonged, the final assurance that all along the chain 
 was peace and security before Will reached the bot 
 tom of the slope and began his examination of the 
 stables and corrals. The last thing he saw as he cast 
 a backward glance northward along the snowy slope 
 that terminated the plateau on its eastern side, was 
 the solitary figure of Crow Knife standing mute, mo 
 tionless and attentive, just at the upper end of the 
 post of sentry on Number Six. 
 
 He was delayed unexpectedly among the stables, 
 for one of the orderlies, in the absence of his troop 
 and officers, had gone visiting among his associates 
 in the adjoining building, and one or two spare 
 horses were loose and roaming about the gangway. 
 The next thing he heard of his sentries there were 
 excited shouts for the corporal of the guard, and 
 hastening out into the night to ascertain the cause, 
 he nearly collided with little Meinecke, the trum 
 peter. 
 
 " Lieutenant, cried the boy, breathlessly, "Crow 
 Knife s killed, sir. Stabbed to death! " 
 
 " My God! " moaned Will, as he hastened up the 
 slope. "There s a curse on Christrnastide at old 
 Fort Frayne." 
 
 When ten, twenty minutes had passed away and 
 Helen Daunton failed to return, Mrs. Farrar had be 
 come anxious and ill at ease. Leale, too, had been 
 listening eagerly for her step on the porch without, 
 and, unable to control his longing to see and speak 
 with her, despite her palpable efforts to avoid him, he 
 had early taken his leave and gone forth in search.
 
 168 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Ellis, slipping from the parlor into the dining-room, 
 had thence managed to go to her own little chamber, 
 for a moment or two to herself. Whatever doubt 
 remained as to the justice of her suspicions up to 
 dinner time that evening, it was banished now and 
 
 O 
 
 her heart was hard against Ormsby that he should 
 have so braved and deceived her. Looking out from 
 her window she could see much of the walk in front 
 of Officers Row, but not a sign of Helen Daunton. 
 The clouds had thickened, the moonlight had grown 
 dimmer all of a sudden. Once more the snow was 
 sifting down. She could not dream where Helen 
 had gone. 
 
 It was a desperate woman who stole silently out 
 of the little army home and intercepted Lieutenant 
 Farrar at the gate. In few words she made known 
 her errand and asked for the note Mr. Ormsby had 
 placed in his hand, and Will for the first time remem 
 bered it. He had stowed it in the pocket of the over 
 coat he was wearing as he returned with Ormsby 
 from the colonel s, and was compelled to run back 
 indoors again to find it. Absorbed though he was 
 
 o c? 
 
 in his own trouble, Will could not but remark how 
 strange it seemed that his mother s companion should 
 be seeking, and Ormsby sending, those mysterious 
 notes at night. He made such explanation and ex 
 cuse as he could, however, then hurried away. With 
 nervous fingers Helen counted over the money in the 
 envelope. Two hundred dollars! Ormsby was in 
 deed generous. Then desperate, determined. thought 
 less of the military crime she was about to urge upon
 
 FORT FKAYXE 109 
 
 her husband, thinking only of the dreadful menace 
 his presence was to the friends who had harbored 
 and sheltered her, she sped away up the row, and 
 turning through the broad open space near the col 
 onel s quarters, came out upon the snow-covered 
 brow of the heights overhanging the silent,ice-bound 
 stream; and there, barely a hundred feet away, tlie 
 dim outlines of that huge, hulking figure could be 
 seen. She knew it only too well knew it at a 
 glance. Graice was standing on post at the moment, 
 listening, apparently, to some faint, distant sounds 
 of maudlin revelry that rose from the unhallowed 
 walls of Bunco Jim s, beyond the Platte. "With one 
 brief muttered prayer to heaven for guidance and 
 strength, she sped across the snowy expanse and was 
 at his side before he could either halt or challenge. 
 He never had time to speak before impetuously she 
 began: 
 
 " Royle Farrar, I must speak to you here and now. 
 If your being here meant only danger and harm to 
 me, you might do your worst and I would bear it. 
 You are under a false name. Your life has so 
 changed you that as yet no one has recognized 
 you, but it cannot last, and then there will 
 be bitter shame and, perhaps, death that would 
 lie at your door your mother s; your poor, gentle 
 mother, Royle, who holds her life only through the 
 belief that you are no longer alive to bring further 
 disgrace to your father s name. " 
 
 But now he had partially recovered himself and 
 angrily interrupted: "Is it my fault I m here?
 
 170 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Did I suppose of all cursed places they d send me to 
 it would be here, to be ordered about by my cub of 
 a brother, to see my noble captain making love to 
 my-" 
 
 " You dare not say it! " she cried. 
 
 "You ve had some experience of what I dare, my 
 lady, and one thing I dare and mean to do is to 
 stick it out right here and take my chances at Frayne. 
 There s no other post where I d find so many friends 
 at court if things go wrong." 
 
 " You shall not stay here if I have to buy you to 
 go," she cried, but she shrank even as she spoke, as 
 though dreading a blow, for, with uplifted hand 
 he sprang to her side; then roughly, savagely, seized 
 her slender wrist. 
 
 "Who are you to pose as guardian angel of the 
 Farrars? Who a^e you to say shall to me? Do you 
 reali/.e, my love, that your place in the army is not 
 in officers quarters, but down yonder in Laundresses 
 Alley? By the Lord! I ve a mind " 
 
 But here a dark shadow fell between him and the 
 slender writhing object of his brutal rage; an iron 
 grasp was laid in turn on the hand that so cruelly 
 crushed the white wrist. A deep voice, eloquent 
 with wrath, controlled, yet boiling, seemed to ring 
 in his ears the two words, "Let go!" and then, re 
 leasing perforce his hold on the shrinking, startled 
 woman, Graice writhed in furious effort to free him 
 self from the clinch of Malcolm Leale, and writhed 
 in vain.
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 171 
 
 "You ve the devil s own grip," he savagely hissed 
 through his grinding teeth. 
 
 "I ve a grip, my man, that won t loosen till you 
 are past doing further mischief here," was the stern, 
 relentless answer. Then uplifting his voice, Leale 
 shouted for the corporal of the guard, and at the in 
 stant the cry went echoing over the posts of Six and 
 Seven. The sentry still writhed in impotent rage. 
 Finding his struggles futile, he once more lashed 
 with his tongue. 
 
 Don t be too sure of that, captain. There are 
 some kinds of a hold even your grip can t loosen." 
 
 " No insolence! You go from here to the guard 
 house, as it is." 
 
 "Damn the guardhouse and you, too!" raged 
 the soldier, hurling down his carbine. "If I m 
 to spend Christmas in limbo, I m cursed if you 
 shall spend it making love to my and here, 
 with a tigerlike bound, his free hand brandishing a 
 glistening knife, he lunged at the officer s throat. A 
 lithe form had come leaping like a panther up the 
 path, and even before Helen s cry had died away, 
 Crow Knife had hurled himself between the men, 
 and the shining blade was buried out of sight. There 
 was a moment of furious struggle, and then the sen 
 try lay felled like an ox in his tracks and Leale s foot 
 was at his throat. The knife, blood-stained, had 
 dropped in the snow. The Indian, his hand pressed 
 to his side, was swaying slowly back, as the sergeant 
 of the guard, with a brace of men, came running to 
 the spot.
 
 172 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 "Take this man to the guardhouse!" was the brief, 
 stern order, as they lifted Graice, stunned and sod 
 den, to his feet. Then the captain turned to Crow 
 Knife. "Did that crazy brute strike you? Are you 
 hurt? " he asked, in deep concern. 
 
 "Captain," said the Indian, slowly. "I believe 
 I m killed." 
 
 Leale sprang to support him. Other men, running 
 to the scene, linked their hands and made a chair and 
 raised the poor fellow from the ground. "Carry 
 him gently to the hospital, lads. I ll be with you in 
 a moment," said Leale, and then he turned to where, 
 trembling, terrified, Helen Daunton still stood as 
 though powerless to move. 
 
 "Helen Mrs. Daunton! First let me see you 
 home. I ask no confidence, no explanation, but this 
 is something in which I must help you. I have 
 guessed the truth, have I not? That man is your 
 brother?" 
 
 "My brother, Captain Leale? God pity me that 
 man is my husband! " 
 
 For a moment not another word was spoken. 
 Leale had recoiled staggered as though struck a 
 mortal blow. Then, in hoarse whisper, so choked 
 and broken seemed his voice: 
 
 "Your husband! Your husband, Helen? Oh, my 
 God! And I had thought you free to be loved, as I 
 have learned as you have taught me to love you. " 
 
 "Captain Leale! " she cried. " In pity say you 
 do not believe that. Oh, hear me! Do not turn from 
 me," she implored, for in his misery he had averted
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 173 
 
 his face. "You shall not think me so vile," she 
 went on, desperately. "I never knew until to-day 
 that you had learned to care for me. I thought all 
 that had gone with my youth oh, so long ago! I 
 only asked of life a place where I could be useful 
 and safe, and where, by and by, perhaps I could for 
 get. I have seemed to myself so old and dull and 
 sad, so different from the women men love that I 
 never dreamed it my duty to say I was not free. Oh, 
 I thought you were my friend. My heart has been 
 so heavy and so numbed I have thought it dead since 
 that Christmas Eve, four years ago. Ah, let me tell 
 it to you and you will understand. Four years ago 
 this night my little sick baby woke and wailed with 
 pain. That man my husband was in a drunken 
 sleep on the floor. The baby s cry woke him. He 
 swore a dreadful oath at the little weak, white thing 
 in my arms and struck it hard across the mouth. I 
 don t know what wild words I said to my husband, 
 but I told him I would never see his face again. 
 Then I caught my baby to my breast and I ran and 
 ran through the cold Christmas streets, and the stars 
 went out, and the lights went out in the houses, and 
 the little baby on my breast grew heavier and heav 
 ier, and by and by it was dawn, and, oh, so cruelly 
 cold, and I I opened the shawl and saw Here, 
 overcome by the recollection the poor woman covered 
 her face in her hands and burst into wild sobbing. 
 And then the captain turned. " Helen, Helen, 
 my poor, poor girl! Hush! I spoke like a brute, 
 but I was hit hard. I was your friend I am your
 
 174 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 friend. It is late. You must go in. Take my 
 cloak, you are shivering." 
 
 With that he turned and led her to the angle by 
 the colonel s quarters, and there she looked up one 
 instant into his sorrow-stricken face. " Do not 
 come further with me," she implored. " You have 
 been so good to me," and, bowing to her will, he let 
 her go, and stood, following her swiftly retreating 
 form with his longing eyes. And then, soft and 
 sweet and clear, as though rising above all surround 
 ing of crime or sin or sorrow, there floated on the 
 night the prolonged notes of the cavalry trumpet 
 sounding the soldier lullaby " Lights out." 
 
 " Lights out," murmured Leale. "Lights out 
 ah, God help me for life and love it is, indeed, 
 lights out."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CLEAR and sparkling Christmas morning dawned 
 on old Fort Frayne. The clouds that obscured the 
 moon at midnight sent fluttering earthward a fresh 
 fall of snow and spread a spotless coverlet over the 
 valley of the Platte, softening rude outlines, capping 
 with glistening white roof and chimney, tree and 
 tower, and mercifully obliterating the unsightly 
 streaks that led across the frozen river, and the deep 
 red blotches that smeared the post at No. 5. 
 
 Two discoveries had been made by the officer of 
 the guard in his search after the removal of Graice, 
 struggling and cursing savagely to the prison room 
 on the second floor, where Leale himself directed 
 him placed, instead of among the garrison prisoners 
 in the general room. One was that the sentry had 
 received from some source a flask of whiskey, after 
 being placed on post, for, half emptied, it was found 
 in a woodpile back of the officers quarters. The 
 other was that he had more than once meandered 
 from the beaten path to the rear gateway leading to 
 the Farrars quarters, as though some powerful at 
 traction drew him thither. 
 
 Even before the tragedy which had shocked the 
 garrison at taps, busy tongues had everywhere been 
 telling of Thorpe s furious denunciation of Graice 
 and of the statement as to his claim to being the son 
 of an officer. Members of the guard had noticed the 
 
 175
 
 176 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 fury that seemed to possess Graice after that episode. 
 He slunk away from his kind as though unable to 
 face them after having passively received such a 
 scoring. He had twice been refused by the ser 
 geant permission to leave the guardhouse, as it was 
 surmised he had liquor hidden somewhere, and was 
 craving its fiery comfort and stimulant now. So 
 strong was his conviction on this head that the ser 
 geant had searched him before letting Graice parade 
 with his relief at 10:15. But Graice knew too much 
 to conceal a flask about his person. Looking only 
 for liquor, the sergeant unluckily had failed to 
 notice the keen knife that was secreted within the 
 breast of his overcoat, and that knife had done 
 bloody and disastrous work. It was evident to all 
 that he must have been drinking heavily after taking 
 his post, for he was reeling when led to the guard 
 house, and the mad imprecations on his lips were 
 frightful to hear. 
 
 Up to reveille Christmas morning not a word had 
 come from Fenton s command, but soon after 
 stable call a courier rode in with a note to Leale. 
 "All right," it cheerily read. "We found the 
 whole band spoiling for a fight and ready to clean 
 out half the county anyhow, but the cowboys kept 
 at respectful distance until we got there. Then 
 when they knew a fight wouldn t be allowed they 
 came charging down and demanded battle or the sur 
 render of White Wolf and his three pals. Two of 
 the latter were half way to Crazy Woman s Fork by 
 this time, and I do not officially know the other, so
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 177 
 
 the whole village moves up under our wing and will 
 camp on the low ground to the west of the fort. 
 Then, when the civil authorities come with warrants 
 and the assurance that the two shall have fair play 
 and a square trial, Big Road will surrender the al 
 leged murderers. Meanwhile no cowboy shall be 
 allowed on the reservation. We should be back by 
 noon." Signed , "Fenton." 
 
 And by noon back they came, the big squadron of 
 regulars, the motley village of Sioux, followed at 
 very discreet distance by an equally motley array of 
 cowboys and citizens, and all Christmas afternoon 
 the industrious squaws were pitching the tepees on 
 the westward flats, herding the ponies and cooking 
 for their lords, while most of these latter were loafing 
 about the post, glad of a chance to prowl around the 
 quarters and storehouses and beg for anything they 
 saw or fancied. As for society" at Frayne, it ac 
 cepted the bliss of the situation as readily as it had 
 mourned the necessity that sent the command away, 
 and, except in one or two households, all thought 
 was centered in the briefly-interrupted preparations 
 for the festivities of the coming night. 
 
 O O 
 
 Wyoming winter days were short enough, yet this, 
 almost the shortest of the year, had already proved 
 too long, too trying, to more than one comparative 
 stranger within the gates of Fort Frayne. The story 
 of Graice s furious outbreak, of Crow Knife s de 
 votion and dangerous wound, had gone like wildfire 
 over the once more crowded garrison. The former, 
 as has been said, was safely locked in the smaller
 
 178 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 prison room of the old guardhouse, where for a time 
 he had been heard savagely raging at his bars and 
 kicking at the resounding woodwork; Crow Knife, 
 borne on a blanket to the hospital, lay silent, patient, 
 and hovering between life and death, the captain 
 whom he loved and for whom he had periled his life, 
 sitting steadfast by his side. 
 
 Night came on strangely still. The lx>om of the 
 sunset gun, the evening chorus of the trumpets 
 and the voices of the men at roll-call all muffled by 
 the fleecy fall of snow, yet there was premonition 
 in the air, and old-timers glanced at the sky and at 
 the yellow sunset, gloomily predicting ugly weather 
 before the coming morn. Within the cheery mess- 
 rooms, where the troopers Avere wont to flock 
 with bustle and "chaff" and all manner of fun, 
 mingling with the clatter of plate and knife and 
 spoon, among the cozy homes across the parade, 
 where the families of the officers gathered at dinner, 
 the gloom of G mice s drunken crime, merged in 
 the shadows of the wintry gloaming, seemed to op 
 press every heart, killing joyous laughter, saddening 
 soldier tones, stifling merry quip and jest, strangling 
 every effort to throw off the weight that had settled 
 on old and young, on one and all. Even among 
 the more reckless and indifferent of the men, 
 Leale s impartiality and justice had won respect that 
 outlived their dread of his stern and unyielding 
 discipline. Even those who had suffered at his 
 hands could not but admire more than they hated 
 him. Among nine-tenths of the troopers he was
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 179 
 
 held in solid esteem, among very many in almost 
 enthusiastic affection, but one and all they united 
 in praise of his conduct on this trying occasion, and 
 in deep, if not loud denunciation of his brutalized 
 assailant. As for the other, the more reputable if 
 red-skinned savage, the soldiers had but one opinion: 
 Crow Knife was the whitest Indian in Wyoming, 
 and they meant it as a compliment despite its un 
 flattering possibilities. 
 
 Graice himself had made no friends. A man with 
 a grievance is never popular among soldiers, high or 
 low, and Graice s sullen, surly ways had estranged 
 even those in whom his mouthiugs against his supe 
 riors of every rank, from colonel to corporal, might 
 possibly have responsive echo. That there should be 
 talk of lynching was characteristic of the time and 
 neighborhood and the associations of frontier life, 
 and that it would come to nothing in a military gar 
 rison, its most strenuous advocates fully realized. 
 
 And all the same, despite the prevailing gloom, 
 the preparations for the dance went on. Battle and 
 murder and sudden death from which we worldlings 
 so earnestly pray deliverance, were matters that 
 might mar, but could not down, the soldier love for 
 social gayeties. Were it otherwise there would have 
 been many a year in the history of our little army 
 wherein no music sounded save the dirge, and the 
 only answer to the battle volley was its measured 
 echo at the grave. Just as the bandsmen peal their 
 most joyous strains a.-i they lead the funeral column 
 on the homeward march, so must there be the merry
 
 180 FOKT FBAYXE. 
 
 sound of music and the dance in every garrison of 
 the far frontier, or the wolf s long howl and the sav 
 age war whoop, the battle cry, and dying moan live 
 unbanished from the tortured memory, and mind 
 and matter both give way under the ceaseless strain. 
 The morbid curiosity that brought shivering little 
 squads of children and delegations from Sudsvillc and 
 the stables, ay, from Officers Row, to peer at 
 the scene of the fierce and sudden affray still sent its 
 victims thither, and questioners were perpetually 
 bothering Rorke and his assistants as they were put 
 ting the finishing touches to the decorations and 
 lighting the lamps about the ballroom. 
 
 "G wan outo this, Finnigan," said Rorke, flour 
 ishing his broom at the little group. " Go to your 
 quarters, Collins. Divil knows there was no per- 
 suadiu on ye to come a-visitin here when wurrk was 
 on hand; but now ye shmell the spread, an drame 
 o crumbs and heel-taps, ye re as privilent as poor 
 relations at a wake. Arrah, go talk to me ould hel- 
 niit over at the barracks yonder me head s tired. 
 Shure I ve tould yer lasht night s dark shtory tin 
 toitnes over, an there ll be no more shtory to tell till 
 we know whether it s loif or death for Crow Knife 
 poor soul at the hospital yonder, an a rope or a 
 penitentiary cell for that drunken divil in the guard 
 house tower." 
 
 "What s he in the tower for?" asked Trooper 
 Martin. "All by himself is he? Too fine for the 
 general room?" 
 
 " Too fine? Too wise, crazed as he was, " answered
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 181 
 
 Rorke, "as to thrust himself in the general prison 
 room. Sure he begged pitiful to be shut up by him 
 self and not put loike an onrighteous Daniel into 
 that din o lions raaniu two Indians an a woild 
 Irish prisoner or two, an they knowin him to have 
 his comrade s blood, not dhry on his hands." 
 
 "Yes, and if things go wrong with Crow," said 
 Martin, reflectively, "I reckon Graice will wish fire 
 would stand his friend again, as he was telling us it 
 did in Mexico." 
 
 " Arrah, if foire were to visit him this night it s 
 him wad visit the divil in short order," said Rorke, 
 looking out of the window. "There s purgathory s 
 own wind that ll be abroad presently, an a fire 
 shtarted anywhere in the post wad foind thim car 
 tridges in the guardhouse before we cud say our 
 prayers. G wau out of this, yeomadhauns," said he, 
 flourishing his broom again at the crowd that gath 
 ered about him. " Shcat down to Sudsville wid ye be 
 fore your betters come to foind ye disfigurin the 
 landscape. Off wid ye,ye son av a soap dish," he cried 
 to a laundress s child, "and tell yer mother she ruined 
 my best shtable frock wid her bluin lasht week. 
 Faith, it ran loike the legs in yer father s breeches 
 the lasht fight we were in, bad scran to him for the 
 worst cobbler in the cavalry. Out wid every moth 
 er s son of ye," he cried, driving them all out but 
 Kraut and Martin. "Shut that dure now, Kraut, 
 and bar it wid the broad av yer back, till I get the 
 schrane before the enthrance." 
 
 But Martin still had other questions to ask. They
 
 182 FORT FBAYNE. 
 
 say the Indians of Crow s troop will be neither to 
 hold nor bind if that s his death wound that Graice 
 gave him. I m told there s mutterings about their 
 having Graice out of the guardhouse to-night, tower 
 or no tower." 
 
 Korke turned and gazed out of the window to 
 where the lights were beginning to burn in the little 
 building. "I pity the man," said he, "that thries 
 to have him out whin Captain Leale s there to watch 
 him and says he shall sthay in." 
 
 "Will Crow Knife die, do you think, corporal?" 
 asked Martin. 
 
 "Oi don t know. The doctor believes it, an for 
 the besht reasons, shure he knows what he s been 
 giving him." 
 
 The voices of ladies could be heard at the moment 
 at the vestibule, and presently, with their escorts, 
 Mrs. Farrar and Ellis came hastening in as though 
 they had come purposely to have one look at the old 
 colonel s portrait before the gathering of the rest of 
 the party. A little behind them, pale and with an 
 expression that seemed to tell of the strain through 
 which she had been passing, Helen Daunton came, 
 leaning on the arm of Major Wayne, whom she led 
 to one side, as mother and daughter stood in front of 
 the picture. 
 
 The light seems perfect, " said Mrs. Farrar. I m 
 sure I see your hand in all this, Rorke, and I want 
 to thank you not only for myself, but for your old 
 colonel. It s many a Christmas we both of us have
 
 1 OIIT FKAYXE. 183 
 
 seen with the old regiment, and the first of them I 
 was a girl bride and you a wee boy trumpeter." 
 
 "Indade, ina m," answered Rorke, " those were 
 merry Christmases that cameafthcr, whin you used to 
 come to the min s dances there a-ladin little Masther 
 Royle plague on me tongue! Phat am I sayiu of?" 
 
 "Speak of him when you will, Rorke," she 
 answered, gently. " I love to have him brought 
 before me, as we remember him then; my Royle 
 my brave boy ! " 
 
 " Dade, an 1 he was worth remimberin , ma am. 
 The handsome wild young rider free wid his 
 money and free wid his lists. Many s the toime I ve 
 had to shtand betune him and his little brother him 
 as is my shuperior officer this day, Oh, but it s a 
 foine officer he makes, does Masther Will! I never 
 see him so sthrait an handsome and martial on 
 parade loik his father before him him that s gone 
 to glory wid the love av ivery soldier that iver knew 
 him, that I don t remimber thim days whin I was 
 a recruit an he was the colonel s kid. Och, what 
 days what days! " and, lost in the enthusiasm of 
 his reminiscences, Rorke failed to notice that Lieu 
 tenant Farrar and Kitty had come quietly in and 
 were standing but a little distance behind him. " Do 
 ye remimber, now, ma am, the Christmas Masther 
 Will mounted his little pony, ahl dressed up to kill, 
 an twas to take the docther s daughter out ridin 
 he wud, an tin minutes later we brought him home 
 ahl dhrippin and rippin and ragin ahl along av 
 Corcorin s ould billy goat havin butted him into the
 
 184 FORT FBAYXE. 
 
 ditch back o Company D s quarthers an him ready 
 to kill me for burstin wid laughin . Oh, he was a 
 foine boy ." And here Will came furiously for 
 ward, and Rorke, horror-stricken, stiffened up to 
 the salute. " I beg yer pardon, Masther Will." 
 
 "Your reminiscences are ill timed, corporal, to 
 say the least. If you ve quite finished, you d better 
 follow your men unless " and this he added with 
 scathing sarcasm, and glancing at Kitty, who was 
 convulsed with laughter "unless, perhaps, Miss 
 Ormsby desires you to further entertain her with 
 anecdotes of my childhood," and here Kitty burst 
 in. 
 
 "I? Mercy, no! My constant effort is, out of 
 respect to you, to forget your youth, not to recall it. 
 Surely, you re not going to put on that horrid thing 
 again? " she exclaimed, as Will, who had laid aside 
 his overcoat and sabre, now buckled on the weapon. 
 
 "Are you afraid I ll injure you with it? " said he, 
 with deep sarcasm. 
 
 " Oh, not a bit," said Kitty. "Nor anybody else 
 unless you should happen to cut yourself." 
 
 "Gibe away, Miss Ormsby, " said the officer of 
 the guard. " You cannot gibe me into laying aside 
 my sabre. As duty forbids me to appear without it, 
 even your wishes cannot be regarded." 
 
 "What? You officer of the guard?" exclaimed 
 Kitty. "Ah," with sudden change of manner, 
 "then for one night the post is safe." Here she 
 seized Rorke s broom and took the position of charge 
 bayonet. " Who comes there? " she cried. " The
 
 FOKT PKAYXE. 185 
 
 enemy a million strong! Halt, enemy and tremble! 
 Run for your lives! Do you know who is 
 officer of the guard? It s Masther Will." And 
 then, turning from him in saucy imitation of his 
 swagger and stride, with her broom at right shoulder, 
 away she marched for the dressing-room. 
 
 "She s past patience," said poor Will to himself, 
 justly wrathful at such ignominious treatment at the 
 hands of his lore, and what made it worse was that 
 numbers of people were rapidly arriving and that 
 many had witnessed and enjoyed Kitty s saucy mock 
 ery; but right in the midst of these new arrivals 
 came an orderly trumpeter with a note which he lost 
 no time in delivering to Mr. Farrar with the brief 
 announcement: "The officer of the day s compli 
 ments, sir, and he said the lieutenant should have it 
 immediately." 
 
 Helen Daunton was among those who marked the 
 swift coming of the messenger, and it was impossible 
 for her to resist the impulse that drew her toward the 
 young officer. Intuitively she knew that that mes 
 sage in some wise concerned her wretched husband, 
 now the object of the wrath and curses of the whole 
 command. Breathless she watched Farrar as he tore 
 open the envelope and rapidly read the brief inclos- 
 ure. 
 
 "Crow Knife is dead. There is intense excite 
 ment among the men, especially the Indians, and 
 threats of lynching have been heard. Graice knows 
 his peril, and may try to escape. Look well to your 
 guard. Farwell, Officer of the Day."
 
 186 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 "Escape from ray guard," Helen heard him say, 
 " Not if he tcere my own brother! " 
 
 The next minute Will had caught up his cap and 
 overcoat and started for the door. 
 
 But Kitty had already begun to repent of her ex 
 periment and to question whether she had not 
 hazarded too much in thus provoking her devoted 
 but none the less peppery lover. Peering from the 
 dressing-room, she saw him dart past Helen Daun- 
 ton, giving very brief answer to some question 
 asked, saw him pick up his cap and coat, and that 
 was more than enough to bring her to terms. Un 
 aware of the coming of the orderly, she looked upon 
 Will s preparations for departure as proof positive 
 that he was so angered against her as to have decided 
 to quit the ballroom for good and all. In an instant 
 she came fluttering to his side, catching him only at 
 the very doorway. 
 
 " Where are you going, Mr. Farrar?" she de 
 manded, aggrieved and imploring, both. "You re 
 engaged to me for the very first dance, sir. Surely 
 you re not going out?" 
 
 "I regret to have to ask for my release, Miss 
 Ormsby," answered Will, with infinite dignity, 
 "but duty of unusual importance calls me at once. 
 My sabre and I made sport for you a moment ago, 
 and now we are going where both are needed," and, 
 bowing very low and looking very majestic, the offi 
 cer of the guard turned and abruptly left the room, 
 leaving his late tormentor gazing after him with eyes 
 that suddenly filled and lips that quivered suspi-
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 187 
 
 ciously. Ellis saw through it all at once and came 
 to comfort her. 
 
 Strange to say, the young officers were gathering 
 but slowly to-night, and several of their number had 
 not yet arrived. The musicians were in their places 
 and already awaiting the signal of the floor manager, 
 but Leale s absence was remarked by many of those 
 present, and when Fenton entered, his face, usually 
 so jovial, was clouded and anxious. Ormsby was 
 with him, and his eyes seemed to seek and find Ellis 
 at once. Kitty was just turning away as they came. 
 She had watched Will s tall figure disappear in the 
 gloaming toward the guardhouse, and now precipi 
 tated herself upon Uncle Fenton to demand an expla 
 nation of "Will s mysterious references to important 
 duty, and once again, therefore, Ellis was alone. 
 Ormsby stepped quickly to her side. She would 
 have escaped to the di essing-room, but could not do 
 so without passing close beside him. She could not 
 be deaf to the mingling of reproach and tenderness 
 in the tone with which he spoke. 
 
 "It would be advertising our difference were 
 you to deny me a dance or two, Miss Farrar, and I 
 have come to remind you of your promise. You 
 have not forgotten?" 
 
 "I think all promises are at an end between us," 
 was the cold, constrained reply. "I forget nothing. 
 I remember only too well." 
 
 "Ellis," said he, with sudden impulse, "these 
 are the last words we can have alone, for I have 
 determined to go, and by the very next train. I
 
 188 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 appeal no longer for your love. The girl who has 
 not learned to trust cannot learn to love, but I do 
 appeal to your sense of justice not to pass blind, 
 cruel judgment on the innocent woman whose secret 
 I am shielding at the cost of what is dearest to me 
 in life." 
 
 But she was immovable. Like the soldier s daugh 
 ter she was, she looked him squarely in the eyes as 
 she answered: 
 
 "Neither an innocent woman nor an innocent 
 secret can need shielding at such a cost." 
 
 "Ellis," he began, his voice trembling with emo 
 tion, as he stepped close to her side, but she recoiled 
 from him, and, noting it and the entrance of new 
 arrivals, he strangled the impulse that swayed him, 
 and, after a moment s silence, continued, in a tone 
 as cold as her own: "No; I see it is useless. The 
 last word is said; but we cannot forget the world is 
 looking on to-night. You will give me this 
 dance? " 
 
 She inclined her head in assent, but would not 
 trust herself to speak. Even now, when angered 
 and full of jealous distrust, she cared for him far 
 too well not to note the sudden change in tone, not 
 to feel vague yet deep distress that he had taken her 
 at her word that he had determined to leave her 
 this very night that he would plead no more.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AN hour later and the long-expected Christmas 
 ball was in full swing, but the late comers entered 
 snow-covered and buffeted, for, just as Corporal 
 Rorke had predicted, a howling blizzard was sweep 
 ing down from the gorges of the Rockies, and whirl 
 ing deep the drifts about the walls of old Fort 
 Frayne. Leale had come in about tattoo, grave and 
 taciturn, his fine face shadowed by a sorrow whose 
 traces all could see. He had come for no festive 
 purpose, was still in undress uniform, and, after 
 a brief, low-toned conference with his colonel, had 
 turned at once in search of Helen Daunton, who, 
 ever since the dance began, had hovered near the 
 windows that looked out toward the guardhouse, 
 barely one hundred yards away, yet now, even with 
 its brilliant light, only dimly visible through the 
 lashing storm. Twice had Mrs. Farrar essayed to 
 draw her friend into the little circle by which she 
 was surrounded, but Helen had speedily sho\vii she 
 was unable to give her attention to what was being 
 said or to take any part in the conversation. Itw T as 
 at the window Leale found her, and gently but firmly 
 drew her to one side and closed the shade. 
 
 "I have felt in every fibre," said he, "how you 
 were waiting, watching, and agonizing here for news 
 from from him. There is no news, Helen, except 
 
 189
 
 190 FORT FRAYHE. 
 
 you know the man lie stabbed who gave his life 
 for me is dead?" 
 
 "I know," was the shuddering answer. " Has he 
 heard? Does he realize?" 
 
 " Possibly not. He seems to be sleeping. But 
 he will know it soon enough. Helen do you know 
 this that to-morrow we must give him up? " 
 
 " Give him up? " she asked, unable to comprehend 
 his meaning, and looking with new dread into his 
 
 O 7 O 
 
 compassionate face. 
 
 "Yes, to the civil authorities. He has I cannot 
 choose words now he has committed murder and 
 must be tried by a civil, not a military, court." 
 
 "You must give him up," she moaned. "Oh, 
 what can we do what can we do? " and, fearfully 
 she glanced to where Mrs. Farrar was seated, chat 
 ting blithely, even joyously, now, with her garrison 
 friends. 
 
 "Yes," he answered, " and well I know now why 
 you gaze at her. I know all the miserable truth. 
 Ormsby told me when he came to ask my counsel 
 and my help. He has only left me a short time 
 since. I was pledged to help your husband, Helen, 
 and I am doubly pledged to help that dear, dear 
 woman s son. I must protect Royle Farrar to the 
 utmost of my power, but, Helen, in this last half 
 hour, by the bedside of the brave fellow who gave 
 his life for me, I have looked life and my own soul 
 in the face. I know what I must do and what I 
 cannot do. I am not strong enough to play at 
 friendship with the woman I love with all my soul.
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 191 
 
 I can only be your friend by serving you from far 
 away. When what is coming to Royle Farrar has 
 come, I shall take leave of absence and go over the 
 sea. It is good-bye between us now. To-night I 
 look my last upon the face of Royle Farrar s wife. 
 What? You want me, Will? " he suddenly turned 
 and asked, for at this moment, throwing back the 
 snow-matted hood of his overcoat, Farrar entered 
 and came quickly to them, unseen by his mother. 
 
 "Yes, sir. The news of Crow Knife s death is 
 all over the garrison, and the men are fairly mad 
 over it. They won t try lynching, but the sentries 
 at the guardhouse are doubled, front and rear. 
 Graice is sleeping yet, or else shamming. I don t 
 think lie s too drunk not to realize what would hap 
 pen if Crow Knife s people got at him." 
 
 "Then your duty is doubled, lad," was Leale s low- 
 toned answer; " to hold the prisoner and to protect 
 him. too. " 
 
 " I understand," said Will, firmly. "The man 
 v, ho gets at him to-night, sir, will have to go 
 through hell first." 
 
 And then he turned to find Kitty standing, smil 
 ing in saucy triumph at his elbow, leaning on the 
 colonel s arm. Still angered against her and deeply 
 impressed with the importance of the duties devolv 
 ing upon him, Farrar would have hastened by them 
 with only brief and ceremonious salutation, w r hen 
 Fenton stopped him. 
 
 " Where did I understand that you were going, 
 sir?" said he with mock severity of manner. "I
 
 192 FOKT PBAYNE. 
 
 gave you permission to remain here, sir, and you d 
 better jump at the chance. Here s my niece telling 
 me that you are engaged to dance with her, and at 
 this moment it seems you are about to leave the 
 room. Off with that overcoat, or it s your sabre 
 that will come off, sir, in arrest. What! Slight a 
 member of your colonel s household? Lord bless me, 
 sir! it s tantamount to mutiny! " 
 
 "But colonel," responded Farrar impetuously, 
 "the officer of the day 
 
 " Not another word, sir. Here is your officer of 
 the day," said he, indicating Kitty, "and you will 
 report for duty instantly." 
 
 Irresolute, rejoicing, disappointed and perturbed 
 all in one, Farrar stood one moment hardly knowing 
 what to do, when Kitty seized him by one arm, and 
 Leale, noting his embarrassment, stepped to his aid. 
 
 " I am going to the guardhouse, Will, and I will 
 look after your duties there. Have your dance and 
 return at your convenience. The colonel will let 
 you go after awhile." 
 
 And then Kitty resumed her sway. "I shan t 
 dance one step with you until you take that dreadful 
 thing off," said she, indicating his dangling sabre, 
 and utterly ignoring his protest that, as officer of the 
 guard, it was an essential part of his uniform and 
 equipment. Her only response was that he was to 
 remember that he was then on duty to her. " Take 
 off that sword, sir, and hurry about it, for there goes 
 the band." And so unslinging the heavy weapon, 
 he handed it submissively to his imperious queen,
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 193 
 
 who promptly stowed it away under the wooden 
 settee against the wall, and then, curtesying to her 
 partner, indicated to him that at last he was at lib 
 erty to lead her to the dance. 
 
 And now, smiling, joyous, and once more thrilling 
 with mischievous delight, as she bore her sulky prize 
 across the room, Kitty came suddenly upon the major 
 standing mooning and preoccupied, gazing, appar 
 ently, at the portrait of Colonel Farrar, yet, as was 
 equally apparent to the little knot of laughing look 
 ers-on, seeing it not at all. Kitty was on the point 
 of accosting and bringing him to himself, but with 
 eager whisper and gesticulations Amory, Martin 
 and others called her to them. 
 
 "Don t wake him," they murmured. "Do let 
 Aunt Lou have that comfort. See, she s coming to 
 him now," And, as what Kitty most wanted at that 
 moment was an opportunity to restore her inter 
 rupted dominion over her angered lover, and as he 
 was blind and deaf to anything but the consideration 
 of his own grievances, personal and official, Wayne 
 was left to become the central object of interest, 
 while Kitty drew her deposed officer of the guard to 
 a distant corner. 
 
 Wayne was a study. That he was struggling to 
 recall some important matter was evident to all who 
 had long known him, and for the time being he was 
 lost to all consciousness of surrounding sights and 
 sounds, and had floated off into that dreamland of 
 reminiscence in which only ho was thoroughly at 
 home. One or two of the ladies who were at the
 
 194 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 moment resting from the dance, stood leaning on 
 the arms of their attendant cavaliers and watching 
 with them the result of Lucretia s timid, yet deter 
 mined, approach. Almost tiptoeing, as though 
 afraid that her noiseless footfall might rudely awaken 
 him, she was stealing to his side, and presently they 
 saw her lay her hand upon his arm and peer trust 
 ingly up into his face. Thinking only of him and 
 for him, she, too, then was almost unconscious of 
 any observation, kindly and good-natured though it 
 was. 
 
 Unwilling to interrupt too suddenly the current of 
 his meditations, she hesitated before speaking. Then, 
 half timidly, she suggested: "You like the picture, 
 major?" 
 
 Slowly his gaze came down from the flag-draped 
 portrait, and through his eye-glasses Wayne benig- 
 nantly regarded her. Finally his wandering wits 
 returned and he aroused himself to faltering answer 
 to her repeated question. "It makes him look too 
 old," he said. "I can t bear anything that looks 
 old, don t you know?" Then, dimly conscious of 
 something he might have put in far happier form, 
 he quickly strove to recall his words. "I I don t 
 mean women, of course I like old women. You 
 know I liked you twenty years ago." 
 
 "You left me to guess it, then," murmured she, 
 vaguely grateful for even this admission and desir 
 ous of encouraging avowals even thus late and luke 
 warm. 
 
 "Yes," he went on, "you know it seems to me
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 195 
 
 wasn t it that last night we danced together at Jeffer 
 son Barracks? That was every day of twenty years 
 ago." 
 
 "Ah well," answered Lucretia, "you know it is 
 so very difficult to reckon from, because that was the 
 29th of February, and that coming only once in four 
 years, you 
 
 "Hah!" Wayne laughingly interrupted, and then 
 suddenly fell back again into his old mooning 
 way. "And yet, you know, there was something I 
 wanted to ask you that night, and I was so confound 
 edly absent-minded 
 
 "Oh, very," said she, "for you mentioned that 
 there was something you wanted to ask me and I have 
 I ve been wondering what it could be for twenty 
 years." 
 
 "Do you know," said he delightedly, "so have I 
 so have I." And here he leaned beamingly over 
 her, and his eye-glasses fell off and dangled at the 
 end of their cord. "It was only to-night," he went 
 on, "it came to me that it was something connected 
 with this ring my class ring, you know. It s odd 
 I can t think what it was. Why, your hand is 
 trembling!" Coyly she upraised it to meet the com 
 ing ring, and then a<jain he faltered. 
 
 " I remember I was holding the ring just like this, 
 when somebody called to me that I d better hurry 
 
 "Yes," she said, breathlessly. "Indeed you d 
 better hurry." But he was still wandering in the 
 past. 
 
 "It seems to me oh! they d sounded officers call,
 
 196 FORT FBAYNB. 
 
 and that meant the devil to pay somewhere, don t 
 you know? " But Lucretia was waiting now, de 
 spondent again, for still he went on: "You know, 
 I fancied until the very next day that I d left the 
 ring here," and, suiting the action to the word, he 
 slipped it on her finger, "and yet the very next day, 
 when I was on scout, I found I found it here," and 
 with that he again replaced it on his own finger. 
 Lucretia s face was a sight to see. There was an 
 instant of silence, and then, failing to note the expres 
 sion of her face, looking into the dim recesses of the 
 past, he again wandered off. "Of course I might 
 have known I couldn t have left it on your finger 
 without even seeing without even seeing if it would 
 fit without " and here he lost the thread of his 
 language entirely, and, groping for his glasses, find 
 ing them, distractedly he tried to fit their spring on 
 Lucretia s finger. Fenton, who had joined the group 
 of onlookers, could stand it no longer. Bursting in 
 to a roar of laughter, he came toward them and, thus 
 interrupted, poor Wayne dropped both hand and 
 eyeglass, madly trying to fit his own ring into his 
 own eye, and look through that under the impression 
 that it was a monocle. 
 
 " What on earth are you people laughing at? " lie 
 inquired. 
 
 "Laughing at? At your trying to make a spec 
 tacle hook of Lucretia s hand, you inspired old luna 
 tic," was Fenton s unfeeling answer, and poor Lucre 
 tia, unable to stand the raillery at the moment,
 
 FORT FEAYNE. 197 
 
 turned and fled to the dressing room, leaving Wayne 
 to confront his tormentors as best he might. 
 
 But while music and laughter reigned within the 
 wooden walls of the assembly room and many young 
 hearts were able to cast aside for the time being the 
 oppression that had settled upon the garrison earlier 
 in the evening, and \vhile in some of the barracks 
 there were sounds of merry-making and Christmas 
 cheer, there was raging in many a breast a storm as 
 wild as that that whirled the snowdrifts in blinding 
 clouds all around and about the guardhouse, where a 
 score of seasoned troopers, silent, grim, and by no 
 means in love with their task, were keeping watch 
 and ward over their little batch of prisoners, espe 
 cially of the cowering wretch who had been stowed 
 away in the upper room, an utterly friendless man. 
 
 Over across the wind-swept parade, among the 
 rows of wooden barracks, was one building where 
 no laughter rang and about which, wary and vigilant, 
 three or four non-commissioned officers hovered in 
 cessantly. Here were quartered Crow Knife s few 
 remaining comrades of the Indian Troop. Here 
 were gathered already a dozen of his kindred from 
 Big Road s transplanted village, forbidden by the 
 fury of the storm to return to their tepees up the 
 valley, banished by the surgeon from the confines of 
 the hospital, where they would fain have set up 
 their mournful death song to the distraction of the 
 patients, and refused by the colonel the creature 
 comforts they had promptly and thriftily demanded, 
 except on condition that they consume them in quiet
 
 198 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 and decorum at the Indian barracks and deny them 
 selves the luxury of their woe. Tomtom and howl 
 were stilled, therefore, while the funeral baked meats 
 went from hand to mouth, and disappeared with mar 
 velous rapidity, and, indeed, but for its exciting 
 effect upon the warriors, the colonel might as well 
 have accorded them the right to lament after their 
 own fashion, since the howling of the tempest would 
 have drowned all human wail from within the wooden 
 walls. But while they had promised to hold no abo 
 riginal ceremony over Ci ow Knife s death, and meant 
 to keep their word, they had refused to pledge 
 themselves to attempt no vengeance on his slayer. 
 Well they knew that, throughout the garrison, nine 
 out of ten of the troopers would have cared not a 
 sou had some one taken Graice from the guardhouse 
 and strung him up to the old flagstaff without 
 benefit of clergy, but this would not have satisfied 
 Indian ideas hanging according to their creed being 
 far too good for him. Two of the best and most 
 trustworthy Indians were placed by Leale, with the 
 surgeon s consent, as watchers by the bier of the 
 soldier scout, but the others to a man were herded 
 within the barracks and forbidden to attempt to set 
 foot outside. Close at hand in the adjoining quar 
 ters the men of two troops were held in readiness, 
 under orders not to take off their belts, against any 
 sudden outbreak; but the few who first had talked of 
 lynching or other summary vengeance had soon been 
 hushed to silence. What was feared among the 
 officers was that Graice had been told by some of the
 
 FOET FRAYNE. 199 
 
 guard that the Indians were determined to have his 
 scalp, and that the soldiery so despised him that he 
 could not rely upon them to defend him. Sergeant 
 Grafton was confident that Graice hoped in some 
 way, by connivance, perhaps, of members of the 
 guard, to slip out of the building and take refuge 
 among the outlaws at the groggery across the stream. 
 Having killed an Indian he had at least some little 
 claim, according to their theory, to a frontierman s 
 respect. 
 
 Returning to the guardhouse, as he had promised 
 Will, Malcolm Lcale was in nowise surprised at 
 Grafton s anxiety, and even less to learn that Graice 
 had begged to be allowed to have speech with his 
 captain. 
 
 It was a ghastly face that peered out from the dim 
 interior of the little prison in answer to the officer s 
 summons. At sound of footsteps on the creaking 
 stairway Graice had apparently hidden in the depths 
 of the room, and only slowly came forward at the 
 sound of the commanding voice he knew. Hangdog 
 and drink-sodden as was his look, there was some 
 lingering, some revival, perhaps, of the old defiant, 
 disdainful manner he had shown to almost every man 
 at Frayne. Respect his captain as even such as he 
 was forced to do, look up to him now as possibly his 
 only hope and salvation, there was yet to his clouded 
 intellect some warrant for a vague sentiment of su 
 periority. Outcast, ingrate, drunkard, murderer 
 though he was, he, Private Tom Graice, born Royle 
 Farrar, was legal owner of all that his captain held
 
 200 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 fairest, dearest, most precious in all the world. 
 Leale s love for Helen Daunton was something the 
 whole garrison had seen, and seen with hearty sym 
 pathy. It would be something to teach this proud 
 and honored officer that he, the despised and crim 
 inal tough, was, after all, a man to be envied as the 
 husband of the woman his captain could now only 
 vainly and hopelessly love. It was his plan to bar 
 gain with him, to invoke his aid, to tempt the honor 
 of a soldier and a gentleman, but for a moment, at 
 sight of that stern, sad face, he stood abashed. 
 
 "You wished to see me," said Leale, "and I will 
 hear you now." 
 
 " I ve got that to say I want no other man to 
 know," was the reply after an interval of a few sec 
 onds, " and 1 want your word of honor that you will 
 hold it sacred. " 
 
 "I decline any promise whatever. What do you 
 wish to say?" 
 
 "Well, what I have to tell you interests you more 
 than any man on earth, Captain Leale. I m in hell 
 here I m at your mercy, perhaps. My life is 
 threatened by these hounds, because by accident that 
 knife went into that blind fool s vitals. It was only 
 self-defense. I didn t mean to hurt him." 
 
 "No. I was the object, I clearly understand," 
 said Leale, " go on." 
 
 Well, it s as man to man I want to speak. You 
 know I never meant to harm him. You can give me 
 a chance for justice, for life, and I I can make it 
 worth your while."
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 201 
 
 < That will do, " was the stern response. "No more 
 on that head. What else have you to ask or say? " 
 
 "Listen one minute," pleaded the prisoner. 
 " They d kill me here if they could get me, quick 
 enough Indians or troopers either. I must be 
 helped away. I know your secret. You love my 
 wife. Help me out of this here this night, and 
 neither she nor you will ever 
 
 "Silence, you hound! Slink back to your blanket 
 where you belong. I thank God my friend, your 
 father, never lived to know the depths of your dis 
 grace! Not a word!" he forbade, with uplifted 
 hand, as the miserable fellow strove once more to 
 make himself heard. " For the sake of the name to 
 which you have brought only shame, you shall be 
 protected against Indian vengeance, but who shall 
 defend you against yourself? I will hear no more 
 from you. To-morrow you may see your colonel, if 
 that will do you any good, but if you have one atom 
 of decency left, tell no man living that you areRoyle 
 Farrar," and with that, raging at heart, yet cold 
 and stern, the officer, heedless of further frantic 
 pleas, turned and left the spot. 
 
 But at the porch the captain turned again. 
 Wind and snow were driving across his path. The 
 sentries at the front and flank of the guardhouse, 
 muffled to their very eyes, staggered against the force 
 of the gale. It seemed cruelty to keep honest men 
 on post a night so wild as that for no other reason 
 than to protect the life of a man so criminal. The 
 members of the guard who had resumed their lounge
 
 202 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 around the red-hot stove the moment the captain dis 
 appeared, once more sprang to attention as he re- 
 entered and called the sergeant to him. 
 
 " I am tempted to ask the officer of the day to re 
 lieve those sentries, and let Number One come up in 
 to the hallway," said he. " I believe that, with the 
 watch we have on the Indians, there is no possibility 
 of an outbreak on their part." 
 
 "There isn t, sir," was the sergeant s prompt re 
 ply. " But every man in the garrison knows by this 
 time that it was the captain that blackguard aimed 
 to kill, and it is not the Indians alone that would do 
 him if they could. I find that, whenever I have had 
 to leave the guardhouse, some of the men have talked 
 loud, for him to hear, swearing that he would be 
 taken out and hanged at daybreak. Others want to 
 tempt him to try to escape, so that they can pursue 
 him over to town and hammer him into a jelly there. 
 The tower is the only place where he can be unmolest 
 ed, sir. Icouldn tguaranteehis safety from some kind 
 of assault, even if I had him right here in the guard 
 room." 
 
 And just then a corporal came from the little office. 
 
 "Sergeant, its 10:25. Shall I form my relief?" 
 
 The sergeant nodded assent. " I ll inspect it in 
 the guardroom," said he, and, as Leale turned shortly 
 away, intending to go in search of the officer of the 
 day, and the sergeant opened the door to let him out, 
 Graice could be heard on the upper floor, savagely 
 kicking again at his bars. 
 
 That man has more gall than any man I ever
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 203 
 
 met, sir," said Grafton. " He s kicking because we 
 refused to send to the barracks for his share of the 
 Christmas cigars. " 
 
 " Did you search him before he was sent up there? " 
 asked Leale. " Has he matches or tobacco? " 
 
 "Nothing I could find, sir, but other and sharper 
 men have been confined there, and I m told that 
 somewhere under the floor or inside the walls they ve 
 hidden things and he s hand in glove with all the 
 toughs of the garrison." 
 
 "Very well. I ll notify Captain Farwell," said 
 Leale, briefly, "and he will attend to it, " and he 
 left the budding on this quest, just as the second re 
 lief came tramping out into the storm, leaving the 
 guardhouse, its few minor prisoners on the lower 
 floor, and that one execrated criminal, his old colonel s 
 first born and once-beloved son, cursing at his cap 
 tors in the tower, all to the care of the members of a 
 single relief; and the sentry on Number One set up 
 his watch-cry against the howl of the wind, and no 
 one a dozen yards away could have heard, nor did it 
 pass around the chain of sentries, nor was there 
 other attempt to call off the hour that memorable 
 nio-ht. For long days after men recalled the fact 
 that the last hour called from under the old guard 
 house porch was half-past ten o clock. 
 
 Meantime, having had two dances with his now 
 pleading and repentant sweetheart and having been 
 cajoled into at least partial forgiveness, Will Farrar 
 had sought his colonel to say that he really ought 
 now to return to his guard at least for a little time,
 
 204 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 but Fenton, conscious of the shadow that had over 
 spread the garrison earlier in the evening, seemed 
 bent on being joviality itself. He bade the boy re 
 turn to his immediate commanding officer and obtain 
 her consent before again coming to him, and Kitty 
 flatly refused. She was dancing with Martin at the 
 moment, and that left Will to his own devices, and, 
 after a fond word or two from his mother, he had 
 stepped back of the seat occupied by her little circle 
 of chosen friends, and was standing watching the 
 animated scene before him. Close at hand, not a 
 dozen feet away, stood Helen Daunton, partially 
 screened from observation of the dancers. It was at 
 this moment that Leale again came striding in, 
 glanced quickly around until he caught Will s eye, 
 and the young officer promptly joined him. 
 
 "Is Farwell here? " he asked. 
 
 " He came in a moment ago. Yonder he is now, 
 sir," answered Will, indicating by a nod the figure 
 of the officer of the day in conversation with some 
 one of the guests at the other end of the room. 
 
 "Then ask him if he will join me in five minutes 
 at the guardhouse. I need to see him," said Leale, 
 and the youngster sped promptly on his mission. 
 
 The music had just sounded the signal for the 
 forming of the sets for the lancers, and with 
 soldierly promptitude, the officers, with their part 
 ners, began taking their positions. Floor managers 
 have little labor at a garrison hop. Ellis Farrar, 
 who had reappeared upon the arm of Captain Vin- 
 ton, mutely bowed her head and accepted Ormeby s
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 205 
 
 hand, as he led her opposite Will and his now radiant 
 Kitty, and Malcolm Leale, halting at the screened 
 threshold before taking his departure, turned for one 
 long look at Helen Daunton s face. Some intense 
 fascination had drawn her once more to the east 
 window, and there, as the dancers formed, alone, 
 almost unnoticed, she slowly turned and her eyes met 
 his. One last, long, intense gaze and, in one impulsive 
 movement, as though he read in her glorious eyes 
 the kindling light of a love that matched his own, 
 he would have sprung to her side, but, with sudden 
 recollection of the barrier between them, he gathered 
 himself, lifted his hand in gesture of farewell, and 
 turned abruptly away. The music crashed into the 
 opening bars of the lancers and the dance began. 
 
 For a moment longer Helen stood there. Again 
 that powerful fascination seemed to lure her to draw 
 aside the curtain and gaze forth across the white ex 
 panse of the parade, to where the guarded prison 
 stood within whose walls was caged the savage 
 creature whose life was linked so closely with those 
 of many there besides her own. Then the thought 
 of that other the man whose love, all unwittingly, 
 she had won, and the fear that, glancing back, lie 
 might see her shadow as when he came caused her 
 to draw hastily away. In all that gay and animated 
 scene, as once more she faced the merry throng, 
 Helen Daunton stood alone. The dance went 
 blithely on. Chat and laughter and the gliding, 
 rhythmic steps of many feet mingled with the 
 spirited music of Fort Frayne s capital orchestra.
 
 206 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Even Mrs. Farrar s sweet face, so long shadowed by 
 sorrow, beamed with the reflected light of the glad 
 ness that shone on many another. Longing to be 
 alone with her misery, Helen turned to seek the se 
 clusion of the dressing room, and had almost reached 
 its threshold, when over or through the strains of 
 the lancers and the howl of the wind without, there 
 came some strange sound that gave her pause. 
 
 Somewhere out upon the parade she heard the dis 
 tant, muffled crack of the cavalry carbine. Another 
 another, farther away, and then, mingling with 
 them, hoarse, low murmur as of many voices and of 
 commands indistinguishable through the gale. 
 Louder grew the clamor, nearer came the sounds; 
 then the added rush of many feet in the adjoining 
 barracks of "K" Troop, the quick, stirring peal of 
 trumpet, sounding some unfamiliar call. Over 
 strained and excited as were her nerves, fearing for 
 him against whom the wrath of the garrison was 
 roused, she could only connect the sounds of alarm 
 and confusion with him and his hapless fate. She 
 started forward to call the colonel s attention, for 
 among the dancers the sound was still unheard. 
 Again the shots and shouts, the rush of hurrying 
 feet on the broad veranda "without. Again and 
 nearer, quick and imperative, the thrilling trumpet 
 call. Then, close at hand the loud bang of the sen 
 try s carbine and the stentorian shout of "Fire!" 
 And then, just as the music abruptly ceased in re 
 sponse to the colonel s signal, bursting in at the 
 door, followed by a couple of troopers, came Rorke,
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 207 
 
 rushing for a ladder that had been in use during the 
 day. 
 
 "It s that madman, Graice, Sorr!" he cried in 
 answer to the look in his commander s face. " He s 
 fired the tower and he s burning to death." 
 
 Springing to the window, Helen Dauuton dashed 
 aside the curtain, and, all one glare of flame, the 
 guardhouse burst upon the view. A black ladder, 
 silhouetted against the blaze, was being raised at the 
 instant the curtain fell from her nerveless hand. 
 Will seized his cap , made one leap to the door, de 
 spite Kitty s frantic effort to seize him; then, missing 
 his sabre, whirled about and rushed from point to 
 point in search of it. Divining his object, the girl 
 threw herself in front of the settee, behind which 
 she had concealed it, and, when he sought to reach 
 around her, desperately, determinedly fought him 
 off. Seizing a cap, the colonel vanished into the 
 night. Throwing over his shoulders the first mantle 
 he could lay his hands on which happened to be 
 Lucretia s Wayne followed his leader. Will, de 
 layed and maddened, only succeeded in capturing his 
 sabre by forcibly lifting Kitty out of the way; then 
 he sprang to the doorway to join the men hurrying 
 from distant points to the scene. Ormsby, too, had 
 rushed after the colonel, and only women were left 
 upon the floor. These, horror-stricken, yet fasci 
 nated, had gathered about the eastward window, 
 where Helen Daunton crouched, unable to look again 
 upon the frightful spectacle. It was Ellis who
 
 208 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 hurled aside the curtain, just as old Rorke, re-enter 
 ing, sprang to the middle of the hall. 
 
 " Come away, ma am! For the love of God, Miss, 
 stand clear of that window! The poor divil s climbed 
 to the top, and the cannon powdher s in the tower." 
 
 With a moan of despair, Helen burst through the 
 group and toward the open doorway, as though she 
 herself would hie to the rescue. Rorke, with one 
 leap, regained the threshold, and thrust her back. 
 
 "My God, can no one save him?" she cried. 
 
 "Save him, ma am! It s sure death to the man 
 that dares to try it. Any moment it may blow up. 
 They re rushing clear of it now. The colonel s 
 ordered them all back. No! God of hivvin, some 
 one s climbing the ladder now! It s Captain Leale! 
 Oh, don t let him, men! dhrive him back! Oh, what 
 use is it? Did man ever live that could turn 
 Malcolm Leale from the duty he deemed his own?" 
 And away rushed poor Terry. Ellis sprang to 
 her mother s side just as, to the accompaniment 
 of a shriek from Kitty s lips, there came a dull roar, 
 followed by a sudden thud and crash of falling tim 
 bers, and the hoarse shouts of excited men. An in 
 stant later, Ormsby, nearly breathless, leaped in at 
 the door. 
 
 "They ll have to bring him in here. Leale would 
 have saved him if he hadn t jumped. Ellis, your 
 mother must not see his face. Take her into the 
 dressing room." 
 
 "And why? " cried Ellis. "The lives of our best 
 and bravest have been risked to save that worthless
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 209 
 
 life? This is no place for him. He shall not be 
 brought here." 
 
 "Hush," said Ormsby, in a low, intense tone. 
 "In God s name, Ellis, hush! The man on that 
 Htter is your mother s son your own brother Royle 
 Farrar. That is the secret I was guarding for Helen 
 Daunton your brother s wife." 
 
 A moment later as the women gathered about Mrs. 
 Farrar, obedient to Ormsby s murmured injunction 
 to keep her from seeing the face of the dying man, 
 lest it prove too severe a shock to her weakened 
 heart, the men came solemnly, bearing a stretcher 
 on which lay the blanket-covered form, followed by 
 a silent group of officers. The doctor simply 
 touched the wrist, gave one glance into the scorched 
 and blistered face, shook his head, and drew the 
 blanket. Kitty, sobbing, clung to Willy s arm, 
 their quarrel forgotten. Helen, who had thrown 
 herself almost hysterically upon her knees at the 
 stretcher s side, turned in added terror at the words 
 of the colonel, "Another patient, doctor," for at the 
 instant, supported by Wayne and others, Malcolm 
 Leale Avas led within the doorway, a handkerchief 
 pressed to his eyes. 
 
 "He got the full flash of that explosion in his 
 face," murmured the old soldier, as the doctor met 
 them. Then, in the solemn presence of death, in 
 the hush and silence of the throng, Mrs. Farrar 
 stepped forward and laid her white hand gently, rev 
 erently upon the lifeless breast. 
 
 "Reckless and hardened he may have been," she
 
 210 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 said, "but somewhere somewhere, I know a 
 mother s heart is yearning over him and a mother s 
 lips are praying for the boy she loves." 
 
 And so it happened that only one or two could 
 hear the single, whispered word with which the doc 
 tor turned to his commander after one brief look into 
 Malcolm s eyes. 
 
 "Blind!"
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 JACK OKMSBY did not go East by the first train 
 after the Christmas ball, as had been his purpose, but 
 he saw no more of the lady of his love. Late that 
 dreadful night, rousing for a few moments from the 
 stupor into which she had been thrown by the an 
 nouncement that it was her own brother who lay 
 there downstricken in the rnidst of his career of crime 
 and shame, Ellis Farrar, little by little, realized the 
 whole miserable truth that he, her brother, was the 
 man who had wrecked Helen Daunton s life Helen, 
 who to spare that invalid mother an added sorrow, 
 had hidden from her the name of the man whose 
 brutal blows and curses had rewarded her love. 
 More than all did Ellis realize that the lover, whose 
 loyalty and devotion she herself had repaid with 
 scorn and contempt, had suffered her words in silence 
 rather than betray another woman s confidence and 
 thereby divulge a truth that would overwhelm with 
 shame all who bore the name of Farrar. Then it 
 was that, hysterically weeping, she broke clown utterly 
 and before the setting of another sun the mother and 
 all the household learned from her lips that it was all 
 that was left of Royle Farrar that now lay there, 
 cold and stiff and still in that bare, echoing ward of 
 the old hospital, awaiting the last volleys and the 
 solemn trumpet salutation to the soldier dead. 
 
 Only a corporal s guard formed the firing party,
 
 212 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 when, just before sundown, the remains of " Private 
 Graice " were laid in the bleak, snow-covered ceme 
 tery out on the rolling prairie, but more than a dozen 
 men in the crowded garrison knew by that time that 
 the folds of the flag were draped over the mortal 
 remains of a colonel s son. 
 
 It was an awe-stricken group that gathered about 
 the hospital when the bearers came forth with their 
 burden and placed it in the waiting ambulance, and 
 the firing squad presented arms. The idea of the 
 recreant the would-be murderer, Tom Graice being 
 buried with military honors had not occurred to the 
 garrison as a possibility. Yet here was the little 
 escort, here were the trumpeters, (the band had been 
 mercifully excused), here were pall bearers from his 
 troop instead of from among the garrison prisoners, 
 as might have been ruled when one of their number 
 died; here were old Terry Rorke, and some of the 
 senior sergeants of the regiment ; here, indeed, with 
 pallid face was young Lieutenant Farrar, with him 
 Mr. Ormsby, the adjutant, quartermaster, the sur 
 geon, and one or two veteran captains, Major Wayne, 
 and even Colonel Feuton himself! Who ever heard 
 of such an array as that attending the obsequies of a 
 criminal? Fort Frayne was mystified and talked of 
 it for hours, but the story told itself before tattoo 
 and the mystery was done. 
 
 They had buried the first born of the colonel 
 whom all men loved and honored and mourned, and 
 old Fenton had himself decided that, as Graice had 
 never yet been tried and convicted, and could never
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 213 
 
 appear before an earthly tribunal, he must be con 
 sidered as innocent, and so issued the order that no 
 military honor should be denied, except the band. 
 It was too bitterly cold for them to attempt to play, 
 for the valves of the instruments would freeze at 
 once, and it was deemed best that no sound of the 
 dirge music should reach the ears of Marjorie Farrar. 
 Xeither she nor Ellis knew when the funeral took 
 place Mrs. Farrar learning only on the following 
 day, Ellis not until weeks thereafter, for, as a result 
 of all the long, gradual strain, culminating in the 
 shock of that tragic night, and the realization of the 
 wrong she had done the honest man who had so 
 
 
 
 loved her, her strength gave way, and brain fever 
 and delirium supervened. In the week that followed 
 that hapless holiday, Ellis hovered on the border 
 land Uvixt life and death, and no man could say 
 that the fatal Christmastide might not claim still 
 another of the Farrars. 
 
 And that week was one of woe to poor Jack Ormsby. 
 He haunted the neighborhood of the Farrars; he 
 hung about the gateAvay, importuning the doctor, the 
 colonel, Kitty, Will anybody for tidings of the 
 girl he loved. His tine, alert, intelligent face was 
 clouded with the dread and sorrow that overcame him. 
 lie could not see Mrs. Farrar she rarely moved 
 from her stricken daughter s side- but twice he 
 saw and talked with Helen, and once, with her, 
 walked out to visit the new-made grave. All that week 
 the shadows cast by the glare of the guard-house flames 
 seemed to wrap Fort Frayne in gloom, and people
 
 214 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 gazed upon the black ruins only with a shudder. 
 The Indians, ever superstitious, had professed to see 
 the hand of the Great Spirit in the clouds, pointing 
 remorselessly at the spot, and warning them of fur 
 ther wrath to come, as a consequence of the un 
 avenged murder of a chieftain s son. Cowboys and 
 " hustlers," angered against the garrison because it 
 had interposed between them and their purposed 
 punishment of Big Road s band, saw here a capi 
 tal opportunity of embroiling the red men with 
 their white defenders. By dozens, in shivering 
 silence, wrapped in their blankets and seated on 
 their scraggy ponies, the warriors had looked on at 
 the solemn little ceremony, and within another day 
 by scores the cowboys and settlers were spreading 
 the story that the white chief had buried Tom 
 Graice, with all the honors of war despite his 
 crimes and misdemeanors, simply because he had 
 killed the son of an Indian chief the sou of the 
 chief whose people killed the colonel of the Twelfth 
 when he attacked the fleeing village on the Mini Pusa 
 three long years before. It was the white soldiers 
 way of taunting the red man. It was proof of his 
 real feeling toward the Indian. 
 
 "Look out for yourself, Big Road!" said these 
 astute, frontier statesmen; "Chief Fenton and his sol 
 diers have only lured you here within range of their 
 walls, that they may the more readily swoop upon you 
 some bitter morning, and put you and your warriors, 
 your women and children to the sword." In the in 
 tense cold of the three days that succeeded the blizzard,
 
 PORT FRAYNE. 21 b 
 
 there was no interchange of visits, so to speak, be 
 tween the fort and the Indian village, but the emis 
 saries of Ben Thorpe had been busily at work. Big 
 Road and his warriors had been bidden to attend the 
 stately funeral of their kinsman and friend, Crow 
 Knife, on the morning after Christmas, and had 
 flocked to the scene and lifted up their mournful 
 chant when the volleys flashed and the crowd of at 
 tendant soldiers bowed their heads in mins;led horn- 
 
 ~ 
 
 age and sorrow. That was as it should be, but what 
 did it mean that his slayer should then be accorded 
 equal honors aye, that more officers chiefs Avere 
 present at Graice s grave than when the son of a 
 Brule warrior was laid to rest? This they could not 
 fathom, and this, despite the strained relations that 
 had resulted in the death of Laramie Pete, the cow 
 boy emissaries proved eager to explain in their own 
 way and to explain to attentive ears. 
 
 "Old Fenton thought he d done me when he 
 moved that bloody band up here to the fort," said 
 the cowboy king to his admiring audience, over at 
 the saloon across the Platte. " If I don t pay him 
 off with compound interest within the month and 
 make him wish he hadn t monkeyed with my business, 
 call me a coyote. He and the stuck-up gang he 
 heads will wish to God they d left those Indians 
 where they were." 
 
 And five days after Christmas Colonel Fenton 
 heard of goings on within the village that gave him 
 cause to summon his adjutant and officer of the day, 
 to double his sentries on every front, and to realize
 
 216 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 how much in these few years he had learned to lean 
 for counsel and support on Malcolm Leale, for now 
 the colonel was forbidden, as was everybody else, to 
 see him, even for a moment. Not only had the flash 
 of the explosion wrecked his eyesight, but there was 
 grave reason to fear that he had inhaled the flame. 
 Captain Leale was suffering torment, yet bearing his 
 burden without a moan. 
 
 A troubled man was the veteran post surgeon all 
 that woeful week. Ellis Farrar, delirious in burning 
 fever, Malcolm Leale prostrate on a bed of pain, 
 blind, and breathing only in agonized gasps; Mrs. 
 Farrar looking so fragile and weak that it seemed 
 as though a breath might blow away the feeble 
 flicker of her life; others of the women more or less 
 overcome and shocked by the events of the last few 
 days, and now, right in the midst of it all, came in 
 dications of trouble in the Indian village up the 
 stream powwowing, speechmaking, and dancing by 
 night, runners flitting to and from the Big Horn, 
 messengers darting in from other tribes and, when 
 Fenton sent for Big Road to come into the office and 
 explain the chief temporized, expressed himself as 
 suspicious of some plot to separate him from his peo 
 ple and to hold him as hostage at the fort. If Col 
 onel Fenton desired to talk let Colonel Fenton come 
 to the council lodge at the village but leave his sol- 
 
 o o 
 
 diers behind. Big Road s old men had seen visions 
 and had heard warnings; his medicine chiefs had been 
 signaled by the Great Spirit; his young men were
 
 FORT FEAYXE. 217 
 
 excited and alarmed; his women were weeping and 
 gathering their children to their knees. If the 
 white chief meant peace and friendship, let him 
 show it by coming to his lodge with gifts in his 
 hands, instead of guns. He, the white chief, was 
 rich, and his horses and his young men were fat and 
 strong. Big Road was poor and his people were 
 hungry and cold; his ponies dying. Fenton, indeed, 
 would have gone with only his adjutant and inter 
 preter and a single orderly but for the warning of a 
 Brule girl, who had lef* her people a few yeais be 
 fore to follow a soldier lover, and had made her 
 home among the whites, a patient, sorrowing woman, 
 ever since his untimely death. The Amorys had pro 
 vided for her in every way, for the soldier was one 
 of the captain s troop, and she had grown deeply 
 attached to them, even though now occasionally vis 
 iting her kindred. 
 
 It was at luncheon, talking to his wife, that Amory 
 told of Colonel Fenton s purpose of riding over to 
 the village that very afternoon, and the story was re 
 peated iii the kitchen, where it reached the ears of 
 the Indian girl. In an instant she had darted out of 
 the house and gone to the colonel s, where she fright 
 ened Lucretia out of her seven senses with the first 
 words she uttered: " They kill the colonel! He no 
 go!" Luckily, Y> T ayne was at hand to soothe, sup 
 port and explain. Other officers were sent for, and, 
 despite Teuton s pooh-poohing, so strong were their 
 arguments that at two o clock a messenger was dis 
 patched to Big Head s bailiwick to tell him the
 
 218 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 colonel had heard that which made him say to the 
 Indian chief that now the only way in which he 
 would meet him would be at the adjutant s office, as 
 originally proposed, or else alone and unarmed mid 
 way between the fort and the village, no soldiers or 
 warriors being allowed to approach within two hun 
 dred yards, unless, indeed, Big Road himself should 
 propose an adj utant for each. If this was satisfactory, 
 let the time be set for three o clock and Fenton 
 would be there. The half-breed messenger came back 
 in half an hour. " Big Road would scud his answer 
 by a squaw, and that was Big Road s way of say- 
 ing that the white chief was an old woman. Utterly 
 forgetful now of the service Fentou had rendered his 
 people and him, duped by the visions of his medi 
 cine men, and fuddled with the liquor lavished on 
 him by the cowboys, Big Road was hot for war. 
 
 No squaw came; no conference took place. Dark 
 ness was settling down upon the post when at last 
 the westward sentries reported a small party of In 
 dians riding out from the village toward Fort Frayne. 
 The trumpeters were just scattering after sounding 
 retreat, when the officer of the day conveyed the 
 news to Fenton, and in two minutes an officer, with 
 a dozen men, trotted out from the stables of Troop 
 ki K" and four hundred yards beyond the sentry post 
 signaled to the advancing warriors: "Halt! " 
 
 There were ten in the party, and Big Road was not 
 among them. The officers, returning from stables 
 ;;nd retreat roll call, had gathered about the colonel 
 on the westward bluff, and field glasses were brought
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 219 
 
 to bear on the opposing parties, now only dimly vis 
 ible in the gloaming. Over at the barracks the men 
 were still gathered about their respective parades, 
 despite the fact that supper was ready and they as 
 ready for supper. All over the garrison had gone the 
 rumor of Big Road s hostile and defiant message, and 
 the troops were wrathful at the indignity put upon 
 their colonel. Some of them had stepped inside the 
 quarters and were quietly examining their belts and 
 equipments, and counting the cartridges in their 
 boxes. Ormsby, sharing the suppressed excitement, 
 had hastened out to join his friends of the Twelfth, 
 his nerves tingling again at the thought of the pos 
 sibility of a skirmish, and now he stood with Fenton 
 close at hand, waiting eagerly for the first develop 
 ments. 
 
 But little time was wasted. There was a brief par 
 ley between the lieutenant with the troopers and a 
 formidable-looking Indian who seemed to lead the 
 others. Then the officer turned and sent a man gal 
 loping back to the post. In four minutes he was in 
 the colonel s presence, dismounted, and making his 
 report. 
 
 "Big Road s compliments I mean, the lieu 
 tenant s compliments, sir and Big Road sends his 
 delegation for three wagonloads of meat, flour, 
 sugar, ami coffee, sir, and says as the colonel hasn t 
 come to see him, he s going to move." 
 
 The colonel laughed the first laugh since Christ 
 mas, somebody remarked at the time. "Are you 
 sure there s no mistake, Fallen V" he asked the 
 messenger.
 
 220 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 " That s what the lieutenant asked the Indians, 
 sir, but we have two of "L" Troop with us what s 
 left of em one Brule and t other Ogallalla, and 
 they both translate it the same way, and Bat is with 
 us, too, sir; and he says it s like Big Road when 
 he gets liquor in him. He thinks he s lord of the 
 earth. Bat says he s drunk now, and believes the 
 colonel will be glad to do as he demands for fear 
 of him." 
 
 " Well, who brought the message? Who s that 
 big buck in the lead there?" 
 
 " That s One-Eyed Bull, sir him that was nursed 
 in the hospital here after the fight three years ago." 
 
 "Bull? lie ought to know better than to bring 
 any such message," said Fenton, reflectively. " I 
 presume he dare not refuse, however. Mr. Ad 
 jutant, mount Fallon s horse, gallop out there, and 
 tell Bull to tell Big Road to go to the devil. That s 
 all on that head. Captain Farwell, as soon as your 
 men have had supper, let them saddle and be ready 
 for night work. Orderly, have my horse sent up in 
 half an hour. That s all for the present, gentlemen. 
 Come, Jack Lou s waiting dinner for us." 
 
 It was the first time that any one had seen Fenton 
 mad, as Amory put it, when the group broke up. 
 Either Big Road will come down off that high 
 horse or the old man will snatch him, and within 
 the next few hours, too. Ormsby brings us luck. 
 He never comes out here that we don t have a shindy 
 of some kind."
 
 FOET FRAYXE. 221 
 
 More than one officer was thinking of this remark 
 of Amory s as they scattered to their homes. Many a 
 dinner was kept waiting and many a housewife had 
 to be placated when the lord and master hurried in, 
 and tongues that were primed with wifely reproof 
 were stilled l>y the tidings that quickly spread from 
 door to door. Big Road had made an insolent de 
 mand, and coupled with it a defiant message. Big 
 Road was drunk and had threatened to move with 
 his village, and then it would become the duty of 
 the Twelfth to surround and herd him back. Under 
 the stipulation of a late treaty, lie was allowed for 
 his winter range, only the south bank of the Platte, 
 from Frayne to the breaks of the Medicine Bow. If 
 he crossed the Platte and struck out for the Big 
 
 o 
 
 Horn, he invaded the cattle lands and laid himself 
 open to attack from the "hustlers." If he dove into 
 the mountain range to the south, he left his reserva 
 tion and forfeited the rations and supplies which 
 the agent at Fetterman Bend was bound to issue at 
 regular intervals. He had quarreled with the agent 
 and moved his village up stream to within ten miles 
 of Frayne which he had a right to do. He had 
 quarreled with, and on good grounds, the cowboys, 
 and then taken under the wing of Uncle Sam for 
 safety, and now he proposed quarreling with his 
 benefactors and launching out on forbidden territory, 
 and that meant business for all at Frayne. 
 
 But One-eyed Bull was no truculent warrior. He 
 had delivered his message in accordance with his 
 chief s demands, and in far more civil tone and terms
 
 222 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 than it was consigned to him; then had waited in 
 dignified silence, confronting the somewhat flippant 
 blue coats from the fort, refusing to make any re 
 sponse to the jocularity and ridicule in which some 
 of their number indulged, or to enter into any dis 
 cussion with Bat or the two Indian soldiers as to the 
 probable inspiration of Big Road s bombast. Well 
 enough he realized when the adjutant arrived upon 
 the scene that the "bluff "had totally failed, and 
 before a word was spoken read contemptuous refusal 
 in the young officer s face. They were indeed cold 
 and hungry over in the village, and he himself and 
 the warriors with him would have been glad of a 
 feast on army rations. Nor were the warriors at all 
 satisfied with the judgment and discretion of their 
 chief, but one and all the Indians were now im 
 bued with the warning of their medicine men, and 
 expected nothing less than some sudden act of hos 
 tility on the soldiers part. If there ever was a time 
 in Big Road s history when a clear head and cool 
 brain were needed, it was now, just when he had 
 succeeded in getting drunk, and well had the cow 
 boys reasoned. While some of the number lured 
 the chief to the banks of the Platte and plied him 
 with lies and whiskey, others were scurrying up and 
 down the valley, routing out the ranchmen, settlers, 
 and "hustlers," and warning them to be in readiness 
 to gather at the given signal, for there was no tell 
 ing what would be the first consequence of their 
 diplomacy. If Big Road simply broke camp and 
 started with his whole village in the dead of night
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 223 
 
 in hopes of leading the soldiers a stern chase to the 
 Big Horn, they could stumble in his way, impede 
 his fight, and bring on a row in which, with vastly 
 superior numbers, they could at least rob the red 
 men of their pony herd. That would be part satis 
 faction for the death of Laramie Pete. Then, when 
 the soldiers came up, they could sail in after them 
 and claim such spoil as was worth having and all the 
 credit of having brought the chief to bay. If, on 
 the other hand, Big Road became so crazed with 
 their fire-water as to go down and beard the lion in 
 his den and defy the cavalry at the fort, then there 
 might be a pretty scrimmage right over on the flats 
 when the colonel ordered the chief s arrest, and 
 when the soldiers were tackling the warriors in the 
 open and having a nip-and-tuck fight of it the 
 frontiersmen could surround the village and help 
 themselves. There would be only old men and 
 women and children to defend it. There was gloom, 
 therefore, in Bull s sole remaining optic as he re 
 ceived in majestic silence the adjutant s indignant 
 rendering of the colonel s message, and, motioning 
 to his blanketed braves to follow, he turned about 
 and rode away. 
 
 "What do you think they ll do?" was the eager 
 question asked the adjutant on his return to the 
 post. "Is he mad enough to mean fight? " 
 
 "He is, if he doesn t get any drunker," was the 
 answer. "More whiskey would be the surest way of 
 settling the question now, but it would rob us of the
 
 224 PORT FEAYNE. 
 
 pleasure of knocking him out and be damned to 
 him for spoiling my dinner!" 
 
 At eight o clock that night, with one platoon in 
 dispersed order well to the front, and others in re 
 serve, while the garrison of Fort Frayne stood by 
 their arms within the fort, Captain Farwell s troop 
 moved slowly up the dark valley, along the snow- 
 covered flats, out beyond the point where the delega 
 tion was met at dusk and held at bay, and, though 
 the stars were glinting in the frosty sky and not a 
 breath of air was stirring, and the night was still as 
 solitude itself, not a whisper could be heard from 
 the direction of the village, not a spark of fire could 
 be seen. Over against them on the northern shore 
 Avere sounds at times as of rapid hoof beats, muffled 
 by the snow. Half a mile out a horseman loomed 
 up at the front, and in a moment was merged in the 
 advancing line. 
 
 "What is it, sergeant? What news have you?" 
 asked the young platoon commander. 
 
 "They re off, sir! A whole gang of old folks and 
 women on ponies and travois has started across the 
 Platte. The warriors are all there yet. You ll hear 
 Big Road shouting in a minute. lie s fighting full 
 and is urging on some deviltry I can t make out 
 what, but from all we can understand of it he wants 
 to lead a rush through the stables to capture or kill the 
 horses. He s just drunk enough to try, but the 
 others won t let him. They declare they won t fol 
 low him. They know too much. What they want 
 to do is to get out and reach Trooper Creek to-night, 
 I reckon."
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 225 
 
 " Ride back, then, and let the captain know. Who 
 else are out at the front on watch?" 
 
 Only Rorke and two or three of the Indian troop, 
 sir. They are taking care of themselves, though." 
 
 And then for a moment the forward movement 
 ceased. " Halt! Halt! " were the low-toned orders 
 of the non-commissioned officers dispersed along the 
 line, and, under the twinkling stars, dim, ghostly, 
 and silent, the extended rank of riders seemed as one 
 man to 1 ein in and wait. Here and there an impa 
 tient charger began to paw the snow, and others 
 sniffed suspiciously and cocked their pointed ears in 
 the direction of the unseen village. Some young 
 troopers, tremulous with excitement and cold com 
 bined, began to slap their fur-gloved hands on breast 
 or thigh and had to be sternly called to order. Pres 
 ently a muffled horseman came riding up from the 
 rear, a trumpeter in his tracks. 
 
 "That s right, Martin. You did well to halt a 
 minute. I ve sent back word to Colonel Fenton. 
 He had wired to the agency before we pulled out." 
 
 "Can t we turn em back without his authority, 
 sir?" 
 
 "Xo; even when we know they mean to cross the 
 Platte. But orders will come to-night. The wires 
 are working well." 
 
 "Captain, did you hear what Captain Amory said 
 this evening?" asked the youngster, as he edged in 
 closer to the elder s side, " that Orrnsby never came 
 out here that we didn t have a shindy with the 
 Sioux?"
 
 226 FORT 1 BAYNE. 
 
 "Yes; but poor Jack is out of the dance this time 
 and can t be with us, as he was before." 
 
 "I don t understand," said Martin, having some 
 vague theory that the illness of Miss Farrar was at 
 the bottom of Ormsby s inability to take part in the 
 promised chase. "I didn t suppose any thing could 
 keep him from taking a hand in soldier service." 
 
 "Well, that s just it! Those fellows in the Seventh 
 are as punctilious on a point of duty as any man we 
 know in the army. Ormsby promised to be back 
 with his company for some review or ceremony with 
 in this week. He s got to go. They ve telegraphed 
 to remind him, and he has just time, barring acci 
 dent, to make the trip."
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 NIXE o clock, ten o clock of that wintry evening 
 came, but no orders. Fenton had reported the situ 
 ation by wire to department headquarters late in the 
 afternoon, and had twice sent messages to the agency. 
 In answer to these latter came characteristic appeals 
 to do nothing to excite or exasperate Big Road, but 
 to induce him to remain where he was until he, the 
 agent, could come and confer with him, he d be 
 along the first train in the morning. To this Fenton 
 responded that, unless he was permitted to go out, 
 surround, and arrest him and his principal braves at 
 once, Big Road would break camp and be off before 
 the rising of another sun. Fenton felt sure of it. 
 To this came response that such a course would only 
 anger the Indians, who were very sensitive to any 
 thing that looked like coercion, and that until they 
 had actually crossed the Platte no steps such as were 
 indicated by Colonel Fenton should be taken. Still, 
 they should not be allowed to attempt to cross. 
 
 "Now, how on earth," said Fenton, "am I to pre 
 vent their doing that without something that looks 
 like coercion? If I can t stop them, I at least won t 
 lose touch," said he. And so, while the rest of the 
 command was held in readiness, Farwell s troop had 
 been dispatched, as we have seen, with orders to ob 
 serve and follow but not to interfere with the 
 movements of the village. Up to ten o clock, as he 
 
 227
 
 22b FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 learned through Indian scouts, only women and chil 
 dren, old men, old ponies, and dogs had been spirited 
 away. With them went perhaps half a dozen war 
 riors as guards against night attack from hostile 
 white men, but the main body still hung about the 
 site of the dismantled village. Big Road wanted 
 more talk with the cowboys and more firewater. 
 
 Now Avas the very time to attempt the arrest since 
 none but warriors remained none but fighting 
 braves would suffer if they resisted and opened fire, 
 and, all eagerness, Fai well sent back messengers 
 explaining the situation and asking from his colonel 
 authority to do something. Eleven o clock came and 
 still no orders reached Fenton, either from the gen 
 eral commanding or his chief of staff; no further 
 authority from the agency. It looked as though the 
 wintry night would be allowed to slip away, and the 
 Indians with it, and that meant that more of their 
 Christmas holidays would be lost to the Twelfth 
 through having to go campaigning in the biting cold. 
 Taps sounded at eleven, and Fenton, disgusted, gave 
 orders that the command should unsaddle and go to 
 barracks, but practically to sleep on their arms. 
 Meanwhile luckless Farwell and his fellows would 
 have to make a night of it up the Platte, and already 
 two poor boys were sent in, numb and more than 
 half frozen. 
 
 The waning moon was not yet risen, and the dark 
 ness was intense, but for the glinting of the stars on 
 the snowy surface; yet keen-eyed scouts hung close 
 to the site of the Indian camp and sharp ears noted
 
 FORT FKAYXE. 229 
 
 every sound. .There was a guffaw of derisive 
 laughter among the blanketed warriors in answer to 
 the faint, far-away sounding of "lights out." 
 
 " Small use to sound lights out, whin it s lightin 
 out thim blackguards are doing already," growled 
 old Rorke to his fellow-trooper. "It s many a 
 Christmas they ve spoiled for me and mine, and now 
 they do be drawin on the New Year s party, too. 
 It s in the Big Horn we ll be against Sunday next, or 
 I m a Jew." 
 
 "That s the prettiest country in the world for 
 fishin and fighting," was the answer, "but I ve no 
 likin for it when the covvld would freeze the soup 
 twixt the mug and the mouth. Who s yon?" he 
 broke off suddenly, bringing his fur-guarded thumb 
 to the hammer of his carbine and indicating with a 
 nod of his head a dim, dark shape coming crouching 
 toward them through the starlight. 
 
 "Halt, there! " was Rorke s gruff, muttered chal 
 lenge, at the instant. " Rise up, you, and say who 
 ye are. Oh, it s you, is it, Pollywog? Come in 
 from under yer head an explain what keeps your 
 brother night owls yonder why don t they start, if 
 ever they re going? " 
 
 Obedient to the order, given in soldier terms he 
 could not use, yet sufficiently understood, an Indian 
 scou t an Arapahoe boy whose big shock head 
 seemed twice the size of his lean torso, straightened 
 up from his catlike crouch and came swiftly toward 
 the two troopers.
 
 230 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 "Big Road going plenty quick," he muttered. 
 " Heap whiskey now Bunco fetch um! " 
 
 "Ah, that s what kept him, was it? Run back, 
 Clancy, and tell the captain he s fired up, and I ll 
 creep in closer and see if he s started." So saying 
 the old trooper doubled up over his huge, moccasined 
 feet and, carbine in hand, crept stealthily onward 
 toward the point where last the tepees had been seen 
 at dusk, Polly wog excitedly shuffling by his side. 
 For fifty yards or so nothing could be heard or seen 
 in front, then they came upon a dark object kneeling 
 under a stunted cottonwood, close to the bank of the 
 frozen stream. It was one of the Indian troopers, 
 and at Rorke s muttered summons he raised his hand 
 as though to caution silence, and again bent his head 
 attentively, 
 
 "Heap whiskey!" was his whispered verdict. 
 " Pretty soon fight. Listen!" 
 
 There were sounds of turmoil in the Indian ranks 
 harsh, guttural voices and much shuffling about. 
 Every now and then the thud of pony hoofs could 
 be heard, as the nimble little beasts went scurrying 
 over the snow; then muffled shouts across the stream 
 in impatient hail and excited answer. One party of 
 warriors was evidently on its way, and its rearward 
 members were striving to induce the laggards at the 
 village to come in. 
 
 "Bedad!" said Rorke; "John Barleycorn has 
 laid some of thini buck blackguards by the heels 
 already, and they can t rouse em up. Go you in 
 there, Pollywog. They won t see you this night.
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 231 
 
 There isn t one in that gang could tell a Rappahoe 
 from a raw recruit with six lingers av Bunco Jim s 
 jig wather in him. GVau in, boy. Harass the 
 inemy all ye can, without bringin on a general en 
 gagement by which I mane any kind av a fight 
 that s too big for a corporal. Did ye find the cap 
 tain?" he asked, turning suddenly to Clancy, who 
 came steadily up from the rear. 
 
 "Whist! he s right here, an Mr. Ormsby with 
 him." 
 
 Surely enough, crunching through the snow, 
 making as little noise as they could, yet stumbling 
 painfully at times, two burly forms could be seen 
 creeping toward them, and presently Farwell was 
 near enough to whisper an inquiry as to how far the 
 village was ahead. 
 
 "Not fifty yards, sorr," said Rorke. " But you 
 needn t fear to wake em. There s only wan 
 word what s left of Big Road s people can under 
 stand now and that s whiskey It s my belief there s 
 a dozen bucks over there too drunk to ride, and 
 they ve sent all the travois ahead and don t know how 
 to lug em along. They haven t all the plainscraft 
 in the world, sorr, and the Twelfth could give em a 
 line or two of lesson on that score." 
 
 "Damn the luck!" said Farwell, heartily. "My 
 orders are not to interfere or to follow until they re 
 all across the Platte. How many are holding back 
 there, corporal? " 
 
 " Faith, I don t know, sorr, but ivery man that s
 
 232 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 left sees double, and I ve told Pollywog to count 
 em. How far back are the men, sorr? " 
 
 " They re close at hand now. We moved forward 
 after getting your message. Listen to those beg 
 gars! " 
 
 Through the still night a wild, mournful howl 
 was uplifted from the direction of the village. "A 
 cross betune the yelp of a coyote and the howl of a 
 keener," said Rorke. " Bedad, they may talk Sioux 
 when they re sober, but Irish is the universal 
 language when they re drunk. Hark til em now." 
 Another howl went up. Somebody was making a 
 speech, and presently, as the orator warmed to his 
 subject, the sonorous tones rang out over the frozen 
 valley and came thundering back from the echoing 
 bluffs. 
 
 "That s Big Road himself," muttered Terry. 
 " lie s too crooked to-night to see his own way, but 
 he can steer the others all the same. What s he say 
 ing, Bismarck? " he inquired of the silent Indian 
 trooper. 
 
 "lie says Big Road s village reaches from the 
 Medicine Bow to the tops of the Big Horn, and 
 there are not enough white soldiers or cowboys in all 
 the land to take him. He says he s going to ride 
 with his six sous and fight Fort Frayne at sunrise." 
 
 " Then I ll have time to see the fun," said Ormsby, 
 with a laugh that had no mirth in it. " My train 
 goea at eight, and I should hate to miss the enter 
 tainment. I ve come out to say good-bye to you,
 
 FORT FEAYNE. 233 
 
 Terry," he continued, as lie held forth his hand to 
 the surprised corporal, 
 
 "Shure, Misther Ormsby is not goin to lave us 
 now with all the new trouble and Miss Ellis 
 down sick? " 
 
 "I m of no use to them, Rorke, "said Ormsby, 
 sadly,as Far-well edged on to the front as though to give 
 him a chance to talk to this faithful old henchman of the 
 Farrars. " Indeed I m getting superstitious. I bring 
 them nothing but ill luck. I ve never corne that it 
 wasn t like some bird of ill omen. First it cost them 
 the blessed old colonel s life, and now that scapegrace 
 son is brought back into their world just long enough 
 to reopen all the old wounds, and the poor mother is 
 bowed with new shame and sorrow and with new 
 anxiety since Miss Ellis is down. The doctors say 
 the danger is past and she will soon rally. You and 
 Lieutenant Will are all they need. So take good care 
 of them, Terry, and of yourself, too, and don t for 
 get we ve had one or two good rides together, even 
 though I can t be with you in this and I ve left a 
 little remembrance for you with Master Will only 
 don t you dare call him that again." 
 
 "Sure, no man in the Twelfth will ever need a 
 rememberance of Mr. Ormsby that saw him that day 
 we jumped Kill Eagle in the snowstorm, but whis 
 per, " he murmured, wistfully, "who s to tell Miss 
 Ellis? The roses will be slow coming back to the 
 blessed faceav her whin she finds you re gone." 
 
 "I ve got to go, Rorke," said Ormsby, briefly. 
 "In all my years in our regiment, I ve never missed
 
 234 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 an inspection or a review, and mighty few drills have 
 I failed to be there. They d forgive me for staying 
 here for the honor of the Seventh, and a sure thing of 
 a fight, but nothing less, and the colonel says there 
 is no fight here only another surround and capture 
 and escort home. Why, Big Road s drunk!" 
 
 "Ay, ay, sorr, and if the colonel was Irish, as 
 was him that preceded him by brevet annyhow, 
 and the love of ivery Irishman in the Twelfth he d 
 know that an Indian s never so full of fight as whin 
 he s full of whiskey. There isn t room in Big Road s 
 skin for another noggin , sir. His people will drag 
 him after the village. The cowboys will jump them 
 up the range. It ll bring on a general row, and our 
 carbines will be crackling along Trooper Creek by 
 noonday to-morrow, or I m worse than a Jew I m a 
 bureau agent! " 
 
 "Ilow d you get out here, any way? You re 
 in Captain Leale s troop." 
 
 " True, sorr, but the colonel put me on jewty wid 
 the few Indians that s left since Crow Knife died, 
 and by regimental orders I m timporariously a Sioux 
 sergeant. It s an Irishman over the Indian. That s 
 poetic justice, sorr the green above the red." 
 
 "May you win the chevrons this night in your 
 own troop, Terry, and I ll send you the handsomest 
 pair to be made in New York. Good-bye, old friend. 
 Take care of them all. I must ride back now." 
 
 And so with one long clasp of the hand the two 
 friends and fellow campaigners, oddly mated, yet 
 closely allied, turned slowly away from one another.
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 235 
 
 Rorke to take up once again his post of duty, Ormsby 
 to mount and, riding in silence past the shivering 
 groups of soldiers, huddling about their horses and 
 dancing and stamping to keep from freezing, to hie 
 him back to the fort and for a parting \vord with 
 Will. 
 
 Far up on the snow-mantled bluff the ruddy night 
 lights were burning in the colonel s quarters. Far 
 above them, the brilliant stars were twinkling in the 
 sky. Over across the stream the bale fires burned 
 like wreckers luring signals on the shore among the 
 dingy clusters of wooden shacks where Bunco Jim 
 had undisputed sway. Away out northward across 
 the frozen steppe there sounded once in a while some 
 bacchanalian whoop, for savages red and savages 
 dirty white were riding in parallel parties, and be 
 ginning now to shout drunken defiance at one another 
 over the intervening mile. Behind him, as he swiftly 
 rode, Ormsby could hear, with increasing frequency, 
 the whoops and yells of Big Road s stragglers, still 
 anchored south of the Platte, but evidently getting 
 slowly under way. Then straight ahead, up along 
 the plateau, in ringing, fearless tone, the sentries be 
 gan their midnight call, and all the valley re-echoed 
 to the stirring assurance that, so far as Frayne and 
 its sleeping populace was concerned, it was twelve 
 o clock and all well. 
 
 And then somewhere across the stream among that 
 cluster of ramshackle hovels there flared a sudden 
 light, a single, instantaneous flash, followed in a few 
 seconds by a loud bang that revived the echoes of the
 
 236 FORT FRAYXE. 
 
 watch-cry, just as the last, in faint aerial ripple, 
 seemed dying miles away, and then Jack Ormsby 
 struck spurs to his horse and galloped to the post. 
 Even though no answers came from the sentries on 
 the bluff, he knew that shot was no empty, meaning 
 less, reckless deed. It was a signal to some distant 
 watcher and was answered, just as Ormsby expected, 
 by a faint, far-away crack of rifle, miles perhaps to the 
 silent north. 
 
 A corporal came running to meet and identify him 
 when he was halted by the westward sentry on 
 Number Three. 
 
 "Have they started, sir?" asked he. 
 
 "Yes; all but a few are gone. What are the lights 
 about? Anything astir at the post? " 
 
 " K Troop ordered right out, sir. The wires quit 
 working twenty minutes ago, and they re cut along 
 the railway to the east." 
 
 Throwing himself from his horse when he reached 
 the colonel s quarters, Ormsby hastened in and found 
 that energetic warrior saying things that impelled 
 Aunt Lou to stop her ears and lift up a plaintive 
 voice in vain protest. The adjutant was there, a 
 sympathetic listener, however, and the orderly had 
 gone for the officer of the day the official who, next 
 to the adjutant, was ahvays sure to be summoned 
 when anything of unusually exasperating character 
 had happened. 
 
 "Did you ever know anything more contempt 
 uously impudent in your life, Jack?" said his uncle. 
 "They ve let me wear these wires hot sending all
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 237 
 
 manner of prayers to be allowed to do something, 
 and, just so long as the replies w^ -e orders not to in 
 terfere, our friends and fellow-citizens have let them 
 through. Xow, the moment the tide begins to turn 
 and the agent or the general, or somebody else, has 
 a lucid interval, and things begin coming our way, 
 they find it out and clip the wires. How could they 
 find it out? Why, they have more friends at court 
 than we ever could hope to have. I ll bet six months 
 pay the order for us to move is sizzling in the snow 
 somewhere east of Canon Springs. I ve sent half 
 a dozen of the best light riders in K Troop east 
 to find the break, but it will be broad daylight before 
 a word can reach us, and by that time that whole 
 outfit will be at Trooper Creek. Were there any left 
 when you came away? " 
 
 "Just a few, sir. They ve been supplied with 
 whiskey from Bunco Jim s, I fancy, and some of 
 them seem very drunk. Farwell thinks the village 
 is strung out over as much as a dozen miles. You 
 heard that shot a few minutes ago, did you?" 
 
 "The sentry did, and reported it Xumber Five 
 and he said there were others far to the north. I m told 
 that there isn t a man left in that hell-hole across the 
 creek- all gone to take part in some prearranged 
 scrap with Big Road s people, and here we are, 
 powerless to do a thing." 
 
 "Well, said Ormsby, after a minute s reflection, 
 "on general principles, don t you think it rather a 
 good thing to let them scrap? It will only result in 
 a number of very objectionable characters, red and
 
 238 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 white both, being cleaned out, and for once the 
 Twelfth will have no losses to mourn. I d let em 
 fight, and say, bless you, my children, if I had any 
 thing to do with it." 
 
 "Oh, so would I, if I weren t a regular , and 
 therefore blamed, no matter which way the thing 
 goes. If the Indians get the worst of it, the Interior 
 Department, the peace societies, the Y. M. C. A. s, 
 and God knows how many other pious people all 
 over America, will be howling Abolish the army 
 for looking on and allowing this wholesale slaughter 
 of innocent and helpless wards of the Nation, and 
 if the wards come out atop and clean out the cow 
 boys, the press of the country will ring with accounts 
 of how the gallant frontiersmen sent courier after 
 courier to the fort, praying for aid, and the cowardly 
 commander and his dude cavalry were most of them 
 helplessly drunk, and couldn t do or wouldn t do a 
 thing. I agree with old Kenyou down at Fort Rus 
 sell, by Jupiter! We d have Inspectors and courts 
 of inquiry and all that sort of thing, and by the 
 time the lies had saturated the whole country and 
 the truth was beginning to come out, the papers 
 would say it was no longer a matter of sufficient in 
 terest to publish. No, Jack; you thank God you re 
 in the Seventh, even when you re being brickbatted. 
 I m going to launch out after that gang, orders or no 
 orders. So that s the end of it. Ride after Farwell," 
 said he to his silent staff-officer, "and tell him to 
 follow close on the heels of Big Road, and I ll back 
 him with all we ve got. Tell him if he hears firing
 
 PORT FRAYNE. 239 
 
 ahead to stop it, if he can, but if he can t, then, by 
 thunder, to help the Indians they re the injured 
 ones in this deal!" And with those memorable in 
 structions on his lips, Fenton strode forth upon the 
 porch of his quarters, out into the still and starlit 
 night, now faintly illumined by the rays of the wan 
 ing moon, and in another moment the trumpets were 
 blaring " To horse," and all Fort Frayne sprang to 
 life. 
 
 It was but a little after midnight, and many of the 
 men were still awake. Others, lying down on their 
 bunks without removing boots or blouses, had fallen 
 into an uneasy doze. It seemed but a minute before, 
 full panoplied, they were streaming down to the 
 stables, where the horses Avere already pawing and 
 snorting excitedly as though the sound of this mid 
 night alarm had conveyed its full meaning to them, 
 At any other time Jack Ormsby would have found 
 keen delight in watching the prompt, soldierly style 
 in which the troopers sprang to their work, and the 
 swift, deft saddling and rapid formation of troop 
 after troop, but to-night his heart was leaden. Not 
 for him the rush and vigor and exhilaration of the 
 sudden start and sharp pursuit. While they, the 
 men among whom he was proud to be hailed as friend 
 and comrade, were speeding on their ride to the res 
 cue, he, summoned by a duty as imperative and held 
 as obligation every bit as sacred, would have to turn 
 his back on the bounding column, on Fort Frayne, 
 with all that was dearest, fondest, fairest in life, 
 and hasten eastward by the morning train, or be
 
 240 FORT FBAYNE. 
 
 held as having broken the spotless record of his 
 company. 
 
 Even as the men were leading into line and the 
 stern voices of the troop sergeants could be heard 
 calling the roll, and lights began to gleam in the 
 lower windows of the officers quarters and pallid 
 women appeared at the doorways, clinging to the 
 very last to husband or father hastening to his duty, 
 poor Jack stood in front of the little gateway of the 
 Farrars , gazing aloft at the window of Ellis s room, 
 where the dim night light told of the sad and anxious 
 watch maintained, and with all his soul he longed to 
 follow the buoyant, bounding footsteps of the gallant 
 boy who had just come rushing by from the adjoin 
 ing quarters, admitted at the hallway for the mother s 
 parting kiss and blessing, and long, long clinging 
 embrace. With all his heart bound up in that little 
 household, Jack stood there at the threshold, unbid 
 den, yet longing to enter. Not once had he set eyes 
 on the face of the girl he loved since the night of his 
 startling announcement. Only once had he caught 
 sight of the mother s pallid, patient features at the 
 window. Had he no rights, no welcome there he, 
 who would serve them with his heart s blood, if that 
 could save them from ill or suffering? Booted men 
 in rough campaign dress brushed him by with un 
 heard, unanswered words of soldier greeting, and the 
 surgeon, hurrying past, stopped to say: "Leale begs 
 you will come to him a moment, and I can t forbid it 
 now." 
 
 Ormsby bowed assent, yet hardly knew to what. 
 He was waiting only for Will, and presently the boy
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 241 
 
 came springing forth and, as Ormsby stepped eagerly 
 forward with inquiry for Ellis and her mother, the 
 words died on his lips, for, dashing his hand across 
 his eyes, \Vill sped swiftly by, with only this for 
 greeting: "Hello, Jack! Don t stop me now, for 
 God s sake. I ve just time to see Kitty," and more 
 than half the words came back over his shoulder. 
 
 It was Helen Daunton who, peering forth from the 
 doorway, saw him standing there and mercifully 
 bade him enter Mrs. Farrar would be only too 
 glad to see him and gratefully Jack obeyed. The 
 squadron was forming on the parade as Ormsby 
 entered the little army cottage and was ushered into 
 the parlor. There at the window, with tears still 
 streaming down her gentle face, stood Mrs. Farrar, 
 gazing out over the dim expanse at the dark ranks 
 on the opposite side, and longing for one more peep 
 at her boy, whose horse had been led away up to the 
 colonel s quarters. She partly turned as Jack tip 
 toed in, and a wan, sad smile flickered one moment 
 about her lips. 
 
 "You, too, are going," she said, "and I know 
 how busy you are, but I could not let you go until I 
 had told you as I told Willy to tell you, if I did 
 not see you again before the start that from Helen 
 I have learned how true, how noble a friend and 
 helper you have been to her and how you strove to 
 shield my poor, poor boy. God bless you, Jack I 
 shall always call you that now, for you seem likemy 
 own to me. God bless you for all you ve done and 
 tried to do for me and mine." She had clasped both
 
 242 FORT KRAYNE. 
 
 Vis hands now, and the tears were raining down her 
 face. 
 
 Before he could answer, a little knot of horsemen 
 rode past the gate. One of them reined aside and 
 waved his hand toward the window where the mother 
 stood. Again she turned thither with love and 
 dread, with pride and sorrow and yearning in her 
 gaze. Then a trumpet sounded, aud the tall young- 
 soldier spurred suddenly away. 
 
 "Forgive me, Jack, I know you have to go. 
 Don t let me keep you now," she sobbed, and Helen 
 came and twined her arms about her, and Ormsby 
 bent and kissed the fragile hand and went noiselessly 
 out into the night. Twenty minutes later, when 
 once again he gazed upward at the little dormer win 
 dow of the room where Ellis slept her fevered sleep, 
 the squadron had gone, the parade was deserted. 
 There were bright beams from the windows of the 
 colonel s quarters, but all was darkness in his heart 
 and here in the little army home where were left 
 only women now, bearing the name and the sorrows 
 of the Farrars.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 "A HAPPY New Year to you," said the conductor 
 of the "Limited," as Jack Ormsby was whisked 
 away eastward from Chicago, after sixty hours of 
 incessant railway riding from Fort Frayne. Happy 
 New Year, indeed! It sounded like mockery. 
 
 Turning away with a sigh from the gateway of 
 Will s quarters, he had gone at last to Leale s, and 
 bitterly did he reproach himself that so little thought 
 had he given to the appeal of that stanch and loyal 
 friend. The attendant ushered him in to where, 
 with bandaged, sightless eyes and painful breathing, 
 the stalwart soldier lay, heroic in his endurance. 
 Their interview was brief, for Leale was forbidden 
 to talk more than was absolutely necessary, and only 
 in a hoarse whisper could he talk at all. Bending 
 over his bedside, Jack had taken the captain s hand 
 in his and told him that the troops were gone on 
 their stern chase in default of orders to the contrarv, 
 and that Fenton hoped to overtake the Indians and 
 interpose again between them and the cowboys before 
 the latter could gather in overwhelming strength, 
 and then he briefly gave the reasons which compelled 
 him to take the morning train for the East. Even 
 under the bandages Ormsby thought he saw an 
 instant shadow of disappointment. 
 
 "What is it, Leale, old chap?" he asked. "Had 
 
 243
 
 244 tfOUT FBAYNE. 
 
 you any plan? anything in which 1 could serve 
 you? " 
 
 " I must go too but they will not let me move 
 yet," was the whispered reply. 
 
 "Man and boy," cried poor Jack, "I ve been in 
 the Seventh ever since I was old enough to enlist, 
 and never until this night have I known what it was 
 to wish I were free to stay away, but dear old fellow, 
 I thought it was costing me more than I could bear be 
 fore seeing you, and now Leale," he broke off im 
 pulsively, "I m turning my back on everything I 
 hold dear in this world to-night my sister, my 
 heart s love, my trustiest friend when most he needs 
 me everything but one, and that is the old regiment 
 in New York. You re a soldier, Leale, if there ever 
 lived one. You know our record and our traditions. 
 So long as I hold my warrant in the Seventh, is it 
 not my bounden duty to goto them and go at once?" 
 
 A clasp of the hand with a movement of the lips 
 was the only answer for a moment, and then "You re 
 right, Jack go! I m coming soon." 
 
 "Then I ll come half way to meet you, Leale. I ll 
 join you in Chicago. If there be time I ll come way 
 back here, and, unless your doctors say you must go into 
 hospital, my house is to be your home, and the 
 specialists can see you there. I have said good-bye 
 to Mrs. Farrar to Will s mother, and to Helen. 
 They think I went with the command. Will you 
 promise? Will you come to my roof, Leale, and let 
 us nurse you there to sight and strength again?"
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 245 
 
 But Leale slowly shook his head. "I must go 
 home, Jack, a little while, and then to Europe." 
 
 And so the friends had parted each aware of the 
 other s plight, yet neither able to help. Not until 
 long after the train had gone whistling away did 
 the Farrars know that it was back to Gotham 
 Onnsby had been called, and then it was through Kitty. 
 She came hurrying in to say that with their glasses 
 they could plainly see some of the command riding 
 homeward from the direction of Trooper Creek. And 
 meantime the line repairers who had gone along the 
 track from Canon Springs had found the breaks a 
 dozen of them and restrung their light copper wire, 
 and, now that they were no longer of consequence, 
 orders, injunctions and suggestions by the dozen 
 were coming in. Wayne, left at the post in tempo 
 rary command, opened, read, re-read and pooh-poohed 
 the first that came these being from the agency 
 but began to wake up in earnest as he opened the 
 sixth or seventh of the brown envelopes. Then sud 
 denly he hastened over to the colonel s house, leaving 
 the clerks at the office to their devices, and with his 
 field-glass and an attendant officer and orderly, began 
 studying the northward stretch of snowy prairie 
 while Lucretia wistfully watched him from the gal 
 lery. When a messenger came running up with, and 
 Wayne opened, the next dispatch, she could not longer 
 restrain her curiosity, and so came boldly forth to 
 demand explanation. 
 
 Over across the Platte, among the shanties that 
 surrounded Bunco Jim s establishment, there were
 
 246 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 signs of excitement and lively emotion. The sentries 
 reported that ever since daylight, in squads of twos 
 or threes, cowboys and ranchmen had been riding to 
 and fro, and now there was much carousing about 
 the bars, and no little scurrying hither and thither of 
 slatternly women. Two teams had been hitched and 
 driven away northward, and the few soldiers who 
 swarmed out along the sentry post forbidden to go 
 beyond or to hold communication with the gang 
 across the river surmised that they were needed to 
 bring in wounded, and that therefore there must have 
 been a scrimmage. Old Jimmy Brewer, a frontier 
 character to whom no few liberties were allowed be 
 cause of his long-tried loyalty to garrison after garri 
 son at Frayne, had been relied upon to come in as 
 usual with his load of dairy goods and gossip, had 
 failed, however, to materialize this morning, of all 
 others, and Frayne was short of cream and news of 
 the neighborhood just at the time when both would 
 have been comforting. 
 
 But Wayne, as has been said, was a man who, once 
 aroused from the dreamy abstraction of his daily life 
 and thrown upon his mettle as commanding officer, 
 had been known to display surprising energy, and 
 here w r as a case in point. 
 
 "I wish you," said he to the post quarter-master, 
 who was in attendance upon him at the moment, "to 
 take a couple of men and find out what you can in 
 the settlement yonder of what has been going on this 
 morning. Then I need a first-rate rider to go at the 
 gallop to Trooper Creek." Then he turned and
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 247 
 
 bowed to the appealing face peering out at him from 
 under its hood of fur so close at his side. " Let me 
 put an end to your anxiety, Miss Fenton," said he, 
 reassuringly. "Your brother, the colonel, will be 
 on his homeward way just as soon as he gets those 
 dispatches. So you and Miss Ormsby can breakfast 
 in peace and comfort." 
 
 But Wayne, for once in his life, revealed no more 
 than Avas his actual intention. Pouring forth her 
 voluble song of thanksgiving, Lucretia talked a 
 steady flow until once more he raised his cap to her 
 at her door, and then, turning suddenly away, 
 hastened to the oince before she could recover from 
 her astonishment at this unusually precipitate move. 
 She had deprived herself of all opportunity of asking 
 for particulars or for learning what Wayne himself 
 was now to do. Hearing from his lips that her 
 brother would soon be on his homeward way, she 
 placed no other interpretation upon the news than 
 that the regiment Avould be coming with him, that 
 the Avar Avas over, and their troubles at an end. 
 
 But could she have seen Wayne s face as he 
 hastened to his quarters, bade his orderly pack his 
 field kit at once, and then get the horses, she would 
 have known that a serious matter was in hand. From 
 his OAvn door the major hurried back to the office 
 again, wrote three telegraphic messages, and sum 
 moned the orderly trumpeter. 
 
 "Give my compliments to the post surgeon, and 
 ask if he will meet me at my quarters at once," he 
 said. Then, directing the clerk to have the messages
 
 248 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 rushed, he hastened across the parade, and, ringing 
 at the Farrars door, begged to see Mrs. Daunton a 
 moment. As luck would have it, Dr. Gibson him 
 self was in low-toned consultation with Helen in the 
 parlor, and he looked up with marked interest as 
 Wayne was ushered in. 
 
 The major read the inquiry in the doctor s eyes. 
 He greeted Mrs. Daunton with brief courtesy, and 
 then spoke. "Yes. He s ordered in relieved 
 and I m ordered out. It s only another instance of 
 the old story. I go in ten minutes, and have no 
 idea at this moment what has been going on at the 
 
 ~ O 
 
 front no more idea than Fenton has of what has 
 been going on at the rear. If there s been a fight, 
 cowboy and Indian, as is probable, and the band has 
 slipped away to the mountains, then we will have to 
 follow, and probably take up a fight we had nothing 
 to do with at first and did our best to prevent. I 
 came, Mrs. Daunton," said he, gravely, "to ask for 
 Mrs. Fari-arand Miss Ellis, as Will will be anxious to 
 know, and I fear it will be some time before he can 
 hope to see them again." 
 
 " That is what his mother feared, major, and it is 
 that we have to contend with now. Miss Farrar is 
 somewhat better, as the doctor will tell you, but, of 
 of course, she is very weak, and knows nothing of 
 the excitements of last night. But what am I to 
 tell Mrs. Farrar? " she continued, with brimming 
 eyes. " The servants have been saying in the 
 kitchen that there has been a battle, but the corporal 
 of the guard declared to us that the regiment could
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 249 
 
 be seen coming home, and I have comforted her with 
 that, and now 
 
 "And now I fear I ll have to say it is only some 
 little detachment convoying prisoners," answered 
 Wayne, " but the command itself will have to push 
 on in pursuit. Tell her, though, there is no likeli 
 hood of our having any serious fighting, and that 
 I ll watch over Will and care for him as though he 
 were my own boy." 
 
 " I wish she could hear you," pleaded Helen, 
 " but I made her go back to her bed a while ago, 
 and you must start " 
 
 " I must go at once, " he answered, gravely. " Is 
 there anything I can take for you or for her? " 
 
 "She is sleeping, I hope," said Helen, in reply, 
 " for all night long she has hardly closed her eyes, 
 but there will be other messengers, probably, during 
 the day, will there not? " 
 
 "Yes, several, doubtless, especially after the de 
 tachment gets in." 
 
 "Well, then, I have one packet; I hardly like 
 to burden you with it, major, yet ought not, per 
 haps, intrust it to any one else. It can be ready in 
 five minutes. " 
 
 " Then I will call for it," he answered promptly, 
 and, taking the doctor with him, retraced his steps 
 to his own door. 
 
 Fifteen minutes later a motley little procession be 
 gan straggling across the Platte and heading for the 
 post a small party of troopers escorting a bevy of 
 Indians, some prostrate on travois, some astride of
 
 250 FORT FKAYXE, 
 
 scraggly ponies, some shuffling along afoot, some 
 few big-eyed, solemn little papooses on their mothers 
 backs, and with them came the first tidings of the 
 events of the night gone by. 
 
 Long before Big Road s party had begun to reach 
 the appointed rendezvous on Trooper Creek, there 
 had been hostile demonstrations from white men 
 out on the bluffs to the front and on their right 
 flank; that is to the noi th and east. There had 
 been firing during the night. Now came serious 
 action with the break of day. These men wore 
 fur caps and gloves, soldiers winter overcoats just 
 like the regulars and why shouldn t they, since 
 Bunco Jim and his associates had long driven a 
 thriving trade buying up such items of winter wear 
 of deserters or drunkards from the post? They 
 formed along the hillsides afar off, keeping up the 
 semblance of cavalry skirmish order, and evidently 
 striving to harass or delay the movement of the 
 Indians as much as possible, and yet to keep well 
 out of harm s way. There was also evident desire 
 to convince the fleeing village that its assailants 
 were cavalrymen from Fort Frayne, but even before 
 the few young braves, riding valiantly out to inter 
 pose between their women and children and old folks 
 and these, their aggressors, sent in word that no sol 
 diers were among the enemy that it was all a cow 
 boy crowd the older men who remained had dis 
 covered the fact, and dispatched runners to Big 
 Road with the news. That redoubtable chief was 
 still drunk, but the sound of firing had vanquished
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 251 
 
 the stupefying effect of his potations, and, though 
 two or three of his chosen followers were helplessly 
 gone, he appeared with the first peep of day, ag 
 gressively hostile and eager to fight anything or any 
 body. Galloping forward, reeling in saddle, but 
 hanging on as only an Indian can, he had marshaled 
 and led his people, and the next thing the cowboys 
 knew old Big Road had turned on them like a baited 
 bull. Within half an hour after dawn the bluffs 
 along Trooper Creek were ringing to the music of 
 warwhoop and battle-cry, and the wintry air was 
 throbbing to the swift rattle of musketry. With 
 half a dozen of his prominent fellow-citizens 
 stretched on the snow dead or crippled, Bunco Jim 
 thanked God when some one shouted that the cavalry 
 were riding into line not two miles away. Gather 
 ing up the stragglers of the village, old Fenton had 
 pushed his skirmish line straight out across the 
 frozen creek, and, while Big Road and most of his 
 warriors went whirling up the opposite slope, back 
 ing away for the Big Horn with most of the village 
 beyond them, and firing from a distance at the swift 
 but regulated advance of the Twelfth, Fenton had 
 swung his right wing in wide-spreading sweep across 
 the snow-covered prairie, brushing aside, turning 
 back, and in some few instances riding over the 
 cowboys who wouldn t get out of the way. 
 
 "You tricked those poor devils into making a 
 break," he furiously replied to the first plainsman 
 who claimed to be fighting to help the soldier. 
 "You lied them into leaving, and then attacked
 
 252 FOKT FBAYNE. 
 
 them on the run. Get out of the way, every damned 
 one of you, or, by Heaven, there ll be war that ll 
 make your head swim. " 
 
 But, do his best, he was too late for the real object 
 of his coming. Bunco Jim s strategy had prevailed. 
 The Indians Avere in full flight for the mountains, 
 and the onus of the whole business was satisfactorily 
 transferred to the shoulders of the troops. Two of 
 Jim s numerous allies had been knocked on the head, 
 but as he sagely reflected, they were fellows from the 
 Powder River country \vho didn t owe him a cent. 
 Certain others were more or less severely wounded, 
 and would have to be cared for at JimtOAvn, but, on 
 the other hand, they had gathered in a number of 
 Indian ponies, had shot a warrior or two and could 
 easily swear they d killed a dozen; but, best of all, 
 they had embroiled Big Road with Uncle Sam, and 
 brought on a war that might involve all Big Road s 
 friends, Sioux or Cheyenne, call to the scene thou 
 sands of soldiers, and "bull the market" for beef 
 cattle, provisions, and forage, on all of which Jim 
 held a corner. 
 
 And so, when noonday came, his wounded were 
 safely in hospital, within the log walls of his prairie 
 tow T n, and the Indians were far away northward 
 toward Cloud Peak, the Twelfth following in steady 
 pursuit, receiving shots from time to time from the 
 daring rear guard of the redskins, who refused all 
 efforts to bring them to a halt and parley. A dozen 
 Indians, young and old, were once more huddled 
 about the smoking fires on the flats above the post, and
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 253 
 
 a few troopers were swearing and shivering on guard 
 about them, while up along the plateau, from door 
 to door flitted the wives and children of the officers 
 thus summarily hustled away into savage campaign, 
 and all thought of holiday rejoicing was at an end. 
 
 It was just eight o clock when the major rode away, 
 attended by a single orderly, leaving the post to the 
 care of the few soldiers who remained. He had dis 
 mounted at the colonel s, ostensibly to ask if they 
 had any messages to send before reflecting that, un 
 less something utterly unforeseen should occur, the 
 colonel himself would be there to hear the messages 
 in person before the setting of the sun. The con 
 sciousness of this fact dawned upon him as Lucretia 
 met him at the door and covered him with an embar 
 rassment and confusion which made nothing short of 
 ludicrous his farewell to the lady of his love. Kitty 
 had gone to the Farrars, as has been said, to mingle 
 her tears with those of Will s unhappy mother, and 
 if there ever was a time when the coast was abso 
 lutely clear and all conditions favorable for a fond if 
 brief avowal, it was this it was now; yet such was 
 Wayne s consternation at finding he had bethought 
 him of no other excuse than his own longing for 
 coming at all, and such was his unconsciousness of 
 the fact that she would prefer that to any excuse he 
 could possibly devise, the bedeviled major stared 
 blankly at her as she opened the door, and to this 
 day they tell it in the Twelfth with renewed guffaws 
 of rejoicing the only words that rose to his lips 
 were these: 
 
 "Er, ah does does Colonel Fenton live here?
 
 254 FORT FBAYNE. 
 
 And Lucretia, bursting into tears, believed her 
 beloved had gone stark, staring mad. 
 
 " He up and grabbed her by the arm," said Trum 
 peter Billy Madden at the bivouac fires that night, 
 "and kind of shoved himself inside the door with 
 her, and she a-cryin , and the next I see of him he 
 come a-lungin out, and, you hear me, her shawl was 
 a-hangiu over his shoulders and never dropped off 
 till he got to the gate. What d that mean? Well, 
 if you d a seen the old man s face you wouldn t ask. 
 I d a mind to strike him for ten right then and there, 
 but Mrs. Daunton she come a-runnin with a big enve 
 lope just as we was startin and says, Give that to 
 Mr. Ormsby, please, and he swiped it into his saddle 
 bags, and says, You bet, or something like it, when 
 he knowed and I knowed Mr. Ormsby was a-scooting 
 for Cheyenne fast as train could tike him." 
 
 Indeed, it was not until after Wayne was a mile 
 away across the Platte, riding with a light and 
 bounding heart on a sad and vexatious errand, that 
 Helen Daunton learned for the first time from Kitty s 
 lips that poor Jack had had to hurry home, that he 
 had promised to be with the Seventh early in the 
 week, " and that," said Kitty, " is just the one thing 
 no one can argue Jack out of." 
 
 And Helen s face, sad and pale as it had been for 
 days, grew still more sad and anxious now. This 
 would be hard news for Ellis when she waked from 
 the stupor of her fever. He had gone without one 
 word, and, as Helen well knew, with a shadow, black
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 255 
 
 and forbidding between him and the girl he so fondly 
 Vjved. 
 
 Meantime, spurring rapidly northward and pass 
 ing every little while small parties of returning 
 " hustlers," Wayne was in chase of the command. A 
 swift courier had ridden ahead with certain of the 
 dispatches that had been received, but those which 
 came last of all the major bore himself. " They will 
 serve in some measure to prepare Fenton for these," 
 he said, as he rode over the last divide that separated 
 him from the valley of Trooper Creek, and thanked 
 his stars the winds were still instead of blowing, as 
 ofttimes they were in midwinter, and with bitter 
 energy, from the icy summits to the northward. Down 
 along the frozen stream were traces of the morning 
 fight. Scraps of Indian household goods and chat 
 tels, dropped in the hurry of their scramble for the 
 bluffs beyond, an abandoned travois, a luckless dog, 
 slain by a chance bullet, and here, there and every 
 where, the trampled snow and the countless prints of 
 pony hoofs. Over toward the west, farther up the 
 valley, a gradual ascent to the bluffs was seamed with 
 over a score of parallel tracks at regular intervals, as 
 though scraped out of the snowy surface by some 
 giant harrow. This was where some troop in ex 
 tended order had swept up the slope, with Big Road s 
 warriors scurrying hither and yon at the distant crest. 
 Far up the heights, stiffening in death, lay one of 
 Amory s beautiful sorrels, and Wayne s heart ached 
 as he thought of the many miles he had yet to ride, 
 the similar sights he had yet to see, and the galling
 
 256 FORT FRAYXE. 
 
 tidings he had yet to deliver. He had known Fen- 
 ton over thirty years, and he knew well his deep- 
 rooted pride in his profession, and the rugged hon 
 esty which dictated his every move. He knew that 
 now, as perhaps never before since the great days of 
 the civil war, was Fenton enthusiastically bound up 
 in his duties, for she who was the inspiration of his 
 earliest ambition and to whom, through all these 
 years, his loyal heart had clung, was there at Frayne 
 watching, despite the sorrows of her widowhood, the 
 shock and shame that followed upon the death of 
 her reckless, sin-stained boy, and the deep anxiety 
 for her surviving children watching and cheering 
 his steadfast effort to keep the standard of the 
 Twelfth where Farrar had left it foremost among 
 the famous regiments of the army that had been her 
 home. 
 
 And it was this loyal, sturdy soldier and gentleman, 
 in the height of his duteous and most energetic serv 
 ice, whom Wayne found himself ordered to supersede 
 to relieve in the command of Fort Frayne and so 
 much of the Twelfth as was there stationed, in order 
 that Fenton might repair at once to the distant head 
 quarters of the department, there to answer the 
 charges and allegations laid at his door by officials of 
 the Interior Department, and by so-called prominent 
 citizens of broad Wyoming. Verily, the king of the 
 cowboys had not made his threats in vain.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 JUST as Terry Rorke had said, the Twelfth had 
 spent its New Year s Day hot on the Indian trail. 
 Into the foothills it wound, tortuous and full of peril, 
 for from every projecting point, from rock to rock 
 and crest to crest, the warrior rear-guard poured 
 their fire on the advancing line. Charges were fruit 
 less. The nimble ponies of the Indians bore their 
 riders swiftly out of harm s way, and only among 
 the charging force did casualties occur. Still, Fen- 
 ton had hung like a bulldog to his task, hoping be 
 fore nightfall to catch up with the main body and 
 the moving village, then to hem it in. Numerically, 
 he was little better off than the Indians, and fifty 
 Indians can surround five hundred troopers much 
 more effectively than five hundred troopers can sur 
 round fifty mounted warriors. Through Bat and 
 others he had vainly striven to communicate with 
 Big Road, to assure him no harm would be done; 
 that all that was necessary was for him to return with 
 his people under escort of the regiment to the reser 
 vation. Up to 4 P. M. not a shot had been fired by 
 the Twelfth, even in response to a sometimes galling 
 fusillade from the Indians. By that time several 
 men had been unhorsed and two or three wounded, 
 and the thing was getting exasperating, yet was it 
 worth keeping up, for Bat and other scouts declared 
 
 257
 
 258 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 the fleeing village to be less than three miles ahead 
 now, and, with that overhauled, the warriors could 
 be brought to bay well south of the mountains, and 
 to the accomplishment of this without sacrificing men 
 or horses to any great extent, Fenton was bending 
 every energy when overtaken by the first courier 
 from Frayne. 
 
 Wayne had marked the dispatches in the order in 
 which they should be read, but the only ones which 
 much concerned him HOAV were from department 
 headquarters. A new king who knew not Joseph, a 
 new general with whom Fenton had never chanced 
 to serve, was there in command, and he, coming a 
 comparative stranger to the community, knew little 
 of the merits of the politicians by whom he was 
 speedily besieged. They were present in force, 
 armed with letters and dispatches by the score from 
 so-called prominent citizens resident along the Platte, 
 and Fenton was practically unrepresented. It was 
 in no spirit of unkindness, but rather that Fenton 
 might have opportunity to come thither and con 
 front and confound, if he could, his accusers, that 
 the general had issued the first order, which was 
 that Fenton should " immediately escoi t Big Road 
 and his people back to the agency, and then report 
 to these headquarters for consultation." That dis 
 patch, if delivered, would have ruined all the plans 
 of the plainsmen, and the wires were clipped the 
 moment warning came, and it never got beyond the 
 old sub-station on the Laramie until after the repairs 
 were made, but other dispatches were wired back
 
 FORT FBAYNE. 259 
 
 from below the breaks, alleging first, that so far 
 from Teuton s doing as ordered, he was apparently 
 bent on driving Big Road s people up the river or 
 into the open field; then, that he had done so, and 
 that the Indians were now raiding the scattered 
 ranches, and driving the cattle into the foothills, 
 while the settlers were fleeing in terror. Teuton s 
 dispatches, wired before Big Road s escapade, had, 
 of course, been received, but his report of the situa 
 tion was at utter variance with that from the agency 
 and those from the Thorpe party. Gross mis 
 management and general incompetency were the 
 principal allegations against Fenton, though the 
 astute "hustlers " did not forget to add drunkenness 
 to the list as one which the public would accept 
 without question, he being an army officer; and when 
 the governor himself was induced to add his com 
 plaint to those of his enterprising people, the general 
 yielded. The dispatches sent by courier called for 
 explanation of the charges made by the agent and 
 civilians, intimated doubt as to the wisdom of Fen- 
 ton s course or the accuracy of his information, and 
 wound up with the significant clause: "Do nothing 
 to provoke hostilities or arouse the fears of the 
 Indians, and here he had been in hot pursuit of 
 them all the livelong day. 
 
 Stung to the quick, Feutou nevertheless pressed 
 vigorously on. The result would justify him, and 
 he could wait for his vindication until the campaign 
 was over. The village at sundown could not be 
 more than three miles away, said his scouts, and the
 
 260 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 energy of Big Road s defensive measures was re 
 doubled. Instructions to do nothing to provoke 
 hostilities were dead letters now that hostilities had 
 actually been provoked not by him or his people, 
 but, between them, by Big Road and the cowboys. 
 There was only one course for Fenton to take, and 
 that was to overhaul the village and peaceably, if he 
 could, but forcibly if he must, escort it back within 
 the reservation lines. Bat had ridden up just as the 
 sun was disappearing, to say that the Indians seemed 
 to be heading for a deep cleft in the foothills through 
 which the buffalo in bygone days had made their 
 way. Now, if Fenton could only send Farwell or 
 Amory with halfi the squadron to gallop in wide de 
 tour to the west, under cover of the darkness, and 
 seize the bluffs overhanging the canon, meantime 
 making every pretense of keeping up the pursuit 
 with the remainder of his force, he might trap the 
 village while most of its defenders were still far 
 away. Darkness settled down over the desolate 
 wintry landscape, and the two troops dispatched on 
 this stirring and perilous mission were those of 
 Farwell and Malcolm Leale, the latter led by its boy 
 lieutenant, Will Farrar. 
 
 One hour later, as the advance was still groping 
 along the trail and the weary troopers, alternately 
 leading afoot and riding sleepily in narrow column, 
 pushed steadily in their tracks, two horsemen on 
 jaded mounts came spurring from the rear, and 
 Wayne, with sorrowful face, handed his dispatches 
 to the colonel. By the light of a little pocket
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 261 
 
 lantern Fenton read, while in brooding silence a knot 
 of half a dozen officers gathered about them. The 
 closing paragraph is all we need to quote: "You 
 will, therefore, turn over the command to Major 
 Wayne and report in person at these headquarters 
 without unnecessary delay. Acknowledge receipt." 
 At any other time the colonel might have been ex 
 pected to SAvear vigorously, but the trouble in 
 Wayne s face and the unspoken sympathy and sorrow 
 \\-ere too much for him. " All right, old boy," said 
 he, as he refolded the papers. " Pitch in IIOAV, and 
 finish up the business, Avith my blessing. Bat," he 
 continued, turning to the swarthy guide, " how far 
 is it over to the Allison ranch? I think I ll sleep 
 there." And no further words Avere needed to tell 
 the little group that their colonel had been removed 
 from command just on the eve of consummation of 
 his plans, and he was the only man of the lot Avho 
 didn t look as though all heart had been taken out 
 of him as the immediate result. 
 
 "Damn that fellow Thorpe! It s his doing," 
 SAvore the adjutant, between his set teeth. "He 
 has never forgiven us for spoiling his scheme to clean 
 out the Avhole band." 
 
 Don t Avaste time swearing," said Fenton, grimly. 
 "I ll take that job off your hands. They re head 
 ing for Elk Springs, Wayne, and I ve sent Farwell 
 with tAVo troops around to the left to find their 
 way to the bluffs and get there first. Everything 
 depends on that." 
 
 But even Fenton hardly realized hoAV very much
 
 262 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 depended. It was now about seven o clock, and ever 
 since the early dawn the cavalry had been pressing 
 steadily at the heels of the Indian rear-guard, never 
 firing, never responding to the challenge of shot or 
 shout from the scampering warriors before them. 
 Again and again had Bat and his half-breed cousin, 
 La Bonte, striven to get Big Road to halt and parley, 
 but, though the signals were fully understood, Old 
 Road was mad with the mingled rage of fight and 
 whiskey, and believed himself the leader of an out 
 break that should rival that of 1876 and place him, 
 as a battle chief, head of an army of warriors that 
 should overrun the Northwest. Anxious only to get 
 the women and children safely in among the fast 
 nesses of the hills, he contented himself, therefore, 
 through the livelong day, with holding the troops at 
 long arms length, opening lively fire when they sought 
 to push ahead. It was glorious fun for him and his. 
 Well they knew that so far, at least, the soldiers were 
 forbidden to attack. With the coming of another 
 day Big Road planned to have his village far in 
 among the clefts and canons of the range, where a 
 few resolute warriors could defend the pass against 
 an advance, while he and his braves, reinforced by 
 eager recruits from the young men of other bands 
 at the reservation, could fall upon the flanks 
 and rear of Fenton s force and fritter it a\vay as 
 Red Cloud had massacred Fcttermau s men long 
 years before at old Fort Kearny. 
 
 Everything depended on who should get there first,
 
 FORT FRAYXE 263 
 
 and, as the Sioux said of Ouster s column, the bloody 
 day on the Little Horn, "The soldiers were tired." 
 
 Extending southward from the peaks of the Big 
 Horn was a wild range of irregular heights, covered 
 in places with a thick growth of hardy young spruce 
 and cedars and scrub oak, slashed and severed here 
 and there by deep and tortuous canons with precipi 
 tous sides. Somewhere in among those hills was a 
 big amphitheatre known as the Indian Race Course, 
 approachable in winter, at least, only through the 
 crooked rift or pass known for short as Elk Gulch. 
 In just such another natural fastness, and only a few 
 miles away to the northeast, had the Cheyennes made 
 their famous stand against five times their weight in 
 fighting men the bitter winter of 1876 a battle the 
 cavalry long had cause to remember, and now, with 
 but a handful of troops as compared with the force 
 led in by MacKenzie, Wayne had right before him 
 a similar problem to tackle. The only points in his 
 favor were that Big Road s braves were as few as his 
 own and that Fenton had already sent a force to race 
 the Indians to their refuge. 
 
 At eight o clock the darkness was intense. There 
 was no moon to light their way, and their only guide 
 was the deep trail in the snowy surface left by the 
 retreating Indians. The darkness was no deeper 
 than the gloom in every heart, for Fenton was gone, 
 a wronged and calumniated man, and they, his loyal 
 soldiers obedient to a higher duty still, were forced 
 to push on and finish his work without him. For 
 an hour only at snail s pace had they followed the
 
 264 FORT FBAYNE. 
 
 trail. Bat and his associates had had many a nar 
 row escape. Lieutenant Martin, commanding the 
 advance, had had his horse shot under him. Sergeant 
 Roe had a bullet through his coat, and Corporal 
 Werrick, riding eagerly in the lead, got another 
 through the shoulder. Luckily it was not very cold, 
 but all the same, most of the men were becoming 
 sluggish arid sleepy, and that was just about the 
 time Wayne might be expected to wake up and 
 wake up he did. 
 
 "Zhave had no orders on no account to attack," 
 said he, "and I haven t time to read all the rot 
 they ve wired to Fenton. Watch for the next shots 
 ahead, there," he cried to the foremost troopers, 
 "and sock it to them?" 
 
 Then it was beautiful to see how even the horses 
 seemed to rouse from their stupor and apathy and 
 something almost like a cheer burst from the lips of 
 the younger men. Old hands took a "swig" of 
 water from their canteens and a bite at the comfort 
 ing plug. Out from the sockets came the brown 
 carbines, and a fresh platoon was ordered up to re 
 lieve the advance, and Lieutenant Randolph took 
 Martin s place at the front. Every little while 
 through the darkness ahead had come a flash and 
 report from the invisible foe, and, as these had been 
 suffered unavenged, it was soon observed that the 
 lurking warriors grew bolder, and that with every 
 shot the distance seemed to decrease. For half an 
 hour past they had been coming in from easy pistol 
 range, and Randolph took the cue. Bidding his
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 265 
 
 men open out and ride several yards apart, yet 
 aligned as much as was possible, he ordered carbines 
 dropped and revolvers drawn, and then, trotting 
 along the rear of the dozen, gave his quick caution 
 to man after man. "Watch for the flash and let 
 drive at it. Even if we don t hit, we ll keep them 
 at respectful distance," he said, and the words were 
 hardly out of his mouth when a ruddy light leaped 
 over the snow, a shot went zipping past his head, 
 and then, followed by a roar of approval from the 
 main column, the revolvers of the advance crackled 
 and sputtered their answer. The landscape was lit 
 up for an instant; dark forms went pounding and 
 scurrying away from the front, and a moment later 
 there uprose a cheer over at the right and Randolph 
 galloped to the spot. An Indian pony lay kicking, 
 struggling, stiffening in the snow, shot through the 
 body, and the rider had had to run for it. 
 
 "That s right, Randolph!" said the major, spur 
 ring to his side. "Now keep em off, but don t 
 push too hard. Remember, we ve got to give Far- 
 well time." 
 
 " How far ahead is that confounded canon, Bat? " 
 asked the adjutant at the moment. 
 
 Not more than two mile now. I hunt buffalo all 
 over here when I was a boy," was the answer. " Big 
 Road s people all there by this time, I m afraid." 
 
 "Then you think that they got there first -that 
 they ve got the bluffs?" 
 
 " Fraidso. Big Road no fool. lie wouldn t let 
 his village drive into a gulch and not guard the
 
 266 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 bluffs. If the captain got there first, they d have 
 found it out by this time and signaled for help. The 
 reason I believe they think they re all safe is that so 
 many Indians hang around us out here." 
 
 And just then came a grunt of disgust from 
 La Bonte. The corporal at his side said "Hell!" 
 and an excitable young trooper called out, "Look 
 there! What s that? " for, over at the northwest, all 
 on a sudden, a brilliant column of flame had burst 
 through the blackness of the night and sent a broad 
 glare streaming over the snow-clad surface of the 
 rolling prairie. 
 
 "They re on to us, by the Eternal!" cried the 
 adjutant, who loved the Jacksoriian form of exple 
 tive. "Listen! " But no one listened more than an 
 instant. Even through the muffling coverlet of 
 snow, the rumble and rush of a hundred pony hoofs, 
 like low, distant thunder, told of the instant flight 
 of Big Head s braves in answer to the signal. Wayne 
 was ablaze in a second. 
 
 "Close up on the head of column!" he shouted to 
 the troop leaders. " Come on, now, men, for all 
 you re worth. There isn t a second to spare." 
 
 And as the amazed and wearied horses gave answer 
 to the spur and broke into lumbering gallop, far over 
 at the west the rocks began to ring to the crackle of 
 
 o o 
 
 musketry. Farwell and the Sioux had clinched on 
 the bluffs to the south of the springs, and were fight 
 ing in the dark for the right of way. 
 
 Ten miles away, at Allison s Ranch, wearied with 
 the sleepless toil of twenty-four hours, too weary to
 
 FORT FKAYXE. 267 
 
 be kept awake even by the exasperating sense of his 
 wrongs, the colonel was just rolling into his blankets 
 for a much-needed rest before setting forth with the 
 rising sun on his homeward road. Fifty miles away 
 over the white expanse of prairie under the cold 
 and glittering skies, Marjorie Farrar sat by the bed 
 side of her beloved daughter, praying ceaselessly for 
 the safety of an equally beloved son now riding, for 
 the first time in his brave young life, to prove his 
 worthiness to bear the father s name in headlono- 
 
 O 
 
 fight with a savage and skillful foe. 
 
 And if ever a young fellow, wearer of the army 
 blue, realized to the full extent the hopes and faith 
 and fondness centered in him this night of nights, it 
 was Will Farrar. Barely arrived by man s estate, 
 not yet a year out of the cadet coatee, with his 
 mother, his sister, his sweetheart, all there at the old 
 fort so long associated with his father s name, with 
 that name to maintain, and not only that, but with 
 Malcolm Leale s old troop as one man looking up to 
 him as their leader, yet competent, down to the very 
 last man, to note the faintest flaw should he fail 
 them, the junior subaltern of the Twelfth, the 
 "plcbe" lieutenant, as his elders laughingly spoke of 
 him, found himself, as though some special provi 
 dence had swept from his path every possible barrier 
 to danger and distinction, lifted suddenly to a com 
 mand that seldom falls to army subalterns to-day 
 even within a dozen years, and bidden here and 
 now to win his spurs for the honor of the old troop, 
 the honor of the Twelfth, the honor of the name his
 
 268 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 father made famous, and that he must maintain or 
 die in trying to. All this, and God alone knows how 
 much more besides, went thrilling through his very 
 soul, as, on Farwell s left and in utter silence, he 
 rode swiftly onward at the head of the column. 
 Leaving to his own first lieutenant the command of 
 the grays, Captain Farwell had told him to follow 
 close in the tracks of Farrar smen, and, with only one 
 of the Indian company to aid and no other guide of 
 any kind but his senses and the stars, had placed 
 himself in the lead and pushed forth into the night. 
 
 "Swing well out to the west," were Fenton s last 
 orders. "Keep dark, as you know how. Head for 
 the hills as soon as you re sure you re far beyond 
 hearing, and try to strike those bluffs a couple of 
 miles at least back of the mouth of the canon. You 
 ought to get there ahead of the village. Halt it with 
 a few men down in the gorge, but hold your main 
 body on the bluffs. We ll keep Big Road busy." 
 
 Luckily the stars were brilliant in the wintry sky, 
 and the constellations out in all their glory. The 
 pole star glowed high aloft and held them to their 
 course. Out in the advance, lashing his horse with 
 Indian whip to keep him to his speed, rode Brave 
 Bear, a corporal of the Ogallalla company, side by 
 side with Sergeant Bremmer. Whenever the drifts 
 were deep in the ravines one of them would halt and 
 warn the column to swerve to the right or left. 
 Only a yard or two behind the two officers Farwell, 
 grizzled and stout, Farrar, fair and slender came 
 loping or trotting the leading four, and, though it
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 269 
 
 was not his accustomed place, there rode Terry Rorke, 
 where, as he had explained to the satisfaction of the 
 sergeant, he could be close to "Masther Will." The 
 prairie was broad and open, and fairly level. There 
 was no need of diminishing front. A platoon could 
 have ridden abreast, and found no serious obstacle, 
 except the snowdrifts in the deep coulees. Two 
 miles to the west they sped, moving cautiously at first 
 so as to give no inkling of their intent, and, for the 
 first mile, almost doubling back upon their tracks, so 
 as to keep well away from the Indian rear-guard. 
 
 Then in long curve, Farwell led them toward the 
 low, rolling hills, now dimly visible against the firm 
 ament, and presently the ravines began to grow 
 deeper but farther apart, the slopes more abrupt and 
 the westward hills loomed closer in their path, 
 and still the snowy expanse showed unbroken, and 
 Bear, bending low over his pony s neck and watch 
 ing for sign, declared that no Indians had crossed as 
 yet into the hills, and that the entrance to Elk Gulch 
 was noAV not more then a mile to the north. And 
 here the hills rolled higher, both to their front and 
 toward the west, but Farwell rode on up a grad 
 ual ascent until the slope began to grow steep; then, 
 dismounting, led the way afoot, the whole column 
 rolling out of saddle and towing its horses in his 
 track. Up, up they climbed until, breathing hard 
 now, but pushing relentlessly on, the captain reached 
 the crest, and faint and dim in the starlight, dotted 
 here and there with little clumps of spruce or cedar, 
 the rolling, billowy surface lay before him, shrouded
 
 270 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 in its mantle of glistening snow. Leading on until 
 the whole command had time to reach the top, he 
 motioned Will to halt, while he, with Bear and Ser 
 geant Bremmer, pushed a few yards farther on. The 
 column took a breathing spell and waited. 
 
 Far out to the eastward and below them an occa 
 sional flash as of rifle or revolver sparkled through 
 the night, and the faint report was presently borne 
 to their listening ears. Big Road was still barring 
 the way of the column then, and that meant that all 
 the village was not yet safely within the grim walls of 
 the canon. Xorthward the snowy slopes rolled higher 
 still, but it was northwestward among the clumps of 
 trees that the leaders had gone. The steam from the 
 horses nostrils and from their heaving flanks rose on 
 the keen air and the blood raced and tingled 
 in the veins of the men. Not a whisper of mountain 
 breeze was astir. The night was as still as the 
 voiceless skies. Three four minutes, with, beating- 
 hearts, the little command watched and waited, and 
 drew longer breath, and then a dark shape came jog 
 ging back from the front and Farwell s voice said : 
 "Mount and come on." 
 
 Then came fifteen minutes trot, winding snake- 
 like and in long extended column of twos among the 
 
 O O 
 
 stunted trees, and then Farwell ordered "Walk," 
 for once more a dark form loomed up in their path, 
 and Bremmer w T heeled his horse about and rode by 
 the captain s side, eagerly explaining in low tone. 
 Will caught the words, " Right ahead. You can hear 
 them distinctly, sir, "and for the life of him Will could
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 27 1 
 
 not quite control the flutter of his heart. "Halt! 
 Dismount and wait here," were the next orders, al 
 most whispered, and again Farwell pushed out to the 
 front and again the column swung out of saddle, 
 watched and waited, and presently men began to 
 stamp about in the snow and thrash their stiffening 
 fingers. 
 
 " Are we close to em now, Masther Will? " asked 
 old Terry unrebuked. 
 
 "Right ahead, they say, corporal. But this, re 
 member, is only the women and children with a few 
 of the old men." 
 
 "Ah, it s your father s son ye are, sorr God rest 
 his soul! If it was daytime, ye could almost see 
 from here the breaks of the Mini Pusa, where we 
 struck these Indians three years ago this cruel 
 winter. 
 
 "I know," said Will, briefly, "and if if it 
 comes to fighting here, Ilorke, remember father s 
 last order. It may be harder than ever to tell buck 
 from squaw in so dim a light, but I want the men to 
 heed it." 
 
 "They will, sorr, as they would if the captain 
 himself was at their head, and Masther Will, for the 
 love of heaven, wherever ye have to go this night 
 let me be wan of thim that go wid ye if ye only 
 take wan," and there was a break in the old fellow s 
 voice, as he began his plea. 
 
 "Hush, Korke. We ll see to that," said Farrar. 
 "Here comes the captain back!" And Farwell 
 came with speed.
 
 272 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 "Mr. Farrar," he said, an unmistakable tremor in 
 his tone, "there s not a moment to be lost. They 
 are passing through the canon now. We can hear 
 them plainly, but they have flankers out along the 
 bluff. Two bucks rode by not a moment ago, and 
 Bear says the whole outfit is pushing for the Race 
 Track. I ve got to head them off further up the 
 gulch. Bear says we can get down in single file by 
 an old game trail there, and I wish you to dismount 
 right here, line this slope with your men, send at 
 least a dozen down into the ravine, and stand off 
 Big Road and his fellows while we corral that whole 
 village and start it for home. They can t tell how 
 few you are in number, and Fenton will be close at 
 their heels. Between you they ought to be forced to 
 the north side, while I m driving the village out to 
 the south. You understand, do you not? It s a 
 fight in the dark, and they re afraid of it, anyhow. 
 You ve got a splendid troop, lad, and they won t fail 
 you. Don t be ashamed to ask your old sergeants 
 for advice. You understand fully?" 
 
 " I do," said "Will, stoutly, though his young heart 
 was hammering in his breast. "We ll do our best, 
 sir. Form fours, sergeant, and link lively," he 
 added, then grasped the captain s hand one instant 
 before the latter turned away. Silently, quickly, 
 the men linked horses, and, leaving number four of 
 each set in saddle, came running up to the front, un- 
 slinging carbine on the way. Farwell and his fel 
 lows went trotting off among the clumps of pine as 
 the last man fell in on the left. Then, quickly
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 273 
 
 dividing off a dozen troopers from that flank, Will 
 placed the first sergeant in charge and bade him find 
 the way down the steep incline to the bottom of the 
 gorge, which, there, was not more than two hundred 
 and fifty feet below, giving him instructions to be 
 ready to sweep it with their fire when the warriors 
 came, as come they speedily must. Next, facing 
 eastward, he deployed his men, causing them to 
 stand or kneel in the shelter of the little trees, but 
 to keep vigilant lookout. Another little squad was 
 strung out down the face of the bluff, to keep con 
 nection with the men descending to the depths of 
 the canon, and these preparations were barely com 
 pleted, when riding at rapid gait, two horsemen 
 came lashing up the eastward slope. The panting of 
 the ponies could be heard before anything could be 
 seen, but the instant the vague shapes appeared, two 
 sudden shots rang out on the night and then a dozen 
 a sputtering volley flashed from the line. 
 
 Down went one pony, struggling and rolling in 
 the snow. Away sped the other back into the 
 blackness of the night. Then a dark object seemed 
 to disengage itself from the struggling pony and go 
 crouching and limping away. Two or three excited 
 young soldiers banged their carbines without the 
 faintest aim. Then it seemed as though the hill 
 sides woke to a wild revel of battle, for, behind 
 them, far up the canon there rose a wail of terror 
 from the fleeing squaws and shouts of the few old 
 braves left to guard them, resounding war whoops of 
 younger Indians somewhere, anywhere, everywhere,
 
 274 FOET FRAYNE. 
 
 down the slopes to the east. Then a bright 
 column of flame shot high in air over among the 
 rocks to the north of the gate, and afar out over the 
 eastward prairie Big Road and his braves came dash 
 ing, driving, thundering to the rescue. 
 
 "They ll not try the gulch, sorr," shouted Rorke. 
 in his ear. " Only a few will push in there, most 
 of em will come this way and get around us to our 
 right." 
 
 "Open out, men! Push out southward there as 
 far as you can," shouted Will, as he ran bounding 
 through the snow toward the right of his invisible 
 line. "Watch for them! They ll come with a rush, 
 when they come at all! " 
 
 And Rorke, whose business it was to remain with 
 his "comrades in battle" where first he was 
 posted near the brow of the steep, went running 
 after his young commander as hard as he could go, 
 with no man to stop him. 
 
 In the excitement and darkness, in the thrill of 
 the moment, some of the men seemed disposed to hud 
 dle together rather than to increase their intervals, for 
 plainly now could be heard a dull thunder of hoofs 
 the roar of the coming storm. Then, too, shad 
 owy spectres of horsemen could be dimly seen dart 
 ing into partial view and out again like the flash 
 that greeted them. But far up the gorge, behind 
 Farrar s line the sound of battle grew fiercer and 
 louder. Then down from the depths of the canon 
 there came sudden clamor of shot and cheer and 
 challenge and yells of rage and defiance; and then
 
 FORT FRAYKE. 275 
 
 all on a sudden, out from among the stunted trees, 
 with panting, struggling, bounding ponies, with 
 lashing, bending, yelling braves, there burst upon 
 them the main body of the Indians, three-score 
 warriors at least, and, despite the ring of shots, on 
 and through and over they rushed the slim and ex 
 tended skirmish line, and Will Farrar, springing 
 for the shelter of a little cedar, was struck full in 
 the breast by a muscular shoulder and knocked back 
 ward into the snow. He struggled to his feet, grop 
 ing for his revolver, just in time to meet the dash of 
 half a dozen racing braves, all yelling like fiends. 
 Something crashed upon his skull and struck a 
 million sparks or stars, and everything whirled out 
 of sight and sound and sense as the young officer 
 went down, face foremost, into the drifts.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 " THE Battle of the Ghosts" so Big Road s peo 
 ple called it, long months after fought late at night 
 and far up the slopes of the Elk range, was reported 
 at Fort Frayne before the rising of another sun. 
 The mysterious system of signaling which enabled 
 the Indians of the reservations in Nebraska to know 
 the details of the Ouster massacre before they could 
 be wired from Bismarck, was here in use again, and 
 stragglers from the band far back at Trooper Creek, 
 and even the cowboys and ranchmen carousing about 
 Bunco Jim s in honor of the triumph of their plans, 
 knew all about Farwell s overtaking the village, of 
 Farrar s desperate stand, and Wayne s long gallop 
 to their support before the first tidings were 
 whispered within the silent walls across the stream, 
 or even guessed at by the grim old soldier, rousing 
 from his sleep barely ten miles from the seat of 
 action. The first news to reach the garrison came 
 from "Jimtown," and was laughed to scorn by 
 members of the guard. The next words went fear 
 fully along among the kitchens of Officers Row, and 
 speedily reached the ears of the anxious wives and 
 children of the soldiers in the field, and still the sur 
 geon left in charge at Frayne refused to believe the 
 rumors and hastened to forbid that any one should 
 speak of them where they could reach the ears of the 
 
 276
 
 FORT FRAYKE 277 
 
 household of Farrar, for the croakers told of fell 
 disaster and of the death of the last soldier of that 
 honored name. 
 
 But bad news travels fast, and the direful tidings 
 reached Lucretia Fenton s ears while Kitty still 
 slept the sleep of the young, the innocent and un 
 suspicious, and what Lucretia knew she could never 
 conceal. The morning gun had failed to wake Will s 
 dainty ladylove; the trumpets rang no reveille, for 
 there was no garrison to rouse, arid only one trum 
 peter remained to sound the calls, but people were 
 up and astir and hurrying from house to house long 
 before the usual hour, and Marjorie Farrar, watch 
 ing by the bedside of her stricken daughter, heard 
 with straining ears the excited tones of the servants 
 at the back doors, and but for Helen Daunton s 
 vigilance would herself have gone to ascertain the 
 cause. Stipulating that her friend should not go 
 down stairs, Helen had hastened forth finding their 
 own kitchen deserted, and, as the colonel s house 
 was but a few rods away, and Lucretia was there at 
 the gate in vehement recitative with Mrs. Amory, 
 and certain of the younger belles of the garrison as 
 listeners, Helen hastened thither, only to see the 
 party scatter at her approach. This in itself was 
 ominous, but it was no time for hesitation. Some 
 of the party were evidently in tears. The old chap 
 lain was rapidly approaching from his quarters on 
 the westward side; the doctor, field glass in hand, 
 was studying the snowy expanse to the north from 
 the edge of the bluff. With him stood the sergeant
 
 278 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 of the guard, and another non-commissioned officer 
 was hastening toward him up the sentry post of No. 5. 
 It was to them she appealed, and in their faces she 
 read the first intimation of ill news. 
 
 The doctor turned, as though he had been expect 
 ing her, and held forth his hand. "I am glad you 
 are here," he said, "for I have reason to disbelieve 
 the news that has been frittering in ever since dawn, 
 but I wish it kept from Mrs. Farrar as long as pos 
 sible." 
 
 Helen s face had turned white as the snow. He 
 saw it and drew her arm within his own. "Strag 
 glers from Big Road s band say those that were 
 left at Trooper Creek, at least that there was a fight 
 last night. Part of the village was captured, and 
 part of the band broke through and got away. The 
 Indians claim to have killed several of our people, 
 but they are the biggest boasters on the face of the 
 globe. The cowboys over yonder believe it, because 
 they hate Fenton and the Twelfth, and wouldn t be 
 sorry to have them worsted, because that would 
 bring on a big war and lots of troops. We would 
 have heard it by this time, in some way, had there 
 been serious disaster." 
 
 "But, doctor, Miss Fenton and others with her 
 hastened away when they saw me coming, and they 
 were in tears." 
 
 "Oh, they ve got hold of some silly story that the 
 servants have been gabbling, and that I ve tried to 
 test, that Farrar is among the injured. It all comes 
 from that vile roost over there," said he scowling
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 279 
 
 malignantly at "Jimtown." "No! don t you 
 give way, Mrs. Daunton," he continued, as she 
 seemed to shiver and tremble. "I shall need all 
 your strength if there be trouble coming. But, if 
 my opinion is not sufficient, let me tell you what 
 Captain Leale thinks. He says that the Indians 
 wouldn t fight in the dark except at long range, and 
 the story is that Will was tomahawked. Keep every 
 thing from her, therefore, for the present. Colonel 
 Fenton will be here by noon." 
 
 "Keep everything from her, doctor! A mother 
 reads faces as you do books. No one can conceal 
 from Mrs. Farrar that ill news is in the air, and that 
 it is of her boy. Is there no way we can find the 
 truth? Anything, almost, would be better than sus 
 pense!" she cried, with breaking voice. 
 
 "I know of none, my poor friend," he gently an 
 swered. "All over there at the settlement is riot 
 and confusion. They believe everything and know 
 nothing. It may be hours before we can get details, 
 for the Indians say the fight took place away in 
 among the hills through Elk Springs canon, over 
 fifty miles north of us, and the telegraph line from 
 Laramie to the old post follows the stage road from 
 Fetterman far to the east. If any reports, however, 
 had gone in by way of Laramie they would surely 
 have been repeated up here for our benefit." 
 
 And just then a man came hurrying to them from 
 the line of officers quarters. It was Leale s attend 
 ant. "The captain says, sir, that he thinks if you
 
 280 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 wire thiough Laramie they will be having news by 
 this time at Buffalo or McKinney stage stations." 
 
 "That was like Leale," thought the doctor, "and 
 he must have heard she was here with me." "It s 
 worth trying," he said, aloud. "Will you go with 
 me to the office?" 
 
 "I must. I cannot return to her with such news 
 as I have heard." And so, together, they hastened 
 over the snowy parade, and Marjorie Farrar, watch 
 ing from the dormer window of Ellis s little room, 
 saw them and read the motive of their going. 
 
 Ten minutes later a dramatic scene occurred in 
 that shabby little office one that Frayne has not yet 
 ceased to tell of, and will long remember. Kurtz, 
 the operator, was clicking away at his instrument as 
 the doctor entered. "I ve got Laramie, sir, now," 
 he answered in response to the first question asked 
 him, "and he says Buffalo knows nothing yet. The 
 first news ought to come through the stage station 
 near Allison s ranch. Colonel Fenton was over there 
 last night, but nothing has been heard this morning. 
 The operator is there now." 
 
 "Wire to him, then! Urge him to find out 
 whether there was a fight in the hills whether Colo 
 nel Fenton is still at Allison s, and get any authentic 
 news he can and send it here at once." 
 
 And even as Kurtz began clicking his message 
 there was some sudden check, an eager light shot 
 into his face, an expression of keen, intense interest. 
 He let go his key and sat listening to the quick 
 beating of the tiny hammer of the instrument, then
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 281 
 
 seized a pencil and began to write just as a faltering 
 step was heard on the creaking woodwork of the 
 piazza. The door burst open, and in, with wild 
 eyes and disheveled hair, a heavy cloak thrown 
 about her, but without overshoes, without gloves, all 
 oblivious to the bitter cold, Marjorie Farrar rushed 
 in upon them. 
 
 "Tell me instantly," she began; but the doctor, 
 an inspiration seizing him as he read the operator s 
 face, turned with uplifted hand, with reassuring 
 smile as Helen opened her arms to receive her friend. 
 There was a moment more of breathless, harrowing 
 suspense, of swift clicking at the table, of swift 
 skimming pencil, and then Kurtz sprang to his feet 
 and placed in Mrs. Farrar s trembling hand the yel 
 low brown sheet. With eyes that seemed starting 
 from their sockets, she read. Then, with one glad 
 cry, "Thank God! Oh, thank God!" threw herself 
 on Helen s breast. The doctor seized the fluttering 
 paper ere it reached the floor and read aloud: 
 
 "My congratulations on Will s gallant bearing in 
 his maiden fio-ht. He merits the name he bears. 
 
 ~ 
 
 Expect us home to-morrow night, very hungry. 
 
 GEORGE FENTON." 
 
 But that was only a part of the story. 
 
 What Leale said was true enough. The Indians 
 would not fight in the dark except at long range but 
 that did not prevent their taking advantage of the 
 dark for a sudden rush that would enable them to 
 burst through what they well knew could only be a 
 thin and widely dispersed line. It was easier to do
 
 282 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 it in the dark, as the warriors well knew, than in 
 broad daylight, and so, learning from their vigilant 
 scouts about where Farrar s men were deployed, 
 they rode forward in noiseless array until close upon 
 them, then at given signal, and with full understand 
 ing that no one was to stop for anything, they 
 dashed forward over the snow at headlong speed. 
 The few shots fired whizzed by their ears without 
 checking them in the least, though two Sioux saddles, 
 by great good luck, were emptied, and when the pony 
 of one low -bending warrior collided with Farrar and 
 keeled him over, others following behind raced 
 through just as he was scrambling to his feet, and 
 one of the riders had struck wildly with his war 
 club at the dark object and downed it again. The 
 whole band was out of sight in less time than it takes 
 to tell it. The crash and sputter of hoofs could be 
 heard as they thundered away and then the loud 
 crackling of rifle and revolver, as the band reached 
 the descent to the canon farther to the West and 
 found Farwell s led horses on the bluff. 
 
 It was then as the sergeants were raising Will, 
 stunned and bleeding, to his feet that they realized 
 not an instant must be lost in hastening to 
 Farwell s aid, and, while one bathed with snow the 
 aching, bewildered head, and another gave the 
 young officer water from his canteen, a third helped 
 place the boy in saddle and gave the word to the 
 men to follow. Another minute and Leale s men, 
 led by their lieutenant grasping at the pommel, all 
 the same, to steady himself in his seat went charg-
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 283 
 
 ing through the wooded highland and tumbled in on 
 Farwell s assailants just in the nick of time. With 
 every minute Will was reviving and pulling himself 
 together again, and by the time Wayne and his 
 fellows came riding in to their support through the 
 fire-spitting clumps of evergreen, the boy was shout 
 ing his orders and cheering his men as though no 
 blow had ever downed him. But Wayne s coming 
 relieved him of all responsibility on that side, se 
 cured Farwell in his grasp on the village, and when 
 at last Big Road s sullen, beaten braves slunk away 
 through the timber, leaving the greater part of the 
 village, women, children, old folks, and a few dis 
 gusted warriors in the hands of the troops, AVill s 
 frantically aching head reminded him that he was in 
 need of attention, and then it was discovered that he 
 was literally bathed in blood, and it was time for 
 him to faint from the loss of it. 
 
 Heavens! what a to-do there was at Frayue when 
 that boy was brought home with the setting of the 
 second sun thereafter, his head bandaged and his 
 shoulder sore and his hurts severe, and yet with the 
 record that despite it all, he had fought his troop 
 like a veteran "like a Farrar." Fentou handed 
 him over to his mother, after their long ride in the 
 ambulance sent out to meet them, and went on by first 
 train to comply with his orders, and Marjorie took 
 her boy to her rejoicing arms, forgetful for the mo 
 ment of Fentou, of Kitty, of all else in the world. 
 
 And then, in a few days more, came the major 
 back with his squadron and his recaptured village,
 
 284 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 and more than half the recalcitrant braves, tired of 
 their mid-winter spree and quite ready to be taken back 
 to Abraham s bosom, to be forgiven, and, what was 
 more to the purpose, feasted. And by this time 
 Will was well enough to be out again and to ride to 
 meet them, and to welcome Wayne with especial en 
 thusiasm, for the major had reinforced his ragged 
 line just in time to save him from another rush such 
 as had burst it and downed him on the slopes a mile 
 to the east, and Kitty, no longer imperious sweet 
 heart, but devoted love, had found it high time to 
 take no further chances, and so had named the day, and 
 had amazed the dreamy major by her declaration 
 that she would be married only where Uncle Fenton 
 could give her away and Major Wayne, who had 
 " saved her Willy," could be best man. There was 
 one blissful episode, therefore, in that sad and sombre 
 winter. 
 
 But so far as our friends the Farrars were con 
 cerned, it was about the only one. Not until the 
 day after honest Fenton had gone did it occur to 
 Mrs. Farrar to inquire how and why it was the 
 colonel left the command and spent that night at 
 Allison s ranch, and then as the story was unfolded 
 by Will, her sympathy and indignation knew no 
 bounds. Even at such a time, when wounded and 
 maligned, when robbed of his command at the very 
 moment when it was dearest to him and when he 
 must have been burning with eagerness to face and 
 confound his accusers, Fenton had turned back to 
 learn the truth about the fight at Elk Canon and wire to
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 285 
 
 her to her the glad news of her boy s safety, the 
 proud news of his spirited and soldierly behavior. 
 If Fenton could have seen her emotion when from 
 Wayne and Will she learned the whole story, he 
 would have found his trials easier to bear. 
 
 He had gone, however, to department headquart 
 ers, and there his accusers were missing; not one re 
 mained to face him, and when called upon to sub 
 stantiate their statements, as they had eagerly de 
 clared their readiness to do, one and all, they had 
 business elsewhere. The chief conspirators had 
 achieved in part, at least, the ends for which they 
 were striving a row with Big Road s band that 
 would enable them to get square with White Wolf, 
 Pretty Bear, and the other alleged assailants of Pete 
 Boland, replenish their stock of ponies and other spoils 
 of Indian war, and doxible the price of forage, and 
 though the alleged murderers escaped them, and the 
 village in great part fell into the hands of the 
 Twelfth, and Fenton came back from headquarters a 
 vindicated man, still they had given him and his reg 
 iment far more trouble than the regiment had ever 
 caused them, so honors were more than easy. "We ve 
 larned the old man not to monkey with the cowboy 
 again. " 
 
 There was a sweet, womanly, grateful note await 
 ing the colonel when, after an absence of a fortnight, 
 he returned to Frayne, but the Farrars were gone. 
 The doctor had said they could not too soon move 
 Ellis, once she could be moved at all, to southern 
 California, and with a month s leave in his pocket,
 
 286 FORT PRAYNE. 
 
 thither had Will escorted them, Kitty going too, as 
 a matter of course. Jack Ormsby came West once 
 more to meet Malcolm Leale, and to tenderly con 
 duct him, sightless and suffering, to New York, and 
 Fenton felt that vengeance indeed had been wrought 
 by Thorpe and that the Lord had been with the Phil 
 istines across the stream, for the light had gone out 
 of his life, and smiles and sunshine seemed to have 
 vanished from Fort Frayne. Will came back in Feb 
 ruary and threw himself enthusiastically into his 
 duties with his troop, and Wayne went mooning 
 night after night to the colonel s fireside, and Terry 
 Rorke, crippled with a rheumatic twinge about an 
 old bullet hole, was limping and growling about the 
 post, and Fenton prayed for the coming of spring 
 and sunshine and June and roses, for Kitty had 
 still another freak she would be married only from 
 under the shadow of the flag and Uncle Fenton s 
 roof. With Ellis better, but still not well, the Far- 
 rars and Kitty had taken the "Sunset Route" from 
 Monterey to New Orleans the end of March and 
 reached Gotham just as the buds were opening in the 
 park; and Wayne, East on leave on some mysterious 
 mission, called to welcome them home and to say 
 that Ormsby was to sail at once with Malcolm Leale, 
 who was to go to Germany to consult an eminent 
 oculist, and Ellis lost the color w r hich was fluttering 
 in her cheeks when they hove in sight of the familiar 
 landmarks of the beautiful harbor, and Helen 
 Daunton strove to conquer her own disappointment 
 that she might comfort the poor girl, who, since the
 
 FORT FKAYNE. 287 
 
 tragic night of her brother s death, had neither seen 
 nor heard from the lover she had rebuffed and 
 wronged, even though here and now she had written, 
 admitting her sin against him and humbly yet con 
 fidently asking his forgiveness. That was Thursday 
 night, and there was ample time, but he sailed on 
 Saturday with never a word.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 JUNE had come, a radiant June, and all at Frayne 
 was joyous anticipation, despite the momentous fact 
 that the Platte had overleaped its bounds and was 
 raging like some mad mountain torrent far as the eye 
 could see. The flats to the west of the post were one 
 broad, muddy lake. The grassy bench beneath the 
 bluffs to the east was partially torn away. Part of 
 Bunco Jim s frontier stronghold still clung to the op 
 posite bank, but some of it was distributed in drift 
 wood long leagues down stream. Across the river, at 
 a point half a mile above the ruin of the ferry house, 
 a troop of cavalry, caught on return from scout, had 
 pitched its tents and picketed its horses, and was 
 waiting for the falling of the waters to enable it to 
 return to its station, and with that troop, the maddest 
 man in all Wyoming, was Lieutenant Will Farrar. 
 
 Six or seven weeks previously an order had come 
 to Fenton to send two troops to scout the western 
 slopes of the Big Horn and keep the peace between 
 the settlers and the Shoshones. Time was \vhen these 
 latter rarely ventured across the Big IIoi ii River, 
 partly through fear of the Sioux, who claimed sov 
 ereignty over all the lands east of the Shoshone pre 
 serves in the Wind River Valley, partly through re 
 gard for the orders of their loyal old chief, Washakie, 
 who for long, long years of his life, had kept faith 
 
 288
 
 FORT FBAYXE. 289 
 
 with the Great White Father, held his people in 
 check and suffered the inevitable consequences of 
 poverty and neglect; the policy of the Indian Bureau 
 being to load Avith favors only those of its wards who 
 defy it and deal death to the whites. Settlers seldom 
 encroach upon the Sioux, those gentry being abund 
 antly able and more than willing to take care of them 
 selves, but the Shoshones had known long years of 
 enervating peace, and, being held in subjection by 
 their chief, became the natural prey of the whites, 
 who mistook subordination for subservience, as is 
 natural to free-born Americans and as easily adopted 
 by fellow-citizens of foreign birth and who soon be 
 gan to encroach on their own account, stealing Sho- 
 shone crops and cattle and promptly accusing the 
 army officer, on duty as agent, of cattle stealing and 
 all-round rascality when he reseized the captured 
 stock. Then, while this badgered official was de 
 fending himself in court, the Shoshones had to de 
 fend themselves in the field, and that peripatetic 
 buffer between the oppressor and the oppressed, the 
 corporations and the cranks, the law and the lawless 
 the much-bedeviled army was sent out as usual to 
 receive the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune 
 and of both parties. Finding it difficult to swindle 
 the Shoshones so long as their new agent the army 
 agent remained in power, the obvious thing was 
 to down him by misrepresentation at Washington, 
 and, if that didn t work, by deft manipulation of the 
 local law. Of course they didn t expect to prove him 
 guilty of anything, but there was no law against
 
 290 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 lying, and they could compel him to come into court 
 and prove himself innocent, and leave his unarmed 
 wards to the mercy of the settler in the meantime, 
 and so it happened that there were high jinks up the 
 Wind River Valley and along those wonderful ranges 
 in the wild valleys of the Gray Bull, the Meeyero, 
 the Meeteetsee, north of the Owl Creek Mountains, 
 and, the cavalry having long since been withdrawn 
 from that section, that was how the detail fell on old 
 Fort Frayne. 
 
 "You can straighten matters out in a month," 
 said the commanding officer to Major Wayne, who 
 had hastened back from the East to take command, 
 and when it came to selecting the troops to go, even 
 though it lacked less than two months to his wed 
 ding day, Will Farrar gloried in the fact that his 
 was one of them. It is hard to conceive of a lot in 
 which a spirited, soldierly fellow of twenty-one could 
 possibly be happier than commanding a troop of cav 
 alry on an expedition through so glorious a country. 
 Amory s troop and Leale s were designated, and, the 
 latter captain being still in Berlin and the senior 
 subaltern on staff duty in the East, Farrar was his 
 own captain and troop commander, and, despite the 
 troubles of the Christmas season, long since buried 
 so far as he was concerned, just about the happiest 
 fellow that wore the army blue. 
 
 The expedition had proved even longer than was 
 planned, but at last, while Wayne with Amory and 
 the recaptured cattle and rounded-up Shoshones went 
 over the Owl Creek Mountains to render account of
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 291 
 
 his stewardship at Fort Washakie, Will was told to 
 make the best of his way homeward with his own 
 command, and, marching leisurely along in the radiant 
 spring mornings, through a country unmatched for 
 wild beauty in all America; shooting, fishing, plung 
 ing in mountain streams, sleeping dreamlessly in the 
 open air by night, they reached the valley of the 
 Platte toward mid June. The blessed landmark of 
 the Eagle Buttes came in sight one peerless morning. 
 The blue summits of the Medicine Bow loomed up 
 across the horizon to the southeast. The flag-tipped 
 bluffs of old Fort Frayue would greet their eyes be 
 fore the close of to-morrow s march, and so they did 
 but with a raging torrent tearing at their base, 
 and this was Monday, and less than forty-eisrht hours 
 
 * / O 
 
 to "Will s wedding day. 
 
 Meanwhile, there had been a partial reunion within 
 the walls of the fort, and already a joyous bevy of 
 army folk had gathered in anticipation of the June 
 wedding with Kitty Ormsby as the center of attrac 
 tion, since she was the colonel s niece, and he was to 
 give her away, and Wayne was to be best man, by 
 order of the bride, provided he didn t get things 
 mixed in his own inimitable way and turn up unex 
 pectedly at some one else s affair, as he did the night 
 of the Willett s dinner to Captain and Mrs. " Billy " 
 Ray of the th, where, with army bonhomie, a seat 
 was squeezed in close beside that of the winsome 
 guest of the evening, and where he was charmingly 
 welcomed and made at home despite the fact, which 
 dawned upon him only with the champagne, that he
 
 292 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 was due at the Amorys , where a similar function 
 was being held in honor of the Truscotts of the same 
 regiment, then on the march from Kansas to Montana. 
 "You ll rue it, Kitty, that ever you insisted on my 
 having Wayne for best man," wrote poor Will, with 
 prophetic but unavailing protest. " Wayne saved 
 my Willy," was the positive rejoinder, and no one but 
 Wayne would do. "All right," said Will, " if you 
 find, years later, that there s been some fatal flaw in 
 the proceedings, don t blame me." 
 
 But here, on this glad June morning, all sunshine 
 and serenity aloft, all perturbation at the post, all 
 raging river about it, it looked as though the proceed 
 ings themselves Avould be delayed, and that instead 
 of a military wedding in the post chapel at high 
 noon, with everybody en grande tenue, there would be 
 no wedding at all, even though Will, like a modern 
 Leander, swam this wild Western Hellespont in 
 search of his bride. Far away to the east the floods 
 had swept their battering ram of logs and trees and 
 dashed it against the bridge abutments at the rail 
 way, and though the Farrars AVCVC safely here, and 
 had been for several days, Kitty s train, that which 
 bore her and Jack on their westward way, had been 
 brought up standing long miles toward Cheyenne, 
 and there was no telling when the passengers could 
 be transferred to the waiting cars upon the hither 
 shore. And so, each believing the other in waiting 
 at the post, bride and groom elect woke to their wed 
 ding morn to rail at fate. It would have been some 
 comfort could they have known that, though miles
 
 FOKT FRAYJSTE. 293 
 
 apart, they were at least on the same side of the 
 stream that swept between them and the altar of 
 their hopes. 
 
 And there was deep anxiety under the roof where 
 once again the Farrars were installed, for the 
 mother was possessed with the fear that Willy would 
 be mad enough to try to swim the stream, and though 
 Fenton had had his signal men out forbidding any 
 such attempt, no acknowledgment had been received 
 to the effect that the repeated message was under 
 stood. An Indian, who thought he could cross at 
 Casper Rocks, several miles up stream, was swept 
 from his pony and only saved by the strength of his 
 horsehair lariat. A scow that was launched at the 
 bend was battered to flinders, and bottle after bottle, 
 corked and slung long yards out into the steam, 
 went bobbing derisively away, carrying its penciled 
 contents with them. Arrows, with silken strings 
 attached, dropped helplessly in the stream. Bullets, 
 similarly tethered, snapped their frail attachments 
 and whistled over the opposite shore and told no tale 
 other than that of anxiety. Every fieldglass at the 
 post, when brought to bear, revealed Farrar at nine 
 o clock of his bridal morning striding and probably 
 swearing up and down the bank, tugging at his tiny 
 moustache and sprouting beard, and possibly threaten 
 ing self-destruction. It was a thrilling scene. 
 
 Then many other people seemed burdened with 
 troubles of their own. Ellis had never recovered 
 either strength or spirits since the events of that 
 Christmas week, and her lovely face was thin, and
 
 294 FOKT FRAYNE. 
 
 the bright, brave eyes of old were shadowed with a 
 pathetic sorrow, but, though this shadow had come 
 into her life, another one, much harder to bear, had 
 been swept aside. Ever since her lover s words had 
 revealed to Ellis that ,it was her own brother to save 
 whom Malcolm Leale had periled life and lost his 
 sight, the girl s eyes seemed gradually to open to the 
 utter cruelty of her suspicions, the injustice of her 
 treatment of Helen Daunton, the woman whose life 
 that very brother had well-nigh wrecked forever. In 
 the long hours of her convalescence she had turned 
 to Helen in humility that was sweet to see, and now 
 the love and trust between them was something in 
 expressible. But there was something even Helen 
 could neither explain nor justify, and that was Jack 
 Ormsby s conduct since her convalescence. 
 
 True, Ellis had told him in their last interview 
 that all was at an end between them, that he had 
 forfeited trust, faith, and even respect, and placed 
 a barrier between himself and her forever. She had 
 refused him further audience, and her last words to him 
 had been full of scorn, even of insult. But no word 
 of auger or resentment had escaped him, and surely 
 no man who deeply loved would harbor anger now. 
 Sobbing her heart out, the girl had thrown herself 
 on Helen s breast just before their return to Frayne, 
 and told a part of her story until then concealed, 
 how, in their last interview, Ormsby had gently 
 said that he would vex her no more with his plead 
 ings, but if a time should ever come when her eyes 
 were opened and when she could believe him honest
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 295 
 
 and worthy, he would come at her call, and she had 
 humbled herself and called, but all in vain. To 
 Helen she had told the whole story of that humble 
 letter, and that neither by word or sign had he 
 acknowledged it. 
 
 But Helen saw a ray of hope. The little note had 
 been intrusted to Wayne late that Thursday night, 
 and he had promised to deliver it early Friday 
 morning, and all that day had Ellis waited eagerly, 
 and nightfall came without the looked-for visit. 
 Wayne came on Saturday to convey some conven 
 tional words of farewell from both officers "so 
 surprised to hear of the sudden return from Cali 
 fornia, so sorry not to have seen them, but time was 
 very short, " and would she never hear the last of 
 the Seventh? Ormsby had had to attend the review 
 at the armory Friday night, and then there was just 
 time to rejoin Leale and get him aboard, for their 
 good ship sailed at 7 A. M. to catch the early tide 
 at Sandy Hook. Falteringly Ellis had asked if 
 he were sure he had given Ormsby her note if if 
 Mr. Ormsby had read it. Wayne was quite posi 
 tive. 
 
 But Helen would not believe, and, with unabated 
 hope, she awaited Wayne s return to the post. They 
 arrived a week before him, for on leaving his charge 
 at Washakie the previous month he had hurried 
 straight to AVashington in response to a summons 
 from the Secretary of War, had made his report, 
 and then gone to Xew York. Not until the Monday 
 before the wedding did he reappear, and then only
 
 296 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 by determined effort did Helen corner him long 
 enough for cross-examination. "Certainly," said 
 Wayne. "I remember the note perfectly well. I 
 put it with one from the club that I found there and 
 handed both to him together. He ll be here to the 
 wedding. He s coming right along with Kitty. I ll 
 ask him again, if you like." 
 
 "Don t dare ever mention it, major; or that I 
 asked any questions concerning it. How long has 
 he been back? " asked Helen, with vivid interest, 
 another question uppermost in her mind. 
 
 "Not a week. Just back, you know. I only 
 saw him a minute. I was just starting for the train. 
 He looked astonishingly well, and you know I 
 forgot to ask was Leale better. He was full of his 
 wedding preparations." 
 
 " Her wedding preparations Kitty s you mean, 
 do you not, major? " 
 
 "No, his; I give you my word. He said so, you 
 know. He told me the lady s name part of it, at 
 least Effie something. I can t recall it just now. 
 I Fe ll tell you. Oh, it was all on that account, you 
 know, Kitty couldn t start sooner. She had to wait 
 for him." 
 
 Helen was astounded. It was news she declared 
 she would never believe, and yet she remembered 
 having heard mention of an attractive cousin, a Miss 
 Effie Leale, and might it not have been possible that, 
 in his wanderings with the blinded invalid with 
 his own sore heart, Jack Ormsby had met and found 
 consolation in this fair relative of his stricken friend
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 2 9 7 
 
 that she in turn had quickly learned to admire the 
 manly fellow who was so devoted to their particular 
 hero? At all events, it was something not to be 
 mentioned to Ellis, said Helen. 
 
 But what was the use! Wayne told it to Lucretia; 
 Lucretia to a dozen during the day. It was all over 
 the post before night, and despite Helen s effort, 
 Ellis heard it among the first. One more among the 
 many mishaps with which to usher in Will s wedding 
 day! 
 
 At ten that beautiful June morning there was 
 something more than pathetic about poor Lucretia s 
 sorrows. While Fenton, Mrs. Farrar, Helen, silent, 
 brave-faced Ellis, and a dozen sympathetic souls 
 from all over the post were gathered on the north 
 piazza overhanging the bluff and the roaring waters 
 of the Platte, signaling to Will and watching eagerly 
 his vigorous movements, the lady of the house re 
 mained within doors, wept unceasingly, and refused 
 to be comforted. 
 
 "It is dreadful to think of the condition that 
 chicken salad will be in," she moaned. "It is pre 
 posterous to talk to me of patience! I ve said all along 
 it was to be an unlucky day, because you all know 
 perfectly well at least if you don t, you ought to 
 that it is just thirteen years ago this day we were all 
 gathered at Fort Crook for the funeral of Captain 
 Crocus, which was to take place the moment the 
 ambulance got in from the front, and the band was 
 all ready and the escort and the hearse and and 
 after all the whole thing had to be abandoned, for
 
 298 FORT FRAYtfE. 
 
 when the ambulance got in there were no remains at 
 all at least there were, but they weren t ready for 
 burial because they d revived and were sitting up 
 and saying shocking things. Why, I think a wed 
 ding without a bride is ten times worse than a funeral 
 without a without a " 
 
 But here, it must be admitted, the burst of laugh 
 ter in which Rorke indulged was too much for her 
 determination to weep and, blazing through her 
 tears, the maiden demanded explanation of his un 
 seemly conduct. Rorke was a permanent member 
 of the colonel s establishment now, but he could not 
 risk Miss Lucretia s displeasure, and was wise and 
 knew his danger, and fled to the kitchen, there to 
 tell cook and Chinaman the lady s plaintive mono 
 logue, while Amory, equally conscienceless, ran out 
 to convulse with it the party on the porch. And 
 then, in the midst of all the laughter, came delirious 
 news from the best man " sent to meet the bride 
 and Ormsby at the Station and break to them the 
 direful news that "the bridegroom was late." The 
 train had passed Fetterman Bend. The bride would 
 be there in twenty minutes. 
 
 And she came and what a scene there was! And 
 how she was hugged and kissed and mauled and 
 pulled about, and how she strove to tell of her tribu 
 lations and could not for the volume of welcome, 
 exclamation and interrogation; and, not until trunks, 
 boxes, and what alls had been whisked away to her 
 room aloft and somebody said it was almost eleven
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 999 
 
 o clock, did she find breath and opportunity to say, 
 "Gracious Heavens! Arid I m to be married at noon! 
 
 And not a thing done yet! Why! Wh where s 
 
 Willy?" 
 
 Aghast, they looked at one another. Was not all 
 this to have been explained by Wayne? Hadn t 
 Wayne told her? Told her? Told her what? All 
 Major Wayne said to her about Willy \vasthathe 
 was almost frantic with impatience to meet her, but 
 he d he d have to take his bath first. What did he 
 mean by sending such riduculous stuff? What were 
 they all laughing crying at? Isn t here? Couldn t 
 cross? Can t he swim? Why! the man she thought 
 
 ^ O 
 
 he was would swim Niagara rather than miss his 
 wedding day! And then oh day of days! perhaps 
 her words annihilated space and reached the ears of 
 the maddened lover, for at the very moment came 
 an Irish howl from the porch without. "Oh, fur 
 the luv of God! shtop him! Don t let him! Oh, 
 Mother of Moses, it s drownin he is! " And then, 
 all shrieks and terror, did most of the party scatter 
 for the balconies, while, all shrieks and terror and 
 protestations that she d never speak to him again if 
 he dared to, Kitty collapsed upon a sofa. 
 
 Was ever there a wedding day to match it? 
 Soaked to the skin, dripping but triumphant, Will 
 Farrar rode out of the floods and up the heights, 
 amid the frenzied acclamations of the garrison, and, 
 throwing himself from saddle at the colonel s gate 
 demanded to see if not to squeeze his bride. There
 
 300 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 were they gathered the elite of Fort Frayne some 
 in wedding garb, some in traveling dress, and what a 
 cheer went up as he sprang to the porch, and his 
 mother wanted to clasp him, dripping though he 
 was, to her heart of hearts. Not so Kitty. "Don t 
 you come near me, you dreadful thing!" she cried. 
 And, laughing and protesting, he was led away, to 
 be caparisoned for the ceremony. Lucretia s spirits 
 were once more in ebullition. Wayne was back; the 
 remains had come, so why longer delay proceed 
 ings? 
 
 They were not. There was as blithe and bright 
 and joyous a soldier wedding that perfect noon day 
 as ever was seen within the Avails of old Fort Frayne, 
 and Kitty made a bewitching bride and there was a 
 wonderful unloading of sorrow from heart after 
 heart onto the shoulders of one luckless, sorely-tried 
 man Major Percival Wayne. Oh, Mad Anthony! 
 but here Avas one of thy descendcnts ten times worthy 
 thy name! In that one day there came crushing in 
 upon him the consequences of a generation of mis 
 doing. 
 
 It was enough that he should have failed to ex 
 plain matters to Kitty. It was worse when he took 
 the first opportunity to explain matters to Jack. 
 His way of doing it was somewhat as follows, and 
 they were dressing for the ceremony, and Jack 
 gorgeous in his full-dress uniform as a lieutenant of 
 the Seventh, was sick at heart over the cold, con 
 strained greeting accorded him by Ellis. 
 
 "Why, of course, old fellow, you didn t impose
 
 FOKT FEAYNE. 301 
 
 silence on me, and I s pose I let out about your en 
 gagement " 
 
 "My what?" says poor Jack, aghast. 
 
 "Your engagement. You said, even to attend 
 Kitty s wedding, you couldn t get away until yours 
 was fulfilled on the 10th, wasn t it? " 
 
 " Certainly our annual inspection. No man in 
 the Seventh would miss that for love or money." 
 
 " But, Jack, don t you know? I m sure you told 
 me a lady was in the case. You told me her name, 
 and indeed, you did that Effie and you were to be 
 tied" 
 
 "You transcendental idiot! I told you "F" and 
 "I" Company "F " and Company "I" were tied 
 for place, and neither dare lose a point. " 
 
 And then, instead of smashing Wayne, as Avas his 
 first thought, Jack fled down stairs in search of Ellis 
 and found her, and told her Wayne s story, and then 
 his own, breathlessly, eagerly, imploringly, and 
 there were blushes and tears and soft laughter, and 
 soft, happy murmurs, and and how horribly those 
 big epaulets get in the way, and service medals and 
 sautache braid scratch at such times! And at last 
 did Jack uplift his voice again to say: "Ellis, I m in 
 heaven!" and then did she uplift a blushing, tear- 
 stained, kiss-rumpled face to archly inquire, "A 
 Seventh heaven, Jack? " and then did old Fenton come 
 blustering in to take a veteran s share in the engage 
 ment. It was known all over the house before the 
 wedding party started. 
 
 Then came the next scene in Mad Anthony s play.
 
 302 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 Amory and the chaplain declare to this day that 
 when the party was duly marshaled at the altar the 
 major clicked his heels together and raised his hand 
 in salute, and began: "Sir, the parade is when 
 Ormsby caught the hand and brought it down, but 
 when it came to the ring there was consternation. 
 To the horror of the groom, the despair of the bride, 
 but to the marked and tremulous emotion of Aunt 
 Lucretia, the circlet produced for the occasion by the 
 dazed best man was an old-fashioned, but beautiful, 
 cluster of flashing gems. Only by a miracle did it 
 happen that the other ring was in his possession. 
 How the mixture occurred there was no time to tell, 
 until later, when all were gathered, for there were 
 two whose fortunes we have followed through these 
 long, long chapters, who were absent from the cere 
 mony who, in fact, were having one of their own, 
 and to these two, while the band without is softly 
 playing in front of the chapel, and in eager hundreds 
 the men are gathered to cheer the bride and groom on 
 their reappearance, let us turn and listen. 
 
 "No, dear Mrs. Farrar," were Helen Daun ton s 
 words as the eager guests were pouring forth to the 
 wedding. "They are bringing him here even now 
 so that he may welcome Will and Kitty on their 
 return from the wedding he cannot see." 
 
 And no sooner was the party fairly at the chapel 
 than there drove to the colonel s door the old Concord, 
 and two soldiers assisted to alight and led to the 
 doorway the soldierly form of Captain Leale his eyes 
 still covered by the deep green shade. It was Helen
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 303 
 
 Daunton s hand that guided him into the lately 
 crowded parlor, and he knew the touch and thrilled 
 with the joy of it. 
 
 "Helen!" he cried. "They told me all were 
 gone. What a blessed welcome! I ve been so long 
 in exile! With your voice, the old home feeling I ve 
 been groping for conies to me through the dark." 
 
 "Then it is still dark with you? " she faltered. 
 
 There was a moment s pause. The band had just 
 ceased the joyous mai-ch with which it had "trooped" 
 the wedding party into the chapel, and then, as 
 though in accompaniment to the ceremony just begin 
 ning and to the sweet romance already throbbing 
 here, the exquisite strains of the " Traeumerei " softly 
 thrilled upon the fragrant air. 
 
 "Helen! " he spoke, his deep voice trembling as 
 did the hand that still clung to hers. " You know 
 that for me the lights went out before ever that 
 powder-flash crossed my eyes. " She strove, hardly 
 knowing why, to release her hand. "Xo, dear," he 
 went on gently. " Don t be afraid I have come back 
 to vex you with my sorrows; but listen, they will all 
 be here in a moment. I went away hoping to teach 
 my heart a friendship for you that should give me 
 the right to come again and serve you as your friend. 
 When I found that it was almost sure that I should 
 walk in darkness all my life, I said: Now at least I 
 can accept the blessing of her friendship even as 
 she offered it to me. A man maimed and set apart 
 from his fellows can learn thankfulness for a great 
 good, though it is not his heart s desire." And here
 
 304 FOKT PBAYNB. 
 
 her graceful head was bowed and silently her tears 
 came gushing forth. " But time has taught me the 
 falsity of that," he went on, firmly now. "You 
 shall never misunderstand me. Even in the dark my 
 pulse-beat gave the lie to friendship. I loved you! 
 I love you, and so have come to say a long good-by. 
 I ve made my fight to be your friend and failed. 
 At least I have been a soldier. I will not be a 
 coward. " 
 
 She could control herself no longer. Though she 
 had freed her hands, she seemed involuntarily 
 stretching them forth. Then, leaning upon the table 
 for support, one hand found the glove that he had 
 removed and laid there. He had withdrawn a pace 
 and lifted his head as though the blighted eyes were 
 striving to peer from under their shade for one look 
 at the face they had gazed upon in such passionate 
 farewell so many months before. The sti ains of the 
 " Traeumerei" were still thrilling softly through the 
 open casements, and, overcome.with emotion, tender 
 ness, and passion, Helen bent and laid her soft lips 
 in fervent pressure on the senseless glove. 
 
 Then the room rang with a sudden, startling joy 
 ous cry. The shade went whizzing into space, and 
 the next instant Leale had sprung to and seized her 
 in his arms. 
 
 "Helen, darling not that! Don t waste those 
 kisses," and she sank sobbing in his arms just as, 
 grand, joyous, triumphant, the strains of the wed 
 ding march burst forth, re-echoing among the walls 
 of Fort Frayne.
 
 FORT FRAYXE. 305 
 
 Rorke was the first man to come tearing in to 
 announce the return of the wedding party and the 
 guests, but Fenton was close on his heels " on hos 
 pitable cares intent," and exploding over Wayne s 
 performances. There was no time for a formal 
 reception. " Proceedings " had been delayed well- 
 nigh an hour as it was, and the east-bound train was 
 reported unaccountably on time. Bride and bride 
 groom, bridesmaids, ushers, bachelors and bene 
 dicks, maids and matrons, Fort Frayne seemed surg 
 ing tumultuously up the Colonel s step, surrounding 
 and bedeviling poor Wayne to the verge of distrac 
 tion, lie laid the blame on his spring overcoat, a 
 venerable garment of the fashion of twenty years 
 agone, but that he had so seldom worn as to cause 
 it to seem to him ever new and available, and for 
 this garment he darted into the adjoining quarters 
 while the laughing guests came tripping up the steps 
 in the wake of the bride, who, totally ignoring Helen 
 and Leale now, who were gazing into each other s 
 eyes in the deep bow window, rushed at her uncle 
 with characteristic and explosive abuse. 
 
 "I ll never be married at Fort Frayne again as long 
 as I live! What on earth did Major "but she 
 could go no further, for the shout of laughter that 
 greeted her sally, and the exclamations which resulted 
 from the discovery of Leale and Helen, silenced her 
 completely. And then the bride was rushed away to 
 doff her finery and reappear in traveling garb, and 
 then Will was hustled to his quarters to change his 
 full-dress uniform for the conventional garb of civil
 
 306 FORT FRAYNE. 
 
 life, just as Wayne came in, dazed, half-demented, 
 overcoat in one hand and a package in the other, that 
 he now half-dreamily held forth to Ormsby, who 
 took it, as wonderingly opened, and began slowly 
 counting over a number of "greenbacks," sole con 
 tents of the wrapper, but he dropped them as of lit 
 tle consequence, when the bewildered major pro 
 duced a moment later another a little note from 
 the depths of an inner pocket. They were all 
 crowding around him now, but at sight of this mis 
 sive Ellis made a spring and captured it, only just in 
 time, and was seized in turn by Ormsby, who pleaded 
 for possession of what was plainly addressed to him, 
 and then came renewed uproar, for Will reappeared 
 in uniform trousers and unfastened blouse, and a 
 towering rage. 
 
 " Of all things that could have happened -to a man, 
 think of this," he cried. "Major Wayne, didn t 
 you promise me from the field to send that dispatch 
 to Ilatfield the moment you got to the post? " 
 
 "I did, and I pledge my solemn word that I kept 
 it. I sent it the very first post I struck." 
 
 "You did, for a fact, you moonstruck Oh, but 
 just listen, all of you! Instead of my traveling 
 suit here s what I find a letter from Hatfield, for 
 warded from Fort Washakie. Dear Sir: In accord 
 ance with your telegraphic instructions, we have this 
 day forwarded to you a cutaway tweed traveling suit 
 by American Express, and trust the same is, etc., 
 also statement of um, never mind that We 
 are now, mark this, all of you, good people we
 
 FORT FRAYXE 307 
 
 are somewhat at a loss to understand your sudden 
 change of address, but are compelled to act on your 
 telegram, a copy of which is inclosed. "Fort 
 Washakie, May 25. Have tweed cutaway traveling 
 suit here by 13th prox. without fail. W. Farrar." 
 Fort Washakie! C4racious powers! Think of my 
 traveling suit at Washakie and I here and the train 
 coming! " 
 
 " But Willy, dear," said his mother, soothingly, 
 " surely you can wear for just a day or two last year s 
 suit." 
 
 That? Now? Why, heavens ablaze! Rorke 
 couldn t squeeze me into it with a shoehorn. I ll 
 have to travel in my pajamas. Oh, couldn t I murder 
 you, Major Percival Wayne! " 
 
 Poor Wayne s cup was indeed full to overflowing. 
 Martin and some of the voungsters lugged Will off 
 
 * oo 
 
 to squeeze him into his last year s garments, made 
 on cadet measure, and then down came Kitty, the 
 bonniest of brides, in the daintiest and most coquet 
 tish of costumes, and while Rorke and his satellites 
 were passing the champagne, and everybody no, 
 almost everybody was crowding about the bride, 
 there stood poor Wayne still diving into those long 
 forgotten placer mines of his pockets and fetching 
 up bills and billets and odds and ends, while Lucretia 
 tremulously, and Fenton, Farwell and Amory de 
 lightedly, watched him, and then came a new excite 
 ment. Enter Will, squeezed at last into the light 
 gray tweeds he had so complacently donned a year 
 before, and that now fitted him like the skin of a
 
 308 "POET FKATNE. 
 
 sausage. A sudden move of one arm carried away 
 the breast button. 
 
 It s no use! " he cried, " I m worse off than Peg- 
 goty. Every jump s a button! " and then Kitty 
 caught sight of him, and then there came a scene. 
 
 " What s that? " she exclaimed. " That isn t the 
 man I married! I won t stir a step with him in those 
 things." 
 
 "But I haven t any other," pleaded Will, in de 
 spair. 
 
 "Who wants you to wear such things?" she fairly 
 screamed, in almost hysterical laughter. "I married 
 a soldier. Your uniform, sir, your best blouse and 
 trousers and forage cap, and don t you dare wear 
 cits till I tell you." 
 
 And, as it was manifest that he couldn t wear those 
 now encasing him, the groom a third time hastened 
 away to the upper regions, and, while dozens clus 
 tered as before about Kittie, an absorbed group still 
 hung upon the movements of the major. The light, 
 as of other days, was dawning on his face. He was 
 searching still, and at last he found and drew forth 
 a tiny box, at sight of which Lucretia s maiden heart 
 fluttered almost out of her throat. 
 
 "And now what have you unearthed, old Rip Van 
 Winkle? " boomed Fenton. " A ring, by all that s 
 gorgeous a ring, and a beauty, and an inscription 
 on it. P. W. to L. F., 1874. Who s P. W? Who s 
 but a glance at his sister s tiansfigured face as she 
 tottered there at his side warned the old warrior to 
 desist.
 
 FORT FRAYNE. 309 
 
 W me was panting with excitement. "I know," 
 he cri d. "Of course it wasn t my class ring; it was 
 this. [ got it for " and here he turned and drew her 
 to his rm, and the others considerately moved away, 
 as at last that ring was fitted to the finger that had 
 been waiting for it twenty long years. 
 
 Five minutes more, and with Rorke leading off in 
 the cheers, with music and sunshine, mirth and glad 
 ness, smiles and tears, and prayers and blessings, 
 the young couple were whirled away to the station, 
 bound for the bliss of the honeymoon. 
 
 But what made that wedding day so remarkable 
 was that it seemed to lead to so many more. There 
 came a letter from Martin to Jack Ormsby only the 
 other day. The latter, being a New York guards 
 man, was sweltering in his tent at Peekskill, while 
 Mrs. Jack consoled herself by a brief visit to the 
 Leales at West Point. The former, being a West 
 Pointer, fell back naturally into the vernacular of 
 his cadet days and this was somewhat as he wrote: 
 " Your blessed brother-in-law continues to be the joy 
 of the Twelfth, and the dovecote is every whit as 
 hospitable as Amory s. But of course Will and Mrs. 
 Will haven t outlived their salad days, and their tiffs 
 and make-ups are too funny for anything. Will is 
 just as true a soldier as ever, but we always know 
 when the wind s in the east at the cote by his be 
 coming even more aggressively, austerely, self-deny, 
 ingly military. Just now all is bliss, for dear Lady 
 Farrar, Queen Mother, as we learned to call her 
 from your sweet wife my salutations to her lady-
 
 310 FORT FKAYNE. 
 
 ship is, as you know, in the third week of her first 
 visit to the children, and this, Jack, old boy, 
 brings me to a prediction. In our cadet days we 
 used to say extras breed extras, and I m thinking 
 what that wedding day of Will s is responsible for. 
 First there s you and Miss Ellis God bless em! 
 there s Leale and Mrs. Royle Farrar God reward 
 em! There s Old-Man-Heap-Mashed-in-the-Moon and 
 Miss Lucretia God help em! But, do you know, we 
 believe our bully old colonel has the promise now of 
 being made at last just the happiest man in old Fort 
 Frayne." 
 
 THE END.
 
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