A SOLDIER S 
 TRIAL 
 
 A STORY OF 
 
 THE CANTEEN CRUSADE 
 
 IRLF 
 
 I 
 
 GENER 
 
 ARL 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
A SOLDIER S 
 TRIAL 
 
 AN 1 
 
 THe Canteen Crusade 
 
 BY 
 
 GENERAL CHARLES KING 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A DAUGHTER OF THE SIOUX," * COMRADE* 
 IN ARMS," "THE MEDAL OP HONC^ 
 
 " IT ( 
 
 KEEPERS OF VI! IV1TY 
 
 OF GOOD AND V. 
 
 WHO HAVE SUC 
 
 IN THE ARMY." 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE HOBART COM 
 
 05 
 
A SOLDIER S 
 TRIAL 
 
 AN EPISODE OF 
 
 THe Canteen Crusade 
 BY 
 
 GENERAL CHARLES KING 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A DAUGHTER OP THE SIOUX," "COMRADES 
 IN ARMS," "THE MEDAL OP HONOR," ETC. 
 
 BRIG. -GEN. FREDERICK D. GRANT, U.S.A., SAYS: 
 
 "IT fl -NG THAT THE PROSPERITY OF THE 
 
 F VILE RESORTS IS DUE TO THE ACTIVITY 
 UK GOOD AND WORTHY THOUGH MISGUIDED CITIZENS, 
 WHO HAVE SUCCEEDED IN ABOLISHING THE CANTEEN 
 IN THE ARMY." 
 
 NEW YORK 
 THE HOBART COMPANY 
 
 1905 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1905, 
 
 I* ,** <B ? - 
 THfe -flOBART : 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Two ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 16 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 A NIGHT AT NAPLES 31 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 " SHE is COMING HERE ! " 45 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS . 64 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 A BRIDE AND A BEAU 78 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 THE WOLF IN THE SHEEPFOLD 88 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 ACCUSING LETTERS 102 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 AN INVITATION TO Go . . . 118 
 
 M22172 
 
vi CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 A GATHERING STORM ............ 129 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 DEEPER IN THE TOILS ............ 136 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR ...... 147 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 WORST DEED OF His LIFE ........... 167 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 REACTION ................ 176 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 RETRIBUTION ........... .... 187 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 MY LADY S MAID ............. 2 l 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 A MOMENTOUS DAY ......... .... 208 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 BLENKE COVERS His TRACKS .......... 2I 9 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 AGAIN THE SALOON ............. 22 9 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 A MOTHER S DREAD ....... ,.,... 242 
 
CONTENTS vii 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 LOVE S LAST APPEAL 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 THE LOST FOUND 264 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 A WELCOME PERIL 274 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 CRISIS 285 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 296 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION , . 311 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 EXEUNT OMNES . . 325 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 CHAPTER I:|.Y. l:*XH < I 
 
 TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS 
 
 THE war with Spain was at an end, and so were 
 the hopes and aspirations of many a warrior. 
 For several reasons Colonel Ray of the th 
 Kentucky was a disappointed man. One of the best 
 soldiers doing duty with the volunteers, he had had 
 some of the worst luck. Through long years of ser 
 vice in the regular cavalry he had borne the reputation 
 of being a most energetic and valuable officer. He had 
 won a name as an Indian fighter the Indians themselves 
 respected. He had campaigned all over the frontier 
 before the railways came and conquered. He knew Ari 
 zona and New Mexico even better than his native State, 
 and was known from the upper Missouri to the lower 
 Colorado far more generally than in the " blue grass " 
 country of his boy days. Apache and Arapahoe, Co- 
 manche and Cheyenne, Sioux and Shoshone, they all had 
 met, and many had measured spear with, the dark-eyed, 
 curly-headed Kentucky light-horseman. He bore the 
 scars of more than one sharp encounter ; had given more 
 
2 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 than he had received, yet found himself in no wise blessed 
 with profit or promotion. The Civil War was fairly 
 ended when he stepped from the Point into his first com 
 mission. Over thirty years had he done valiant and 
 faithful duty in the line, yet was he only just wearing the 
 gold leaves as junior major of his regiment, when the 
 long-expected IjappCned in the spring of 98, and the 
 nation called out its first levy of volunteers. Slow as had 
 been his advancement, it was phenomenally swift as com 
 pared with that of classmates who, choosing the artillery 
 arm, had languished those thirty years in the line of file 
 closers. Ray had no complaint to make. He was even 
 rejoiceful in his luck when called to Kentucky to com 
 mand one of her regiments of volunteer infantry. He 
 was, indeed, among the few envied men in the army 
 where so very few have anything to excite the cupidity 
 of their kind. His record and reputation were things no 
 man could undermine, though some might underestimate. 
 His temperament was sweet and sunny. He had long 
 been happily, most happily, married. His wife was 
 charming, admired, and beloved. His children were all 
 a father s heart could wish,. Health and competence had 
 always been theirs. They had, indeed, for years known 
 the joys of moderate wealth, for Mrs. Ray had brought 
 her husband something besides beauty and grace, physi 
 cal and spiritual. The Marion Sanford of the Centennial 
 year of 76 was reputed* an heiress,, and the children that 
 had come in course of time to bless their union were 
 
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS 3 
 
 certainly born to the purple. But army people of those 
 days lived long years in the far West, had to trust their 
 business affairs to agents in the far East, and some agents 
 could not stand such prosperity. Mrs. Ray s property 
 was mainly in real estate, some of which became gradu 
 ally unproductive. Then there came the financial storm 
 of 93, and a subsequent flitting of financial agents, some 
 to the convenient Canadas, some to the Spanish Main. 
 
 Then another thing happened, almost whimsical in the 
 way of retributive justice where Mrs. Ray s relatives were 
 concerned. That the resultant burden should have been 
 saddled on her cavalry husband was perhaps not quite so 
 diverting. There were several of Mrs. Ray s nearest of 
 kin who had by no means approved of her marriage in 
 the army, and to a nameless, moneyless subaltern at that. 
 " He will make ducks and drakes of her fortune," said 
 they. " He will drink and gamble it away," said certain 
 others. Ray had possibly heard, had probably expected 
 this. At all events he had steadfastly declined to use his 
 wife s money. He had gone so far as to grieve her not 
 a little by very gently, but very firmly, declining to under 
 take the management of her property. That was all left 
 in the hands of her people. It was the agent of their 
 choice who made ducks and drakes of much of it, as 
 well as of their own, and, at the time the Spanish War 
 broke out, from his pay as major in the line of the army 
 " Billy " Ray was contributing to the support of certain 
 of the children of his former detractors, 
 
4 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Then came partial relief. " Sandy " Ray, their eldest 
 son, commissioned like his father in the cavalry, was no 
 longer to be provided for. Indeed, he was sending every 
 month a certain quarter of his salary direct to his mother 
 to repay her for moneys advanced for him when they 
 were much needed. Maidie Ray, their lovely dark-eyed 
 daughter, had married the man of her choice, a well-to-do 
 young New Yorker of most excellent family. There was 
 only Billy, Junior, among their olive branches now to be 
 provided for until he could look out for himself. There 
 was even prospect of his being sent to West Point within 
 the year to make a try at that which had proved too hard 
 a problem for his unmathematical elder brother, for 
 Sandy had worn cadet gray long enough to get much of 
 the practical teaching of our famous school, though he 
 could not assimilate the requisite amount of the theoret 
 ical. It was the year after the surrender of Santiago and 
 the muster out of most of the State volunteers that, in 
 the goodness of his heart, Colonel Ray turned to Marion, 
 his wife, and said : 
 
 " Why not have Beth and Cilia come to us ? " and 
 thereby hangs very much of this tale. 
 
 " Beth," be it said at once, did not come, for, even in 
 her reduced circumstances and somewhat mature years, 
 this excellent woman was sought by an old admirer, once 
 deemed ineligible. Beth wrote thankfully and apprecia 
 tively to Uncle Will and dear Aunt Marion : " The Doc 
 tor has returned to New Jersey and the old subject." 
 
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS 5 
 
 There was now no stern parent to say him nay, and she 
 could not. But Priscilla would gladly and gratefully come, 
 and, whether or no Priscilla was grateful, Priscilla proved 
 assuredly glad, for Priscilla was a woman with a mission 
 and long in search of a field. Priscilla had often mar 
 veled at Aunt Marion s blindness in not having earlier 
 looked to her as the best possible guide, example, and 
 companion for Aunt Marion s most interesting if much- 
 indulged brood. Priscilla never doubted her powers, and 
 never dreamed of the instant protests developed when, in 
 mischievous mood, probably, papa had suggested having 
 Cousin Cilia come to the frontier to help mother school 
 the little Rays. All their recollections of that prematurely 
 mature young kinswoman were somewhat appalling. 
 They regarded her as healthy children are sure to look 
 upon an elder cousin who seeks ever to improve her 
 opportunities and their moral nature. Life had had no 
 greater trial to the trio than those rare and even regret 
 table visits to mother s home and kindred where first they 
 learned to know the superior gifts and graces of Cousin 
 Cil. 
 
 It has been said that Colonel Ray, the Spanish part of 
 the war ended, was a disappointed man, and that so was 
 many another. Never waiting to see what might result 
 from the general rally of the Filipino insurgents, follow 
 ing speedily the first general scatter, the government 
 swiftly mustered out all the State volunteers not actually 
 on duty in the distant islands, filled up the regulars with 
 
6 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 raw recruits, and shipped them straightway, undisci 
 plined, undrilled, across the wide Pacific. Then new regi 
 ments of volunteers were authorized, National volun 
 teers, instead of State, and, though their field officers 
 as a rule were chosen from the regular service, there were 
 by no means enough to go around among the many de 
 serving applicants. The forty odd colonelcies went, in 
 most cases, to the right men, but there were many " left," 
 and Billy Ray was one. He had had no luck whatever 
 with his Kentucky regiment. He had been sent to 
 Chickamauga, and thence to Florida, and thence nowhere 
 worth mentioning. They saw no service without the 
 States ; heard no hostile bullets whistle ; found, like most 
 of the State volunteers, they were to have no part in the 
 Cuban campaign, and, that being the case, they wished 
 to go home. They had n t enlisted to play soldier, said 
 they, and much as they admired and honored Colonel 
 Ray, they could not be made to love soldier life that 
 had no fighting. " Give us a chance to do something/ 1 
 was their cry, " and we ll stay till hell freezes over ; but 
 no more of this sort of thing for us." Ray had tried hard 
 to keep alive regimental interest and enthusiasm, but few 
 could feel either interest or enthusiasm in a daily routine 
 of drill, parade, and police duty in a hot, malarious 
 Southern camp under Southern summer skies. Other 
 regiments about them were getting orders to go home for 
 muster out, and some of these individual Kentuckians had 
 begun to go, too. If Ray could have moved them a few 
 
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS 7 
 
 miles away from the other camps, and close to the spar 
 kling sea water, things might have gone better, but his 
 original brigade commander, a regular whom he knew, 
 and who knew him, had gotten orders for the Philippines, 
 and gone. 
 
 He was succeeded by a brigadier whom Ray had 
 never heard of, nor apparently had anybody else out 
 side the contracted limits of his commonwealth, and 
 this gentleman, having never before served with troops, 
 and knowing nothing about modern military conditions, 
 had imbibed his impressions from foreign pictorial 
 papers. His conception of the functions of a general 
 officer found concrete form in a daily circuit of his 
 camps, mounted and accompanied by his full staff and 
 escort. When not so occupied he sat in much state under 
 the fly of his marquee, and had his colonels come and 
 stand attention and listen to his homilies on the military 
 art, which differed from anything they had previously 
 conceived upon the subject. It was this unschooled, un 
 skilled brigadier who turned down Ray s appeal to march 
 his regiment five miles over to the seashore. The colonel 
 of over thirty years practical experience was being lec 
 tured by the general who had none. The unterrified 
 Kentucky rank and file took to guying their civilian star- 
 bearer. There were presently demonstrations that Ray 
 could neither foresee nor prevent. The general thought 
 he could and should, and so informed him, and likewise 
 the division commander. Ray demanded investigation. 
 
8 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 The division commander sought to smooth matters over, 
 and failed. Ray resigned in disgust, sought orders to his 
 own regiment, and found himself once again at the head 
 of his squadron of regular troopers in the midst of scenes 
 he loved. But his soul longed for action. He was 
 offered a lieutenant-colonelcy of one of the national regi 
 ments of volunteers, but that was a step down, not up. 
 It would have placed him under a colonel ten years 
 younger than himself, and he said he preferred the gold 
 leaves in the regulars to the silver in the volunteers, which 
 ended for the present his prospects. Maidie s wedding, 
 too, had something to do with the decision. But now 
 that was over with, and here were he and Marion occupy 
 ing delightful quarters at old Fort Minneconjou, with 
 every prospect of soon being sent to the Philippines, 
 where their colonel was commanding a division in the 
 field, leaving Major Ray to look after the post, its men, 
 and its military morals. Here it was, in the bracing air 
 of the Dakotas and within range of the bold foothills and 
 remoter pine-crested heights of the Sagamore, that they 
 opened their hearts and doors to Mrs. Billy s niece, Pris- 
 cilla Sanford, and affairs at Minneconjou, stagnant 
 a while after the departure of the d Infantry, once 
 more became alive with interest, for Miss Cilia, as has 
 been said, was a woman with a mission and, as perhaps 
 should be said, with some thirty years to her credit, 
 rather more than she had dollars. 
 
 Time had been when, with abundant means and few 
 
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS 9 
 
 cares, Miss Sanford busied herself in local charities and 
 became a social power in her community. But with loss 
 of money came lack of appreciation. She who had long 
 managed the Mission kindergarten, and mainly financed 
 it, was presently superseded as president of the board. 
 She who had ever been foremost in the counsels of the 
 Infants Home and the St. Mary s Guild found herself 
 gradually slighted in the matter of entertainments, etc., 
 though still graciously permitted to do most of the cleri 
 cal work. 
 
 For nearly a dozen years she had served as secre 
 tary and treasurer of the Young Woman s Church Aid 
 and Temperance Union, a beneficent organization that 
 still held many meetings but few converts. It had the 
 backing of three or four wealthy congregations, how 
 ever, and the control of a generous fund. When the 
 year 94 was ushered in and the victims of the panic 
 of 93 were enumerated, the case of Priscilla Sanford 
 had excited prompt and rather widespread interest; but 
 the sympathy that might have been as readily accorded 
 was tempered by the reflection that Miss Sanford had 
 ever been what they termed " bossy," by which it was 
 by no means meant to imply that bovine sluggishness 
 and submission were Miss Sanford s marked characteris 
 tics, for Miss Sanford was energy personified in petti 
 coats. It had been moved, seconded and carried, in a 
 spasm of feminine generosity, that the secretary and 
 treasurer should be paid a salary, small, to be sure, but 
 
10 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 something, and Priscilla Sanford, who had labored with 
 out fee or financial reward a dozen years, was permitted 
 to hold the position as a salaried official just one year 
 longer, by which time it was determined that Miss San- 
 ford had really been secretary much too long, and, any 
 how, that somebody else stood much more in need of it. 
 So Priscilla s party found itself outvoted at the annual 
 election, and the Young Woman s Church Aid ceased, 
 except in name, to be a temperance union. With much 
 that was intemperate in tone and language, the union 
 burst its bonds and flew to pieces, one or more to each 
 congregation. Then Priscilla tried her hand at writing 
 for the various journals of the clerical order. Some few 
 published, but none paid for, her contributions. Then 
 Aunt Marion began sending occasional drafts that were 
 not to be mentioned to anybody. Then came Priscilla s 
 bid to join Uncle Will and Aunt Marion at Minneconjou, 
 and then Priscilla herself. 
 
 She had been there barely forty-eight hours when 
 there arrived from the Philippines a bulky letter from 
 Lieutenant Sandy Ray, eldest son and hope and heir, 
 dated " Camp Lawton, Benguet." It had been nearly 
 three months on the way. It brought tidings that made 
 his mother s soft cheek pale with anxiety and caused 
 Colonel Ray to look up startled as he read it, to go over 
 and take his wife in his arms, lead her to the sofa, and 
 hold her close as he went on with the final pages a boy s 
 rhapsody over a boy s first love: 
 
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS 11 
 
 MY OWN MUMMIE: Not until I could send you the inclosed, 
 the portrait, and by no means flattering one, of the loveliest 
 girl that ever lived, could I write to tell you of my almost 
 delirious happiness. But look at her look at her, and see for 
 yourself and rejoice with me, best, blessedest, dearest of mothers, 
 that this exquisite creature loves me me, your no count, ranch 
 boy Sandy loves me, and will soon, please God, be my own 
 wife. Mother, mother, I have hardly slept in my wild joy, and 
 now I can hardly wait for your approval and blessing. Dad 
 will love and admire her, I know, but mothers, they say, never 
 think any woman good enough for their boys, while I I could 
 kiss the very ground she treads so lightly. I almost worship 
 the very glove she left me for a souvenir. 
 
 As yet I can t quite realize my wondrous luck. Why, Mum- 
 mie, the other fellows were simply mad about her during her 
 brief stay at Manila. Quite a lot of us, you know, were ordered 
 there when poor Jack Bender was court-martialed. He got a 
 stay of proceedings of some kind, so while the witnesses should 
 have been back with General Young here, they were dancing 
 attendance on her, and the way I got the inside track was, when 
 her parents had to go over to Japan, I coaxed a ten days leave 
 out of the General and went with them her father, mother and 
 her own sweet self on the Hancock to Nagasaki, and came 
 back desolate on the I don t know what. 
 
 I met her at a dance at the Club. She attracted me the instant 
 I set eyes on her, so like is she to Maidie, only darker, perhaps, 
 and taller, and a bit more slender. But her eyes, hair, teeth, 
 coloring, are all so like Maidie s. Her features, perhaps, are more 
 regular. Shannon, of the Twenty-third, was doing the devoted, 
 and he presented me. She danced like a sylph, she danced right 
 into my heart, Mummie, and there she lives and reigns and has 
 her being my queen! my queen! 
 
12 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Oh, what nonsense this must sound to you! All my wise 
 resolutions as to young men marrying on lieutenant s pay thrown 
 to the wind! That, however, need not worry us. The major, 
 her father, is well-to-do, and she s an only child; but this is 
 sordid. It is she that I love, and the man does not live who 
 could see and know her and not worship. Why, even our old 
 friend Captain Dwight was fascinated and did n t half like it that 
 I should have gone with her to Nagasaki, and he was stiff as 
 a ramrod when I came back. But to return to her father. He, 
 of course, doesn t expect to remain in the army after the war. 
 He was made major and quartermaster, I presume because of 
 his financial experience and worth, and he was so patriotic he 
 felt he had to get into the field as something. He is a Texan 
 by long residence, if not birth; owns two or three ranches, and 
 his wife, my darling s mother, is a Spanish lady whom he met 
 years ago in Cuba, then Sefiorita de la Cruz y Mendoza y 
 Fronteras, etc., etc., but she, my lady, never speaks of this. 
 She is simplicity and sweetness itself. She bears her father s 
 honored name, and that alone, except for her own Christian 
 name, the sweetest ever Inez. 
 
 The major s health has suffered much in Manila, but it is 
 hoped that six weeks in Japan may restore him entirely. If not, 
 they will take the homeward voyage by way of Vancouver in 
 one of the fine ships of the Empress line instead of our crowded 
 transports. Hundreds of State volunteers are going back by 
 every one of these and, being discharged, or as good as dis 
 charged, they consider themselves relieved from all discipline 
 which makes it unpleasant for families of officers. They (the 
 Farrells) may winter in Frisco, where I hope to join them in 
 the spring, and where you will be sure to see them when you and 
 Dad and the squadron embark for the Islands. There won t 
 be anything left of the insurrection, or much of the insnrrectos, 
 at the rate things are going, by the time you come, but mean- 
 
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS 13 
 
 while, like the loving Mummie you are, write to them, especially 
 to her, that your future daughter may know a loving welcome 
 awaits her. She seems timid as to that and fears you may not 
 like her, and Dad will, of course, write to Major Farrell, who 
 is as keen a lover of horses as ever he was, and who owns some 
 of the finest blooded stock ever seen in the South. This letter 
 goes registered because of the priceless photograph, which was 
 taken at Hong Kong, Inez tells me, just after their voyage 
 over, when she was looking like a fright. Being registered, it 
 must go slowly and may be long in reaching you, but fancy 
 your Sandy s joy, if you can. Send this to Maidie, if you will, 
 for I have no time to write to both. I am commanding my 
 troop and we march at dawn for the mountains, and may be 
 weeks iiow in the jungle, chasing Aguinaldo. Several of our 
 fellows have broken down and had to go to the sea or back 
 to Corregidor, even over to Japan, to recuperate, but I feel like 
 a fighting cock and am going in now to win a name for myself, 
 and for her, that you ll all be proud of. One thing I can tell 
 you proudly, mother dear; never since that day at the Presidio, 
 ever so much more than a year ago, have I let even a sip of 
 wine pass my lips, the first and only teetotaler among the Rays, 
 and perhaps that has something to do with my perfect physical 
 trim. I owe you this, and have gladly kept the faith. Now 
 in my new-found happiness I feel as if I could keep that and 
 every other faith to the end. Lovingly, devotedly, your boy, 
 
 SANFORD RAY. 
 
 P. S. Inez says it should not be anrtounced until you all have 
 approved, whereas I wished and would be for shouting the 
 news from the housetops. There is a chance of getting this to 
 you quicker than I thought. Captain Dwight has never been 
 himself since Bender s trial and conviction. General Young 
 wanted him to take sick leave last month and go to Japan, but 
 he wouldn t. Now he s fairly broken down and has to be left 
 
14. A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 behind, so this will go to Manila with him. I wonder I can t 
 help wondering what he d think if he knew what was in it. 
 The fellows do say she could have had him and his money, yet 
 she chose your boy, SANDY. 
 
 For a moment after reading the final page Colonel 
 Ray sat in silence. Aloft could be heard the firm foot 
 falls of Miss Sanford as she bustled about her room 
 unpacking her belated trunks. Within, with merry snap 
 and sparkle, the fresh-heaped wood fire blazed in the 
 broad open fireplace. Without, the orderly trumpeter, 
 away over by the flagstaff, was winding the last note of 
 stable call. The late afternoon sunshine flooded the 
 valley of the Minneconjou. The mountain air, cool, 
 bracing, redolent of pine and cedar, stirred the tracery of 
 the white curtains at the open southward window and 
 fluttered the silken folds of the standard and guidons at 
 the parlor archway. Anxiously the mother heart was 
 throbbing by his side, and the fond eyes sought the 
 soldier s strong, storm-beaten face. Then she noted the 
 look of bewilderment in his gaze, for again he was study 
 ing that postscript. Then suddenly he stretched forth 
 his hand, took from the little pile of newspapers on a 
 chair a copy of a recent army journal, swiftly turned over 
 a page or two, searching the columns with half doubtful 
 eyes; then, finding what he needed, thumbed the para 
 graph and held it where she could easily see. " Read 
 that," said Ray, and Marion read aloud: 
 
TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS 15 
 
 "SAN FRANCISCO, 18 Among the arrivals at the Occi 
 dental by the Sheridan from Manila and Nagasaki are Major, 
 Mrs. and Miss Farrell and Captain Oswald M. Dwight, the 
 latter of the th Cavalry. Major Farrell, Quartermaster U. 
 S. Volunteers, is the owner of valuable properties in Texas, 
 whither he is soon to return. Captain Dwight, one of the most 
 distinguished of our squadron leaders, is rapidly recuperating 
 from serious illness contracted in the Philippines. The voyage 
 proved a blessing in more ways than one, for the dinner given 
 by Major and Mrs. Farrell last night, to a select coterie at the 
 Bohemian Club, was to announce the engagement of their lovely 
 daughter, Inez, to this gallant trooper, who won his spurs in the 
 Apache campaign of the 8o s, and the sympathy of hosts of 
 friends on the Pacific coast in the death of his devoted wife six 
 years ago. They will now rejoice with him in his joy, and 
 unite with us in wishing him and his young and beautiful bride 
 all possible felicity." 
 
 Mrs. Ray turned, all amaze, incredulity and distress ; 
 then, with something like a sob, buried her face on the 
 sturdy blue shoulde-r. There was suspicious moisture 
 about her husband s blinking eyes, and he for a moment 
 could hardly trust himself to speak. 
 
 " Is it our boy now, dear ? " he gently asked, and 
 her head came up at the instant, her blue eyes welling 
 over with indignant tears: 
 
 " Oh, Will," she answered, " you know well what 
 I m thinking. It is of her of Margaret it is of their 
 boy poor little motherless Jim ! " 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 r A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 
 
 THE man did not live who could say, much less 
 think, that Oswald Dwight did not devotedly 
 love his devoted wife and had not deeply, even 
 desolately, mourned her untimely death. Margaret Wei- 
 land was not a woman to be soon forgotten. For six 
 years she had been the object almost of reverence among 
 the officers and men of her husband s regiment, almost 
 of worship among the women. Gentle, generous, and 
 charitable, gifted with many a physical charm and almost 
 every spiritual grace, she had lived her brief life in 
 the army an uncrowned queen, and died a martyr 
 almost a saint. For long weeks afterward the women 
 would weep at mere mention of her name. The casket 
 that bore the fragile, lifeless form and that of her infant 
 daughter to their final rest was literally buried in flowers 
 that were wet with tears. Strong men, too, turned aside 
 or hid their faces in trembling hands- when with bowed 
 head Oswald Dwight was led by, clasping to his breast 
 his sobbing little boy. There were some who said that 
 Dwight could never have pulled up again if it hadn t 
 been for Jimmy. It was long months before the stricken 
 soldier wa-s restored to them. It was longer still before 
 
 16 
 
A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 17 
 
 little Jim returned, and every day meantime, after 
 Dwight s appearance, regularly as he rose and went 
 silently about his duties, the father wrote his letter to be 
 read aloud to his only living child, and the one thing that 
 spurred the merry-hearted little fellow to his studies was 
 the longing to read and to answer for himself. Jim s 
 first missive to his father, penned by his own infinite 
 labor, was the event of the second winter at Fort Riley, 
 for it was shown irr succession to nearly every comrade 
 and to every even remotely sympathetic woman at the 
 post. There were maidens there who would fain have 
 consoled the tall, distinguished, dark-eyed trooper, so 
 interesting in his depth of melancholy, so eligible as a 
 catch, for Dwight, for an army man, was oddly well to 
 do. Obstinately, however, he refused all consolation 
 from even such a sympathetic source, and would for long 
 brook no companion on his solitary walks or rides. All 
 his talk now was of his boy. All his thoughts, plans, 
 projects, seemed centering on little Jim, who, for the 
 time being, had to be housed among his mother s people. 
 He was still too young for the care of a soldier-father 
 who any day might be compelled to take the field. But 
 then came station at Fort Riley, with its big garrison, 
 its school and its society, and then the yearning at his 
 heart could no longer be denied. The Wellands nearly 
 cried their eyes out when Oswald, toward the end of the 
 third " leave " since Margaret s death, told them that 
 the time for which he had scrupulously sought to pre- 
 
18 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 .pare them had come at last: he must have his boy he 
 could not live without him. 
 
 Then when Jimmy came it seemed as though an entire 
 garrison had started in to spoil him. He was the mer 
 riest, sunniest, friendliest little chap, frank, brave and 
 even beautiful, with all his mother s lovely coloring, with 
 her deep, heavily-lashed, soulful, violet eyes, with her 
 soft curling brown hair, with her sweet, sensitive mouth 
 and pretty white teeth. No wonder big Oswald used to 
 set him on his knee and look long into the smiling little 
 face, so fond and trustful, yet filled with vague wonder 
 ment why daddy should so wistfully gaze at him; and 
 then with relief, Jim knew not why, when the strong 
 arms would suddenly draw the lithe, slender little body 
 to that broad and heaving chest and hold it there, close 
 strained, while bearded lips sought and kissed again and 
 again the sunny curls. D wight just lived for that boy, 
 said Fort Riley, small blame to him ! Dwight made little 
 Jim his friend, his confidant, his companion. Jim had his 
 own little pony as soon as he could safely bestride one. 
 Jim had his own little oamp bed in the room opening off 
 his father s. Jim had his own shower bath rigged up in 
 his own closet. Jim had his regular setting-up drill and 
 calisthenics, with daddy himself for teacher, his rub- 
 down and his soldier toilet, with daddy to teach him 
 breathing exercises that took the oxygen deep down into 
 his lungs and sent the red blood whirling through his 
 sinewy little frame. Jimmy had his own racket for 
 
A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 19 
 
 tennis, his own target rifle, his own kites, tops, marbles, 
 soldiers of every conceivable size, costume and corps, 
 his own railway tracks and trains, his own books and 
 bookshelves, his own desk and study table pretty much 
 everything a boy could have except his own way, which 
 he was the better without, and his own mother with 
 out whom boy life can never be complete. 
 
 Fort Riley could be censorious, Heaven knows, when 
 cause existed, and sometimes when it did n t; but, save 
 the cherished thought of certain sentimental women that 
 little Jim should have a mother s care as well as a 
 father s, Fort Riley had few critics so unwise as to ques 
 tion Dwight s methods with his boy. Jim did not lack 
 for playfellows of his own age the fort was full of them 
 and they as full of mischief and merriment as even army 
 boys are apt to be ; but, though at school and in the " all- 
 round " sports of boyhood Jim mingled with them 
 unreservedly, the father had made it his business to know 
 most of them well before he brought Jim to take his initi 
 ation among them. There were some few whose homes 
 Jim was cautioned not to visit. There were some whom, 
 even on rainy days when the railway was in successful 
 operation all over the secotrd story, Jim was not per 
 mitted to invite to join his fellow-operatives. A few 
 carping critics there were who thought such indulgence 
 would be sivre to spoil any boy, but, under his father s 
 eye and guided by his father s hand, Jim worked and 
 studied quite as steadily as he played. The staff of the 
 
20 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 little army household was made up mainly of former 
 trooper Hentzler and his buxom wife, Hentzler being 
 butler, steward, and valet, Frau Hentzler cook and house 
 maid. Mrs. Feeny, of the troop, was their laundress, 
 and Trooper Mehl " boots," striker and groom. But it 
 was Dwight himself who roused his boy for his morning 
 bath and exercise, who sat with him through his study 
 hour, saw him off to school ; walked, rode, drove, some 
 times shot and fished with him, going for the purpose 
 far up the Smoky Hill. It was Dwight who read with 
 him after their evening tea and who finally knelt with 
 him night after night before he tucked the little fellow 
 into his white bed, imploring God s guidance for himself, 
 God s blessing for his boy. 
 
 And so never again had they been separated, Dwight 
 and his boy, until the squadron sailed for Manila and 
 little Jim, refusing to be comforted, had been left with his 
 mother s kindred until matters should shape themselves 
 in the Philippines. But the shaping process that might 
 have been a matter only of months, had the army found 
 no other enemy than the insurgents and their climate, 
 proved long and costly in life, limb, and treasure, thanks 
 to the aid and comfort given that enemy by our fellow- 
 men at home. Dwight had led his squadron through a 
 campaign fierce in its occasional fighting, but well-nigh 
 fatal through hardship and heat prostration to many 
 besides himself. Dwight had had to turn over his com 
 mand to Captain Gridley, his next in rank, and go to the 
 
A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 21 
 
 sea and Corregidor for rest and recuperation. What 
 good effects might have been obtained were offset by the 
 court-martial of an officer whose mind, it was believed, 
 had been affected by sunstroke, yet Captain Dwight was 
 compelled to appear and remain some time in Manila to 
 testify against him. He returned to the field little benefited 
 by the enforced separation from his fellows, and speedily 
 showed symptoms of returning prostration that led the 
 general commanding to order him again to the sea 
 shore and recommend his being sent on a sea voyage. It 
 was during this voyage that, after four wonderful days 
 at Nagasaki, he found himself daily, almost hourly, in 
 the presence of Inez Farrell, as beautiful and graceful 
 a girl as ever his eyes had seen. He was strong neither 
 physically nor mentally. He was still an invalid when 
 they met on the veranda of the old hotel overlooking that 
 wonderful land-locked harbor. He had by no means 
 forgotten the impression created by her beauty and her 
 lissome grace when dancing at the club at Manila. He 
 was invited by Major Farrell to be one of their little 
 party on a rickshaw ride over the green hills to Mogi. 
 It was an ideal day. It was an ideal night, with the 
 moon nearing full as they sat later on the upper veranda, 
 gazing out upon the riding lights of the shipping thick- 
 clustered on the placid bosom of the bay. It was fol 
 lowed by other nights as beautiful both ashore and at 
 sea. He was twenty years her senior, yet she seemed to 
 look for him, wait for him, prefer him in every way to 
 
22 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 younger officers, also homeward bound, and these 
 youngsters left him to his fate. 
 
 What time he was not walking the deck, with her 
 little hand resting on his arm, or flung in long, low 
 steamer chair close to hers, where he could watch the 
 wondrous beauty of her face and feel the spell of her 
 soft, languorous, lovely eyes, Dwight found himself in 
 converse with her father, a patriotic quartermaster, the 
 owner of valuable properties in the Lone Star State, to 
 which he must speedily return his "boys," two nephews, 
 were not trained to business, said he, and they, too, had 
 been seeing service and unsettling their minds and habits 
 with the volunteers that didn t get to Cuba. His daugh 
 ter was his chief anxiety, he admitted. She had her 
 mother s luxurious Spanish temperament ; needed a guid 
 ing hand a husband to whom she could look up with 
 respect and honor, not a callow youngster with no ideas 
 beyond scheming for promotion and better pay. Several 
 of these young chaps had been buzzing about her at 
 Manila, but she had " turned them all down," said 
 Farrell. She had sense and power of observation with 
 all her possibly romantic admiration for soldiers, but 
 what she really admired was the real soldier a man 
 fit to command and lead, a man with a record behind 
 him, not an uncertainty ahead. Dwight s seat, at the 
 request of the veteran general officer going with them 
 to the States, had been at the captain s table, but Dwight 
 soon effected at least Farrell effected and Dwight got 
 
A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 23 
 
 the (/^credit of it a transfer with the officer who had 
 been seated at the side of Inez Farrell, and Dwight s 
 mental condition can perhaps be judged of by the fact 
 that he never noticed that General Hume thereafter not 
 once addressed him on the voyage. 
 
 Enough said. Oswald Dwight s many friends 
 throughout the service read with much surprise, most of 
 them with vague disquietude and some few with down 
 right dismay, the announcement of the marriage at Los 
 Angeles, by the Right Reverend the Bishop of the Dio 
 cese, assisted by the Very Reverend Fathers Moran and 
 Finley, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, of 
 Inez, only daughter of Major and Quartermaster James 
 O Donohue Farrell, U. S. V., of Santa Rosita, Texas, 
 and Maria Mercedes de la Cruz y Mendoza y Fronteras, 
 his wife, to Captain Oswald M. Dwight, th U. S. 
 Cavalry. 
 
 When the happy pair set forth upon their wedding 
 journey some comment was created by the fact that, 
 while they went to New Orleans, the parents of the bride 
 did not go to Texas, as had been planned. Moreover, 
 the major, it seems, had not anticipated that orders hon 
 orably discharging him from the volunteer service would 
 meet him within the week of his arrival within the 
 Golden Gate. Officers of the Department Staff, inter 
 rogated on the subject, said little but looked volumes. 
 Major Blake, of the Cavalry, an old and intimate friend 
 of the Rays, wa understood to say that it was a wonder 
 
24 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 the major had been honorably discharged at all. Far- 
 rell, who was to have gone to his Texas property, found 
 that certain mines in Mexico demanded immediate look 
 ing after. Indeed, it was this fact that precipitated an 
 earlier marriage than Miss Farrell, whose trousseau was 
 by no means in readiness, had for a moment contem 
 plated. Farrell said he might be as much as six months 
 in the mountains beyond Guadalajara and other places. 
 The senora had, of course, wealthy kindred with whom 
 she could stay at Mexico or Vera Cruz, but the hitch 
 was about Inez, who, said her father, was so American 
 ized that she couldn t get along with her mother s people 
 they were forever at swords points, and what more 
 natural than that the ardent swain should promptly 
 urge immediate union; then the Farrells could go their 
 way in peace and he could bear away his beautiful bride 
 to the Atlantic seaboard, to be made known to his people, 
 and to embrace little Jim. To this Inez responded coyly 
 that she could not think of such a plan. She could not 
 go back to San Francisco, a bride, in the gowns she 
 wore while there as Miss Farrell. Then said Dwight, 
 we ll go straight to New Orleans, where her mother had 
 many friends and kinsfolk, where the best of modistes 
 abound, where everything a bride could possibly wear 
 could surely be found, and Farrell added his dictum to 
 the pleadings of the groom-elect. The plan appealed to 
 him most, as it would cost him least. 
 
 When Farrell gave them his tearful benediction and 
 
A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 25 
 
 farewell, ten thousand dollars of Dwight s money was 
 stowed away in bills of exchange on the City of Mexico 
 for investment in the fabulous mines of the Sierras, and 
 Dwight s signature was on the back of one or two bills 
 left in the hands of Farrell s friends and correspondents 
 at the Bank of California, purely, of course, for safe 
 keeping. And so they went on their respective ways, 
 Farrell not soon to be seen in God s country again. 
 
 Three months later, with little Jim at his side and 
 the young step-mother dawdling along after them in 
 her easy carriage, Captain Dwight was tramping through 
 Switzerland. The surgeons had said in so many words 
 he must not return to the Philippines for half a year, 
 and neither before nor after his marriage had a word 
 reached him from the Rays, who were his next-door 
 neighbors and Margaret s most devoted friends until 
 Jimmy was nearly two years old. Even thereafter, 
 though stationed far apart, Marion Ray and Margaret 
 Dwight had kept up their correspondence almost to the 
 end. Dwight, indeed, had seen barely half a dozen of 
 his former comrades, and that only by accident and in 
 haste. There had come since his second marriage the 
 usual number of cards in response to the wedding an 
 nouncement sent to so many friends both in and out of 
 the army. There had come a curiously unusual dearth 
 of letters of congratulation. But every man was on the 
 move, he persuaded himself. Everybody was either busy 
 in the Philippines or voyaging to or from them. They, 
 
26 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 too, were moving from pillar to post, and letters must 
 be miscarrying, so few, for instance, had come from 
 Father-in-law Farrell, and those that did come made no 
 mention of matters Farrell could hardly have ignored, 
 and that Dwight had rather counted on. 
 
 Still, Dwight s health was mending every week. Inez 
 had seen so much of foreign life in her younger days 
 she could not be expected to care to go poking about, as 
 he did with Jimmy, into all manner of odd nooks and 
 corners. Father and son once more were hand in hand 
 hand in glove for hours each day, and but for a shyness 
 Jim would surely soon get over a queer, silent shrink 
 ing from his beautiful young mother but for this and 
 one or two little worries due to the non-appearance of 
 letters that ought to have come and doubtless would 
 come, Dwight strove to persuade himself that he was 
 again a happy and an enviable man. 
 
 Then came a day that left its impress on them all. 
 There had been something very like demur on part of 
 the Welland family when Dwight first announced his 
 intention of taking Jimmy with them to see the Old 
 World. What would Inez they spoke her name with 
 effort think of such a plan? Was not a young bride 
 justified in expecting the undivided attention of her hus 
 band? Would not any girl, placed as she was, prefer a 
 honeymoon unclouded by the presence of the children of 
 her predecessor? Inez had not warmed to her other 
 kindred by marriage; could she be expected to welcome 
 
A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 27 
 
 and, all at once, to warm to little Jim? Conscientiously 
 and consistently they had tried to like Inez, and could 
 not. She was beautiful; she was appealing; she was 
 apparently all desire to please, but she was not con 
 vincing. The more they saw of her the less they liked, 
 but Dwight s infatuation was complete. And still he 
 would have his boy, and they spoke at last. He had 
 answered by summoning her to the room a strange 
 proceeding and bidding her speak for him, and she did. 
 She said her heart had yearned for little Jim ever since 
 the captain first began to tell of him, and when she 
 realized later how utterly the father s heart was bound 
 up in his boy, she had prayed for guidance that she might 
 prove a second mother to the little fellow, and it was 
 her earnest desire that the lad might come with them. 
 How else was she to hope to win his trust, his affection? 
 There was nothing left for them to say; but the dread 
 and desolation that fell upon the household when, for 
 the second time, they were compelled to part with Mar 
 garet s boy, no one but the Wellands was permitted to 
 know, 
 
 Inez, who had been a model sailor on the Pacific, 
 kept much to her stateroom on the gray Atlantic, though 
 the voyage was unusually placid. Nor had she later 
 made much effort in her quest for Jimmy s trust and 
 affection. She could not climb mountains, pedal wheels 
 or ride quadrupeds. She cared little for scenery she 
 had seen so much in her girlhood. She admitted feeling 
 
28 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 languid and inert. Perhaps mountain air was not con 
 genial. She would be better when they got to sunny 
 Italy. She wished there to see everything and to live in 
 the open air it was what the doctor said the captain 
 must do and then she was always exquisitely gowned 
 and ready to meet them when in the late afternoon they 
 came home, all aglow, with just time to get out of their 
 tweeds and into dinner dress. Then Jimmy went early 
 to bed, and she had the long beautiful evenings with 
 her husband. But now they were in sunny Italy and, 
 except to drive in beauteous toilets and dine in evening 
 garb still more resplendent, Inez had no interest in her 
 surroundings and but little in Jim. They were to sail 
 for home, taking the Hohenzollern at Naples, after the 
 Easter week in Rome. They had been driving much of 
 the day and dining early on the balcony of their hotel, 
 looking out upon the glorious view toward Sorrento and 
 Capri, with grim Vesuvius, smoke-crowned, in the mid 
 dle distance. Any moment, said their host, they should 
 sight the graceful hull of their expected steamer cleav 
 ing the blue beyond the rocky scarp of Posilipo, when 
 Jimmy, gazing steadily through the glass at the crowding 
 fleet of shipping off the Dogana, spoke excitedly : " It 
 is our flag, daddy, and the funnel has three stripes ! " 
 
 " A transport," said his father, who had been bending 
 over Inez. " She must have come in while we were 
 driving." Yet, even as he spoke, anxiously, tenderly, he 
 was studying her face. 
 
A FACE FROM THE PHILIPPINES 29 
 
 " Then that was one of our officers that spoke to 
 you, mamma?" said Jim, turning quickly, eagerly 
 toward her. 
 
 She had been unusually inert and silent since their 
 return, had herself suggested dinner on the balcony. It 
 would save the bother of dressing, and then repacking, 
 since they might have to go on board any hour that 
 evening. She had been gazing listlessly out over the 
 beautiful bay, almost dazzling in the rays of the setting 
 sun. Now she suddenly started, shivered, but almost 
 as suddenly, quickly rallied. 
 
 " Spoke to me, Jimmy ! Why, child, you ve been 
 dreaming ! " 
 
 " Why, no, mamma ! Don t you remember while 
 daddy was in at the bank ? " and the boy s big violet 
 eyes turned full upon her. The white hands gripped the 
 arm of her reclining chair, but she laughed lightly, and 
 the words came quick. 
 
 " Jimmy boy, you were sound asleep on the front seat. 
 Don t you remember, Oswald, dear ? " 
 
 Dwight, too, laughed merrily. " Surely ! Why, little 
 man, your peepers were shut and you were curled up 
 like a pussy cat " 
 
 " But I d waked up, daddy. Mamma gave a little 
 scream and I thought somebody d hurt her, and there 
 was this gentleman with his hat raised, just standing 
 and staring at her till she bent over and said something 
 quick 
 
SO A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 "Well, of all the traeumbilder I ever heard!" and 
 Mrs. Dwight s pearly teeth gleamed through rosy lips 
 as she laughed delightedly, merrily. " Why, Jimmy boy, 
 I had to shake you awake when I saw papa coming. 
 That s what I bent forward for. You called him for 
 something, dear, or I should n t have disturbed him." 
 
 " Certainly, I wanted him to see those Italian cavalry 
 officers coming by, and his eyes could hardly open in 
 time. Just look at em now." 
 
 They were, indeed, worth looking at big and violet, 
 blue and round and full of wonderment, of incredulity 
 almost of shock and distress gazing fixedly upon the 
 lovely, laughing face of the girl in the deep reclining 
 chair. 
 
 And then, soft stepping, apologetic, salver in hand, a 
 waiter appeared at the long Venetian window. Dwight 
 took the card, read, and fairly cried aloud : 
 
 " By all that s- jolly, Inez, it s Sandy Ray ! " 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A NIGHT AT NAPLES 
 
 THERE was a joyous time at the Salone Mar- 
 gherita that evening. Homeward bound, the 
 Burnside, from Manila to New York via Suez, 
 had anchored that morning off the Dogana quay, and 
 twoscore officers and ladies and a numerous contin 
 gent of discharged soldiers had come swarming ashore to 
 see what they could of Naples before again proceeding on 
 the morrow. The fact that most of the officers were 
 invalided home, convalescing from wounds or severe 
 illness, seemed but moderately to cloud their enjoyment. 
 By six o clock most of their number had heard that 
 Dwight of the cavalry, with his bride, was at the Grand, 
 whither several went at once before ordering dinner. 
 First to arrive, alone, and looking pallid and ill, was 
 a young soldier in civilian dress, who seemed nervously 
 impatient at the delay that followed the sending up of 
 his card, and by no means delighted when three or four 
 of his fellows came in and followed suit before his own 
 was acknowledged. So uncompanionable, indeed, was 
 he that he stepped outside to the southward terrace as 
 though to avoid these others, and, but for the cards, the 
 observant portier might have thought them strangers to 
 
 31 
 
32 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 each other. The late arrivals, as a rule, were garbed in 
 khaki, just as they had come away from Manila, and 
 were objects of polite curiosity to the elegantly capped, 
 cloaked and uniformed Italian officers sauntering in from 
 the Piazza Umberto, many of whom saluted courteously, 
 though few could tell from the dress worn by the Amer 
 icans which was officer and which was private soldier. 
 
 It was full fifteen minutes before Captain Dwight 
 appeared, though little Jim had come bounding down the 
 carpeted stairway all joy at seeing a face or two he well 
 remembered, and in meeting new friends, who were un 
 speakably welcome because they were soldiers, American 
 soldiers, our soldiers. Father, he said, would be down in 
 a moment. Mamma was not quite well, over-tired, per 
 haps, from the long drive and day at sight-seeing and 
 shopping. Even when Dwight appeared, shaking hands 
 most cordially, rejoicefully, with all, and, indeed, nearly 
 embracing Sandy Ray, whom he had known since that 
 young gentleman s babyhood, it was a disappointment to 
 all his visitors that he seemed worried and harassed. Mrs. 
 Dwight, he explained, had not benefited as they had 
 hoped by the journeyings abroad, and she had just had 
 something like a sinking spell. They would have to 
 excuse her a while. She d be down later. " But you, 
 too, Sandy boy ! What a tough time you must have been 
 having! I had n t heard of your being ill. I have n t 
 heard anything, in fact. Your father has n t written to 
 me at all. What has been the matter? " 
 
A NIGHT AT NAPLES 33 
 
 And then it appeared that Sandy had been ailing for 
 weeks on top of a not very serious wound, " was n t at 
 all fit," yet did n t wish to come home had been ordered 
 out of the Islands, in fact. And then, as it further ap 
 peared, when Dwight turned, looking for little Jim, all 
 eagerness that Sandy should see how splendidly the lad 
 was grown and developed since their parting in Arizona 
 years ago, when Jimmy was just beginning to toddle 
 about and talk, there stood the boy, his big blue eyes 
 fixed on the pallid, solemn face of Lieutenant Ray with 
 a look of bewilderment and trouble. Fowne of the 
 Engineers spoke of it later to Foster, who just at that 
 moment had seized Jimmy and swung him to his shoul 
 der, where, instead of gleefully pounding his captor s 
 head and laughing merrily, as of old he would have 
 done, Jimmy was* straining his violet blue eyes again, 
 staring after Ray, whom a waiter, bearing his card, had 
 summoned to follow him. Three or four of the laughing 
 party at the moment had surrounded Dwight, compelling 
 him with their chatter, so that he stood with a hand still 
 extended toward the spot where Jimmy had been stand 
 ing, and did not even see that Ray had been summoned 
 and was gone. Question and answer were flying thick 
 and fast, for full five minutes before, looking about him, 
 Dwight missed his boy. Foster, finding the little fellow 
 unresponsive, at least, had presently set him down, and 
 then, plunging eagerly into the talk over the latest news 
 paper tidings of the doings of the Islands of Otis s prob- 
 
34 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 able home-coming and MacArthur s succeeding to the 
 command, of what could be looked for at Samar and 
 Mindanao he, too, had lost sight of the lad, " Hullo ! " 
 said Dwight, " Jimmy has taken possession of Ray. 
 Well, that s as it should be. How was Gridley when 
 you last saw him, Foster? And tell me about the Gil- 
 lettes. They were mighty kind to me when I was so 
 knocked out after Bender s trial. Fit now? I should 
 say so! Never felt finer in my life. I m going back to 
 Manila just as soon as I can place my wife and Jimmy, 
 no matter what the doctors say." 
 
 And so it happened that, for ten minutes or more, 
 neither Lieutenant Ray nor little Jim was greatly missed. 
 But then Dwight began bethinking him it was high time 
 for Inez to appear. She had promised to come down 
 and meet his old comrades. Only a few minutes would 
 be needed, she declared, in which " to prink a bit." She 
 had been looking so white, or yellow, rather so wan 
 and weak, yet, after a bumper of champagne, had rallied 
 gallantly, had bidden him run down to meet them and 
 keep them entertained. She d soon be there. That was 
 now full twenty minutes back, and these fellows were 
 getting impatient for dinner. The head waiter was even 
 now announcing that their table was in readiness. 
 Excusing himself a moment, Dwight hastened from the 
 salon and ran swiftly up to their apartments. She was 
 not there. He went out upon the gallery the last look 
 by day over that incomparable panorama of earth and 
 
A NIGHT AT NAPLES 35 
 
 sea and sky, for the sun was just kissing the far west 
 ward wave and throwing a glow of ruddy gold all over 
 the Vesuvian shore. The waiter was clearing the table. 
 Would the signor finish his wine? The signor needed 
 none. Since that heat prostration in Luzon, Dwight 
 found that a single glass would sometimes go to his 
 head, and so when Inez was fatigued on land or ill at 
 sea, and on her account he had ordered champagne, he 
 merely sipped it, as it were, for her sake. There stood 
 the generous flask still beaded with its icy dew, but most 
 of its contents were gone. So was Inez. That waiter 
 had then the proverbial " cheek " of his class to drink 
 half their wine and offer the signor the dregs. No, he 
 wished no wine. Where was the signora? The signora, 
 with the signorino, said the waiter, had been there but 
 the moment before. The signora had reentered her 
 apartment as the signor ascended. Dwight tapped at 
 her window, and presently her voice answered him, in 
 apparent exasperation. She had been having " no end 
 of bother " changing her gown. She could n t come 
 down to meet his friends in the dusty traveling suit she 
 had worn all day. She had hunted through two trunks 
 before she found what she needed, and was so sorry for 
 the delay, but she heard the party was to dine there. 
 She had a maid to help her now, so she was trying to 
 look her best and be worthy of him. Could he help in 
 some way? Oh, dear no. Run back to them, there s 
 a good boy, and in a few minutes she would be there. 
 
36 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 So Dwight returned to the laughing party and went 
 with them to their table and sat with them an odd 
 group in their service-worn suits of khaki amid the 
 sumptuously attired guests in the brilliant room. 
 Yet even among the wearers of the handsome Italian 
 uniform the incessant glances toward the American 
 party were far from critical. These men had but re 
 cently seen sharp service, and soldiers respect and envy 
 soldier achievement. It was Dwight who first missed 
 and asked for Ray. Ray? Why, Ray was n t of our 
 party. Ray was n t of any party, in fact. Ray was " off 
 his feed, if not off his base." The fellow was utterly 
 hipped, said Foster. "No more like his father than I 
 to Hercules, and nobody knows why." Ray came ashore 
 with the rest of the crowd, had business at Cook s Bank, 
 wandered off by himself and had been mooning by him 
 self most of the voyage. Foster buried his muzzle deep 
 in his brimming glass of Chianti and did n t care a billy 
 what had become of young Ray. Gone back to the ship, 
 probably, to sit and sulk the rest of the voyage. Obvi 
 ously the quartette was out for pleasure, and Ray would 
 have been a spoil-sport. None the less, Dwight felt that 
 he should find him, if possible, and so went to the office. 
 But assuredly, said the smiling, gold-banded official, the 
 tenente departed as they were all in conversation. The 
 tenente wished not to disturb them. The signorino went 
 with him to his carriage and, behold ! the signorino him 
 self! Jimmy, indeed, came through the portal at the 
 
A NIGHT AT NAPLES 37 
 
 moment from the Piazza. Umberto side, but not the 
 blithe, bounding, joyous Jimmy of trie morning. The 
 young face was clouded with a look the father never 
 before had seen, and when he called and Jimmy suddenly 
 turned and saw him, though the bright eyes lighted 
 instantly with all the old love perhaps, too, with some 
 relief the cloud did not entirely vanish, nor did the 
 boy come bounding. He ran ; he took his father s hand 
 and looked up in his face, and when he was asked what 
 he had done with Mr. Ray, said slowly : " Why, daddy, 
 he is n t a bit like what I sposed he d be. He only spoke 
 to mamma a minute or two, and I guess he is n t well. 
 He did n t have time to speak to me he hardly said 
 good-by, or anything." 
 
 " Oh, then mamma saw Mr. Ray ! I m glad of that," 
 said Dwight, though remembering she had not men 
 tioned it. 
 
 " Yes, on the gallery/ said Jimmy. " At least, I sup 
 pose so. He came out through the corridor, and then 
 mamma sent me after him with the gloves he had left. 
 
 I wanted to ask him " hesitated Jimmy. He did not 
 
 know whether to go on or not, but he need not have 
 worried. Papa had suddenly turned from him, turned 
 to meet his new mamma his beautiful young mamma, 
 who, with bared neck and arms, in dinner toilet, was 
 coming slowly and with trailing skirts down the broad 
 and carpeted stairway and looking more radiant and 
 beautiful than Jimmy ever before had seen her; she 
 
58 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 whom, a few minutes earlier, he had found on the gallery 
 pallid and excited, trembling from weakness, perhaps. 
 Now she had diamonds in her ears and at her creamy 
 throat, diamonds flashing in her corsage. There were 
 shimmer and spangle and firefly sparklings in the lus 
 trous folds of her gown. There were starlight twin 
 klings from the bands of those wondrous, dainty, high- 
 heeled little " slipper shoes," as Jimmy called them. 
 There were glowworm gems in the dark masses of her 
 luxuriant hair. There were rich and precious stones 
 upon her slender, clasping ringers, for Dwight had been 
 lavish to an extent he only now began to realize, for, 
 though his heart leaped in unison with the instant ad 
 miration and worship in his eyes, it ached in strange, 
 dull foreboding and reproach for the thought that in 
 stantly seized him: How utterly unlike Margaret! 
 
 A moment later and the men in khaki were being pre 
 sented. They had sprung to their feet at sight of the 
 radiant vision in the doorway, where for a moment Inez 
 seemed to hesitate. Beautiful she was beyond question, 
 with the rich, dusky beauty of the passionate South, and 
 they who gazed upon her marveled not at the lover 
 worship in Dwight s deep-set eyes at the pride with 
 which he watched her gracious, graceful, yet half-appeal 
 ing and timid acknowledgment of their soldier homage. 
 They made way for her, and would have it that she 
 should sit with them as they lingered a few moments 
 over their wine. And then Farnham, their senior pres- 
 
A NIGHT AT NAPLES 39 
 
 ent, raised his glass to her with a word of soldier com 
 pliment and greeting, after the manner of the days of 
 his forefathers, and they joined in the toast, one and 
 all, and Inez blushed and beamed upon them, and looked 
 up into her husband s eyes as though begging that he 
 should speak for her, and sipped just the tiniest ripple 
 from the brimming glass of champagne. They had not 
 too much time, for boxes had been reserved for all their 
 party at the Salone Margherita, and could not would 
 not Mrs. Dwight and the captain join them? Several 
 of the ladies from the transport were to be with them, 
 and now it would be incomplete without Mrs. Dwight. 
 Again the deep, dark, lustrous eyes sought the husband s 
 face, as though she would say in this, as in everything, 
 he must decide. The transport was to proceed at dawn. 
 The Hohenzollern could not be going earlier. How she 
 would shine, this bird of paradise, among those simply- 
 garbed army women who perforce were limited to such 
 toilets as could be evolved from the little steamer trunks. 
 It was Dwight who negatived the project. She would 
 be utterly overdressed for the place and the occasion, 
 but he based his regrets upon the long and fatiguing 
 day, the packing that had to be done, the coming at any 
 moment of their ship. Even now she was announced, 
 said Jimmy, hastening in. And so the others went their 
 way without the D wights and joined their fellow-voy 
 agers in their revel, the merriest group in all that laugh 
 ing company, and only once or twice did someone, some 
 
40 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 gentle-hearted woman, speak the thought that more than 
 once or twice occurred to many present: Why should 
 Sandy Ray have withdrawn from all companionship? 
 Someone said he had returned to the steamer alone. 
 
 It was long after midnight when they came rippling 
 back to the huge bulk of the troopship, with silver rain 
 ing from the blades of their oars into the sparkling 
 bosom of that wondrous bay. A joyous little flotilla of 
 Neapolitan water craft was theirs, for they had chartered 
 several of the clumsy, unwieldly looking, yet most serv 
 iceable barklings, each with its dusky, brown-throated 
 oarsman. They had spent some merry hours after the 
 long, hot voyage through Indian seas and under torrid 
 skies. They had heard much catchy music that all could 
 appreciate and few words, fortunately, that any could 
 understand. They were chatting and singing and recall 
 ing the brilliant scene, the dazzling lights, the lustrous 
 corridor and stairway of pure white marble, the coaxing, 
 wheedling swarm of beggar children, the sharp and ever- 
 recurrent contrast between splendid opulence and squalid 
 misery, and as they circled under the massive overhang 
 of their stanch and trusty ship, and one after another 
 each merry boatload came again in full view of the 
 frowning cone of old Vesuvius, belching lurid flame and 
 billowing ruddy streams of molten lava from its crest, 
 some sweet-voiced woman in the foremost boat uplifted 
 her heart in the barcarole from " Masaniello " : " Behold 
 how brightly breaks the morning," and, though morning 
 
A NIGHT AT NAPLES 41 
 
 was yet some hours away, here but a league or two across 
 the star-reflecting deep and under the shoulder of the 
 mountain furnace lay the vine-covered walls of Portici, 
 where first was trilled that exquisite welcome to Aurora. 
 And so with music and merriment and laughter, home 
 ward bound from distant service in defense of a beloved 
 flag, they came trooping up the side, the opulence of 
 their gladness all the sharper contrast to the dull apathy 
 of one lone watcher who shrank from their approach 
 and sought seclusion across the deck and in the shadow 
 of the long boat. 
 
 Ray was not in his stateroom when Foster bustled 
 thither to inquire. Ray had returned some hours before, 
 said the ship s official on duty. Ray was not found, 
 however, until nearly four bells, when Foster, who had 
 smoked too much to feel sleepy and wished to " stay up 
 and see Vesuvius, anyhow," made an extended inspection 
 of the silent deck. Foster had taken it amiss that Ray 
 should seem so downhearted and be so uncompanion 
 able. Foster felt that the time had come when, in the 
 absence of Sandy s own, he (Foster) should assume 
 paternal rights, or at least those of elder brother, and 
 take the youngster to task. Here and there about the 
 big ship he found, in knots of two or three, silent or 
 conversing in low tone, comrades of the commissioned 
 list or of the ranks, unwilling to seek their berths so long 
 as so gorgeous a panorama lasted. These were ranged 
 along the starboard side, where best they could study 
 
42 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 that superb sweep of shore line, of light and shadow, of 
 slope and mountain, of curving strand white, flashing in 
 the moonbeams, of twinkling villages low-lying, of dis 
 tant, rock-ribbed isles, but among these worshipers there 
 was no Ray. 
 
 It was over on the other the dark, the port side, and 
 all alone, sprawled in a steamer chair he had lugged to 
 the upper deck and the shadow of the big boat, that 
 Foster came upon the lad. His field glasses were in his 
 hand ; his eyes fixed dreamily upon the dwindling, dimin 
 ishing night lights of the westward suburbs, and Foster 
 hailed brusquely. It was time to jar the boy out of his 
 mooning : 
 
 " Hello, Sandy ! Where on earth have you been all 
 night?" 
 
 " Nowhere," was the short reply. 
 
 " Where on sea then, if you will be captious ? " 
 
 " Oh, admiring scenery," and Sandy yawned sug 
 gestively. 
 
 " Scenery is all on t other side, man ! Nothing here 
 but ships and shore lights." 
 
 " Well that s what I m looking at." 
 
 Foster turned sulkily. He disliked being " stood off " 
 by anybody, especially a youngster. Dimly in the soft 
 moonlight the sleeping city lay outspread before him. 
 Standing on the rail, grasping a stanchion, he could see, 
 save where the charthouse and huge funnel interposed, 
 the entire sweep from Posilipo at the west around almost 
 
A NIGHT AT NAPLES 43 
 
 to Sorrento. Ray, seated under the shadow of the long 
 boat, could see only from Posilipo to a low-lying cluster 
 of lights almost at the water s edge. That then was the 
 Piazza Urnberto, and those few twinkling, starlike 
 sparkles to the left, dancing so merrily on the inter 
 vening wave those were from some still open casements 
 at the Grand. Then Foster saw what Sandy Ray was 
 looking for, and turned and left him. 
 
 At dawn they were weighing anchor, but the big ship 
 had not yet swung her nose to the west when Foster 
 again appeared on the dripping deck and again found 
 Ray almost at the same spot. Some of the same lights, 
 a very few, were still faintly to be seen to the west of 
 the Piazza, and Ray s signal glasses were lifted to his 
 eyes. Aloft the sentinel stars were paling, their night 
 watch ended. Ashore, along the quays and basin and 
 about the Dogana, the lantern lights told of the stir 
 of coming day and departing shipping. Beyond the 
 heavy smoke all about the lone and threatening moun 
 tain, the skies were taking on a rose hue of their own 
 that dulled the glow of the sluggish streams rolling 
 ever down those scarred and desolate slopes. Near by 
 in silvery chime ship after ship announced the passing 
 of the night hours, the birth of the infant day, and a 
 long, light-girdled shape, floating easily close at hand 
 on the swelling tide, slowly changed from shadowy black 
 to gray, from gray to violet, and finally as the still 
 invisible sun peered long leagues away beyond the Italian 
 
44 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 mountains, beyond the Adriatic wave, above the dim 
 ygean shore, and sent his flashing signals through the 
 upper ether from cream to snowy white, there lay the 
 Hohenzollern, " all a taunto and impatient " for her west 
 ward voyage for " Gib," for the Azores, for home, and 
 they of the bulkier, heavier transport envied possibly the 
 lithe and lissome build of the famous pleasure craft, 
 once the pride of the old German Lloyds. She might 
 follow in the run past Ischia and Sicily. She would lead 
 far in the chase for Sandy Hook. 
 
 " Been up all night, Sandy ? " hailed Foster sharply, 
 believing it high time to break in upon these romantic 
 moonings. 
 
 " No," said the young soldier slowly " I ve been 
 down." 
 
 " Poor boy," thought Foster, as he turned away. " He 
 looks it ! Poor, nonsensical, damn little fool ! " 
 
 Yet Foster was not so very big, so very wise, so very 
 safe and sure. He had yet to know for himself much 
 that Ray knew now. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 "SHE is COMING HERE!" 
 
 THE valley of the Minneconjou was looking its 
 loveliest in the joyous sunshine of mid-May. 
 The post had been enlarged to meet the needs 
 of the increasing garrison. A colonel of infantry had 
 been sent to assume command, there being now two 
 of his battalions at the station and only one squadron, 
 of four troops, of Ray s old regiment, the th Cav 
 alry. At any moment our friend of that name and 
 many years, now become lieutenant-colonel in his own 
 right, could expect orders for the Philippines, and he 
 was ready as ever, though there were just a few rea 
 sons why he hated to go. It had been decided that 
 Marion, his wife, hitherto his almost inseparable com 
 panion, should not venture to Manila. The detail at most 
 would not exceed two years. It might cover only one, 
 for it was certain that, with the coming enlargement of 
 the army, Ray would soon be promoted to the full rank 
 of colonel, and that would probably bring him home 
 again, for, as things had been going in Samar and Min 
 danao, colonels were in that sort of campaigning about 
 as useful as most of them in church. Keen young cap 
 tains and lieutenants were in demand. Field officers, so- 
 
 45 
 
46 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 called, were of less account in the field than in fortified 
 places. Occasionally a sizable column a major s com 
 mand perhaps would push forth into the jungle, where 
 it speedily had to split up into small detachments, probing 
 in single file, and in pursuit of scattering bands of 
 ladrones or banditti, the bamboo or the mountain trail. 
 Moreover, much of the vim and spirit had been taken 
 out of the soldiery, officers and men, old and young, by 
 the fate of the more daring and energetic of their num 
 ber, who had fallen victims, not to lance or bullet of 
 lurking foe at the front, but rather " the slings and 
 arrows of outrageous fortune " at the rear. A powerful 
 party at home had shown far more concern over the 
 alleged ill-treatment of the few insurgent bands than their 
 actual treachery to our men-at-arms. Officers and men 
 listened in silence to the public rebukes and sentences 
 administered to the leaders who had shed their gloves 
 and fought the insurrecto with weapons far more effec 
 tive, yet infinitely less deadly, than fire and steel. Offi 
 cers and men in silence set forth upon their next ordered 
 expedition, and in silence returned and announced the 
 result practically nothing. Elusive and flitting little 
 bands of native warriors, vanishing like shadows among 
 the thickets, were not to be trapped by the methods pre 
 scribed for dealing with an army arrayed in front of 
 Washington. " Don t come unless you have to," wrote 
 Major Blake from the hospital at Manila to Billy Ray at 
 Minneconjou, " The courts-martial of Hill and Dale 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE!" 47 
 
 and Langham have taken the heart out of our fellows. 
 The young officers say they dare not go out for fear they 
 might do some damage somewhere." 
 
 So Ray, who had fought Indians all over the West 
 for many a year sometimes, it is true, coming in for a 
 Puritanical scorching from press and pulpit in far New 
 England, where, two hundred years ago, with prayerful 
 zest our forefathers burned witches at the stake and put 
 Pequots to the sword now found himself shrinking 
 from the task of tackling savages with gloves who 
 treated men without mercy. Marion, as has been said, 
 was not to accompany him to the Islands and be near to 
 counsel and to comfort. She was not too well now, and 
 had had many an anxiety. Billy, Junior, when he should 
 have been studying for West Point, had been spooning 
 over a pretty girl not yet in long dresses, and Sandy, their 
 firstborn, the soldier boy, had come home from the 
 Islands wounded in body and soul. The scar of the bullet 
 would not be long healing, but the sting of that other 
 shock and sorrow, who could say what that might yet im 
 port ? for Sandy would not speak of it. Sandy would not 
 so much as refer to his brief dream of bliss and the girl 
 that inspired it. Sandy had come to them at Minne- 
 conjou to recuperate, detached from his own regiment 
 " for such light duty as he might be able to perform " 
 with his father s squadron of the old th. Sandy was 
 a sad and silent man. " Let him alone to beat it out 
 in time," said the soldier-father. " It is the only way." 
 
48 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 But Marion s mother heart yearned over her boy and his 
 wordless sorrowing. He must have loved that beautiful 
 but unprincipled creature with all his fervent young heart. 
 Colonel Stone, who was now in command at Minne- 
 conjou, had known the Rays for years and was firmly 
 their friend. Without so much as a hint from any 
 source, he had divined that Sandy s low spirits were not 
 the result of that bullet wound. He could not but note 
 the solicitude with which his cavalry friend and ofttime 
 fellow-campaigner regarded the silent young soldier, his 
 eldest son. Colonel Stone had suggested at first that 
 Sandy be put at surveying the reservation something 
 to keep him long hours each day in the open air. But 
 barely six months had elapsed since the Engineers, under 
 orders from department headquarters, had completed 
 with chain, rod and transit thorough plotting of the six 
 mile square, to the end that a very finely finished map was 
 received almost at the time the colonel first broached the 
 subject. Sandy could not yet take part in the sharp 
 mounted drills that were his father s delight. Something 
 had to be done to give him measurably congenial occupa 
 tion. He could not play tennis, croquet or billiards. He 
 would not play poker or find solace in Scotch highballs. 
 He might have derived some comfort from reading and 
 study, but Priscilla was beset with desire to prescribe 
 his reading and guide his studies, for Priscilla, being 
 several years his senior in age and many volumes his 
 superior in reading, was ever mindful of the mission 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE!" 49 
 
 which no conscientious woman should be without. 
 Priscilla had thought to start a school for the children 
 of the garrison, but found that many of the elders were 
 driven every day to town and its high school, while most 
 of the mites were corraled each morning in the basement 
 of the post chapel, pupils of a sergeant schoolmaster 
 whose success had been quite remarkable, so much so 
 that parents were reluctant and their progeny rebel 
 lious when other and more modern methods, Priscilla s, 
 were suggested. It must be owned that the little ones 
 from the start found Miss Sanford unsympathetic, if not 
 impossible. Children love being catechized as little as 
 do their elders, and they resented it that this somewhat 
 prim, yet by no means unprepossessing, spinster should 
 consider it her duty amf her privilege to cross-question 
 them as to their infantile responsibilities and, all unin 
 vited, to undertake supervision of their noisy sports. 
 Finding no opening for a day school, Miss Sanford had 
 sought to interest the weans in an afternoon reading 
 class. The first day or two the major s spacious quar 
 ters were well filled, so were the children with alluring 
 goodies they could thoroughly appreciate. But when 
 sermons began to take the place of sandwiches, and moral 
 admonitions and questionings were administered in lieu 
 of lemonade and lady-fingers, Miss Sanford s kinder 
 garten dissolved in air and the would-be gentle monitress 
 in disappointed tears. Uncle Will had whimsically 
 Striven to console her with the promise of better luck 
 
50 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 when school stopped in June, but Aunt Marion had 
 smilingly though silently shaken her head. She knew 
 Priscilla s propensities of old. She had convictions, said 
 Aunt Marion, and theories as to how children should 
 be taught to see the serious side of life. Priscilla was 
 suffering from an accumulation of pent-up zeal and 
 enthusiasm that was yet to find an outlet. 
 
 Then one day the outlet came. 
 
 Lieutenant Parker, " Exchange officer," so-called, was 
 suddenly ordered to duty at West Point, and Colonel 
 Stone asked Sandy Ray if he would take his place. 
 " Strictly speaking," said he, " I should name one of my 
 own officers, but I have other work for all of them, and 
 lots of it. You have really very little else just now that 
 you can do, except, perhaps, go to stables." 
 
 Now, if there was one institution more than another at 
 Minneconjou against which Priscilla Sanford had set her 
 seal, it was the post Exchange. In all her months of 
 residence under Uncle Will s, the major s, roof, never 
 once had the others there sheltered forgotten the day of 
 her first acquaintance with the subject. Sandy was still 
 beyond seas, but Billy, Junior, was of the household 
 when, just as they took their place at table for luncheon, 
 the husband and father spoke: 
 
 " Maidie wife, they have some capital cider at the Can 
 teen and I ordered some sent over." 
 
 Miss Sanford looked up inquiringly over her poised 
 spoonful of soup. 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE!" 51 
 
 " The Canteen? " she asked. 
 
 " Yes. The Post Exchange, it is called officially. It s 
 the post shop, restaurant, club, amusement hall, etc.," 
 answered the head of the house, while Marion, his wife, 
 glanced just a trifle nervously at her niece. 
 
 " But why Canteen? It is n t, is it, a bar?" And 
 Miss Sanford s tone betrayed the depth of her disappro 
 bation of the name. 
 
 " Yes, and no," said Uncle Will pleasantly, his dark 
 eyes twinkling under their heavy brows and lashes. He 
 rather liked to have Cilia mount her successive hobbies, 
 and thought it better, as a rule, to let her air her theories 
 first in the sanctity of the family circle. " After experi 
 menting a hundred years or so we found it wiser to pre 
 scribe the drinks as well as the meats of our men, and 
 to provide a place for them at home where they can have 
 rational amusement and refreshment, rather than send 
 them out into the world where they get the worst of 
 everything." 
 
 " But, uncle, do you mean you let you encourage 
 these young soldiers to drink?" And the slender gold 
 chain of Miss Sanford s intellectual pince nez began to 
 quiver, as did the lady s sensitive nostrils. 
 
 "Encourage? No! Let? Yes, so long as it is noth 
 ing but sound beer or light wine things we buy for 
 them from the most reliable dealers and provide them 
 practically at cost. You see they have their own club- 
 room, and billiards, checkers, chess, dominoes, coffee, 
 
52 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 cake and sandwiches. It keeps them here. It helps and 
 contents them. They can t drink more than is good for 
 them." 
 
 " Is it good for them that they should drink at all? " 
 demanded Priscilla. 
 
 " Possibly not. The ascetic in everything would be, 
 physically perhaps, the ideal soldier. But precious few 
 soldiers are ascetics, though many are total abstainers." 
 
 " Then why not all, since it is best for so many ? " 
 
 " Because, Cilia, a large number refuse to be ab 
 stainers, and we can t make them. They won t enlist or 
 serve if such conditions are imposed. If forbidden to 
 use mild and carefully selected stimulant here they will 
 go elsewhere and get the vilest the frontier can furnish, 
 to the ruin of their stomachs, reputation and moral na 
 ture. We teach temperance not intolerance." 
 
 But Priscilla had been reared in the shadow of 
 the stanch old Calvanistic church and the strictest of 
 schools. 
 
 " I cannot see how you dare place such temptation 
 in their way," said she. " You thereby take their souls 
 
 in the hollow of your hand and become responsible 
 
 Oh ! " with a shudder of genuine distress and repug 
 nance " I knew I had heard there was drinking ; but 
 I never supposed it was countenanced, encouraged by 
 by those who ought to be their shield against such temp 
 tation and trouble." And here Priscilla s words were 
 oddly reminiscent of the editorial columns of the Banner 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE! * 53 
 
 of Light and certain other most excellent organs of the 
 Prohibition element. 
 
 " We do it to keep them from vastly worse temptation 
 and trouble, Priscilla," said the veteran soldier kindly, 
 and signaling Marion not to interpose. " You are right, 
 dear, in the abstract, but we have to deal with men as 
 we find them. We would be glad indeed of ideals, but 
 the ideal does n t, as a rule, enlist." 
 
 " The Bible teaches us it stingeth like an adder," said 
 Priscilla solemnly, with suggestive glance at Billy, 
 Junior, whom she but yesterday had rebuked for sipping 
 claret at the colonel s dinner. 
 
 " The Bible also tells us Who turned water into wine 
 at a certain marriage feast," said Uncle Will, his mus 
 tache twitching. 
 
 Whereat Priscilla flushed ; the tears started to her eyes ; 
 she arose and left the table, her soup unfinished. It was 
 one thing to quote the Scriptures in support of her views ; 
 it was quite another to array them on the other side. 
 When Aunt Marion went to Priscilla s room a little later, 
 with a tray of tea and comfits and a word of gentle ex 
 postulation, she found her niece in anything but melting 
 mood. To Priscilla s mind such argument as Uncle 
 Will s was impious. To Aunt Marion s suggestion that 
 at least it was from like authority with her own, Pris 
 cilla could find no better reply than " That s different." 
 
 Down in her heart of hearts Priscilla thought it a 
 grave mistake on part of somebody that the episode of 
 
54 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 the marriage of Cana of Galilee had any place in Holy 
 Writ. Indeed it may be hazarded that, long schooled by 
 the Banner and the eloquent lessons of her favorite 
 preachers, Priscilla could have listened with becoming 
 modesty, but no surprise, had it been suggested that she 
 undertake the preparation of an expurgated edition of the 
 Word. 
 
 At the date of this initial clash Uncle Will was still 
 commanding the post. Stone, with the Sixty-first, came 
 later. Priscilla, finding her uncle ever smilingly tolerant 
 of her views, but never shaken in his own, had first es 
 sayed an inspection of the Canteen she would not call 
 it the Exchange and then had descended upon the 
 chaplain a gentle divine, gifted with much faith but 
 little force, a kindly, sweet-tempered cleric ever ready to 
 follow if never to lead in good work that demanded per 
 sonal push and energy. Priscilla had spent sleepless 
 hours in thought over the situation. She could not 
 abolish the Canteen since the law ("The law and the 
 prophets," said Uncle Will, though Priscilla would not 
 hear) sustained it. She could, she reasoned, conduct a 
 rival establishment that should wean the soldier from 
 the false faith to the true, and to this end she sought the 
 aid of the cassock. 
 
 Uncle Will had taken her, at her request, to see the 
 objectionable institution, and she had peered curiously 
 about the cozy interior. At sight of their much honored 
 squadron leader, the few troopers at the tables, busy 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE!" 55 
 
 with checkers, dominoes or billiards, had sprung to at 
 tention, facing him and the grave-eyed lady by his side, 
 and there stood in soldierly respect. Ray smilingly 
 acknowledged their homage, bade them go on with their 
 games; he merely wished his niece from the East "to 
 see how we manage to live in the West." Then he 
 showed her the bookshelves and the reading room with 
 its illustrated weeklies and magazines, the well-furnished 
 writing tables whereat certain young soldiers were work 
 ing at their letters home; the refreshment counter, with 
 its appetizing little stack of sandwiches and polished urn 
 of steaming coffee, and all this Priscilla saw without 
 sign of surrender. What she looked for she did not 
 find symptoms of the inevitable intoxication and de 
 bauchery to be expected wherever liquor was sold or 
 used. Some of the men had half-emptied beer glasses 
 at their elbow. Two German non-commissioned officers 
 were sipping appreciatively the wine of their native 
 Rhineland as they chatted in quiet comfort over their 
 little table at the window. A veteran sergeant stepped 
 forward and begged the honor of tendering the colonel 
 and the lady a glass of their wine, and again every man 
 was on his feet as Ray drank to their health, and Pris 
 cilla thanked their entertainers and said she would be 
 glad of a little coffee she never used wine. She was 
 silent as she came away all was so orderly, so cheery; 
 the men seemed so content with their surroundings, so 
 pleased that " the colonel " (never did they forget his 
 
56 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 volunteer title) should come to see them. She owned 
 that yes they looked very decent now, but but, it 
 was only the first step ; it was what it all led to, said she, 
 that made it so dangerous, so dreadful ! Indeed, the 
 mere fact that all was so well ordered made it, pre 
 sumably, to Priscilla s mind, all the more alluring and 
 terrible. It was the devil s way always, she had been 
 taught imperceptible, inviting, insidious. Priscilla 
 prayed long that night and pondered. She had almost 
 decided on a campaign of conquest and overthrow, when 
 the new commander came, and in Cblonel Stone she 
 found an obstacle quite as firm as Uncle Will and far 
 less tolerant. 
 
 Meantime, however, Priscilla had organized her " Sol 
 diers Advancement Association " ; had started in a 
 vacant set of quarters a rival to the Canteen, where even 
 better coffee and sandwiches could be had and much more 
 improving conversation, but no beer, and Priscilla was 
 presently in the seventh heaven; so many soldiers 
 came she had to send for more seats and more supplies. 
 Every evening after dinner, putting behind her the un 
 worthy, if worldly, impulse to go and join in the music 
 or the dance, Priscilla met her martial friends and pupils, 
 learned their soldier names, something of their history 
 and much of their needs. The chaplain at first was quite 
 assiduous in his attendance, but the chaplain, she speedily 
 decided, was slow, prosy, unconvincing. He did not 
 seem to stir them as they should be stirred, and when one 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE!" 57 
 
 night the kindly old gentleman failed to come, and his 
 goodwife sent word she feared her husband had caught 
 a heavy cold, Priscilla took the Word, as the French 
 would say; read the chapter of her choice; expounded 
 vehemently after the manner of her favorite exhorters, 
 and came home radiant. No less than six of the men 
 had come to her to thank her for her soul-stirring words, 
 and to say that if they had had such teaching as that in 
 their past they would never have brought sorrow to a 
 mother s heart, as some of them feared they had. Uncle 
 Will s eyebrows went up significantly when Priscilla 
 named her converts, and once or twice, as he sat writing 
 to Blake that night in his little den, sounds as of irre 
 pressible chuckling came from that sanctum, and Marion 
 slipped in to say a word of caution. Priscilla, however, 
 at last had found her opportunity and could not be 
 laughed out of it. The chaplain was warned, he said, that 
 exposure to the wintry night air was hazardous, and he 
 was reluctantly compelled to withdraw, and Priscilla, by 
 no means reluctantly, to part with him. She was in 
 desperate earnest and in the full tide of apparent suc 
 cess, with all Minneconjou watching with absorbed if 
 mischievous interest. Priscilla s mourners bench, it must 
 be owned, was graced by the presence of one or two 
 veteran troopers, the mention of whose names was 
 enough to start the risibilities of that godless array, " the 
 Mess." There was Shaughnessy, who had served six 
 enlistments and never kept the chevrons six months at a 
 
58 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 time. There was Kelly, the " champeen thrumpether," 
 who could blow " Taps " that would bring tears to your 
 eyes one day and maledictions on his head the next. 
 There was Costigan, who had been " bobtailed " out of 
 two of the best regiments of infantry of the service, 
 and only " taken on " in Ray s old troop by special per 
 mission, because of his undeniable valor in Indian cam 
 paign and the fact that when he let whisky alone there 
 was not a neater, nattier soldier, Horse, Foot or Dragoon, 
 to be found in the field. Priscilla had indeed gathered 
 in some of the reprobates, and sought to reach more. 
 She begged that, in accordance with their plaintive re 
 quest, the inmates of the guard-house, immortal " Com 
 pany Q," might be allowed the benefit and privileges of 
 the Association. Had not He said He came not to call 
 the just but the sinners to repentance? and, as Uncle 
 Will whimsically remarked, " If what Priscilla wants are 
 sinners she s got em." 
 
 And this was the state of things when Stone arrived; 
 took command, reinforced the garrison with eight stout 
 companies and band of the Sixty-first, and the guard 
 house with a scare of military malefactors who, hearing 
 of Miss Sanford s Soldiers Advancement Association, 
 begged leave to partake of its blessings, including the 
 coffee and sandwiches. Then Stone suddenly " tumbled 
 to the scheme," as Billy, Junior, a fierce skeptic from the 
 start, described it. Then Stone himself attended a meet 
 ing, to the obvious embarrassment of the congregation, 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE!" 59 
 
 though Priscilla beamed upon him in the sudden belief 
 that here indeed was a heart worth the moving. What 
 Stone saw was quite enough to convince him of the 
 utter absurdity of permitting the further attendance of, 
 at least, the guard-house contingent, but he would not 
 wound Priscilla or, without abundant reason, disturb the 
 edifice builded under Ray s administration. The Associa 
 tion might even have lived and thrived another week on 
 Priscilla s ministrations and at Ray s expense for 
 daily coffee and sandwiches for all comers, forty odd, at 
 least, was proving costly. It was " Company Q " itself 
 that broke it up. The privilege and the darkness com 
 bined enabled certain of its unhallowed spirits to smug 
 gle whisky into the prison room, and, thus stimulated, 
 a gifted ex-professional of the " dramatic line " set up a 
 wonderfully if wickedly witty burlesque of the evening s 
 lecture, to the irrepressible, and presently uproarious, 
 mirth of his fellow- jailbirds. It was just what Stone was 
 expecting, and so far from ordering it stopped, he sent 
 for Ray and bade him listen. Then the post and the 
 squadron commander shook hands in silence. " You see 
 for yourself," said Stone. " I, too, have been expecting 
 it," said Ray. Then the guard was sent in. , The impious 
 revel was suddenly and summarily squelched. Then Ray 
 gently told Priscilla the sinners could come no more, but 
 mercifully would not tell her much, at least, that he had 
 heard. So the Soldiers Advancement Association retro 
 graded in numbers to less than half, and then, as others 
 
60 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 not at the moment under guard took alarm, to less than a 
 dozen. But Priscilla wrapped herself up in the nine that 
 were left, and, as all barrack room was now needed, for 
 these they fitted up a little apartment in the basement 
 of the major s quarters, and then came Sandy Ray, as 
 has been said, and spring was turning to summer, and 
 Priscilla s band of stalwarts had been reduced to six, 
 and of these six the apple of her spiritual eye was Blenke. 
 One of the recruits, regimental and bibli-classical, was 
 Blenke, but already a marked man. Small of stature, 
 lithe, slender and sinewy, with dainty little hands and 
 feet, with pallid face and regular features and great big, 
 mournful brown eyes that looked pleadingly into those 
 of his superiors, Blenke wore the uniform of a private 
 with the ease and grace and care of a dandy subaltern. 
 Blenke s gloves and shoes could not be furnished by the 
 quartermaster s department; they did not deal in such 
 small sizes ; but Blenke brought with him all he could 
 need of such items for months to come. Blenke was a 
 silent fellow in barracks. Blenke never whistled or 
 sang. Blenke rarely spoke and never smiled. It was 
 not that Blenke s face was set in gloom, but an air of 
 gentle melancholy hung ever about him. He made no 
 intimates, sought no confidences and gave none among 
 the men. Whatever he was put to do he did surprisingly 
 well. Corporal Donovan, detailed to drill him when he, 
 with the rest of the little party, arrived, informed the 
 first sergeant that " that young feller knew more settin - 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE!" 61 
 
 up drill than any non-com at the post." So it proved 
 also with the manual of arms. Blenke was an expert. 
 When put into a squad for aiming and position drill, 
 Blenke had nothing to learn, and his shooting and gallery 
 practice was on a par with the best. They sent him out 
 to the rifle range west of the post and there he " quali 
 fied " at known distance and excelled at the silhouettes, 
 and still he declared he had never before " taken a 
 blanket" He learned his drill and shooting with the 
 militia, he said ; gave " clerk " as his occupation and 
 wrote a beautiful hand, though his spelling at times 
 might be criticised. Blenke had a watch, card-case, 
 shirts, shoes and underwear that told of better days. 
 Blenke, apparently, had no vices. He neither drank, 
 smoked, chewed, gambled nor, unless closely pressed as 
 to his past, was he believed to lie. Blenke looked about 
 him a bit before going either to church or town. Then 
 Blenke began appearing regularly at chapel service, and 
 then, modestly, sought permission to enter Miss Sanford s 
 Soldiers Advancement Association, where speedily he 
 attracted the especial notice of that devoted and devo 
 tional young woman. Then Blenke offered his services 
 as writer, copyist, etc., and Priscilla, being much occu 
 pied, gladly installed him at a desk whereat he spent much 
 time when not elsewhere on duty, and all the while, neat, 
 handy, silent, unobtrusive, yet seeing everything with 
 those deep, mournful, watchful eyes, Blenke found 
 means to make himself more and more useful, and pres- 
 
62 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 ently to communicate the fact that though his present lot 
 was humble there had been " advantages " in the past, 
 there were ambitions for the future. To begin with, 
 he wished to transfer into the cavalry. He knew little, 
 he said, of the relative merits of those arms before en 
 listing. He had seen much since, he said, to convince 
 him that for a young man of spirit the cavalry offered 
 opportunities not to be looked for in the infantry. This, 
 he judged, would not displease the squadron commander, 
 whose influence through Miss Sanford he earnestly 
 sought, and so it resulted that Blenke, little by little, was 
 far more frequently to be found about the major s quar 
 ters than his own. 
 
 Ray did not like it. Neither did Blenke s captain, yet 
 neither wished to throw cold water on Pris<:illa s efforts, 
 and really nothing could be less obtrusive or more pre- 
 ;cise and soldierly than Blenke. He never presumed to 
 speak except in answer to questions. He was scrupulous 
 in dress, bearing, conduct and military courtesy. His 
 salute was precision itself. His captain really wished to 
 make him a corporal, but a veteran first sergeant re 
 spectfully protested. " The men would n t stand for it, 
 sir, and him not two months in the company." Sandy 
 Ray, who came home in mood to carp at anything, liked 
 it least of all that he should be forever encountering 
 Blenke about the lower floor or around the walks and 
 quarters. But Priscilla was forever talking of Blenke s 
 helpfulness, his piety, high character, and his modest 
 
"SHE IS COMING HERE!" 63 
 
 hopes. Blenke was beginning to talk with her about 
 studying for a commission. Blenke was beginning to be 
 disliked among the men because he ignored them so. 
 
 Then one day came the expected. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Ray, th Cavalry, was ordered to proceed at once to 
 San Francisco, and thence by transport to Manila. Then 
 came tidings of deaths in the Islands, and retirements 
 at home, and, six months sooner than he had hoped for 
 such a thing, Oswald Dwight saw the gold leaves of a 
 major dangling before his mental vision, and the night 
 before Colonel Ray was to bid his loved ones good-by 
 and take train for the coa-st, and he and Marion, arm 
 in arm, were coming home from some parting calls, they 
 saw Blenke standing at their gate, a telegraphic message 
 in his hand ; Priscilla and Billy, Junior, following, closed 
 upon the elders as Ray tore open the envelope. Blenke, 
 having delivered it, stood scrupulously at attention just 
 beyond the gate, gazing with his mournful eyes straight 
 out at the flagstaff in the middle of the parade. Ray 
 read, turned a bit pale, and glanced hurriedly about him 
 as though in search of someone. Sandy was not in 
 sight. He was busy with the affairs of the Canteen. 
 
 " What is it, Will ? " asked Marion anxiously, her 
 gloved hand trembling a bit upon his arm. 
 
 " Of all things queer," said Ray. " Dwight gets my 
 squadron, and she s coming with him." 
 
 Then unaccountably Private Blenke s forage-cap, al 
 ways worn well forward, tilted off and fell at his feet. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS 
 
 COLONEL RAY was no coward, but it must be 
 owned that he was glad to be well away from 
 Minneconjou before the coming of the Dwights. 
 What troubled him most was, not how Sandy, his eldest 
 boy, but how Marion, his beloved wife, might suffer. 
 Never to either father or mother had the young officer 
 spoken the name of the second Mrs. Dwight. Never 
 since his coming to Minneconjou had he referred to 
 his infatuation of the previous year, nor had he even 
 remotely mentioned the meeting at Naples. They knew 
 of it, of course. There were so many aboard the trans 
 port who had heard all there was to hear about it, and 
 some of these many could not be expected to keep it to 
 themselves. Sandy, indeed, reached the post only a day 
 or two in advance of this interesting piece of news. 
 Marion heard it before her husband and refrained from 
 telling him, in hopes that Sandy himself would open his 
 heart and tell her all there was to be told ; but presently 
 it dawned upon her that the boy shrank from the very 
 mention of " that woman s " name then that Will, too, 
 had heard the story, and not from Sandy, and then that 
 each feared to tell the other. Then as of old, she nestled 
 into her husband s arms, and there, in her refuge, said : 
 
PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS 65 
 
 " After all, Will, is n t it better he should have seen her 
 and had done with it ? " 
 
 " If only he has done with it," thought the colonel, 
 as he watched the young soldier going doggedly about 
 his duties. " If only he has done with it ! " he thought 
 again, when he saw the red burning on the young fel 
 low s cheek that told he knew at last of the impending 
 arrival. But the boy had shown splendid nerve and grit 
 in that vital matter of the gradual repayment of the 
 moneys lost through his* neglect at the Presidio in 98. 
 He had shown such manliness in abjuring wine after 
 that one almost excusable lapse so long ago. A boy 
 who could keep himself so thoroughly in hand, said the 
 colonel, in two cardinal points, can be counted on to 
 keep his head even when he may have lost his heart. 
 No. Ray had trusted Sandy thoroughly in the past, and 
 Sandy had thoroughly justified it. Ray meant as thor 
 oughly to trust now to the manfulness and honor of his 
 son. Pride, too, would help the lad even were " that 
 woman " to seek to lure him again. 
 
 But it was hard to leave Marion to meet the Dwights. 
 In all her army life, with the possible exception of Grace 
 Truscott, never had Marion met a woman for whom she 
 felt such depth of affection and regard as for Margaret 
 Dwight. The two, as has been said, were devoted friends, 
 and when Margaret died, leaving her husband, crushed 
 and heartbroken, and that idol of her heart, little Jim, 
 it is doubtful if among her own people she was mourned 
 
66 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 as utterly as she was by Mrs. Ray. In the years that 
 followed Marion was forever planning for the little 
 fellow s future, and pouring forth a perfect flood of sym 
 pathy for that bereaved soldier, his father. It came as 
 a shock inexpressible that Oswald Dwight, after six 
 years brooding, had married again, and had given Mar 
 garet s place to what? a girl, young, beautiful, ob 
 scure, unprincipled the girl whom her own Sandy 
 had rapturously loved and implicitly believed in. And 
 now Marion was called upon to meet this woman in 
 " the fierce white light that beats upon " garrison life 
 see her daily, hourly, possibly as a next-door neighbor, 
 and no husband s arm or counsel to lean upon. 
 
 Nor was this all. It had been arranged that the fami 
 lies of officers ordered on foreign service should retain 
 quarters at the station from which said officers took their 
 departure, provided the quarters were not actually needed 
 by the garrison. Three out of five the big army posts 
 had been left with but a detachment to guard them. 
 Minneconjou was an exception. Hither had come Stone, 
 with two battalions of Foot. Headquarters, staff, band 
 and one squadron of the cavalry had been there, but 
 band and headquarters were now shifted to Niobrara. 
 How Marion wished the squadron could have gone, too ! 
 But that was not to be. There were still the four troops 
 at the station, and the Rays were still quartered in the 
 big, roomy house to the right of the post commander s 
 Marion, her sons, her niece and their two servants. 
 
PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS 67 
 
 There was even abundant space for her niece s diminish 
 ing Advancement Association the secretary s desk and 
 the mournful-eyed young secretary being much in evi 
 dence at the basement window on the north side. Three 
 sets, the colonel s and the flanking field officers , had 
 been built with high piazzas and well-lighted basements 
 beneath; all the others were squat on the hard prairie 
 ground. Stone had two majors with him, both junior 
 to Ray and the post surgeon, so they had taken root in 
 the lines and, for army men, were quite content. All on 
 a sudden one day the new major, Dwight, drove out 
 from the railway station in town, reported with soldierly 
 precision to Colonel Stone, and accepted the promptly 
 tendered invitation to be the colonel s guest until ready 
 to occupy his own quarters. Dwight came earlier than 
 had been expected; explained that he " came ahead to 
 select quarters," would send Mrs. Dwight the measure 
 ments of the rooms, then ask for a week s leave to 
 return and fetch her with their goods, carpets and varie 
 gated chattels from Chicago. Had any letters or 
 dispatches been received for him? None? Dwight 
 looked queer and grave. Indeed, Stone, who had heard 
 much of him and had met him once or twice in bygone 
 days, confessed to his wife that Dwight must have " gone 
 off " not a little in more ways than one. Was it the 
 old sorrow or the new wife or, mayhap, the sunstroke 
 in the Pampangas? 
 
 That afternoon Marion Ray, seated on the vine-shaded 
 
68 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 piazza, writing to her husband, looked up suddenly at 
 sound of a footstep and, startled and for a moment 
 speechless, gazed into the once familiar features of 
 Margaret Dwight s once devoted husband. She was 
 slow to rise and hold forth her hand, so strange was the 
 expression in his tired eyes. When she could speak it 
 was to say, though her heart fluttered, " Welcome again, 
 Major Dwight, but I m so sorry Will is not here, too! 
 It is barely a week since he started." 
 
 " I have hurried/ was the answer, as he took her 
 hand. " I am so tired of leave, of dawdling, of almost 
 everything. I m wild to get to work to work again, 
 Mrs. Ray! That s what a man must have." 
 
 All the old strength and repose of manner had gone. 
 She was shocked and troubled at the change, and hur 
 ried on in her words lest he should see it. 
 
 " And how is my boy our little Jim ? And I hope 
 Mrs. Dwight is well, and we re to see her soon," she 
 ventured. 
 
 " Mrs. Dwight is looking remarkably well, though she 
 and I are anxious about her mother. Indeed, I had 
 hoped to find dispatc*hes or something here from 
 Major Farrell," and surely Dwight s face betrayed 
 rather more than his words. " Jimmy s in fine trim," 
 he hurried on. " They got to be fast friends voyaging. 
 They were up on deck all the homeward way, whereas 
 I m a very poor sailor. I could hardly, hold up my head 
 from the time we left Gibraltar." 
 
PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS 69 
 
 " I m glad of that friendship," said Marion gravely, 
 guardedly, for already, in the friendship Minneconjou 
 had been hearing of, little Jim was not included. The 
 Hohcnzollern, after a stop-over at Algiers, had been 
 boarded at Gibraltar by two crestfallen gentlemen in 
 khaki and a quandary. The transport had preceded the 
 liner into the shadow of the sleeping lion just thirty 
 hours, and, steaming on to sea before the latter was 
 signaled, found some hours out that Foster and Gibson 
 had been unaccountably left behind. At their own ex 
 pense, their soldier wardrobe and toilet replenished by 
 a score of jovial Britons who had also contributed to 
 their detention, these two warriors completed their voy 
 age, and Gibson said he was practically alone, for, from 
 morn till nearly midnight, from off Cadiz until held up 
 at quarantine, Foster had been dancing attendance on 
 the lovely Mrs. Dwight, the captain being much of the 
 time down with mal de mer. 
 
 Now, Sandy had merely referred to " two fellows left 
 at Gib/ " without going into particulars. Sandy, of 
 course, could not be expected to know what might have 
 transpired on the Hohenzollern. Sandy had said nothing 
 about the Dwights at Naples. Sandy had not mentioned 
 even Jimmy, and so long as he shrank from the subject 
 the mother wisely would not question. She was glad 
 now that Sandy was not at home, that he was busy with 
 his accounts over at the Exchange. She was glad that 
 Priscilla was not within earshot, that she was busy with 
 
70 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 her Bible class on the floor below. Priscilla, Aunt Marion 
 owned, was inquisitive at times, and her theory of a 
 mission among men was not limited to the rank and file. 
 Priscilla had ambitions embracing the moral improve 
 ment of every officer from " C. O. to sub.," and Priscilla 
 had heard things somewhere about the post that set her 
 to asking all manner of questions of her aunt, questions 
 that set the mother heart to fluttering lest Priscilla next 
 might direct her batteries on Sandy. No good could 
 come from that, she knew, for one of Sandy s earliest 
 antipathies had been Cousin Cil, whom he called a 
 preacher in petticoats. Sandy was civil to her now, but 
 by no means inviting, and Priscilla took it much amiss 
 that her cousin rather held aloof, refused to argue the 
 canteen question with her, and could not be drawn into 
 doctrinal discussion of any kind. 
 
 Below stairs could be heard the low hum of voices 
 through the open casement. Priscilla had been reading 
 aloud to her soldier wards, but police and stable call 
 would presently be sounding the signal that, save the 
 secretary, would take away her pupils, and Aunt Marion 
 hoped Priscilla might not appear upon the scene before 
 Dwight departed, yet longed to hear him tell of little 
 Jim, and Dwight seemed intent only on telling her of 
 Inez Inez and her perfections. Dwight seemed to feel 
 that he must make this devoted friend of his first wife 
 fully aware of the manifold perfections of the second. 
 To all she listened with such attention as she could com- 
 
PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS 71 
 
 mand, but when again she asked for Jim and whether 
 he was greatly grown and whether he was studious, 
 or what, for well she remembered all Margaret s cher 
 ished plans for her boy, again Dwight responded with 
 what Inez said and Inez thought. Inez so loved him. 
 Inez so delighted in having him with her in her walks 
 and rides. Inez thought him so keen, so quick, so intel 
 ligent. Inez admired his eyes, his face, his slender boyish 
 beauty. Inez could not say enough in praise of him. 
 It was Inez this and Inez that. There would only be 
 three of them, said he, when they came to Minneconjou, 
 Inez, Jim and himself. They would have no use, said 
 he, for the big house occupied by the Rays. He really 
 preferred one of the sets of captain s quarters. Marion 
 had been wondering whether Inez would not prefer to 
 occupy these whether, in fine, they would not have to 
 move out and give the Dwights possession, but Dwight 
 said no. In fact, he would not decide what set to take, 
 now that he had seen them, until Inez herself arrived; 
 whereat Mrs. Ray breathed freer. 
 
 And then the bugles blared across the broad parade 
 and the white stable frocks began to dot the distant 
 and severe facade of the frontier barracks, and Cilia s 
 pupils came forth and hastened to their duties, and, catch 
 ing sight of Colonel Stone and certain of his officers 
 wending their way to the club, Dwight took his leave 
 and started for the steps. He would see Mrs. Ray again 
 within a day, he said. He was eager to see Sandy, who, 
 
72 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 somehow, had not seemed himself when they met at 
 Naples. And then Priscilla s even tones were heard 
 below, and the low-pitched, murmurous voice of the 
 deferential secretary, and Marion would have detained 
 the major, she hardly knew why, but he was nervously 
 saying adieu and hurriedly descending the steps just as 
 Miss Sanford and her assistant issued from beneath. At 
 sight of the strange officer Priscilla s glasses went up 
 for deliberate survey, the secretary s hand in quick salute. 
 At sound of his name, as Mrs. Ray spoke a word in 
 parting, Miss Sanford s face beamed with instant in 
 terest, the secretary s paled with as instant emotion. 
 Standing in the slant of the afternoon sunshine, where 
 Mrs. Ray could not but distinctly see him, Private 
 Blenke had turned yellow-white as unbleached cotton 
 and was biting his lips to control their twitching. Then, 
 without a word, the moment Dwight went his way, 
 Blenke faced about and bolted another. 
 
 Miss Sanford followed the major with curious eyes, 
 then turned to resume certain instructions to her satel 
 lite, and behold, he was scurrying away across the parade 
 in pursuit of the earlier departures. " Why, I had n t 
 half finished," said she, as she turned to her aunt. 
 " What took him off in such a hurry ? " 
 
 There was none to answer, however, for Mrs. Ray 
 had turned back to her letters ; and on the following day 
 Dwight hastened to Chicago. Within the week came 
 Colonel Stone, with a face eloquent of perplexity. 
 
PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS 73 
 
 " Mrs. Ray," said he, " this is simply unaccountable, 
 but Major D wight writes me that, after all, he shall 
 have to claim the privilege of his rank and this set of 
 quarters. It seems that Mrs. Dwight is now expecting 
 her mother and others to pay her an extended visit as 
 soon as she is settled, and captain s quarters would not 
 be large enough." 
 
 Which was how it happened that, two days later, the 
 goods and chattels of the Rays were being stowed in 
 another and much smaller tenement some distance down 
 the line. There was a very good set a really roomier 
 set that Priscilla much preferred only two doors away 
 from that which they were vacating, but Aunt Marion 
 would have none of it. She had made neither comment 
 nor remonstrance when Stone came in with his unwel 
 come news. She would say nothing about it now. That 
 she should retain the quarters of a field officer was some 
 thing to be accorded as a courtesy ; it could not be de 
 manded as a right, save at certain large posts with small 
 garrisons. But men and women who knew Marion Ray, 
 and they who knew her honored her, felt confident of 
 one thing, that she was intent on getting as far away 
 from the coming household as lay in her power to do. 
 Sandy was but a second lieutenant still and entitled by 
 law to only one room and a kitchen. They were in luck, 
 perhaps, in finding so good and new and commodious a 
 set of quarters as these to which they were assigned. 
 
 Sandy had not opened his head on the subject of 
 
74 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Major and Mrs. Dwight, even when, at their instance, 
 he, his mother and their household had been dispossessed. 
 Sandy had found an easy horse and, with the consent 
 of the surgeon, had begun to spend some hours in saddle 
 again when not at the " shop." Then Priscilla, believing 
 lonely brooding to be a bad thing for any man, found 
 means to a mount and surprised him one day by appear 
 ing in habit and saddle ready to ride. For the life of 
 him Sandy could not look pleased at the prospect. Five 
 years earlier, when Priscilla was well-to-do, he might 
 have found excuse to avoid or to leave her. Now, in 
 the days of her dependence, he could and would not; 
 but he proved a silent companion. 
 
 Across the fords and just at the eastern edge of the 
 reservation they passed on their return some ramshackle 
 buildings, only two of which showed signs of recent 
 human occupation, and Priscilla spoke of their abandoned 
 look and then wished she had refrained. 
 
 " Time was," said Sandy, " when they were bustling 
 and lively enough. We had no Exchange then, and the 
 men wandered out here for their beer, and here parted 
 with their money and their hopes. Here they were 
 drugged till their last cent was wheedled or bullied out 
 of them. Then they were kicked out in the cold to take 
 their punishment at the fort. Then it was our men that 
 went to ruin. Now, as you see, it is only the ranch." 
 
 It was useless arguing with people so narrow-minded 
 as her cousins, thought poor Cilia, as she sharply touched 
 
PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS 75 
 
 her broncho with the lash and drove him hock deep 
 through the foaming waters. What all men should see 
 was that alcohol in any form was an enemy to be shunned 
 and set aside, a thing never to be tampered with or 
 tolerated, and here were sane and, in many ways, ex 
 cellent people people who had been to her most loving 
 and kind and charitable who were willing to concede 
 that what she said might all be true, but were equally 
 convinced that what she would do was utterly imprac 
 ticable people who themselves eschewed the use of 
 wine, yet blindly persisted in providing it for these chil 
 dren of the nation, the soldiers, because, as they said, 
 most of the soldiers could not be made to see the harm 
 in malt or mild wine and would drink vilest whisky if 
 deprived of them. She considered Sandy a scoffer, 
 whereas Sandy did not scoff at all. He simply cited 
 facts. She longed for opportunity to convert him to her 
 views and believed implicitly that if he could but be made 
 to listen he would surely see the light, but whenever Cilia 
 brought her batteries to bear he confounded her with 
 some such incontrovertible truth as this or changed the 
 subject. This day she had planned a coup, and he had 
 met her, unexpectedly, more than halfway. By the time 
 she had regained her self-control they were past the sentry 
 line and well within the post. 
 
 " I want to have a real talk with you, Sandy," she said, 
 as he swung her to the ground in front of their old 
 quarters, where still they lived while fitting up the new. 
 
76 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 " You ll have to do it all, Cil, if it s Canteen you re 
 hitting at," was the answer, as he led the way up the 
 broad steps; then stopped suddenly, his young face 
 darkening. 
 
 A slender, soldierly form had suddenly issued from the 
 hallway at the sound of voices, and there stood Blenke, 
 hand at cap visor, the mournful eyes in mingled depth of 
 respect and appeal, fixed upon his young superior. It 
 was plain to see that Lieutenant Ray little relished the 
 sight. Blenke s desk and duties had been confined to the 
 floor below. Blenke had no occupation or right on 
 the upper deck. Mechanically the subaltern returned the 
 salute, but there were both suspicion and displeasure in 
 his voice as, almost sharply, he inquired : 
 
 " What is it, Blenke ? Why are you here ? " 
 
 " By accident, sir, was the prompt reply, subordination 
 and sorrow mingling in tone: as mournful as the mourn 
 ful eyes. " I was leaving when I thought my name was 
 called that Mrs. Ray had called me, and I turned back. 
 There seems to be no one here yet the door was wide 
 open." 
 
 " I cannot imagine who could have called you or 
 why," answered Ray coldly, never relaxing his odd scru 
 tiny of those dark, reproachful eyes. " But, first call has 
 sounded. I won t keep you." 
 
 Blenke saluted. One quick glance he shot at the flush 
 ing face of his friend and teacher, as though to say, 
 " Plead for me " ; then lithe and quick he went bounding 
 
PREMONITORY SYMPTOMS 77 
 
 down the steps, Priscilla looking after him. Ray pushed 
 on into the dismantled hallway into the parlor where 
 rugs and carpets were rolled and heaped and curtains 
 stripped from the rods. He passed through into the 
 little room where stood his father s desk and bookcase, 
 " the den " now doubly lonely and forlorn. He passed 
 swiftly through the dining-room and into the rear hall 
 way, where wide open stood the door to the basement 
 stairway. It proved nothing, however, that that door was 
 unbolted and ajar. In the work of packing and moving 
 the men had been going and coming all the afternoon. 
 Sandy came again to the front and followed Priscilla to 
 the second story. Mother was not in her room, the room 
 that soon in all probability would be hers the girl-wife 
 of his father s old friend the girl-wife whose name 
 Sandy Ray had ceased to whisper even to himself. He 
 turned back and Priscilla stood confronting him at the 
 doorway. 
 
 " What is it, Sandy ? Why should you be so annoyed 
 at Blenke s believing he was called back?" 
 
 " Because I don t believe him" said Sandy bluntly, 
 " and I don t like prowling." 
 
 " Oh, how can you be so unfair ? Blenke is no prowler, 
 Sandy ! " said Priscilla, in fervent reproach. " Blenke is 
 a born gentleman, and I know it, and so will you when 
 you hear his story." 
 
 " Oh, fudge ! " said Sandy, as he turned impatiently 
 away, entered his own room and slammed the door. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 A BRIDE AND A BEAU 
 
 COLONEL and Mrs. Stone in the course of the 
 following fortnight had occasion twice, as the 
 society columns expressed it, to " entertain at 
 dinner for" Major and Mrs. Oswald Dwight, and Mrs. 
 Dwight was the topic of all tongues at Minneconjou 
 before she had been two days at the post They arrived 
 on a Saturday evening ; were met at the station by 
 the hospitable Stones; driven at once to the quarters 
 of that efficient and valuable commanding officer; were 
 the recipients on Sunday of many calls, the guests of 
 honor at dinner Monday evening, at which function they 
 met three of the senior officers and the adjutant of the 
 Sixty-first, each accompanied by his better half; were 
 again on dinner duty Tuesday evening to meet eight 
 others prominent in the military social swim, and at nine 
 o clock were escorted to the hop room, where the regi 
 mental band and practically all the officers and ladies of 
 the garrison were arrayed to welcome them and where 
 until midnight the dance moved merrily on. 
 
 To neither dinner was Mrs. Ray invited. She pre 
 ferred not to make a formal call on Sunday, and when, 
 accompanied by Priscilla and her eldest son, she appeared 
 
 78 
 
A BRIDE AND A BEAU 79 
 
 at the colonel s quarters on Monday afternoon, Mrs. 
 Dwight and Mrs. Stone had not yet returned from a 
 drive. As little Jim had spent a long hour that morning 
 with his and his own mother s old friend Dwight him 
 self bringing him over it is within the bounds of possi 
 bility that the drive had been mentioned. The major had 
 remained but a few moments. He was obviously nervous 
 and ill at ease. He had that matter of his change of mind 
 about the quarters to explain, and Marion had desired 
 that he say nothing whatever about it. It was his right. 
 He was bound to consult his wife s wishes before those 
 of any other woman, so why refer to it? But Dwight 
 haplessly stumbled on. There was still something to be 
 said. Mrs. Dwight had expected to have her mother and 
 two cousins with her all summer and September, but 
 Major Farrell found it impossible to leave Mexico after 
 all. Mrs. Farrell could not think of leaving him, espe 
 cially as his health had suffered very much, thanks to their 
 enforced sojourn in an unsanitary section of old Manila. 
 It appeared that the major was even an applicant for a 
 pension on that ground a strange proceeding with one 
 so overcharged with mining stock and cattle profits. It 
 might be a month or six weeks yet before the rest of the 
 family came, but Mrs. Dwight was eager to get settled 
 under her own roof where they would be an incumbrance 
 to nobody, and she was going that very day with Mrs. 
 Stone in search of servants. Only a maid had come with 
 them, a maid whose ministrations Inez declared she must 
 
80 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 have if expected to appear to any advantage in the society 
 to which her husband was accustomed. Mrs. Stone knew 
 of a good cook in town at the hotel whom Mrs. Dwight 
 might tempt away, and then the major had to hurry to 
 the station to superintend the unloading of their car of 
 furniture. 
 
 Not until Tuesday night at the reception, therefore, 
 did the Rays meet Mrs. Dwight. Mother and son again 
 came together, Marion in simple evening toilet, Sandy, 
 as required of all officers for that occasion, in full-dress 
 uniform. Mrs. Dwight stood at the colonel s left. The 
 adjutant, facing her, made all the presentations. She 
 was gowned again, as she was that night at Naples, 
 beautifully, extravagantly, and her jewels were, as then, 
 too much in evidence. She had been looking, so remarked 
 her hostess, somewhat pale and sallow during the day, 
 but there was no lack of color, of radiance, of sparkle 
 now. Her face was exquisite in its dark beauty, won 
 drous in its witchery. Her smile was sweetness itself, 
 and many a woman envied her those perfect teeth rather 
 more than the diamonds. Her soft Southern accent lent a 
 charm of its own to her few words of gracious welcome 
 and acknowledgment. It was noted that she said very 
 little, that she repeated much; but what she said was so 
 sweetly said, and the meaning smile lent so very much 
 more to make it all impressive. Her very attitude was 
 one of supple, sinuous grace, and, whatsoever may have 
 been lacking in the form and variety of her verbal 
 
A BRIDE AND A BEAU 81 
 
 response to Minneconjou s welcome, there could be no 
 warrant for saying that she did not look, at least, her 
 part. Women stood and watched her and marked the 
 play of her slender little hands, the unconscious, languor 
 ous use of her beautiful fan, and women marked how 
 alert, too, were the wonderful dark eyes how, even as 
 they meltingly and feelingly were uplifted to greet each 
 newcomer, they saw each comer before that comer stood 
 in her presence. She was at her best when Mrs. Ray, 
 pausing first to greet Mrs. Stone and the colonel, was 
 passed on to the star of the evening, and the smiling 
 adjutant, with unpremeditated preference in his tone, 
 announced " Mrs. Ray, Mrs. Dwight ; your predecessor 
 at the head of our squadron." And then for the first 
 time that night the bride stepped forward, if only a single 
 pace, and, as though her heart went with it, her hand 
 seemed to leap forward in impulsive greeting. 
 
 " I have known Mrs. Ray ever since I first met Major 
 Dwight," said she, with such wealth of gladness in her 
 tone. She never seemed to see the young officer stand 
 ing with pale, unsmiling face, awaiting his turn to be 
 advanced to the presence. " I cannot begin to say how 
 glad I am to meet her at last," she continued. And 
 Marion Ray, thoroughbred woman of society, if not of 
 the world, stood in quiet, smiling grace and dignity, listen 
 ing without a sign of rancor to the swift patter of words 
 from the beautiful lips of the girl who had played havoc 
 with her firstborn s honest young heart, studying the 
 
82 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 beauty of the newcomer s wondrous face, and wondering, 
 as mothers will, that even a lover could see therein a 
 resemblance to her own daughter her dark-eyed Maidie. 
 She hoped that by this time Sandy, too, would see that 
 he had been blind. She responded without embarrass 
 ment or effort. Not for a royal ransom would she let 
 this fascinator see that her son had ever so far taken her 
 seriously enough to speak, even to his mother, of a pos 
 sible admiration. 
 
 " The major was very long our near neighbor," she 
 said. " And it is good to have him with us again and 
 to welcome Mrs. Dwight." Then her hand was extended 
 to Major Dwight as, still smiling and chatting, she 
 seemed imperceptibly sidling toward him ; and then Sandy 
 emerged into the field of vision. " So glad to see Mrs. 
 Dwight again," said he, in off-hand assumption of jovial 
 indifference. " Gibson s Viere, you know. He ll be trot 
 ting past the grandstand presently." And though the 
 little hand, slipped into his, gave faint, fluttering, tenta 
 tive pressure, he edged along, yielding place to Cilia and 
 Will, the next comers, and precipitated himself on 
 Dwight. There was unmistakable glance of reproach, 
 perhaps even of pain, from those glorious eyes as the 
 young officer passed unfaltering on, but it was instant; 
 it was unseen by the aging and adoring soldier at her 
 side. 
 
 And in this wise was the dreaded meeting accomplished 
 with no one possibly the wise.r } with no one warned by- 
 
A BRIDE AND A BEAU 83 
 
 word or sign of the complications and catastrophes to 
 come. 
 
 It took Major D wight but four or five days to set his 
 own house in order and move his birdling into the pretty 
 cage he had planned for her. Willing hands by dozens, 
 both officers and troopers, had wrought with him in the 
 transformation. Beautiful rugs, carpets, and curtains, 
 rare in army parlors, had been lavishly provided this, 
 too, despite well-founded rumors that Dwight had no such 
 bank account to-day as that he owned to at Manila. Say 
 ing no word upon the subject, Marion Ray had noted, 
 nevertheless, how much more expensive and luxurious 
 were the surroundings of Inez than had been those of 
 wise and provident Margaret Dwight. They gave their 
 first dinner, did the Dwights, one week from the date 
 of Colonel Stone s first, and to this was Marion bidden. 
 She had not expected it, had not provided herself with a 
 previous engagement, had to accept or decline at once, 
 and accepted. 
 
 " Mother," said Sandy, coming in at the moment, " have 
 you seen has anything been seen of a blouse of mine 
 sent home Tuesday evening? I can t find it, yet the 
 troop tailor swears he left it here himself." 
 
 " Who received it? " asked Mrs. Ray. " We were all 
 home dressing for the reception." 
 
 " Why, that s the queer part of it," was the answer. 
 " He says he found the back door open, knocked twice 
 and nobody answered, so he walked in the kitchen, laid 
 
84 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 the bundle on the table and came out and shut the door 
 after him." 
 
 Mrs. Ray thought a moment. " I gave Sarah permission 
 to be out, and Minnie was up here helping us. That may 
 have accounted for his knock being unanswered. You 
 went down before I did, Cilia," she continued, turn 
 ing to her niece, who was . busy at the desk. " Was 
 Sarah back then ? I thought I heard you speak to some 
 one." 
 
 " To two of the Bible class," said Cilia. " They came 
 to say we couldn t have the use of that little room back 
 of the chapel. I don t understand it at all. We offered 
 
 to clean it out and store the boxes in the cellar, but " 
 
 And Cilia shrugged her shoulders. She had begun to 
 believe that the chaplain was jealous of her influence 
 over certain intractables in the garrison, and was aiming 
 to thwart her. This view Mrs. Ray could not share. 
 She presently put down her pen and passed out into the 
 dining-room. 
 
 " It s a dark little hole at best, Pris," said Sandy, " and 
 I offered you a good bright room at the Exchange the 
 very one your paragon used for about the same purpose 
 when he was stationed here." Sandy would tilt at his 
 cousin s fad at times, and this was a time, for Sandy had 
 been crotchety for a week. 
 
 " My paragon, as you call him my ideal of the soldier 
 as we saw him after Porto Rico," answered Cilia, with 
 dignity and precision, " held his classes there when the 
 
A BRIDE AND A BEAU 85 
 
 rest of the building was not what it is to-day a rum- 
 shop." 
 
 " Not a drop of rum to be had on the premises now, 
 Pris though there might have been then." 
 
 " I don t believe it ! My general was an ascetic. No 
 one ever heard of his using liquor and wine is only 
 liquor in another form." 
 
 " Come to the library and I ll show you what your 
 General Ascetic wrote of himself after he was so horribly 
 shot in the Sioux campaign. He said he owed his 
 recovery to a winter in California and drinking plenty 
 of good red wine that made blood." 
 
 But Priscilla knew that Sandy " had the papers to prove 
 it," and preferred not to see them, lest her ideals come 
 tumbling. " That might have been necessary and by 
 physician s prescription," said she. " What I condemn 
 is its usage when there is no excuse. I should feel that 
 I was enticing my class into temptation if I led them daily 
 to the Canteen, and most of them feel as I do about it. 
 Blenke, for instance though you don t believe in him, 
 Sandy when I told him of your offer, he said he would 
 rather not set foot under that roof." 
 
 " When was that ? " asked Sandy curiously, seeing a 
 chance for a palpable hit. " He was sent to Leavenworth 
 with the guard of those deserters Wednesday morning, 
 and I did n t have it to offer to you until Tuesday 
 afternoon." 
 
 " He came that evening to say he was ordered away 
 
86 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 with the guard detail. Two of my men have gone. You 
 can see for yourself, Sandy, that for any important duty 
 the total abstainer is chosen." 
 
 But Mr. Ray did not answer. He was thinking 
 intently. " Was Blenke one of the two you spoke of, 
 Cilia? " he presently asked. 
 
 " No. He came by himself just after they d gone. He 
 took his leave a very few minutes later. We heard you 
 coming down." 
 
 " And where did you receive your visitors, Pris ? " 
 
 " I spoke with them at the rear door what other place 
 was there? since you dislike my having soldiers come to 
 the house. Why, Sandy Ray! what are you thinking 
 of? You don t mean " 
 
 " Hush ! " said Sandy. There were footsteps at the 
 front and laughing voices, and a bang at the gongbell. 
 Minnie, the housemaid, fluttered through the hallway. 
 " Are the ladies at home ? " " Mrs. Stone and Mrs. 
 Dwight ! " stage-whispered Priscilla, but in an instant 
 Sandy Ray had found his feet and followed his mother, 
 who was interviewing cook at the kitchen door. " Mrs. 
 Stone and Mrs. Dwight," he echoed, waited until Mrs. 
 Ray had gone to greet the callers, then bolted through the 
 sacred precincts of Sarah s own domain and into the 
 afternoon sunshine beyond. There Minnie presently 
 fetched her young master his broad-brimmed campaign 
 hat, wondering why he should look so pale. Making wide 
 detour, Sandy found himself presently within hail of the 
 
A BRIDE AND A BEAU 87 
 
 club. It was but an hour before sunset. The cavalry 
 people were just coming 1 back from stables to supper. 
 There were not five officers on the broad veranda, but 
 among them stood a man in civilian dress, whose back 
 had a strangely familiar look and whose voice, when he 
 whirled about and shouted greeting, sent a thrill of 
 astonishment not unmixed with wrath, nerve racking, 
 through the young soldier s slender frame. 
 
 " Hullo, Sandy ! Got over being grumpy yet ? Come 
 up and see a fellow." 
 
 What brought Stanley Foster, of all men, here to Min- 
 neconjou now? 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE WOLF IN THE SHEEPFOLD 
 
 A WEEK rolled on and matters at Minneconjou 
 had become electric. The weather was superb. 
 The sun rose in a cloudless sky long hours before 
 society, as represented at our frontier city and station, 
 followed suit, shook off the fetters of sleep and began 
 bestirring itself for the day. And days were long in 
 that northern latitude, long enough for even the most 
 ambitious and enthusiastic of commanding officers intent 
 on the instruction and development of the force intrusted 
 to his care. Yet the days seemed hardly long enough for 
 Oswald Dwight, whose first difference with the post com 
 mander was on the subject of morning gunfire and the 
 reveille. To the scandal of the cavalry service, let it be 
 recorded that in the point at issue, without exception the 
 members of Minneconjou s mounted service sided with 
 the easy-going infantryman at the head of affairs, and 
 against their own immediate leader the over-energetic, 
 the nervously pushing, prodding, spurring, stirring squad 
 ron commander. 
 
 During the sweet summer months, all along the broad 
 lands of the Dakotas, the morning gun thundered its 
 salutation to the newborn day as the hands of the clock 
 
THE WOLF IN THE SHEEPFOLD 89 
 
 so nearly lapped at half-past five. What Dwight de 
 manded of Colonel Stone was permission to rout out 
 the cavalry at half-past four. It was broad daylight, said 
 he. It was the cool and beautiful time of the day. The 
 men could have their coffee at once, then march to stables, 
 lead to water, the steeds having been already fed by the 
 stable guard, groom for twenty minutes, march back to 
 barracks, get their matutinal scrub, a hearty breakfast and 
 be out to squadron drill when all was still fresh, sparkling 
 and exhilarating before the mountain breeze, the lowland 
 dust, or indeed before garrison society, was astir; then 
 they could all be back in time for guard-mounting and the 
 multifarious drills and duties of the morning. Dwight 
 found his people well up in saddle work, as was to be 
 expected of men long led by so genuine a trooper as 
 " Billy " Ray, but they were correspondingly slack in foot 
 and sabre drill, and Dwight in his day had been one of 
 the famous drillmasters of the th, and seemed beset with 
 desire to keep up the record now. " What would you be 
 doing from nine to noon ? " asked Stone, strumming the 
 desk with his finger tips and studying curiously the pale, 
 keen, eager face of the cavalryman. 
 
 " Company drill afoot, sabre drill, setting up almost 
 anything ! " was the impatient answer. " These men are 
 soft, sluggish, torpid. Troopers should be all wire and 
 catgut. I want to put those four commands in perfect 
 trim for anything, Colonel, and I can t do it under five 
 hours drill a day." 
 
90 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 But Stone shook his head. There was no occasion 
 he maintained, for robbing them of an hour of their sleep. 
 They had to work harder than his men, anyhow, and, if 
 anything, should be given more sleep, not less. 
 
 " Then put them to bed at ten o clock or nine, if need 
 be," said Dwight, impatient of demur; but Stone proved 
 obdurate. " I see no reason for so radical a change," 
 said he, to the relief of the juniors, who feared 
 Dwight s vehement onward nature might prevail over the 
 placidity of Stone; and so the new-made major was fain 
 to content himself with sounding mess call right after 
 reveille, then " Boots and Saddles " in place of " Stables," 
 and, by dispensing with morning grooming, getting his 
 troops into line on the flats to the south and starting a 
 humming squadron drill before seven o clock. 
 
 Time had been in the long-ago happy days when it was 
 quite the thing for Mrs. Ray, Mrs. Truscott, Margaret 
 Dwight, and other women of the old regiment to ride, 
 drive, or stroll out to the ground and watch their soldier- 
 husbands through much of the morning s dashing drill. 
 The effect was good in more ways than one. It keyed up 
 the pride of the men and kept down the profanity of their 
 mentors, some of whom, as was a way in the old days of 
 the mounted service, would break out with sudden and 
 startling blasphemy when things went wildly amiss. It 
 is easy on foot to bring instant order out of apparent 
 chaos. The stark command " Halt ! " does the business ; 
 but, given tenscore, high-strung, grain-fed, spirited steeds, 
 
THE WOLF IN THE SHEEPFOLD 91 
 
 tearing at their bits and lunging full gallop in mad race 
 for a charge, it often happens that neither voice nor 
 trumpet, nor tugging, straining bridle arm can prevail, 
 and it is then the air rings with expletives. No one 
 ever heard Truscott swear. He was a model of self- 
 control. Dwight, too, had been renowned for the suc 
 cess with which he handled horses and men and main 
 tained his personal serenity. But Marion Ray more times 
 than a few in the earlier days of her married life had cause 
 to blush for Billy, who, the idol of his men and perhaps 
 the most magnetic drillmaster and troop leader in the 
 regiment, so lost himself in the enthusiasm and dash of 
 squadron drill at the trot or gallop, that his Blue Grass 
 exhortations could be heard over the thunder of a thou 
 sand hoofs, to the entire delight of the sorrel troop, the 
 sympathetic joy of their rivals and the speechless dismay 
 of the pious. 
 
 " Tut-tut-tut ! " was a dear old chaplain wont to say ; 
 " is it not strange that so good a man can use such 
 very bad language ? " Yet Captain Ray in private life 
 shrank from profanity as he did from punch. On 
 mounted drill it rippled from his lips with unconscious, 
 unpremeditated fluency. 
 
 Just as in the old days, therefore, wives, sisters, and 
 sweethearts of the dashing horsemen of Minneconjou 
 were now riding, driving, or strolling out to the edge of 
 the drill ground and enjoying the spirited scene. It 
 gave them an hour of bracing air and sparkling dew and 
 
92 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 early sunshine and a wonderful appetite for breakfast. 
 Mrs. Ray did not go. Neither her husband nor her son 
 had now any part in the panorama, and, looking from her 
 window she could see all she cared to see of what might 
 be going on and more. The sound of Sandy s boot- 
 heels overhead told her that he, too, was up and observant, 
 though Sandy, when Priscilla, as usual precipitate, 
 managed to refer to it at the breakfast table, parried 
 the tongue thrust with a tale about " best light for 
 shaving." 
 
 No, there were none of Mrs. Ray s little household who 
 went forth to see the early squadron drill, but there were 
 others many others and most observed, if not most 
 observant of these, was the beautiful young wife of the 
 squadron commander and her invariable escort, Dwight s 
 former fellow-campaigner, their fellow-voyager of the 
 Hohemollern, and now their very appreciative guest, Cap 
 tain Stanley Foster, only just promoted to his troop in 
 the th Cavalry and waiting orders at Minneconjou. 
 
 Mrs. Dwight was not much given to walking. She 
 could dance untiringly for hours, but other pedestrianism 
 wearied her. Mrs. Dwight was as yet even less given to 
 riding. She explained that the major preferred she 
 should wait a while until her horse and English horse 
 equipment came. Lieutenant Scott, who had met her in 
 Manila, said he had a little tan-colored Whitman that 
 would just suit her, whereat Mrs. Dwight, between pal 
 ing and coloring, took on something of a tan shade over 
 
THE WOLF IN THE SHEEPFOLD 93 
 
 her dusky beauty and faltered that " the Major preferred 
 the English to the forked-seat for a lady." It would 
 seem as though she desired it forgotten that her normal 
 way of riding was astride, whereas more than half her 
 auditors, the officers at least, regarded that as the proper 
 and rational seat for her sex. Mrs. Dwight, caring 
 neither to walk nor to ride, therefore was quite content to 
 appear for two or three successive mornings in a lovely 
 little phaeton with a pony-built team in front, a pygmy 
 " tiger " behind and a presentable swain beside her. The 
 fourth morning brought a rain and no drill, the fifth no 
 rain nor Mrs. Dwight, nor did she again appear at that 
 early hour despite the fact that the drills daily became 
 more dashing and picturesque. Her interest, she ex 
 plained, had been rather on her husband s account, but 
 she knew so little about such matters she felt her infe 
 riority to real army ladies who had been born and bred to 
 and understood it, and then after dancing so late she 
 wondered how anybody could be up so early. 
 
 The major himself, probably, could not have stood it, 
 but he, not being a dancing man, had taken to skipping 
 away to bed at or before eleven on such nights as Minne- 
 conjou tripped the light fantastic toe, but " Inez so loved 
 to dance " he considerately left her to finish it, with Foster 
 to fetch her home ; which Foster did. 
 
 But, of the few elders at Minneconjou who had per 
 sonal knowledge of Dwight s prowess as a cavalry drill- 
 master in by-gone days, and of the many who, being told 
 
94 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 thereof, had gone forth to see and to enjoy, there lived 
 now not one who had not suffered disappointment. So 
 far from being the calm, masterful, yet spirited teacher 
 and leader, clear and explicit in his instructions and 
 serene and self-controlled where men and horses became 
 nervous and fidgety, Dwight proved strangely petulant 
 and querulous. His tone and manner were complaining, 
 nagging, even snarling. Nothing seemed to please him. 
 Troop leaders, subalterns and sergeants were forever com 
 ing in for a rasping, and each successive day the command 
 paced slowly, sedately homeward, cooling off after a hot 
 drill, looking more and more sullen and disgusted. 
 Officers dismounted at the Club, quaffed " shandygaff " 
 and sometimes even " Scotch and soda " in silent sense of 
 exasperation. The men rode away to stables, rubbed 
 down and, as they plied the wisps, said opprobrious things 
 between their set teeth. As for the horses, they took 
 counsel together when turned out to herd and settled it 
 to their satisfaction that something was sorely amiss with 
 the major who had at last begun to swear. 
 
 And something was sorely amiss with Dwight, as any 
 one who noted his brilliant, restless eyes, his haggard face 
 and fitful manner could not fail to see. It was at this 
 stage of the proceedings, as Stone squarely owned up 
 later, that he as post commander should have taken 
 Dwight to task, even to the extent of administering cor 
 rection. But the strongest soldier is sometimes disarmed 
 at sight of a fellow s suffering, and, for fear of adding one 
 
THE WOLF IN THE SHEEPFOLD 95 
 
 pang, will suppress a needed word. Thus it happens that 
 occasionally a commander passes unrebuked a soldier s 
 fault. Thus it happens time and again that men, stern 
 and unflinching in dealing with their fellows, submit in 
 silence to years of a woman s abuse, because " she s such 
 a sufferer." 
 
 But here was something Stone might, and possibly 
 should, have done and thereby measurably cleared the 
 social sky and surely earned Dwight s silent gratitude, 
 and this Stone did not do, even though spurred thereto 
 by a clear-visioned wife, and that was say a word of 
 admonition to Captain Foster. 
 
 He deserved it. All Minneconjou was a unit on that 
 head. He was as utterly out of place there as a cat in a 
 creamery. They who had heard the story of his atten 
 tions to Mrs. Dwight during the Hohenzollern s run from 
 Gibraltar to Governor s Island were disturbed by his sud 
 den and unheralded appearance at the post, and distressed 
 that Dwight should be among the first to welcome him, 
 and the one, and at first the only one, to invite him to a 
 room under his roof. Men looked every which way but 
 at each other and held their tongues when it was 
 announced that Foster was the guest of the Dwights. 
 Women looked into each other s eyes and gasped and said 
 all manner of things as the news went round. Yet what, 
 at first at least, was there to block the plan? The infan 
 try officers felt that they must not take the initiative; it 
 was purely a cavalry affair. Dwight and Foster had 
 
96 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 served together several years. Dwight possibly did feel, 
 as he too often took occasion to say, more than grateful 
 to Foster for " his courtesy to Mrs. Dwight while I was 
 cooped up in my stateroom." Two or three cavalry 
 chums, taking secret counsel together, hit upon a blunder 
 ing, clumsy, best-intentioned scheme, and Washburn, who 
 could n t bear Foster and had never foregathered with 
 him, was deputed, as the only captain with spare rooms 
 and no family, to take the bull by the horns and the 
 unwanted visitor to his ingle nook, which Washburn did 
 with simulated joviality and about as follows: 
 
 " Say, old man, you don t want to be roosting in a dove 
 cote while the birds are billing and cooing. You can t 
 have any fun at Dwight s. You ll get nothing but Apol- 
 linaris between meals. Come to my shack, where there s 
 a room and a demijohn all ready for you," which bid 
 proved, unhappily, none too alluring. Foster thanked 
 him with a glint in his eye. " Dwight asked me long 
 ago," said he, which was the petrified truth, though 
 Dwight s words were perfunctory, and the invitation one 
 of those things so often said to a man when the sayer 
 hopes to Heaven he s seeing the last of him. 
 
 But now that Foster ivas here, his guest, nothing could 
 exceed the glow of Dwight s hospitality. It was painful 
 to note the eagerness with which he sought to assure all 
 Minneconjou of his long-standing friendship for Foster 
 in face of the fact that some of the squadron well knew 
 they had never met in Margaret s day, and were never 
 
THE WOLF IN THE SHEEPFOLD 97 
 
 really comrades thereafter. Moreover, they were men of 
 utterly divergent mold and temperament. Dwight had 
 been reare d in the shadow of the flag, a soldier by birth, 
 lineage and education. Foster had come in from civil 
 life, after a not too creditable career at college. He had 
 come, moreover, with the repute of being a Squire of 
 Dames in " swagger " Eastern society. He danced well, 
 dressed well, and talked well when he felt like it. He 
 " knew a lot," said men who knew little outside of the 
 anriy. 
 
 / He knew enough, at all events, to realize that army 
 society would be far less tolerant of a " squire " of 
 his kind than had been that of Gotham, and during his 
 decade of service that, at least, had not been held as his 
 principal fault. A semi-cynical manner, a propensity 
 for stirring fellows on their sore points, a pronounced 
 selfishness and an assumed intimacy with men who dis 
 liked him were the things that most conspired to make 
 him unpopular. He had ability; he could be agreeable, 
 but indolence and indifference dwarfed his powers. It 
 was not until he came under the spell of this dark girl s 
 grace and beauty that Stanley Foster had succeeded in 
 doing anything worthy of mention. Now he was being 
 mentioned far more than he wished, and, though he heard 
 it not, he knew. 
 
 But they went to a dance the night of the day he came, 
 and Dwight gave a dinner the next night, and another 
 the next. Then there had to be others given in return, 
 
98 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 and morn, noon, afternoon and evening, Foster found 
 himself at the side of Mrs. Dwight. What could she do? 
 He came to stay only three days, but the week went by, 
 and so, possibly, did his orders. Monday, Tuesday, and 
 Wednesday they were out at morning drill. Then the 
 pretty phaeton and its lovely occupant and her vigilant 
 convoy came no more. Inez said she "looked like a 
 fright at that hour of the morning, anyway," in which 
 statement most women agreed. Possibly it was that that 
 stayed her. 
 
 However, a second Sunday had come since Foster s 
 advent, and the squadron was having a rest and the 
 chaplain holding service, and Major Dwight, as was his 
 wont, came, book in one hand and little Jim clinging fondly 
 to the other, to kneel among the worshipers, to rever 
 ently follow the beautiful service, his boy snuggling to 
 his side and reading aloud from the same page. It was 
 the service Margaret had loved, and taught her husband 
 to honor, and had won his promise that Jimmy should 
 ever be led to it, and loyally, devoted, had the father 
 fulfilled the promise, even after the young wife came to 
 wean him from much that Margaret had inspired. Inez 
 this day came not with them. To begin with, Inez had 
 been reared in the fold of the Mother Church, and, though 
 years had served to loose the bonds and possibly sap what 
 little she ever had of faith, she had sought, at least, no 
 substitute. Obediently had she gone at first with her 
 soldier-husband and looked, in the eyes of his kith and 
 
THE WOLF IN THE SHEEPFOLD 99 
 
 kin, the picture of meek piety and adoration as she fol 
 lowed the new, strange ritual. But, once away from 
 family observation, Inez had found refuge in hebdomadal 
 headaches that came with the Lord s Day and kept her 
 from church. She was " feeling far from well this morn 
 ing," said Dwight, in answer to queries, and had been 
 persuaded to remain in bed. So he and Jimmy had come 
 to church and Foster had gone to the Club to write some 
 letters and wire to Washington, and all were " present or 
 accounted for," as Captain Washburn grimly announced 
 at the Club. It was a lovely warm Sunday, too, and the 
 old chaplain was effective as a reader. The choir was 
 capital, despite Priscilla s criticisms, and the attendance 
 was large. Army folk, as a rule, flock but sparsely to the 
 sanctuary, but Minneconjou had not a few devout church 
 people, even in the ranks, Blenke being so earnest in his 
 piety that when detailed for Sunday guard he never 
 failed to effect an exchange, even though it cost him two 
 tours for one. Furthermore, it was communion service, 
 and unusually long. 
 
 Marion Ray had entered early Sandy, pale-faced and 
 thin, at her side ; and together they had knelt, mother and 
 son, and then sat silently awaiting the " Processional." 
 When Dwight and Jimmy walked up the aisle and took a 
 pew on the other side and nearer the altar, Marion had 
 smiled fond greeting to the little fellow, and he had 
 answered. Twice as she gazed at them later, Dwight s 
 arm about Jimmy s curly head, his sinewy hand resting 
 
100 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 on the further shoulder and drawing him to his side, 
 heavy tears welled up into the blue eyes of the tender 
 hearted woman. Never yet had that strong, sinewy hand 
 been uplifted to inflict the lightest chastisement on Mar 
 garet s beloved boy. Only the day before on his regular 
 visit, nestling to her knee and telling her laughingly how 
 Sergeant Shock, the schoolmaster, had walloped Scotty 
 Burns, the band leader s eldest hope, Jimmy had looked 
 up suddenly into her eyes. " Why, Aunt Marion," he 
 said, " only think ! I ve never known what it was to be 
 whipped. Can you fancy daddy s ever using a strap 
 on me ? " 
 
 " God forbid ! " she shuddered, not knowing why, think 
 ing perhaps only what agonies that would have cost Mar 
 garet, and then Priscilla had come in and their confidences 
 ceased. Priscilla was firm in her theory that children 
 were too much petted and coddled nowadays, and that 
 more of the rod and less of rhubarb was what they 
 needed. 
 
 Suddenly, just after the second lesson, while the rich 
 ringing voices of the soldier choir were chanting the 
 " Gloria," little Jim was seen to bow his head and bur 
 row for his handkerchief. Dwight looked down, bent 
 over him, whispered a word or two, smiled encourage 
 ment and fond assurance, and, blushing very much, with 
 downcast eyes and his face half hidden in cambric, the 
 lad came forth and hrstened down the aisle and out into 
 the brilliant sunshine beyond. 
 
THE WOLF IN THE SHEBPFOLD 1*0:1 
 
 " Nose-bleed," whispered Dwight to Mrs. Stone, who 
 leaned back, sympathetically, from her pew. " It some 
 times seizes him just that way." 
 
 And the stately service went uninterruptedly on, and 
 Jimmy over home, and little more was said of the incident 
 until the coming of another day. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ACCUSING LETTERS 
 
 FOR a week Miss Priscilla Sanford had been in a 
 state of mind bordering on the ecstatic. For 
 months letters of portentous size, bearing the 
 stamp of a great and powerful organization of Chris 
 tian women, had been left at her door, and many an 
 hour had that energetic maiden been devoting to corre 
 spondence with boards, committees, secretaries, etc., add 
 ing much to the burden of the mail orderly, and not a 
 little to his malevolence. A dour and unsocial Scot was 
 McPheirson, as he called himself, but there was wisdom 
 in the selection, for Kennedy, his predecessor, was as 
 genial as Mac was glum, and Kennedy s fall from grace 
 was due mainly to his amiable weakness for the opposite 
 sex, a trait that had led to his lingering far too long in the 
 early spring mornings and many a " storm house " 
 along the row, and to concomitant complaint. Letters 
 delayed, letters even diverted from their proper destina 
 tion, had been all too often charged to him, for more 
 than one housemaid, not to mention a mistress or two, 
 was possessed of a devil of curiosity as to the corre 
 spondence of many another, and Kennedy was too much 
 interested in all of them to be austere. Not so McPher- 
 
 102 
 
ACCUSING LETTERS 103 
 
 son. There was not another of his clan, there were but 
 three of his nationality, in the entire garrison, for seldom, 
 save under the flag of Great Britain, is the Scot in peace 
 time a soldier. Mac had served his native country in the 
 " Forty Twa " ; had come to the States a time-expired 
 man; had met his fate, married, and been bereft and 
 deserted within two years, and, like many another man, 
 he had sought in the profession of arms the peace denied 
 him at the domestic fireside. Uncle Sam employs no 
 recruiting solicitors; he needs none, for the petticoat 
 drives to his ranks more men than he will take. Some 
 thing of Mac s history was made known to his colonel, 
 and when Kennedy had to be replaced, although Mac 
 had not been a year in the regiment, Stone issued his 
 mandate. " There s the man for the place," said he to 
 the adjutant. " There ll be no peeping and prying with 
 that red-headed Sawny in charge." 
 
 Priscilla had not been slow to note the substitution, nor 
 to divine the cause. Priscilla had much disapproved of 
 Kennedy, and Kennedy of her. " That prayin , pryin , 
 pesterin old maid beyant," he described her to the sur 
 geon s becapped and bewitching Kathleen, the belle of 
 the non-commissioned officers ball. Priscilla found in 
 Presbyterian Mac a far more promising subject, and was 
 aggrieved and dismayed at her lack of success. Mc- 
 Pherson would only stand at salute, frigidly respectful, 
 but as icily impenetrable. Mac scented mischief at the 
 outset. He had heard much among the men about Miss 
 
104 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Sanford s kindergarten, the Bible class, the prayer meet 
 ings, and her persistent preachings against the Canteen. 
 Now, Mac himself disapproved of that institution, and 
 hearing of this I fear me Sandy told her, and for mo 
 tives altogether mischievous Miss Sanford had lain in 
 wait for Mac, and held him one brief moment in converse 
 at the door. The story of that episode delighted Minne- 
 conjou and the minority, let us say, when it was later told 
 in Congress. 
 
 " I m so glad to hear, McPherson," said Miss Sanford, 
 beaming upon him, as she took from his hand the little 
 packet of letters, " that you, too, are one of the right sort 
 of soldiers. Now, tell me why you disapprove of the 
 Canteen," for Priscilla was sending that day another 
 long letter of experiences to the Banner of Light; and 
 the reply came, prompt, unflinching, uncompromising, 
 but most unsatisfactory : 
 
 " Because, mem, ye canna get a drap o whusky." 
 And so saying McPherson was all simple sincerity. 
 Bred to its use in the raw fogs of his native glen, accus 
 tomed to his modest daily tot even when on " sentry go " 
 at the Castle, or the water gate at Gibraltar, he and his 
 comrades of the Black Watch had been reared in the 
 broad faith that teaches temperance, not intolerance. 
 Their canteen sergeant set the limit, not the pace, and 
 doubtless Mac in listing for a soldier in the land of 
 liberty had looked perhaps for even greater license. 
 Beer he called " swipes," and despised. Rhine wine, 
 
ACCUSING LETTERS 105 
 
 tasted but once, set his grim face awry, and presently 
 townward. Mac s one peccadillo since joining at Min- 
 neconjou was a rantin , roarin drunk in Silver Hill that 
 cost Uncle Sam three days of his services, and the High 
 lander three months of his pay. There were fines both 
 military and municipal. In disgust Mac swore off. He 
 " had na use for a consairn that compelled a mon to walk 
 three miles to get a wee drappie and lose three months 
 siller." 
 
 But Priscilla was undaunted still. She had written 
 glowingly, enthusiastically, unceasingly, of all her efforts 
 to promote the cause of temperance among the nation s 
 soldiery. She had told much of her converts to total 
 abstinence, and little of their backsliding. She had man 
 aged, through Blenke and others, to get a transcript of 
 the daily guard report, and the punishments awarded by 
 the summary and general courts-martial. Minneconjou 
 had now a garrison of some eight hundred men, with a 
 big and bustling frontier town only a few miles away. 
 Thanks to the system of the post Exchange and the careful 
 supervision, both of its customers and its supplies, drunk 
 enness had been reduced almost to a minimum. Not one 
 out of one hundred men was in confinement, either 
 awaiting or serving sentence. Not more than ten in two 
 months had been fined for minor breaches of discipline 
 due to drink. Some old topers, relics of the sutler-shop 
 days of the army, were still to be found, men whose 
 stomachs could not be always appeased by mild measures, 
 
106 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 and demanded the coarser stimulant in bottles smug 
 gled from town; but every case, however mild, had been 
 made, it seems, the text for one of Priscilla s vivid letters 
 descriptive of the depravity still rampant in the army, and 
 due entirely to the presence of that blot upon Christian 
 civilization the Canteen. 
 
 And well had they served their purpose. In fancied 
 security, knowing that their methods had resulted in the 
 greatest good to the greatest number, the officers on duty 
 with troops had read with smiling tolerance marked 
 copies of Eastern papers detailing the concerted efforts of 
 the crusaders against the post Exchange. Congress had 
 been memorialized. Congress had good naturedly lis 
 tened to the successive readings of a bill abolishing the 
 system and forbidding the sale of either beer or wine at 
 any military post in the United States. Then, brimful, 
 bustling with excitement, and rejoicing, Priscilla read 
 that her letters had been largely instrumental in winning 
 over certain of the opposition, and that when the question 
 came to a vote the noble leaders of a noble cause would 
 be present in force, and when the House sat, there there 
 would they sit and watch, and woe betide the advocate of 
 the arch fiend rum that dare vote against their sacred 
 measure. Before the army could realize what was com 
 ing, the House sat in judgment on the bill, the Society 
 sat in judgment on the House; its members glanced 
 casually at the subject and fearfully at the galleries and 
 succumbed. " The Senate will kill it, anyhow, so we 
 
ACCUSING LETTERS 107 
 
 might as well make ourselves solid, it s only the army, 
 anyway," was the expression of one long-headed legisla 
 tor. Priscilla screamed squealed rather in ecstasy 
 over the telegram brought her at breakfast, threw the 
 paper to Sandy and herself into a pas seul that fairly 
 amazed Aunt Marion and scandalized tlie cat. But, 
 when a week or so later the Senate, too, quailed before 
 the basilisk eyes in the galleries, and the bill went to the 
 President and became at once a law, it is safe to say that, 
 for one memorable day, Miss Sanford not unwarrantably 
 looked upon herself as of infinitely more consequence 
 than the commanding officer. 
 
 Then, in the midst of the amaze and bewilderment that 
 fell upon the fort, came sensation. Colonel Stone sent for 
 Sandy Ray, nodded " withdraw " to his adjutant, who 
 closed the door behind him, and then looked up with 
 somber eyes at the pale-faced young fellow before him. 
 
 " Your occupation s gone, Sandy," said he sorrow 
 fully. " They ve pulled from under us the best prop to 
 order and discipline that ever we had. It has n t been a 
 square deal. They won by methods we could n t hope to 
 meet, and," drawing forth certain newspaper clippings, 
 " here are specimens. For your father s sake, I liked 
 you before I grew to like you for your own ; but if your 
 father himself were here, and head of the house instead 
 of yourself, I d have to hold him to account as I must hold 
 you. Read that." 
 
 And Sandy, turning paler still, and quivering with 
 
108 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 mingled wrath and shame, stood and read somewhat as 
 follows : 
 
 At Fort Minneconjou the situation is even worse. We have 
 it from indisputable authority that, so far from seeking to check 
 the evil among their men, officers of the highest rank freely min 
 gle with them at the garrison saloon, and urge and incite them to 
 drink. Is it to be wondered at, therefore, that the sickening 
 scenes depicted by our correspondent are of almost daily occur 
 rence? that young lads, fresh from the pure influences of peace 
 ful homes, the mother s blessing still echoing in their ears, the 
 mother s kiss still warm upon their brows, are forced to witness 
 such revolting crimes, to hear such ribald oaths, and gradually, 
 through the example, of officers seeking doubtless to increase the 
 revenue derived from the sale of the vile poisons they purchase 
 at wholesale from equally vile distillers, and in the hope of win 
 ning the favor of these all-powerful superiors, to forget the 
 teachings of home, the prayers of parents and kindred, and to 
 yield to the tempter and become in turn slaves of the soul-destroy 
 ing habit, helpless victims of rum? How long, O Lord, how 
 long will the representatives of a free and enlightened people 
 continue to sanction such infamy? 
 
 :< That s one of a dozen editorials," said the colonel. 
 " What most concerns us is the one of a dozen letters on 
 which it is based. Now, look at this." And Sandy 
 read. 
 
 FORT MINNECONJOU, S. D., May 30, 19. 
 EDITOR BANNER OF LIGHT : 
 
 Since my last, of a week ago, no less than seven soldiers, men 
 who, co ild they be divorced from drink, would be ornaments to 
 the service of their country, have been thrown into the garrison 
 prison, or hauled before their judges, these latter the very men 
 
ACCUSING LETTERS 109 
 
 who advocate and encourage the sale of intoxicants, to receive 
 their punishment for various crimes and misdemeanors com 
 mitted while under the influence of drink. And so it goes. 
 They, the helpless victims, must suffer the consequences of the 
 crimes of their officers, who are able to divide each month the 
 profits of their nefarious traffic, and go utterly unwhipped of 
 justice. Only two days ago, speaking of this matter after morn 
 ing service, one of our veteran soldiers said, with tears in his 
 eyes, " If the Christian people of this land only dreamed what 
 sins were being committed under cover of the devil-inspired Can 
 teen, they would rise up as one man and demand its extinction." 
 But, as I said before, so long as their most popular officers are 
 permitted unrebuked to meet them, and carouse with them, and 
 thereby teach and inspire the young and thoughtless soldier to 
 drink, what can we accomplish? The sights and sounds, the 
 fearful scenes and frightful curses to which I have been witness 
 here, all due to the demon that lurks within that protected rum 
 hole opposite my window, would appall a Christian community 
 which this is not. 
 
 Sandy turned to the wrapper, his lips almost as gray as 
 his young face. It was the copy of a letter from the 
 pastor of a church in a far Eastern city, inclosing five 
 newspaper clippings, and calling upon the Secretary of 
 War to order the instant court-martial and dismissal of 
 the military officers responsible for the abominable state 
 of affairs existing at Fort Minneconjou ; which letter the 
 Secretary had respectfully referred to the Commanding 
 General, Department of the Middle West, for " investiga 
 tion and report," which paper and inclosures that official 
 had respectfully referred to the commanding officer, Fort 
 
110 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Minneconjou, with similar demand. Stone had received, 
 read, remarked and sent for Sandy. 
 
 An hour later, as Miss Sanford was sallying forth on 
 " an errand of mercy," as she had usually heard such 
 missions described, she was going to the post hospital 
 with a fresh supply of temperance tracts and a small box 
 of cherries, she encountered her cousin at the door, and 
 something in his face made her own lose color. The 
 D wights phaeton came bowling down the road at the 
 moment, Mrs. Dwight bowing and smiling bewitchingly, 
 Captain Foster gallantly lifting his derby, for, when others 
 could not wear it, Foster favored civilian dress. Miss 
 Sanford responded vaguely, Sandy not at all. Possibly 
 he did not wish to s.ee. Possibly, said Priscilla to her 
 self, it is that that has so upset him. She hoped, indeed, 
 it might be that, and not thai which, almost instantly, she 
 feared. He said no word at all, merely motioned to her 
 to turn back. Priscilla was accustomed to dominate, not 
 to domination, but she saw the look of the father in the 
 stern young face before her. Uncle Will she knew was 
 the mildest of men in his dealings with women, until 
 fully aroused. Then Uncle Will became dangerous, 
 and looked very much as did Sandy now. The first 
 question as he practically backed her into the little army 
 parlor was, "Is mother home?" 
 
 Priscilla looked aloft. " In her room," she said. 
 
 " Then I cannot speak to you now," said Sandy. 
 " Colonel Stone has called me to account for one of the 
 
ACCUSING LETTERS 111 
 
 five inclosures to this paper. Before I answer we ve got 
 to have, you and I, a clear understanding, and before we 
 can have that you must read these, and think over what 
 other slanders you have written." 
 
 " I was going to the hospital," faltered Priscilla. 
 " Sullivan s worse and Blenke s been so queer " 
 
 " The hospital, Sullivan, and Blenke can wait," said 
 Sandy firmly, though his voice was shaking. " Colonel 
 Stone and I cannot. I shall say nothing to mother of 
 this as yet. Be ready to see me here at twelve o clock. 
 Mother will not be home." 
 
 So saying, and leaving in her hands the fateful packet, 
 Ray turned abruptly and left the house, Priscilla mount 
 ing slowly to her room. 
 
 It still lacked an hour to noon, and she had time to 
 read and to think. It was past the hour at which Jimmy 
 Dwight generally came running in to say good-morning 
 to Aunt Marion, but Jimmy had not come. Out on the 
 sunlit parade a dozen garrison boys and girls were in the 
 midst of a shouting, shrieking, frolicsome game of 
 " Pull-Away," and Jimmy, usually one of the blithest 
 and merriest, was not there. Priscilla had noted this 
 when, from the little veranda of the lieutenant s quarters 
 but a few minutes before, she had been disapprovingly 
 watching the sport it was so uninstructive, thought 
 Priscilla. She could not, from the window at the side, 
 see much of the parade. Over against it, midway along 
 the barrack line of the northeast front, she could see the 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Exchange building, could see Sandy more than halfway 
 across, walking even more swiftly, stiffly, than ever. 
 She saw the few loungers and convalescents, sunning 
 themselves on the southern benches, rising to their feet at 
 the approach of the young officer. She could hear the 
 tramp of the two battalions and the majors ringing 
 commands, exercising, one on the plain to the south where 
 Dwight s squadron disported itself before breakfast, the 
 other out on the parade. She could hear faintly the fine 
 band of the infantry practicing at the assembly room 
 adjoining the Exchange. From the open window of 
 Sandy s room, across the hall, she could have seen the 
 deserted veranda of the officers club. Half an hour 
 hence it would be swarming with thirsty and perspiring 
 gentlemen in khaki just in from a lively drill. She felt 
 rather than saw what was said in that relentless paper on 
 her dressing table, and she shrank from the opening and 
 reading. Sandy s face had told her what to expect. 
 Sandy s tongue had spoken of slanders slanders that 
 well she realized, like curses, had come home to roost. 
 She could not say,, even to herself, that what she had 
 written was never meant for public eyes. She had hoped 
 she had meant it should be published, and that all good 
 Christian men and women, readers of the Banner of 
 Light, should approve and applaud her righteous efforts 
 in behalf of so great and glorious a cause. But it had 
 not occurred to her that the Banner would ever find its 
 way tc so godless a community as this at Minneconjou 
 
ACCUSING LETTERS 113 
 
 where her statements might be challenged. She was 
 stunned, temporarily, by this most unlooked-for catas 
 trophe. Uncle Will and Aunt Marion had been her best 
 friends and benefactors, and, even though duty demanded 
 that she should make clear to them how deeply they erred 
 in their attitude on so vital a question as that of the 
 Canteen, she knew, and well knew, that what she had writ 
 ten in the enthusiasm of her faith, the intensity of her 
 zeal, was far from warrantable by the cold facts in the 
 case. She followed Sandy with her eyes as he neared the 
 veranda, saw the hands of the half dozen men go up in 
 salute, saw him suddenly turn and, facing west, salute 
 in turn, and then the colonel marched into her field of 
 vision, and the veteran of the Civil War and the subaltern 
 of a few skirmishes stood a moment in conference, then 
 strode away together toward the townward gate and the 
 " auxiliary " guard-house, the orderly following after. 
 
 And then she heard her aunt s voice at her door. 
 
 " Have you seen anything of Jimmy this morning, 
 Cilia? It s strange he has not come," and then cook 
 from the kitchen appeared at the landing. " That young 
 man, mum, Mr. Blenke, would like to speak with Miss 
 Sanford a minute." And, leaving the papers on her 
 bureau, glad of a respite, Priscilla hastened down. 
 
 Blenke s big mournful brown eyes had of late been 
 darker than ever, and dark circles had sunk in beneath 
 them. Blenke s sallow face had taken on an even sal- 
 lower hue. " Nothing but indigestion and lack of exer- 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 cise," said the junior doctor, of whom Priscilla had made 
 inquiries. " The man spends his leisure hours moping 
 or mooning around by himself. He ought to be made to 
 play ball, tennis, spar, ride, wrestle, or something. He s 
 a day-dreamer maybe a pipe-dreamer," hazarded he, in 
 conclusion, with a queer look at Priscilla, who had flushed 
 indignantly at the insinuation. Blenke had sorrowfully 
 and virtuously repelled that insinuation the moment she 
 brought it to his attention, but circumstances had been 
 combining to make her uneasy about her paragon. If 
 not a " pipe-dreamer," Blenke was becoming odd and 
 nervous, queer, and twitchy. To-day he came with a 
 plea she had never heard him make before. Blenke, who 
 never drank, gambled, smoked, swore, or otherwise mis 
 conducted himself, had come to tell Miss Sanford in the 
 best of language that he had urgent need of ten dollars 
 and two days pass. The pass his captain had signed on 
 the spot, but he would n t stand for the ten dollars. 
 Blenke would tell Miss Sanford all about it on his return, 
 but now there was not a moment to lose unless he lose 
 also the train to Rapid City. Would Miss Sanford help 
 him? 
 
 Priscilla had but ten dollars to her name, but swiftly 
 she sped upstairs to get it. The bugle was sounding the 
 recall from drill as she entered her little room, unlocked 
 an upper drawer of the dressing-table, and found the two 
 bills in her slender portcmonnaie. The batch of official 
 papers, with the portentous, red ink-lined, third indorse- 
 
ACCUSING LETTERS 115 
 
 ment uppermost, still stared at her from the prim, white- 
 covered top, and impatiently she thrust it into the shal 
 low pocket of the summer skirt and hastened away 
 downstairs. Blenke s eyes were eloquent with subdued 
 sadness, mystery, and gratitude as he received the money 
 and turned away. The children out in front on the 
 parade, with shrill shouting and laughter, had just gone 
 racing away toward the eastward gate, and as their 
 clamor died in the distance Priscilla s quick ear caught 
 the sound of sobbing and a piteous wail for help. 
 
 Ever sympathetic with those in distress, she hurried 
 through the hallway, out through the gate and there, 
 crouched at the foot of the little shade tree at the edge 
 of the parade, with blood streaming through the clutching 
 fingers from a slashing cut at the edge of the left eye, 
 was little George Thornton, son of a junior officer of 
 infantry. Priscilla in an instant was bending over him. 
 
 " What is it, Georgie, dear? Oh, how did you get so 
 cruel a hurt? " 
 
 Sobs and screams were at first the only answer. 
 Clasping her kerchief to the wound with her right hand, 
 and leading the little fellow, half running, with the left, 
 she guided him homeward, where presently a badly 
 frightened brace of women, mother and housemaid, 
 busily hindered her skilled fingers in bathing and ban 
 daging the cut. It was not long before the bleeding was 
 stanched, the patient soothed and comforted and the maid 
 had gone for the doctor. Meanwhile the mother, too, 
 
116 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 had made her demand, " Who who could have done 
 this ? " And to every such query there was but one 
 answer, " Jimmy Dwight." 
 
 " Surely not on purpose ! " ventured Priscilla, in the 
 interest of peace, truth, and justice, only to receive with 
 vehement emphasis the to-be-expected answer of the 
 stung, angered, and irresponsible child. 
 
 " He did, I tell you ! We were racin , an an when I 
 was gettin past him, he just whacked me with all his 
 might." 
 
 The boys had all disappeared, when presently Priscilla 
 again came forth, homeward bound. They had swarmed 
 over to the stables, where some troop horses had broken 
 away from their herd, and were having a hilarious time 
 of it, but one or two little girls were slowly returning, 
 and to the foremost of these Priscilla addressed herself 
 for information. Was Jimmy Dwight with the other 
 boys? Yes, he had only come out a few minutes ago. 
 Had they seen how Georgie Thornton was hurt? They 
 had not. They had started with the foremost, and 
 George and Jimmy had run back after a ball, and so got 
 behind. But presently came Kitty Blair, and Kitty had 
 seen. Tiring of the chase she had dropped out as the 
 last boys went bounding by her, and Jimmy Dwight was 
 swinging his jacket, and he just slashed Georgie Thorn 
 ton right in the face with it. Yes, she was sure. Millie 
 Cross had seen it, too, and had run home to tell her 
 mother. 
 
ACCUSING LETTERS 117 
 
 Thoughtfully, with downcast eyes, Priscilla retraced 
 her steps. Orderly and mess call were sounding now, 
 and with a start she remembered that this was the mo 
 ment set by Sandy for her explanation as to the clipping, 
 and, glancing up in sudden fright, she found standing at 
 the doorway, the accusing papers in hand, noHier cousin, 
 but her cousin s mother, her hostess and her benefactress 
 Marion Ray. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 AN INVITATION TO GO 
 
 BETWEEN early morning drills and the fact that 
 Jimmy was now quite big and old enough to look 
 after himself, the father s supervision of the morn 
 ing tub, rub, and toilet had ceased, and there was 
 but time for a hug and a word before the major swal 
 lowed his solitary cup of coffee, swung into saddle, and 
 trotted away. On this eventful morning he had kept his 
 men at their work rather longer than usual and to no 
 good purpose. In common with the rest of the garrison, 
 Dwight had heard the fate of the Canteen, and heard it 
 without remark. An abstemious man, he preferred that 
 others should be the same, but other far more pressing 
 matters were uppermost in his mind; matters here at 
 Minneconjou matters in far-away Mexico, where an 
 importunate father-in-law, after making ducks and 
 drakes of the thousands liberally supplied him, was now 
 demanding more, or " all would be lost." Then it tran 
 spired that a lawyer in town had been retained, by cer 
 tain of that father-in-law s creditors, to press Major 
 Dwight for payment of the same, or with evidence of 
 fraudulent doings on part of Mr. Farrell. To meet this 
 lawyer, Dwight had ridden to town right after drill, and 
 
 118 
 
AN INVITATION TO GO 119 
 
 up to noon had not returned. Foster and Mrs. Dwight, 
 driving thither in the pretty phaeton, with the pygmy 
 tiger, were surprised, possibly disconcerted to see his 
 orderly with the two horses patiently waiting in front of 
 the office. Possibly that had something to do with their 
 return soon after twelve o clock. Possibly there was 
 design in Foster s selection of that hour of the day to 
 visit the office of the post Exchange, still in active opera 
 tion along all its accustomed lines, awaiting official orders, 
 so far as comforting fluids were concerned, to close. At 
 all events, there were no witnesses to a scene, and but 
 few to certain very audible words, that became memor 
 able in the chronicles of Fort Minneconjou from that day 
 forth. 
 
 It will be remembered that Priscilla saw the meeting 
 between the post commander and his Exchange officer, 
 and their move in company toward the townward gate. 
 But at that distance it was not to be expected that she 
 could see the deep concern in the colonel s face or hear 
 anything of the conversation that passed between them. 
 It was barely an hour since their brief interview at the 
 office. The colonel then looked solemn enough, but now 
 the concern and smoldering wrath in his deep-set eyes 
 exceeded anything his adjutant had ever seen or that 
 Sandy Ray deemed possible in a soldier usually so placid 
 and philosophical. 
 
 " Come with me, Mr. Ray," said Stone, in the hearing 
 of the listening men. " There s a matter I want to talk 
 
120 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 over." Then, once fairly out of earshot, and after a 
 glance to see that his orderly was well to the rear, 
 " Sandy, were you at your office yesterday morning?" 
 
 " No, sir ; I was at church." 
 
 " Ah, yes. I should have known. I used to go, too, 
 while I had a mother," sighed the colonel. " But that 
 was very long ago." Then, with sudden energy, " You 
 would n t know whether er Captain Foster had been 
 over here at the Exchange writing letters? Ah er 
 who would ? " 
 
 " Sergeant Bates, sir, probably." 
 
 " It s a bit of business I don t like, Sandy. Nobody 
 but my adjutant knows, though some may guess, and 
 I m going to tell you because " 
 
 " I wish you would n t, sir. I own I don t like Cap 
 tain Foster/ was the blunt interruption. 
 
 " I ve got to, lad, for I. may have to act ! But it w T as 
 your father who spake there, and you have known Foster 
 longer and perhaps better than any man here Major 
 Dwight possibly excepted. There are reasons why .1 
 can t ask Dwight." 
 
 " Then, Colonel," and with face still graver the young 
 officer turned appealingly to his commander, " all the 
 more I ask you don t ask me." 
 
 " See here, Ray," said the colonel, halting short. " No, 
 keep back, orderly, I don t want you ! " he added with 
 impatient wave of the hand. " There s a piece of devil 
 ment going on at this post that it s my business to stop 
 
AN INVITATIONTO GO 
 
 before it gets too late. Pray God it is n t too late yet! 
 That man has no business here as Dwight s guest. He 
 has no business here at all. He is n t straight. He tells 
 everybody he can t imagine where his orders have gone, 
 and that he s been wiring everywhere to find them. 
 This morning I find that he s lying. Yesterday he left 
 Dwight s house to write letters at the Club, as he said, 
 and send more dispatches. He stayed there only about 
 fifteen minutes, until church was fairly started. Then 
 he said he wanted some keg beer which can t be had at 
 the Club, and so he left, saying he d go to the Canteen 
 and finish the beer and his letters at your desk. That s 
 almost the last they saw of him, but before eleven he 
 went through the east gate and down to old Sergeant 
 Sweeny s on the south flats. Sweeny served with him 
 seven years ago, and he s laid up with rheumatism. The 
 second relief started just at eleven, and the first problem 
 the recruit on No. 4 had to deal with, before the relief 
 that left him was fairly out of sight, was what to do with 
 a gentleman, in civilian dress who was crossing his post. 
 The sentry stopped him, and the stranger said : I m 
 Captain Foster, staying at Major Dwight s, and went on 
 in the back way. If Sweeny confirms this story I shall 
 send for Captain Foster and until this is settled never 
 mind about that other matter. Er have you seen Miss 
 Sanford?" 
 
 " Yes, sir," answered Ray, half choking, " and she 
 was to answer me fully at twelve o clock." 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 " Well er I may be able to see Sergeant Bates and 
 perhaps you again. I won t take you farther. Wait for 
 me at your desk, will you ? " 
 
 A distant horseman, trotting swiftly homeward, 
 splashed through the ford at the moment; but long 
 before he reached the gate the colonel had gone on 
 through upon his regular daily tramp, making the rounds 
 of the big. wide-spreading post. The young officer, 
 silent and pale, had gone back to his office. The sentry 
 at the gate presented arms as the tall haggard-looking 
 rider came trotting in, sitting very erect and squarely 
 down in the saddle. At the parting of the roads he sud 
 denly reined in and dismounted. " Take him to the 
 stables and get your dinner, Gribble," said he to the 
 trumpeter boy. "I shall not ride again to-day." Then, 
 with grave, anxious, downcast face, went striding up the 
 southward line to his quarters at the farther end the 
 quarters that had been the Rays . 
 
 On the gallery of Lieutenant Thornton s were two or 
 three young army wives and mothers, who ceased chat 
 ting and somewhat curiously studied the coming officer. 
 In brief, absent-minded fashion he lifted his cap and 
 passed them by. Young Dr. Wallen was just coming 
 forth and calling cheerily to them. " Oh, he ll do very 
 nicely now. Miss Sanford handled him admirably ; " 
 then, " Oh, beg a thousand pardons, Major," as he 
 bumped sideways into the tall soldier passing by. 
 
 " Who s hurt?" asked Dwight with scant interest. 
 
AN INVITATION TO GO 
 
 " Why er Georgie Thornton got a little er gash 
 playing. His mother was scared a bit, and I was coming 
 that way and she called me in. The eye is n t injured." 
 
 " Why how d it happen? " 
 
 " Oh, er well, I don t know, exactly," answered 
 Wallen, in deep confusion. " Some boy scrap mishap 
 accident, probably, and er good-day," he finished 
 lamely, as he darted off. 
 
 Queer, thought D wight. Is everybody seeking to 
 avoid me? He only vaguely heard, and for the moment 
 gave little heed to, the angry words that followed him 
 from the open doorway. " Ask your boy how it hap 
 pened, Major Dwight," for the mother was suffering 
 still, and some natures, suffering, will spit and scratch. 
 Not then, but just a little later, as Jimmy came bounding 
 gladly to meet him and to seize his hand, did Dwight 
 remember Mrs. Thornton s words, and looking down into 
 the joyous, beaming, flushing face, with the big, wide- 
 open, violet eyes, the father questioned: 
 
 " What s this about Georgie Thornton ? How was he 
 cut?" 
 
 " Georgie? Cut? Why, daddy, I did n t know it. Is 
 he hurt?" 
 
 " You don t, Jim ? Why, they told me to ask you, as 
 though you would know. Were n t you with him ? " 
 
 " Why, yes, daddy. I I got out late," and here the 
 young face began to cloud. " And then such fun ! " 
 and the laughter once more came bubbling joyously from 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 his happy heart. " Some B Troop horses got loose, 
 and we all ran to see the round-up, and we were hinder- 
 most at the start, Georgie and I, but 7 caught em, and 
 got there with the foremost, an I guess he got tired and 
 went home because we ran away from him, really." 
 
 But already the father s attention was diverted. His 
 eyes were following Stanley Foster, who, dancing lightly 
 down the steps, waved his hand with exuberant cordiality 
 to the pair as he crossed the road and struck out over the 
 parade. 
 
 " When that fellow begins putting his hand on my 
 shoulder or patting my back or calling me old chap I 
 know he s playing to do me some way," once said a 
 brother officer of Foster s, and Sandy Ray was thinking 
 of it when three minutes later Foster came bounding 
 breezily in, confidence, cordiality, and jovial good-fellow 
 ship beaming from his well-groomed visage : 
 
 " Sandy, old boy, lend me a horse this afternoon, will 
 you?" 
 
 Ray was alone at his desk. The bare little army office, 
 with its few maps and ornamental calendars adorning 
 the unpapered walls, its barrack-built table and chairs, 
 its stacks of letter-files, boxes and tins of samples, was 
 an uninviting place at best, yet had never hitherto ap 
 peared inhospitable. Even under the management of the 
 still half-crippled cavalryman, himself an abstainer from 
 the cup that sometimes cheers, and a partaker of a cup 
 that always saddens, there had ever been frank and cor- 
 
AN INVITATION TO GO 
 
 dial greeting for visiting comrades, followed usually by 
 invitation to taste the good cheer of the Canteen and 
 suggest, if possible, additional improvement. But it was 
 a lack-luster eye that turned on the entering officer this 
 day. Sergeant Bates had but just left the room after 
 having, in answer to question, briefly stated that no one 
 but Captain Foster had visited the lieutenant s office dur 
 ing church time Sunday. The captain had merely tasted 
 the beer, glanced about him, and then departed. No, not 
 the way he came, the parade side. The captain had 
 looked into the reading-room and through the billiard- 
 room, which latter was closed on account of the day, and 
 had strolled out through the rear doorway, a short cut 
 to the east gate. That, then, seemed to complete the 
 chain of evidence described by the colonel, and the heart 
 of Sandy Ray was seething when Foster bustled in, while 
 his voice, when presently there came reply, was as icily 
 cold. All the same he turned in his revolving chair and 
 looked his visitor straight in the eye, as he arose. 
 
 "What do you want him for?" 
 
 Foster flushed. He read unerringly the intense dis 
 like in the young officer s gaze, but he dissembled: 
 
 " To ride, bout four o clock," was the matter-of-course 
 reply. 
 
 " Major Dwight said both his horses were at your dis 
 posal. He s only had one out to-day. Is Mrs. Dwight 
 going to ride the other?" 
 
 Foster s eyelids shut to a narrow slit. His mustache 
 
126 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 began to bristle at the ends. Now the red was flitting 
 and his face was turning sallow. 
 
 " While I consider that none of your business, Mr. 
 Ray yes ! " 
 
 " Then," said Sandy, his cheek white, his lips set, his 
 eyes aflame, " you can t have mine." 
 
 The low hum of voices, the gurgle of laughter drifting 
 through the stove-pipe hole and through the crevices of 
 the pine partition from the lounging-room beyond, seemed 
 to die away almost at the moment. Ray had hardly 
 uplifted his voice. For an instant a silence fell on the 
 facing pair in the Exchange office the one rather tall, 
 fair, stylishly garbed in the latest civilian fashion; the 
 other short, slender, trimly built, with dark curling hair 
 and snapping black-brown eyes ; both men trembling now, 
 but neither dropping an eyelid. Then with clinching fist 
 and fiery eyes the elder took a step forward. He was 
 throwing off the mask. He was speaking angrily, 
 audibly : 
 
 " By Heaven, Ray, if I did n t happen to know that you 
 are, or had been, madly in love with Mrs. Dwight, I I d 
 consider that an insult." 
 
 " Well," came the ready response, " why not so con 
 sider it anyhow ? " 
 
 In an instant the larger, heavier, stronger man had 
 hurled himself on the slender junior and, one sinewy hand 
 on the back of the neck, the other at the throat, Foster 
 shook him furiously but only for a second. No sooner 
 
AN INVITATION TO GO 127 
 
 did Ray feel himself seized than he " let go " with both 
 fists, and both fists found their mark on Foster s face 
 one swing, the right, stinging him on the unguarded jaw. 
 Two more followed in the flash of a second, and Foster, 
 stunned and amazed, dropped his hold and for a second 
 recoiled. In blind fury the next moment he rushed again, 
 Ray springing lightly aside, whirling and sending his 
 right with electric snap square to the already smarting 
 jowl a blow that staggered yet did not fell the stronger 
 man, the man who even in his rage managed partially, 
 at least, to recover his wits, for as he straightened up he 
 held forth protesting hand and panted : " Stop ! Not 
 now. They hear us, and by the God that made me you ll 
 hear from me. You dare to strike your superior 
 officer!" 
 
 " Superior be damned ! " shouted Ray, raging for bat 
 tle and reckless of consequence. " You rank me two 
 grades on the roster, but you re miles behind as a man. 
 Come again, if you dare, you cad ! " And like a young 
 bantam the army-bred lad was dancing eagerly about, for 
 getful of his lameness and watching like a cat his bulky 
 antagonist. 
 
 " Not here, I say, nor with blackguard weapons you 
 seem to know how to handle; but next time we meet, 
 young man next time ! " 
 
 " Next time, this time, any time ! " shouted Ray. " And 
 mind you, you villain, make your will before you meet 
 me ! " 
 
128 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 " And meantime, Captain Foster," came the stern com 
 manding words from the threshold, where suddenly 
 stood the colonel, "pack your belongings and quit the 
 post. There, sir," and significantly he shook an open 
 telegram, " there, sir, are your orders." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 A GATHERING STORM 
 
 MINNECONJOU that afternoon was the vortex 
 of a revolving storm of sensation, speculation, 
 and excitement. The few men at the Club 
 spoke with bated breath and shrugging shoulders, 
 with hands thrust deep in side pockets and with 
 occasional semi-hysterical giggle. Men at the Canteen 
 retailed in whispers, and with possibly unconscious edi- 
 torialisms of their own, the story of the encounter at the 
 office as heard through the partition in their own premises. 
 Women along the line of officers quarters and women 
 among the humbler homes of the married soldiers went 
 flitting from door to door gathering in wide-eyed, gos 
 siping groups, 
 
 "For the colonel s lady and Judy O Grady 
 Are sisters under their skins." 
 
 There were three women, however, prominent in this 
 chronicle and others not individually mentioned, who 
 kept within doors and bounds until the sun was well down 
 behind the Sagamore and the line was formed for parade. 
 Even then Mrs. Dwight did not appear, but Mrs. Ray 
 sat for a while with Sandy on the little veranda, and a very 
 
 129 
 
130 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 red-eyed Priscilla went forth, as she said, for needed 
 exercise. Just what had passed between her aunt and 
 herself was never referred to outside of the family. Mrs. 
 Ray, it seems, had also heard the childish wail of distress, 
 had come down to inquire the cause, but not until Pris 
 cilla had succeeded in leading the little sufferer home. 
 Then in the hall, probably, Marion had picked up the 
 official batch of papers ; thought it something of Sandy s, 
 for open official wrappers of newspaper clippings are not 
 privileged communications and he who runs upon them 
 may read. Presumably Mrs. Ray had read, and, if so, the 
 meekest, mildest of women in her place would have had a 
 rod in pickle for Priscilla when that energetic maiden 
 returned. It had at least one point in favor of Sandy. 
 It relieved him from the necessity of " interviewing " his 
 cousin. But for the life of him Sandy Ray could not be 
 kind or cordial to Priscilla for many a day. She wrote 
 to him, at her aunt s demand, a letter to be shown to the 
 .colonel commanding, and a portion of this letter appeared 
 in his returned indorsement. She admitted that the only 
 instance of officers " carousing " with and tempting the 
 men to drink was when Uncle Will took her to see tlie 
 Canteen and sipped his glass of Rhenish when the ser 
 geants drank his health. " But," was the ingenuous argu 
 ment, " if Uncle Will, who is so abstemious and conscien 
 tious, could do that much, I naturally reasoned that others 
 whom I knew to be neither abstemious nor, in such mat 
 ters, conscientious, would do infinitely more, and there- 
 
A GATHERING STORM 131 
 
 fore considered my statement justifiable in view of the 
 vital importance of the matter under discussion." As to 
 the other points in her allegation, Priscilla had no better 
 or broader foundation. It was one of those instances of 
 "justifiable vericide" wherein many a worthy woman, 
 and man, has soothed a protesting conscience with " the 
 end justifies the means." 
 
 But Priscilla had to promise also to write full confes 
 sion to the Banner of Light, and it was sent registered. 
 Aunt Marion saw to that; and duly received but never, 
 even in part, was it published that would be doing 
 violence to editorial ethics. 
 
 At three o clock that afternoon the colonel s adjutant 
 had called ceremoniously at the quarters of Major 
 Dwight, and at four o clock the colonel s ambulance had 
 followed. Half a thousand eyes, probably, followed that 
 official vehicle as it whirled away townward, a raging 
 captain of cavalry being the sole occupant of the interior, 
 the driver and an orderly conversing in low tones at the 
 front. Major Dwight had come forth with his guest, 
 escorted him down the steps to the waiting wagon, had 
 ostentatiously shaken hands with him twice thrice; had 
 even held him in conversation as though reluctant to 
 part, and had then gone stalking over to the colonel s 
 quarters with twitching lips and fingers to demand an 
 explanation of this summary expulsion of his guest. If 
 Captain Foster was to be ordered off the post because of 
 a personal encounter with Lieutenant Ray, what was to 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 be done with Mr. Ray? was what the major wished to 
 know, and Colonel Stone, instead of snubbing, censuring 
 or sending him back in arrest, went halfway down the 
 steps to meet him, took him by the hand and said, " I ve 
 been expecting you, major, and have much to tell you," 
 beckoned the adjutant to follow and led on into an inner 
 room. The post surgeon was also there, by invitation. 
 
 " Major Dwight," said Stone, " I have asked these 
 gentlemen to be present as witnesses to what I have to 
 tell you, and if there s any man of your own corps you d 
 like to have present, my orderly will fetch him at once. 
 No? Then I ll proceed. I assume you wish to know 
 why Captain Foster was formally invited to proceed on 
 his way this afternoon. You fancy, I believe, and he 
 possibly probably told you, it was for attacking Lieu 
 tenant Ray at the Canteen. It was not. There are 
 several reasons, and the moment I have told you enough 
 I wish you to say stop. I do not like your fr your 
 guest, but I desire to say no more at his expense than 
 may be absolutely necessary. Do you understand ? " 
 
 Dwight bowed gravely. " I think I do, sir," was his 
 answer, and the party settled into chairs and for the 
 moment into silence. 
 
 Then Stone began again : 
 
 " When Captain Foster arrived here he took occasion 
 to tell me he had just dropped in for a day or two that 
 he was expecting his orders any moment. Connor, lieu 
 tenant-colonel commanding the th, is a classmate of 
 
A GATHERING STORM 133 
 
 mine, and in writing me two weeks ago he spoke of the 
 shortage of officers. He said that Foster s application 
 for a month s delay had been negatived by him and 
 that he was then expecting him any moment. Thursday 
 last came another letter. Short as he was of officers, 
 three of his best had been taken away for court-martial 
 duty. Foster s troop was commanded by a sergeant, and 
 going to seed. Foster was apparently lost, for a copy 
 of his order to report without delay had been there a 
 week. His adjutant had wired to Foster s address and 
 got no answer. That evening, as it happened, I met 
 Foster again, and he went out of his way to tell me he 
 could n t imagine what had become of his orders. He 
 had left directions with his home people to open every 
 thing that came and wire him here at once, and nothing 
 had come, at least to him. This was queer. Friday he 
 repeated it. That afternoon at the telegraph office in 
 town the operator asked me if a Captain Foster was at 
 the post. Three messages had come for him, two calling 
 for reply, and he had sent by wire, at least, no answer. 
 Two, said the operator, were from New York, saying 
 important orders were there, and what should they do 
 with them? Now, I don t like double dealing, Dwight. 
 I at once wired Connor that his lost captain was found 
 here claiming to be without orders. Connor probably 
 wired the War Department, and on Monday noon came 
 this." Saying which, the colonel took from his desk 
 and held forth a telegram, which Dwight solemnly re- 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 ceived and read, then sat one moment in silence. It 
 was from the War Department, Washington, and as 
 follows : 
 
 COMMANDING OFFICER, 
 
 Fort Minneconjou. 
 If Captain Stanley Foster, th Cavalry, is still at your post 
 
 notify him that his orders were sent June to his address, 
 
 New York City. Secwar directs that he proceed at once to 
 Fort Wister and report to his regimental commander for duty. 
 Acknowledge receipt and report action. 
 
 " Secwar " being the official telegraphic abbreviation 
 for Secretary of War, that order was beyond appeal. 
 Without a word Dwight carefully refolded the message, 
 arose, and handed it to the post commander. Then, 
 after a moment s pause, straightening up, he spoke. 
 
 " I have been wrong, sir, and I beg your pardon. 
 I, too, had been led to suppose he was awaiting orders. 
 Moreover, he led me to suppose his virtual expulsion 
 was due to his resenting insulting language from Lieu 
 tenant Ray. I will you? have I your permission, sir, 
 to be absent from parade and the post this evening?" 
 
 The surgeon bent quickly forward, his eyes on Stone. 
 The colonel started, faltered, then, pulling himself to 
 gether, arose, once more extended his hand, which 
 Dwight took mechanically, and then, after a moment s 
 reflection, spoke: 
 
 " Major Dwight, I have the highest respect for you 
 as a soldier and as a man, but I ask you to withdraw 
 
A GATHERING STORM 135 
 
 that request. Frankly, sir, it is my desire that you do 
 not quit the post to-night." 
 
 A moment later when the door had closed upon the 
 tall, spare, almost angular form, the colonel mopped 
 his brow and said : " If I let that man go he ll follow 
 Foster to the station and throttle him he so hates a 
 liar and a lie." 
 
 " I thought Foster got away in time for the Flyer," 
 said the doctor, after a pause. He had been intently 
 watching Dwight s every move and gesture. 
 
 " In plenty of time," answered the colonel, " though 
 he planned it otherwise, and don t know it even now. 
 He was scheming to miss to-day s Overland and so 
 wait until to-morrow, but I sent the adjutant, with a 
 man to help him pack, and the word that the ambulance 
 would call for him at four. He could decline the help, 
 but he could n t the ambulance. Now, as luck would 
 have it, they wire me that the Flyer s five hours late." 
 
 " If that s the case at Valentine," said the adjutant, 
 " she ll be six behind by the time she strikes Minne- 
 conjou." 
 
 " Then," said Dr. Waring, " we may not have seen 
 the last of Stanley Foster. Is Ray, too, confined to the 
 post?" 
 
 " No," said the colonel, " I had n t thought about that 
 at all." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 DEEPER IN THE TOILS 
 
 DRESS parade went off that evening in some 
 what perfunctory fashion. Even the alert and 
 soldierly adjutant had a preoccupied air. 
 Stone rejoiced in his three battalions, as they really 
 were the cavalry squadron consisting, like the infan 
 try units, of four companies and ordinarily loved to 
 hold them quite a while at the manual, and later for the 
 march past. This evening he ordered but a few casual 
 shifts and dispensed entirely with the review. Almost 
 every piazza had its little group of spectators. The 
 walk was lined with visitors, the roadway with vehicles 
 from town, and Stone had never seemed to notice them. 
 What he did notice was that Dwight, standing stark and 
 alone in front of the center of his squadron, began 
 swaying before the sergeant s reports were rendered, and 
 was obviously faint and ill. It was on his account en 
 tirely that Stone curtailed the stately ceremony, and 
 thereby disappointed spectators. He took the major by 
 the arm and walked with him to his door and left him 
 there with promise to send the surgeon without delay. 
 Dwight declared the doctor unnecessary, but thanked 
 most earnestly his commanding officer. A pert young 
 
 136 
 
DEEPER IN THE TOILS 137 
 
 woman in cap and ribbons met them at the threshold 
 with the information that Madame had partaken of a 
 tisane and begged that she might not be intruded upon, 
 as it was Dr. Wallen s mandate that she should sleep, 
 if a possible thing. Stone looked queerly, sharply, at 
 her and turned away. The major made no reply to her 
 remarks, but desired that Master James be sent to him 
 as soon as he returned. It seems that Jimmy had accom 
 panied Sergeant French, a keen angler, to a trout stream 
 up in the Sagamore Range early in the afternoon. It 
 might be late before they returned. " Lucky thing, 
 that ! " thought the colonel, as he hastened homeward to 
 lay aside his full uniform, the orderly, meantime, speed 
 ing over to the post surgeon s. 
 
 " What do you make of him ? " asked the colonel, an 
 hour later, as the senior medical officer came lumbering 
 up the steps. 
 
 " He seems, physically, all right now/ was the answer. 
 " There is no functional disorder. He s sound as a dollar 
 as far as our tests can determine, but Dwight has been 
 under a strain, as we know, and then there s that Luzon 
 sunstroke. Any time, almost, that may lead to such 
 symptoms as you noted at parade." 
 
 " Lucky Dwight is n t a drinking man," said Stone 
 grimly. " There won t be any more Banner of Light 
 descriptions of our depravity for a time, anyhow; but 
 fancy the story that would make in expert hands and a 
 Prohibition sheet. God grant no worse scandal come 
 
138 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 to us," he added piously, and in guarded tone, as the 
 surgeon took his leave. 
 
 It was barely nine o clock when, some garrison callers 
 having departed, Mrs. Stone picked up a light wrap 
 and said she believed she would stroll down the line and 
 see Mrs. Ray. Everybody by this time had heard of the 
 fracas at the office of the post Exchange at noonday, 
 and the few who had caught sight of the left side of 
 Foster s face bore testimony to the fact that Sandy Ray 
 had lost little, if any, of one science he picked up at 
 the Point. Mrs. Ray would surely be feeling anxious 
 and distressed, said Mrs. Stone, even though everyone 
 assured her, in manner if not in words, that public sym 
 pathy was all with Sandy. 
 
 " I believe I ll go, too," said Stone. " I m feeling 
 woozy to-night." So, arm in arm, this Darby and Joan 
 of the frontier betook themselves down the row, past 
 many an open casement and doorway, softly lighted, with 
 whispering couples in the shadows and laughing, chat 
 ting groups upon the steps, with the tinkle of mandolin 
 and guitar to mingle with the soft murmur of voices, 
 despite many a hospitable bid to " Come and join us," 
 the couple kept sturdily on and found, just as they ex 
 pected, that other sympathetic souls had been before 
 them, that Mrs. Ray was still holding quite a reception, 
 Priscilla and Sandy being conspicuous by their absence, 
 Priscilla having retired with a throbbing headache, 
 Sandy, still tingling and nervous, having sent for his 
 
DEEPER IN THE TOILS 159 
 
 horse but a short time before and gone for a ride. They 
 stayed quite a while, did the Stones, and Mrs. Ray 
 seemed gladdened and comforted by their coming. It 
 meant so much just then. Indeed, the bugles were 
 sounding the ten o clock call when finally they took 
 their leave, and Sandy had not returned. True, he had 
 then been gone little over an hour, and he could ride 
 but slowly, though he declared he had neither strained a 
 muscle nor started anew the trouble in the old wound. 
 Perhaps it was too soon to be sure, but at all events a 
 ride, a gentle amble on a nimble, easy horse over the 
 elastic turf in the soft, summer moonlight would soothe 
 and quiet him more than anything else, so, wisely, Marion 
 had interposed no objection. 
 
 Taps sounded and the lights were lowered in the bar 
 racks and the sentries called off half-past ten o clock, 
 and still there had come no sign of the westbound 
 Flyer, far over the southward waves of prairie, slowly 
 breasting the long upgrade to the Pass. The big com 
 pound engine of the Midland Pacific had a deep-toned, 
 melodious, flute-like signal, utterly different to the ear- 
 piercing shriek of the old-fashioned railway whistle, and 
 on still evenings the sharp, rhythmical beat of the ex 
 haust, the steady rumble of the heavy Pullmans, and the 
 occasional blast, rich and mellow, of the misnamed whis 
 tle could be followed westward for many a mile, until 
 at last the echoes of the signal died away among the 
 cliffs and canons of the frowning Sagamore. 
 
140 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Some distance out across the rolling prairie, a mile 
 or more beyond the Minneconjou, was the siding of a 
 deserted station, once built there by the quartermaster s 
 department with the idea of making a much shorter haul 
 for supplies than that afforded by the broad and fairly 
 level road from town. The wear and tear on mules, har 
 ness and running gear consequent upon the up-hill and 
 down-dale character of the road, and the unprecedented 
 volume of blasphemy supposedly necessary to successful 
 fording of the Minneconjou, within earshot of the pious- 
 minded at the post, led to eventual abandonment of that 
 route in favor of the far longer but undeniably safer line 
 to Silver Hill. It was a fine sight on clear evenings to 
 see the long trail of electric lights gleaming white against 
 the darkness, come rounding a distant bluff to the east, 
 and then, skirting for a mile or so the south bank of 
 the Minneconjou, go alternately burrowing and bridging 
 the prairie divides and hollows until finally lost behind 
 the sharp spur known as Two-Mile Ridge. The Flyer 
 had a way of waiting at Omaha for the last of the express 
 trains of five great railways bringing their loads from 
 Chicago and St. Louis, all scheduled to reach Council 
 Bluffs about the same hour, and some one or more of 
 them being frequently behind. The Midland could make 
 up no time between the Missouri and the Minneconjou, 
 so light was the roadbed, so heavy the traffic, so many 
 the stops. It was not until beyond the Sagamore the 
 Flyer began to deserve its name. Due at Silver Hill 
 
DEEPER IN THE TOILS 
 
 this year of which we write as early as 5 130, the Flyer 
 not infrequently stopped for supper as late as eleven, and 
 not until eleven this night did the sentry on the south 
 ward front hear the big compound tooting for the cross 
 ings at Bonner s Bluff, and see the long line of elec 
 trics come gleaming into view far down the eastward 
 valley. 
 
 Private O Shea, sentry on No. 3, overlooking the flats 
 whereon stood the stables, was straining his ears to catch 
 the expected call of eleven o clock from No. 2, and 
 watching the distant trail of lights, and was able to say 
 next morning that the Flyer was just shoving its nose 
 behind Two-Mile Ridge as the second call, that of eleven 
 o clock, started round. The moon in its first quarter, 
 though bright and clear, was then dipping low in the 
 west and objects were by no means as distinct as they 
 had been when he came on post soon after nine and saw 
 Lieutenant Ray set forth, mounted, up the Minneconjou. 
 O Shea remembered that Hogan, who took care of the 
 lieutenant s horse, had come back across his post, and 
 they had had a brief talk about him, Hogan saying the 
 lieutenant was n t half satisfied with having blackened 
 the eyes of a bigger man. " He was that savage and 
 snappy he rowed me for keeping him so long waiting, 
 when, dear knows, he could n t have stood at the back 
 gate ten minutes." O Shea owned that he and Hogan, 
 " all the fellers, for that matter," had wished their little 
 bantam of a canteen officer could have had two minutes 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 more at " the big feller." Foster had no friends among 
 the enlisted men at the fort. It presently became a ques 
 tion whether or no he had not enemies. Hogan was 
 just saying the lieutenant told him not to sit up for 
 him when they became aware of someone approaching, 
 heard the rattle of a sword, and saw the officer of the 
 guard barely forty yards away, whereat Hogan skipped 
 for the stables. Then came the next important point in 
 O Shea s statement. Just as the tail lights of the big 
 train disappeared behind the ridge he heard the sudden 
 single blast of the whistle sounding the old-time signal 
 " down-brakes," noted the instant change from the loud, 
 pulsing exhaust to the scream of escaping steam, heard 
 even the squeal and grind of the tightly clamped wheels 
 as the Flyer slowed down to a standstill. He was won 
 dering what had happened when the third relief came 
 round and Private Schmitz took his place on post, as 
 subsequently he replaced Shea on the stand. 
 
 Schmitz was an honest Teuton, but by no means bril 
 liant. Schmitz told a straightforward tale, and one that 
 had strange and significant bearing on the case that 
 became presently of paramount interest at Minneconjou. 
 Schmitz said that he heard the train going on westward 
 after the relief had disappeared, and that, just after the 
 call of 1 1 130, he walked way up to the far end of his 
 post, the west end, came slowly back, and when about in 
 rear of Lieutenant Ray s quarters he heard a sort of cough 
 down the slope toward the stables and saw a dark form 
 
DEEPER IN THE TOILS 
 
 approaching. He challenged in low tone, as he had been 
 taught. The answer was, " Officer of the post," and 
 before he could think how to say, " Advance and be 
 recognized," the officer said, " Lieutenant Ray, sentry," 
 and went on without stopping. When asked to describe 
 the officer, Schmitz said the moon was then " owudt " 
 and it was pretty dark, but it was a " leetle, schmall 
 yentleman. He walk and talk and look yust like Lieu 
 tenant Ray effrey day does." Questioned as to the dress, 
 he said the lieutenant wore his " kempyne hat bulled 
 down ofer his eyes his blue blouse mid shoulder straps, 
 poots unt bants." He added that, though the officer 
 had n t come nearer him than fifteen feet, if it was n t 
 Lieutenant Ray, who was it? Schmitz stood pat on this 
 proposition, and that was all that could be elicited from 
 him, except that the Herr Lieutenant had gone through 
 the back gate to his quarters. 
 
 About the same hour the telephone in the quarter 
 master s office, the only telephone the United States 
 would permit or, at least, pay for at the post, set up a 
 sharp ringing, that finally roused from his heavy slum 
 ber a veteran employee serving as clerk. Shuffling to 
 the instrument in his slippers, the clerk desired to be 
 informed what in sheol Silver Hill wanted waking people 
 that hour of the night? The reply was a question. 
 The Argenta s livery stableman wished to know if any 
 thing had been seen of a horse and buggy of his at the 
 fort. A gent had hired one just about dark, said he, a 
 
144. A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 gent who said he d be back about ten, and who had n t 
 come. The gent had had supper in his room at the 
 Argenta and had ordered his traps sent to the railway 
 station to meet the Flyer. They said at the hotel office 
 that he was a Captain Foster, whereat the clerk became 
 interested, notified the stableman that he would make 
 immediate inquiry at the guard-house, and did, and the 
 guard said that neither Foster nor his buggy had been 
 seen about the post. The clerk was beginning to dribble 
 this through the phone, when he was suddenly cut off 
 by the counter announcement : " Oh, it s all right ! The 
 rig s just back. Cap took the Flyer west and sent a 
 boy home with it. Never even got change for the ten 
 dollars he deposited." 
 
 But when mine host of the Argenta came back from 
 seeing the Flyer off for the west he, too, had questions 
 to ask as to Foster. Did the office clerk see anything 
 of him? Nothing. "Queer," said boniface, "we gave 
 his hand baggage to the Pullman porter, as directed, 
 but his trunk is there yet. Reckon I ll have to wire after 
 him and tell the conductor to send them things back 
 by No. 5." 
 
 And this, before he went to bed, the landlord pro 
 ceeded to do, but no Captain Foster appeared during 
 the night to claim the trunk or remonstrate about the 
 luggage; nor came there any answer to the dispatch 
 to the Flyer until the following morning, when there was 
 handed the proprietor a slip somewhat as follows: 
 
DEEPER IN THE TOILS 145 
 
 Man calling himself Captain Foster put aboard last night at 
 Fort Siding, slugged and robbed. Taking him on to Wister. 
 Physician in charge. Better notify police. 
 
 This was about eight o clock, at which time the old 
 guard was cleaning up about the guard-house and the 
 companies detailed for the new were assembling in front 
 of their quarters, and the officer of the guard, a young 
 lieutenant recently joined from civil life, new to his trade 
 and strange to the traditions of the army, was cross- 
 questioning a reluctant corporal about an unauthorized 
 item of equipment found tucked into his cartridge belt 
 when the guard paraded at reveille an officer s gauntlet 
 of the style worn in the cavalry a year before this time. 
 The corporal explained that it had been picked up by 
 No. 3 just before his relief was taken off post at 5:15, 
 that it had been handed him, the corporal, just before 
 sentry s shout of " Turn out the guard ! " at the approach 
 of the officer of the day, and he had stowed it there for 
 want of a better place and before he had had time to 
 examine it. 
 
 But No. 3, it seems, had had time to examine, and 
 had told some of his mates of his discovery. They had 
 gone to Corporal Clancy to see for themselves, and had 
 been told to go about their business, which led to more 
 talk that finally reached the lieutenant s ears. Clancy 
 had had a clatter with the sergeant and had been refused 
 permission to go to his quarters anywhere, for a strange 
 story was flitting about the post concerning two or three 
 
146 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 men of " B " Troop who had been out late the previous 
 night, had got liquor over at a vile resort far across 
 the Minneconjou, and a little southwest of town, and 
 had had a sanguinary fight of some kind, for Sullivan 
 was badly cut and Connelly had a nasty eye, and there 
 was something black and ugly back of it they were 
 trying to hide, unless veteran sergeants were in error; 
 and finally the sergeant of the guard told the lieutenant 
 of the story and said he believed Corporal Clancy was 
 secreting evidence that might be of value, whereupon 
 Clancy was ordered into the presence and told to produce 
 that gauntlet. 
 
 But neither lieutenant nor sergeant dreamed of what 
 was before them when Clancy at last reluctantly com 
 plied, dragging from beneath his blouse what had been 
 a dainty bit of military finery, a soft white gauntlet, that 
 bore within the cuff the inscription, " Sanford Ray," 
 and that without was soaked and stained with blood. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 \ 
 
 WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 
 
 IT was another lovely summer morning, sweet, moist 
 and still. The squadron had been out as usual, 
 but the drill had been anything but snappy or 
 spirited. Every officer knew, and most men decided, 
 that something was weighing heavily on the major s 
 mind, for, though he labored conscientiously through 
 his duties, comments and corrections were few, and, 
 to the surprise of all, he even dismissed the troops 
 some few minutes before the sounding of the recall. 
 Captain Washburn looked back over his shoulder at the 
 tall, spare, sinewy figure riding slowly, even dejectedly, 
 with downcast eyes and troubled visage, back toward 
 the big quarters at the end of the row, and shook his 
 own head as he marveled what would be the outcome 
 of all this foreboding. Minneconjou had breathed freer, 
 for all its subdued chatter, over the elimination of Cap 
 tain Foster from the column of probabilities. Minne 
 conjou had seen little of the lovely Mrs. Dwight of late, 
 for though she appeared at every dance, several dinners 
 and on many a drive, few women had speech with her, 
 thanks to Foster s incessant supervision, and, looking at 
 another woman without unlimited conversation is not 
 
 147 
 
148 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 " seeing " her as understood in feminine society. Since 
 Foster s departure the previous day only the doctor and 
 the maid had been admitted to the presence of Mrs. 
 Dwight, though there had been callers with " kind in 
 quiries." It was now time for guard-mounting and the 
 busy routine of another day. One after another pret 
 tily gowned matrons and maids began to appear on the 
 verandas and flit from door to door, and the band 
 marched forth and took its station on the parade and 
 the details were being inspected by the sergeants in front 
 of their quarters, while, well over toward the west end 
 of the big quadrilateral, a dozen army-bred lads of vari 
 ous ages, from fourteen down to five, were gleefully 
 surrounding a pair of Indian ponies recently bought for 
 the doctor s twin boys. Prominent in the group, Jimmy 
 Dwight, ever a prime favorite, was bestriding the more 
 promising of the pair, a wall-eyed, surly-looking pinto, 
 and, as perhaps the most accomplished horseman in the 
 lot, was trying to make the unwilling brute show his 
 paces, a thing that only an Indian, as a rule, can success 
 fully do. Officers on their way to their company duty 
 stopped to see the fun. The adjutant paused before 
 signaling to the drum major and said a laughing word 
 of caution to the merry crowd, lest their gleeful shouts 
 and laughter should disturb the dignity of the coming 
 ceremony. The senior surgeon, coming forth from his 
 quarters, Silver Hill s morning journal just received, 
 open in his hand,, moved an adjournment to the rear of 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 149 
 
 the administration building. But the colonel himself, 
 likewise provided by a rushing newsboy with a fresh 
 copy of our morning contemporary, sallied forth from 
 his gate and shouted encouragement to the plucky little 
 rider. " Stick to him, Jimmy boy, and you others 
 don t yell so; keep quiet, and the pony will tire of 
 kicking." 
 
 Then he and the doctor fell into converse over the tele 
 graphic headline, and then the bugles pealed adjutant s 
 call, the band crashed merrily into " Hands Across the 
 Sea," and the details of the twelve companies came march 
 ing jauntily forth upon the green. The colonel, with 
 soldierly appreciation in his eyes, stood watching the 
 sharp, snappy formation of the line, the paper dangling 
 unheeded from his thumb and forefinger, while the sur 
 geon, more alive to the news of the day than the nice 
 ties of military duty, turned over the outer page, began 
 to scan the headlines of the inner column, as suddenly, 
 impulsively, unthinkingly startled the colonel by the 
 exclamation " God ! " Stone whirled about in sudden 
 anxiety. For a moment the doctor simply stared and 
 read, then glanced at the post commander, and, without 
 a word, handed him the sheet. Stone, too, stared, started, 
 looked quickly into the surgeon s face, and then said : 
 " Let s get inside." So together these veterans of their 
 respective corps quit the field and the sight of men and 
 boys and went to confer within the depth of the vine- 
 shaded veranda. 
 
150 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 At that same moment the tall, gaunt form of Major 
 Dwight was seen to issue from the front doorway of 
 the first quarters on the southward line, the field officer s 
 roomy house, and, looking neither to the right nor the 
 left, straight, stern and rigidly erect, he strode forth 
 upon the grassy parade, heading for the merry group 
 about the ponies. The band had ceased its spirited march 
 music. The adjutant had assigned officers and non-com 
 missioned officers to their posts. The lieutenant com 
 manding had ordered " Inspection arms ! " and once 
 again the strain of sweet music swept across the green 
 carpeted quadrangle, and Marion Ray, seated on her 
 piazza far down the line, chatting with a neighbor who 
 had just dropped in, lifted her head and listened. It 
 was one of Margaret s old favorites, a song she used to 
 sing and loved to sing, a song played by many an army 
 band for many a year, and it seemed never to grow 
 wearisome or stale " Happy Be Thy Dreams." With 
 her thoughts all of Margaret and her eyes following 
 her thoughts, she arose, stepped to the rail, looking for 
 little Jim, whom she had recently seen but seldom, and 
 then caught sight of the major a long distance away, 
 bearing straight and swift upon the romping group at 
 the westward end of the parade. Barely twenty min 
 utes before, as she was giving Sandy his coffee, for Sandy 
 had come down late after a restless, almost sleepless 
 night, she had heard Dwight s deep tones at the front 
 gate in earnest conversation with Priscilla, who now 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 151 
 
 had entirely disappeared. More than once of late the 
 two had been in talk over some of Priscilla s schemes, 
 but the housemaid said she thought Miss Sanford had 
 gone now with the major down the row, perhaps to Lieu 
 tenant Thornton s. Why should they go thither? Pris- 
 cilla had been so very silent, subdued and, it was hoped, 
 contrite since the exposure of her correspondence with 
 the Banner that Mrs. Ray marveled at her early resump 
 tion of the old dominant way; for, though low-voiced 
 and almost reluctant, for her, Priscilla s words to the 
 major had been spoken firmly, unflinchingly. Only two 
 or three of these words had reached the ears of her 
 aunt; the others were not sufficiently loud or articulate, 
 but whatever they were, they had led to immediate action, 
 for the major had departed, Priscilla with him, and, 
 anxiously, inspired partially by the music, partially by 
 some indefinable sense of something going sadly amiss, 
 something that should be stopped at once, Marion stepped 
 forward, gazed eastward down the row and saw Priscilla 
 in close conversation with little Mrs. Thornton, only five 
 
 doors away, and then, all in a flash,, she remembered 
 
 Sandy, before starting for his office, had gone back to 
 his room. He at least was on hand and ready to act in 
 case she needed him, but as yet she did not call. For 
 getful, for the moment, of her visitor, she stood clasping 
 the rail and staring, inert and even possibly fascinated, 
 along the westward line, following intently and with 
 startled, troubled eyes the major s movements. Others, 
 
152 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 too, had noted both among the spectators along that front 
 and among the laughing lads themselves. By this time 
 the ponies had been favored with new riders and the 
 riders with every conceivable suggestion as to what to 
 attempt. Jimmy had given place to Harold Winn, and 
 rejoicefully was bidding him clamp tighter with his legs 
 and knees and keep his hands down on the withers, but 
 too late. A sudden lunge with his heels, a dive with 
 his shaggy head, and the spunky little brute, half-savage 
 as a result of all-savage training, had propelled his 
 would-be conqueror sprawling to the edge of the gleam 
 ing waters of the acequia, and a shout of mingled 
 delight and derision went up from a dozen boy throats, 
 and Jimmy, helping his playmate, unhurt but shaken, to 
 his feet, caught sight of the loved form speeding toward 
 them over the green, and, bubbling over with fun, laugh 
 ter, high health and spirits, just as of old went bounding 
 joyously, confidently, to meet him. 
 
 Of just what was passing in Oswald Dwight s bewil 
 dered mind that morning God alone could judge and 
 tell. All his soldier life he had loved truth and hated a 
 lie. All his fond and confident teaching of his only boy, 
 Margaret s darling and his hope and pride, had been to 
 speak the truth, frankly, fearlessly, fully, first, last and all 
 the time. " Never fear to come to me with anything you 
 may have done. Never let anything tempt you to swerve 
 from the truth and the whole truth. Nothing you can 
 ever say or do will ever so hurt me as will a lie." And 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 153 
 
 so, fearlessly and fully, from the time Jim had begun to 
 prattle he had learned to own his little faults, sure of 
 sympathy and forgiveness. He had learned to strive to 
 conquer them for the sake of the love and trust that was 
 so unfailing, and in response to the grave but ever gentle 
 admonition, and it had been the father s fond belief for 
 years that between him and his only son there lived utter 
 confidence and faith, that Jim would ever shrink from a 
 lie and never from him. Between the two, father and 
 son, never had there seemed to come a shadow, until of 
 late that darkly beautiful face had for the time, at least, 
 replaced that other. Since then, time and again when 
 Dwight spoke of his pride and trust in Jim, the new 
 wife had listened, unresponsive. Since that last night 
 in Naples, whenever Dwight spoke of his confidence in 
 Jimmy s word she had sometimes looked up appealingly, 
 timidly, as though she longed to believe as he believed, 
 yet could not quite. Sometimes she had looked away. 
 Once or twice she had ventured a faint negation. Jimmy 
 would not deliberately tell a falsehood; oh, she was sure 
 of that, but, like all children, she said, when suddenly 
 accused, the impulse would be to deny, would it not? 
 and then had not the major observed? did he not re 
 member that Jimmy was just a bit imaginative? 
 Dwight puzzled over her apparent unbelief. 
 
 But very recently he had noticed other little things 
 that vaguely worried him. Could it be that, as his boy 
 grew older and mingled more with other boys, he was 
 
154 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 learning to be influenced more by them and less by the 
 father? Could it be that he was seeing, hearing, things, 
 to speak of which he dared not? There might be things 
 of which he would be ashamed. Certainly the father had 
 seen at times, since the homeward voyage, a certain hesi 
 tancy on part of the son, and within the past few days, 
 for the first time in Jimmy s life, Dwight had noted 
 symptoms of something like avoidance, concealment, 
 embarrassment, something that told his jealous, over 
 anxious heart the boy no longer utterly confided in the 
 man. It was late the previous evening when the little 
 fellow had returned with his stanch friend, Sergeant 
 French, and a fine string of trout, happy, radiant, proud 
 of his success, but so tired he could hardly keep his eyes 
 open long enough to undress and get to bed. Dwight 
 had met him at the door, cautioning silence on mam 
 ma s account, and the young face that beamed up at his, 
 all delight and eagerness at first, clouded almost instantly 
 at the word. Jimmy did not even care for the tempting 
 supper set aside for him he had had such a big lunch, 
 he said, in smothered tone, as he prattled eagerly to 
 his father and showed his finny prizes, and sipped at his 
 glass of milk. But Dwight had been brooding over little 
 things that had come to him since Foster s assisted emi 
 gration. He had returned straight from his conference 
 with Stone and the surgeon to find Inez reduced to the 
 sofa and smelling salts to tell her at once that their 
 guest was gone, not because of a fracas with Ray, as 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 155 
 
 Foster had furiously declared, but because of telegraphic 
 orders from Washington that had come, possibly, as the 
 result of Foster s own telegraphic inquiries of Saturday 
 and Sunday. Not for a star would Dwight let his wife 
 suppose that Foster s protracted visit had given him the 
 least uneasiness! But the maid, that pert and flippant 
 young person so much in evidence about the house, so 
 indispensable to Inez, so intangibly a nuisance to him, 
 kept flitting in and out, with her persistent, " Madame 
 should compose herself " ; " Madame should not try to 
 talk." 
 
 The " young person s " nationality, Dwight be 
 lieved, was Swiss-Italian, rather than French. They had 
 picked her up in Milan, but her professional interests, 
 it seems, were advanced by the adoption of French 
 methods and mannerisms. She had early striven to estab 
 lish herself as companion rather than maid, to be called 
 Mademoiselle rather than Felicie, but the dragoon had 
 sharply drawn the line, and in the beginning, at least, 
 the man was master. As ills accumulated, however, and 
 masculine strength deferred to feminine weakness, he 
 succumbed to their wishes, with the result that the ascen 
 dency of the domestic was becoming a matter of gossip. 
 Once established at the post, Felicie s swift methods of 
 acquiring knowledge of all that was going on about 
 her, and unlimited means of imparting the same to her 
 mistress, had quite speedily established confidential re 
 lations to which the putative master of the house was a 
 
156 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 stranger. There is a garrison " Service of Security and 
 Information " that differs widely from that of the field 
 and is even more comprehensive. 
 
 Felicie had heard the various versions of the affray at 
 Ray s office. Felicie had heard of the lamentable affair 
 of Georgie Thornton s injury and its cause, and Felicie 
 had been quick to see and suggest how this incident 
 might be utilized in case Master James could not be per 
 suaded to forget that, when he came hurrying in from 
 church the previous day, mamma, who had been too ill 
 to arise at ten o clock, was in most becoming morning 
 toilet tete-a-tete with Captain Foster in the parlor. 
 Felicie had even assured Madame that she could and 
 would influence Master James accordingly, and this, 
 too, after one unsuccessful attempt on Sunday. Felicie 
 had fairly flown, all sympathy and helpfulness, to fetch 
 Master James fresh, cool water, towels, ice for the back 
 of his neck, a preventive the most assured for nose 
 bleed, and all this despite Jimmy s repellent silence, for 
 the lad shrank from her instinctively. She had then 
 striven to coax him to promise that he would mention 
 to no man that mamma was dressed and downstairs: it 
 would so annoy the doctor, who had said she should 
 remain in bed, and, indeed, she (Felicie) and the dear 
 captain had remonstrated with mamma, and were even 
 then striving to persuade mamma to return to her room, 
 as later she had to when Master James came so hur 
 riedly in. The only response had been a blank look of 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 157 
 
 bewilderment and dislike and an uncompromising: 
 " Well, spose somebody asks me ? " 
 
 All this, of course, was known at the moment only to 
 the three ; but, as luck would have it, when Dwight came 
 walking slowly homeward from church with Mrs. Ray, 
 communion service ended, Jim had run to meet them, 
 the nose-bleed already forgotten, and, to the father s. 
 " I hope you did n t disturb mamma, my boy. She was 
 trying hard to sleep," the little man had promptly, im 
 pulsively responded : " No, indeed, daddy, mamma is 
 
 up and dressed " And then he remembered, faltered, 
 
 blushed. 
 
 Dwight did not question his boy about his new mamma. 
 That was another thing from which the father shrank. 
 He saw the lad s sudden confusion, and knew that some 
 thing was being held back, but it was something that 
 should be held back. In all his teachings as to utter 
 frankness, truth, confidence, he, of course, had never 
 meant that his boy should be a tale-bearer above all 
 that he should ever come with tales of his new mamma; 
 yet Dwight, unfortunately, had never given him to under 
 stand that there were matters, now that the boy was 
 growing older and observant, concerning which no con 
 fidences were expected or invited. But it had set him 
 to thinking to questioning Inez as to her sudden 
 recovery, and again, more pointedly that Monday after 
 noon between the hour of his visit with the colonel and 
 his ominous symptoms at parade, thereby bringing on a 
 
158 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 fit of nerves for her and a swimming of the head for 
 himself. It was while he was waiting for Jimmy s home 
 coming that Felicie ostentatiously bustling to and fro, 
 all sympathy for Madame in her prostration and anxiety 
 as to M sieu, the Commandant had contrived to intimate 
 that Monsieur James had been so imprudent as to rush. 
 all ensanguined, into the presence of Madame, and now 
 and under such circumstances, and in virgin modesty, 
 Felicie s eyelids drooped, " Madame should be spared all 
 possibility of shock or emotion." Under any other cir 
 cumstances with what a thrill would he have listened to 
 her words ! Did not Monsieur conceive ? And Madame s 
 heart and sympathies so all-responsive ! Had they not 
 already been lacerated by the story of the suffering of 
 the little George, an infant, oh, heaven, the most amiable ! 
 But assuredly Monsieur James had apprised his father 
 of all that had taken place. He, too, was an infant the 
 most amiable, and Dwight, overwrought and bewildered, 
 before Jimmy went to his bed that night, had again asked 
 him what all this meant about Georgie Thornton, and, 
 looking squarely into his father s face, with Margaret s 
 soul speaking from his clear, unflinching, fearless eyes, 
 the little man had said again, " Why, daddy, I have n t 
 an idea! I did n t even hear he was hurt until you 
 told me." 
 
 Then had come a morning s drill following an al 
 most sleepless night, and during drill he had rebuked 
 young Thornton for the faults of his platoon, and after 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 159 
 
 drill had lectured him a bit for seeming neglect or indif 
 ference, and even of sullen acceptance of deserved criti 
 cism. Then, suddenly, remembering, he ceased his 
 rebuke, turned the subject and asked how was George, 
 and then as they were parting, again asked how it hap 
 pened, and was again startled by the words : " Ask your 
 own boy, sir," for Thornton, like many an older, stronger, 
 wiser man, accepted unchallenged the views of his wife. 
 Jim had had his breakfast and was gone by the time 
 Dwight reached home, but Felicie, in answer to question, 
 with infinite regret and becoming reluctance owned that 
 Miss Sanford and other witnesses of the unfortunate 
 affair united in saying that Monsieur James had, in a 
 moment of boyish petulance perhaps, swung his jacket 
 full in the face of Monsieur George, never thinking, 
 doubtless, of the cruel, sharp-edged, metal button that 
 should so nearly cut out the eye; and then, terrified at 
 the sight of so much blood, was it not natural that any 
 child should run from the sight and try to forget, and 
 perhaps might forget, and so deny? 
 
 Dwight listened in a daze, spurning the toothsome 
 breakfast set before him; then, rising, took his cap, left 
 the house without another word and, hastening thither, 
 found Priscilla Sanford on the veranda at the Rays . 
 
 As she herself subsequently admitted to her aunt, Pris 
 cilla, who had been bred to the doctrine of original sin 
 and innate propensity for evil, who had long thought 
 that the major stood sorely in ignorance as to Jimmy s 
 
160 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 spiritual needs, and who herself stood solemnly con 
 vinced of the truth of the Thornton story, now conceived 
 it her duty to fully and unreservedly answer the major s 
 questions. Had she witnessed the affair? She had in 
 great part, she said, little considering that of the most 
 essential part, the actual blow or slash, she had seen 
 nothing. Was it true that his son was the assailant? 
 Priscilla answered that, though she was not at that instant 
 where she could herself see the blow, she an instant later 
 saw everything, and the relative position of the boys was 
 such that there was no room for doubt it was James 
 who struck. She heard the scream when near the door 
 and at once ran out. And had not Jimmy stopped to 
 offer aid or do anything? No, Jimmy had rushed on 
 as though bent on overtaking the leaders, as though he 
 never heard what, much farther away, she had heard 
 distinctly. And then Priscilla owned that the look of 
 agony in the father s face was such that her resolution 
 well-nigh failed her. 
 
 But, unhappily, not quite. There are possibly no people 
 so possessed with the devil of meddling in the manage 
 ment of other people s children as those who never had 
 any, or else have been phenomenal failures in the rearing 
 of their own. Dwight asked her presently to go with 
 him to the Thorntons , which she did, beginning to tremble 
 now as her eyes studied his face. Mrs. Thornton was 
 on the veranda. Young hopeful, with bandaged fore 
 head, was blissfully chasing a little terrier pup about 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 161 
 
 the yard. She, too, began to tremble; the little wrath 
 and resentment left was oozing from her ringer tips as 
 Dwight lifted his cap from the lined and haggard brow 
 and she saw the infinite trouble in his deep-set eyes. But 
 he gave her no time to speak. 
 
 " I have come," he said, " to express my deep sorrow 
 at what I must now believe my son has done. I should 
 
 have come before had had " He stumbled miserably. 
 
 Then, with sudden effort, " I will see Mr. Thornton and 
 make my acknowledgments later, and see the doctor, but 
 
 first " Then abruptly he bent, caught Georgie by 
 
 an arm, lifted the bandage just enough to see the adhesive 
 plaster underneath, muttered something under his breath, 
 dropped his hand by his side, looked appealingly one 
 instant in Priscilla s eyes as though he would ask one 
 more question, never heeding, perhaps never hearing, 
 Mrs. Thornton s: "Oh, Major, I m sure Jimmy could 
 not have meant it ! " Womanlike, all vehemence in accu 
 sation at first, all insistence in extenuation now that ven 
 geance threatened. The next moment Dwight was gone, 
 and Priscilla dare not follow the first impulse of her heart 
 to run home and tell Aunt Marion and Sandy, or to run 
 after him. She saw the major turn stiffly in at his own 
 gate, far up the row, saw Aunt Marion come forth, and, 
 like guilty things, the maiden of mature years, the mother 
 of immature mind, held there, shrinking, not knowing 
 what to look for what to do. They, too, saw Dwight 
 come forth again; but none of the anxious eyes along 
 
162 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 that anxious line had witnessed what had befallen in the 
 few minutes Dwight spent in presence of his wife. That 
 was known, until some days later, only to Felicie. 
 
 She was still abed, sipping her chocolate, and looking 
 but a shade lighter, when he abruptly entered. She 
 could almost have screamed at sight of his twitching 
 face, but he held up warning hand. 
 
 " Just a moment, Inez. You had come home you 
 were on the veranda, I believe; did you see anything 
 of that that trouble among the boys yesterday ? " 
 
 She had seen nothing. She was listening at the moment 
 with downcast lids and heaving bosom to Foster s eager, 
 hurried words. She had heard the shouts of merriment, 
 and faintly heard the screams, and had not even looked 
 to see the cause, but Felicie had found no inapt pupil. 
 Inez buried her face in her jeweled hands. Under the 
 filmy veiling of her dainty nightdress Dwight could see 
 the pretty shoulders beginning to heave convulsively. 
 Was she sobbing? Stepping closer, he repeated the 
 question. " I must know," said he. 
 
 " Ah, Oswald how how can I ? You love him so ! 
 You love him so much more than me, and he he 
 hates me! He shrinks from me! He would not shrink 
 from poisoning you against me ! " 
 
 " Inez, this is childish ! Tell me at once what you 
 know why you distrust him ? " 
 
 Again the sobs, the convulsive shoulder-heaving be 
 fore she would speak, and, as though fired with wrath 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 163 
 
 inexpressible, Dwight started for the door, Then she 
 called him. Felicie was there, all distress, anxiety, con 
 cern for Madame. Indeed, Monsieur should refrain 
 at such a time, and then there were two to talk, each sup 
 plementing reminding the other. It was true that little 
 Monsieur James could not seem to respond to the love 
 of his young mother, this angel, and he was rude and 
 insolent to Felicie, who adored him, and he he so hurt 
 and distressed Captain Foster, who was goodness itself 
 to him. It was for rudely, positively contradicting the 
 captain she, Inez, had been compelled to send James to 
 his room and require him to remain there until his father s 
 return, not thinking how long the father would be gone 
 on his visit to town, and even then James was obstinate ; 
 he would not apologize, although she had striven, and 
 Felicie, too, to make him understand how his father 
 would grieve that the son he so loved could so affront 
 his guest; and they feared, they feared James deceived 
 sometimes his noble father. The Naples incident was 
 brought up again, and Jimmy s odd insistence that an 
 officer had spoken to and frightened her, and then 
 those little things he had told on the homeward voyage 
 (Heaven knows how true they were!) and then, oh, it 
 wrung their hearts to see the father s grief, but when 
 Jimmy denied all knowledge of the injury to Georgie 
 Thornton, they knew and Jimmy knew he must have 
 known it was his own doing. Leaving them both in 
 tears, the father flung himself from, the room and down 
 
164 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 the stairs, and with his brain afire went straightway in 
 search of his son. Good God! To think that, after all 
 his years of hope and prayer and faith and pride of 
 careful teaching and utter trust that it should come to 
 this, that the boy on whom his great heart was centered 
 should after all after all prove a coward and a liar ! 
 His eyes seemed clouded. He saw only as through a 
 lurid glass. The sunlight in the crisp, delicious air was 
 clear as crystal, yet there was a blur that seemed to 
 overshadow every object. There was a ringing in his 
 ears that dulled the sweet strains of the song his wife, 
 his own wife, his love, his treasure, Jimmy s mother, 
 used to sing, for now he never heard it. His temples 
 throbbed ; his head seemed burning, yet the face was 
 ashen. The twitching lips, bitten into gashes, were blue 
 between the savage teeth marks, and yet at sight of the 
 straight, soldierly form he loved, little Jim had quit his 
 fellows and, to the music of his mother s song just as 
 of old, beaming, joyous, confident, brimming over with 
 fun and health had come bounding to meet him. 
 
 It had been the father s way at such times to halt, to 
 bend forward with outstretched arms, almost as he had 
 done in Jimmy s earliest toddling baby boyhood, but he 
 never halted now. Erect and stern he moved straight 
 on. It was the boy who suddenly faltered, whose fond, 
 happy, radiant face grew suddenly white and seemed to 
 cloud with dread, whose eager bounding ceased as he 
 neared his sire, and, though the hands as of old went 
 
WHAT THE WOMEN TOLD THE MAJOR 165 
 
 forth to clasp the hand that never yet had failed them, 
 for the first time in his glad young life Jimmy Dwight 
 looked in vain for the love and welcome that had ever 
 been his, for the first time his brave young heart well- 
 nigh ceased its beating, for the first time he seemed to 
 shrink from his father s gaze. 
 
 And in fear, too, but not for himself; oh, never for 
 himself ! Vaguely, strangely, of late he had begun to feel 
 that all was not well with the father he so loved, and now 
 the look in his father s face was terrible. " Oh, daddy ! * 
 he cried, a great sob welling up in his throat, but the 
 answering word checked him instantly, checked his anx 
 ious query, turned his dread at the instant into relief, 
 almost into joy. It was not then that his father was ill 
 and stricken. It was that he was angry angry, and at 
 him, and in the flash of a second, in that one hoarse 
 word " Home ! " he knew what it must be, and though 
 his lips quivered and his eyes filled and again the sobs 
 came surging from his breast, just as of old, all con 
 fidence that his word could not be questioned, he strove 
 to find his father s hand, even as homeward now, with 
 Inez and her hellcat of a handmaid peeping trembling 
 through the slats, the father striding, the little fellow 
 fairly running before, the two went hurrying on, and 
 Jimmy, looking back, found tongue, and his one thought 
 found words : 
 
 " Oh, daddy, indeed I was n t impudent to Captain 
 Foster to mamma, at least, I did n t mean it! They 
 
166 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 were there in the parlor when I ran in from church, and 
 
 he wanted me to promise " 
 
 And then Marion Ray, far down the line, with one cry 
 for Sandy, sprang forward to the gate, for Oswald 
 Dwight, with heavy hand, had struck his little son across 
 the face and stretched him on the turf. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 WORST DEED OF HIS LIFE 
 
 THERE was no one near enough to reach them 
 at the moment. Jimmy was on his feet again 
 in an instant, dazed, half-stunned, breathless, 
 but still unbelieving. Father could not have heard. 
 Father would surely hear; but now the father s hand 
 had seized his arm, and, when the boy again began to 
 gasp his plea, it was almost dragging him across the 
 acequia. Blood was beginning to trickle from the corner 
 of the piteous little mouth. There was foam upon the 
 set and livid lips of the man. " Silence ! You ve lied 
 enough ! " was the savage order, as Dwight thrust the 
 boy through the gate. " Not there, sir ! " as Jimmy, 
 dumbly striving to show his loyalty, his obedience, his 
 unshaken trust, would have run on up the steps. " To 
 the cellar ! " and in fury he pointed to the walk that 
 circled the house, and Jimmy hurried on. They had van 
 ished from sight as Marion Ray, with terror in her eyes, 
 came almost running up the row, Priscilla and Mrs. 
 Thornton staring, speechless and miserable, after her. 
 A lone trooper, an humble private soldier, riding in from 
 the westward gate, had sprung from saddle, thrown the 
 reins over a post and, with consternation in his face, had 
 
 167 
 
168 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 started after them. It was young Hogan, faithful hench 
 man of the Rays, still borne on the rolls of Ray s old 
 squadron. They were in the cellar, under the rear of 
 the quarters, when he reached them, and Jimmy s jacket 
 was lying on the floor, while the lad, with streaming, 
 pleading eyes, was looking up in his father s face. 
 
 " Your shirt, too, sir ! " Dwight ordered, as Hogan 
 came bounding in. 
 
 " For the love o God, Major, don t bate the boy ! 
 Sure he never knew he did it, sir. I saw " 
 
 " Out of here, you ! " was the furious answer. " Out 
 
 or I ll " And in his blind rage the officer grasped 
 
 the unresisting soldier by the throat and hurled him 
 through the doorway whence he came. " Off with 
 that shirt ! " he again shouted, as he turned. It was 
 already almost off. Ah, how white and smooth and firm 
 was that slender, quivering little body, as, for the last time 
 the streaming eyes were imploringly uplifted, the slender 
 arms upraised, the sobbing prayer poured forth only to 
 be heard only to be heard. 
 
 " Face the window ! Turn your back, sir ! " was the 
 sole answer through the set teeth, while with sinewy hand 
 the father swung a yard-long strip of leather, some dis 
 carded stirrup strap the boys had left upon the bench, 
 and poor Hogan, with a cry and curse upon his lips, 
 rushed again to the front in search of aid. One savage 
 swish, one sharp, cruel, crashing snap, one half-stifled, 
 piteous scream, and then the doorway was suddenly dark- 
 
WORST DEED OF HIS LIFE 169 
 
 ened, the maddened man was thrust aside, and, breathless, 
 panting, but determined and defiant, Marion Ray had 
 flung herself upon the bent and shrinking child, her fond 
 arms clasping the bared and quivering back to her wildly 
 throbbing heart, her own brave form thrust between her 
 precious charge and the again uplifted scourge. " Jimmy 
 boy, my darling ! " she sobbed, as strong and safe and 
 sure she held him. Then, with her blue eyes blazing, she 
 turned on him. 
 
 " Oswald Dwight, are you mad ? " 
 
 Then again the door was darkened as Sandy Ray came 
 limping in. One glance was enough. The strap was 
 wrenched from the father s hand and hurled to the open, 
 empty, black-mouthed furnace. Then both hands were 
 needed, for Dwight, just as on Monday evening at parade, 
 had begun to sway and was groping for support. There 
 was no one to interpose, no one to interfere, when 
 Marion Ray, having at last stilled poor Jimmy s heavy 
 sobbing and bathed his face and hands and helped him 
 to dress, led him unresisting away to her little home, 
 for Madame " in her condition " as Felicie explained 
 individually to the dozen men and women who thronged 
 the major s quarters that unhappy morning was pros 
 trated, desolated, distracted by the tragedy that had come 
 to arrive. It was as well, perhaps, that at last it mani 
 fested itself what monster was this who held this angel 
 in bondage the monster himself, meantime, having been 
 led to his room by Dr. Wallen. There, half-dazed, half- 
 
170 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 raving, he resisted and declaimed until at last their meas 
 ures took effect, both doctors being with him now, and 
 he was partially disrobed and compelled to lie down upon 
 the bed. There one or both of them sat and watched the 
 rest of the livelong day. There, finally, after nightfall a 
 trained nurse took station with attendants in readiness 
 in the hallway, for delirium had set in and Dwight s 
 condition was declared critical. 
 
 Bad as it was, this was by no means the sole topic 
 of talk for Minneconjou s seething population. Among 
 the women, Mrs. Ray stood foremost as heroine of the 
 occasion, and half the feminine element of the garrison 
 had been to call and congratulate and praise her before 
 the day was done. But Marion was in no mood for 
 either. It had come to her as a vital question what to 
 do with Priscilla. Sandy had charged his cousin in so 
 many words with having deliberately incited Major 
 Dwight to his furious and unreasoning assault, so Sandy 
 regarded it, upon his only son, and Sandy had for a 
 week or more been looking upon Dwight as a wronged 
 and injured man. Priscilla, as we know, had virtually 
 and virtuously admitted much of her error to Aunt 
 Marion, but persisted that though they both, Mrs. Thorn 
 ton and she, considered that it was high time Jimmy was 
 punished instead of petted, they never dreamed to what 
 length the father would go. " Punished for what?" in 
 dignantly demanded Aunt Marion. " For his having so 
 cruelly hurt Georgie Thornton, and then denying all 
 
WORST DEED OF HIS LIFE 171 
 
 knowledge of it," was the reply. Words are inadequate 
 to describe the indignation with which Mrs. Ray heard 
 and answered. Jimmy never knew it at the time or 
 heard, until late that night, of what had happened. 
 Hogan, and others for that matter, saw the entire affair. 
 Jimmy was whirling his English-made jacket about his 
 head as he raced in pursuit of the leader, never realizing 
 that Georgie Thornton, swift almost as himself, was close 
 at his right hand. The button had cut its keen-edged 
 way without so much as a shock or pause. Jimmy never 
 even suspected it. In that, as in everything else, said she, 
 he had told his father the entire truth, though Mrs. Ray 
 herself hardly dreamed how much he had to tell. So 
 by noontime Priscilla had again shut herself in her room 
 to ponder over the miscarriage of her excellent intentions, 
 and to pray, as well she might, for future guidance. 
 
 But while at the Rays , and possibly at the Dwights\ 
 there was little thought or talk of any other topic all 
 the morning, all over the garrison was buzzing a second 
 story that started soon after the newsboy from town, 
 cantering out on his cow pony just before guard-mount 
 ing, sold his three dozen Stars inside of an hour and sent 
 him back for more. The colonel and surgeon were first 
 to receive and read. Dwight received, but never read, 
 and other majors, captains and subalterns not to men 
 tion non-commissioned officers and privates chased the 
 newsboy in eagerness to buy. It was a paragraph on 
 an inside page, modest and moderate enough in itself 
 
172 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 for the frontier press has learned to know the army 
 and not to defame it but it stirred a sensation at Minne- 
 conjou its editor refused to start in town. In brief, it 
 was as follows: 
 
 ASSAULT ALLEGED 
 
 Just as we go to press a dispatch is received from a represen 
 tative of the STAR, who left last night on the westbound Flyer. 
 The train was flagged at Fort Siding and boarded, with the assist 
 ance of a ranchman, by Captain Stanley Foster, of the Cavalry, 
 lately visiting friends at Minneconjou. The officer was bruised, 
 bleeding, and well-nigh exhausted, but managed to tell that he 
 had been held up while driving, had been forcibly carried out on 
 the open prairie, and brutally beaten by ruffians whom he de 
 clares to be soldiers, all strangers to him with one exception. 
 The captain names as ringleader a prominent and well-known 
 young officer of the post. 
 
 Dr. Fowler, of Sagamore Heights, was called by wire, met the 
 train at the Pass, and went on with the injured man. The story, 
 of course, sounds incredible, and cannot as yet be substantiated. 
 
 It was just after lunch time when a messenger came 
 to the Rays. The surgeon asked if the lieutenant could 
 come to Major Dwight a moment, and the doctor himself 
 met Sandy at the door. The veteran s face was very 
 grave. He had known the young officer but a few months. 
 He had known his father long. " Are you feeling fit 
 for a hard interview ? " he asked. 
 
 " If need be. What s the matter? " 
 
 " Dwight is in a fearful frame of mind, and the Lord 
 only knows how it is to end. Dwight realizes now that 
 
WORST DEED OF HIS LIFE 173 
 
 Jimmy was entirely innocent of any knowledge of that 
 thing the Thorntons charged him with. Your mother 
 sent Hogan and a trumpeter up here. Both had seen 
 the whole affair, and Dwight would see them. He never 
 could have rested till he got the facts. We have per 
 suaded him that he must not question his wife, and that 
 French cat says she cannot leave her mistress an instant. 
 He s raging now to see you, and I reckon it s no use 
 trying more sedatives until you are off his mind. Will 
 you come in ? " 
 
 Ray pondered a moment, then, " Go ahead," said he. 
 
 They found Dwight pacing the floor like a caged and 
 raging lion. He whirled on the two the moment they 
 entered, Wallen vainly preaching self-control and modera 
 tion. The misery in the man s face killed the last vestige 
 of Ray s antipathy. It was something indescribable. 
 
 " Sandy, I m in hell, but it s the truth, the whole 
 truth, and nothing but the truth I must have. Did you 
 before you joined us at the Grand in Naples did you 
 meet did you see Mrs. Dwight ? " 
 
 " Yes,"_said Ray. 
 
 Dwight halted, resting his shaking hand on the back 
 of a chair, and the shake went down through the back 
 and legs to the very floor. 
 
 "Where? How?" 
 
 " In front of Cook s Bank. Mrs. Dwight was in an 
 open carriage ; why should n t I speak to her ? " And 
 the head went up and back, so like his father. 
 
174 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 " No reason whatever,, but why should she lie ? Tell 
 me that ! Why should she swear that my boy, Margaret s 
 boy, lied? Oh, my God, tell me that ! " 
 
 " Major, Major ! " pleaded Wallen, with outstretched 
 hand. " This will never do. This 
 
 " Let him alone," said the senior bluntly. " It s got 
 to come." 
 
 " Because," said Ray, looking straight at his man, " I 
 was fool enough to fall in love with her the same time 
 you did at Manila. Perhaps she thought I d be black 
 guard enough to follow her after she became your wife." 
 
 "You you met her called upon her at the Grand, 
 I remember." 
 
 " I did, and I d do the same thing again. I wanted my 
 letters, and I had a right to them. She said that she had 
 burned them all, and that ended it. There s never been 
 a line between us since. I have never seen her since 
 when I could decently avoid it. I hope to God I ll never 
 have to see her again." 
 
 " There, there, Dwight, that s more than enough," said 
 Dr. Waring, watching narrowly the working features. 
 " Thank you, Ray. Nothing more could be asked or 
 expected." Then, sotto voce, " Get out quick ! " and Ray, 
 every nerve athrill, passed forth into the hallway, passed 
 another door, which quickly opened, and out came Felicie, 
 finger on lip, eyes dilated, one hand held forth in eager 
 appeal. 
 
 " Oh, Monsieur Mr. Ray, just one second, I implore 
 
WORST DEED OF HIS LIFE 175 
 
 Madame implores. She beg to see you." And the hand 
 just grazed his arm, as he burst impetuously, angrily by. 
 
 " You go to " was on his furious lip, but he bit the 
 
 words in twain and bolted down the stairs and out into 
 the open air, mopping his heated brow. 
 
 The adjutant was coming swiftly up the row. He had 
 hastened forth from a vine-covered piazza well toward 
 the eastward end just as Ray, with heart still hammering, 
 came limping again into the glare of the sunlight. As 
 they neared each other the staff officer with quick, 
 springy step, the subaltern somewhat halting and lame 
 the latter caught sight of a sabre swinging at the senior s 
 hip. What but one thing at that hour of the day could 
 this portend ? One moment brought the answer : 
 
 " Mr. Ray, I reg " with reddened cheek and blink 
 ing eyes, began the adjutant, who liked him well. Then, 
 with sudden effort, " I you are hereby placed in close 
 arrest and confined to your quarters by order of Colonel 
 Stone." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 REACTION 
 
 THAT colonel was a very unhappy man. " All 
 the devils in the calendar," said he, " have 
 broken loose here at Minneconjou. My cavalry 
 commander has gone stark, staring mad, and it takes 
 four men to hold him. His wife cannot stay under 
 the same roof and live, says the maid. Madame must 
 repose herself, or die. Mrs. Stone says she might take 
 the mistress under our roof, but she ll be damned if she ll 
 take the maid at least she meant that. I said it. The 
 maid says the mistress will die if they are separated an 
 instant, which suggests a happy end to one of our 
 troubles, and the cause of all the rest; and to cap the 
 climax, Billy Ray s boy has done the maddest thing ever 
 dreamed of in Dakota. Why, doctor, I tell you it can t 
 be doubted ! Foster wires the identification was complete. 
 He dropped the handkerchief that hid his face. Depart 
 ment Headquarters wired at once to slap him in arrest 
 and investigate, and the further we look the worse it 
 looks for Ray and then, by gad, he denies the whole 
 thing and demands a court-martial! Was ever a man 
 so mixed as I am ! " 
 It was even as Stone said. Dwight was for the time 
 
 176 
 
REACTION 177 
 
 being, at least, as mad as a maniac. " Brain fever," said 
 the wiseacres about the post, " superinduced by sun 
 stroke abroad and scandal at home." Since Tuesday 
 night he had recognized no one, had raved or muttered 
 almost incessantly, and at times had struggled fiercely 
 with his attendants in the effort to leave his bed. Mrs. 
 D wight s room adjoined that in which he lay, and Felicie 
 had incurred the wrath of the doctor by urging that 
 Madame s condition demanded that Monsieur be re 
 moved to hospital or to some remote apartment about the 
 neighborhood. To take him to hospital meant that a 
 score of sick or semi-convalescents should be disturbed. 
 If Madame could not sleep where she was, let Madame 
 move. There was nothing on earth the matter with . 
 Madame but nerves and a nuisance in shape of a maid, 
 said the doctor, whereat Felicie had proclaimed him, too, 
 a monster, and fled to Madame. Mrs. Stone had indeed 
 come and offered Mrs. Dwight shelter under the colonel s 
 roof, but she said at the same time the colonel drew the 
 line at the maid, and told Wallen he would not tolerate 
 that bunch of frippery and impudence. Mrs. Dwight 
 was in dread and misery. What could have happened 
 to so prostrate her beloved husband? No, a thousand 
 times no, she could not think of leaving him! What 
 she needed was restoratives something to give her 
 strength that she might hie to his bedside and tenderly 
 nurse. and care for him. She had had too much restora 
 tive, swore Wallen, when he heard this tale. " We ve 
 
178 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 shut off the champagne with which that hussy had been 
 dosing her not that she did n t demand it and now it s 
 Katzenjammer as much as anything else. If anybody 
 is to move, let the maid move her to the spare room on 
 the floor below where Foster slept." But Inez could 
 not think of moving so far from her husband s side. 
 
 Of Dwight s sudden insanity (so most of Minneconjou 
 regarded it) and his furious treatment of little Jim the 
 garrison spoke with bated breath and infinite compassion 
 and distress. Nothing but mental derangement could 
 account for it. Mrs. Thornton and Priscilla, it may be 
 conjectured, did not confide to their neighbors any too 
 much of their share in the matter, Mrs. Thornton assur 
 ing all who questioned her that she had done her best 
 to assure the major that Jimmy could not possibly have 
 purposely or knowingly struck her boy, which was par 
 tially true ; and Priscilla had declined all conversation on 
 the subject, save with her aunt, and Mrs. Ray, it may be 
 surmised, was not the woman to tell broadcast of her 
 niece s responsibility in the premises, whatever she might 
 later say to Oswald Dwight. Moreover, Marion Ray 
 was not then in mood to talk confidentially with anyone 
 outside of her own doors, for the misfortune the 
 wrong that had come to Sandy had well-nigh over 
 whelmed her. 
 
 Like the man he was, Stone had called at the house 
 the moment she intimated through his own messenger 
 that she was in readiness to see him. The adjutant be- 
 
REACTION 179 
 
 fore returning to report his action to the post commander 
 had so far departed from the strict letter of his duty as 
 to confidentially inform the dazed young officer that the 
 order had come by wire from St. Paul. It was not the 
 colonel s doing. 
 
 Sandy was in his room, " cooling off," as he said, 
 when, with all his own troubles and others deeds upon 
 his head and clouding his honest old face, the 
 post commander himself came in, took the mother s 
 hand and led her to a seat. " It can t upset you more 
 than it has me, my friend," said he. " I s pose the ex 
 planation of it all is that they met somehow accident 
 ally, perhaps renewed the quarrel; Sandy was possibly 
 getting the worst of it and the men, whoever they were, 
 could n t stand that, for they worshiped him, and pitched 
 in. There are few of our fellows, especially in the cav 
 alry, that don t just love Sandy. There are some here 
 that hate Foster," and then Stone stopped, astounded, 
 confused, for Marion Ray, with rising color, interrupted : 
 
 " Why, Colonel Stone, you speak as though you thought 
 it possible that my son could have been concerned in 
 this affair ! " 
 
 For an instant the colonel struggled for words, his red 
 face mottling in the violence of his emotion. 
 
 "Why, how can I help it, Mrs. Ray, with all I have 
 heard? But but I m more than glad you don t. What 
 does he say ? " 
 
 " That he never dreamed of such a thing," was the 
 
180 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 brief answer, and Stone hitched half a dozen different 
 ways in his chair. 
 
 " Colonel Leale, Department Inspector, was on that 
 train," said Stone slowly, " and reported Foster s story 
 verbatim, I suppose, to department headquarters, where 
 the arrest was ordered at once, and they demand that 
 we apprehend the confederates. The general s away, 
 and there is n t a man at headquarters that smelt powder 
 in the Civil War or they d know confederates were n t 
 so precious easy to apprehend. The men who might 
 have been implicated all swear they were in town at the 
 time and can prove an alibi; and unless Sandy will tell, 
 who can ? " 
 
 " You still speak as though he could have had some 
 thing to do with the assault, Colonel. I ll call him to 
 speak for himself." So Sandy came down. Colonel 
 and subaltern were left together, and Marion, with sore, 
 wounded and anxious heart, stepped into her own little 
 snuggery to look at the picture of her far-away husband 
 (ah, how she missed him and needed him!) and of 
 Maidie, her sweet and winsome daughter, now Mrs. 
 Stuyvesant of Gotham, of Sandy in the cadet uniform of 
 his yearling days and the khaki of Manila, of Billy, Junior, 
 now far away studying for the entrance exams at the 
 famous Academy. Of the four beings she most devotedly 
 loved, only one was with her now, her deeply, doubly 
 wronged Sandy, whose impetuous, indignant tones she 
 could hear so distinctly as he told his own story to the 
 
REACTION 181 
 
 colonel s sympathetic ear. So distinctly indeed could she 
 hear her own boy that for a moment she failed to hear 
 Margaret s little Jim, standing patiently, pathetically at 
 the threshold; but at sight of his sorrowful face her 
 arms went out to him instantly. Jim could think speak 
 of nothing but his father, his father who, they all told 
 him, was so ill that he would not know his own blessed 
 boy, who could not have known him or himself or any 
 body that dreadful morning! Love and anxiety, utter 
 trust and forgiveness, were uppermost in the loyal little 
 heart, and Marion, speechless, held and rocked him in 
 her arms as she listened to his broken words and to the 
 sound of the brave young voice in the parlor. Oh, 
 what would she not have to tell in that next letter to her 
 husband, now so many a weary league of land and sea 
 beyond possibility of call! 
 
 A badgered man was Stone, as he tramped back home 
 ward, taking a short cut across the parade, ostensibly 
 to look at the patchwork along the acequia, the morn 
 ing s task of the fatigue details, but only too obviously 
 to avoid the eyes and greetings of the many women along 
 the row. Sandy Ray s story was told in utter sincerity, 
 so far as Stone could judge. Yet how was it to help 
 him? Sandy admitted having set forth westward up 
 the valley, having ridden lazily out beyond the butts of 
 the rifle range, and then over the southward range to the 
 prairie. He was gone fully two hours, he said. The 
 moon was so low when he returned that, after leaving 
 
182 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 his horse with the man in the stables, he could only 
 barely see the sentry on No. 3 some distance up the 
 post, and the sentry apparently did not see he cer 
 tainly did not challenge him at all. That was bad. It 
 would have been so much better if No. 3 had seen, recog 
 nized and could vouch for him. Stone did not tell Sandy 
 of the sentry s story. He wished to think that over. 
 Sandy said that the sentry at the stables was some dis 
 tance down his post and the only man with whom he 
 spoke was this unrecognized soldier, presumably on duty 
 at the quartermaster s stables, where the lieutenant s 
 mount was kept and cared for. No, Sandy did n t know 
 his name,, he did n t even notice him particularly. Two 
 or three men, he thought, were smoking their pipes at 
 the corral corner, away from stables, as required, and 
 one of these had come forward as he neared the gate, 
 and asked should he take the lieutenant s horse. Ray 
 thanked him, dismounted and turned away. Now, what 
 bothered the colonel was that both the sergeant in charge 
 and each one of the four men previously questioned 
 declared he did not know the hour at which Lieutenant 
 Ray returned. They had gone to bed at or before 10:30, 
 leaving the door on the bolt, so that Hogan or the lieu 
 tenant himself could easily enter. One man, in fact, 
 went so far as to say that coming down from the Canteen 
 about 10:30 he could have sworn almost it was Lieutenant 
 Ray who was slowly climbing the slope to the post of 
 No. 3, and the rear of the officers quarters. This ac- 
 
REACTION 183 
 
 corded in a degree with the statement of Schmitz. What 
 good was Sandy s story to do him if Foster firmly ad 
 hered to the statement made to the Department Inspector ? 
 There was to have been a dance at the Assembly room 
 Tuesday evening, but no one seemed to feel like dancing 
 even among an indomitable few of the lassies and 
 younger officers with whom, lads and lassies both, Sandy 
 Ray had been vastly popular. The night wore on, dark, 
 overcast, with the wind blowing fitfully from the Saga 
 more, slamming doors in resounding hallways and 
 carrying the watch calls of the sentries weirdly over the 
 eastward prairie. Earlier in the evening little groups 
 appeared in some few of the verandas, but gradually 
 broke up and went within doors long before the signal 
 " Lights out." The officer of the day and the adjutant, 
 under instruction from the post commander, had been 
 questioning the three worthies who had been out the 
 night before about the time of the alleged assault on 
 Captain Foster. To a man they stoutly maintained that 
 the signs and scars of battle, borne by one or two of 
 their number, were due entirely to the free-for-all affair 
 that occurred at that disreputable dive southwest of 
 Silver Hill, some four miles away from the post. Vir 
 tuously were they indignant that anyone should suppose 
 that they were in any way concerned in so abominable 
 a transaction as the " doing-up " of an officer of the army 
 who so recently had been the guest of their honored 
 major. But two of them were troopers with shady 
 
184 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 records, men who had been but a short time at the 
 station, and one of these had formerly served an enlist 
 ment in D wight s old regiment, the th. The adjutant 
 was of opinion that he must have known Foster in those 
 days and might well have been one of quite a number of 
 men, none of whom liked and some of whom hated the 
 imperious and abusive lieutenant. The th had had 
 few of Foster s stamp since the days of Canker and 
 Gleason, and his case was therefore the more conspic 
 uous. The two officers were talking of this as slowly 
 they strolled homeward up the northwest side of the 
 parade, when, faint and wind-buffeted, the call of the 
 sentry at the main gate caught their ears. No. 2 wanted 
 the corporal and No. I promptly echoed, although already 
 the corporal was going on the jump. There was a ring 
 and vim to the cry that told its own story. The sentry 
 saw something that demanded instant attention. It was 
 not half a minute before the corporal came racing back 
 to the guard-house, nor a full minute before the bugler 
 of the guard came chasing in pursuit of the officer of 
 the day. " A fire, sir," he cried, " way out beyond the 
 Flats ! " 
 
 Together the officers hastened eastward across the 
 parade, and even before they reached the gate the cause 
 of the alarm became visible. The low-hanging, swift- 
 driven clouds blackening the valley were taking on a lurid 
 glare, and, once at the gate the fire could be distinctly 
 seen. "Well, if that is n t a blessing! " cried the adju- 
 
REACTION 
 
 tant gleefully. " It s Skid s old hog ranch, as sure as 
 you re born ! " 
 
 It was useless, of course, to send aid even if aid had 
 been desirable. Ever since Silver Hill became the county 
 seat and a mining town of much importance, Skidmore s 
 dive had been the bane of the community. Driven from 
 town by a vigilance committee made up of the best citi 
 zens, the divekeeper had resumed business beyond the 
 corporate limits and at a point where he could draw cus 
 tom from three different sources, the town, the fort and 
 the agency, for only a few miles beyond the Cheyenne 
 were the supply depot and buildings of the Minneconjou 
 tribe, their brethren of Brule being far over to the south 
 east and the Ogalallas at Red Cloud. Many a desperate 
 deed had been charged to the gang ever hovering about 
 these unsavory walls of Skidmore s, many a poor fellow 
 had been beaten and drugged and robbed, more than one 
 good soldier had met his death-blow in brutal affray 
 beneath its grimy roof, and still it lived, detested but 
 unhampered. There was no good reason why the fort 
 should send a soul to the rescue of such a concern. There 
 was many a reason why the town would not. Stone 
 ordered a sergeant with a small party to ride over, " See 
 if any of our men are there and find out what has taken 
 place and the extent of the damage," which he hoped 
 was total, " and report on your return." 
 
 It was after twelve when they got back, bringing a 
 grimy fellow-soldier who had had a narrow escape, the 
 
136 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 gratifying intelligence that there was n t so much as a 
 shingle left unconsumed, and the unwelcome annouce- 
 ment that the proprietor said he did n t care a damn. He 
 had leased and was going to open up next week, anyhow, 
 in the old rookeries at the ford, right under the nose of 
 Uncle Sam, yet without his jurisdiction. They brought, 
 also, rather a remarkable piece of news the wife and 
 daughter of the manager had been rescued from burn 
 ing alive by one of the colonel s own men Private 
 Blenke, of Company " C." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 RETRIBUTION 
 
 WHOEVER it was who planned or placed Fort 
 Minneconjou, one blunder at least could be 
 laid at his door that it had enabled the enemy 
 to " locate " almost at the door of the fort. An odd 
 condition of things was this that resulted from the 
 discovery of precious metals in the magnificent tract 
 misnamed the Black Hills black presumably only in the 
 dead of winter, when their pine-crested peaks and ridges 
 stood boldly against the dazzling white of the Dakota 
 snows. In 75 the Sioux had bartered their secret to 
 chance explorers, and Custer came down with his scout 
 ing columns and confirmed the glittering rumor. In 76 
 the Sioux squared accounts with Custer afar to the north 
 west in the affair of the Little Big Horn, but while they 
 were about it the miner and settler swarmed in behind 
 and staked out claims and cities from which they could 
 never be driven, for Crook s starved horses and starving 
 men were fortunately so numerous they kept the south 
 ward tribes of the savage confederation too busy to 
 bother with settlers. They could be settled later, after 
 the warriors had dealt by Crook as they did by Custer. 
 When winter came, however, with Sitting Bull and the 
 
 187 
 
188 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Uncapapas thrust beyond the British line, and Crazy 
 Horse, raving, done to death by the steel of the guard 
 he so magnificently defied, with Red Cloud disarmed and 
 deposed, with Dull Knife disabled, with Lame Deer 
 doubled up by the sturdy Fifth Infantry, and old Two 
 Moons hiding his light in some obscure refuge of the 
 wilderness, and the old men, the women and children 
 herded on the reservation under the rifles of the army 
 and the young men scattered or slain, there was nothing 
 left for the hard-fighting, proud-spirited lords of the 
 Hills Ogalalla, Brule and Minneconjou but sullen ac 
 ceptance of the great father s terms; and in this wise 
 came Silver Hill to the heart of the fair valley, nestling 
 under the screen of the Sagamore and its eastward spurs 
 and the shield of Uncle Sam, who sliced off for military 
 purposes a block from the Minneconjou reserve, and 
 by way of compliment and consolation named the can 
 tonment therein established after the tribe thereof dis 
 possessed. All went swimmingly for the emigrant, the 
 miner, the settler and the subsequent supremacy of the 
 white man until in course of time a big post had to be 
 built to replace the old log barracks, and from motives 
 of economy, in order to reduce to a minimum the ex 
 pense of hauling supplies and materials of the quarter 
 master s department, the new buildings were planted at 
 the extreme eastern edge of the reservation, and before 
 the first coat of paint was dry on the lintels the opposite 
 bank of the stream, short pistol shot from the line, was 
 
RETRIBUTION 189 
 
 planted thick with shacks, shanties and saloons, and 
 every known device of the devil to prey upon the soldier. 
 In the five years that followed, that particular quarter 
 section of what soon became South Dakota was a storm 
 center of villainy, especially when the bi-monthly payday 
 came round. By scores the soldiers were drugged and 
 robbed, by dozens they were beaten and bullied. By 
 twos and threes they were set upon, slugged and not in 
 frequently someone was murdered. No jury could be 
 found in those days to convict a civilian of any crime 
 against the life or property of a servant of Uncle Sam. 
 There came a time when two of the best men of the 
 garrison, veteran sergeants, having been shot to death 
 in cold blood by a brace of desperadoes in front of Skid- 
 more s saloon, the garrison turned out almost to a man. 
 The murderers fled to town on the horses of their vic 
 tims; fifty troopers followed, while over fifty tore Skid- 
 more s to shreds. Silver Hill had a riot that night, in 
 which two deputy marshals bit the dust; so did two or 
 three troopers, but that did n t matter. The majesty of 
 the law that turned the original murderers loose had been 
 violated by a brutal and ungovernable soldiery, six of 
 whom were later surrendered to be tried for their crimes 
 by a jury of their sworn enemies, while their command 
 ing officer was tried for his commission by a jury of 
 his peers. The soldiers were sent to civil prison and the 
 colonel to military Coventry estopped from further pro 
 motion, and Silver Hill (pronounced with an " e " in 
 
190 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 those days) for as much as a month exulted and re 
 joiced with exceeding joy. Then a new general came to 
 the command. Then Silver Hill thrust its hands deep 
 in its pockets and whistled in dismay, for the general s 
 first deed was to order Minneconjou s big garrison into 
 summer camp long marches away, to leave only men 
 enough at the post to take care of the property and thus 
 to defraud the denizens of fringing settlement, known to 
 the Army as Thugtown, of some thousands per mensem 
 of hard-earned cash very hard. Moreover, when win 
 ter set in, the garrison was distributed much to the better 
 ment of Meade, Laramie, Robinson, Niobrara, etc., and 
 to the howling protest of the sturdy settlers of Silver 
 Hill, " thus robbed," said their eloquent representative 
 in Congress assembled, " of the protection assured them 
 by the national government." It was rich to hear the 
 appalling description given that December of the perils 
 and privations of the people of the southwestern section 
 of the Dakotas. The Sioux were on the point of rising 
 and butchering the helpless and scattered settlers, said 
 Senator Bullion, and to do the county justice it must 
 be owned that it did its level best to stir up the Minne- 
 conjous, but those " troubled waters " had been stirred 
 too much in the past and refused now to boil over at the 
 beck of the politicians, so what could not be done in one 
 way was worked in another. The cat, in shape of the 
 command, came back, and with the onward march of 
 civilization men and women of a higher class were drawn 
 
RETRIBUTION 191 
 
 to Silver Hill, and the "e" from the last part of its 
 name. 
 
 And then in army circles there came to the front a 
 man with a head on his shoulders and a hand on the 
 steering gear. In the interests of civilization and civilian 
 dealers Congress had cleaned out the old-time sutler 
 shop, which was no deplorable loss, and transferred the 
 traffic of his successor, the post trader, to his ubiquitous 
 rival, the publican. " The soldier s pay comes from the 
 people and should return to the people," said the advo 
 cates of the measure, and the soldier non-voter, having 
 about as many friends at the seat of government as a 
 crow in a corn field, matters at Minneconjou speedily 
 became bad as ever, for, reform having started at Silver 
 Hill, the gamblers and harpies being kicked from its 
 corporate limits, these philosophers, the flotsam and 
 jetsam of the frontier, lost little cash and less time 
 before settling again, and in greater numbers, on the 
 skirts of Uncle Sam. 
 
 And then it was that, after a year or two of turmoil and 
 trouble, " in our day there lived a man " who solved the 
 problem, dealt rum, the flesh and the devil the worst 
 blow known to the combination, and started under the 
 auspices of the post Exchange the common sense and 
 only successful system ever tried in the army, known to 
 the Press and its civilian readers by the name of the 
 Canteen. 
 
 And then again after a few years of peace, prosperity 
 
192 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 and contentment, good order and discipline, after the 
 man whose monument is inscribed " The Soldier s 
 Friend," his good work finished, was gathered to his 
 fathers, the resultant years of thought and experiment 
 were overthrown in a day. A congress of women over 
 mastered a congress of men. Exit the Canteen: Re- 
 enter the grog shop, the hell and the hog ranch. Burned 
 out at the borders of Silver Hill, the way blazed for him 
 and his vile retinue of swindlers and strumpets by the 
 best intentions that ever paved the streets of sheol, back 
 to the gates of Fort Minneconjou came the saloon and its 
 concomitants and the day of order and discipline was 
 done. 
 
 " I would n t say a word against it," protested Colonel 
 Stone to the grave-faced Inspector sent out from St. 
 Paul to investigate the first killing, " if, when they shut 
 up our shop they had shut up those ! " and with clinching 
 fist he struck savagely at empty space and the swarming 
 row of ramshackle tenements beyond the stream. " Of 
 what earthly good was it to anybody, I ask you, except 
 the distiller and dealer in liquors, to close our guarded, 
 homelike tables and reopen that unlimited unlicensed 
 hell?" 
 
 A new road to Silver Hill, albeit roundabout, had be 
 come a necessity. The old well-worn beeline through 
 by way of the ford had become impracticable for women 
 and children and self-respecting people in general. It 
 was skirted for some two hundred yards by tenements 
 
RETRIBUTION 193 
 
 and tenants not easily described in these pages. The 
 colonel had been jeered at by painted sirens at upper 
 windows. Priscilla Sanford, starting one morning to 
 town, turned crimson at the shrill acclaim of the scarlet 
 sisterhood, two of whom had kissed their hands to her. 
 Stone, when he heard of it, would have leveled the 
 shack with the ground, but the mournful plight of his 
 predecessor, condemned for not preventing what Stone 
 would almost precipitate, gave him timely pause. Sandy 
 might have sallied forth and shot somebody not femi 
 nine, but Sandy was still in arrest. The paymaster had 
 come and gone. So had most of the money ; so, worse 
 luck, after two days of salooning, had gone no less than 
 fifty of the garrison. In nearly two years Minneconjou 
 had not had as many desertions as resulted from those 
 two days. 
 
 But, sorrowful to relate, among the first to go and the 
 last to be heard from were two of Priscilla s trusties 
 gone no man could say whither and in addition to this 
 catastrophe something had strangely, surely gone amiss 
 with her paragon, Blenke Blenke the scholarly, Blenke 
 the writer and linguist and Priscilla s world was reeling 
 under her well-shod feet. 
 
 To begin with, how came Blenke, the impeccable, the 
 would-be candidate for transfer to the cavalry and 
 aspirant for commission, to be sojourning even for an 
 hour at so disreputable a spot as Skidmore s ? Blenke, it 
 will be remembered, had a forty-eight hour pass to enable 
 
194 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 him to visit Rapid City on important personal business. 
 Blenke was supposed to have taken the westbound Flyer 
 on Monday the Flyer that flew five hours late. Blenke 
 was supposed to be spending all Tuesday, or most of it, 
 in the heart of the Hills. Blenke was not due at the 
 post until the afternoon of Wednesday, and was not ex 
 pected to leave Rapid City until Wednesday morning; 
 yet here he was, oi all places in the world, at that hog 
 ranch on Tuesday night. Stone sent a patrol over at 
 i A. M. with a spare horse and invitation for Private 
 Blenke to return at once and account for his eccentric 
 orbit at office hours in the morning. The patrol trotted 
 over, nothing loath, but Blenke had disappeared. " Gone 
 to town for a doctor," said the abandoned few still grop 
 ing about the smoldering ruins. So the patrol re 
 turned without him. It was represented that Blenke had 
 scorched his face, singed ofif his eyebrows and burned 
 his hands in his gallant essay to save the women. But 
 this was all hearsay evidence. 
 
 When Blenke did appear on Wednesday afternoon his 
 hands were bandaged, his face was disfigured a bit, but 
 his eyes were as deep and mournful, his dignity and 
 self-poise quite as unimpeachable, as before. He seemed 
 grieved, indeed, that his captain and colonel both so 
 sharply questioned him. He had intended going to 
 Rapid City, but at the last moment in town received in 
 formation rendering his visit unnecessary, indeed inad 
 visable. A man with whom he had had business asso- 
 
RETRIBUTION 195 
 
 ciations in the past, and who owed him much money, had 
 been there, but had headed him off by promising to meet 
 him in Silver Hill. The train came, but not the man, 
 yet the conductor said such a man had boarded the train 
 at the Junction and must have dropped off as they 
 slowed up for town after passing Bonner s Bluff. Blenke 
 had spent most of Monday night and all of Tuesday in 
 further search. Tuesday evening came a clue. The 
 evasive " party " had been seen at Skid s drinking heavily, 
 and Blenke hastened thither in partial disguise, he said, 
 and was there when late Tuesday night the shrieks from 
 Skidmore s private quarters told of peril. The drunken 
 crowd in the bar at first took no heed. Shrieks were 
 things of frequent occurrence, but Blenke had rushed, 
 found the shack all ablaze within, and with difficulty and 
 much personal risk had succeeded in pulling out Mrs. 
 Skidmore and her terrified child. 
 
 Blenke by manner, not by words, continued to convey 
 to his inquisitors that he took it much amiss that a soldier 
 who had done such credit to his uniform and the service 
 should on his return be subjected to such rigid cross- 
 questioning, and be treated with such obvious suspicion. 
 But both colonel and captain had more to ask. Had he 
 seen aught of the trio from the fort who claimed to have 
 spent Monday evening at Skidmore s? Blenke declared 
 he had not. He had spent that evening searching about 
 town ; but he had heard of them, yes. There was no little 
 talk among the cowboys, tramps, toughs, and ranchmen 
 
196 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 in and about Skidmore s concerning a party of soldiers 
 that had been there hours Monday evening " raising the 
 devil." There had been a rough-and-tumble fight, too, 
 but Blenke virtuously disclaimed all personal knowledge 
 of the men or their misdemeanors. Asked to name some 
 of the places he had visited Monday evening and Tuesday 
 in town, Blenke unhesitatingly mentioned as many as a 
 dozen. The adjutant jotted them down, and when the 
 colonel sent an officer in to investigate, it was found that 
 Blenke s statement, like his manner, was irreproachable. 
 Morever, it was found by the testimony of certain 
 hangers-on at Skidmore s that the story told by the incar 
 cerated trio was equally true. They had been seen about 
 the premises, drinking, card-playing, loafing, early in the 
 evening, and " off and on " all of the evening, until toward 
 10:30 o clock they became so ugly and quarrelsome and 
 had so little money left that Skid refused them further 
 admission, even to wash the blood from their battered 
 faces. If the purpose of the examination was to connect 
 these men, any of them, with the assault upon Foster, it 
 had certainly failed. 
 
 Even when Foster s verbatim statement came, duly 
 type-written and vouched for, and further examination 
 was made, and Blenke and the three worthies were further 
 investigated, nothing was admitted and little learned. 
 Foster s statement was read by the adjutant and received 
 in grim silence by the colonel and one or two seniors called 
 in for the occasion. Smarting under the indignity with 
 
RETRIBUTION 197 
 
 which he had been treated, said Foster, and finding the 
 Flyer would not be along before ten or half-past ten, he 
 decided to take a buggy, drive out to the post and seek 
 an interview with the colonel and certain other officers. 
 It was due to his honor that his statement be heard. He 
 ordered his traps sent to the train, so that if delayed he 
 could drive thither at once, or even have the ranchman 
 caretaker at Fort Siding " flag the train." Barely two 
 miles out from town he overtook some soldiers apparently 
 drunk ; one of them reeled almost under his horse s nose ; 
 he pulled up in dismay, and instantly they attacked him 
 on all sides at once. He was knocked senseless, and when 
 he came to himself they were all out on the southward 
 prairie. He could see the lights of the fort far away. 
 He was propped against a wheel and they were wrangling 
 among themselves. He was bleeding, dazed, had been 
 cruelly beaten, but his wits were returning. The moon 
 light was clear, and suddenly, in a row that broke out 
 among them, they fell upon each other, and a young, 
 slight-looking man, who seemed to be their leader, in 
 striving to quell the row, lost the handkerchief that hid 
 his face. His light raincoat was torn open, revealing the 
 uniform of a lieutenant of cavalry. The form, features, 
 the dark little mustache, all that he could see, were 
 certainly those of Lieutenant Ray. Staggering to his 
 feet, he unhappily drew their attention again to himself, 
 and then he was slugged and knocked senseless and knew 
 no more until he was being helped aboard the Pullman. 
 
198 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 One of the men he vaguely remembered having seen 
 before, but the only one of the party he could have 
 recognized was Lieutenant Ray. All Minneconjou, he 
 said, knew of the fracas between them that day ; but few, 
 perhaps, had heard the lieutenant s threats, and in this 
 brutal fashion had he fulfilled them. 
 
 Copies of this, of course, had gone to Department 
 Headquarters. The commander was expected back at 
 the end of the week from his tour of inspection at Yel 
 lowstone Park. Sandy could not be held in close arrest 
 beyond the eighth day ; but that the affair would have to 
 be thoroughly investigated by general court everybody 
 felt and said. Indeed, Ray himself would be content with 
 nothing less. But what a solemn time was this for 
 Marion, his devoted mother; indeed for all at Minne 
 conjou. 
 
 Up at the " ranking " end of the row Oswald Dwight 
 lay in the grasp of a burning fever that, coupled with 
 what had gone before, had weakened his reason and 
 might well end his life. Under the same roof, visited at 
 intervals by the charitable, the sympathetic or the merely 
 inquisitive of their sex and station, Mrs. Dwight and her 
 inseparable companion, Felicie, made their moan and told 
 their woeful tale to all comers. Inez had been, she 
 said, suffering all the torments of purgatory, and to many 
 eyes she looked it. Her husband, in his mad delirium, 
 would not have her near him : he raved of the wife of his 
 youth. She wept for his boy who had been taken from 
 
RETRIBUTION 199 
 
 her, his proper, his natural, his legal protector at such a 
 time. Inez was horrified to think of the outrage upon 
 Captain Foster, their attached and devoted friend. Inez 
 would never believe, she said, that such a gentleman as 
 Mr. Ray could stoop to so vile a vengeance, to the level 
 of the assassin, but Felicie had other views. The episode 
 of that blood-stained gauntlet had been by no means for 
 gotten, and was dinned into the ears of those who would 
 listen, with infinite vim and pertinacity; this, too, despite 
 the fact that Ray denied having worn gauntlets that 
 evening having worn them, in fact, that summer. They 
 were no longer " uniform " for cavalry officers, and he 
 had not set eyes on that glove or its mate for over a 
 month. Possibly during the move from the major s 
 quarters to the humble home of the subaltern, but cer 
 tainly somehow, Ray had lost several items that, before 
 the change in uniform, had been in frequent use, but of 
 late would hardly be missed, and of these were the 
 gauntlets. 
 
 So there was distress anxiety sorrowing in more 
 than one of the many households at Minneconjou, and 
 in the midst of it all Priscilla, who had thought her bur 
 den, self-inflicted though it was, quite as much as she 
 could bear, was confronted with another. Blenke, who 
 had been nervous, excitable, almost ill on the very few 
 occasions she had seen him since his return ; Blenke, who 
 had promised to confide to her, his benefactress, the 
 cause of his worries, the story of his woes ; Blenke, whose 
 
200 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 mournful eyes had blazed with a fine fury when told by 
 Hogan, who could n t abide him, of Miss Sanford s salu 
 tation from the window of the reoccupied rookery at the 
 ford ; Blenke, who could never set foot on the floor of the 
 Canteen, turned up missing one night at check rollcall, 
 two hours after taps, was suddenly and most unexpectedly 
 stumbled on by the officer of the day making his rounds 
 at 3 A. M. : not, as might have happened to men of less 
 indomitable virtue, coming from the direction of Skid- 
 more s,but almost at the very opposite end of the garrison, 
 at the rear gateway of the field officers quarters, No. 2, so 
 obviously obfuscated, so utterly limp, that he could give 
 no account of himself whatever, was wheeled to the 
 guard-house in a police cart and dumped on the slanting 
 bunk of the prison room with a baker s dozen of the 
 " Skidmore guard " sleeping off their unaccustomed 
 drunk. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 MY LADY S MAID 
 
 IT proved the last pound that broke the back of Pris- 
 cilla s stubborn resistance. Men and women who 
 had found much to condemn in Miss Sanford, who 
 had disseminated and discussed the tale of her cor 
 respondence with the Banner and the talk that followed, 
 who had heard with indignation that it was after Dwight s 
 conference with Miss Sanford that he so furiously 
 punished little Jim (for, as we know, Mrs. Thornton had 
 assured everybody that so far as she was concerned she 
 had done her utmost to make the major understand that 
 Jimmy never did it on purpose), who had felt the lash 
 of her over-candid comment on their social or parental 
 shortcomings, now had no little malicious merriment to 
 add to the deservedly hard things they had said of her. 
 For a fortnight, probably, Miss Sanford had been the 
 most unpopular woman that Minneconjou s oldest inhab 
 itant could name ; but the men and women who saw her 
 as one after another she faced the results of her most con 
 fident efforts, began to feel for the lonely, sorrowing 
 maiden a respect and sympathy denied her before. It 
 was plain that Priscilla was well-nigh crushed, and 
 " when women weep " and are desolate and hopeless 
 
 201 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 resentment turns to pity and blame to words of cheer. 
 No one, of course, was ever told by Mrs. Ray or by 
 Sandy of what had passed in the sanctity of the family 
 circle, but in her humility and contrition Priscilla spoke 
 of it to Mrs. Stone and to others, who soon came to try 
 to show her she was forgiven. There were a few days 
 after Dwight s fever in which she seemed utterly heart 
 broken, and Mrs. Ray believed her seriously ill. There were 
 days in which she begged Aunt Marion to send her home, 
 when, really, she had no home; to send her East, then, 
 w r here she could begin anew and work her way in the 
 world. If it came to the worst, Maidie Stuyvesant would 
 keep her from starving. But Aunt Marion would listen 
 to no such proposition. Priscilla must stay with her 
 and at Minneconjou and live down the unhappy repute. 
 Aunt Marion knew how very much genuine good there 
 was in Priscilla when once she could rid herself of that 
 propensity ever to correct, criticise, and condemn; nor 
 had Minneconjou been slow to see this and to speak of 
 it. Now that the tide was turning, by dozens they came 
 to talk of her real charity, her devotion to the sick and 
 sorrowing, the hours she had given was ever ready to 
 give to reading to the bed-ridden and helpless in hos 
 pital or the humble quarters of the married soldiers. 
 Men who had laughed among themselves at her lecturing 
 and preaching took to snubbing men who spoke in dis 
 paragement of her motives. One thing was certain, 
 whether they shared her views or not, all Minneconjou 
 
MY LADY S MAID 203 
 
 believed in her sincerity, and soldiers honor those who 
 fight and suffer for their convictions. Of Priscilla it 
 might therefore be said she had made friends in spite 
 of herself, and though hardened sinners at the mess and 
 humor-loving husbands in the quarters did indulge in 
 little flings at the ultimate and inevitable failure of all 
 feminine meddlings in matters that were purely military, 
 there were few, indeed, after the first mirthful explosions, 
 who having seen her sorrowful face did not feel genu 
 ine sympathy for her in the collapse of her Anti-Canteen 
 Soldiers Benevolent Association. 
 
 For with Blenke s fall Priscilla was left indeed lament 
 ing and alone. 
 
 Something of a cause celebre was that of Blenke s 
 when it came to trial. The summary court officer had 
 had his hands full since payday. The number of cases 
 of absence without leave, drunkenness, disorder, and 
 disrespect to non-commissioned officers, etc., had sex- 
 tupled. All were what might be called typical cases, and 
 traceable, as a rule, to Skidmore s; but Blenke s, like 
 Blenke himself, w r as individual and peculiar. Moreover, 
 it savored of the mysterious. 
 
 The man seemed overwhelmed with mortification and 
 distress. No one at Minneconjou had ever known him 
 to take so much as a glass of wine. No one at Minnecon 
 jou among either officers or men ever really knew him at 
 all, for Blenke kept his own counsel, lived entirely to 
 himself, was neat as a new pin, prompt and accurate on 
 
204* A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 duty, smart in dress more so than many of his officers, 
 if truth be told ready, respectful and in fine a model 
 soldier. But he had no friends nor intimates ; he had no 
 confidants, unless we except Priscilla, to whom he had 
 told much more than Sandy Ray, when told, would for 
 a moment believe. He came before the court after two 
 days incarceration, neat and trim as though just off 
 inspection. He stood with swimming eyes before the 
 desk, pleaded guilty throughout, declined to summon a 
 soul to say a good word for him or his general character, 
 would not even glance at the group of officers hovering 
 inquisitively about, would not even plead " first offense " 
 or urge a syllable in mitigation of sentence, even though 
 the allegations against him, as the court intimated to his 
 captain, " seemed piling it on." One specification might 
 well have covered the entire tale of his misdoing, but he 
 stood accused of absence from quarters between taps and 
 reveille, of presence in premises where he had no possible 
 right to be, and finally of utter drunkenness. Blenke 
 pleaded guilty to all, and humbly said that, had there 
 been more accusation, he would have done the same, for 
 he knew nothing of what occurred after fifteen minutes 
 at Skidmore s somewhere toward midnight. 
 
 Now, the court wished to know and the listeners 
 wished to hear some explanation of his having turned 
 up so far from the beaten track ; of his having, when so 
 drunk, managed to walk so far; of his having, in fine, 
 entered the yard of Major Dwight s quarters. What 
 
MY LADY S MAID 05 
 
 could have suggested that? But Blenke knew no more 
 than the dead. The only quarters of late he ever visited 
 were those of Lieutenant Ray, where, said Blenke and 
 here the woe in his visage was indeed pathetic he should 
 never again dare show his face. Time had been a happy 
 time when he had daily, almost hourly, duties at the 
 quarters now occupied by Major D wight, whom he so 
 honored ; but that was while his kind friends of Lieutenant 
 Ray s household were still the occupants. Possibly in 
 his dazed condition that memory was working in what 
 was left of his brain. There was nothing to excuse or 
 explain his wandering thither now, said Blenke. He 
 had no mercy to ask. He deserved none. So the case 
 was closed with a sizable fine, and the accused sent back 
 to his company. 
 
 But the officer of the day had told a different tale, and 
 the godless array at the bachelor mess was still having 
 fun with it. Felicie, the self-styled French maid, had 
 been from the start the object of no little interest among 
 the non-commissioned element in garrison. Felicie was 
 pious, if not actually pretty, and assiduous at first in Sun 
 day morning attendance at the little Catholic church in 
 town, whither Dwight s own horse and buggy and man 
 were detailed to take her, for Inez could not think of 
 placing her educated and traveled maid in the same cate 
 gory and wagon with the soldiers wives. " Feelissy," 
 from her very first appearance, was by no means popular 
 with this critical sisterhood, and when it became evident 
 
206 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 that some of the best beaux among the sergeants were 
 also moved to attend early church in Silver Hill, feeling 
 grew strong against the usurper. Nor was the feeling 
 modified by the fact soon discovered that the maid had 
 higher aspirations. She was too good for the soldiers, 
 said her commentators; but that goodness, said her 
 defamers, was n t proof against the wiles of those who 
 had more money. Obviously the officers were aimed at 
 in this observation, and it must be owned that Felicie s 
 expressive eyes had sometimes wandered toward the 
 mess, and that her glances fell not all on unresponsive 
 others. The night of Blenke s wandering was windy. 
 The officer of the day s little lantern blew out as he 
 rounded a turn from the west gate toward the bluff 
 behind the post of No. 4, to the end that he stumbled on 
 the sentry unchallenged, and, when rebuked for his 
 negligence, the sentry said he was troubled about some 
 thing at Major Dwight s. He could have sworn, he said, 
 the door to the high back stoop had opened just a moment 
 ago, letting quite a streak of light into the darkness for 
 the space of a few seconds, during which time he was 
 almost sure he saw a slender feminine shape disappear 
 into the house. Now, he could swear no one had entered 
 the back gate for ten minutes, anyway, because he hap 
 pened to be right there. If it was a woman, as he 
 believed, she must have been out in the yard as much as 
 those ten minutes, and perhaps someone was there with 
 her that should n t be there. All this had the sentry 
 
MY LADY S MAID 207 
 
 urged in excuse of his failure to hear the approach of 
 the officer of the day. It was a black, moonless, starless 
 night, and the officer concluded to look. The board fence 
 was high. He stepped within the gate, stumbled over a 
 loose plank, made quite a noise and said a few audibly 
 profane things as to the quartermaster s department for 
 leaving walks in such shape, but he could see nothing. 
 So in a sheltered nook he struck a match, and the instant 
 he did so a man from the shadows lurched heavily against 
 him, muttered, " Giv sh light o man " and sprawled in 
 a heap at his feet. It proved to be Blenke, and Blenke 
 proved to the satisfaction of the court that he was blind 
 drunk. 
 
 But the officer of the day and his comrades at the mess 
 were beginning to see light, as did the sentry on No. 4. 
 Was it possible that Felicie, who scorned the advances 
 of the more prominent of the rank and file, and had 
 become an object of no little interest even to certain 
 susceptible subalterns had, after all, reserved her smiles 
 for the dark-eyed, mournful, and romantic Blenke? If 
 so, then Blenke had played the part of a man with the 
 skill of a consummate actor. 
 
 " I ve seen Willard ; I ve seen Wyndham/ said the 
 puzzled captain, " and I thought I d seen David Garrick 
 played to perfection, but if Private Beauty Blenke, of 
 Company C, Sixty-first Foot, was n t drunk as a lord that 
 night, then Willard and Wyndham are n t in the business." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 A MOMENTOUS DAY 
 
 A WEEK, another long week, went by at Min- 
 neconjou, and Major Dwight at last was declared 
 out of danger, though a badly shattered man. 
 Mrs. Dwight, who should have shown corresponding 
 improvement, seemed, however, not so well. Just in 
 proportion as the major mended, his wife appeared 
 to fail. Both doctors persisted in the belief that her 
 case was one of nerves entirely. There was nothing 
 organically wrong. She had been under a great strain, 
 of course, and her husband, in his lucid moments, as well 
 as in those of delirium, had shown strong antipathy to her 
 presence in the sick room. They had persuaded her, 
 without much difficulty, that it were better she kept away, 
 and though pathetically, properly grieved, she obeyed. 
 Something, however, was preying upon her something 
 she could not and would not confide to Mrs. Stone and 
 other sympathetic would-be consolers. " Madame was 
 distressed at ill news from her parents," Felicie had gone 
 so far as to admit, but the ill news did not seem to refer 
 to illness, for there had been frequent letters addressed 
 in Farrell s sprawling fist, or the senora s precise chirog- 
 
 208 
 
A MOMENTOUS DAY 209 
 
 raphy, and of late these had begun to be supplemented 
 by telegrams. 
 
 In all this fortnight of alternating hope and anxiety 
 Mrs. Ray had, with proper inquiries, called but twice. 
 She could do no less. She would do no more. Mrs. 
 Dwight occasionally appeared for an afternoon drive now, 
 but always with Felicie by her side in the phaeton 
 never, now that her husband s guest and wits were gone, 
 with a man. Other companionship might have been bet 
 ter for her, it was generally suggested, but she seemed 
 to shrink from the conversation and, possibly, the interro 
 gations of those of her own sex and social caste. 
 
 Great was the surprise, therefore, when a polite and 
 perfumed note came to the Rays for Miss Priscilla San- 
 ford, and would Miss Sanford do Mrs. Dwight the great 
 kindness to drive with her that day? Priscilla, who 
 knew not why, and who would gladly have avoided her, 
 ordinarily, was now doing universal penance according to 
 her lights, and would have gone driving with a Jezebel. 
 Priscilla accepted, and Felicie, for the first time, was 
 left at home. 
 
 Sandy Ray s health had been suffering, and Stone saw 
 it, and of his own motion came over and said he con 
 sidered it necessary that Mr. Ray should take exercise. 
 Walking being painful, the colonel said ride, and, despite 
 his arrest, riding anywhere within five miles limit of the 
 flagstaff. Sandy thanked him, but really tried to sulk 
 and stay home, until the mother s gentle appeal pre- 
 
210 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 vailed and he began as the colonel had suggested. There 
 were men who thought the general would " row " Stone 
 for such indulgence to a man under serious charges, but 
 Stone said he knew his business and the general. He 
 would neither argue nor defend his position, but he would 
 like to bet two to one the general would approve. It was 
 rumored the general himself thought of running out to 
 Minneconjou and perhaps away to Wister and looking 
 into matters along the lower line, having but recently 
 returned from a look along the upper. The court had 
 not yet been ordered. It was believed that the charges 
 might still be withdrawn, so difficult was it to believe 
 Sandy Ray capable of such a crime. But Ray insisted 
 on trial, said he desired the most rigid investigation, and 
 could never be content without. It was a most unsatis 
 factory situation, so far as he was concerned, and, with 
 no duty to perform, no drill to stir his blood, nothing to 
 do but try to comfort mother, reassure Maidie, who was 
 writing every day or two, watch for the coming of the 
 mail from Manila and the detail for his court, Sandy Ray 
 was growing morbid. 
 
 He was gone and loping up the valley when the phaeton 
 with pale-faced, languid Mrs. Dwight stopped at the door 
 for Miss Sanford. Ray did not wish to see her. He 
 had not seen her to speak to since the night before 
 Dwight s breakdown, as that episode by common consent 
 was now referred to. He had altered his manner toward 
 Priscilla, though resentment still rankled, because of her 
 
A MOMENTOUS DAY 
 
 almost dependent position under their roof. Had Pris- 
 cilla owned enough money to take her hack to the sea 
 board States, and had then remained, Sandy, perhaps, 
 would have found forgiveness beyond him. Even now 
 he raged at heart when he thought of her willful exag 
 geration as to the Canteen, her utter misrepresentation 
 of facts especially as to his father. Again and again 
 he owned to his mother he felt like shaking Priscilla 
 whenever he looked at little Jim, who so often now 
 became his companion on these daily rides. Once or 
 twice, when the patient was sleeping soundly, the doctors 
 had taken the lad to his bedside, but the meeting between 
 them was yet to come. Dwight was still too weak for 
 experiments, and how he would bear it all when stronger 
 was a matter of grave conjecture. 
 
 But on this particular day when the phaeton came for 
 Priscilla, little Jim had again been trouting with Sergeant 
 French and, as luck would have it, came dancing in with 
 his basket of prizes to show Aunt Marion just as Pris 
 cilla descended from her room, dressed for the drive. 
 Three weeks agone Priscilla would have reproved his 
 entering without first washing his hands and smoothing 
 his hair. To-day she bent and hurriedly kissed his flushed 
 and happy face, and he looked up astonished. They 
 had never let him know they could not bear to speak of 
 Priscilla s share in the events of that tragic morning, 
 and when in her downright honesty Priscilla would have 
 sought and told him, Aunt Marion forbade. The boy 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 who formerly shrank from was now growing to like 
 her. She read to him, helped him in the daily lessons, 
 Aunt Marion deeming it wise he should study even though 
 this was vacation time; but never before had he known 
 Priscilla to tender a caress. Mrs. Ray watched them 
 curiously as together they left the room to see his catch 
 properly stored in the icebox. Presently, hand in hand, 
 they returned through the hall and went forth upon the 
 veranda just as the phaeton suddenly drew up at the 
 gate, and Priscilla felt the little hand withdrawing. He 
 did not know mamma was coming. He went unwill 
 ingly, but obedient, to receive her effusive words of 
 greeting, and to hear, unresponsive, that he, dear child, 
 was looking so much better since dear Mrs. Ray had taken 
 charge of him in all these dreadful days. But she did 
 not ask him to drive with them, nor did he wish to go, 
 for she had need to speak with Priscilla, and Jimmy would 
 have been in the way. 
 
 It seems that matters had come to such a pass that Mrs. 
 Dwight felt that she must have advice, and, oh, how her 
 heart yearned for a friend! Many of the ladies had 
 been kind, yes, very kind, Mrs. Stone especially; and 
 others, even Mrs. Ray, who she felt, she feared, she 
 knew, did not like or trust her, though she had so longed 
 to win Mrs. Ray s friendship. But even Mrs. Stone and 
 Mrs. Ray could not be to her now what she so needed 
 a real friend and adviser, a confidant, in fact, and these 
 ladies were, though they did not look it, of an age suf- 
 
A MOMENTOUS DAY 213 
 
 ficient to be her mother. What she craved was one 
 nearer herself in years (Miss Sanford was certainly ten 
 years older and not easily flattered), for now a time had 
 come, said Mrs. Dwight, when there might be conflict 
 
 between the duty she owed her husband and and 
 
 Priscilla gasped and bridled and. began to bristle all over 
 with premonition of what might be comii :, then breathed 
 a sudden sigh of relief, yet of disappointment, as Mrs. 
 Dwight concluded with " the deference due her parents." 
 In their letters both her father and her mother had been 
 appealing to her to appeal to her husband to come further 
 to their financial aid ; that Major Farrell had relied upon 
 the backing of his son-in-law in certain enterprises ; that 
 he was now in desperate straits, and and finally they 
 had gone so far as to threaten threaten her, their 
 daughter, with untold calamity if she did not instantly 
 assure them that material aid would speedily be forth 
 coming. She had written, telling them of her husband s 
 perilous plight, of the possibly fatal illness, of the impos 
 sibility of anything being done until his recovery, and 
 their telegrams in acknowledgment were imperative. 
 She felt that she must bring her burden of trouble and 
 ask Miss Sanford, of whose charity and gentleness the 
 garrison never tired of telling by the hour, for Miss 
 Sanford must feel and know that since the day he so 
 raged against his own son, he he had even seemed to 
 turn against her, his devoted and dutiful wife. 
 
 And now when the doctors said he was almost well 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 enough to be approached on matters of urgent business, 
 she dared not. She had lost, perhaps, her influence. "Then 
 what could / possibly do ? " asked Priscilla bluntly, and 
 then came the explanation. The woman whom he most 
 honored, respected, believed in, the woman who had been 
 the devoted friend of her, that was gone, with, alas, his 
 heart buried by her side, that woman, Mrs. Ray, if she 
 would but speak with him, plead with him for her, his 
 fond, but, ah, so cruelly misjudged wife, whose heart was 
 failing her now, and at a time when for his sake as well as 
 hers she needed all her strength. If Mrs. Ray could but 
 see her way to do this, ah, with what gratitude and devo 
 tion would she, Inez, ever think of her and all Minnecon- 
 jou knew Mrs. Ray s love for her noble niece. Everyone 
 said that if Miss Sanford but willed a thing and urged it 
 upon her aunt it was a thing accomplished. Out of the 
 goodness of her heart would not Miss Sanford strive for 
 her, a heart-crushed, well-nigh hopeless wife, upon whom 
 there had but recently dawned the knowledge that, that 
 could not Miss Sanford imagine? 
 
 And in the midst of the gush of tears with which she 
 closed came sudden distraction. They had been trundling 
 easily, aimlessly over the smooth, hard prairie road, the 
 well-trained, well-matched ponies ambling steadily along. 
 They had given the cavalry herds and herd guards a wide 
 berth, and the townward route, for Mrs. Dwight shunned, 
 she said, the sight of almost any face but the sweet and 
 sympathetic one beside her. They had turned southward, 
 
A MOMENTOUS DAY 215 
 
 after rounding Castle Butte, a bold, jagged upheaval 
 among the nearest foothills, and were winding slowly 
 down this narrow and crooked ravine toward the broad 
 Minneconjou bottom, when, as the ponies reached a fairly 
 level bit of road, and were swiftly turning a point of 
 bluff, they suddenly and violently shied to the right, almost 
 upsetting the dainty vehicle, and nearly pitching its help 
 less freight headlong into the road. Then with the bits in 
 their teeth, away they tore, full gallop down the next in 
 cline, the phaeton bounding after them, and so, mercifully 
 as it happened, out upon the broad level of the valley, with 
 the Minneconjou and its fringing line of cottonwoods 
 barely five hundred yards across the bench. The pygmy 
 tiger had been left at home ; his ears would have been too 
 active, and Mrs. Dwight, though accustomed to driving 
 her usually gentle and tractable team, was utterly helpless 
 now. She hung on desperately to the reins. But this 
 was a new and delirious experience for the merry little 
 scamps in harness. They were headed for home. There 
 was a deep bend of the stream and a ford through the 
 shallows, and an abrupt dip of four feet from the bench 
 level, and the words of their fair, frail charioteer were 
 stimulating rather than soothing, so away they went, and 
 it was high time for Miss Sanford, if she wished to save 
 their necks, to throw convention and etiquette to the wind, 
 to take personal control and the reins. 
 
 No one ever doubted Priscilla s nerve, yet here sat 
 Priscilla hanging on to the side-rail with both hands and 
 
216 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 staring backward, her head twisted half round, with all 
 her wondering, startled eyes, for the objects that had 
 stampeded the ponies were a brace of frowsy, blanketed 
 Minneconjou braves, squatted on the bunch grass in the 
 shade of the bluffs at the side of the road, in close con 
 ference with two men in khaki and campaign hats, one 
 of them, though instantly the brim was jerked down 
 over his eyes, she knew to be Blenke, Blenke whose woe 
 begone, remorseful letters she had duly filed and docketed, 
 but who, he declared, was too shame-stricken to show his 
 face to her of all the world. What on earth was Blenke 
 doing there in that out-of-the-way nook, and in confab 
 with Indians? They were hidden from view by a wave 
 of prairie almost as suddenly as they had been whirled into 
 sight, and then Priscilla had to give her aid and attention 
 to Mrs. Dwight, who was swaying in her seat. She 
 grasped the reins with her strong, wiry hands, but the 
 little devils were within an hundred yards of the brink 
 and reckless of everything but the mad exhilaration of a 
 runaway. She heard from somewhere a shout, " Pull 
 your left rein hard!" and with both hands she tugged 
 with sudden and startling result. The ponies almost 
 instantly veered to the left ; the light vehicle tipped 
 slightly to the right, and with that Inez went toppling 
 headforemost over the low, leathern mud guard, and 
 Priscilla was alone. Still clinging to that left rein, she 
 swung her discomfited steeds in broad, big circle, narrowly 
 scraping yet safely missing the edge, and so, gradually, 
 
A MOMENTOUS DAY 217 
 
 they found themselves galloping out once more over the 
 prairie and away from the homeward road and back 
 toward that narrow ravine whence two Indians were now 
 lashing their finally captured ponies southward across the 
 valley ; and then, still circling, the pygmies discovering 
 that they were heading westward once more and farther 
 from home, their enthusiasm by degrees, therefore, be 
 came beautifully less. They slowed gradually down to a 
 lunging canter, then to a shame-faced trot, and finally, 
 with Priscilla in complete control of both reins, her own 
 head and theirs, they were brought at a decorous gait back 
 to the road and the point where their mistress had quit 
 them and the lady had disappeared. 
 
 Guiding them carefully down the short declivity to the 
 water s edge, Priscilla came upon a not unlooked-for 
 explanation. Sandy s horse had disappeared. His owner 
 was kneeling at the edge of the rippling waters, bending 
 over a lovely, prostrate form, alternately sprinkling and 
 fanning the dusty, pallid, but beautiful face, then drop 
 ping his hat to chafe the limp little hands. With eyes 
 full of terror he glanced up at his cousin. With a voice 
 half-choked with dread, he called to her, " Let those little 
 brutes go, Pris, and come here quick ! " But Priscilla, 
 with wisdom untrammeled by passion and dread, lashed 
 their bits to a tree trunk before she would quit her 
 charges, and by the time she reached the interesting group 
 at the water s edge the dusky head was pillowed on a 
 tan-colored knee, and further supported by a tan-colored 
 
218 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 arm, and the loveliest dark eyes in the world, just unclos 
 ing, were gazing imploringly up into her cousin s agon 
 ized features. A faint flush was rising to the soft cheek, 
 and lips that were colorless but a moment or two agone, 
 now reddening again, now quivering and beautifully al 
 luring, seemed almost uplifting, as though to reward, to 
 welcome his, as with joy unmistakable they murmured, 
 " Sandy Sandy I knew you d come." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 BLENKE COVERS HIS TRACKS 
 
 PRISCILLA SANFORD in the next few days, 
 despite the fact that most of her pupils were gone, 
 found her duties increasing. She had seen 
 Blenke, but only through enlisting the interest of 
 his captain, who directed Blenke to call upon Miss San- 
 ford and give account of his stewardship or be sent thither 
 in charge of a sergeant. Blenke appeared at last in the 
 dusk of evening and the depth of despond. He wrung 
 his white hands, he bowed his shapely head in shame. He 
 could hardly speak, such was his humility, but he stuck to 
 it that his story was true. She knew enough of his past 
 (at least she should know, since he had told her so much 
 of it) to believe that he had enjoyed the benefits of travel, 
 prosperity, and education. He had trusted, however, 
 where he should have guarded, and devotion to his fel 
 lows had resulted in his financial ruin. A man who owed 
 him hundreds, and had promised to pay, was in Rapid 
 City, and came thence to find him here at the very time 
 Blenke started to find him there. The failure of this man 
 to keep his promise had involved Blenke shamefully. He 
 had borrowed much more than the ten dollars he still 
 owed his benefactress. It was shame and worry, result- 
 
 219 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 ing in prostration and insomnia, that drove him forth at 
 night, that led to his taking Skid s prescription, for Skid, 
 who was so very grateful for Blenke s conduct at time of 
 the fire, did not, however,, come forward with offer of 
 financial aid. He was going to do that, he said, when he 
 got his insurance money, which was still suspiciously with 
 held. Skidmore gave Blenke Scotch ale, warranted to 
 produce sleep. It at least led to oblivion, the disappear 
 ance of his watch, and the train of miserable, disgraceful 
 woe that followed. How could Blenke ever face Miss 
 Sanford again? Not until ordered could he bear the 
 ordeal, even though her letters had assured him of forgive 
 ness and further aid and confidence. As to his being 
 with those Indians, lurking in that tortuous ravine, the 
 explanation was simple. The man who had tricked him, 
 a contractor, was said to be over at the reservation In 
 dians had so told him. They were forbidden to come to 
 the fort or be seen about Skidmore s. They could onlv 
 meet him out of sight of the post and its slum suburb. 
 He and a comrade met them to hear their report at the 
 crossing of the old road from Fort Siding by way of 
 Castle Butte to the Belle Fourche country, and catching 
 sight of Lieutenant Ray, riding slowly along the edge o 
 the timber, the Indians had led on into the ravine, where 
 they had hardly dismounted and turned loose their ponies 
 when the phaeton flashed into view around a point of 
 bluff, almost running them down, then running away. 
 Startled as he was, Blenke would have grabbed a pony 
 
BLENKE COVERS HIS TRACKS 
 
 and galloped to Miss Sanford s aid, but their ponies, too, 
 took fright and stampeded. The Indians went in pursuit, 
 and by the time Blenke could again see the phaeton it was 
 quietly descending the little ramp to the river bottom, and 
 all seemed well. Then Lieutenant Ray s horse was seen 
 galloping away toward the fort, and that was another 
 reason why he, a poor private, should not presume to 
 intrude when an officer was presumably there. He went 
 in pursuit of the horse. Lieutenant Ray, he said, had 
 never liked him, while he, Blenke, could almost lay down 
 his life to serve Lieutenant Ray. 
 
 So Priscilla could say nothing but " Go and sin no 
 more/ and come back to the choir, which Blenke prom 
 ised faithfully to do. 
 
 Then Major Dwight was at last sufficiently recovered 
 to be pronounced convalescent, and there had been the 
 meeting with his beloved boy, the first few minutes of 
 which had been witnessed only by Dr. Waring and Mrs. 
 Ray, who presently, reassured by his calm, withdrew and 
 left father and child together. It had been followed by a 
 regular visit each day, limited to less than an hour for the 
 time being. There had been two interviews, Dr. Waring 
 only being present and that not all the time, between 
 Dwight and his wife. From both of these Inez came 
 forth weeping convulsively, to be comforted by Felicie 
 and a pint of Pommery Sec. That something had been 
 sent to the importunate Farrells the doctor had knowledge, 
 and that something had been said to their daughter to 
 
222 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 plunge her in grief inexpressible the garrison was speed 
 ily informed. " She should leave him, this angel," said 
 Felicie, " but she is of a devotion, my faith, the most 
 incomparable the most indomitable." 
 
 Then Dwight begged that Mrs. Ray should come to 
 him, and there had been a long talk, a reconciliation, an 
 understanding that brought comfort to his heart and re 
 joicing to hers, and then as convalescence advanced, and 
 his mind demanded food, Priscilla had come to read -to 
 him, and from reading, first rather less than an hour, she 
 was reading daily now as much as two. It gave Madame 
 a frightful migraine, said the explanatory and fruitful 
 Felicie, to read aloud at all. 
 
 But the projected alliance, the prospective friendship 
 so desired by Mrs. Dwight of the elder the highly 
 gifted maid had progressed no further. From the 
 moment of their return from that memorable drive 
 neither party to the proposed arrangement again referred 
 to it. Priscilla, who preferred to call at any other house 
 within the limits of Minneconjou, was now a daily visitor. 
 Sandy Ray, who found himself longing to go thither, 
 could not go at all. His arrest forbade it, and he was 
 asking himself what might be his course were his arrest 
 to end, for a rumor was current at the post that a separa 
 tion was threatened that Captain and Mrs. Dwight were 
 certainly estranged. There were those who considered 
 it most indelicate under the circumstances that an un 
 married woman should appear upon the scene even as a 
 
BLENKE COVERS HIS TRACKS 
 
 reader to an aging and broken man. Perhaps it was, but 
 the doctor smiled approval. The colonel said " Go 
 ahead." Mrs. Ray considered her niece quite old enough 
 to judge for herself. Mrs. Dwight declared it angelic, 
 and Priscilla said nothing at all. Priscilla, who had been 
 prone to speak on slight reflection, had become as silent 
 or secretive as she had once been censorious, for never 
 once had she mentioned to her aunt, never yet had she 
 made known to Sandy, that she had heard the strange 
 words which, with returning consciousness, Inez, the wife 
 of Oswald Dwight, had murmured looking up into the 
 pallid face of Sanford Ray. Yet Ray knew, and soon 
 Inez, that Priscilla had heard and not forgotten. 
 
 It had so happened the day of that memorable drive and 
 catastrophe that Sandy Ray, dismounting to the aid of 
 Mrs. Dwight, whose slender and lovely form lay huddled 
 by the roadside, while Priscilla and the ponies started on 
 their circuit, had given no thought to his own steed, which 
 fact enabled that inconsiderate brute to trot away home 
 ward. Then when Inez came to herself (though not to 
 her senses, else would she have said such shocking things 
 when Priscilla was within earshot?) there arose a question 
 of transportation. It was only four miles to the fort, but 
 in his still somewhat crippled condition that wa? far for 
 Sandy to walk. It was characteristic of Priscilla that she 
 should promptly suggest her driving Mrs. Dwight home 
 at once; then, if need be, sending Hogan back with the 
 horse. Priscilla herself was a famous pedestrian, priding 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 herself on sometimes " footing " it to and from town, but 
 never once did Priscilla now suggest that Sandy drive 
 Mrs. Dwight or Mrs. Dwight drive Sandy. Priscilla, 
 indeed, behaved with some little asperity as well as im 
 patience when she assured Mrs. Dwight that she had the 
 ponies now under complete control, and all Mrs. Dwight 
 had to do was to get in at once. But this required 
 Sandy s aid and encircling arm. Then when Inez was 
 fairly in her reclining seat, she could not release the hand. 
 " But surely you are coming ? Your horse is gone ! 
 What walk, Miss Sanford? Indeed, he shall not, and 
 after having carried poor me all that distance." (For a 
 woman in a dead faint Inez was oddly alive to what had 
 been going on.) "You are coming right in here, Mr. 
 Ray ! " and she edged vigorously over against the stout 
 structured Priscilla in determined effort to make room for 
 Sandy beside her. So there he rode, saying very little, 
 but tumultuously thinking, Heaven only knows what, 
 for Inez had then eyes, ears, aye lips, had he dared 
 only for him. She nestled close and confiding in the arm 
 trembling about her slender shoulders. He felt the con 
 tact of her rounded form. His head was in a whirl, his 
 heart was in a tumult, when at last Priscilla reined in at 
 the major s gate, and again Sandy had almost to carry the 
 lovely burden up the major s steps and, with one, long, 
 melting gaze from her glorious eyes, with five murmured 
 words from her exquisite, parted, passionate lips, with a 
 thrilling pressure from both her little hands, he delivered 
 
BLENKE COVERS HIS TRACKS 225 
 
 her into the waiting arms of Felicie, to become again a 
 limp and prostrate being, to require at once her hand 
 maid s best services and champagne. The quantity of 
 Pommery Sec consumed in that house during the major s 
 confinement thereto, said Felicie afterwards, was, o 
 del, of the most incredible ! 
 
 It can readily be conceived that Priscilla could not soon 
 forget the incidents of that day s drive, the last she ever 
 took with Inez Dwight. What with the apparition of 
 Blenke and the blanketed Indians at the ravine,, the run 
 away of the ponies on the prairie, and the astounding 
 revelation that followed, the honest-hearted girl was ut 
 terly at a loss as to her duty in the premises. Six weeks 
 back she would not have hesitated. She would have 
 known infallibly just what to say and do, and unflinch 
 ingly would she have said and done it. But, all was 
 different now. Her faith was strong as ever, firm and 
 unshaken, but her self-confidence was gone. She had 
 made some of the worst mistakes of her thirty years 
 within the last three months. She had justly offended her 
 fondest, truest friends ; had brought dire distress, untold 
 suffering, on a most loving and devoted father, and cruel 
 punishment to an innocent and trusting child. Her head 
 had been bowed to the dust in self-condemnation, in humil 
 ity unspeakable. She could have dragged herself upon 
 her knees every inch of the road from their door to 
 Dwight s, and with streaming eyes and clasping hands, 
 a well-nigh broken and all contrite heart, could have 
 
226 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 bathed his feet with her tears and implored his forgive 
 ness. It was characteristic of Oswald Dwight, the old 
 Oswald Dwight coming once again through this hell of 
 suffering and from the very threshold of the other world 
 into the kingdom of self-search and self-dominion, that 
 he should send for her, beg that she should be brought 
 to him, that he might lift from her mind a moiety at least 
 of its weight of self-accusation. It was characteristic of 
 him thereafter that, after the first few hours with his 
 blessed boy and God alone knows what intensity of 
 prayer, petition, love, and resolve surged through the 
 heart and soul of the almost re-created man he should 
 try to showPriscillaSanford that he blamed himself alone, 
 not her; that he honored her, respected her, believed in 
 her, and that he rejoiced to see the friendship that was 
 daily growing between her and his beloved little son. 
 The readings that seemed so long to the censorious were 
 not all reading, after all, for presently and little by little 
 the book would be dropped, the page would be discussed, 
 and, once away from her hobby of original, sin and uni 
 versal damnation the Calvinistic creed of that stern, 
 pure-hearted if Puritanical woman there was much that 
 appealed to the stern, true-hearted soldier nature of the 
 even maturer man. A famous Covenanter a Round 
 head after Cromwell s own heart might Oswald Dwight 
 have been had he dwelt in Merry England, where sun 
 strokes were unknown and dark-eyed sirens seldom heard 
 of. As for Priscilla, she needed but the garb to fit her 
 
BLENKE COVERS HIS TRACKS 
 
 for the austere duties of the sect whence sprung her 
 mother and her name. But it was a chastened, softened, 
 subdued Priscilla that now wrestled in spirit with the 
 problem set before her. She knew no woman in all Min- 
 neconjou except Aunt Marion with whom to take counsel, 
 and how could she wound, terrify, Aunt Marion with her 
 growing suspicion ! She knew but one man in all Minne- 
 conjou on whom she felt a longing to lean the burden 
 of her deep trouble, and how could she bring herself to 
 mention it to him ! 
 
 For within the week that followed the day of that drive 
 and disaster the level-headed soldier in command of the 
 department had been to Fort Wister ; had held an official 
 inspection and a personal investigation at Minneconjou; 
 had interrogated and, it was whispered, instructed Captain 
 Foster, with the result that, though deeply injured and 
 properly incensed, that officer, while urging continued 
 effort to bring to justice his unknown assailants, decided 
 it was unwise to press further, for the present at least, his 
 charges against Lieutenant Ray. Much to Ray s disgust, 
 therefore, he was released from arrest without the full 
 and entire clearance he had hoped for, and now, with the 
 Canteen closed and no longer demanding his supervision, 
 with little to do at the Exchange, still unfit for drill or 
 soldier duty, with his soul raging and dissatisfied, his 
 heart stirred anew with strange and turbulent emotion, 
 and his brain in a whirl, nervous, restless, sometimes 
 sleepless the livelong night, Sandy Ray had again taken 
 
228 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 to riding long hours to get away from himself, from 
 everybody, as he told his anxious, watchful, but silent 
 mother. (How little did Priscilla dream how much that 
 mother knew ! How little did that mother know how 
 much Priscilla dreamed!) And in Ray s avoidance of 
 everything, everybody, he rode never to town, but ever to 
 the west and often to the clump of cottonwoods opposite 
 the mouth of that crooked ravine where Inez Dwight, 
 with the look, the touch, the temptation of the unforgotten 
 days at Manila and Nagasaki, had come again into his 
 life, and whither Inez Dwight, decorously accompanied 
 by her sheepdog of a maid, found means to drive, no 
 matter which way she started, and there or about there, 
 to meet him, to see him four days out of the seven, 
 until the climax came. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 AGAIN THE SALOON 
 
 FOR a man of philosophic temperament, one who 
 seldom worried other people or himself, Colonel 
 Stone had been having a nerve-racking time of it 
 He was troubled in the first place about the con- 
 dition of affairs military in his big command, which the 
 general himself had referred to as " a sad falling off," and 
 which Stone saw no way under" the law to correct. The 
 number of men absent without leave, absent unaccounted 
 for, probably in desertion, or absent " in the hands of the 
 civil authorities," had increased alarmingly since the 
 closing of the Canteen. " Skid " and his abominable com 
 munity across the fords had been doing a thriving busi 
 ness, and were vastly enjoying the situation. Men by 
 dozens who had been content, after their sharp drills or 
 when the day s work was done, with mild and palatable 
 beer, now sat sullenly about their barrack steps in the 
 summer evenings, or, out of sheer disgust, wandered off 
 by twos and threes (and a new footbridge erected by 
 Skidmore), to spend their leisure hours and scanty cash 
 over the reeking counters of the saloon, deeming them 
 selves robbed of a right accorded every other wageworker 
 throughout Christendom, and saying things of their Con- 
 
230 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 gress it was n t safe for their officers even to think. They 
 did not so much blame the women who had started the 
 movement that spoiled their soldier homelife how could 
 women of the Fold be expected to know anything about 
 the conditions on the frontier? but, said our sergeants 
 and corporals and sturdy men-at-arms, the soldier had a 
 right to expect that Congress would look before it voted. 
 Possibly had the soldiers, too, been voters their side of 
 the case might have met some consideration; but, being 
 politically on the same plane with " Indians not taxed," 
 it was safe, at least, to similarly fix their social status and 
 restrictions. Forbidden by the people he was sworn to 
 serve, to take his temperate drink at home, but permitted 
 by the same people to drink his fill of fiery stuff abroad, 
 abroad the thirsty soldier went, and with him went many a 
 man who had been content with mighty little, but resented 
 it that he should be discriminated against, denied the right 
 of the humblest citizen, and declared the only white man 
 in America fit only to be ruled as is the red. 
 
 The morning list of prisoners at Minneconjou was 
 something over which Stone was nearly breaking his 
 heart. Every night now, in numbers, the men were 
 sneaking off across the stream, lured by the dance music, 
 the sound of clinking glass and soldier chorus and siren 
 laughter. However well the colonel might know his own 
 profession, he was powerless under the law to deal with 
 this question. Here " Skid " had him and the garrison 
 by the throat. With the knowledge that his men were 
 
AGAIN THE SALOON 231 
 
 drinking, dicing, and going generally to the devil within 
 those ramshackle walls across the stream, he could neither 
 remove the victims nor dislodge their tempters. Patrols 
 he could send to search the roads, the open prairie, the 
 river bottom, but Skidmore had declared that no armed 
 party could legally cross his threshold, and the courts had 
 backed him. Soldiers roistering in the roadway in front 
 of the dive would dart within doors at sight of the patrol, 
 and the officer, sergeant, or private that entered there left 
 hope behind of fair treatment in the civil courts. Stone 
 tried sending a big sergeant and six stalwart men un 
 armed, and they came back eventually without coats, 
 collars, or character, none of them without bruises, some 
 of them not without aid. Stone marveled that so many 
 of his men turned up in town drunk, helpless, and in the 
 hands of the local police, with fines imposed by the local 
 magistrates, but that, too, was presently explained. Skid 
 kept a big, twelve-seated " bus " that on busy nights, as 
 the soldiers got well fuddled and completely strapped, he 
 would load up with the drugged and drowsy victims and, 
 instead of driving them over to the fort, would trundle 
 them to town, dump them in front of some saloon, there 
 to be run in by a ready police, and locked up until sober 
 and abject. Then would come their arraignment and the 
 invariable " Five dollars or thirty days." Then their 
 officers would be notified. The fines at first were paid, 
 until it dawned upon Stone that Skid and Silver Hill, 
 both, were in the swindling combination, that after Skid- 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 more had got the last cent of the men there was still 
 a way of squeezing more from the officers. As soon as 
 the fort realized the fact the town ceased to realize the 
 funds, and Skidmore was told to send no more castaways 
 to Silver Hill, so he simply turned them out to take their 
 medicine where once they took their comfort at the post. 
 But Skid s was a menace in yet another way, and, so 
 long as his " ranch " was far over to the southeast, the 
 fort had not felt it. The noble redman likes liquor, and 
 the low-caste and half-breed crave it. There were always 
 a shabby lot of hang-dog, prowling, ill-favored off-scour- 
 ings of the Sioux lurking about Skid s premises day and 
 night, bartering when they had anything to barter, but 
 generally begging or stealing. A drunken soldier, sleep 
 ing off his whisky in the willow patches, was ever fair 
 game, and sometimes now soldiers were found throttled, 
 and robbed of their very boots and shirts. Serious clashes 
 had occurred, and were of almost daily happening, to the 
 end that officers, out fishing or shooting, had been insulted 
 and threatened by Indians who had sworn vengeance 
 against the soldier, and knew no discrimination. " We ll 
 have trouble from that yet," Stone had told his general, 
 and the grave, lined face of the latter showed how seri 
 ously he regarded the possibility. Sandy Ray, riding far 
 out to the southwest one summer day, had met a brace of 
 young braves who insolently ordered him to turn back 
 or fight, and this when he had not so much as a pocket 
 pistol or an inkling that trouble was brewing. Knowing 
 
AGAIN THE SALOON 233 
 
 a little of their " lingo," and something of the sign lan 
 guage, he demanded an explanation, and got for answer 
 that two of their brothers had been worsted in conflict 
 with him and his party. Sandy protested he had had no 
 trouble with any of their people, and got a prompt an 
 swer, " Fork tongue ! " " Liar ! " and other expletives 
 not printable, and he turned back before their revolvers, 
 wrathful, helpless, and wondering. He told his tale to 
 the colonel, and Stone looked solemn : 
 
 " Sandy," said he, " you take chances riding out that 
 way. I I ve been getting anxious about you have been 
 on the point of speaking before." Whereat Ray suddenly 
 went crimson, through his coat of sun tan, and bit his lip 
 to control its quiver. " There s mischief brewing with 
 those people, I fear. Their agent has written me twice. 
 One drunken brawl at Skid s has led to clashes where 
 whisky was n t the inciting cause. He says two of his 
 young men were set upon by some of our troopers here, 
 and it is n t safe to meet them alone. Indeed, Sandy, I 
 wish you d ride in some other direction." 
 
 It was what his mother had very gently said to him 
 but yester morning, before he had heard of any sign of 
 Indian trouble. How was he to hear, since he seemed 
 to avoid the society of his kind and to prefer to live alone ? 
 Ray left the colonel s presence with his nerves a-tingle. 
 Had it come to this then, that his father s old friend 
 should say to his father s son that he was riding the 
 wrong way? 
 
234 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Yes. This was another matter that was giving Stone 
 sore trouble. Mrs. Stone was a woman who paid, 
 ordinarily, little heed to garrison talk. She and her 
 colonel were the best of chums, and one reason was that, 
 even when she heard she would never carry to him the 
 little spiteful rumors often set astir by the envious or 
 malicious. When, therefore, Mrs. Stone came to him 
 with a story at the expense of man or woman, the colonel 
 knew there was something behind it. Now, though Mrs. 
 Dwight s pretty phaeton usually started eastward, it 
 speedily " changed direction." The country about Minne- 
 conjou was very open, almost all rolling, treeless prairie, 
 and its hard, winding roads could be seen criss-crossing 
 the gray-green surface in many a mile. It seemed wicked 
 that Mrs. Dwight should care to stay out so long when 
 her husband had been so very seriously ill and was still 
 confined to his room. Even though he did not desire her 
 presence, and was sore angered at and presumably 
 .estranged from her, Minneconjou said she ought not to 
 be abroad, especially if it involved her meeting a young 
 officer once thought to have been deeply smitten with her 
 charms. True, no one had seen them together except 
 from a long distance, and then it appeared that the horse 
 man rode for a few moments only by the side of the 
 pretty equipage. But, for what else could she go thither, 
 and why, if bent on going thither, should she thrice start 
 by way of the east gate and then make long, wide circuit 
 of the prairie roads? 
 
AGAIN THE SALOON 235 
 
 Mrs. Stone had heard enough to convince her she 
 ought to speak to Mrs. Dwight, but first she must con 
 sult her husband. Stone had heard just enough to con 
 vince him he ought to speak to Sandy, when they had their 
 conference, this admirable couple, and that day he spoke. 
 
 And that day, as it happened, Sandy Ray had ridden 
 home, saying to himself " this must be the last." 
 
 One morning, the first meeting since that of the run 
 away, she had surprised him mooning at the cottonwoods, 
 his horse tethered and cropping the bunch grass, he him 
 self stretched at length at the edge of the stream lost in 
 deep and somber reflection. Just where she expected, 
 there she found him, but not as she expected. In spite 
 of her effusiveness the day of the drive, he was grave, 
 distant, unresponsive, though she sat beaming on him 
 from the phaeton, Felicie beside her, an unhearing, 
 unheeding, uncomprehending dummy. The next time 
 Inez took the air in that direction she saw him afar off, 
 and he her, and rode away. That evening she prome 
 naded quite an hour on her veranda, and later he got a 
 little missive : 
 
 Will Mr. Ray, if not too busy, come to me one moment? 
 There is a matter on which I much desire his aid. 
 
 (Signed) INEZ DWIGHT. 
 
 Ray was slowly crossing the parade, after an hour at 
 the sergeants school. He could not stay home, where 
 mother might possibly ask the questions she sometimes 
 
236 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 looked, but he need not have feared. Dwight s one sol 
 dier groom came speeding with the note and the word, 
 " Mrs. Dwight s at the gate now, son" And at the gate 
 she was, in diaphanous muslin or pina or justi how 
 should a man know? Ray neither knew nor cared. His 
 head was set against her, though his heart was throbbing 
 hard. He had listened just one day to her soft speeches, 
 quivered under her melting glance, and thrilled under her 
 touch. Then he saw his danger and swore he would 
 shun it, coward or no coward. On that following day, 
 afar up the valley, he had set his face against her when 
 she came in search of him. Now he could not so affront 
 her, though she had tricked and affronted him. Again 
 he was civil or coldly courteous, but he held aloof and 
 would not see her extended hand, whereat her under- 
 lip began to tremble, and she laid her hand upon his 
 arm. 
 
 " Am I never to have a kind word, Sandy ? " she 
 pleaded, and there was intoxication in the glance, the 
 touch, and trembling lip. " Will you never listen to my 
 story, and know how I was tricked how how I lost 
 you?" 
 
 And bluntly he had answered, " I do not care to know. 
 If that is all you wish to see me about, good-night," then 
 turned and left her. He was raging at the thought of 
 her flirtation with Foster. He could not forgive that, 
 though for a few hours, in the amaze, bewilderment, and 
 vague delight with which he had heard her waking 
 
AGAIN THE SALOON 237 
 
 words, and read the alluring message in her eyes, and 
 felt the warm throb of her heart, almost against his, as 
 they homeward drove, with Priscilla stern and silent at 
 the reins, he had forgotten. He had been carried back, 
 in spite of all, to the thrill and glamour of those wondrous 
 days and almost deliriously blissful nights, sailing over 
 moonlit summer seas, wandering under starry summer 
 skies, with the soft breeze laden with the perfume of the 
 cherry blossoms stirring her dusky hair and blowing it 
 upon his warm young lips. But that was far, far in the past 
 now. He could have listened, might have listened, but 
 between her pleading eyes those beautiful, uplifted 
 eyes and him there stalked the effigy of Stanley Foster, 
 with that sneering, smiling, insolent, triumphant, posses 
 sive look upon his evil face; and, though Ray hated, it 
 was what he needed. Let it be remembered of him, then, 
 that in the stillness of the summer night when they two 
 stood almost face to face and utterly alone, despite her 
 restraining hand, her beseeching touch and tone, he 
 turned sturdily away. 
 
 But alas for human frailty, that was not the last ap 
 peal! The summer night was young, there was a soft 
 wind blowing from the wrong direction, the southeast, 
 and the strains of music, n allowed and tempered by dis 
 tance, had been wafted fortwards from beyond the stream, 
 soon to give way to louder, harsher strains, and be punc 
 tuated by jeering laugh or drunken yell. It was barely 
 ten o clock, yet the broad walk and many a veranda along 
 
238 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 the row seemed deserted. Walking stiffly homeward, 
 Ray met only one couple, and never heeded a hail or two 
 from vine-screened porches. He was in no mood for 
 chat or confidence. He wished to reach his own room, 
 and reach it unmolested. He breathed a sigh of relief 
 that there was no one to detain him as he neared his own 
 doorway. The little parlor, too, was deserted. Mother 
 and Priscilla had apparently gone to some one of the 
 neighbors. The lights were turned down on the lower 
 floor and all was darkness above. Doors and windows, 
 army-fashion, stood wide open, and, as he struck a match 
 on reaching his little room, the white curtains were 
 fluttering outward under the stir of the gentle air that 
 swept through from the hall. He had no thought of stay 
 ing. He meant to leave his books and papers, to bathe 
 his face and hands, for they seemed burning, and then 
 he had no definite plan ; he only wished to be alone. 
 
 At the foot of the stairs, as he reached the lower hall, 
 he heard his mother s voice. She was at the gate, Pris 
 cilla and Captain Washburn, too, and Sandy turned, tip 
 toed through the hall, the dining-room, the deserted 
 kitchen, for the domestics had gone gossiping about 
 the neighborhood. Back of the kitchen, in the narrow 
 yard, ran the one-storied shed, divided by partitions into 
 laundry, storeroom, coal and woodshed, and Hogan s 
 sleeping-room and sanctuary, and a dark form issued 
 from Hogan s doorway at the instant that Sandy, tiptoe 
 ing still, came forth from the kitchen. " Hogan ! " he 
 
AGAIN THE SALOON 239 
 
 hailed, but it was not Hogan. It was someone of his 
 own size and build, someone who started, then stopped 
 short and faced him with punctilious salute. 
 
 " It is Blenke, sir." 
 
 "And what the devil are you doing there?" de 
 manded Ray, suspicious, irritated, nervously angered 
 against everything, everybody; never, moreover, approv 
 ing of Blenke, and knowing well how Hogan disapproved 
 of him. 
 
 But Blenke s voice was gentle melancholy, mingled 
 with profound respect. 
 
 " Looking for Hogan, sir. I had promised Miss San- 
 ford to return some books. I did n t presume to enter 
 the house, and thought to leave a message with him. I 
 desired, too, to see the lieutenant, sir. My application for 
 transfer to the cavalry has been disapproved, and I 
 hoped that he might say just a word to help me." 
 
 "After that exploit of yours last month?" And 
 Ray s eyes grew angrier yet. " We have too many ques 
 tionable characters as it is." 
 
 " Lieutenant," spoke the soldier, almost imploringly, 
 " I am doing my best to live down that most deplorable 
 affair. I was drugged, sir. There can be no other ex 
 planation, but my captain still holds it against me, and at 
 the very time I most needed to be here, he has picked me 
 out for detached duty to go to the wood camp in the 
 Sagamore to-morrow." 
 
 And at the instant Priscilla s crisp, even tones were 
 
^0 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 heard at the rear door. a Oh, Blenke? I thought I knew 
 the voice. One moment and I ll strike a light ! " 
 
 And in that moment Sandy made his escape. 
 
 His mother was sitting up waiting for him when, an 
 hour later, he came in. Tenderly, fondly, she kissed 
 him, and for a moment he clung to her. Then, looking in 
 her face, he saw impending question. 
 
 " Not not to-night, mother, darling," he hurriedly 
 spoke. " I do want to talk with you to tell you, but not 
 to-night. Bear with me just a day or two, and " 
 then again his arms enfolded her " trust me." 
 
 Her silent kiss, her murmured blessing, was his good 
 night. Then she went slowly to her room, leaving him to 
 extinguish the lights and close their little army home to 
 await the coming of another day. 
 
 But, somewhere about twelve there was trouble down 
 toward the fords, and Sandy, in no mood for sleep, went 
 forth to inquire. The sentry on No. 3 was standing lis 
 tening to the distant jumble of excited voices. " I don t 
 know what it was, sir. They took some fellow up to the 
 guard-house, and they re hunting the willows for more." 
 Then No. 4, behind them, set up a shout for the corporal, 
 which No. 3 echoed, and Sandy, not knowing what to 
 expect or why he should go, trudged westward up the 
 sentry post and found No. 4 fifty paces beyond the last 
 quarters, the major s, and wrathful because " some fel 
 lers," he said, had sneaked in across his post. The cor 
 poral came panting on the run, and Ray scouted on along 
 
AGAIN THE SALOON 
 
 the bluff, saw nothing, found nobody, turned to his right 
 at the west gate, glanced upward where the night light 
 burned dimly in the patient s room, at the closed blinds 
 and shades of the room he knew to be hers, and all was 
 hushed and still within the sleeping garrison as a second 
 time he walked slowly homeward along the row, unseen 
 of anybody, probably, from the moment he left the cor 
 poral and No. 4, who had some words over the sentry s 
 report, and parted in ill humor. " Don t you yell for me 
 again until it s business, d ye hear ? " was the corporal s 
 last injunction. 
 
 Less than fifteen minutes later No. 4 was startled by a 
 sudden sound a woman s half-stifled scream, followed 
 by commotion at Major D wight s. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 A MOTHER S DREAD 
 
 ETLE JIM came over somewhat earlier than 
 usual in the morning. He had returned to his 
 own room adjoining his father s as soon as the 
 physicians deemed it wise to permit, and the per 
 mission was given earlier than others might have 
 deemed wise because the doctors, both senior and junior, 
 agreed that Dwight s recovery would be retarded if the 
 boy were not close at hand, with his fond smile and 
 caressing touch, eager to answer the faintest call. There 
 was something more than pathetic in the way the som 
 ber deep-set eyes of the weak and broken man, so infi 
 nitely humbled in his own sight, now followed Jimmy s 
 every movement about the room, and as soon as Dwight 
 was strong enough to leave his bed for a moment ^at a 
 time he would be up again and again during the night 
 hours to gaze into Jimmy s sleeping face, to softly touch 
 his hand or forehead. Stratton, of the hospital force, 
 detailed for duty with the major, told later how the big 
 tears would gather in the major s eyes as he bent over the 
 unconscious sleeper ; how, many a time he would find the 
 major kneeling by the bedside, his lips moving in prayer. 
 Marion s eyes welled over when this was told her, though 
 
 242 
 
A MOTHER S DREAD 
 
 it could hardly have been news. She and all who knew 
 him in the old days must have known how, with clearing 
 faculties, the strong and resolute man would suffer in 
 the consciousness of the cruel wrong he had done his 
 boy, must have realized the depth of his contrition, and 
 probably guessed with fair accuracy the intensity of 
 his grieving and of his thoughts of her the wife he 
 had so utterly loved, so sadly lost Margaret, the de 
 voted mother of his only son. 
 
 And realizing this, there had come a vital question 
 to the mind of Marion Ray. What was to be now the 
 father s attitude toward this girl-wife she who had been 
 set in Margaret s place, never for a moment to fill it? 
 All Minneconjou was asking itself what would be her 
 status, this beautiful young creature, when reason fully 
 resumed its sway and Dwight was once more able to 
 assume the reins of domestic authority? Thus far all 
 that was known was that estrangement existed. She, 
 herself, had sobbingly told her story to eager if not 
 always sympathetic souls. " He turns from me almost 
 in loathing he for whom I would gladly die ! " was her 
 melodramatic utterance to one of her hearers, and it 
 was quite enough to start the story that there would 
 certainly be a separation just so soon as Dwight could 
 effect it. Meantime, Inez had ever her faithful Felicie, 
 her phaeton, her flowers from town, her lovely gowns 
 and fluffy wraps, her long hours abed after sun-up, her 
 late hours and suppers, concerning which kitchen cab- 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 inets of officers row had superabundant information, and 
 a certain firm in Silver Hill a swift-growing account, on 
 the face of which the item, " Case Pommery Sec, Pints," 
 appeared with a frequency suggestive of supper parties 
 of several people instead of only one or two. The do 
 mestics at the Dwights were a disloyal lot, if Felicie s 
 views were accepted, but as members of the establish 
 ment they resented it that the " frog-eating Feelissy " 
 should dare to give them orders. " Madame much ob 
 jected to their late hours." " It was Madame s wish they 
 should be in their rooms by eleven o clock, and that even 
 when there was a dance they should be home by twelve." 
 Their rooms were under the low mansard, on what might 
 be called the third floor, and a back staircase led from 
 the kitchen to the upper regions; therefore, there was 
 no need of their entering the dining-room late at night. 
 Still, they saw no reason why a bolt should have been 
 placed on the door. They said improper things at the 
 advent of that obstruction during Foster s brief visit, 
 and, after his unlamented departure, the spare bedroom 
 on the lower floor, assigned to that distinguished officer, 
 had been most ostentatiously aired. Foster s consump 
 tion of cigarettes was something abnormal, two receivers 
 being sometimes left in the dining-room over night, both 
 well burdened with ashes and discolored ends the only 
 tips, by the way, the parting guest, apparently, had time 
 to leave. 
 
 No, those servitors had rebelled at heart against both 
 
A MOTHER S DREAD 245 
 
 mistress and maid, but the master s dictum had for a 
 time enforced obedience. Now, however, they were in 
 almost open revolt. " It was her that drove him crazy 
 or he d never have beaten Master Jimmy ! " was the com 
 prehensive verdict. Yet housewives who heard their 
 tales and reported them to their lords met sometimes 
 with rebuff. " Growl because they re sent to bed at 
 eleven o clock, do they? They d growl the harder if 
 ordered to sit up till then/ was one way the unresponsive 
 husband had of settling the story. But wives, who are 
 wiser in the ways of the domestic world, felt sure there 
 was something coming to explain it all, and something 
 came though, so far from explaining, it seemed to make 
 matters all the more thrillingly inexplicable. 
 
 Jimmy, as has been said, came earlier. Daddy had 
 been up quite a while during the night and the doctor 
 had come over before sick call. Mamma was n t quite 
 well, and Doctor Wallen had directed that daddy be 
 undisturbed and left to sleep, if possible, during the 
 morning. Mamma, of course, never came to breakfast 
 at all now. She had her chocolate in her room, pre 
 pared by Felicie, and seldom appeared until long after 
 Jimmy was out of the house. Indeed, he seldom now 
 met mamma at all, this in spite of the fact that, since 
 the major s seizure, mamma had declined all invitations 
 to dine or sup elsewhere, and such invitations had ceased 
 coming, when now with entire propriety she might ac 
 cept, if with entire propriety invitations could be ex- 
 
246 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 tended. Minneconjou society was nearly unanimous in 
 the view that, so long as her husband saw no impro 
 priety in the lady s conduct, she must be bidden. Now 
 that he only saw her in the presence of the doctor or 
 the nurse, and she had for two weeks declined to attend, 
 there was warrant for the omission of her name from 
 social functions. Jimmy lunched either at Aunt Mar 
 ion s, with some of his friends, or had a chosen chum 
 to lunch with him at home. Anything Master Jim de 
 sired the kitchen cabinet accorded without demur. He 
 dined for the present with Aunt Marion, or " had 
 his rations," as he said, when daddy was served at 
 seven. 
 
 Mamma, attended by Felicie, dined later, in her accus 
 tomed state. Mamma s appetite was very delicate and 
 had to be stimulated, he said with unconscious truth, 
 and this morning, this particular morning, he had had 
 to wait for his breakfast. There was some kind of a 
 squabble between Felicie and the folks in the kitchen. 
 He could n t understand it. They did n t like her having 
 beaux around late at night swore they d seen a fellow 
 prowling about there two or three times, and only just 
 missed nabbing him at the foot of the back stairs last 
 night, and Felicie was white with rage. She said Butts, 
 the groom, was a cocaine (though he never kept any, 
 and Felicie did) and she called the cook coshon, and 
 scolded both for having disturbed daddy. Daddy got 
 as far as the back stairs with his revolver, they said, 
 
A MOTHER S DREAD 
 
 before the nurse could get him back, and they swore it 
 was n t their doing, but hers her scream that woke 
 him, and even the sentry heard it out on No. 4 and 
 yelled for the corporal, and they nearly caught some 
 body that hid in the woodshed, and " was n t it funny, 
 I never heard a thing ! " and then Jimmy stopped short, 
 for Priscilla had stepped to Aunt Marion s side at the 
 little desk, and Aunt Marion was very pale. Priscilla 
 had thrown him one warning glance, as though to say 
 " Hush." But Aunt Marion asked a question. 
 
 " What time did this happen, Jimmy ? " 
 
 " Why, after twelve, the nurse told the doctor. But, 
 was n t it funny that I did n t hear a thing of it? " 
 
 " Hear what, Jimmy ? " said a voice, and Sandy, an 
 hour late for breakfast, stood at the open dojor. 
 
 " Go fetch some water, quick ! " said Priscilla, and 
 Jim went like a shot, for Sandy Ray stood just one 
 moment, pallid and uncomprehending, then, with a cry, 
 sprang to his mother s side, for her eyes had closed, her 
 head was drooping on Priscilla s arm. " Don t touch 
 
 her, Sandy ! Let me It s it 11 be over in a minute ! 
 
 She has had one or two little turns like this ! " And 
 then Jim came running with a brimming glass. Mrs. 
 Ray sipped slowly, lifted her head, put forth a feeble, 
 wavering hand toward Sandy and faintly smiled. " How 
 foolish ! " she muttered. " You shall have your coffee 
 in a moment, Sandy," but Priscilla, with determined 
 face, stood her ground and retained her hold. " Don t 
 
248 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 let her rise yet," said she warningly, her eyes on his 
 face, " and don t ask questions of anybody. Wait ! " 
 
 For reasons of his own, Dr. Wallen, after hearing 
 from the attendant of the stifled scream downstairs at 
 12:25, gave instructions to speak of it to nobody but 
 the post surgeon when he came. He did not see, he did 
 not ask to see, Madame. He did not wish to see Felicie, 
 but that ubiquitous young person was on the landing 
 and the verge of tears. Madame s rest also had been 
 cruelly disturbed by this disturbance the most disrepu 
 table made by these miserables, the domestiques of Mon 
 sieur le Commandant. Madame not until after dawn had 
 been able to repose herself, and as for Felicie, " me 
 who you speak," nothing but the pathetic condition of 
 Madame could persuade her to remain another day in 
 a such establishment, wherein she, the experienced, the 
 most-recommended, the companion of high nobility, the 
 all-devoted, had been subject to insole nce the most 
 frightful " at which point the rear door to the land 
 ing opened, and in came cook, all bristling for combat, 
 and the wordy battle would have reopened then and 
 there but for Wallen s stern, " Silence, both of you ! 
 Pull each other s hair to your heart s content in the 
 cellar, but not one word here." Then hied him 
 homeward. 
 
 When the senior surgeon came over later, the patient 
 was sleeping, and, after hearing that Wallen had been 
 there, he left without interrogating the nurse. All 
 
A MOTHER S DREAD 
 
 seemed going well, so Waring had nothing of especial 
 consequence to tell the colonel when dropping in at the 
 office later. 
 
 Even the officer of the day, in response to the question, 
 " Anything special to report, sir ? " failed to make the 
 faintest mention of the excitement reported by No. 4 as 
 occurring soon after twelve. But it was no fault of 
 the officer of the day. He had other and, presumably, 
 far more important matters to mention first,, and by 
 the time he had told that two sergeants, three corporals 
 and a dozen men had been run in by the patrols, many 
 of them battered, most of them drunk, and all of them 
 out of quarters, out of the post and in the thick of a 
 row over at Skid s; that one of the guard had been 
 slashed with a knife in the hands of a half-breed; that 
 the patrol had been pelted with bottles, glasses and bar 
 room bric-a-brac; that Lieutenant Stowe had been felled 
 by a missile that flattened the bridge of his nose, and 
 that the prison room was filled to the limit, the colonel 
 would hear no more. He ordered his horse and a 
 mounted orderly, strode to the guard-house to personally 
 look over the prisoners, then set forth to town in search 
 of the sheriff. 
 
 So the old officer of the day and the old guard were 
 relieved and went about their business, and while the 
 colonel was closeted with civilian officials in town a new 
 story started the rounds at Minneconjou a story that 
 only slowly found its way to the officers club or quarters, 
 
250 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 for, if the commanding officer did n t care to hear it. 
 Captain Rollis, the old officer of the day, cared not to 
 refer to it, but there was one set of quarters besides that 
 of Major Dwight s in which some portion of the story, 
 at least, had been anticipated. 
 
 Unable to sleep, filled with anxiety about her firstborn, 
 Marion Ray after midnight had left her room and stolen 
 over to his, hoping vainly that he might have made his 
 way thither. But the bed was undisturbed, the room 
 was empty. Then she thought perhaps he might have 
 fallen asleep in an easy-chair in the parlor; but the par 
 lor, too, was empty, the lights turned low. The front 
 door was closed for the night and bolted, so she went 
 to the kitchen and found the back door ajar. Some 
 where out on sentry post there was for a moment a 
 murmur of voices, then silence fell again, except for 
 distant sounds at the ford sounds to which they were 
 becoming accustomed, though still unreconciled. 
 
 For a while she waited irresolute, vaguely distressed, 
 then, finally, returned to the upper floor and once again 
 entered Sandy s room and gazed wistfully about her. 
 All was darkness, but the faint flutter at the west window 
 told her the light curtain was blowing outward, so she 
 went thither, drew it in and fastened it, then stepped to 
 the other opening to the south and looked out over the 
 dark valley of the Minneconjou, the sharp ridge that 
 spanned the far horizon, and the brilliant, spangled sky 
 above. And while she gazed, she listened, hoping every 
 
A MOTHER S DREAD 251 
 
 minute to hear the sound of his coming, even though it 
 was no longer the light, quick, springy step that before 
 his wound was so like the step she so well remembered 
 his father s, in the old days of the th. She was just 
 turning away disappointed when far up at the west she 
 heard the shrill cry, " Corporal of the guard, No. 4 ! " 
 heard the prompt echo of No. 3, the more distant calls 
 of 2. and i, and, even before these last, had heard 
 the swift footfalls of the summoned guardian taking 
 the short cut across the parade. Two three minutes 
 she waited, listening for the explanation. Vaguely, 
 dimly, she could make out the form of No. 3 standing 
 at the edge of the sloping bluff, listening, apparently, like 
 herself, for explanation of the call. None came. Then 
 the sentry stepped swiftly along his post in the direction 
 of the sound, as though something further had caught 
 his eye or ear. Then he was lost to view, and still she 
 waited. Then she heard a voice that was probably the 
 sentry s, low and indistinct, yet like the challenge and 
 the " Advance for recognition." Then, a moment later, 
 a hurried footfall, almost at a run a halting, uneven 
 footfall, as though one leg was not doing its share, and 
 that then surely meant Sandy, and Sandy would know 
 all that had passed and would tell her. Yes, there he 
 came, so vague, so shadowy, now that, had she not heard 
 the sound, she would not have looked for the shadow. 
 She saw the dark form dive quickly through the gate, 
 then pause. Instead of coming further, Sandy had 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 stopped and, leaning at the gate-post, was peering up 
 along the fence line outside. How unlike Sandy that 
 seemed ! Why should her son seek shelter and then turn 
 and look back from a safe covert along the path he came ? 
 Something urged her to softly call his name, but, with 
 a moment s thought, she decided against that. She would 
 go down, meet him, welcome him, see if there were not 
 something he needed, see him to his room, kiss him again 
 good-night ; and so she took her candle to the lower floor, 
 left it on the dining-room table, and finally reached the 
 rear door, even as her son came slowly up the steps. 
 At that instant began at the guard-house the call of half- 
 past twelve. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 LOVERS LAST APPEAL 
 
 GOING, as usual, next day to read an hour or so 
 to the invalid major, still under injunctions not 
 to tax his eyes, Miss Sanford became conscious 
 of an undercurrent of something akin to sensation, some 
 thing approximating unusual excitement. Both doctors 
 had earlier been there, and Wallen came again. The 
 hospital attendant seemed abnormally anxious and offi 
 cious. Felicie, infelicitously named, if it was her name, 
 fluttered upstairs and down, in and out of my lady s 
 chamber, effusively greeting the neighbors who some 
 what significantly began coming in with anxious in 
 quiry, tender of sympathy, etc. " Could n t help notic 
 ing the doctor had been over three times, so fearing 
 the major might have had a turn for the worse," etc., 
 etc., but it was n t the man so much as his wife of whom 
 they hoped for tidings. But Felicie could fence, and 
 would not favor even the adroit with the desired infor 
 mation. Madame was still reposing herself. Madame 
 would assuredly promenade at horse or in vehicle later. 
 Madame adored the fresh, free air, and though Madame 
 was desolate that, alas, her physicians, these medicines, 
 adjured her that it was the most important she should 
 
 233 
 
254 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 at this time live hours in the air and sunshine, and she 
 was forbidden the bliss of sharing her husband s confine 
 ment and alleviating his ennui, it was for his sake more 
 than her own and for the sake of their cherished hope 
 that she meekly yield to their mandates; and was it not 
 a circumstance the most felicitous that the charming 
 Mademoiselle should be so ever-ready to read to Monsieur 
 the Commandant? 
 
 With all its graceful, polished pleasantries at the ex 
 pense of the unmarried sister of thirty and upwards, 
 the social world that professes to regard her matrimonial 
 prospects as past praying for, and herself as oddly unat 
 tractive, is quick to take alarm when, apparently accept 
 ing their unflattering view, she likewise accepts duties 
 denied, as a rule, to those who are attractive. The very 
 girls who giggled behind " Aunt Priscilla s " back and 
 pitied her undesired lot were promptly and properly ag 
 grieved that she should prove to be so forward, so 
 unmaidenly. Because the right man does not happen 
 to come into a woman s life until so late, or because the 
 wrong one happened in and won her fresh young heart 
 all too early, it results that many a better, wiser, lovelier 
 woman lives unmated to-day than many a woman mar 
 ried in her teens. Lucky is the man the Indian summer 
 of whose life is blessed by the companionship of such. 
 Minneconjou laughed at Priscilla so long as she read to 
 the man in hospital or the bed-ridden dames in the mar 
 ried quarters; but it shied violently at her spending an 
 
LOVE S LAST APPEAL 255 
 
 hour or more each day in reading to Dwight, even though 
 the attendant was never away, and Mrs. Ray, with her 
 needlework, was often present. Was Minneconjou al 
 ready consigning the present incumbent to outer dark 
 ness and thinking of prescribing another mate for Oswald 
 Dwight? 
 
 Not only did Priscilla note the incessant flittings about 
 the house, but presently she saw that Dwight s attention 
 was wandering. From the adjoining room the muffled 
 sound of voices, in petulant appeal or expostulation, was 
 at times distinctly audible. Felicie wished Madame to 
 do something, apparently, which Madame was determined 
 not to do. 
 
 Felicie came once or twice with Madame s devoted 
 love to ask if there was anything Monsieur desired 
 or lacked, and to flash guarded malevolence at Pris 
 cilla. Felicie came again to say Madame was recalcitrant. 
 She feared Monsieur had not rested well cette nuit, and 
 she wished well to postpone her promenade, but the doctor 
 he had prescribed and Monsieur he had desired that 
 Madame neglect no opportunity to take the air, and 
 would not Monsieur again conjure Madame? Madame 
 was deaf to these the protestations of her most devoted. 
 Dwight rose slowly from his reclining chair and, excus 
 ing himself to the patient reader, was gone but a moment 
 or two, and Madame was ravishingly gowned and most 
 becomingly hatted and veiled when, just for a moment, 
 as the day s session was closing and the fair reader about 
 
256 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 departing, Madame rustled in to archly upbraid Monsieur 
 for his cruelty in ordering her to take her drive when 
 it was impossible for him to be at her side. " Ah, but 
 next week next week ! " this, doubtless, for the bene 
 fit of Priscilla " we shall see ! " 
 
 The phaeton was at the door and Priscilla walked 
 silently, thoughtfully, homeward. Aunt Marion was at 
 her desk, writing pages to the soldier-husband and father 
 in the distant Philippines. The sweet face was looking 
 grave and careworn. There were traces of tears, there 
 were dark lines, about the soft blue eyes, as Priscilla bent 
 and tenderly kissed her. " Do come down and let me 
 make you a cup of tea," she pleaded. " You ve been 
 writing and I reading long. I d like some, too. Is 
 is Sandy home?" 
 
 "Riding," said Aunt Marion briefly, and Priscilla 
 knew. 
 
 Ordinarily, half a dozen women would come drifting 
 in to Mrs. Ray s during the summer afternoon. To-day 
 there were none. They heard voices on the walk, voices 
 that seemed to hush as the gate was neared, and only 
 to resume in low tone after it was passed. Priscilla 
 could not account for the unusual depression that had 
 seemed to possess Aunt Marion even when struggling 
 against it herself. At breakfast time Aunt Marion had 
 been unusually silent, unusually watchful of Sandy, who, 
 before he would touch his fruit or sip his coffee, had 
 gone forth to the bench in rear of quarters, searching, 
 
LOVE S LAST APPEAL 257 
 
 he said, for some memoranda he might have dropped 
 out there at night. He had hunted all through the 
 pockets of his khaki rig, that he happened to be wearing 
 at that time, and to no purpose. He must have whipped 
 it out with his handkerchief, he said " just that little 
 flat memorandum book " they had often seen him have, 
 with a few loose pages no earthly use to anybody but 
 him, no great consequence, and yet, after breakfast, he 
 was searching again, and had Hogan searching, and 
 again he returned and hunted all through his room, and 
 investigated cook and housemaid, and again went forth. 
 Priscilla found herself unable to cast it from her mind 
 or to cause her aunt to forget it. Sandy had been gone 
 an hour when she returned, and had said not to wait 
 dinner ; he might ride late and long and far. 
 
 " But not toward the reservation," he assured his 
 mother, seeing the trouble in her face. " Though I d 
 more than like to ride over there with the troop and 
 round up those blackguard reds that turned me back." 
 
 " Those blackguard reds " were forbidden by their 
 agent to set foot north of the Minneconjou, where the 
 ranchers and settlers and miners were frequent. But 
 still the mother was anxious, filled with dread she could 
 not speak, and even as she now sat, absently toying with 
 her teaspoon, the maid came in with a note. " A sol 
 dier friend of Blenke " had just brought it for Miss 
 Sanford. 
 
 So Priscilla opened and read: 
 
258 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Miss Sanford will pardon, I pray, the liberty I probably take in 
 presuming to address her, but our plea to the captain was fruit 
 less. He insists on my going with the detachment to the wood 
 camp; so, long before this reaches Miss Sanford we shall have 
 started, and it may be days before relief will come. Meantime, 
 with my assurance that with Heaven s help I shall yet redeem 
 myself in her estimation, I remain Miss Sanford s grateful and 
 humble servant, P. BLENKE. 
 
 Verily, the young man wrote with a pen of the courtier 
 and scholar of olden time rather than the rude trooper. 
 Verily, Blenke was a man of parts and played them. 
 
 " Where is that wood camp ? " asked Aunt Marion, with 
 languid interest, relieved, she knew not why, that Blenke 
 should be gone. 
 
 " Far up the foothills west. It seems that lately the 
 Indians have been threatening and abusive," said Priscilla. 
 " That s why the guard was sent. They march soon after 
 reveille, and he was so unwilling to go just now, when 
 he hoped to arrange matters about his commission," 
 and Miss Sanford s clear gray eyes, much finer and softer 
 they seemed without the pince nez, were lifted again, half 
 timidly, half hopefully. 
 
 " How could he expect or hope for such a thing now ? " 
 answered Mrs. Ray, with some asperity. " What officer 
 would recommend him after that that exhibition ? " 
 
 Priscilla colored. That episode was a sore point, but 
 not a settler. " He said it depended little on the officers., 
 auntie," was the gently forceful answer, " so long as he 
 
LOVE S LAST APPEAL 259 
 
 had the senator behind him." Whereupon Aunt Marion 
 arose and peered through the one window in the little 
 dining-room that opened to the west. She was forever 
 peering up the valley now, and Priscilla well knew why. 
 The maid again appeared. " Phelps, ma am, Blenke s 
 friend, came back with this," and she held forth a letter. 
 " He said it was found on sentry post up the bench." 
 
 Mrs. Ray turned quickly and held forth her hand. 
 Silently Miss Sanford passed the letter to her. It was 
 an ordinary missive, in business envelope, addressed to 
 Lieutenant Sanford Ray, Fort Minneconjou, and it had 
 been opened. The torn flap revealed the fact that there 
 were two or three separate inclosures. For a moment 
 Mrs. Ray turned it in her slender fingers, thinking in 
 tently, then, suddenly recollecting, told the maid to give 
 her thanks to the soldier if he were still waiting. She 
 wished to ask had anything else been found, but that, 
 if he cared to, was for Sandy to do when he came. Then 
 she took the letter to her room, and stowed it in a pigeon 
 hole of her desk against her boy s return then sat her 
 down to wait. 
 
 Meanwhile the object of so much thought and love 
 and care had ridden many a mile, his brain in a whirl of 
 conflicting emotions. There had come to him the pre 
 vious night, in the interval between that brief interview 
 with Blenke and the later meeting with his mother, a 
 messenger with a note. It was the same messenger, 
 Butts, the soldier groom, who had only a short time 
 
260 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 earlier met him with her note upon the parade. Ray s 
 fleeing from a possible meeting with Priscilla, had left 
 her and her soldier protege together, and slipping out 
 of the rear gate had gone walking up the bluffs. It 
 was not quite time for taps and the sentries to begin 
 challenging. He could have gone through the yard of 
 any one of the adjacent quarters and so reach the front, 
 the promenade walk and the wide parade, but he wished 
 to be alone, under the starry skies. He needed to think. 
 What could she have meant by saying, " How they tricked 
 me how I lost you?" He had blamed her bitterly, 
 savagely, for her cold-blooded, heartless jilting of him, 
 without ever a word of explanation. It was so cruel, so 
 abominable a thing that, perhaps, even Inez Farrell 
 could not, without some excuse or reason, be guilty of it. 
 And now she was striving to tell him, to make him un 
 derstand; now she was alienated from her husband and 
 not, so Dwight s own references to Foster would go to 
 prove, not because of this affair with Captain Foster. She 
 said it was her right to be heard. Perhaps it was. If 
 she had been tricked, deceived, wronged such things 
 had happened the story was old as the Deluge and might 
 be true, and if true, was it decent to treat her with studied 
 contempt? If she had been tricked into throwing him 
 over if, if she had been true in saying she loved him, 
 as fervently she swore that last sweet night under the 
 cherry blossoms in Japan, was it manly to to crush and 
 scorn her now? 
 
LOVE S LAST APPEAL 261 
 
 He was again, with downcast eyes, slowly pacing the 
 bluff and in rear of the major s quarters when, far over 
 toward the guard-house, the soft, prolonged notes of 
 " Lights out " were lifted on the night, and he almost 
 collided with a man coming quickly forth from the gate. 
 The rear door had closed with a bang but the moment 
 before, and Felicie s voice, in subdued tone, had been 
 faintly audible. The man proved to be the same who had 
 come to him so short a time before, and the mission was 
 practically the same, " A note for the lieutenant." 
 
 Ray took it to the west gate and read it under the lamp. 
 
 I ask for only five minutes, at the old place, about the same 
 hour to-morrow. I will never ask again, for I am to leave 
 Minneconjou and him forever. 
 
 Startled, stunned, he read her words. Was it then so 
 very serious as this would imply? Was it her doing, or 
 her husband s, that she should leave? Was it possible 
 that he, Sandy Ray, was even remotely a cause? He 
 could not fathom it. He would not rudely refuse. That 
 would be simply brutal. But why could she not see him 
 here at home on the veranda? Why must the meeting 
 be so far from the post so close to the clandestine? 
 
 Mother had said Then suddenly he bethought him 
 
 that mother wished to speak with him, that he had 
 promised her to be home about taps, and, even though he 
 could not, dare not, talk with her to-night, he could and 
 should go to her at once. 
 
262 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 He started; then, hearing laughing voices and light 
 footsteps along the walk ahead of him, hesitated. Some 
 of those teasing, tormenting garrison girls, of course! 
 He could not face them. Abruptly he turned again, 
 passed round in rear of Dwight s, stowing the note in a 
 little notebook as he sped and the book in the breast 
 pocket of his khaki tunic. Some backstair flirtation was 
 going on in the dusk of the summer night, not ten paces 
 ahead, for there was sound of playful Hibernian plead 
 ing, a laughing, half-repelling, half-inviting " Ah, g wan 
 now ! " followed by a slap. A trim young trooper leaped 
 backward from a gateway to avoid another shock and 
 met it on Ray s stout shoulder. The collision startled 
 one and staggered both. The Irish lad, all confusion, 
 sprang for his officer s hat and restored it with, " Beg a 
 thousand pardons, Lieutenant," and blessed his young 
 superior s kindly, " No harm done, Kelly," as, whipping 
 out his handkerchief, Ray sped along, dusting off the 
 felt. 
 
 And that harm had been done he never knew till later. 
 
 He had managed to put mother off until the following 
 day; had gone forth a second time, as has been told; 
 had passed a second time the gate where earlier in the 
 evening she had awaited him. All at the moment was 
 apparently quiet. He had almost reached home when 
 the sound of harsh voices out beyond the east gate caught 
 his ear more poor devils coming or being dragged home 
 from the hog ranch. Suddenly there came the sound of 
 
LOVE S LAST APPEAL 263 
 
 muffled curses and blows. Sandy wondered why No. 2, 
 did not call the corporal. He hastened onward and out 
 beyond the gate and came upon the explanation: no 
 need to call the corporal when two were already there, 
 with several of the guard, striving hard to lug peaceably 
 to the prison room a sextette of soldier revelers who 
 resented being either lugged or persuaded. The guard 
 could n t bear to hurt their fellows: who could say 
 but that conditions and parties might be reversed within 
 the week? The row subsided with the sight of Lieu 
 tenant Ray, but not until it had prevented his hearing 
 the call for the corporal that came from No. 4. He 
 found the front door bolted when he got back to the 
 house, and, remembering having bolted it, passed round 
 to the rear steps and then met his mother at the door. 
 
 She had even more to ask him then, yet once more he 
 pleaded : " Wait until to-morrow night." So wait she 
 did, patiently, prayerfully, trustfully, until the morrow s 
 night; and then, not so patiently, but, oh, even more 
 prayerfully, longer, very much longer. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE LOST FOUND 
 
 A the usual place and about the usual hour " the 
 pretty phaeton, with its fair charioteer and her 
 black-browed companion, drew up that afternoon 
 under such shade as the cottonwoods afforded and 
 waited for the coming of a rider who, starting some 
 time ahead, was now some time behind. Nor did he seem 
 to hasten when finally he came suddenly into view at the 
 mouth of that well-remembered ravine, and rode straight 
 but slowly to the rendezvous. She, the charioteer, ex 
 quisitely gowned as we saw her parting from her invalid 
 husband, watched him with dilating eyes, alighted as he 
 neared the grove, walked a dozen yards or so to meet 
 him and by his side as he led his mount to a point beyond 
 earshot of the carriage. ff You may trust that woman, 
 Mrs. Dwight," said he, " but I do not. I have come at 
 last and against my judgment to hear " 
 
 "Mrs. Dwight!" she began, with pouting reproach. 
 " Are we at the hop room, Sandy, or are we," and 
 the dark eyes slowly lifted, " are we back again at 
 Nagasaki?" 
 
 " We are never that! " was the quick reply, as he bent 
 and knotted the reins about a sapling at the brink; then, 
 
 264 
 
THE LOST FOUND 265 
 
 suddenly facing, her: "I said I should not meet you 
 here again. I have come for this last time solely at your 
 urging. Never until this week have I shrunk from my 
 mother. Never after this day shall I do it again. You 
 say I have wronged you hurt you inexpressibly, and 
 you wish to tell me why. Go ahead ! " 
 
 With that he pulled his hatbrim well down to his eye 
 brows, folded his arms, crossed one spurred heel over 
 the tan-booted mate and leaned against a sturdy cotton- 
 wood. There was just a spice of the theatrical about 
 it all, but he was young, sore-hearted and hurt. It left 
 no support for her, unless she leaned on him, which noth 
 ing in his attitude seemed to invite. Inez had no use 
 for folded arms. To her they should be either out 
 stretched or enfolding. 
 
 " You are harsh and cold and bitter, Sandy. You 
 make it so much harder for me to begin/ she whim 
 pered, pathetically, prettily, like a spoiled child sure of 
 ultimate triumph. " Why did you never answer my letter 
 from San Francisco ? "" 
 
 " I never got it." 
 
 Then even that early he had begun to doubt me and 
 to fear you," and again the lovely eyes were making 
 play. " And now he hates me, because he himself was 
 a brute to his boy. He upbraids me for that, and and 
 for Mr. Foster." 
 
 "God! I should think he might!" 
 
 " Sandy, Sandy ! " she cried, stepping impetuously a 
 
266 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 pace nearer. " Do you, too do you dare think me so 
 base me, when at Naples I would not even let you 
 stay you whom I longed to speak with? Ah, how un 
 just! how mean! how cruel! And now, when I am 
 almost friendless, you who professed so much you are 
 the first to turn from me." Indeed, he was turning, and 
 his face was growing very white again his eyes were 
 gazing anywhere but at her, and she saw it, and with 
 both her firm little hands seized his left arm as though 
 to turn him back. " Sandy, you shall hear me, for I m 
 desperate, starving, and that man, he he tells me I lied 
 to him ; and I did, I did lie for you! He talks to me of 
 a settlement of sending me home. Why, I have no 
 home! I have no father. My own was buried years 
 ago. I have no mother, for she has no thought but for 
 him who has disgraced us all and robbed Major Dwight 
 of thousands and dared to threaten me tne, because the 
 major would not send more. Oh, you shall listen! It s 
 for the last time, Sandy, and you shall know the truth ! 
 
 Oh, how can you so humiliate a woman who who 
 
 Look at me, Sandy, look, oh, my soldier boy, and see for 
 yourself! They robbed me of you, my heart s darling! 
 They stole every letter. They never let me see you, and 
 
 they Oh, you think this the old worn-out story of the 
 
 cruel parent and the suffering child, but I will convince 
 you ! " And now her hands quit their hold upon his arm 
 and tore at the bosom of her dainty gown tore it open to 
 the filmv lace and ribbon underneath tore off the driv- 
 
THE LOST FOUND 267 
 
 ing glove from her right hand, hurling it to the ground, 
 and then the slim, nervous little fingers went burrowing 
 within. " You dare doubt I love you ! " she cried, and 
 now her eyes were ablaze, her rich, red lips were parted, 
 her breath came panting through the pearly gate, her 
 young bosom was heaving like a troubled sea. " I told 
 you I had burned your letters such as I had. They 
 burned them for me, but they could not burn your pic 
 ture / did that I, with my mad kisses, Sandy ! " 
 
 And from its warm nest she drew it, the very one he had 
 given her in Manila, the brave, boyish face in its tiny 
 frame of gold, moist and blurred as though indeed her 
 lips, her tears, had worn it dim. " You will not look? " 
 though one quick glance he shot, then, with the blood 
 surging through his veins, he turned again and covered 
 his eyes with his arm. " Then hear this and this," 
 and long, passionately, repeatedly she kissed the sense 
 less, unresponsive counterfeit, and then, letting it hang 
 by its slender chain, once more seized his arm and burst 
 into a passion of tears. Then suddenly, fiercely, she 
 thrust him aside, turned, started swiftly away, took but 
 four tottering steps and, finally, almost as she did the 
 day of the drive, toppled headlong. 
 
 When Felicie thought it time to take another decorous 
 look, Mr. Ray was kneeling by that fair, prostrate form, 
 lifting the lovely head upon his knee, one arm about her 
 neck, the other drawing her to his breast, and he was 
 raining kiss after kiss upon the sweeping, long-lasheJ 
 
268 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 eyelids, upon the pallid cheek, upon the exquisite mouth, 
 and presently a slender arm stole languidly about his 
 neck and drew and held his lips to hers. 
 
 It was nearly five that evening when the pretty phaeton 
 whirled homeward through the west gate. It was nearly 
 nine when Lieutenant Ray came slowly uphill from the 
 stables and, climbing the short flight to the rear doorway, 
 found his mother and Priscilla awaiting him in the dining- 
 room. He had eaten nothing since a late breakfast, and 
 an appetizing supper was in readiness. He looked very 
 pale, very tired, and to the fond and anxious eyes uplifted 
 hopefully at first, very ill too ill, perhaps, to note how 
 ill she looked, the loving and tender and faithful one, 
 who long hours had been waiting, watching, listening 
 for his step, praying for his safe return, hoping for the 
 promised confidence. She knew when the phaeton came, 
 though she said naught of it to her niece. Nearly a 
 mile of the valley road could be seen from Sandy s win 
 dow, where she hovered much of the time until the sun 
 went down. Now she quickly rose and went to him, 
 and with her soft hands on his temples kissed his fore 
 head, for he bowed his head, and for the first time in 
 his life his lips dared not even touch her cheek. " I 
 I m about used up, mother," he faltered. " I can I 
 have some tea? Then I ll get a warm bath, please, and 
 go to bed. Has anyone been here for me inquired 
 for me?" 
 
 The sudden upward look, the anxiety in his tone, might 
 
i 
 
 THE LOST FOUND 
 
 well have warned her, but there was something she had 
 to know, something that ever since evening gunfire had 
 been preying on her mind. No. 4 s story had spread by 
 this time all over the post, growing, probably, with each 
 repetition. There had been a tragic scene of some kind 
 at Major Dwight s shortly after midnight. Jimmy had 
 prepared her for that much. No. 4 had heard screams ; 
 then lights went flitting to and fro, and there was sound 
 of scuffling and running about, and the guard had almost 
 arrested someone who came dashing from the rear gate 
 and was lost in the darkness and the yards below. No, 
 nobody had come to ask for Sandy ! It seemed strange 
 that so very few of the officers had even passed that 
 way. Everybody had business at the office, the Club, the 
 barracks, the guard-house; even at Dwight s there had 
 been a sort of impromptu conference, but nobody had 
 been there to disturb them in any way no officers, at 
 least ; but Sandy read the impending truth in his mother s 
 eyes. She was talking nervously, with hardly a pause, 
 as though she wished him to know all she knew before 
 he could speak, and, even as Priscilla moved noiselessly 
 about, brewing his tea and arranging his supper, Marion, 
 the mother, talked rapidly, wretchedly on. 
 
 Yes, there was something. The notebook had been 
 found and brought home. She would get it for him. 
 It was right there in her desk. Priscilla handed it, and 
 he almost snatched it from her, swiftly turning the 
 leaves ; then, seizing it by the back, shook it vehemently. 
 
270 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 A few scraps and clippings fluttered to the floor, but not 
 the paper he needed. 
 
 " Who brought it? How did it come? " he demanded, 
 a world of trouble, almost terror, in his eyes. 
 
 " Major D wight s man," she answered, her blue eyes 
 almost imploringly fixed upon his face. 
 
 " Dwight s man! But how, how, mother? Was there 
 no word? Was it wrapped, or ?" 
 
 " Just as you see it, Sandy. He merely said it had 
 been picked up and left at the house. He brought it 
 here when he heard it was yours." 
 
 The tea stood untasted before him. He had not even 
 taken his seat. Pale to his lips, and with hands that 
 trembled almost as did her own, Sandy stood facing his 
 mother, and Priscilla stepped quietly from the room. 
 
 " Did he say who found it and where ? " he asked. 
 
 " He finally said it was picked up at Major Dwight s," 
 was her answer, and imploringly still the blue eyes 
 searched his face, and for an instant lighted with hope, 
 
 " But I never set foot at Major Dwight s I ve never 
 been inside his gates since I called there with you. The 
 nearest I ve been was the front gate, and then, this 
 could n t have been with me." 
 
 "Why, Sandy?" 
 
 " Because it was in the breast pocket of my khaki 
 the thing I wore when we said good-night ; but it seemed 
 to grow chilly or I did. I changed to the blue coat 
 before going out at twelve. Lucky, too, for I had to go 
 
THE LOST FOUND 271 
 
 out front and help with some poor devils brought in from 
 Skid s. I saw your light when coming home over the 
 parade and wondered if the row had kept you awake." 
 
 "You came in the front way, Sandy?" And the 
 blue eyes seemed to implore him to stop, to reflect, to 
 remember. 
 
 " Why, certainly, mother. I was afraid you d hear 
 me trying the front door or hobbling round on the planks. 
 What brought Why, mother!" 
 
 With her heart almost stilled, with her hands on her 
 breast, with a blanched face and stricken eyes, Marion 
 slowly found her feet, then rested one hand upon the 
 table before she could steady herself to speak: 
 
 " Sandy, think ! Do you mean you were not there 
 when the sentry No. 4 called; that you did not come 
 hurrying home and stop there at the back gate ? " 
 
 " Mother, dear, what can you mean ? When I met 
 you at the door I had just come round from the front, 
 from over near the guard-house. The officer of the 
 guard had his hands full and Priscilla, quick ! " 
 
 And Priscilla came at speed, and, after one swift look 
 as they lifted the drooping form to a sofa, whispered: 
 "The doctor! Run!" 
 
 And though running was beyond him, Sandy limped 
 in frantic haste, for the mother s heart and health had 
 seemed failing her for weeks, and this was most alarm 
 ing. Even at ten o clock she had not fully regained 
 consciousness, but was mending, and by that time both 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 doctors had come to her, and Mrs. Stone was at her 
 bedside, while Priscilla, calm, grave and self-poised, was 
 answering the many anxious, sorrowful inquiries, for 
 no woman at Minneconjou was loved and honored more 
 than Marion Ray, who, believing the evidence of her 
 own senses sufficient to confirm an ever-growing, dread 
 ful suspicion, had gone down under the blow. 
 
 There had been, as was said, some kind of conference 
 during the late afternoon. The colonel, the post sur 
 geon, two or three wise-heads among the field and senior 
 line officers and that indispensable adjutant. There had 
 come quite late an aide-de-camp of the department com 
 mander, who had been at Wister and at some investiga 
 tion over at the Minneconjou agency, who had some 
 thing so say concerning the state of mind in which he 
 found Captain Foster, which was bad; the state of 
 mind in which he found the redmen which was worse; 
 and finally the state of things on both sides of the stream 
 at Minneconjou which was worst of all. Foster s ran 
 cor against Ray was venomous as ever, and he claimed 
 to have new evidence, the mention of which made both 
 Stone and the surgeon look grave. The agent s worry 
 as to his turbulent charges was doubled by new events, 
 and he demanded immediate aid. The post guard reports 
 and the ranch-keeper s defiance told all too vividly how 
 the devil had triumphed at Minneconjou. The colonel, 
 the chaplain, the commissioned force, were helpless 
 against the Act of Congress that had taken away their 
 
THE LOST FOUND 273 
 
 best hold on the men and turned the men over to the 
 enemy. The situation, so far as Skid and his saloon and 
 satellites were concerned, was past praying for. But 
 there were " some things, thank God," said Stone, in 
 which he could still strike for the good name of his gar 
 rison. Foster s new evidence should be investigated, said 
 he, and as for the agent, he should have his guard, and 
 a strong on?, forthwith. 
 
 "How did you leave Mrs. Ray, doctor?" he asked 
 his medical man and next-door neighbor on the left, as 
 Waring came tramping home soon after taps. 
 
 " Resting quietly, colonel. She will do very well to 
 morrow." 
 
 Stone had come down to the gate to meet him. One 
 glance he threw to the right and left, then lowered his 
 voice. 
 
 " Any reason why Sandy should n t go in command 
 of a guard to the agency in the morning?" 
 
 " No reason why he should n t, sir, and several why 
 he should." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 A WELCOME PERIL 
 
 FOR such light duty as he may be able to perform/ 
 read the order that had brought Sandy Ray to 
 Minneconjou. First it was the Canteen, and 
 under the young officer s zealous management that 
 fiercely assailed and finally abolished institution had been 
 a credit to the post and a comfort to the men. It was 
 not the duty Ray best loved, by any means, but, being 
 debarred by his wound from active exercise, compelled 
 as yet to ride slowly and with caution, he had thankfully 
 accepted and thoroughly performed it. Then had come 
 his serious trouble, and then, when, had he known the 
 stones in circulation, he should have remained to face 
 them, he was ordered away, leaving, like Sir Peter Teazle, 
 his character behind him. 
 
 He was ordered to a difficult, probably dangerous and 
 possibly perilous duty, and, knowing this, he could not 
 for an instant delay or demur. It was n t in the blood 
 of the Rays to shirk. Far better might it have been for 
 Sandy had someone, either friend or foe, suggested that 
 his being selected, when he belonged to neither regiment 
 represented in the garrison, was in itself intimation that 
 the stories at his expense were believed, and if that were 
 
 274 
 
A WELCOME PERIL 75 
 
 true he should be sent to Coventry not to command. 
 There were young fellows in both the cavalry and in 
 fantry at Minneconjou who would eagerly have welcomed 
 the detail, with its chance of swelling an efficiency record. 
 Under any other circumstances there might have been 
 protest, there would have been growling. Now there 
 were only silence and significant looks. Even at the Club 
 (Minneconjou had set its seal against the time-honored, 
 but misleading, appellation "Mess"), where her name 
 could not be mentioned, even in a whisper, the order was 
 accepted without comment. There was a woman in the 
 case! 
 
 Ordinarily, under circumstances demanding the detail 
 of a guard for such purposes, post commanders would 
 send a company under a captain, or half a company under 
 a subaltern ; but Stone hated to lose a unit from his regi 
 mental line. He had sent to the wood camp a sergeant 
 with a dozen picked men one or two from each of his 
 infantry companies. Now he sent a lieutenant and thirty 
 of the rank and file, selected at random, to the aid of 
 the agent. Of this thirty a sergeant, two corporals and 
 twelve men were taken from the squadron, for it might 
 be necessary to send out mounted men to make arrests, 
 said the agent, and the agency police were sullen over 
 recent happenings. Sandy was notified by a call from 
 the post adjutant about n 130, just as he was softly lock 
 ing up for the night. He listened in silence, made no 
 comment, asked no questions, completed his few prepara- 
 
276 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 tions, bade Priscilla keep it all from his mother until 
 after he was gone, for rest and sleep were most essential, 
 and at dawn, with dark-rimmed eyes and solemn face, 
 he stole to the half-open doorway, beyond which the 
 night lamp dimly glowed; listened; entered one moment 
 and softly kissed the dear hand that lay so wearily upon 
 the coverlet; looked fondly at the gentle, care-worn face, 
 and then, with firm, set lips, turned stealthily away. 
 Priscilla was up and had hot coffee ready for him below 
 stairs, and possibly admonition, but this she spared him. 
 Oh, if Priscilla had but known what Aunt Marion had 
 seen at the rear gate two nights before, what might she 
 not have said to both ! for Priscilla, too, had had her 
 vigil, had both seen and heard and knew more than Aunt 
 Marion even thought she knew. 
 
 " It is barely ten miles," said Sandy. " Couriers will 
 be riding to and fro. Then there s the telephone by way 
 of town, unless the wires are cut. Let me hear of mother 
 night and morning, Pris. Now, I ve got to go." 
 
 She stood at the window of his room an hour later, 
 watching the little command as it wound away among 
 the dips and waves of the southward prairie, until finally 
 lost to sight. This was a new phase to the situation. 
 Priscilla had never pictured the modern redman save 
 as she had heard him described at church sociables, peace 
 society meetings and the occasional addresses of inspired 
 " Friends of the Indian," who came soliciting the sympa 
 thies and subscriptions of the congregation. The few 
 
A WELCOME PERIL 277 
 
 specimens that had met her gaze about town, the station 
 and the fords were, she felt sure, and justly sure, but 
 frowsy representatives of a magnificent race. It was 
 only when the agent, himself a godly man, had come 
 and told his recent troubles, after evening service, that 
 Priscilla began to realize how, despite his innate nobility 
 of character and exalted ideals and eloquence, the aver 
 age ward of the nation was not built on the lofty plane of 
 Logan, Osceola and Chief Joseph. He was quite capable 
 of extravagant demands of his own and of raising the 
 devil when he did n t get what he wanted. 
 
 There were other eyes, and anxious eyes, along the 
 bluffs and the southward windows of officers row. There 
 were women and children, even at that early hour, clus 
 tered at the little mound beyond the west gate, whence 
 the last peep could be had at the " byes " as they breasted 
 and crossed Two-Mile Ridge. There were garrison lads 
 on their ponies, little Jim among them, who rode forth 
 with the detachment as far as the railway, and were now 
 racing back. There were even watchers in the upper 
 windows at Skid s, for the word had gone from lip to 
 lip that the Indians were in a fury and meant business 
 this time. But there was darkness, there was silence, 
 there were only drawn blinds and lowered shades and 
 apparent indifference at Major Dwight s. Possibly 
 Jimmy was the only one who had heard. Possibly Inez 
 did not know ; mayhap she did not care. 
 
 The boy s face was hot and flushed that afternoon, 
 
278 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 and he lay down a while, an unusual thing with him, 
 but he had been up very early and out very long and rid 
 ing in the breeze. All this might tend to make him 
 drowsy. He had come as usual to tell his father all 
 about Mr. Ray s march and the boy escort. A prime 
 favorite and something of a hero was Sandy Ray among 
 the boys about the post, and Jimmy did not know just 
 why daddy seemed so uninterested. Perhaps he, too, was 
 tired. After breakfast Jim had gone to see Aunt Marion, 
 and returned disappointed, and, after an inning or two 
 of ball, which he played but languidly, had come home 
 for a snooze, and found daddy talking gravely with gen 
 tlemen from town who had been to see him before, and 
 had queer-looking papers for him to sign, not a bit like 
 the innumerable rolls, returns and company things he 
 had to attend to when captain of a troop. Jim awakened 
 only with difficulty and only when called. He had prom 
 ised to lunch with Harold Winn, and w r ent, slowly and 
 heavily, but came back soon \vith a hot headache, and 
 was again sleeping when the phaeton drove round for 
 mamma and Felicie, and he did not know that this time 
 mamma came not to see daddy before starting. He did 
 not know that Miss San ford came not to read. He did 
 not know just what to make of things when he found 
 daddy bending over him at sunset, with anxiety in his 
 face, and young Dr. Wallen was helping undress and 
 get him regularly to bed. 
 
 Mamma and Felicie had come home before the usual 
 
A WELCOME PERIL 279 
 
 time, and Jim never knew that, or what happened later, 
 until very long after. But something, it seems, had oc 
 curred during the drive to greatly agitate mamma, and 
 that evening her condition demanded the ministrations of 
 both the physician and her maid. That night something 
 further occurred that led to much more agitation and 
 weeping and upbraiding and reproaches and accusations 
 and all manner of things his father evidently wished him 
 not to hear, for he firmly closed the door between their 
 rooms. The doctor came a third time, and in the morn 
 ing, burning with fever and caring little whither he went, 
 Jimmy was only vaguely conscious that he was being 
 gently borne down the stairway and into the open air, 
 and thought he was flying until again stowed away be 
 tween sheets that seemed so fresh and cool, and once 
 he thought daddy was standing over him, dressed again 
 in his uniform, and he was sure Aunt Marion had bent 
 to kiss him, and then that every now and then Miss 
 Cilia placed a slim, cool hand upon his forehead and 
 removed some icy bandage that seemed almost to sizzle 
 when it touched his skin. From time to time something 
 was fed him from a tiny spoon, and all the time he was 
 getting hotter and duller, and the lightest cover was in 
 supportable, and he wished to toss it off toss every 
 thing off toss himself off the little white bed ; and then, 
 mercifully, Jim knew nothing at all but dreams for many 
 a day until he and Minneconjou came once more slowly 
 to their senses, for Minneconjou had been every bit as 
 
280 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 flighty, as far out of its head, as Jimmy Dwight, and it 
 had not typhoid to excuse it, either. 
 
 The day following Jimmy s seizure, Major Dwight 
 appeared in public again for the first time since his 
 strange attack. He had ever been of spare habit, but 
 now he was gaunt as a greyhound, and his uniform hung 
 flabbily about his wasted form. He looked two shades 
 grayer and ten years older. His eyes were dull and 
 deep-set. His face was ashen. He was not fit to be 
 up and about, said the doctors, but could not be kept 
 at home. Mrs. Dwight was in semi-hysterical condition, 
 requiring frequent sedatives and unlimited Felicie. 
 There had been yes, in answer to direct question, the 
 physicians had to own there had been a scene between 
 the aging husband and the youthful wife and, though 
 the details were fairly well known to these gentlemen, 
 they were almost as fairly kept inviolate. But for the 
 voluble, the invaluable Felicie, Minneconjou might have 
 been kept guessing for ten days longer. Dwight spent 
 his waking hours mostly at the Rays , wistfully watching 
 the doctor and pleading to be admitted to the bedside 
 of the burning little patient, a thing they could not per 
 mit, for Dwight was still too weak to exercise the needed 
 self-control. It seemed as though he had forgotten the 
 existence of Inez, his wife, the existence of Foster, the 
 existence of Sandy Ray and everybody and anybody 
 beyond Jimmy and those who were ministering to him. 
 Mrs. Ray, once again moving, though languidly, about 
 
A WELCOME PERIL 281 
 
 her household duties (for Priscilla was utterly engrossed 
 with the boy) had made the major as comfortable as he 
 would permit in the little library below stairs, where 
 he had an easy chair in which he could recline, and books, 
 desk, writing material, but no one to read to him; and, 
 as it turned out, he would do nothing but move restlessly 
 about, listen for every sound from the upper floor where 
 Jim lay in Sandy s bed, and waylay the doctors or 
 anybody who might have tidings. Once or twice, there 
 or at home, he had to see the colonel, the adjutant or his 
 own second in command, Captain Hurst, but the lawyers 
 came no more. All proceedings were called off for the 
 time being. Everything in his mind hinged on the fate of 
 Jimmy, and, one thing worth the noting, Madame and 
 the phaeton went no more abroad. 
 
 But if he had apparently forgotten, Felicie had not, 
 the incidents of that stormy meeting, the episode that 
 led to it and the consequences to be expected. Felicie 
 felt that the public should be enlightened and public opin 
 ion properly aroused as to the major s domestic misrule. 
 It was high time all Minneconjou was made to know 
 this monster and " the hideous accusations he make 
 against this angel, and this angel s the most devoted 
 myself that to you speak." From the torrent of her tirade, 
 occasionally, drops of information seemed to accord with 
 the rumors dribbling about the garrison. Minneconjou 
 knew that the well-named and impenetrable post com 
 mander was in possession of facts he could impart to 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 nobody ; that he had been questioning and cross-question 
 ing corporal and men, the latter recent occupants of 
 sentry posts Nos. 3 and 4; that these gentry had been 
 ordered by him to hold no converse with anybody; that 
 he had again called up two of the three men incarcerated 
 at the time of the assault upon Captain Foster, and it 
 was now definitely known that these two had both served 
 under Foster in the th Cavalry, although both now 
 protested they always considered him a model officer 
 and a perfect gentleman. To offset this was the state 
 ment of Sergeant Hess, of the Sixty-first, who said he 
 had once served at the same post with them, though not 
 in the cavalry, and knew they bore bad characters and 
 would bear watching. Then he was sent for, and then 
 it transpired that No. 3 of the suspected trio had gone 
 with the guard to the agency, and he, said Hess, had 
 been the worst of the lot. His name to-day was Skelton, 
 but in those days they knew him as Scully. Had it not 
 been that a dozen other men were out the night of that 
 assault, this might have clinched the case against them. 
 It was enough, at least, to keep them under surveillance. 
 But other stories, readily confirmed by Felicie, were 
 to the effect that Dwight had accused his wife of delib 
 erate falsehood in denying that she had met Mr. Ray 
 at Naples; of deliberate intent to make him believe 
 Jimmy a liar when adhering to his story that Mr. Ray 
 had come and spoken to her (a dream! a vision! de 
 clared Felicie) ; of deliberately accusing him of rudeness, 
 
A WELCOME PERIL 283 
 
 insolence, affront to Captain Foster and herself in refus 
 ing to deny he had seen them together in the parlor 
 during church time ("a mere incident of the most inno 
 cent," said Felicie, " of which this infant terrible would 
 have made a mountain"). Moreover, the monster had 
 " accused Madame of all manner of misdoings with this 
 most amiable the Captain Fawstair," and Felicia s humid 
 eyes went heavenward at the retrospect ; " and of lying 
 to him, her husband, about, ah, del, that man ! " And 
 then to think that he should demand of Madame in her 
 condition that she confess the truth about that midnight 
 affair when her scream aroused the household! It was 
 she, Felicie, who screamed. Madame could not sleep. 
 She needed a composing draught. She, Felicie, had gone 
 down to prepare it, had unbolted the back door, and was 
 passing to and fro between the kitchen and the refrig 
 erator in the addition without, and she could not find the 
 cork-screw, and could not open the Apollinaris, and 
 Madame had become impatient, nervous, and had herself 
 wandered down; and just as Felicie was returning they 
 encountered at the doorway and, to her shame be it said, 
 she screamed, so was she startled, " and Madame uttered 
 too a cry, because I cry, but it was nothing, nothing ! " 
 
 Nevertheless, Minneconjou was hearing of a slender 
 form seen skulking along the back fence, hurrying away 
 from Dwight s, and of items picked up at dawn near 
 D wight s back steps, and of a notebook sent to Lieutenant 
 Ray, who had himself been out searching very early and 
 
284 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 very diligently. Then, something or other, picked up 
 early that morning, had been sent to the colonel, for it 
 came with his mail; and the adjutant and the orderly 
 heard his exclamation, saw the consternation in his face, 
 and the orderly told of it told Kathleen at the doctor s ; 
 then had to tell other girls or take the consequences. 
 Then there .were these drives up the valley and the meet 
 ings at the cottonwoods. People who called to ask after 
 the presumably lonely mistress of the house began ask 
 ing after something Felicie had hoped no one had noticed. 
 For in upbraiding Inez, his wife, Major D wight not 
 once had mentioned her meetings near Minneconjou with 
 Lieutenant Ray, who, as all this was going on at the 
 post, stood facing a condition that called for the exercise 
 of all his nerve and pluck and common sense. The Indian 
 leaders, three days after his coming, had mustered their 
 force and demanded the instant withdrawal of himself 
 and his men, leaving all horses and arms and certain of 
 their charges behind them. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 CRISIS 
 
 THERE had been frequent communication with 
 the agency by courier and by telephone. Ray 
 held the fort, he said, and though there had 
 been some bluster and swagger on part of a few 
 Indians, the agent seemed relieved, reassured. They no 
 longer crowded, bullying, about his office. " They are 
 obviously," wrote the agent (not Ray), "impressed by 
 the firm stand I have taken, and now I shall proceed to 
 arrest the ring-leaders in the recent trouble, employing 
 the lieutenant and his troopers for the purpose, in order 
 that the Indian police may see that I am entirely inde 
 pendent of them." Stone received this by mounted mes 
 senger about nine o clock of a Wednesday night, and 
 Mrs. Stone knew the moment his lips began to purse up, 
 as she expressed it, and to work and twist, that he much 
 disliked the letter. " I ll have to go over to the quarter 
 master s," said he, " and call up Ray by phone. This 
 agency man will be making mischief for us, sure as 
 sure as the reds are making medicine." But the last 
 words were muttered to himself, as he took his cap, and 
 leave. 
 
 Stone had served many a year on the plains, and knew 
 285 
 
286 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 the Indian, and had his opinion as to the value of civil 
 service in dealing with him. Stone had served two years 
 in the South in the so-called reconstruction days, and in 
 his mind there was marked similarity between a certain 
 few of the Indian agents he had met and an uncertain 
 number of the deputy marshals of the " carpet-bag " per 
 suasion, then scattered broadcast over the States " lately 
 in rebellion/ If there was one thing more than another 
 the deputy loved and gloried in, it was riding about his 
 bailiwick, with a sergeant and party of dragoons at his 
 back, impressing the people with the idea that lie had 
 the army of the United States at his beck and call. Now, 
 here was a new man at the business over a thousand-odd 
 Indians, many of whom had fought whole battalions of 
 troopers time and aga ; r, and were not to be scared by 
 a squad, and this new man reasoned that, because the 
 Indians had been undemonstrative for two days, they 
 were ready to surrender their leaders and be good. Stone 
 knew better. 
 
 It took ten minutes to get the agency by way of town, 
 and but ten seconds thereafter to get Ray. He and his 
 guard were billeted about the main building. " What do 
 you think of this idea of going out and arresting ring 
 leaders ? " asked Stone. " You were n t sent there for 
 any such purpose." And Ray answered : " He has gone 
 to a pow-pow with Black Wolf s people, and was think 
 ing better of it after a little talk we had." 
 
 "Well," said Stone, "how about the the situation? 
 
CRISIS 287 
 
 Do you think they ll make trouble? Do you need more 
 men?" 
 
 And Sandy answered " Not to-night, sir. Tell better 
 in the morning." 
 
 Stone did not like the outlook, but what was he to do ? 
 The agent had called for no more troops, and, until he 
 called, Stone was forbidden- to send unless some dire 
 emergency arose, and then he must accept all responsi 
 bility, as one or other side was sure to get the worst of 
 it, and he the blame. He went over and told Mrs. Ray 
 he had just been talking with Sandy, who was all serene, 
 said he, and all reassuringly he answered her anxious 
 questions. Then he asked for Jimmy, whose temperature 
 was ominously high, and for Dwight, whose spirits were 
 correspondingly low. Dwight came out from the den, 
 haggard, unshaven, gaunt. Never before had he been 
 known to lack quick interest when danger threatened a 
 comrade. To-night he hardly noted what Stone said 
 about the situation at the agency. He was thinking only 
 of his boy, and Stone, vaguely disappointed, went in 
 search of Hurst, the senior captain, and Hurst looked 
 grave. He, too, had had his share in Indian experience, 
 and liked not the indications. 
 
 " I don t fancy the agent s going to that pow-wow. 
 He should have had the chief men come to him" said 
 Hurst. 
 
 " They would n t said they feared the soldiers might 
 shoot," said Stone, in explanation. 
 
288 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 "Anybody with him, sir?" 
 
 " Ray says he insisted on an orderly, so one man went 
 with him, to hold his horse while he talked. Skelton was 
 chosen. He speaks a little Sioux." 
 
 " Man we had a while ago on account of the Foster 
 matter?" asked Hurst, with uplifted eyebrows. 
 
 " Same. He s at home among the Indians, and some 
 of them like him. Guess he s seen em before." 
 
 At 1 1 130, when Stone would have called again to 
 speak with the agency, it transpired that Central always 
 went to bed at eleven there was not enough night busi 
 ness to warrant the expense of keeping open. At 7 
 A. M., when again he would have spoken, Central had 
 not come. It was eight before news could be had from 
 the agency, and then it came in a roundabout way, for 
 the line was down or cut or something was wrong far 
 over toward the Minneconjou reservation. At 8:10 the 
 trumpets of the cavalry were ringing, " To Horse ! " the 
 bugles of the foot, " To Arms ! " At 8 130 the squad 
 ron was trotting, with dripping flanks, up the southward 
 slope beyond the Minneconjou, a gaunt skeleton, with 
 pallid cheek and blazing eye, leading swiftly on. 
 
 Give the devil his due, the first man to warn the fort 
 that there was " hell to pay at the agency " was Skid- 
 more himself. He had kicked the truth, he said, out of 
 a skulking half-breed, who drifted in to beg for a drink 
 soon after seven. They hated each other, did Stone and 
 Skid, but here was common cause. The trouble began 
 
CRISIS 289 
 
 at the pow-vvow. The agent refused the Indians* de 
 mands ; was threatened ; " got scared," said the frowsy, 
 guttural harbinger of ill, and swore he d arrest the speak 
 ers in the morning, and they arrested him right there. 
 In some way word of his peril reached the agent s wife, 
 and she rushed to the lieutenant, who mounted, galloped, 
 and got there just in time to rescue Skelton, who had 
 pluckily stood by the lone white man, whom some mad- 
 brained warrior, madder than the rest, had struck in 
 fury; Skelton in turn had felled the Indian assailant, 
 and, despite the efforts of the chief, who knew it meant 
 defeat in the end,, the lives of the two would have been 
 forfeit but for the rush of Ray and a few troopers to 
 the spot. It was the lieutenant s first charge in nearly 
 a year, but he forgot his wound. He managed, thanks 
 in no small measure to the resonant orders of old Wolf 
 himself, to get the two back to the buildings, more dead 
 than alive. He tried to send word to the fort of the new 
 peril, but the wary Indians were on the lookout and 
 drove back his riders, while a furious council was being 
 held at the scene of the strife. From all over the reser 
 vation warriors young and old came flocking to Black 
 Wolf s lodge, and the elders were overwhelmed. In spite 
 of warning, entreaty and protest from chiefs who knew 
 whereof they spoke, the turbulent spirits had their way. 
 Brethren had been beaten and insulted in Skidmore s old 
 place. Brethren had been beaten and abused at the new. 
 Brethren had been swindled and abused by that very; 
 
290 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 young chief of the soldiers now at the agency, and some 
 of his men ; and, finally, Strikes-the-Bear, son of a chief, 
 a chief to be, had this night been struck down by the 
 soldier the fool agent dared bring with him. Let the 
 warriors rise in their wrath and strike for vengeance! 
 If the little band of soldiers showed fight, and the chances 
 were that many a brave would bite the dust before the 
 buildings could be fired and the defenders driven out 
 and killed, then offer terms. Against such hopeless odds 
 the young white chief would easily yield. Get him and 
 his men into the open; promise safe conduct to the fort, 
 then let others surround and slowly butcher them, while 
 they, the negotiators, took care of the agent, the assailant 
 of Strikes-the-Bear, the employees and their families. 
 Aye, promise to spare the lives of the lieutenant and his 
 men ; say that they might go back to their friends at the 
 fort, but they must leave the agent ; they must leave their 
 comrade who struck the redman; they must leave their 
 arms and their horses. Mad as it was, that was the 
 ultimatum of the deputation at the door of the agency at 
 five o clock in the morning, and Sandy Ray answered, 
 just as his father s son could be counted on to answer, 
 and in just three comprehensive and significant words. 
 
 It led before long to a battle royal. It led first to 
 barbaric council and speechrnaking, then to a display of 
 savage diplomacy, and finally to the spirited climax: 
 savage science, skill, and cunning, with overwhelming 
 numbers on the one hand, sheer pluck and determination 
 
CRISIS 291 
 
 on the other. The defenders were to fight, to be sure, 
 behind wooden walls that hid them from sight of their 
 swarming and surrounding foes, but that might be an 
 element of danger just so soon as the Indians could get 
 close enough to fire them. Anticipating precisely such 
 a possibility, Ray had set his men to work beforehand. 
 Sacks of meal, flour, and bacon, bales of blankets, tepee 
 cloth, etc., had been piled breast-high and around all four 
 walls of the storehouse within. All the available tubs 
 and buckets and pails had been fresh filled with water and 
 stowed inside. The horses were removed from the stable 
 and turned into the corral. Each of the eight barred win 
 dows had its two or three marksmen. The women and 
 children of the whites about the agency were all before 
 dawn moved over into the main building, for when his 
 messengers were driven back Ray well knew what to 
 expect. Ray himself posted a keen and reliable man at 
 the . forage shed, and one or two others in certain of the 
 outlying buildings, with kerosene-soaked tinder in abun 
 dance, and orders to fire them at his signal, then run for 
 the storehouse; Ray would leave no structure close at 
 hand to serve as "approach " or cover for the foe. So 
 long as no wind arose to blow the flames upon his little 
 stronghold, no harm would result to them, whereas the 
 smoke would surely attract attention at the distant fort 
 and speedily bring relief. Ten days earlier, before seeing 
 his wards in war paint, the agent would have forbidden 
 such wanton destruction of government property. (Ten 
 
292 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 days later, indeed, the Indian Bureau might call upon the 
 War Department for reimbursement, and the department 
 upon Ray, but the youngster took no thought for the 
 morrow, only for his men and those helpless women and 
 children). So long as the warriors kept their distance 
 and contented themselves with long-range shooting, so 
 long would Ray spare the torch, but just the moment they 
 felt the courage of their numbers and charged, up should 
 go the shingles. The find of a few small kegs of powder 
 lent additional means to the speedy start of the fire when 
 needed, and now, with his little fort well supplied and 
 garrisoned, with the big fort only ten miles away, w r ith 
 thirty or more stout men to stand by him, with only one 
 man demoralized, the agent, small blame to him, and 
 only one as yet disabled, Trooper Skelton, whom Ray had 
 practically dragged from under the knives of the savages, 
 that young soldier felt just about as serenely confident of 
 the issue as he did of his men, and happier a hundred fold 
 than he had been for nearly a year. 
 
 Moreover, his dauntless front and contemptuous an 
 swer had had its effect on the Indians. " The young 
 chief must be sure the soldiers are coming," reasoned the 
 elders, so before taking the fateful plunge it were wise to 
 take a look. Young warriors dashed away northeastward 
 over the rolling divides, and others galloped after to inter 
 mediate bluffs and ridges, but it was well-nigh an hour 
 before the signals came whirling back. " No soldiers, 
 no danger," and even then they temporized. In trailing 
 
CRISIS 293 
 
 war bonnet, his gleaming body bare to the waist, his 
 feathered head held high,, his nimble pony bedizened with 
 tinsel and finery, a white " fool flag " waving at the tip of 
 his lance, with two young braves in attendance, each with 
 his little symbol of truce, Black Wolf came riding gal 
 lantly down from the distant southward bluffs, demand 
 ing further parley. Black Wolf had tidings worth the 
 telling, he said. He had stood the white man s friend and 
 endeavored to prevent hostilities, but since the affair of 
 the previous night all that was hopeless, and now he must 
 stand by his people. His young men, he shouted, at dawn 
 had attacked the guard at the wood camp, and the scalps 
 of every man, still warm and bloody, hung at the belts of 
 his braves, even now galloping back to swell the ranks of 
 their brothers. He urged the young white chief to make 
 no such error as had the sub-chief, the sergeant, at the 
 camp, who had fired upon his warriors when offered 
 mercy. There was still time for the young chief to con 
 sider. He was surrounded, cut off from help and home. 
 His brethren dare not quit the shelter of the fort to come 
 to aid him. They would be annihilated on the open prairie, 
 as was the " Long Hair " at the Little Horn a gen 
 eration ago. This, then, should be the young chief s warn 
 ing and his opportunity. Let him and his men, save one, 
 depart in peace, leaving everything and everybody else as 
 they were before the young chief came. Black Wolf 
 would await the reply. In resonant periods, in ringing, 
 sonorous tones, the speech of the orator-chief had been 
 
294 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 delivered, his deep, powerful voice fairly thundering over 
 the valley, and echoing back from the crags of Warrior 
 Bluff, a mile away to the west. A spirited, barbaric 
 group it made, that magnificent savage with his bright- 
 hued escort all gleaming in the slanting sunshine, full two 
 hundred yards away. On every little eminence, on every 
 side, were grouped listening bands of his braves. One 
 could almost hear their guttural " Ughs " of approval. 
 One could almost count their swarming array. Farther 
 to the south, along the jagged line of the barricade ridge, 
 score upon score of blanketed squaws and bareheaded 
 children huddled in shrill, chattering groups, too distant 
 to hear or to be heard, but readily seen to be wild with 
 excitement. Out in front of the grimly closed and silent 
 agency, with only the half-breed interpreter at his side, 
 but in humorous recognition of the solemn state of the 
 Indian embassy, with two sergeants in close attendance, 
 Ray stood listening, and turned for explanation to the 
 official go-between, impatiently heard him half through, 
 then flung out his hand, palm foremost, in half circular 
 sweep to the front and right the old signal. " Be off," 
 it said as plain as did the later words of the assistant. 
 " Tell him to go where I told him before," said Ray. 
 " If he wants the agent, or my soldiers, or my guns, or 
 me, let him come and take them," winding up as he faced 
 his antagonist, with the swift, significant gesture that the 
 Sioux know so well : " Brave, that ends it ! " and turned 
 abruptly away. 
 
CRISIS 295 
 
 " What did you answer ? " whispered the agent, as 
 the young soldier returned to his post. It was the Bureau 
 man s first real clash with his red children, and thoughts 
 of Meeker, a much-massacred predecessor in the busi 
 ness, had dashed his nerve. 
 
 " He wanted you and this poor fellow who fought for 
 you/ said Ray bluntly, as he went on and bent over the 
 blanket on which lay Skelton, bandaged, weak, but clear 
 headed, " and I told him where to go where, by gad, 
 we ll send him if he comes again." 
 
 The eyes of the wounded soldier, fixed full upon his 
 young commander, began slowly to melt and then to well 
 over. A silent fellow was this odd fish of a trooper, a 
 man little known among the others and even less trusted. 
 He looked up through a shimmer of moisture into the 
 pale young face with its dark, kindly eyes and sensitive 
 mouth. He put forth a feverish and unsteady hand, 
 while his lips, compressed and twitching from pain, began 
 to frame words to which Sandy listened, uncompre 
 hending. 
 
 "Lieutenant, I wish I d known you, stead of classing 
 you the way I was taught. If I ever get out of this all 
 right, there ll be a story comin ." And Ray wondered 
 was Skelton wandering already. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 
 
 BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 
 
 AD then from the northwest, with vast clamor and 
 shoutings and much wild horsemanship, came 
 the reinforcements from the foothills of the 
 Sagamore, where yesterday had stood the guarded wood 
 camp; and then, five to six hundred yards away, in 
 broad circle, their swift ponies at full gallop, scores of 
 young warriors, all in war paint and finery, dashed 
 and darted to and fro, some of them brandishing at 
 the tips of their lances ragged, dangling objects limp 
 and dripping. Black Wolf s story might indeed be true. 
 Far away westward from the fort, as was the agency 
 from the southwest, there had been no timely warning, 
 no chance to send for aid. Overwhelmed at dawn by 
 hundreds against their dozens, the guard had probably 
 died fighting, and the wolves and lynxes by this time were 
 scenting their breakfast and scurrying to the scene of 
 butchery. The savage display had its effect on the little 
 garrison, but not just what was expected. Black 
 Wolf s young braves might well have had a " walk-over " 
 at the wood camp, pounced in a red torrent upon the 
 unsuspecting party, and, with little loss to themselves, 
 massacred all the hated palefaces. That sort of fighting 
 
BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 297 
 
 the Indian most loves that in which he can do and not 
 suffer. Now came a different proposition. From chief 
 down to little children the Indians well knew that thirty 
 soldiers behind barricades were not to be " rushed," 
 though a thousand essayed it, without many a warrior 
 biting the dust ; and that sort of fighting, said the Indian, 
 is fool-fighting lacks sense or science. Bravely and des 
 perately as he will battle against odds when once in a 
 hole, he will not battle at all, no matter how great his 
 numbers, if by strategy he can " win out " another way. 
 What Black Wolf and his warriors had hoped was so to 
 weaken the nerve of the defenders that they would listen 
 to his promise that their lives be spared, agree to the 
 Indian terms, leave the demanded victims, their arms and 
 horses and start out afoot for the fort; then, as was in 
 timated, once fairly out on the open prairie, they could be 
 butchered at leisure, and if the young chief could not be 
 captured alive to furnish sport for the squaws and chil 
 dren of the braves he had defrauded and abused, at least 
 they could have his scalp to hang in the lodge when once 
 again peace was declared. Meantime the warriors, 
 women and children, all, they could be off to the Big 
 Horn before the troops at the fort would get word of the 
 battle. Who, indeed, was to tell, with the lightning wire 
 severed, and the whole party slain? 
 
 But the warriors wasted their time. Three hours spent 
 in trying to scare were three hours lost to the redman. 
 It was just about eight by the agency clock that in one 
 
298 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 magnificent dash, half a thousand strong, the legion came 
 sweeping, chanting, and shouting down the slopes to the 
 south, rode in solemn phalanx until almost within rifle 
 range, then, bursting asunder like some huge human case- 
 shot, scattered its wild horsemen in mad career all over 
 the open prairie, and in a minute thereafter, amid the 
 thunder of hoofs, half deadened by the rising pall of dust, 
 twenty-score in number, the yelling braves were circling 
 the agency, firing swiftly on the run. 
 
 Never a shot did they receive in reply. " Hold your 
 fire till they come in- closer, and you get the word ! " 
 growled the sergeants. Never a match did the besieged 
 apply, for there was still no attempt to charge. It was 
 young Ray s first tussle with the Sioux, but many a time 
 as a boy at his father s knee had he begged for the stories 
 of the old battles of the th, and listened with quickened 
 heartbeat and panting breath. He knew just how they 
 would circle and charge, shout and shoot, just what to 
 look for and how to meet it, and there were only 
 two things about the defense that gave him the faintest 
 worry. 
 
 East of the storehouse, barely fifty yards away, was the 
 agent s modest little home, a shelter to the warriors should 
 they decide to turn loose their ponies and collect t\vo 
 hundred strong behind it, ready for a rush in- force upon 
 his doors and windows the moment a similar force could 
 be ready behind the shop and stable buildings at the cor 
 ral. They probably could not force an entrance even 
 
BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 299 
 
 then. They would surely lose many warriors in the 
 attempt. But what they could do would be to rush upon 
 the storehouse, crouch low at the walls and under the 
 floor of the porch, where the rifles of the besieged could 
 not reach them, and then start fire all at once in a dozen 
 places, crawl back under cover of the smoke, and so 
 burn out the defenders. Much as the mounted warrior 
 hates to fight afoot, this was too obvious an opportunity, 
 and presently Ray saw indication that something was 
 coming. No time, therefore, had he or his people for 
 further compunction. 
 
 " The shops, first," said he. " Start them at once. 
 Open the corral gates and get back/ were his orders to 
 the young corporal who stood ready to carry his message. 
 " Our horses will make a break for home. The Indians 
 will catch most of them, perhaps, but not all. Between 
 them and the smoke the fort will see that something s up, 
 and you all know the colonel." 
 
 And so it happened that, just as the squadron, already 
 alarmed, was spattering through the shallows of the Min- 
 neconjou, a black column of smoke was sighted far away 
 to the southwest, sailing aloft for the heavens, and now 
 every southward window, the roofs of many a building, 
 the tower over the post Exchange, the cross-trees of the 
 flagstaff, the crests of neighboring bluffs, all had their 
 occupants, staring through field-glasses or the unaided 
 eye for any sign of the far-distant detachment under 
 Ray for any symptom of any check or signal from the 
 
300 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 swift advance of the squadron under the gaunt, semi- 
 invalided major. 
 
 Barely three miles out, trotting in parallel columns of 
 fours, the right troop was seen to swerve to the west, and 
 presently in a far-away clump of willows in a deep ravine, 
 found something, apparently, that gave them just a mo 
 ment s pause. " A human being," said the lookouts with 
 the best glasses, " and they re sending him in." True. 
 Someone dismounted and helped something into a 
 saddle. A sergeant and trooper came presently ambling 
 homeward, leading between them a limp and drooping 
 form. Many people could not wait. They ran out to 
 the bluffs, and were not amazed, nor were they too well 
 pleased, to find the lone watcher at the willows to be none 
 other than that strange creature Blenke Blenke in a 
 state bordering on exhaustion. Straight to the colonel 
 they led him, where that officer sat in saddle in front of 
 his battalions and ready for a move. He was just about 
 ordering the senior major to follow on the trail of the 
 cavalry, when, followed by curious eyes innumerable, the 
 sergeant with his prize came riding through the west 
 gate. 
 
 " Private Blenke, sir," said he, saluting. " He can best 
 tell his own story," and with trembling lips and mournful 
 eyes Blenke began. Things looked so ominous the night 
 before that it was evident the Indians meant mischief. 
 Sergeant French, commanding the guard, decided that 
 the colonel ought to be warned. Somebody would have 
 
BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 301 
 
 to try to sneak through the prowling, truculent warriors, 
 make his way to the post, and tell of their plight. The 
 sergeant would order no man to risk his life in the at 
 tempt. He called for volunteers, and, modestly Blenke 
 said, at last he felt it a duty to dare it. He found every 
 rod of the valley beset by foes. He found it impossible 
 eastward or northward to pass them even in the dark. 
 He finally made his way out to the southward and, in 
 wide circuit, dodging and skulking when night riders 
 came hurrying to and fro, he at last managed by daybreak 
 to get in view of the flagstaff, only to find dozens of In 
 dians watching the post and skulking between him and 
 the desired refuge. At last but Stone shut him off : 
 
 " Take two companies, major," he ordered, " march 
 for the wood camp and see what you can find. You 
 know what to do." 
 
 So again was Blenke, the silent, in* spite of prejudice 
 and prediction, the hero of the occasion. They bore him 
 off to be fed and feted, but he begged first that Miss San- 
 ford might be informed of his safe return. Then Stone, 
 with anxious brow, dismounted, clambered to the tower 
 of the Exchange, where his glasses swept the wide ex 
 panse of country and told him the excitement, so vivid 
 here at the fort and over " beyond Jordan " at Skidmore s, 
 was already spreading to Silver Hill. God grant his 
 rescuers had not gone too late or slowly ! 
 
 Slowly at least they did not go, for Dwight, possessed 
 of a very devil of nervous energy, pushed his four troops 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 at steady trot. Well he knew it would not be long before 
 some one of the ridge lines, successively to be passed, 
 would suddenly spit fire at his advance, and that every 
 device known to Indian strategy would be brought into 
 play in the effort to stay his coming until all was over 
 with Ray s little party at the agency. Physical weakness, 
 personal danger, even Jimmy, his only child, now tossing 
 in the throes of burning fever, he seemed for the time 
 to have forgotten. Hurst, the senior captain, who had 
 counted on leading the dash, reckoned without due com 
 prehension of his major that day, and looked amazed 
 when Dwight had come trotting down to the formation, 
 his grim face lighting with something of the old fire, and 
 sent his second in command to the head of the first troop. 
 Once well out beyond the railway the major ordered a 
 few picked skirmishers forward at the gallop from the 
 head of each of his four columns, other active light-horse 
 men to cover the flanks, and the wary scouts and marks 
 men of the Sioux, crouching behind the crests, shook 
 their scalp-locks in chagrin. There could be no picking 
 off of prominent officers at close range, no ambuscading 
 crowded ranks or columns. This chief knew his business, 
 and they might better serve Black Wolf and their com 
 rades in arms by galloping away to the agency and urging 
 one desperate assault. Stopping this fellow was out of 
 the question. The one stand, made just six miles out, 
 resulted in no check to the cavalry, but a dead loss to two 
 of their own braves. 
 
BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 303 
 
 And so it happened that toward ten o clock of that 
 blithe, sunshiny summer morning, when all nature was at 
 its loveliest along the broad winding valley of the Chey 
 enne, all save that cloud of black smoke that soared high 
 into the otherwise unclouded heavens and there flat 
 tened out like some gigantic pall, the bold heights that 
 framed the wide bottom lands, the crags at Warrior 
 Bluff, crowned with shrill yelling, applauding squaws 
 and children, the grim, smoke-veiled walls of the remain 
 ing buildings at the agency all on a sudden awoke to the 
 maddening chorus of renewed battle. There had been a 
 lull to the fight. The shops had burned like tinder, and 
 were a heap of smoldering ruins in a dozen minutes. 
 The stampeded horses had rushed away over the prairie, 
 to be rounded up and driven by Indian boys, with keen 
 rejoicing, away toward the dismantled villages, for al 
 ready the old men and most of the families were in full 
 flight up the valley. If headed off from the hills they 
 could scatter over the prairies and mingle with their red 
 kindred at the other agencies, whence, indeed, cajne not 
 a few young men to take a hand in the scrimmage. The 
 agent s house, spared until after nine, had gone up in 
 smoke. It covered too much of the charging front, and 
 finally was blown to flinders at an expense of four kegs 
 of rifle powder, borrowed for the occasion from the In 
 dian supplies. Now, when the warriors rallied and 
 charged and strove to reach Ray s wooden walls, it had 
 to be over a dead level only faintly obscured by smoke, 
 
304 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 and dotted here and there by the corpses of war ponies 
 lost in previous attempts. 
 
 Half-hearted, possibly, at dawn, old Wolf was all fire 
 and fury now. One after another four assaults had been 
 beaten back by the slow, sure, steady aim of the defense, 
 and unless he could reduce that little fortress at once his 
 power and prestige as a war chief were gone for all time, 
 and a good name and reputation for all manner of devil 
 try in the past was utterly blasted for the future. 
 
 Of the defenders only three, besides Skelton, were out 
 of the fight. A chance shot from the Indian circle had 
 pierced the brain of one stout soldier, who never knew 
 what hit him. Others had wounded two of the men, and 
 Skelton, himself, who, in spite of his wounds, had crawled 
 to a loophole to have a share in the fight, was now pros 
 trate with a shot through the shoulder. It was God s 
 mercy and Ray s fortune that that bullet was not through 
 the head. 
 
 Water and food they still had in abundance, but am 
 munition was running low. The men thrust their hot 
 rifles into the nearest tub, and laughed at Finnegan s loud 
 claim for a patent on " K " Company s way of " bilin 
 wather." Sheltered by the bales and barricades, the 
 women and children crouched unharmed. Corporal 
 Sweeny, who had " swarmed " up a ladder to the gar 
 ret, in defiance of shots that tore through the flimsy 
 woodwork, called down the scuttle-hole that " the fellers 
 must be comin from the fort there s Indians gallopin 
 
BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 305 
 
 back by the dozens !" And Sweeny was right, and his 
 words carried cheer when cheer was needed, for now 
 began the supreme effort of the redmen, and in one 
 magnificent, yelling, streaming, lance-waving circumfer 
 ence they seemed to spring into view from every con 
 ceivable point of the compass, still a good thousand yards 
 away from the threatened center, and, slowly at first, 
 brandishing arms, beating shields, shouting encourage 
 ment and vengeance, they bore steadily inward, a slowly 
 diminishing periphery, until they seemed almost to join 
 for some barbaric " all hands round." Then, at sudden 
 signal, unseen, unheard at the agency, all of the eastward 
 semi-circle broke instantly into a mad race for the center, 
 the dust and turf flying from the ponies heels, the feath 
 ered crests and painted forms bending flat over the out 
 stretched necks of the darting steeds, plumes, pennons, 
 war-bonnets streaming -in the wind, and every warrior 
 screeching in shrill rage and exultation. To right and 
 left at the same instant the westward warriors broke 
 away, so as to avoid the rush and shots from the selected 
 front, and then, rallying north and south, they, too, rode 
 again into line in time to attack so soon as the first grant! 
 assault should swfeep by. A gorgeous sight it was to see 
 Black Wolf s chosen braves, a tremendous torrent of sav 
 age war, but Ray and his men gave no heed to its gran 
 deur. The sharp, spiteful bark of the low-aimed rifles 
 began the instant the foremost warriors came bounding 
 across the road to the railway, Ray s five-hundred-yard 
 
306 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 mark, and here and there as the red surge came rushing 
 on, a pony went down, a warrior was hurled to the plain, 
 but up, and by, and beyond, with terrific clash and clamor, 
 the yelling horde whirled past the fire- jetting walls; and 
 out upon the westward prairie a keen old fighter saw that 
 certain ponies, riderless, went loping after their fellows, 
 and so shouted a word to Ray. " They ve dropped a 
 few, sir," and Sergeant Scott begged leave to take half- 
 a-dozen men and rush out and tackle the dozen- that had 
 probably crept to the foot of the wall or squirmed through 
 the dust cloud, like so many snakes, underneath the 
 wooden piazza.. Well they knew what that meant : Fire 
 fire as fierce as that the defenders themselves had kindled 
 in the outbuildings, only a thousand times more terrible, 
 for it meant fearful torture and death to these imprisoned 
 ones within the walls, or the certain bullets of the merci 
 less foe when driven forth. But, before, this, sally could 
 be made down came the rush from the northward, less 
 powerful and spectacular only in point of numbers, and 
 every man of the defense was needed at the loopholes and 
 windows again. Their shots told, too, for Sweeny yelled 
 delightedly from his perilous perch aloft that half-a-dozen 
 were down and the ponies loose; and then could be seen 
 the dash of comrades to pick up and bear away the dead 
 and wounded, a feat of daring and devotion in which the 
 Indians of the plains have no superior. Now the shots of 
 the defenders were telling in more ways than one. They 
 busied so many of Black Wolf s people that the next rush 
 
BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 307 
 
 was delayed, and delays to his plan were more than dan 
 gerous. Someone had passed a field glass up the loft 
 ladder, and Sweeny was shrieking new delight and en 
 couragement. " Sure s yer born, sir, I can see the byes 
 comin like hell ! " To the mind of the agent, livid and 
 trembling behind his little parapet of blankets, more than 
 enough, perhaps, in the way of hell had reached them 
 already, but men at the windows set up a cry of thanks 
 giving that faltered a moment at sound of shot and shout 
 from underneath, then swelled again into something like 
 triumph, for Ray had prized up two or three boards from 
 the floor; two or three slim fellows had crawled through 
 the opening and wriggled to the low walls of rough stone 
 which served for foundation, and here and there a would- 
 be incendiary got sudden quietus and his fellows a stay, 
 but not for long. There came presently another superb 
 dash from the southern side that swept by like some 
 human tidal wave of destruction, leaving its wreckage on 
 the hard sod of the prairie, and, alas, its well-nigh des 
 perate fire-workers at the edge of the wall. Ten minutes 
 more and Ray s improvised stockade was encompassed on 
 every side by a ring of yelling, firing, infuriated demons, 
 most of them sprawling flat and shooting low, and the 
 leaden missiles tore through the wooden walls in every 
 direction, and the man who lifted head or arm above the 
 parapet did it at risk of life or limb. Poor Sweeny s 
 glass came clattering down from aloft, and he, poor fol 
 low, striving feebly to reach his friends and partial shelter, 
 
308 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 tumbled in a heap at the foot of the ladder, his life-blood 
 welling from his gallant heart. Then then other smoke, 
 pungent pinewood smoke, came sifting through knotholes 
 and seams, with ominous sounds of crackling and snap 
 ping from the side of the long porch. Then, coughing 
 and strangling, the two men who had ventured below 
 forced their way once more through the hole in the floor, 
 a volume of thick smoke rushing up as they were dragged 
 into the room. Then shrill yells of triumph and rejoicing 
 rose on every side without, and then, within, the piteous, 
 hopeless wailing of helpless women and children. 
 
 But the end was not yet. Even in their extremity Ray 
 and some of his old hands had noted how nervously the 
 warriors seemed to be watching the slopes to the north 
 east. There was a long, low wave of prairie that closed 
 the view in that direction to all on the ground floor, and 
 it was madness to go sight-seeing to the loft. If they 
 could only hold out ten, fifteen minutes it might mean 
 life to all, save the two or three already slain. " Grab 
 those buckets, you, and you, and you ! " shouted Ray, 
 picking out his men. " Stick to the east front, Scott ! 
 Stand em off just three minutes ! Dip a dozen blankets 
 in the tub at least you can do that, damn you ! " This 
 to a cowering wretch whom even the sight of the women, 
 weeping yet working like heroes, had not yet shamed. 
 The fire had been safely, scientifically started in half-a- 
 dozen places under the porch, and already, probably, was 
 eating its way through every crevice. Water could not 
 
BLACK WOLF S BATTLE 309 
 
 reach it, but wet blankets, spread above, would hold it 
 for a while, and others stuffed in the open spaces at the 
 foundation wall would choke it below. Ripped from the 
 floor came plank after plank, and down into the smoke 
 dived both women and men,, dripping blankets in tow, 
 while, with revolver in one hand and filled bucket in the 
 other, Ray mustered a squad at the east door ready for 
 their desperate rush. " Through the thick black breath " 
 that billowed up from below the young leader s voice 
 reached every ear, and even children seemed to still their 
 cries and listen. " Now, blaze away as we rush out. 
 Aim over us as we spread these things. We ll drench 
 em well before we come in. Now, men, come on ! " 
 
 Out they darted, crouching and bending low, driving a 
 few shots first at the skulking warriors nearest, then scat 
 tering along the ground at the edge of the low platform 
 crackling fiercely from the flames underneath. Swiftly 
 the wet blankets were spread and doused anew. Even 
 though they might check the flames but three minutes, 
 three minutes might mean years of life. Then back into 
 the choking cloud they dove, and manned the walls again, 
 ready to shoot down the first who dare rush to undo their 
 valiant work, and the smoke thus pent beneath the board 
 ing billowed hotter and thicker into the long, dim, re 
 sounding room. " Burst open the shutters ! " was the 
 next order. It was better to die fighting than choking to 
 death better to meet one s fate in the open than be 
 roasted alive. Through the eddying clouds, with seared, 
 
S10 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 smarting eyes, Ray and his sergeant could see the crest of 
 that prairie wave long half mile away; and, just as a 
 tongue of flame burst in through the bales at the south 
 east window, there came a rush of mounted Indians, 
 leading spare ponies by the bridle-reins, swiftly picking 
 up their red marksmen from the sod, and both voices went 
 up in a shout of glorious hope and joy, as here and there 
 and presently everywhere along that prairie wave cam 
 paign hats and khaki blouses came popping into view, and 
 then long lines of racing horsemen, carbines advanced, 
 guidons streaming, officers launching well out in front, 
 and all following the lead and signals of a tall, spare, 
 sinewy form. "The major! the major himself!" 
 shrieked the watcher; and then, all peril forgotten, the 
 beleaguered party, men, women, and children, well-nigh 
 despairing but the moment before, burst from their stifling 
 refuge and went, gasping, groping, stumbling into outer 
 air. Last to reach it, dragging with him from the blaz 
 ing doorway the helpless and crippled form of Skelton, 
 his khaki coat ablaze, his hat, his hair and eyebrows 
 gone, came their young commander, and helping hands 
 were drenching him with water as he toppled exhausted 
 on the sod. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION 
 
 THERE was wrath mingled with the rejoicing 
 that thrilled all through the garrison that after 
 noon. Scattering far and wide, the ringleaders, 
 the more prominent braves engaged in the revolt at 
 the agency, were seeking the refuge of kindred bands, 
 leaving the old men and many Indian households to 
 explain the situation and secure eventually the peace 
 always so readily accorded. Placing a guard over the 
 unconsumed property, and sending most of the cavalry in 
 pursuit of the renegades, Stone telegraphed brief state 
 ment to department headquarters, lauding Ray and his 
 plucky detachment as they deserved, and Dwight and the 
 squadron as well, for their swift and skillful dash to the 
 rescue. By sunset the few dead, the several wounded 
 and many homeless women and children had been con 
 veyed to the fort, Silver Hill turning out in force, and 
 the Argenta and rival stables contributing rigs in abun 
 dance. Major Dwight was again beneath the same roof 
 with little Jim, the father well-nigh as helpless as the 
 fever-stricken boy, for, the excitement over, his duty 
 done and splendidly done, and he himself shocked and 
 shaken by the fall of his horse, shot down almost at the 
 
 311 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 last moment of the charge, Dwight was brought back in 
 the ambulance and assisted again to his reclining chair 
 in the den. Home he quietly refused to go. Mrs. 
 Dwight, as was proper and decorous, so soon as she could 
 rally, under the ministrations of Felicie, from the pros 
 tration that befell as a result of seeing her adored, though 
 deluded, husband riding off to battle without ever a word 
 or kiss to his suffering one, lost little time in coming to 
 implore her Oswald to return to his own room and her 
 arms. But Dr. Waring gravely told her it was then im 
 possible, and persuaded her, deluged in tears, to leave him 
 in peace. Her parents, he said, would soon be with her. 
 They had been telegraphed for, and were to start at once. 
 Every provision should be made for their comfort and 
 hers, and, he added, for her future ; but she must under 
 stand that for the time being Major Dwight begged to 
 be permitted to give his entire attention to his son, whose 
 case was desperate. 
 
 So Inez, veiled and leaning heavily on the arm of 
 Felicie, went sobbing homeward through the dusk of the 
 closing and solemn day, followed by many curious eyes, 
 and was once more within doors before Sandy Ray had 
 been restored to his mother s arms. Not until the last 
 of his " forlorn hope " had been gathered up and shipped 
 back to Minneconjou would Sandy consent to be driven 
 thither himself, to find almost every door at the post open 
 to welcome him except his own, where there were now 
 three or four more denizens than there were beds. Stone 
 
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION 313 
 
 himself was on hand to say that Mrs. Stone had one of 
 their spare rooms all prepared for him, and this, too, in 
 spite of the fact that Stone had stowed away, where none 
 could see, a certain letter that, unexplained, might yet 
 render Sandy Ray ineligible to residence under any roof 
 at Minneconjou for all time to come. 
 
 But, unbeknowst to the colonel, the matter of Sandy s 
 billet had been settled beforehand. Lieutenant Purdy, 
 of the Sixty-first, a near neighbor, had met the " conquer 
 ing hero " almost halfway, with the information that his 
 room was ready for him ; his mother had already been in 
 to see and to approve, and there he must make himself at 
 home, close to his own quarters; and possibly Stone was 
 grateful. 
 
 There were several things in connection with the 
 day s work for which he could give no thanks whatever, 
 and one of these was the news that finally came from the 
 wood camp. Black Wolf s thunderous harangue of the 
 early morning was not all an empty lie. Only the poor 
 remains of the sergeant, seven of his little guard, and 
 several of the workmen, each body surrounded by empty 
 cartridge shells, mute witnesses of their desperate battle 
 for life, were left of those who had so cheerily marched 
 away; and, Blenke being safe lodged within the post, 
 there were still three absent unaccounted for. Blenke 
 himself seemed crushed by the tragic fate of these com 
 rades whom he had vainly risked his life to save. There 
 was great sympathy expressed for Blenke throughout the 
 
3H A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 depleted garrison that night. There was talk of his 
 daring essay all over the post. There was whispering of 
 it even in the dim-lighted wards of the hospital, where 
 lay the wounded and the scorched and seared. Possibly 
 it was the torment of his burns that made Skelton toss, 
 mutter, and finally blaspheme outright, but blaspheme he 
 did at each successive mention of Blenke, and, presently, 
 with frightful, spiteful vehemence and virulence. The 
 steward in charge thought him delirious, and Skelton 
 said perhaps he was. Twould make a cat laugh and 
 a man stark mad to have to listen to such infernal rot, 
 and this, as in duty bound the steward told to Wallen 
 at his earliest appearance, whereat that wise young prac 
 titioner looked long at Skelton and wiser still before he 
 came away. 
 
 With all the official turmoil that grew and throve at 
 Minneconjou in the week that followed, this narrative 
 has nothing to do. The general came and went, and lots 
 of troops and dozens of officer: Even Wister, far to the 
 west, was called upon for it: contingent for field service 
 in rounding up the renegades, and Stanley Foster s troop, 
 Stanley and all, came over the Sagamore by special 
 delivery, so to speak, and detrained at Fort Siding, whence 
 a detail sped to the fort for such supplies as were needed, 
 and the troopers marched at dawn, a wearied-looking cap 
 tain at their head. There was much to do in the field; 
 there was much ado at the fort. This last, which barely 
 escaped becoming official, had to do mainly with these, 
 
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION 015 
 
 our dramatis persona, and may now briefly be recorded, 
 and then our story is done. 
 
 The center of human interest, of local interest, at least, 
 was for a memorable week shifted from the major s 
 quarters to those where lay our little Jimmie, tossing 
 night and day in fever that threatened to burn out every 
 thing but itself, tended night and day by gentle hands, 
 by devoted women, by one especially whose pluck and 
 patience never gave out, and whose physical powers 
 proved indomitable Priscilla Sanford. There were days 
 in which they could not induce the father to remain 
 below. His whole being seemed centered in that des 
 perate fight for life, wherein he, a soldier of many a 
 heady fight, could wield no weapon for the cause for 
 which he would instantly have laid down life itself could 
 it but insure that of his only son. There came one awful 
 day in which, as he bent over the stricken form, his lips 
 moving in piteous prayer to Heaven, his eyes imploringly 
 fixed upon the flushed and fevered little face, suddenly a 
 gleam of recognition seemed to flash from the now dilat 
 ing eyes, and as he and Priscilla leaned eagerly forward, 
 in shuddering terror the writhing form shrank from his 
 touch, the sobbing cry, startling in its utter amaze, in 
 credulity its imploring appeal burst from the burning 
 lips, " Don t strike me, daddy ; please don t ! Indeed, 
 indeed I did n t lie ! " And with a groan of anguish 
 unspeakable Oswald Dwight dropped upon his knees 
 and, sobbing aloud, buried his face in his quivering hands. 
 
316 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 It was Priscilla who finally raised him to his feet, and 
 Waring led him, exhausted, from the room. From that 
 hour, in which it seemed as though Heaven itself had 
 directed the final lesson should be given, and through 
 him, the patient victim of human fallibility, the boy began 
 to mend ; and one day Waring and Wallen, coming forth 
 together, stopped and solemnly shook hands at the head 
 of the stairs and left the chastened father and that daunt 
 less nurse silently communing in the presence of the 
 fluttering, yet reawakened, life the one had so nearly 
 imperiled, the other had so indomitably battled to save. 
 
 And all this while there were other lives and other 
 fates and other fortunes almost as desperately entangled 
 and endangered. The general had summoned Stone to 
 follow him afield. It was hard work finding those scat 
 tered wards of the nation, those lambs of the flock fled 
 afar from the agency, and Stone left with the fate of his 
 three wood guards still undetermined, for the soldiers had 
 searched in vain. He left, too, with most of his men, 
 while Major Lay ton, ordered up from Niobrara, took 
 temporary command of the post, Dwight being, as yet, 
 unfit for duty of any kind. Stone was a week away, 
 scouting through the Sagamore and over toward the 
 Belle Fourche,, and brought back with him some four 
 score " reds " of various ages and sexes, and two well- 
 nigh starved and exhausted men, two of French s de 
 voted band, who, they said, had been sent out the night 
 before the attack to build and fire a beacon on the summit 
 
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION 317 
 
 of a tall, sharp, pine-crested height a mile away from 
 camp. French thought the signal might bring help from 
 the post. They never reached that crest. They heard 
 the Indians shouting to each other in pursuit. They made 
 their way farther into the hills and lived on what they 
 had in their haversacks, hiding by day, for the hills 
 seemed full of redskins. They were taken to hospital to 
 recuperate, and meantime, while Stone s battalion settled 
 down again into quarters, and business at Skidmore s 
 resumed its normal aspect, and the guard and prisoners 
 their abnormal number, Major Lay ton returned to Nio- 
 brara after imparting to Colonel Stone a story he had 
 succeeded in tracing back to three sentries, a story he 
 could neither stifle nor throttle, and that he left with 
 Colonel Stone to deal with as best he might; and Stone, 
 thinking again, as he had thought a thousand times 
 before, of that letter in feminine hand, and in his pri 
 vate desk, felt his heart go down to his boots. In brief, 
 the story was that twice during the week a young and 
 slender officer had issued from the rear gate of Lieuten 
 ant Purdy s quarters, made his way in the black shadows 
 of the fence-line to the rear gate of Major Dwight s, 
 where once, at least No. 4 could swear, it was nearly an 
 hour before it reappeared. 
 
 Stone took council that very evening with Waring, the 
 senior surgeon. Waring had just come from Rays , say 
 ing" little Jim, though dreadfully weak and emaciated, was 
 surely convalescing that D wight, with all his joy, seemed 
 
318 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 humbler than a little child. " I believe, by gad, that in 
 his present frame of mind he d forgive her, that incom 
 prehensible little wretch of a wife of his, no matter what 
 she d done, if she d come and ask him now." 
 
 Whereupon Stone abruptly said, " By he sha n t ! 
 
 Come in here," and he closed the study door behind them. 
 Within twenty minutes thereafter Dr. Waring had mas 
 tered the contents of three precious papers. First, Major 
 Layton s memorandum of the sentry s statements ; second, 
 a little note that said, " at the usual place and time " and 
 informing somebody of the writer s intention of quitting 
 " Minneconjou and him forever"; third, a note ex 
 planatory of the second, and this note was typewritten 
 and without signature: 
 
 The inclosed was found in a notebook belonging to Lieutenant 
 Sanford Ray, which had been dropped last night at the rear en 
 trance to the quarters of Major D wight. The major will know 
 who wrote the inclosed, and should know for whom it was 
 written. 
 
 Two nights thereafter, toward one o clock, Major 
 Dwight, with the post adjutant and Dr. Waring in atten 
 dance, knocked for admission at his own front door and 
 knocked repeatedly before Felicie could be induced to 
 appear with the to-be-expected plea that Madame had 
 but just composed herself after nights of sleepless weep 
 ing, and surely she could not now be disturbed. Dwight 
 demanded instant admission and, finding parley useless, 
 
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION 319 
 
 Felicie unbarred the door and unloosed her tongue. 
 " Shut up, you Jezebel ! " said the doctor impolitely. 
 " Sit down there and be quiet." Dwight was already 
 mounting the stair, and presently could be heard demand 
 ing admission to his wife s room. There was whimper 
 ing appeal in the response, but the door was speedily 
 unlocked, and the voice of Inez could be heard in tones 
 suggestive of unspeakable shock and grief and sense of 
 indignity and injustice. Presently Dwight came down 
 again. " Unbolt that dining-room door and the back ! " 
 said he curtly to the trembling maid, and when she would 
 have demurred, seized her not too gently by the arm, 
 almost a-s he had seized little Jim, and propelled her ahead 
 of him into the dining-room. It was significant that the 
 adjutant remained at the front door. It was more sig 
 nificant that when the rear door finally swung open there 
 stood a silent sergeant of the guard, while the waning 
 moon glinted upon the bayonets of certain soldiers on the 
 level below. Felicie shrank at the announcement, yet could 
 hardly have been unprepared for it : " Someone opened 
 from within a moment ago, sir, and darted back at sight 
 of the cap and buttons." 
 
 " Bring two men and come in," was the brief answer, 
 and then with lighted candles and a lantern a search 
 began, a search for many minutes utterly without result, 
 though another sergeant came and the officer of the day, 
 and all this time Felicie was begging to be restored to 
 Madame, who would assuredly again be prostrated and in 
 
320 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 need of her, and Dwight said, " Let her go," whereat, 
 as was noted, she darted first to her own room, not to 
 Madame s, and presently the search began again on the 
 second floor; and, to the amaze of the domestics aloft, 
 soon invaded the very garret itself, where first there was 
 found the print of stocking feet on a dusty plank, just as 
 from under a box in the kitchen a pair of shoes were 
 pulled forth never wor-n by any authorized inmate of 
 those quarters. Then more lanterns went up the back 
 stairs and more prodding followed in the loft, and pres 
 ently the watchers below heard s-tifled sounds of excite 
 ment and scurry, and then, wild-eye d and striving to be 
 strictly professional, Sergeant Jennison descended and 
 said : " We ve got him, sir. He s chokin like." 
 
 And presently again, limp, half -suffocated, smeared 
 with dust and dirt, in shirt sleeves and trousers coated 
 with cobwebs and lint, there, was lowered to the second 
 floor and shoved out on the landing at the head of the 
 stairs an almost unrecognizable creature, still struggling 
 for breath. " No man that was n t made of rubber 
 instead of flesh and bones could have doubled himself 
 in where he was," said the corporal to the silent group, 
 and, indeed, it looked as though he were doubling up 
 again, for the knees gave way, the head fell forward, and 
 but for restraining arms down would, he have gone. 
 The sergeant propped him up again. The doctor plied 
 a wet sponge, and Felicie, at the door of her mistress 
 chamber, gasped in amaze: " Mon Dieu! the miscreant 
 
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION 
 
 who has terrified Madame ! " Whereat the dull eyes of 
 the miscreant began slowly to burn, and then to blaze; 
 and, finally, as a faint color showed in his sallow cheek, 
 and the officer of the day, his official captor, bluntly de 
 manded explanation of his being in this house and at 
 this time of night, and both he and Waring and the adju 
 tant, too, as it later appeared, had all swiftly decided that 
 the one explanation, the only one, conceivable would be 
 burglarious intent, to the utter amaze of every man pres 
 ent, to the dismay of Felicie, who screamed aloud, the 
 head went suddenly up and back oh, how well those 
 who knew the Rays knew that gesture! the dark eyes 
 flashed in hate and rage, and the " miscreant s " voice 
 rang out in defiance, triumph, almost exultation : 
 
 " What explanation ? I d have you know I m the only 
 man in this post who has legal right in that room. Ask 
 the lady herself." 
 
 D wight s jaw was drooping. Slowly he turned to 
 where Felicie, after one short, half-stifled scream, stood 
 staring wildly upon the prisoner, her hands clasped to 
 her frizzled head. " Ask this woman, you mean ? " he 
 faltered, in the midst of almost breathless silence. 
 
 " That woman ? No ! Ask my wife, who lies in that 
 room!" 
 
 Then, before any man could lay hand on and stop him, 
 Dwight had sprung forward and struck the miscreant 
 down. 
 
 Next morning the guard report bore the name, as a 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 prisoner under sentry in hospital, of Private Blenke, of 
 Company " C," and next night did Private Skelton, 
 another patient, a precious tale unfold. 
 
 It was true that Skelton had once served in the old 
 th Cavalry, and, in common with many a man in his 
 troop, had detested his first lieutenant, Foster. It was 
 true that there were now in the garrison of Fort Minne- 
 conjou two in the infantry and one in the cavalry three 
 men who had an ancient grudge against that officer. It 
 was true that the sight of his hated face, hovering ever 
 about the major s wife, had revived all the old rancor. 
 Two of the number had sworn that if ever a time came 
 when they could wreak their revenge upon him they 
 would do it. He had robbed one man of his sweetheart 
 and two of their liberty, and had driven these two into 
 desertion. Skelton had once been rather well-to-do, but 
 drink and this trouble had ruined him. He had known 
 Blenke as much as a year, had been a " super " in a 
 traveling show company of which Blenke was a member. 
 Blenke was a gymnast and trapeze performer of some 
 note, and not a bad actor in dialect and minor roles. The 
 company stranded. They were hundreds of miles from 
 " home," without money, hope, or credit. Skelton steered 
 Blenke to a recruiting office, and, once arrived at Min- 
 neconjou, Blenke became ambitious. He knew nothing 
 of the regular army before; now he was determined to 
 become an officer. Skelton alone knew anything of 
 Blenke s past, and Skelton promised not to " split." The 
 
TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION 323 
 
 coming of Mrs. Dwight brought a remarkable change 
 in Blenke, and when Captain Foster followed her afid 
 hung about her all day long, Skelton saw there was some 
 thing much amiss. Blenke seemed going crazy through 
 watching that lady and that man. Blenke had some 
 clothes of Lieutenant Ray s that he kept hidden at Skid- 
 more s, and Skelton felt sure that when the story went 
 round about Lieutenant Ray s being seen at night, prowl 
 ing back of the major s quarters, that Blenke was the 
 real culprit. They were talking one day Skelton and 
 his former chums of the chance they d have now of 
 waylaying the captain, and Blenke twitted them of not 
 daring, even if they had the chance. They vowed then 
 that if he would only show them a way, he could count 
 on their doing it, and they did. Blenke had a plan ma 
 tured, when suddenly the captain left, after the row with 
 Lieutenant Ray, and then Blenke seemed just to take fire. 
 He sent for them and unfolded another. The Captain s 
 train was five hours late and he knew a way to lure him 
 out on the road. He hated him, too, he said, and " we 
 were beginning to see why. He was so dead gone on 
 the lady himself." He fixed the whole business, got a 
 note to the captain, he said, the captain could n t tell 
 from her own writing, and it fetched him out just as 
 was planned, and the rest was pretty much as the cap 
 tain told it. Skelton at first did n t much care that an 
 officer got credit for it all; Blenke had seen to that. 
 Blenke seemed to hate Lieutenant Ray though he was 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 forever copying him most as much as he hated Foster ; 
 but when Skelton got to the agency, got to know Ray, 
 got knocked down at the pow-wow and rescued by Ray, 
 got shot and left to roast to death at the agency, and 
 was again rescued by Ray, Skelton made up his mind 
 that he d sooner go to Leavenworth for life, if he lived, 
 or to hell if he did n t, than permit Mr. Ray to suffer 
 another day in suspicion. It was Blenke who wore his 
 dress at night and copied his very limp. It was Blenke 
 that kept prowling about the major s, lallygagging with 
 that French maid. It was high time Blenke himself was 
 in limbo, and now they d got him, they d be wise to keep 
 an eye on him. 
 
 And so, with the case the two cases against Sandy 
 Ray abruptly closed, the colonel, the surgeon and the 
 adjutant, who had heard the confession, seemed also 
 to think; for the sentry at the bedside of the mournful- 
 eyed invalid received orders to bayonet him if he at 
 tempted to budge. 
 
 And all in vain, for, with the dawn of a bleak to 
 morrow, -Private Blenke, no one could begin to say how, 
 had slipped by his possibly drowsing guard and escaped. 
 The prairie, the Minneconjou valley, the trains, were 
 fruitlessly searched. The agile prisoner had fled from 
 the wrath to come. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 EXEUNT OMNES 
 
 THERE is little left to tell. With the vanishing 
 of the mysterious Blenke, " the man of the 
 mournful eyes," there came swift unfolding of 
 the pitiable scheme that, for a time, had set Minne- 
 conjou s nerves on edge, bewildering almost every man 
 from the colonel down, and bedeviling most of the 
 women. When one s own mother is ready to believe a 
 man guilty, small blame to the rest of her kind and to 
 the man s best friends that they should be of the same 
 way of thinking. Moreover, neither then nor thereafter 
 did Sandy Ray consider himself an innocent and injured 
 person. 
 
 " If ever a fellow came within an ace of falling," 
 said he to himself, and later to his best friend, his father, 
 " it was I ; for I believed her story believed myself 
 loved believed she had been tricked into throwing me 
 over for Dwight, and that, now that he had thrown her 
 over because of it, and would have no more to do with 
 her, she would soon be free. Then our marriage could 
 follow. A greater ass than I was never lived, but I was 
 sincere in my assininity." 
 
 325 
 
326 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Nor was Sandy Ray the ass he declared himself, for 
 if ever that exquisite, catlike creature, Inez, loved any 
 body besides herself, she loved Sandy Ray, and was bent 
 on winning him back, cost what it might. She quickly 
 saw that his love for her lay dormant, not dead. She 
 reveled in the joy of her probable power until, all on a 
 sudden, one terrible night there came to her the shock 
 of seeing a face she believed long since buried beneath 
 the waves of the Pacific that of the boy lover and hus 
 band who wooed and won her inflammable heart nearly 
 five years earl er. 
 
 Blenke in a romantic epistle to Miss Sanford, Inez, 
 through her lawyers, and her latest dupe, Stanley Fos 
 ter whose resignation from the army went eastward 
 by the same train that bore him and that fair fugitive 
 from Minneconjou and finally the impeccable Farrells, 
 all gave versions more or less veracious of that early 
 marriage episode. Bu> sifted down, this much of truth 
 was ascertained. The two were cousins, with the vehe 
 ment blood of the Antilles coursing in their veins. They 
 loved, were married by a Texan justice of the peace, 
 and, after a brief honeymoon across the Mexican line 
 a honeymoon of mingled bliss and battle found the old 
 people relentless and themselves squabbling and stranded. 
 The elders swooped upon the girl-wife, bore her back to 
 Texas and sent the strolling player to South America, 
 with the promise never to return or bother them. They 
 told her, and she refused to believe, that he speedily met 
 
EXEUNT OMNES 337 
 
 his death at the hands of a jealous husband in Val 
 paraiso. They later told her, and she fully believed, 
 that, in defiance of his promise and in desire for her, 
 he had determined to reclaim her as they were going to 
 San Francisco, and was washed overboard from the 
 Colima by a tidal wave. Inez, like a certain few of her 
 sex, could believe anything possible for love of her, 
 and Stanley Foster went far toward confirming her 
 views for as much as the month that followed their mad 
 flight. Then, with his commission gone and his illu 
 sions he found himself bound to a woman whose fast- 
 fading charms were no compensation for anything he 
 had lost. Much of their misery, and her own, was told 
 in metropolitan circles by Felicie, who applied unsuc 
 cessfully about this time to Mrs. Gerald Stuyvesant for 
 the position of nursery governess, or bonne. Felicie had 
 gone thither in hopes of extracting something from Fos 
 ter s people, as nothing could be gotten from the Far- 
 rells since nothing short of extradition proceedings could 
 induce their return to the States. It was the same mis 
 erable old story, and Sandy Ray many a time thanked 
 Heaven, and Stone, and the senior surgeon, for the order 
 that took him to the agency and away from Inez Dwight. 
 Would he have succumbed had he stayed? Older and 
 presumably wiser men have done worse, so why not 
 Sandy? Perhaps mother and Priscilla were not all 
 wrong in their forebodings. 
 
 But what a scene of love and repentance and rejoicing 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 was that when those two women, Aunt Marion and her 
 niece, compared notes over the episode of that night s 
 vigil and Sandy s part therein. Then his story of his 
 coming was true, after all ! Priscilla had seen him enter 
 ing the front gate ; had heard him at the door ; had heard 
 him pass round to the side of the house. Blenke it was 
 who, counterfeiting even the painful little limp that 
 still hampered Sandy s movements, had caused so 
 many to believe it was Billy Ray s firstborn, in the dead 
 of night, invading the quarters of a brother-officer, to 
 the scandal of the service. They saw it all now, these 
 good people who had dreamed so wildly, and some few 
 there were who went to Ray during the brief fortnight 
 that followed her final disappearance and said : " We 
 knew you could n t have been guilty of such a thought," 
 but Sandy did not thank them. In his downright im 
 pulsiveness he had gone to Stone and told him the truth, 
 and said he had been guilty of such a thought, and asked 
 the commander what he ought to say to Dwight; and 
 Stone, after pondering over the matter, replied in effect, 
 though not in these precise words, that he d be d elighted 
 if he knew. 
 
 Time and Dwight solved that problem, as time solves 
 others. The major remained not long at Minneconjou, 
 nor did the Rays. The former, with little Jim ever at 
 his side, went eastward for a while, whence letters came 
 occasionally from both father and son. The latter found 
 divided duties. An interesting event, an arrival extraor- 
 
EXEUNT OMNES 529 
 
 dinary, called for the presence of Mrs. Ray in distant 
 Manhattan, and Priscilla looked her last for many a day 
 upon the fords of the Minneconjou and those hated 
 tenements on the hither shore, to whose permanence and 
 prosperity her own efforts had lent such unlooked-for aid. 
 A wiser woman in many a way was Priscilla Sanford 
 when she turned her clear eyes eastward again. Firm 
 as before was her faith that she had a mission, but she 
 had learned a lesson still needed by many of her sect, 
 and by many of both sexes. She had a tale to unfold 
 to most excellent theorists in the field that taught a 
 new gospel in the cause of man s uplifting. They were 
 found by Dwight and Jimmy at the seashore, late that 
 summer, and Priscilla strolled hand in hand with her 
 boy friend along the shining sands, and talked long and 
 gravely with his sire as to the real way of reaching the 
 moral nature of the enlisted soldier. They were joined 
 by Sandy for a day or two in September a rather grave- 
 faced young gentleman, despite recent promotion and 
 longed-for orders to join his troop in far Luzon. They 
 were in no wise startled when a cable came from Colonel 
 Ray " Grandfather Billy " in spite of his looks sug 
 gesting that they, too, come with Sandy. They were all 
 at Manila in the late autumn, except the Dwights, and 
 long before Christmas Priscilla had found in Colonel 
 Blake, that old-time friend and comrade of Uncle Will, 
 a most delighted listener to her theories. " Legs " was 
 forever stumping round to the bungalow and starting 
 
630 A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 Priscilla on her hobby, as he called it, and with preter 
 natural gravity " drawing her out " as to the chief end 
 of man. Somebody had told him of her Anti-Canteen 
 and Soldiers Aid Association at Minneconjou and of 
 its disruption, but he never twitted her as to that. It 
 was the new scheme for the higher education and mental 
 development of the soldier to which her energies were 
 now bending, and as Blake was in town with little to 
 do but nurse a wounded leg and serve on some perennial 
 court-martial, he found his fun in frequent disquisitions 
 with Priscilla, sometimes prolonging them until Mrs. 
 Ray lost patience and drove him homeward, and pri 
 vately wrote her liege lord, who was forever afield, run 
 ning down ladrones, that he really must repress that 
 irrepressible wag. " He is n t trying to flirt with Pris, 
 is he ? " asked Ray, inconsequently, on coming home, and 
 was dull enough not to catch the full force of his wife s 
 reply. " Flirt ? Gerald Blake never knew how, and 
 
 he s too much in love with his wife; and besides " 
 
 Priscilla was far too serious to flirt with any man, 
 much as she might long to reform him. She did wish 
 that the long, lank cavalryman could be induced to take 
 her views as seriously as she took them herself, and as 
 Major Dwight seemed to take them, for Dwight s letters 
 were coming at regular intervals, and to Miss Sanford 
 now rather than to Marion Ray, and for a time Priscilla 
 read them aloud for the benefit of Blake, the scoffer, 
 and that of Aunt Marion and Uncle Will, the ever-indul- 
 
EXEUNT OMNES 331 
 
 gent. And thus that warm, sunshiny Manila winter went 
 its way and the summer rains began to flood the streets, 
 and people took to aquatics, and excursions to Nagasaki 
 and Yokohama; and thither flitted our friends, the elder 
 Rays, with Blake to see them off, and a promise to 
 keep Miss Cilia s library project moving. And the day 
 the transport dropped them into waiting sampan in 
 Nagasaki s wondrous harbor two packages of home 
 letters were handed them by the resident quartermaster, 
 just received by rail from Yokohama and the Nippon 
 Maru, and that evening, on the broad white veranda of 
 the old hotel, Priscilla Sanford s cheeks took on the hue 
 of the summer sunset, and still Uncle Billy saw and 
 Aunt Marion said nothing. 
 
 One afternoon, a few months later, the Sheridan 
 dropped anchor a mile or more out in the shallow, land 
 locked bay of Manila, and the launches and lighters 
 brought the army passengers ashore, many of them for 
 their second visit to the Philippines ; and just as the band 
 at the kiosk on the Luneta began the daily concert, and 
 carriages of every kind drew up along the curb, and offi 
 cers in spotless white went cap-doffing from point to 
 point, and fair women smiled and flirted their fans, 
 Colonel Stone, but recently arrived, began telling for 
 the twentieth time, at least, the story of the marvelous 
 escapade by means of which the renowned Blenke se 
 cured his final freedom : 
 
 " Caught in Chicago ; shipped back to the guard-house ; 
 
A SOLDIER S TRIAL 
 
 shammed crazy, sir, till he fooled every surgeon in the 
 Cheyenne Valley; got ordered to the government hos 
 pital for the insane; got supply of Skidmore whisky, 
 properly doped; got the corporal drunk who went in 
 charge of him, and, by gad, sir, got the corporal s outfit 
 and papers and turned him over at Washington as the 
 insane man; got his receipt and vanished the last ever 
 heard of him. What became of her. Oh, after her 
 flare-up with that poor devil Foster you know the child 
 did n t live she got back to Mexico somehow: women 
 like her never die but she ll never be able to bother 
 Dwight. That marriage, of course, was n t legal. He d 
 simply been tricked. No, old Dwight s a free man, and 
 I reckon he ll think twice before he tries it again." 
 
 Whereupon Stone was swiftly kicked in the shin by 
 the long-legged lieutenant-colonel of cavalry at his side, 
 for, in his enthusiasm, the colonel had turned and ad 
 dressed his closing remarks to the two ladies in the 
 nearmost carriage, and one of them was reddening like 
 the rose. 
 
 " Dwight s here, you owl," said Blake, in explanation, 
 later. " Came in on the Sheridan this very afternoon, 
 and he is n t so confounded free as you were in your 
 remarks. Why had n t you heard? May be another 
 case of out of the frying-pan into the fire a toss-up 
 twixt Cilia and Charybdis, but " 
 
 "Good Lord!" cried Stone, "and what did I say? 
 You don t mean she s going to marry Dwight ? " 
 
EXEUNT OMNES 333 
 
 " She can t help herself. He won t take no for an 
 answer." 
 
 Well I ll be hanged," said Stone, reflectively, 
 " and I ought to be. It s just what my wife said when 
 the daily readings were going on would likely be the 
 upshot of the whole business. She said more than that 
 and she knows women, too that Priscilla Sanford would 
 make for him the best kind of a wife." 
 
 THE END 
 
King. C 
 A soldie 
 
 r s trial 
 
 sol 
 
 M22172 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY