The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1889-12-14

brown hair, and a twirling mllstache
that was source of inexpressible delight
to its owner and of some envy to his
brother subalterns, Mr. Perry was prob
ably the best looking of the young Off
GERS who marched with the battalion to
this far away station on the borders of
the Llano Estacado. He had been ten
years in service, counting the four he
spent as Il cadet, had just won his silver
bar rs the junior first lieutenant of tho
regiment. was full to the brim of health,
energy, animal spirits and fun, and, bar
ring few duns and debts in his earlier
experiences, had never known II heavier
care in the world than tho transient
and ephemeral anxiety as to whether he
would be called up for recitation on a
subject hc had not so much as looked at,
or "hived" absent from roll call he had
lazily slept through.
Any other man, his comrades said,
would have been spoiled a dozen times
over by the petting he had received from
both men and women; but there was
something essentially sweet and genial
about his Misunderstanding "lacking in
guile about his perceptions" said IL cyni-
cal old captain of the regiment-and
jovial, sunshiny way of looking upon the
world rs an Eden, ,.all men and all women
as friends, and the army as the profess
sion above all others, and these various
attributes combined to make him popular
with his kind and unusually attractive
to the opposite sex. AS cadet he had
been perpetually on the verge of tismis-
sal because of the appalling array of de-
merits he could roll upagainst his name,
and yet the very officers who jottcd down
the memoranda of his sins-omission
and commission-asainst theregulations
were men who openly said he chad the
making of one of the finest soldiers in
the class. AS junior second lieutenant
-"plebc'-of tho regiment he had been
welcomed by every man from the colonel
down, and it was considered particularly
rough that ho should have to go to such
a company rs Capt. Canlicrs, because
Cankcr was II man who never got along
with any of his juniors; but there was
something 30 irreprcssibly frank and
contrite in Perry's boyish face when he
would appear at his captains door
in tho early morning and burst out
with: "By Jove, captain! slept
through revcille again this morning,
and never got down till stables
were nearly over" that even that cross
grained but honest troop commander
was disarmed, and, though he threat
cned and rcprimanded, he would never
punish-would never deny his subaltcrn
the faintcst privilege; and when promo
ticn took tho captain to another rrgi-
ment ho bade good-by to Perry with eyes
that were suspiciously wet. "Why,
blow it all, what do you fellows hate
Canker SO for?' the youngstcr often
said. "Ho ought to put me in arrest
timo and again, but he won't. Blamed
if don't put myself in arrest, or conlino
myself to the limits of tho post, and do
something, to cut all this going 10 town
and hops and such things. Then 1 can
stick to the troop like wax and get up at
rcveille; but if I'm out dancing till 3 or
8 in the morning it's no use, tell you;
just can't wake up"
1t was always predicted of Ned Perry
that ho would be "marricd and done
for within n year of his graduation.
Every new face i'll tho five years that
followed revived the garrison propli-
ccy, "Now he's gone, surc!' but, how
ever devoted lc might seem to the damsel
in question, however restless and inpa-
tient he might be when compelled by his
duties to absent himself from her side,
however promising to casual observers
perchancc to tho damscl hcrself-night
be all the surface indications, the abso-
lutc frankncss with which he proclaimed
his admiration to every listener, and tho
fact that he chad been just so with half
a dozen other girls" enabled the cooler
heads of the regiment to decide that tho
time had not yet comc-or at least tho
woman.
III do wisl," said Mrs. Turner, "that
Mr.. Perry would settle on somebody, be-
cause, just so long as he doesn't, it is
rather hard to tell who he belongs to-"
And, as Mrs. Turner had long been a
reigning belle among the married women
of the til, and one to whom the young
officers were always expected to show
much attention, her whimsical way of
describing the situation was readily I'M
| derstood.
But hero at the new station-at far
away Rossiter-matters were taking ON
a new look. To begin with, tho wives
of the officers of the cavalry battalion
had not joined, none of the ladies of the
-th were here, and none would be
apt to come until the summers scout
ing work was over and done with. Tho
ladies of the little battalion of infantry
were here, and, though there were no
maiden sisters or cousins yet at the post
| (rest assured that moro than one was al
ready summoncd), they wero sufficient
in number to cnlivcn the monotony of
garrison life and sufficiently attractive
to warrant all the attention they cared
to receive. 1t was beginning to be gar
rison chat that if Ned Perry had not
''scttled on somebody" as the ultimate
| object Of his entire devotion, somebody
had settled on him, and that was pretty
Mrs. Belknap.
And though Ned Perry hated rcvcillo
and morning stables, as has been said,
and could rarely 'takc his week" with
out making one or more lapses, here he
was this beautiful May morning out at
daybrcak when it was his juniors tour
of duty, and vending his way with that
youugster out to the line of cavalry sta
blcs, booted and spurrcd and equipped
| for ride.
The colonel had listened with some
surprise to his request, proffcred just as
tho party was breaking up the night be-
| fore, to be absent from garrison few
hours the following morning.
"But VIC have battalion drill at 8
o'clock, Mr., Perry, and need you there"
| he said.
"Oh, Ill be back in time for that, sir.
wanted to be off three hours or SO be-
fore breakfast"
The colonel could not help laughing.
| "Of course you can go-go wherever You
| like at those hours, when you are not on
Nd. hut