San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-03-01


The lieutenant thanked him, but he did nc
try TO console himself, and as they needle
officers TO send to Tonquin he volunteered an
the next week embarked at Brest. And Will
he, heavy hearted, was sailing away, toSse
on tremendous waves, the young girl
thoughtless and gay, continued to dance un
der the brilliant chandeliers, while the flow
ers breathed forth their perfume and tn
band played always waltzeS
Later the general, in his handsome house
receives as usual; but at these brilliant mill
tary balls the charming girl, who, in tho ole
days, turned all heads, appears no longer
The colonel of the l23d is dead He died sud
denly, on the point Of receiving the stars of O
general. After this the gay and dissipated
life OF the two women was succeeded by an
existence dull and uneventfuL All the gal
liant young officers who had futtered so grace
fully about them in the old days had gone
with the pleasure and the gayety.
The new colonel of the regiment had also a
wife and daughter. To them the powers of
the moment, all the attentions, all tho CO..
qnetry. To che departing sovereigns, pre-
occupied touch of the cap in the street, and
then the cut direct with an air as if one said,
MY good woman, you mistake. | don't
know you"
Then the orphan and the widow exchange
bitter smile and slowly go their way
They saunter about the park, close to the
green lawns, and languidly try to enjoy the
beautiful autumn sunshine which gilds the
marble Of the statues and glorifies the leaves
OF the grand old trees. They sit all in the
black of their deep mourning, with the sound
Of the band playing in the distance 1t comes
back to them like CLEAN of their old happi-
ness. Then for moment nothing seems
changed in their lives, and the cOlonel's voice,
brusque and sonorOus, sounds in their ears as
If he stood behind them saying, Good morn
ing, my dears. Today the l24th gives the
concert. Their noise and clatter are very diff
ferent to the music of Ours"
But the cries of the children sound high
above the music and interrupt their reverie.
And the mother with a sigh tries to read
the papers through glasses misty with tears,
and the daughter like one bereft casts mel |
anchOly glances towards her old partners who |
know her no more. She is almost 25, and her |
beauty refined by grief, has now more
penetrating grace. She reminded one of u
flower refreshed and purified by rain end
tempest She had lost much of that live
illness which had suggested a frisky young
colt and had given her an air rather fantastic
and excited Grave and sweet she now |
seemed doing penance for past pleasures and
frivolitieS
One day, while the band was playing and
the officers prOmenaded back and forth,
smoking, talking and laughing, she recog-
llzed among the familiar forms she saw day
after day new figure. In an instant she saw
again the generals ball and her tinid lover,
hidden in a corner, devouring her with his
yes. She said to her mother: "Oh. mamma
look there-the lieutenant"
He, too, had seen them, for he had grown
'ale and leaving his friends, advanced, hat
n hand. The old mother hurriedly folded |
Up her newspapers, and pushing them off the !
hair near her, with benevolent smile of
cred it to the officer
How are you, my dear Seutenantl What :
n age since we metI We are really very
a thousand pardons-I call
ou lieutenant and yet | see three bands on
our SeeveS"- 4
Then he grew red, and said that at the end 4
the six months campaign he had been ,
lade a captain, after the affair at MIN
Dlmh, so many vacancies had occurred above {
i'm. Then he had been kept shut up in
uycn-kuan with le commandment Domino. T
hey had had a terrible siege Of five weeks in
le breach repelling the furious assaults Of
lo Chinese, surGing like a sea of human be
lgs against tho ruined walls of the fort.
He had been wounded the last day in
nal Sortle, but from a distance, above the
amor of the yellow hordes, he had heard
lie French clarions ring out delverance.
h, for that hour OF exuItation He had y
zen the enemy flying, the tri-cOlor spread to
IrDpZp Ia fol | =
re only Of one thing-they were victOrs =
Later his condition had seemed 50 crave Inc
I'd been ordered home to Franco with tie 4
'oss of honor During the Journey he had 4
own steadily better, and On his arrival bad =
zen recommended as chief of battalion. The
70 women were silent, the mother in her
orIdly wisdom, considering that he had
aimed ten years advance over all the officers I
lis regiment.
The daughter, studying the young man,
und him changed almost beyond rccoc, -,
ion. with his thin, palo face and his air
command and distinction
Was It possible that she had diSCloircd this
ave soldier, who had paid with his blood
+ every step he had gained in rank. AID
no had com" home with his future assured,
lie meanwhile regarded her Was it She
. 81 ILOuouIul an! s4d-WnOm he had
own frivolous and eXactingI Another -
1man was discovered to him a thousand -
neS more charming in Der sad and troubled
ace. SL1 h@d cnrapturcd him before, she al
listed his soUl today. He had dreamed OF
r thus This was his very vision.
Pretty as ever and hundred times sweetcr
d mere gentle. Their eyes met and in =,
Ose OF the oii'cr she read such alteration he he
at she turncd her head away in some EN-
rrNSS,nnnt It..iLt,rLt Id rnIl... III