Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-11-16

7EEE HE hounds were out, and
S>,SfE'N all Fort ROssiter society"
NY was with them. The day
EE, was faultless--neither too
warm nor too cloudy:
brisk westerly breeze sent
the cloud shadows sailing steadily across
the broad prairie sea and keeping the
wells and skirts of the Amazons of the
party a-1utter. Three there were of
these. the rest of the sisterhood pre-
ferring TO follow the hunt by buggy or
| blackboard, though frankly expressing
their envy of the fortunate riders.
| Mounted on her own spirited little bay,
admirably fitted as TO habit, and sitting
squarely and well. Mrs. Belknap would
have been the center of observation Of
all the cavalry officers even had she not
been, as she incontestably was, the
beauty of the garrison. The colonel had
| offered Mrs. Lawrence one of his own
horses. and therefore was accorded the
right of being her escort. Mrs. Sprague
was similarly indebted for her mount
to Capt. Stryker; and very bright and
beaming little body she was as she rode
over the springy turf at the side of the
dark haired troop leader.
Hard lines on Perry, isn't it," said
Mr.. Graham, as he trotted up beside Mrs.
Belknap and took his place for the mo-
ment with her bevy of cavaliers. First
time he ever missed IA hunt, reckon"
He needn't have missed this one"
said Parke. 1T was my week, and !
told him to go; and Capt. Stryker said so,
too; but
Here Mr. Parke broke off suddenly and
looked in mild wonderment in Dana's
face. for that young gentleman had man.
| aged, unseen by Mrs. Belknap, to swing
| free his right foot and give the speakers
left vehement kick. Too late, however.
Mrs. Belknap had heard it,
Are YOU cavalrymen all so little to be
trusted" she asked, with brilliant smile
upon her flushing face. Exercise and
excitement had lent unusual sparkle to
her eyes and color to her cheeks-"she is
positively beautiful today" as Mrs. Law
renee confessed to the colonel at the mo-
ment.
Il had a note from Mr.. Perry this
morning saying he was grievously dis
appointed, but that some troop duty had
been assigned TO him which could not be-
transferred and he must stay and finish
it,"
What he said is true. Mrs Belknap.n
promptly asseverated Mr.. Dana. The
papers have all TO be in readiness for
muster on Monday, and the saddle kits
put in shape for inspection"
"Only in Capt. STRIKERS troop" softly
inquired the lady, with eyeiids rising in
crHdulously.
''No, of course not. One officer is
back at the post from each troop. II
happened to fall on Perry in his"
Il fancy should prefer serving in
some older captains troop if | were Mr.
Perry. 1t seems that while your other
captains stay home aud look after their
companies, Capt. Stryker has a sub
altern attend To- his while he comes a
hunting"
"On the other hand, we fellows have
= dozen things To do in our troops that
Capt. Stryker does himself in his. It's
as broad a. it's long, Mrs. Belknap. said
Jana. He did not fancy her criticising
the methods Of his cavalry associates.
and was possibly little piqued at the
NNN'NNN hitLbN dANG SAC Blu" GU ~ 4 cry /
failure TO attend. Meantime. Striker.
all unconscious Of her censure, was chat
ting laughingly with Mrs. Sprague and |
exchanging shots with the colonel and |
Mrs. Lawrence. The four were getting /
ON admirably together, and seemed too |
much absorbed III their own fun to note
the fact that Mrs. Belknap and her knot |
OF four or five satellites had been grad |
ually edging away toward the right, and |
that the rest Of the hunt waR becoming |
widely scattered.
1T is time we stirred up jack rabbit
at least, said the colonel Suppose we
veer over toward the northwest a little. |
Whatever we do. we want no chase down |
there toward Dunraven; those wire fences
would spoil ii all"
Il wonder If those people never hunt?"
said Mr.. Farnham, who had joined the
quartet: he always kept close to his
colonel, as befitted an aspirant for the
sdJutancy. "Englishmen are generally
game for all sorts of sport"
81 can see horsemen out there on the
prairie to the east of the ranch" said |
Stryker, whose eyes were keen, land |
could have sworn a moment ago that !
saw horsewoman."
Nonsense, Capt. Stryker!' exclaimed |
Mrs. Lawrence, yet with a quick glance |
at Mrs. Sprague. What could you
have taken for lady ION horseback |
Do you suppose there could be ladies at
Dunraven and we not know it,"
Hardly possible" answered the cap
tain, land therefore doubted the EVIL
dence Of my senses. Yet something very |
like a lady followed by groom rode |
down the slope into the valley about ten |
minutes ago. She is out of sight In the |
timber now. If Perry were only with |
Us I'd send him off there to see"
Yes, we miss Perry on our hunts" |
said the colonel to his lady friends. |
He is one of our best riders and most |
enthusiastic sportsmeu He will be out,
will he not, Stryker!''
Yes, sir. There is really no neces-
sity for his staying in. and so told him;
but he felt that he ought to, at least
until certain work was finished. Then |
he said he could ride eastward and join
us. Hurrah! there they go!'
Far out to the front, straight to the
east, "a gray streak with white tip to \
1t went shooting into space as though
launched from some invisible bow drawn
by giant power. A big jack rabbit, all
legs and ears, had listened quivering and
trembling to the sounds Of the approach
ing hunt, until an enterprising terrier,
foremost skirmisher of the line, fairly
tumbled over him as he crouched behind
a little bunch of weeds: then with one
mighty leap and the accompaniment of
a wild yelp from his discoverer he sprang
forth into race for his precious life
hoy! hoy! yells the sergeant as he
sights the quarry. "Hurrahl" shout the
nearest huntsmen, and, with one stimuli
taneous impulse, skirmishing ours,
stealthy, springing hounds, eager steeds,
and Jubilant riders-men and women
away goes the entire field sweeping in
pursuit. AT first all is one mad rush
until IL is certain that the rabbit is n