Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-10-19

ana spnsmesal anxiety - 70 whether hs
would b called up for RECITATION on .
subject he had not 20 much - looked at,
or "hived" ahsent from roll call he had
laxily slept through.
Any other man, his comrades said,
would have been epoilcd dozen times
over by the petting he had received from
both men and women; but there was /,
something essentially sweet and genial |
about his nature--something lacking in
guile about his perceptions" " said . cyni-
cal old captain Of the regiment .
iovial, sunshiny way Of looking upon the
world "a an Eden, al men and all women
as friends, and the army q the profcs-
sion above all others, and these various
attributes combined ~ make him popular
with his kind and unusually attractive
to the opposite sex. Al Q cadet he had
been perpetually on the verge Of dismis-
sal because Of the appalling array Of de-
merits he could roll up against his name,
and yet the very officers who jotted down
the memoranda Of bis sins--omission
and con,mission-agalnst the regulations
were men who openly said he "had the
making Of one OF the finest soldiers In
tho class" Al junior second lieutenant
--''plebe"-of the regiment, he had been
welcomed by every man from the colonel
down, and II was considered particularly
rough that he should have TO 60 TO such
a company a. Capt. Cankers. because
Canker was man who never got along
with my Of his juniors; but there was
something 90 irrepresibly 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. captaini slept
through reveille again this morning,
aid 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 reprimanded. he would never
punish-would never deny his subaltern
the faintcst privilege; and when promo
ticn took tho captain to another regi-
ment ho bade good-by to Perry with eyes
that were suspiciously wet. "Why,
blow II all, what do you fellows hate
Canker 80 forY' the youngster often
said. "He ought to put mo In arrest
time and again, but he won't. Blamed
IL ! don't put myself In arrest, or confins
myself to the limits Of the post, and do
something, to cut all this going to town
and hops and such things. Then can
stick TO the troop like wax and get up at
reveille; but II I'm out dancing till . or
0 in the morning it's no use, I tell you;
just can't wake up"
It was always predicted Of Ned Perry
that ho would be married and done
for" within a year of his graduation.
Every new face in the Eve years that
followed revived the garrison proph-
ecy, snow he's gone, sure| but, how
ever devoted he might seem to the damsel
in question, however restless and impa-
tent he might be when compelled by bis
duties to absent himself from her side,
however promising to casual Observer
perchance to the damsel herself-might
be all the surface indications, the abso-
Lutte frankness with which he proclaimed
his admiration to every listener, and tho
fact that he "had been just 80 with half
dozen other girls" enabled the cooler
heads of the regiment to decide that the
time had not yet come-or at least the
woman.
~ do wish." said Mrs. Turner. "that
Mr.. Perry would settle on somebody, be-
cause. just so long as he doesn't, 1t il
rather hard to tell who he belongs to-"
And, as Mrs. Turner had long been
reigning belle among the married women
of the --th, and one to whom the young
officers were always expected to show
much attention, her whimsical way OF
describing the situation was readily un-
derstood.
But here at tho dew station--at far
away Rossiter--matters were taking on
new look. To begin with, the wives
Of tho 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. The
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 more than one was al
ready summoned), they were sufficient
in number to enliven tho 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 il Ned Perry had not
"settled 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 reveille
and morning stables. as has been said,
and could rarely "take his week" with
out making one or more lapses. here he
was this beautiful May morning out at
daybreak when it was his juniors tour
! Of duty, and vending his way with that
youngster out TO the line Of cavalry sta
bles, booted and spurred and equipped
for ride.
Tho colonel had listened with some
surprise to his request, proffered just a
the party was breaking up the night be
fore, to be absent from garrison few
hours the following morning
"But we have battalion drill at
o'clock, Mr.. Perry, and need you there,
lie said.
"Ob, I'll be back in time for that, sir
wanted to be of three hours or SO be
fore breakfast"
The colonel could not help laughing
"Of course you can go--go wherever yo,
like at those hours, when you are not ol
guard; but never imagined you woult
want to get up 80 early"
Neither would, colonel, but Tv
been interested in something ! hear'
about this ranch down the Monee, ant
thought I'd like to ride down and lool
at it,"
$50 ahead, by all means, and Sc
whether those lights came from there
1t made me think of play once saw