Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-11-23

pen that the ladies were speedily ushered
upstairs to Miss Maitland's own room,
and that, after an animated though low
toned chat Of half an hour with her.
they werc marshalcd down the long cor.
rider by Mrs. Cowan In person, and, TO
Pcrry's huge delight, were shown In to
his bedside2 Il looked ~ though Quin
were showing gunwarrantabls discrimina.
ton. 6tryksr and the colonel, TOO. came
IN to see him, and the latter told him that
both Mr.. Maitland and Mr.. EVEN had
begged that the arrested soldiers might
mot be punished. including Sergt. Leary
and Kelly, there were nov twenty men
under charges more or less grave In their
character, and he had asked that . gen.
eral court martial be convened for their
trial The colonel deeply appreciated the
feeling displayed by the stricken propri-
etor and his overseer; he was touched
that even In his extreme illness and pros.
tration Mr.. Maitland should intercede for
the men who had made 20 hostile an In
vasion Of his premises and brought upon
the inmates Of Dunraven night Of dread
and anxiety; but discipline had to be
maintained, he replied, and the ringlead-
ers in the move had been guilty Of o
fragrant breach which could not be over
looked.
But on the following day y-the fourth
Of Perry's stay-the doctor came down
with face full Of gloom and distress.
Both nurse and patient noted II, and in
quired the cause. For q time Quin
avoided any direct reply: something
had ruffled him up at the post" he an
vwered; "can't tell you about it now.
I'll do It by and by. want to think"
He examined Perry's leg, dressed and re-
bandaged the wound, and then went
back to Mr.. Maitland's room. They could
hear his voice in the hall after q while,
and Perry's heart began to throb heavily;
he was sure the low, sweet tones, almost
inaudible, that came floating along the
corridor, were those Of Gladys When
Mrs. Cowan spoke to him on some or
dinary topic. he impatiently babe her
hush-he could not bear to be disturbed
-and, far from being hurt at his petu-
lance, Mrs. Cowan smiled softly as she
turned away.
Then Quin came back, and, after
fidgeting around moment, abruptly ad-
dressed his patient:
"Perry, do you remember that morn
ing you rode down here right after re-
veille and met me ON the trail-or at
least would have met me IL ! hadn't
lodged and gone over to the other side
Of the valleyr"
certainly do, doctor"
II may as well explain that singular
performance first. You may have heard
that ! didn't get along aInicahly with
your predecessors Of the Eleventh. Their
colonel was ass enough to totally miscon-
strue the purpose Of my visits here, and
was MSS enough to make no explana-
ton. The Maitlands went away; I was
not called for again while the Eleventh
remained; and therefore said no more
about it. Mr.. Maitland returned uncx-
pectedly soon after you came, and the
first knew Of 1t was the signal lights
telling me he was there, i'll, and that
was wanted. 1t was the night Of the
colonel's dinner party. I couldn't ex-
plain then, and decided to go at once
and explain afterward. When I met
you all of a sudden the next morning,
the first impulse was to get away out Of
your sight, and obeyed it simply be-
cause Of the unpleasant experiences l
had been having with your fellow caval-
rymen. did not want to have to an
swer questions. See? I was ashamed
Of 1t. but too late to turn back"
Perry nodded. II understand it
now." he said.
"Well, what want to ask is about
Sergt. Gwynne. Did you meet him be-
fore you got back?'
"Yes-a mile or so out from the post"
"You stopped and talked with him.
didn't your
"Yes-for several minutes"
Mrs. Cowans needlework had fallen In
her lap. She was seated near the window,
and had been busily sewing. Now she
was looking up, eager and intent.
"You've known him long time,
haven't your"
"Yes-ever since he Joined. He's one
Of the best sergeants ever knew"
"You would hardly think him guilty
of any dishonesty, would your"
Mrs. Cowan was rising from her chair;
the needlework had fallen to tho floor.
dishonesty Not by a-good deall"
was the reply that bade fair to be even
more impulsive, and was checked only
in Difference to the presence Of woman.
"Well, neither would l, from what
I've seen of him; and yet Mr.. Maitland's
seal ring was found on him last night"
"My Godl or course he could explain
1t in some way?"
"He couldnt-or wouldn't He SIM
| ply stood there, white as sheep except
where those bruises made him green and
blue. He had denied the charge fatty
when accused; and yet there 1t was in
his chest. never saw any man so taken
aback as Capt. Stryker; he said he would
have sworn to his innocence"
$50 would I!-so do, by Jupiter! It's
some foul plot!-it's"-
But he got no further. To his own
amaze, to the utter bewilderment of DIR.
Quin, Mrs. Cowan precipitated herself
upon her patient, seized the hand that
lay nearest her on the coverlet, and
burst forth into half articulate, sobbing,
indignant words, mingled with kisses
showered passionately on that astonish-
ed hand.
"Oh, bless him for the words! Oh,
God bless you, Mr.. Perryi Oh.
the fools! the lunatics! A
thief indeed. The idea of his
being accused! Oh, God! what
would his mother in heaven say to this:
AS though he had not borne
far too much already! It's his
own-his own ring, tell you! Who
else should wear it? Who dare
take it from him now? Oh, the
infamy of it ALI"
In her wild excitement, in her inco
herent praise and lamentation and wrath
and Indignation, her voice, her sobs