Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-10
BY CAPT. CHARLES KING. U. S. A..
copyrighted 1889 by the Author .
STORY OF FRONTIER ARMY LIFE

| hood IN the garrison a strange, IntaugI-
bic but imDenetrable barrier She
was welcome nowhere and was
| too proud 10 enquire the cause
! This state OF. Things couId not go on
| long as matter Of course Sooner or
later the reason would he demanded by
somebody and then the stories would
| come ont. Mrs Miller and Mrs Bruce
as recorded IN an earlier chapter, had
| cOyenanted together 10 keep the secret
but that mysterious theft the night of the
dinner at the Doctors had made the
] former determine on another revelation
! 10 her lord and master, the post COM
mander. As for Mrs. Bruce, she strug-
! gled-weH, womanly, to hold her tongue
aud womanIy succeeded.
Two nights after Mclean had been
| brought home and was lying in a some
what feverish condition the major COM
handing came in and softly tapped at the
door of the front room. Hatton was
seated at the table reading by the light of
| the Argand, and he arose at once and
] tiptoed to see who was there.
Oh, Come in, major, he said in a
low tone, throwing open the door.
"'Come in. -
'sIs Mclean asleep" whispered the
major. 81 don't want to disturb
him. 1 only wanted to inquire. -
81 Not asleep, sir, but lying in a sort Of
| doZe. Weeks is trying to fight off
fever -
81 know understand It may be
several days before e'll be well enough
toto talk, won t it? and the major
gazed keenly into Hatton IS eyes and Hat
ton plainly saw the trouble i'll his COM
mander's face
II fear it may, sir. Weeks says he
must be kept quiet and free from worry
of any kind
The major paused irTesolute. He took
of his forage cap and mopped his brow
with his handkerchief. then stood there
twisting the cap in his hands He looked
down the dim hallway, then through the
crack Of the door, then down at his boots,
and all the time HattOn stood there hold
ing wide open the door, yet hoping and
praying he would not come in Some
thing told the lieutenant that the matter
so plainly worrying the commanding
officer was one neither he nor Mclean
would speak of il it could possibly be
helped.
But Miller was in sore trouble and he
could not stand alone.
. Hatton.'' he muttered impulsively,
''iS the nurse there? Can you come out
with me? II have heard something
this afternoon that gives me word of
concern, something l must ask you
abont. I can't talk of it here. Sick
men IS ears are sometimes far more acute
than those OF their sound and healthy
lrpthers. Can you come now?
81 am alone with Mac just now, sir.
sent the attendant down to the poStoffice
and the store. He had been cooped up
all day and was grateful for a little fresh
air When he returns and Hatton
stopped vaguely. He knewtit might be
an hour before the man got back. That
would give him time to think.
well. That viii have TO do. Come
to my quarters then and, if a lot of wO-
men are there, yOu-you say you want TO
see me about somethng-any thing-and
III come out. / don t want them to
dream I'm investigating anything
And here the major stopped nneasily and
glanced up stairs; then looked inquir-
ingly ut Hatton. ''Who 5 up there?
he asked.
No one, sir, to my knowledge.
Blunt s door is closed and he is'sleeping
Weeks was there not ten minutes since
and stopped me on the way down. Why
do you asll?''
Why-I thought heard something
q woman's dress and light football, /
even thought l saw shadow at the head
of the stairs.
Hatton s heart gave a great thump,
and ne felt his face glowing under his
commanders gaze, but he answered
steadily:
cit is possible, sir. Mrs. Post and
Miss Forrest both have been coming along
the upper gallery frequently, bringing
things TO both Blunt and Mclean. Mrs.
Post comes over to inquire every hour or
SO, and they tip-toe in and ont, light as n |
kitten. Shall | run up and see?
90, no-uo! If that s the eXplana- /
ton it is simple enough. No. I'm all |
up set. II fancied there was some one /
listening Come 10 me as soon as you
can, Hatton By the way, have you
heard from Mr. Holmes?
& No, sir. He was called suddenly to |
the rancho. and l presume he is there. -
- know; I know. But did he see Nc |
Lean before he left?
''See him, Yes, sir; but that 5 about /
all he could do Mclean was in no con- |
dition Ia receive visitors, and Weeks |
hustled HIM out somewhat unceremoDi- |
ously
''Well That is all just now. IN ex- |
pect you soon after tattoo.
VERY good, sir,
And then the major went away, closing I
the hall door after him. Hattop stood /
there a moment as though rooted TO the |
spot, his brow moistening with beads of |
sweat that seemed starting from I
every pore. Despite his Sc
crecy, then; despite McLean's de- /
struction of the evidence OF her visit the |
night of the disappearance of their prop I
eFty, despite their determination TO /
shield the sister OF an absent comrade /
from suspicion or disgrace, i'll some way /
the story must have gotten around. Pos
sibly there were other thefts of which he
knew nothing in which suspicion had
pointed To her. Possibly the vague con-
fessions, duplicating no one, which he
hag made 10 Mrs. Miller, taken in con-
nectjon with events of which ne had no
had proved sufficient TO
a chain of crcumstanfial evidence
about he", and now the commanding off
,er was aroused and was coming down
on him ana poor Mac, yonder, for full
details OF their losses and their llnowl-
edge of the aEair. He would give any
thing to secure the postponement of that
dreaded interview until he could talk
over matters with his comrade, but when /