Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-17

thought of this, - ne said. Mrs. Mil
Ter viii be as sorry as I am TO hear of it
and of course she will appreciate the
reasons. Did Weeks tell you when thi:
delirium began?''
The night after Hatton left, or rather
very early in the morning OF the next
day He had been alarmed at Mclean =
symptoms during the evening and ordered
the nurse 10 wake him if he saw any in
dieations of delirium. The man came to
him ats in the morning and said the lieu
tenant was wild. Weeks went over at
once and ten minutes after he got there
he sent the attendant away and shut him
self up with his patient >
The major pondered a moment. ssIs
the man close mouthed? Do you think
he could have heard much of anything
before he was sent away?''
know very little about him. He is
member of Capt. Bruce IS company and
very much attached TO the lieutenant. so
infer from what Weeks tells me. Even
if he had heard anything that ought not
to leak out it is not likely this particular
man would betray 1t; he would say moth
ing that might ever harm Mclean. -
Well, mol Not Mclean perhaps
Very possibly he might not know how it
would harm him to have his rawlings re-
peated. L was thinking / could not
help thinking-tha Mac had been talk
ing about-these recent thefts in garri-
son.
!. "And there have been more than this
1 at our house? asked the doctor with
concern and surprise mingled in his
! handsome face.
Yes-two or three more, I regret to
say, but have not full particulars yet
! and cannot speak of them -
Bayard clasped his hands with one of
the melodramatic gestures so peculiar to
him.
MY God!'' he muttered. cit was
bad enough as supposed it, but I had
no idea il had come to such a pass as
| this
Bayard, said the major after a
moment of earnest thought ''This is ID
matter that must be handled with the ut
most care and circumspection. Not a
YestIge of suspicion must be permitted to
circulate if we can pre"ent it, 1 have
strictly enjoined secrecy upon my-my
informant and desire you to regard this
talk as confidential Tell Weeks
appreciate and sustain him in his caution
and thank him for his efforts to stifie any
possible scandal. Poor Mac! The
youngster would be horror stricken il he
knew what secrets he had been blab-
bing. -
His trouble must have been weighing
on his mind a long time, - said the doe
tor, 'and yet [ never suspected it.
don t know that l ever saw a blither
young fellow until about the time the
finding of that board of survey was an
nounced. He didn' seem to expect that
at all. .
"Wen, neither did I. OF course,
technically it had to go against him, but
we never dreamed it would result in
stoppage of his pay.
And yet his funds were all right, IN
told, y said the doctor, musingly. Zone
would suppose that if he had any tenden-
ces that way they would have cropped
out when ne had so much public money
passing through his hands.
Tendencies what way, doctor?
don t follow you -
why, in the way these-these little
thefts and his delirIous utterances would
seem TO indicate, - said Bayard hesita-
tingly
Miller fairly sprang up from the rail on
which he was leaning, his eyes distended
with wonderment and pain.
''In Gods name, Bayard, what are
you talking about? he gasped.
FAbout this sad case of Mclean IS.
major, as [ supposed you were -
You don t mean that your theory in
wolves him? You don It mean tit is of
himself, of his connection with these
thefts that he has been telling of in his
delirium?''
''Why, Maj. Miller? I supposed of
course you uuderstood-I-I, of course,
accuse nobody, but of whom could he
have been talking but himself? That
s[DiI1
For one moment the old major stood |
there looking into his staff officer s eyes.
Amaze, CONSERVATION, distress, all |
mingled in his fforid weather-beate
face. Then without a word he turned
and stumbled away down the steps and
hurried from the gate. The trim, spruce
orderly, standing on the walk without
raised his white gloved hand in salute and
stood attention as the commanding officer
passed him; then ''fell inn ten PAGES
behind and followed in his tracks. But
for once in his life the major never saw
or returned soldiers respectful saluta-
ton.
XIV.
The fever had left him and Randall
Mclean, very white and peaked
looking, was sitting propped up in bed
and enjoying the wine jelly Mrs. Miller
had brought with her own hands. She
had hoped to find him in better spirits
and was distressed to see how downcast
and listless he was. Just what evil spell
had fallen upon the garrison Mrs. Miller
could not explain. The major for two or
three days had been utterly unlike him
self and would give her no good reason.
rhe cavalry battalion that had reached
he post and gone into camp down on the
1ats to the north was almost ready to
bush on towards the Black Hills, and
hough she had twice reminded him
hat he ought at least to invite the field
md staff officers to dinner her usually
ocial spouse had declined, saying he felt .
utterly unequal to it. The lethargy and
gloom at post headquarters seemed .
o pervade the entire garrison. Nobody
cit like doing anything to dispel it. The ]
and played blithely enough at guard
and again in the sunshiny I
fteTnoons, but nobody came out and ,
anced on the broad piazzas as used to be 7
he way AT Laramie. Nellie Bayard was S
eginning to sit out on the veranda in a S
ig easy chair with Janet Bruce as her |
onstant companion and the Gordon /