Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1890-02-08

alan.s-an english rancn. rney tell ne
about seven niiies away.
Oh, yos!-that one! They call it Dan
raven Ranch. = Did the sergeant take any
If the hounds with him. captain? 1t oc-
ours to me he might have been running
coyote or rabbit. and his horse have
stumbled and fallen with him There is
40 end OF prairie dog holes down that
way.
No, the dogs are all In. wouldn't
be surprised if he had gone to the ranch
That's an English name, and they are all
Englishrnan down there, | hear Very
possibly that is the solution. They may
have tempted him to stay with English
hospitality; though it would astonish me
# he yielded. I'll tell the men to inquire
there first, colonel, and viii so and send
them now" And, howing to his COM
nander, Capt. Stryker turned and left
the porch.
The doctor rose, thrust his hands deep
in his pockets, paced slowly to the south
ern end of the veranda, and gazed down
the distant, peaceful valley, an anxious
cloud settling on his brow. The colonel
resumed once more tho newspaper he
had dropped upon the floor. After mo-
ment DR.. Quin came slowly back, stood
in front of the entrance a few seconds
looking irresolute!y at the soldier
sprawled at full length in his reclining
chair. stepped towards him with pre-
paratory clearing of his throat as though
about TO speak, and then, suddenly and
halpIessly abandoning the idea, he
plunged down the short flight of steps,
hurried out of the gate and disappeared
around The fence corner in the direction
of the hospital Immersed in his paper.
the colonel never seemed to note that he
had gone, neither did he note tho fact
that two ladies were coming down the
walk
The soft swish Of trailing skirt being
insufficient to attract his attention Us
they arrived nearly opposite the shaded
veranda, silFery peal OF laughter broke
the stiffness of the early evening. Hrs
Relknap's laugh was leiicious-soft, me-
lodious, ripping as a canary song, and
just as spontaneous Neither lady had
said anything at the moment that was
incentive of merriment; but if Mrs. Law
renee had given utterance to the quaint
est, oldest, most whimsical conceit i'm
aginable Mrs. Belknap's laugh could not
have been more ready, and her great.
dark eyes shot sidelong glance to note
the effect Down went the paper, and
up with considerable propPing from his
muscular arms, came the btrly form of
the post commander Two sweet, smil-
ing faces beamed upon him through an
aperture in the leafy screen, and Mrs.
Belknap's siivery voice hailed him in
laughing salutation.
Did we spoil your siesta, colonel?
How can make amends? You see, you
were 80 hidden by the vines that no one
would dream Of your being there in am
bush"
oh, indeed. ] assure you wasn't
asleep" answered tie colonel, hastily
Wont you come in, ladies, and sit
here in the shade awhi!c?"
we thought we would stroll around
until parade" said Mrs. Lawrence, hest
tatingly, and then sit down and watch
it somewhere"
No place better than this" promptly
answered the colonel You can sit be-
hind the vines on that side and see, or.
what we would infinitely prefer, sit here
at the entrance and he seen. Meantime,
I've been unpacking some photograph
amuse yourselves with those while put
on my harness. Gomez
The coIonel's collection of photographs
was something the ladies had already
heard great deal of. One of the most
genial and popular officers Of the army,
he had gathered together several large
albums full Of pictures of prominent men
and attractive and distinguished women
not only those with whom he had been
associated in his long years of service.
but men eminent iii national and state
affairs, and women leaders in society in
many gay metropolis.
Both the ladies' had hoped to see this
famous collection the evening before, but
The colonel had not then unpacked the
sIbums, and they were disappointed.
Now, however, the prospect was indeed
alluring, and neither could resist, When
the first call sounded for parade few
moments after, and the commanding
officer WAS getting himself into his full
dress uniform, the two pretty heads were
close together, and two pairs of very
lovely eyes-one dark and deep and dan
gerous, the other clear and honest gray
were diiating over page after page of
photographed beauty There was no
need to puzzle over the identity of the
originals; under each picture the thought
ful colonel had carefully written the
name and address Absorbed in this
treat, they could barely afford time to
look up and smile their thanks as the
colonel passed, clanking forth at the
sounding of adjutant's call. and were too
completely engrossed in their delightful
occupation to notice what took place at
parade,
The long, slender line had formed
the infantry companies on the right and
left TANKS, their neat and tasteful dress
Of blue and white contrasting favorably
with the gaudy yellow plumage of the
four dismounted troops of the cavalry
Company after company had taken the
staturesque pose of parade rest" and its
captain faced to the front again, the ad
jutant was just about moving to his post
on the prolongation of the front rank.
and the colonel settling back into the
conventional attitude of the command
ing officer. when from outside the rect
angular Enclosure OF the parade ground