The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1890-03-27

That night INT after tattoo roll call,
when . littlO group Of officers was gath
cred ct the eolonel'S gate, they were sud.
denly Joined By Dr. Quin, who came
from the direction Of the stable where no
kept his horse In rear Of his own quar-
ssrA. Col Brainard greeted him warmly
and impaired after his patient at Dun.
raven. Every one noted how grave and
Subdued was the tone In which the doc
tor answered;
"He 10 Q very sick man, colonel, and
Il Is hard to say what will 10 the result
Of this seizure"
you may want to 60 down again,
doctor, n that be the caSO-beforo sick
call tomorrow. I mean; and you had
better take n Of my horses. III tell
my man TO have n In readiness"
"You are very kind, sir. I think old
Brian. will do all the work needed. But
l would like to 60 down at reveille, a.
we have no men in hospital at all now
And, BY the way. d Mr.. Perry hereS"
81 am here" answered Perry coldly
he was leaning against the railing.
rather away from the group. listening
~lntently, yet unwilling to meet or hold
conversation with the man he conceived
to be 30 inimical to his every hope and
interest
"Mr. Perry" said the doctor, pleas
antly, and utterly ignoring the coldness
Of the young fellows manner. "Mr,
Maitland has asked to see you; and II
would crafty him II you would ride
iown In the morning."
Even In the darkness Perry feared that
all would sec the flush that leaped to his
face Summoned to Dunraven Ranch
by her father. with . possibility Of see
Ing heri Il was almost too sweet too
thrillingi he could give no reply for q
moment, and an awkward silence fell on
the group until he chokingly answered
~ shall bo glad to 90. What timer"
Better ride down early. Never mind
breakfast Miss Maitland viii be glad
10 give you Q cup Of coffee, ! fancy"
And Perry felt a. though the fence had
taken to WALKING. He madeno answer,
striving to regain his composure, and
then the talk went on. II was Stryker
VINO was talking nowi
"Has the ring been found, DOCTOR
"Nol That q Q most singular thing,
and one that worries the old gentleman
Q great deal Il had Q history; Il be-
longed to MrR Maitland's father, who
wa from Ireland-indeed, Ireland was
her country, a. Il was my father's-and
that ring she had reset for her son Archie
and gave Il 10 him when he entered Serv.
Ice with the LAncerA Il was sent home
with his watch and other property from
South Africa-for hedied there-and old
Maitland always wore iE afterwards.
Archie was the last Of three sons; and Il
broke his heart"
"And the ring was lost the night Of
Perry's adventure therer' asked the col.
onel
"YeA Mr.. Perry remembers having
seen Il on his hand when the old gentle
man first came down TO receive him. Il
wal missed afterwards, and could easily
have slipped Of at any time, for his On.
gers were withered with age and III
health. They have searched everywhere,
and could find nothing Of H. Il could
easily have rolled OF the veranda on to
the grass during his excitement Of the
timeof therow, and somebody may have
picked Il up-either among the ranch
men or among the Troopers"
az hate to think that any Of our men
would take It," said the colonel after q
pause.
~ do not think any Of them would,
with the idea Of selling t." said Stryker;
"but here q case where it was picked
up, possibly. a. one Of the spoils Of war.
have had inquiry made throughout the
troop. but with no result 90 far. Do you
90 down again tonight, doctor9"
"Not II I can avoid Il. lam going now
to try and sleep, and will not ride down
till daybreak unless signaled for. Good
night, colonel; good night, all"
Unless signaled fori InStinctively
Perry edged closer to Lawrence, who had
stood asilent listener to the conversation,
and Lawrence turned and saw him and
knew the thought that must b upper
most in his mind. There was moment
Of perfect silence, and then Lawrence
spoke;
docs anybody know what the SIgnal
IsS"
Certainly" said Col Brainard,
promptly. HE has explained the whole
thing to me. Those were signals for him
that We Saw the night you were all on
my gallery. It was an arrangement de-
vised by their old nurso-sho who came
nm with the OarriaOa FOE Niaa Afottland