Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-04-05

VI tosusts uOt NO We1t VuuctoVOuO tuot /
thero was no shirking tho rcsronsi.
bility. From beginning to end ho was
the cause Of the whole catastrophe. He |
had gone % far a. to order his corporal
to fire, and no knew Il could be proved
against him. Thank God, the perplexcd
corporal had shot high, and the other
men, barring the one who had saved
Rayner from furious lunge Of the lieu.
tenants sword, had used their weapons
~ gingcrly and reluctantly a. possible.
At the very least, he knew, an investiga-
tion and fearful scandal must come Of IL.
Night though It was, he sent for the act
ing adjutant and several Of his brother
captains, and, setting refreshments be-
fore them, bcsought their advice. He
was still commanding officer dc jure, but
he had lost oil stomach for its functions.
He would have been glad to send for
Blake and beg his pardon for submitting
% hiS insubordinate and abusive lam
guage, II that course could have stopped
inquiry; but he well knew that the whole
thing would be noised abroad In less than
no time.
At frat no thought to give orders
against the telegraph operators sending
any messages concerning the matter; but
that would have been only temporary
Ainderance: no could not control the In
struments and operators in town, only
three miles away. He almost wished he
had been knocked down. shot or stabbed
in tho melee; but he had kept in the rear
when the skirmish began, and Rayner
and the corporal were tho sufferers.
They had been knocked "epdwisc" by
Mr.. Hurley's practiced fists after Hayne
was struck down by the corporal's mus
ket. Il was the universal sentiment
among the officers Of the --th as they
scattered to their homes that Buxton had
"wound himself up this time, anyhow"
and no one had any sympathy for him
not one. Tho very best light in which he
could tell the story only showed the af-
fair as fragrant and inexcusable out
Fago.
Capt. Rayner, too, was In fearful
plight. He had simply obeyed orders;
but all the old story OF his persecution
Of Hayne would now be revived; NIL men
would see In his anticipation In tho AZ.
fair only additional reason to adjudgo
him cruelty persistent in his hatred Of
tho young officer, and, in view OF the
utter ruthlessncss and wrong Of this as
sault, would be moro than ever confident
Of the falsity Of his position in the orig
inal case. As he was slowly led up
stairs to his room and his fearful wife
and silent sister-in-law bathed and
cleansed his wound, he saw with fright
ful clearness how tho crush of circum-
stances was now upon him and his good
nnme Great heaveni how those words
OF Haynes five years before rang, throb-
bed, burned, beat like trip hammers
through his whirling brain! 1t seemed
as though they followed hin, and his
fortunes like q curse. He sat silent,
stunned, awe stricken at the force Of the
calamity that had befallen him.
How could he ever induce an officer
and gentleman to believe that he was
no instigator in this matter?-that it was
oil Buxton's doing, Buxton's low imagi-
nation that had conceived the possibility
Of such crime on the part of Mr.. Hayne,
and Buxton's laundering, bull headed
abuse Of authority that had capped the
fatal climax? 1t was some time before
his wife could get him to speak at all.
She was hysterically bemoaning the fato
that had brought them into contact with
such people, and from time to timo
giving vent to tho comforting assertion
that never had there been cloud ON
their domestic or regimental sky until
that wretch had been assigned TO tho
Ritiers. She knew from the hurried und
guarded explanations OF DR.. Grimes and
one or two young officers who helped
Rayner homo that tho fracns had oc.
CURED at Mr.. Hayne's--that there had
been mistake for which, her husband was
not responsible, but that Capt. Buxton
was entirely to blame. But her husbands
far deeper; she knew that now he was
involved in fearful trouble, and, what
ever may have been her innermost
thoughts, il was the first and irresistible
impulse to throw all the blame upon her
scapegoat.
Miss Travers, almost as pale and quite
as silent rs the captain, was busying her
self in helping her sister; but she could
with difficulty restrain her longing to bid
her be silent. She, too, had endeavored
to learn from her escort on their hurried
homeward rush across the parade what
the nature Of the disturbance had
been. She, too, had suggested Clancy.
but the officer by her side set his teeth
as he replied that no wished II had
been Clancy. She had heard, too, the
message brought by cavalry trumpeteI
from Mr.. Blake. He wanted Capt. Ray
to come TO Mr.. Haynes as soon as he had
seen Mrs. Ray safely home, and-would
he please ask Mrs. Stannard TO come
with him at the same time? Why should
Mr.. Blake want Mrs. Stannard at Mr..
Haynes? She saw Mr.. Foster run up
and speak few words to Mrs. Waldron
and heard that lady reply, Certainly;
will go with you now" What could 4
meanl At last, AS she was returning Il
her sisters room after moments alb
sence, she heard question at which
her heart stood still. II was Mrs Ray
ner who asked:
"But the creature was there, was sh,
notT'
The answer sounded more like moal
Of anguish:
"The creature was his sister. It wa
her husband who
But, as Capt. Rayner buried his bat
tered face in his hands at this juncture
the rest Of the sentence was inaudible
Miss Travers had heard quite enough
however She stood there one moment
appalled,, dropped upon the floor Tn
bandage she had been making. turned
and sought her roam and WAS saen N,
more that night.
Over the day or two that followed thi
affair the veil Of silence may best b.
drawn, in order to give time for the sedi
ment of truth to settle through til