Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1890-05-15

What manner of looking fellow is
he?" asked the doctor. 81 think l would
have noted him had seen him"
Yes, you Englishmen are apt to look
to one another" said the colonel in re-
ply. land Gwynne is particularly fine
specimen. lie has your eyes and hair,
doctor. but hasn't had time to grow
grizzled and bulky yet. as you and !
have. One might say that you and the
sergeant were from the same shire.
That would help me very little. eincc
| was only three years old when the gov
ernor emigrated." answered the doctor,
with a quiet smile I'VE keep some
traces of the old sod. | suppose, but
I've been Yankee for forty years, and
have never once set eyes on Merrie Eng
land in all that time Did the sergeant
say where he wanted to goy And the
questioner looked up sharply.
Nowhere in particular-down the
valley was all remember. though,
that Dir. Parke said he seemed much ex-
ercised over the name of that ranch down
the Monee-'ve forgotten what they cal
it Have you heard it, colonelT
Seems to me have, but I've forgSi-
ten. You have. doctor, have you not?
Heard what, colonel"
THE name of that ranch down tie
Monee-an English ranch, they tell mt.
about seven miles away"
oh, yesi-that oneI They call it Dur
raven Ranch. Did the sergeant take ant
of the hounds with him, captain? 1t o.
ours to me he might have been running
a coyote or a rabbit. and his horse hav!
stumbled and fallen with him. There N
no end of prairie dog holes down tina.
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 81
Englishmen down there, | hear Very
possibly that is the solution. They may
have tempted him to stay with English
hospitality; though it would astonish ME
if he yielded I'll tell the men to inquire
there first, colonel, and will go and send
them now" And, bowling to his COM
mander, 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 the 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 irresolutely 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
helplessly abandoning the idea, he
plunged down the short flight of steps,
hurried out of the gate aud 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 the fact
that two ladies were coming down the
walk
The soft swish of trailing skirt being
insufficient to attract his attention as
they arrived nearly opposite the shaded
veranda, a silvery peal of laughter broke
the stiffness of the early evening. Mrs
| Belknap's laugh was deiicious-soft, me-
lodious, ripping rs 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 -conccit i'm
aginabe. Mrs Belknaps 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 p-nPping from his
muscular arms, came the burly form of
ing faces beamed upon him through an
aperture in the leafy screen, and Mrs
Belknaps siIvpry voice hailed him in
laughing salutation
did we spoil your sicsta, colonel:
How can make amends? You see, you
were so hidden by the vines that no one
would dream of your being there in am
| BUSH"
"Oh, indeed ! assure you ! wasn't
asleep" answered the colonel. hastily.
Wont you come in. ladies. and sit
here in the shade awhile?
1--WE thought we would stroll around
until parade" said Mrs. Lawrence, hest
tatingly, land then sit down and watch
| it somewhere.
mo 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 be seen Meantime,
I've been unpacking some photograph
albums this afternoon, and you can
amuse yourselves with those while put
on my harness Gomez
The colonel's collection of photographs
was something the ladies had already
heard a 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 in 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
albums. 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