The Dickinson press., 1890-01-18
By Capt. CHARLES KING, U.S. A.,
Author of"7'he Coloners Dauqhter.n "F,om
the Ranks, !" "1'he Deserter," Etc.
COPYRIGHTED 1888 BY J. B. Lippincott Company
Philadelphia, and published by special arrange.
ment through tho American Press Association

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2zs2tGS
7IIHL HE hounds were out, and
%&@ all Fort Rossiter "society"
AA was with them, The day
was faultless-neither too
N.Y. warm nor too cloudy: q
brisk westerly breeze sent
the cloud shadows sailing steadily across
the broad prairie sea and keeping the
wells and skirts of the Amazons of the
party a-futter. Three there were of
these, the rest of the sisterhood pre-
ferring to follow the hunt by buggy or
blackboard, though frankly expressing
their envy of the fortunate riders.
Mounted on her own spirited little bay,
admirably fitted rs to habit, and sitting
squarely and we'll, Mrs. Belknap would
have been the center of observation of
all the cavalry officers even had she not
been, Us she incontestably was, the
beauty of the garrison. The colonel had
offered Mrs. Lawrence one of his own
horses, and therefore was accorded the
right of being her escort. Mrs. Sprague
was similarly indebted for her "mount'
to Capt. Stryker; and very bright and
beaming little body she was as she rode
over the springy turf at the side of the
dark haired troop leader.
"Hard lines on Perry, isn't it?' said
Mr.. Graham, as he trotted up beside Mrs.
Belknap and took his place for the mo-
ment with her bevy of cavaliers. "First
time he ever missed hunt, reckon"
HE needn't have missed this one, )"
said Parke. "It was my week, and l
told him to go; and Capt. Stryker said so,
too; butt
Here Mr.. Parke broke off suddenly and
looked in mild wonderment in Dana's
face. for that young gentleman had man.
aged. unseen by Mrs. Belknap, to swing
free his right foot and give the speaker
left a vehement kick. Too late, however
Mrs. Belknap had heard it.
care you cavalrymen all so little to be
trusted?" she asked, with brilliant smile
upon her flushing face. Exercise and
excitement had lent unusual sparkle to
her eyes and color to her cheeks-"shei is
positively beautiful today" as Mrs. Law
renee confessed to the colonel at the mo-
ment.
II had a note from Mr.. Perry this
morning saying he was grievously dis
appointed, but that some troop duty had
been assigned to him which could not be
transferred and he must stay and finish
it,
"What he said is true, Mrs. Belknap,"
promptly asscverated Mr.. Dana. "The
papers have all to be in readiness for
muster on Monday, and the saddle kits
put in shape for inspection"
"Only in Capt. Stryker's troop" softly
inquired the lady, with eyeids rising in
credulously.
"No, of course not. One officer is
back at the post from each troop. It
happened to fall on Perry in his"
81 fancy l should prefer serving in
some older captains troop if were Mr..
Perry. 1t seems that while your other
captains stay home and look after their
companies, Capt. Stryker has SUBJ
hunting"
Con the other hand, we fellows have
dozen things to do in our troops that
Capt. Stryker does himself in his. It's
as broad as it's long, Mrs. Belknap," said
Dana. He did not fancy her criticising
the methods Of his cavalry associates.
and was possibly a little piqued at the
decided annoyance she showed at Perry's
failure to attend. Meantime, Stryker,
all unconscious of her censure, was chat
ting laughingly with Mrs. Sprague and
exchanging shots with the colonel and
Mrs. Lawrence The four we're getting
on admirably together, and seemed too
much absorbed in their own fun to note
the fact that Mrs. Belknap and her knot
of four or five satellites had been grad:
ually edging away toward the right, and
that the rest of the hunt was becoming
widely scattered.
"It is time we stirred up jack rabbit
at least" said the colonel. Suppose we
veer over toward the northwest little
Whatever we do, we want no chase down
there toward Dunraven; those wire fences
would spoil it ALL"
II wonder if those people never hunt?"
said Mr.. Farnham, who had joined the
quartet: he always kept close to his
colonel, as befitted an aspirant for the
adjutancy. "Englishmen are generally
game for all sorts of sport"
81 can see horsemen out there on the
prairie to the east of the ranch," said
Stryker. whose eyes were keen, "and !
could have sworn a moment ago that ]
saw horsewoman."
"Nonsense, Capt. stryker!" exclaimed
Mrs. Lawrence, yet with a quick glance
at Mrs. Sprague. "What could you
have taken for a lady on horseback
Do you suppose there could be ladies at
Dunraven and we not know
Hardly possible" answered the cap
tain, "and therefore doubted the evl-
dence of my senses. Yet something very
like lady followed by groom rode
down the slope into the valley about ten
minutes ago. She is out of sight in the
timber now. If Perry were only with
us I'd send him off there to see."
"Yes, we miss Perry on our hunts"
said the colonel to his lady friends.
He is one of our best riders and most
enthusiastic sportsmen. He will be out,
will he not, Stryker?"
"Yes, sir. There is really no neces-
sity for his staying in, and SO told him;
but he felt that he ought to, at least
until certain work was finished. Then
he said he could ride eastward and join
us. Hqrrahl there they gol"
Far out to the front, straight to the
east, "a gray streak with white tip to
it" went shooting into space as though
launched from some invisible how drawn