Telegram-herald., 1890-02-06

X
"a stiIi the gay party iiasered on
- the verandA There had been
q fortnight Of getting settled Al the
new post. preceded BY month OF march
lng that had brought ths battalion from
DISTANT service 70 this strange Texan sta
sOu- The new comers had been hoTpita-
tly welcomed by the officers Of the little
garrison Of Infantry. and now. in recog-
i:ition ef their nany cOurtesies, the field
OFFICER commanding the arriving troops
had Ossiu entertaining the resident Off
GERS aad :Adies AZ dinner The colonel
vas a host IN himself. bat preferred not
20 draw too heavily on his reserves Il
anecdots and small tax. 80 be had called
IN TWO Of MS sabalterns % assist in the
pleasant duty Of being attentive 10 the
infantry ladies'. and Just now. Al las p
m. ne Wa wondering II Lieut. Perry
had not too literally construed his in
structions. FOR that young gentleman
vas dsvotiug himself 20 Mrs. BelSnap in
a manner 50 marked as 10 make the cap
tain. her lawful lord and master, mani
testify uneasy.
Mrs Belknap. however. seemed 20 en-
Joy the situation immensely. She was
pretty woman at most times. as even
her rivals admitted. She Was a beauti-
ful woman at al times. was the verdict
Of the officers Of the regiment when they
happened % speak Of the matter among
themselves. She was dark. with lus-
trous eyes and sweeping lashes. with
coral lips and much luxuriancs Of tress.
and way of ylancing sideways from
under her heavily frinGed eyehds that
the younger and more impressiona0le
men found quite irresistible when ac-
corded the rare luxury OF a tete -a-tete.
Belknap WAS big and boisterous man,
M-s Belknap was small in stature. and
soft--very soft--of voice. Belknap was
either hrus,taely repellent OF oppressively
cordial IN manner; Mrs Belknap was
either gently and exasperatingiy indif-
fsrent 70 those whom she did not care 20
attract. or caressingly sweet 70 those
whose attentions she desired
In their own regiment the young Off
GERS soon found that Unless they wished
g. be involved in an unpleasantness with
Belxuap IL was best 20 be only very mod
erately devoted 70 his pretty wife. and
thoss 20 whom an unpleasantness with
the big captain might have had no ter
rors of consequence we're deferred by
the fact that Mrs Belknap's devotee
among the "youngsters" had invariably
become an object OF coldness and aver
sion 30 the other danes and damseis Of
the garrison. Very short lived. there
fore. had been tho little hiTtauOns that
sprang up from time 20 time IN those
frontier posts wherein Capt. and Mrs
Beiknap were among the chief orna-
ments q society; but now matters
seemed 90 30 taking other shape. From
the very day that handsome Ned Perry
dsnounted in front q Relkuaps quar-
ters and with MS soldierv salute reported
O. the then commanding o.hcer that Col
Brainard and his battalion Of avalry
would arrive IN the course Df two or
thrce hours. Mrs. Be.snap bad evinced a
contentment on his society and assumed
an mir - quasi pronrietorship that served
e. annoy her garrison si,,ers more than
title For the tirne being ail the cav
a.rvmeu were bachelors. either oY ac-
tuil rank or a" ov br vet. as none of the
hii.s q tne -th accompanied the bat
talon on is march. and none we're ex
pe~tr1 uatl the stations of the regiment
in 'ts new derartment had been definite
~ settled Tie post surgeon. zoo. was
h-inx Ifs of single bless dness "A the
early spring wore on. for ma good wife
bah bcraken herself. with the children.
% the distant east a. soon "a tle disap-
pcsrance % the winter sr17-s rendered
STAGING over the hard prairie roads a
matter of mo- great danger or discomfort.
ft vas tho doctor himself who. seated
tn Az easy char a, che end of the We
rarfa. frst -a. .ed the colonel s attention
o. Psrrvs devotional attitude az Mrs
Polsuar's side. she was reclining in a
hammock. one l-tle. s.iupere1 foo- ccca-
srnalv tourbinE the Eoor and lr rfrt-
ing Scut.e. swinging notion bo rhs
affair and making "A soothing s~ 'ii-
swish ~ sx.rts a.org the mating under
Meath Hr jeweled hands looked 7srT
slender and fragile ami whire as they
cleaned IN The soft azht rhat saone
from che open windows Of enc parior
They we're busted IN Strengthening out
the sinss iu tha gold cord ~ hls forage
cap ard I'm arranging utt.e sitaen
1raia snd raSzel thsf wss fastened in a
ciumsr man Hse fashion CD one q The
buttons a. Che sids he seated IN carln
chair vas lending forward 81 thst his
handsome. shsueiv aesd vs. only a
trifs tiEher thsn hers snt t1o two
hers a. dark ard ~irh in ccfcr.1E. his
., far ard massive ard strong -carr'e
rather toc close torattar fer the e1rla
ni-nirv of Cspt BelFrs0. who bal 90
s,rsd - tase a hand ~ sd isr in tae par
na ~ rvc ~ raa soTss. s.so. Tet=
sifs.,r 81 ,ssrrers - frs re-si srt a. 20
els a-rna beca1se r- n rcr~erss '-n
.+ r-s -frr,e vith rre- -ers ~ Isc1t
r-~ thav were as ref bow
.--r-,r,ents er tis e. or' l-rsrcr nj -,t
10 received rrst r,r rss sa.-l3 CO.
-s-.-~slI- wander trprs-ts Ire ,s1ll1'cc =
ara len rfsncs with srrir pathetic sis
-.e.-a--a AZ rhcss - s,us Par sIr ara
intimate uss rafu-al snough. B1f when
if -ers,ne rrssentlv apparent rhst Mrs
BsikaAr ~ss scr~sslv s1fsseenin1 re