Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-03-08

opinions ana assssnA is wss makiue
him sick ss hears. end q made him q
secret doubly vindjcetso an& baeose
agAinst the man he had douued o years
a suffering. This showed out slbat vssy
0orning. MrA Rayner he'd boeun .
talk. and he turned fiercsly upon hses
mot word on that subject, KAts. U
you love mei-not even the mention q
bis namei must have peace in my own
horse It b enough 10 have 10 talk Of it
elsewhere"
Talk Of Il he had to. The major early
that morning asked him. = they were
going 10 the matinee:
~Have you seen Hayne yer
"Not since he reported on the pasade
yesterday" was the curt reply.
"Well, I suppose you win send msn 70
help him get those quarters into hsbita-
bic shapef'
II will. Of course, major, II hs ask Il. !.
! don't propose sending men 10 do such
work for an officer unless the request
come"
"He IL entitled to that consideration,
Rayner, and think the men should be
sent to him. He is hardly likely to
ask"
''Then he Is less likely to get them."
said the captain, shortly, for, except the
post commander, he well knew that NO
officer could order It to be done. He was
angry at the major for interfering. They
were old associates and had entered ser.
vice almost at the same time, but his
friend had the better luck In promotion
and was now his battalion commands.
Rayner made an excuse Of stopping 70
speak with the officer Of the day, and
the major went on without him. He
was quiet old soldier; he wanted no
disturbance with his troubled friend,
and, like u sensible man, he turned the
matter over to their common superior,
in a very few words. before the arrival
of the general audience. It was this that
had caused the colonel to turn quietly to
Rayner and say, in the most matter Of
fact way:
"Oh, Capt. Rayner, presume Mr..
Hayne will need three or four men to
help him get his quarters in shape.
suppose you have already thought to
send themr"
And Rayner flushed, and stammered,
"They have not gone yet. sir; but had
thought of it."
Later, when the sergeant sent the re-
quired detail he reported to the captain
in the company office in five minutes:
"The lieutenant's compliments and
thanks, but he does not need the men,"
The dinner at the colonel's, quiet as II
was and with only eight at table, was an
affair of almost momentous importance
to Mr.. Hayne. 1t was the first thing OF
the kind he had attended in five years,
and though he well knew that it was In
tended by the cavalry commander moro
especially as q recognition Of the services
rendered their suffering men, he could
] not but rejoice in the courtesy and tact
with which he was received and enter.
| tanned. The colonel's wife, the adju-
tant's, and those of two captains away
with the field battalion were the four ladies
who were there to greet him when, es-I
cortcd by Mr.. Blake, he made his appear
ance. How long-how very long-itI
seemed to him since he had sat in th<
| presence of refined and attractive women
and listened to their gay and animated
chatl They seemed all such good friends,
they made him so thoroughly at home,
and they showed so much tact and ease
that never once did it seem apparent
that they knew of his trouble in his own
regiment; and yet there was no actual
avoidance of matters in which the Rifiers
were generally interested.
It was mainly of his brief visit to the
east, however, that they made him talk
of the operas and theatres he had attended.
the pictures he had seen, the music that
was most popular; and when dinner was
over their hostess led him to her piano,
and he played and sang for them again
and again. His voice was soft and sweet.
and, though it was uncultivated, he sang
with expression and grace, playing with
more skill but less feeling and effect than
he sang. Music and books had been the
solace of lonely years, and he could
easily see that he had pleased them with
his songs. He went home to the dreary
rookery out on Prairie avenue and
laughed at the bowling wind. The bare
grimy walls and the dim kerosene lamp,
even Sans unmelodious snore in the
back room, sent no gloom to his soul. It
had been happy evening. 1t had cost
him a hard struggle to restrain the
emotion which he had felt at times; and
when he Withdrew, soon after the
trumpets sounded tattoo, and the ladies
fell to discussing him, as women will,
there was but one verdict-his manners
were perfect.
But the colonel said more than that.
He had found him far better read than
any other officer of his age he had ever
met; and one and all they expressed the
hope that they might see him frequently.
No wonder it was of momentous import.
ance to him. 1t was she opening to q
new life. 1t meant that here ut least he
had met soldiers and gentlemen and Their
fair and gracious wives who had wei
coined him to their homes, and, though
they must have known that pail of sus
picion and crime had overshadowed hii
past, they believed either that he was in
nocent of the grievous charge or that hi
years of exile and suffering had ampl,
atoned. 1t was happy evening indeed
to him; but there was gloom at Capt
Rayner's.
The captain himself had gone out sooI
after tattoo. He found that the parlo
was filled with young visitors of boti
sexes, and he was in no mood for merri
ment Miss Travers was being welcomed
to the post in genuine army style, ant
was evidently enjoying it. Mrs. Rayne
was fitting nervously in and out of TIN
parlor with cloud upon her brow, ant
for once in her life compelled to preserv
temporary silence upon the subject up
permost in her thoughts. She had beel
forbidden to speak of it to her husband
yet she knew he had gone out again witt
| every nrohahility of needing soma on