Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-03-01

eats Of the kitten at the moment aud
parfine With upraiscd finger u the
threatening paw.
"Do look out Of the window. Nell, and
see."
"Thers b nothing 10 see. Kats- -noth-
ing but whirling drifts and . bie watss
tank all covered with Ice. Br-r-f-fi how
cold Il looksi~ she answered, after vainly
iaattenine her facs against the inner pane.
There must be something the matter,
though" persisted Mrs. Rayner. 1--WE
have been hers full Ave minutes, and We
are behind time now. At this rate we'll
never get to warrcner TO- pight. ! do
wish the porter would stay here whers
hc belongs,
Tho young man quietly laid down his
book andarosc. "Iwill inquire, madam"
he said. with grave courtesy. "You
shall know In moment"
"How very kind Of you'll" said the lady.
"1ndecd I must not trouble you. I'm
sure the porter win be here after q while. !"
And even as she spoke, and as he was
pulling on an overcoat, the train rum.
bled of again. Then came an exclama-
ton, this time from the younger:
"Why, Katei Look! zee all these men
-and horsesi Why. they are soldiers--
cavalry Oh, how I love to zee them
againi But. OBJ. how cold they look
froxeni"
"Who can they beg'' said Mrs. Rayner,
all vehement interest now, and gazing
eagerly from the window at the lowered
heads of the horses and the muffied fig
ures in blue and fur. "What can they
be doing in the field in such awful
weather? cannot recognize one Of
them, or tell officers from men. Surely
that must be Capt. Wayne-and Maj.
Stannard. Oh, what can It mean?'
The young man had suddenly leaped
to the window behind them, and was
gazing out with an eagerness and inter.
est little less apparent than her own;
but in moment the train had whisked
them out Of sight of the storm beaten
troopers. Then he hurried to the rear
window of the car, and Mrs. Rayner a.
hastily followed.
"Do you know themT she asked.
eyes. That was Maj. Stannard. It 10
his battalion of the -th cavalry, and
they have been out scouting after rene
gade Cheyennes. Pardon me, madame,
/ must 60 forward and see who have
boarded the train"
He stopped at his section, and again
she followed him, her eyes full of anx-
iety. He was busy tugging at flask in
his travelling bag.
"You know them! Do you know
have you heard of any infantry being
out2 Pardon me for OBTAINING you, but
I am very anxious. My husband is Capt.
Rayner, of Fort Warrener."
"No infantry have been sent. madame,
I-have reason to know; at least, none
from Warrener."
And with that he hurriedly bowed and
left her. The next moment, flask in
hand, he was crossing the storm swept
platform and making his way to the
head of the train.
II believe he is an officer" said Mrs.
Rayner to her sister. "Who else would
be apt to know about the movement o.
the troops? Did you notice how gentle
his manner was?--and he never smiled.
He has such sad face. Yet he can't be
an officer, or he would have made him
self known to us long ago."
"If there no name on the satchel7''
asked Miss Travers, with pardonable curl
osity. "He has an interesting face-not
handsome. And dreamy look came
into her deep eyes. She was thinking,
no doubt, of dark, oval, distingue face
with raven hair and mustache. The
youth in the travelling suit was not tall,
like Stcven-not singularly, romantical-
ly handsome, like Steven. Indeed, he
was of less interest to her than to her
married sister.
Mrs. Rayner could see no name on the
satchel, only two initials; and they re-
vealed very little.
"Ihave half mind to peep at the fly
leaf of that book" she said. "He walk
ed just like a soldier; but there isn't
anything there to indicate what he is,''
she continued, with doubtful glance at
the items scattered about the now vacant
section. "Why isn't that porter herei
He ought to know who people are"
As though to answer her request, in
came the porter, disheveled and breath
less. He made straight for the satchel
they had been scrutinizing, and opened
it without ceremony. Both ladies re-
garded this proceeding with natural
astonishment, and Mrs. Rayner was
about to interfere and question his right
to search the luggage of passengers
when the man turned hurriedly towards
them, exhibiting little bundle of hand
kerchiefs, his broad Ethiopian facs
clouded with anxiety and concern:
"The gentleman told me to take al
his handkerchiefs. We'se got . dozer
frozen soldiers in the baggage CARSON,
of 'em mighty bad-and they'se tryin
to make 'em comfortable until they ge
to the fort"
Soldiers frozen, Why do you taxi
them in the baggage car?-such barr
of place! Why weren't they brough
here, where we could make them warn
and care for them?" exclaimed Mrs. Ray
ner, in impulsive indignation.
Laws, ma'am! never do in the worl'
to bring frozen people into a hot car
Sure to make their ears an noses drol
off, that would! Got to keep 'em in th'
cold and pile snow around 'em. Tha
gentleman sittin' here-he knows" h
continued; "he's an officer, and him an
the doctors workin' with 'em now"
And Mrs. Rayner, vanquished by
statement of facts we'll known to he
yet forgotten in the first impetuosity o
her criticism, relapsed into the silenc
Of temporary defeat.
"He is an officer, them" said Mii
Travers, presently. II wonder what h
belongs to-"
''Not to our regiment, I'm sure. Prot
ably to the cavalry. He knew Maj. Star
nard and other officers whom we passe