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

S-TZx
Their hostess Ted him to her piano
Facing the broad, bleak prairie. sepa-
rated from it only by rough, unpainted
picket fence, and hanked by uncouth
structures Of pine. one of which was used
AS n storehouse for quartermaster's prop
erty, the other as the post traders deposi-
tory for skins and furs, there stood the
frame cottage which Mr.. Hayne had chos-
en- as his home. As has been said, it was
precisely like those built for the subal-
tern officers, so far as material, plan and
dimensions were concerned. The locali-
ty made the vast difference which really
existed. Theirs stood all in row, front.
ing the grassy level of the parade. sur
rounded by verandas, bordering on q
well kept gravel path and an equally
well graded drive. Clear, sparkling
water rippled in tiny acequias through
the front yards of each, and so furnished
the moisture needed for the life Of the
various little shrubs and Towering plants.
The surroundings were at least ''socia-
ble," and there was companionship and
jollity, with an occasional tiff to keep
things lively. The married officers, as a
rule, had chosen their quarters farthest
from the entrance gate and nearest those
of the colonel commanding. The bache-
lors, except the two or three who were old
in the service and had crank" in lieu of
encumbranccs, were all herded together
along the eastern end, q situation that
had disadvantages as connected with du-
ties which required the frequent pres
ence of the occupants at the court mar
tial rooms or at headquarters, and
that was correspondingly far distant
from tho barracks of the soldiers. It
had its recommendations in being con-
venient to the card room and billiard
tables at "the store," and in embracing
within its limits one house which pos
sessed mysterious interest in the eyes Of
every woman and most of the men in
the garrison; it was said to be haunted.
A sorely perplexed man was the post
quartermaster when the rumor came out
from the railway station that Mr.. Hayne
had arrived and was coming to report
for duty. AS first lieutenant he would
have choice of quarters over every Sec
ond lieutenant in the garrison. There
were ten of these young gentlemen, and
four of the ten were married. Every
set of Quarters had it's occupants, and
Hayne could move in nowhere, unless as
occupant of a room or two in the house
of some comrade, without first compel
ling others to move out. This proceed.
ing would lead to vast discomfort, oc-
curing as it would in the dead Of winter,
and the youngsters were naturally per-
turbed in spirit-their wives especially
SO. What made the prospects infinitely
worse was the fact that the cavalry
bachelors were already living three in a
house; the only spare rooms were in the
quarters of the second lieutenants of the
infantry, and they were not on speaking
terms with Mr.. Hayne. Everything,
therefore, pointed to the probability Of
his "displacing" junior, who would in
turn displace somebody else, and SO they
would go tumbling like row Of bricks
until the lowest and last was reached.
All this would involve no end Of worry
for the quartermaster, who even under
the most favorable circumstances is sure
to be the least appreciated and most
abused officer under the commandant
himself. and that worthy was simply
agasp with relief and joy when he heard
Mr.. Hayo~'s astonishing announcement
that he would take the quarters out on
"Prairie avenue"
1t was the talk of the garrison all that
day. The ladies, especially, had good
deal to say, because many of the men
seemed averse to expressing their views.
"Qui,e the proper thing for Mr.. Hayne
to do" was the apparent opinion OF the
majority of tine young wives and moth
ers AS particularly kind and con-
siderate thinS 1t was not remarked by
one of them, though that view OF the
case went not entirely unrepresented.
In choosing to live there Mr.. Hayne
separated himself from companionship.
That, said some of the Commentator
men as well as women-he simply ac-
cepted as the virtue of necessity, and SO
| there was nothing to commend in his
action. Bot Mr.. Hayne was said to pos.
sess an eye for the picturesque and beau
tiful. II so, he deliberately condemned
himself to tho daily contemplation Of a
| treeless barren, streaked in occasional
shadows with dingy patches of snow,
ornamented only in spots by abandoned
old hats, boots, or tin cans blown be-
! yond the jurisdiction of the garrison
police parties. A line of telegraph poles
was all that intervened between his fence
and the low lying hills of the eastern
! horizon.
Southeastward lay the distant roofs
and the low, squat buildings of the from
tier town; southwark the shallow valley
of the winding creek in which lay tho
long line of stables for the cavalry and
the great stacks of hay; while the row
on which he chose to live-"Prairie ave-
nue." as it was termed-was far worse
at his end of it than at the other. ltcov'
cred the whole eastern front. The big,
brown hospital building. stood at the
/ northern end. Then came the quarters
Of the surgeon and his assistants, then
the snug home of the post trader, then
the 'store" and its scattering appen-
dages, then the entrance gateway, ther
a broad vacant space, through which tn,
wind swept like hurricane, then tn,
little shanty of the traders fur house
and one or two hovel like structure.
used by the tailors and cobbler of thu
adjacent infantry companies. TheI
came the cottage itself; south of it stoos
the quartermaster's storeroom, back o
which lay an extension filled with ord