San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-09-06

concern, that one is not surprised when a
crash comes.
anything might turn up any day-for
any one. Perhaps the senior subaltern
had e trapped in his youth. Men are
crippled that way occasionally. We didn't
know; we wanted to hear, and the cap
tains' wives were as anxious as we. If he
had been trapped he was to be excused, for
the woman from nowhere, in the dusty
shoes and gray travelling dress, was very
lovely, with black hair and great eyes full
Of tears. She was tall, with a fine figure,
and her voice had q running sob in it pitt
full to hear. AS soon as the senior sub
s.tern stood up she threw her arms round
his neck and called him ''my darling" and
said she could not bear waiting alone in
England, and his letters were so short and
cold and size was his TO the end of the
world, and would he forgive her? This
did not ound quite like a lady's way of
speaking. 1t was too demonstrative.
Things seemed black indeed, and the cap
tains' wives peered under their eyebrows
at the senior subaltern, and the colonels
face set like the day of Judgment framed
in gray b~ristles, and no one spoke for a
| while.
Next the colonel said very shortly:
"Wcll, SIR and the woman Sobbed afreSh.
The senior subaltcrn was half ChoGed with
the arms round his neck, but he g&sped
out: Its "a id lie! | never had a wife
in my ife!' Don't swear" said the COL
onel. Come into the mess. We must sift
this clear somehow" and he sighed to him
| self, for he believed in his "Shikarris," did
| the colonel.
We troopad into the ante-room, under
| the full lights, and there we saw how beau
| tiful the woman was. She stood up in the
middle of us all, sometimes choking with
crying, then hard and proud, and then
holding out her arms to the senior subal-
tern. It was like the fourth act of IA trag-
cdy. She told us how the senior subaltern
| had married her when he was home on
leave eighteen months before; and she
seemed to know all that we knew, and
more too, of his people and his past life.
He was white and ashy gray, trying now
and again to break into the torrent of her
words; md we, noting how lovely she was
and what a criminal he looked, esteemed
him a beast of the worst kind. We felt
sorry for him, though.
shall never forget the indictment of the
senior subaltcrn by his wife. Nor will he.
1t was so Sudden, rushing out of the dark
1 III AtlOilllNNu lAlO Jul III lNNNs IL ZAP
| tlins' wives stood back, but their eyes
were alight, and you could see that they
had already convicted and sentenced the
senior subaltern. The colonel seemed five
years older. One major was shading his
eyes with his hand and watching the wom-
an from underneath it. Another was chew
ing his mustache and smiling quietly as if
he were witnessing IA play. Full in the
open space in the center by the whist tables
the senior subaltern's terrier was hunting
for tleas. remember all this as clearly as
though a photograph were in my hand. |
remember the look of horror on the senior
subaltern's face. II was rather like seeing
"A man hanged, but much more interesting.
Finally the woman wound up by saying
that the senior subaltern carried a double
f. VI. in tattoo on his left shoulder. We
all knew that, and to our innocent minds
it seemed to clinch the matter. But one of
the bachelor majors said very politely: II
presume that your marriage certificate
would he more to the purpOsc?"
That reused the woman. She stood up
and sneered at the senior subaltern for a
chr ard abused the major and the colonel
aud all the rest. Then she wept and then
she pulled a paper from her breast, saying
imperiaIly: Take that! And let my hus-
band-my lawfully welded husband-read
it aloud if he dare"
There was a hush and the men looked
into each others eyes as the senior subal-
tern came forward in n daZed and dizzy
way and took the paper. We were won
derinC, as we stared, whether there vas
anything against any one of us that might
turn up later on. The senior subaltern's
throat was dry; but, as he ran his eye over
| the paper, he broke out into IL hOarSe CaCkle
| of relief and said to the woman: You
young b~lackguard!"
But the woman had fed through a door,
and on the paper was written: This is to
| certify that |, The Worm, have paid in full
my debts to the senior subaltern, M fur
ther. that the senior subalUern is my debtor,
by agreement on the 23d Of February, as
by the mess attested, to the extent of one
months captains pay, in the lawful Cur.
relcy Of the India empire"
Then n deputation set off for The Worms
quarters and found him, betwiXt and be
tween, unlacing his stays, with the hat,
wig, serge dress, etc, on the bed. He
| came over as he was, and the 'Shi-
harris" shouted till the gunners' mess
| sent over to know if they might have a
share of the fun. | think we were all, eX-
cept the colonel and the senior subaltern,
a little disappointed that the scandal had
come to nothing. But hat is human ma
ture. There could DC no two words abou'
The Worms acting. 1t leaned as near to
a nasty tragedy as anything this side of a
joke can.
When most of the subalterns sat upon
him with sofa cushions TO find out why he
had not said that acting was his strong
,,sn4 ha Zxy, xnrty pI,iatlu al 1nn't i