The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1890-01-11


dim stable lantern looking down into the
bruised and battered features of the nom
commissioned officer, whom he had pro-
nounced Of all others at Rossiter the
most respected and highly thought of by
the cavalry garrison.
Sergeant, I'm very sorry to SEQ you
so badly mauled." said Perry. "How on
earth did it happeny'
Gwynne turned his head painfully until
the one unbandaged eye could look about
and see that none of the stable guard
were within hearing, then back again and
up into the sympathetic face of his, young
superior.
Lieutenant, must tell you and the
captain; and yet it is matter l pro-
foundly wish to keep as secret as pos.
sible-the story of my days adventure,
mean"
"You need not tell me at all if you do
not wish to-" said Perry; Though l
think it is due to yourself that the cap
tain should know how it was you were
gone all day and that your horse and you
both came back in such condition"
II understand, sir, fully" answered
Gwynne, respectfully. II shall tell the
captain the whole story, if he SO desire.
Meantime, can only ask that no one
else be told If the men in the troop had
an inkling of the true story there would
be endless trouble; and sol have tried to
account for it by saying my horse and l
had an ugly fall while running a coyote
through the timber. We did see a CO.
vote, down near the ranch on the Monec
and did have an ugly fall: was set
upon by three of those ranchmen and
badly handled"
"Yes, damn them" said Perry, ex-
citedly and wrathfully. "I've had an
experience with them myself tonight,
while we were searching for you"
so much the moro reason, sir, why
my misllap should not be told among tho
men. The two affairs combined would
be more than they would stand There
are enough Irishmen here in our troop
alone to go down and wipe that ranch
permission to leave the garrison for ride
or hunt when they were to be absent
from no duty, and only by day. Here it
was midnight, as he thought it over, and
the doctor had not returned, neither had
he mentioned his desire to ride away,
although he had been with the colonel
well nigh an hour before parade True,
he had sent the doctor word to go and
join Lieut.. Perry at the gate of Dun
raven, and that would account for his
detention; but he knew that the surgeon
was several miles away from his post and
his patients at the moment that message
was sent.
Meantime, Perry, too, was having a
communion with himself. and finding 1t
all vexation of spirit. All the way
home the memory of that sweet English
face was uppermost in his thoughts. lie
had been startled at the sight Of young
and fair woman at Dunraven; ho had
felt sense Of inexplicable rejoicing
when she said to him, 81 am Miss Matt
land;" it would have Jared him to know
that she was wife; he was happy, kneel.
ing by the side of tho beautiful girl he
had never seen before that evening, and
delighted that he could be Of service to
her. All this was retrospect worth in
dulging; but then arose the black shadow
on his vision. How came Dr. Quin
striding in there as though "native and
to the manner born7"-how came he to
call her "Gladys?" Perry had been
pondering over this matter for full half
an hour on the homeward ride before lie
hethought him of Mrs. Lawrence's re-
marks about the signal lights. One
thing led to another in his recollection Of
her talk. The doctor answered the sig
nails, no one else; the doctor and no one
else was received at Dunraven; the doc
tor had declined to answer any questions
about the people at the ranch; had been
silent and mysterious. yet frequent in
his visits And then, more than all,
what was that Mrs. Lawrence said or in
timated that Mrs. Quin, "such lovely
woman, too" had taken her children and
left him early that spring, and all on ac-
count of somebody or something con-
nected with Dunraven Ranch? Good
heavensl It could not be GLADYS"
And yet
Instead of taking bath and going to
bed, Mr.. Perry poked his head into
Parke's bachelor chamber as he reached
the little cottage they shared in common.
No Gladys disturbed the juniors dreams,
apparently, for he was breathing regu-
larly, sleeping the sleep of the just; and
so, finding no one to talk to and being in
no mood to go to bed at an hour so COM
paratively early when he had so much to
think about, Perry filled a pipe and
perched himself in a big chair by the
window seat, intending to think it all
over again. He was beginning to hate
that doctor; he would have chafed at the
idea of any bachelors being before him
inan acquaintance with Gladys Maitland,
but married man knowing her so well
as to make his wife jealous and himself
Indifferent to that fact-knowing her so
well as to drive "such lovely woman,
too," into taking her children and quit
ting the marital roof-that was too much
of bad thing, and Perry was sore dis
comfited. He got up, impatient and rest
less, passed out to the little piazza in
front Of his quarters, and began pacing
out OF existence; and fear trouble as 1t
stands"
whether there will be trouble or not
will depend very much on the future
conduct of the proprietor and manager
down there. OF course we cannot toll
crate for an instant the idea of their
maintaining gang Of ruffians there Who
are allowed to assault officers or men
who happen to ride around that neigh
horhood. You were not inside their
limits. were you?"
Eyes, SIR" said the sergeant, pain
fully. II was; I had tied my horse out
side and ventured in to get a nearer
look at the buildings"
"What time did it happen7"
"This morning, sir; not more than an