Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-07-19

Too missipcs had reached him
The rain was plashing dismally on the
1f1my window sill and over the awning OF
elc shops below The street cars went
lnGltnk IN with a dripping load of outside
passshgefs On both platforms Wagons
+ md tirays. cabs and closed carriages, that
tAttled or rumbled along the ordinarily
Jusy thoroughfare, looked as though they
4 had been dipped in the river before being
s turned loose on the street, aud their Jehus,
= bedraggled lot, must needs have some
thing amphibious In their composition,
else they could not have borne up against
1 the deluRe that had been soaking the city
& 10r Two days past The policeman, wad-
dling ainlessly about at the opposite cor.
/ ner, enveloped In rubber cap and overcoat,
oast occasional wistful glanccs into the
! bnrroom across the way, wherein the gas
WAS burning in Difference to the general
#8i0oin that overhung the neighborhood,
I. .41ad such pedestrians as had To he abroad
+ Aurried along under their umbrellas as
though they half expected to have to swim
nefore they could reach their destination.
The dense cloud of sooty smoke that had
Ovu1Anrg the metropolis for weeks past,
end that wind from any direction could
: ever entirely dissipate, for the simple rea.
ecn that smokestacks by the score shot up
I ~ the outskirts on every side, now seemed
p Be hurled upon the roofs and walls, tho
Wlndows and the pavement, In black,
PAsty, carb0nifsrous deposit, and every OBJ
1ect out OF doors that one could touch
would leave Its inky response upon the
0And. A moro depressing spell of wealth
-" had not been known for a year and
severy living being in sight seemed saturn
I'D with the general gloom-every living
hairg except one. Capt Fred Lane, OF the
leventh cavalry, was sitting at the dingy
window Of his Office In the recruiting rem
0e9vous ON Sycamore street and actually
whistling softly TO himself In supreme con
.1Dntment
Two missives had reached him that
lAastly morning that had served TO make
nm impervious TO wind or weather. One
large, formal, impressive and bearing the
'1samp OF the war department in heavy
expe acrcss its upper corner--had borne 10
~. -. 1. - no',asss'on ~ ol MS promotion to
lairR~6f captain ci4ooSr 2s.kf,sSsnih 2s.feis tiia,
NAvnlry: vice Curran. retired. The other
ettny billet-had given him even greater
AAppiness. II might he hard to say how
1nany times he had read and reread IL since
- found it on the snowy cloth of his par
1tCNlnr breakfast table In his particular
e0sSssr Of the snug refectory Of "1he Queen
G1ty," ON the books Of which most respect
able II somewhat venerable club his name
nd been borne among the list Of army or
navy members ever since his graduation
1oAve" fifteen years before.
All his boyhood, up to the time of his
winning his cadetship at West Point, had
bcen spent In the city where Tor the past
sixteen months he had considered himself
n nat Init t.Sl L.,
service. During the second year of his
term at the academy he was startled by
the receipt Of a sad letter from his mother,
falling him briefly that his father, long
one OF the best known among the business
men Of the city, had been compelled to
make an assignment. What was worse,
he had utterly broken down under the
strain, and would probably never be him
sell again. Proud, sensitive and honor
ebIe, Mr.. Lane had insisted on paying to
The utmost farthing of his means. Even
the old homestead went. and the broken
hearted man retired with his faithful wife
% humble roof in the suburbs. There.
> few months afterward, he breathed his
list, and there, during Freds graduating
year. she followed him. When tho boy
ontered on his career in the army he was
practically alone in the world. Out of the
Hreck OF his fathers fortune there came to
him little sum that started him in the
lervice free from debt aud that served as
nest egg to attract future accumulations,
This he had promptly banked until some
good aud safe investment should present
.sself, aud, once with his regiment ON the
frontier, Mr.. Lane had found his pay
lmple for all his needs
II Is unnecessary to recount the history
NJ his fifteen yp1 ,huls
Suffice it TO say that, steering clear Of most
y the temptations TO which young officers
we're subjected, he had won a reputation AS
! capital duty officer" that WAS accented
here and there by some brilliant and dash
ng exploits in the numerous Indian cam |
pnigns through which the Eleventh had
lsassod with no small credit Lane was
acser one OF the jovial souls of the regi- |
nent. His mood was rather taciturn and
He read good deal, and
'pent many days In the saddle exploring
he country in the neigbborhood of his post |
md In hunting and fishing.
But, from the colonel down, there was
aot man in the Eleventh who did not
thoroughly respect and like him. Among |
he ladies, however, there WAS one or two
gho never lost an opportunity of giving
'he lieutenant feline and not ineffective
,lsWing whenever his name came up for
l11cussion In the feminine conclaves occa-
aonally held In the regiment. Sometimes,
o0, when opportunity served, he was
nads the victim of some sharp or sarcastic
|popch that was not always easy TO bear i'm
1!enoe. Mrs. Judson, wife of the captain
4 troop, was reputed To bs down on
|nne, anu the men had no difficulty what
Dyor In locating the time when her change
y heart took place
The truth Of the matter was that, thanks
q simple habits and 10 his sense of econ
my, Lane had quite snug little balance
= the bank, aud the ladies of the regiment
1o11jved IT to be bigger than it really was;
no, having approved the furnishing and
lteing up Of his quarters, the next thing,
: course, that they essayed to do was 70
'rovide him with a wife. There the trou-
lls began. simultaneously with the ar
!vai OF his first bar as first lieutenant
here came from the distant east Mrs. Jud-
pms younger sister Emmy" and Mrs. Lor-
ngs pretty niece, Pansy Fletcher. Lane
vas prompt to call ON both, TO take the
oung ladies driving or riding, to be atten-
we and courteous in every way; but while
= did thus perceive divided duty.u
Fnst was Mrs. Loring's horror on discover
nG that pretty Pansy had fallen rapturous-
IN love with Jerry" baltimore, as hand
phe, reckless and impecunious n Young
rngoon as ever lived, and nothing but
Iompt measures prevented their marriapei
Hiss Fletcher was suddenly retransported
the east, whittier Jerry was too hard up
follow, and then, in bitterness OF heart,
sr. isoring blamed poor Fred for the
lhole transaction. Why had he held aloof
- allowed that-that scamp-that ne'er
..s .se'-to cut In and win that innocent