The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1890-12-20

selves. Mr. Hurleys wrist was nadlv
spraincd and in sling: but the colonel
went pUrposely to call upon him and to
shake his other hand, and he begged to
be permitted to see Mrs. Hurley, who
came in pale and soft eyed, and with a
gentle demeanor that touched the colonel
more than he could tell. Her check
flushed for 4 moment as he bent low
over her hand, and told her how bitterly
he regretted that his absence from the
post had resulted in SO grievous an ex-
perience; it was not the welcome he and
his regiment would have given her had
they known of her intended visit. To
MI Hurley he briefly said that he need
not fear but that full justice would be
meted out to the instigator or instigators
of the assault; but, as a something to
make partial amends for their suffering,
he said that nothing now could check
the turn Of the tide in their brothers
favor. All the cavalry officers except
Buxton, all the infantry officers except
Rayner, had already been to call upon
him since the night of the occurrence, and
had striven to show how distressed they
were over the outrageous blunders OF
their temporary commander.
Buxton had written a note expressive
of desire to see him and ''explain," but
was informed that explanations from
him simply aggravated the injury; and
Rayner, crushed and Inundated, was
fairly in hiding in his room, too sick at
heart to want to see anybody, and wait
ing for the action of the authorities in
the confident expectation that nothing
less than court martial and disgrace
would be his share of the outcome. He
would gladly have resigned and gone at
once, but that would have been resigning
under virtual charges; he had to stay.
and his wife had to stay with him. and
Nellie with her. By this time Nellie
Travers did not want to go. She had but
one thought now-to make amends to
Mr.. Hayne for the wrong her thoughts
had done him. 1t was time for Mr.. Van
Antwerp to come to the wide west and
look after his interests, but Mrs. Rayner
had ceased to- urge, while he continued
to implore her to bring Nellie east at
once. Almost any man as rich and in
dependent as Steven Van Antwerp would
have gone to the scene and settled mat
tiers for himself. Singularly enough, this
one solution of the problem seemed never
to occur to him as feasible.
Meantime the colonel had patiently I'M
raveled the threads and had brought to
light the whole truth and nothing but
the truth. 1t made a singularly simple
story, after all; but that was SO much the
worse for Buxton. The only near rela-
ton Mr.. Hayne had in the world was
this one younger sister, who six years
before had married a manly, energetic
fellow, a civil engineer in the employ of
an eastern railway. During Haynes
mountain station" exile Hurley had
brought his wife to Denver, where far
better prospects awaited him. He won
promotion in his profession, and was
now one of the principal engineers en-
ployed by road running new lines
through the Colorado Rockies. Journey
ing to Salt Lake, he came around by way
of Warrener, SO that his wife and lie
not seen in years. Their train was due
there early in the afternoon, but was
blocked by drifts and did not reach the
station until late at night. There they
found a note from him begging them to
take carriage they would EnQ waiting
for them and come right out and spend
the night at his quarters; he would send
l. h,,~ lo, ~,
westward train in the morning. He could
not come in, because that involved the
necessity of asking his captains permits
sion, and they knew his relations with
that captain.
1t was her shadow Buxton had seen on
the window screen; and as none Of Bux-
tons acquaintance had ever mentioned
that Hayne had any relations. and as
Hayne, in fact, had had no one tor years to
talk to about his personal affairs, nobody
but himself and the telegraph operator
at the post really knew of their sudden
visit. Buxton, being an unmitigated cad
had put the worst Interpretation on his
discovery, and, in his eagerness to clinch
the evidence of conduct unbecoming an
officer and gentleman upon Mr.. Hayne,
had taken no wise head into his conf
dence. Never dreaming that the shadow
could be that of blood relation, never
doubling that a fair, frail companion
from the frontier town was the eXplana-
ton of Mr.. Haynes preference for that
out of the way house and late hours, he
stated his discovery to Rayner as posi-
tive fact. going so far as to say that his
scntries had recognized her as she drove
away in the carriage, If he'had not been
an ass as well as cad, he would have
interviewed the driver of the carriage;
but he had jumped at his theory and his