The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1891-03-12


So ry left his quarters and
EMHy strOlled out on the walk
e8Hfos a. that bounded the parade
-)xsaJ He could not sleep; he
was feverishly impatient
for the coming of another day, that he
might start forth on MS ride to Dunra-
ven. A "spin" around the parade or out
ON tho starlit prairie might soothe his
nerves and enable him to sleep
All lights were out q. the quadrangle,
save those at the guar. house. Even at
Belknap's quarters, where the veranda
had been thronged with officers and Ia
dies only an hour before, ali was now si-
lence and darkness. Unwilling to attract
attention by trampinG up and down on
the board walk, he crossed the road and
went out on the broad level of the pa
rade, but took care so to direct his steps
as not to come within h,1tlirg distance of
the guard house. 1t would be awkward
work explaining the situation to the SER
geant of the guard in case the sentry
were to see or hear and challenge him.
He edged well over to his left as he
walked, and so ithappened that he found
himself, after a while. opposite the
northeast entrance to the post, and close
to the road or which stood the commits
sary and quartermaster storehouses
There was a sentry posted here, too, and
it would not do to be challenged by him
any more than by Number One"
Stopping a moment to listen for the
scntry's football, Perry's ear was ct
tl-Oo tod hvvf ft,n e
and cautiously opened 1t was some
little time before he could tell from
which one of the neighboring buildings,
looming there in the darkness, the sound
proceeded. Then he heard muffled foot
steps and a whispered consultation not
far away, and hurrying on tiptoe in the
direction of the sound he presently
caught sight of two or three shadowy
forms moving noiselessly along the
porch Of the company quarters nearest
him. Stryker's troop, that to which he
belonged, was Quartered down beyond
the guard house on the lower side of the
parade; these forms were issuing from
the barracks Of Capt. Wayne's troop,
and before Perry could realize the fact
that they were out either in moccasins
or their stocking feet, and presumably
therefore on some unlawful enterprise,
they had disappeared around the corner
Of the building. He walked rapidly
thither, turned the corner and they were
nowhere in sight or hearing. Stopping
to listen did not help matters at all. He
could not hear a sound, and as for the
shadows of which he was in pursuit, it
was simply impossible to tell which di-
rection they had taken. They had van
ished from the face of the earth and
were lost in the deeper gloom that hung
about the scattered array of wooden
buildings-stOre houses, fuel sheds and
cook sheds-at the rear of the post.
Had it been his own troop he could
have reused the first sergeant and order
ed ''check" roll call as means of de-
| termining at once who the night prowl-
ers might be; but Capt. Wayne had his
peculiarfties, and one of them was an
unalterable and deeply rooted objection
to any interference on the part Of other
officers in the management Of his men.
Perry's first thought, too, was of the sta
bles and Sergt. Gwynno. Were they
meditating another foray, and had the
feeling spread. outside their own COM
pany? No time was to be lost. He turn
ed his face eastward to where the dark
outlines of the stables could be dimly
traced against the sky, and hastened,
stumbling at times over stray tin cans
| and other discarded rubbish, until he
crossed the intervening swale and reach
ed the low bluff along which the crude.
unpainted structures were ranged. All
was darkness here towards the northern
end, and the one sentry who had exter-
nal charge of the entire line was slowly
| pacing his post; Perry could see his form,
| dimly outlined, as he breasted the slope,
and it determined him to keep on in the
hollow until he got to point opposite
the stables of his own troop. Il there
was to be any devilmentit might be well
to see whether this soldier, too, would
turn out to be in league with the con-
spirators. Listening intently as he hur-
ried along, but hearing nothing, Perry
soon found himself at the pathway lead
ing to his own domain, and the next
minute was gazing in surprise at light
| burning dinly in tie window of the lit
tie room occupied by Sergt. Gwynne;
| there was not glitnmer elsewhere along
the line.
Striding up to the window, he tapped
lightly, and Gwynne's voice sternly
challenged from within, who's there?T'
"Lieut. Perry, sergeant. Come around
and open the stable door for me-"
Zone moment, sir" was the answer,
and he heard the sergeant bounding, ap-
| parently, off his bed. Then hand drew
| aside the shade, and Gwynne's face ap-
| peared at the window, while small Ian
tern was held so as to throw its rays on
the face without, "All right, sir" he
continued. II thought could not be
| deceived in the voice"
Perry walked around to the front again.
| taking another survey of the sleeping
| garrison as he did so, and listening once
more for footsteps; but all was still
Presently the little panel in the big door
was unlocked from within, and the lieu
tenant bent low and entered, finding
Gwynne, lantern in hand, standing in his
4 L.