San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-01-29

taA'A SW
as there no officer you kn0t0 to take up
this case for youF"
overtake lie, and as in this case the
lie had weeks start, these expo
nents of the ethics of American journal
ism had reason to feel moderately well
satisfied. 1t would be prudent, how
ever, to let the matter Skinner" now;
and there were other reasons, too; so
Mr.. Abrams was recalled from his mis-
sion to Central City and set to work at
the foundations of the character of a
gentleman just spoken of in connection
with the coming municipal elections.
He had hitherto borne an unimpeach-
able name in the community, but his
friends had committed the grievous Of
Tense of speaking of him for mayor be-
fore The Palladium had been consulted,
and it therefore became The Palladium's
duty to pull his props from under him.
Contenting himself for the time being
with the announcement that the mill
tary authorities at division and army
headquarters had expressed their deep
sense of obligation to The Palladium for
having brought to light the scandalous
condition of affairs at Fort Ryan, and
that it had received their assurances that
as a result of its efforts Lieut.. Hearn
would be brought to trial by court mar
tial, this public spirited journal wisely
turned its attention elsewhere. Other
papers, of course, kept up the hue and
cry, but The Pioneers columns having
warned them that their martyr was
after all only scamp, and their victim a
young officer with capital military rec
ord whom the court might after all &C
quit, it became necessary to prepare the
public mind for such endorsement
by pitching into military courts in gen.
eral as Star Chamber" affairs, organ
lied only to convict privates and white
wash officers, one journal going so far
as to announce that court martial for
Lieut.. Hearn meant simply that a body
of men, each and every one of whom
was in the daily habit of violating every
rule of decency and humanity, was to
sit in judgment on his case and declare
him innocent"
All this, of course, came duly marked
and with pencil comment to Mr.. Hearn
from scores of anonymous senders as he
sat dazed and disheartened in his cheer
less room; but this was not all. Nearly
two weeks had elapsed now since the
first assault, and the home letters, for
which he had looked with mingled fear
and longing, had begun to come. The
first he opened was from his mother.
She had received the marked copies Of
The Palladium of the first three or four
days, sent no one knew by whom, and
they were quickly followed by others.
What was it Thackeray wrote? "There
are stories to mans disadvantage that
the women who are fondest of him are
always the most eager to believe"
A devoted woman and mother was
Mrs. Hearn, but her sole knowledge of
army life was derived from what she
had seen around their nearly ruined
home in southern city about the close
of the war. Franks boyhood was spent
in straitened circumstances, but little by
little his fathers toll and pluck had re-
stored their fallen fortunes, and, a
stanch soldier himself, he could not
wonder that the young fellows heart
should be wrapped up in the hope of
commission. Poor Mrs. Hearn! she had
looked for something far different, and
even her pride at Franks winning a
cadetship at West Point by competitive
examination did not reconcile her to his
entering upon a profession which would
associate him with such characters as
she had seen about the time the great
army was being disbanded. and hun
dreds of officers seemed to have nothing
to do but carouse. BY the time he was
graduated his fathers practice had be-
come so well established as to warrant
the squire-colonels yielding to his wife's
pleadings.
Secretly he rather wanted the boy to
90 on in his career, and was prouder OF
the chevrons the handsome young cadet
captain had worn than of the old tar
nished sleeve knots that he had put
away so reverently the day after Apo
mattox, where Lees kindly hand had
rested for moment on his arm when he
went to bid his beloved chief adleu.
Yielding to her entreaties he offered
Frank good inducements to drop the
army and come home and study law,
but TIE youngster said his heart was
bound uD in the. cavalry. The mother