Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1892-11-18
TIE COI.ONEL's WIFE.

Fort Ludlow is Il beautiful place to
thc few people from uhc city who,
nervous and tirci from Il long Win
tc. IL ovcrwork, do down Eicrc i'm the
sunny springtime for IL days rest.
When upon landing from the little
transfer steamer. You arc received by
an officer, the number of whose stripes
Hmnciiajcly decides i'm the minds of
thc garr son your position i'm the
word. and taken to his quarters,
tha!c To receive the hospitality of the
fort: when. later, you wander out
alone upon The green. grass-grown
ram!mrts, and look away over the
Sparkling blue water which nearly
sur oumds you. then You feel as If at
last you had reached Il pace of also-
lutte rest and pace from the every
day worries OF life. You envy those
blue irnusercd workmcn piling stones
with the great derrick far down to-
wards the waters edge, you smile
conicntedly to yourself as with half
closed eyes you dlowsily breathe i'm
the -alt air, and Just before you sink
OIL into your comfortable siln-nap,
think, ''Ihc soldiers life is certainly
the plcasantcst and most peaceful i'm
the world know that this is what
yom would s!n and think, for so thou
SANDS have done and Thought, and so
which, by the way, is far moro inl-
,lort INT to tins story-I myself have
done and thought.
i,ut little later / was wakened
from my comfortable nap upon the
ramparis, and taken, most unncccs-
sarllv. as it seemed to me- to call
upon tho officers wives Then IT was
that ! began to think differently of
the Pleasures of this soldier life We
began al the Coioncl's house. and
never finished until we had said our
las, glad farewell! to the little wife of
one %! the licutcnant>. All the ladies
were most llospi,ahlc, insisted upon
our drinking tea and eat ing crackers.
and rclascd utterly tn allow us to tire
on Sc.ves by talking. they themselves
ate -itiing TO that part of the enter
tainmcnt. And, curiously enough,
they ill said the same thing i'm a
slightly different way. Each spoke
- the long. lonesome winters at the
fort. when for DAYS communication
with the city was shut oil: each said
how good ii was TO see new faces. and
each, with the exception of tho Col
onei's wife, who talked about all the
rest, had something to say or inti-
mate about the wife next highest i'm
command. The talk was of Il general,
but very Suggestive. nature. The
1-lcutcnant'S wife had a .,but" for
the Captains better half: the latter
lady smiled knowingly when tho
Majors wife was mentioned. and
asked III we had vet met young Lieut..
l'owlcs. The Majors wife said that
She was so sorry for the Colonel, with
his large family and young wife. who,
of course, being only IL stcpmotller,
could not have had much experience.
When, finally, we had finished our
round OF calls. and were wandering
Slowly outside the walls. said to my
friend, Life here is hardly pleasant
as it at first looks. Hey. old MANI"
and my friend only smiled.
All of which goes to show that
things i'm the old days being much as
they are now. the heroine cf my
friends story led anything but hap
py life, and, upon the whole. proved
herself Il noble woman by deciding
and acting rs She did. 1t proves,
moreover. that my friends conclusion
was correct. As We lay outside the
ramparts, in the warm afternoon
sun. he rold this tale:
''i>nring ille war this fort was COM
mandcd by Col. Baxter. He was IL
hraSc old man. of more use out of the
active fighting than i'm it. and just
the officer to command this place,
which AT the time was of some inn
portamrc from the fact that it served
as Il prison for Southern captivcs.
They told odd stories of old Baxter. and
from all accounts he WAS not of the
mildest disposition towards either his
prisoners OF his own men. Ofall who
suffered from the Coloncl's tyranny,
however, the most tried was his
young wife. She had been married
10 iiim hN h"r parents when she was
still very young. and having gained Il
right TO his name and money. had
lost, as it seemed all hope of happi-
ness. Tho old man undoubtedly
loved her. us was often proved bv the
license he allowed her in many
Things. hut he loved her in way that
could call for no response, and he
made her life most wrctched. To
add to her distress, she was almost
worshipcd by every officer in the fort.
and as a consequence sincerely hated
by their wives.
$50 matters stood there at the fort
in midwintcr Of '63. There were at
the time few prisoners confined here,
and, if the Colonel had chosen, the
life might have been almost pleasant
AS it was. the only bright spot in the
long, monotonous lays was in the
morning visit of the Coloncl's wife to
the prisoners The old mans per-
mission that this daily visit might be
- k,.ad In,