Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1892-09-19


moment well down the row beyond Haz-
lett's house. whereas Dr. Holden's was at
the eastern end of the line. The moon
shone full against the back fence, said
the sentry, and he was sure he would
have seen anybody who ran out of the
gate of the doctors yard, and the first
who appeared were the searching Off
GERS, Corporal Murphy with them. Sew
eral men had then come running from
the direction of the laundresses' quar-
ters to the west and after them Ser
geant Ellis. Indeed, it was Ellis who
first suggested a. search of the roof by
means of a ladder. He was sergeant in
charge of the fire apparatus kept in
that long, low building at the east end,
and had the keys of the door. @. =.
1t was by his aid that some of the
junior officers made thorough exam
alton of the roof and the front porch.
No more signs there than had hitherto
been found. No. the sentry on the
south post was confident that no man
came out of Hoiden's yard until he got
to the gate, whittier he had run the in
slant he heard the cry. He thought it
might be a lamp explosion or a fire, and
he was watching with eager eyes. He
had been on post nearly two hours when
the alarm came. and. except Corporal
Murphy and the quartermasters men
who took the trunks, he had not seen or
heard man about the premises. Kath-
leen, the nursemaid, and the children
had been home all the evening. and they
had neither seen nor heard anybody.
Captain Rolfe, unable to sleep, and
making the rounds on his own account
about one o'clock, found the sentry of
the third relief gazing curiously in at
the open back gate. and questioned him
as to what excited his attention.
Nothing, sir" was the prompt reply
of the trooper. as he threw his carbine
to the position of ''arms port" Il was
simply wondering how any man could
have ventured in there this bright night
and expected to get out unseen, es-
pecially early in the evening, when
men are passing to and fro all the
time" "a
What made you think any one had
been there?' asked the captain quietly.
Everybody has heard by this time
that thereawas "a search made, and that
the young lady had seen something TO
frighten her Besides. Sergeant Ellis
spoke of. it to me an hour ago."
What was the sergeant doing on
your post at midnight"
why, sir, the captain remembers
Sergeant Ellis is in charge of the fire
house and sleeps there. He came out a
little before twelve and said he'd lost
his pet pipe while he was hunting
around with Lieutenant Brewster after
he brought the ladder, and ! let him
pass in. sir. He said he'd been working
there long after taps, and it would be
all right. He found the pipe, isir, right
at the edge of the wood pile. yonder. He
showed it to me as he came out"
Captain Rolfe wasssilent a moment.
Ordinarily none of the enlisted men
had any right to be away from quarters
after the lights OUT signal. but this
case was unusual. isFurthermore. Ellis
was a man superior in intelligence, a
sergeant of more than a years standing,
and one who had been selected for this
especial duty for the very reason that,
holding himself much aloof from the
average run of the rank and file, he
would be apt to attend strictly to his
duties as custodian of the fire house, and
no one had ever heard of his abusing
his trust. His own little room was
model of neatness when the command
ing officer made his monthly inspection
of the garrison. and the hose carriage.
the hook and ladder truck. the fire
buckets and other apparatus were al
ways in perfect order and readiness for
service. No one ever inspected Ellis
quarters at any other time. The guard
often noticed his light after midnight,
and he had the reputation of being
good deal of I, reader and student. tax
ing books from the post library very
often, besides owning quite number of
his Own.&s W
Observant officers who had glanced
about when making the inspection with
Colonel Farquhar noted that many of
these were texts on mining, mining en-
gineering. mineralogy and geology, and
some had gone SO far as to question the
sergeant as to whether he had ever prac-
tically iessayed mining With perfectly
-es~ sctful manner Ellis replied to these
occasional queries, merely saying, Eyes,
sir; but without success" Asked where
he had made his essay, his reply was
rather vague, In several western states
and territories. sir-mainly Arizona and |
Colorado" Only once had he displayed |
anything like annoyance or impotence
under such fire. He had served his |
three years enlistment, was entitled to
his discharge. yet quietly notified his |
troop commander that he proposed to re-
enlist. In a somewhat sharp manner |
that official had whirled about.