River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-04-21

Suddenly he was gone. The few
| soldiers who were lounging in sight of
the parade ground did not see him de-
part and TIE guard had cha lenged no
/ one.
/ II was judged that ne had gone to-
ward Fairview. the railroad station,
/ but no one was sure of it until noon,
/ when the captain sweeping the plain
with his telescope made out a lone fig
ure four miles away.
! Poor fellow he murmured. ''He
/ viii never finish the chase"
And then he volunteered the informa-
+ ton that Jayne had the night before
/ asked for and received his months va
cation furlough.
That settled it in the soldiers minds.
/ There was but one explanation Of the
mornings happenings-an erring wife,
a brOken-hearted husband, a soldier
/ lover. Some of the officers who had
/ known Jayne professed to be lieve him
/ incapable of such deed and declared
I him the soul Of honor, but they were in
/ the minority.
The prairie over which Cumler half
walked, half staggered, was dry and
/ brown. Though only midsummer the
drought and hot winds had eaten up the
/ sap of tine grasses and they swished
against his feet with a hard, crisp
/ sound. The sky was clear and the I'M
/ softened Kansas sun had blazed the air
/ into pulsing waves of heat that met his
i face in burning currents. borne by the
I racing south wind that came steadily.
/ swiftly. like the blowing of SIMEON.
Z Not a house was in sight, for the gov
I eminent claimed all the land there
/ abOuts as a military reservation, and
I the fort itself was distorted figure on
/ the horizon.
Cumler struggled on with bowed head
and stumbling, week-kneed steps. He
did not see even the meadowlarlls that
struggled fitfully against the wind.
That wind-for three days it had
/ been blowing, rolling up from the
/ south, bearing on its back the debris of
/ hundreds of attended fields and i'll
/ kept door yards. In the towns dust
/ clouds swept through the streets aud in
I the homes OF toiler and capitalist alike
/ little ridges of dark, finely pulverized
sand marked every crevice in wall or
window casing.
The third day of the wind storm
/ darker cloud than that of dust came
/ rolling out of the southern horizon.
/ II was smoke,
/ The flames swept with peculiar
| strength and apparent pleasure over the
| government reservation. and the SOL
diers of the Seventh remember vet the
/ fight they had that afternoon to protect
the buildings Of the post
| Cumler aroused To his danger only
I when the long dancing line of flame
could be distinguished as 1t devoured
the dry grasses The line was so long
I that he knew he could not escape it on
/ foot. and he stood staring at it dumbly.
/ Then he turned and swept the remain
der of tine horizon. hoping for a way of
I escape
Coming toward him from the east was
a white-topped wagon. 1t must have
/ followed a ravine that he did not see il
/ before. Now it was ont on the high
| prairie and the horses We're approach
I ing on a canter. As it came nearer
/ through the film of smoke already fill
| ing the atmosphere he saw that the
/ driver was woman-and yes, it was
Mary. Cumler was becoming more and
more bewildered and could not speak
until his wife's voice called to him:
'Oh. John; quick! Help me unhar-
/ ness the horses; they can never pull the
wagon fast enough. We must ride"
Serious as was the situation he could
not resist the temptation to answer
/ with a sneer: Where is Abner?'
! "IIe is coming. John. and we've been
so fortunate tell you about it
I don't you see the fire there-quicll, help
me.'
She was Juggling at the leathern har-
ness frantically The horses, alarmed,
reared andsfretted.
John lhith desperate reel1lessness
drew his knife and slaShed trace after
/ trace. strap after strap, and in mo-
ment the animals were free. lie was
/ too desperate, too reckless about it and
I the nervous woman at the horses heads
was overpowcred by their actions and
I lost her footing. Away the frightened
animals went. sl1urrving over the
prairie. whse the husband and wife
looked each other in the eyes blankly.
John. 1t was the woman who spoke.
What have you done?'
The flames were now not quarter of
a mile away.
why should care what I've done,
with Your dcin's of to-day to think off"
MY doings?" The blue eyes were
very wide
Yes, know You like him better'n
I me. because he wears a uniform an all
I that-but II won't matter now"
DO YOU mean our old friend Abuer?
E Why JOhn-Oh. there he is now"
Tearing up from the ravine in the
/ track the wagon had followed came the
, lieutenant on his strong army horse.
Z Almost as soon as they had discovered
( him he was at their side A motion
/ from Mary'S hand toward the dying
I horses. now mere speells on the plain,
was sufficient to explain the situation
With quivering lips he looked the
/ pair in the face. lie could mount his
/ horse and escape. He could take one
OF them WITH him. That was all.
Which would he do?
Here. John. hold this horse" The
s lieutenant's voice had a queer, husky
4 infection that made the listeners start.
There was not an instant to lose. Al
] AeiNh the nv WIS - Close AlAA the
/ scorched the lungs
Mary. have no one dependent on
/ me. Take these things"
The woman did not realize the sacri-
I Zee until she had had forced into her
hands the pocketboolS and letter case.
Give them 10 the captain, he added.
HE understands. Now, no stopping"
{ tie put both strong hands around the
woman's waist and easily lifted her to
/ the horses back. sweeping her shout
der with his lips as She was carried up
ward
John. jump into the saddle
The tone was 30 commanding that the
,uau obevej. There was a sharp blow
en TIE horses flank and the two were
Lerne almost IN the teeth Of the tide OF