Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-03-17
AN ARMY STORY.

paper and read:
Sergeant Higgins with Privates {
Abrams, Evans, Larsen and Stone, will re-
port at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. {
armed and mounted, to escort the com
manding officer and his family to Fort
Warner"
Morning broke dark and gloomy There
was promise of snow in the dense gray
clouds of the west There was promise of
rain, the unsteady wind from the south.
At 10 O'Clock the colonel stepped in an
ambulance up there by the door OF the
commanding officers quarters and told
the driver TO go ahead.
He was very proud old man, with
record that had grown brighter in battle.
He was cold and imperious and command
ing-as an officer should be.
Ahead Of the ambulance rode the two
servants Of the commanding officer Be
hind came the escort.
The dance at Fort Warner that night
will be long remembered. Lieutenant Gay
was the lion of the evening. He had just
come back from a brush with the Piutes,
and all reports united in covering him .
with glory.
He was quick, incisive pompous. he |
knew a great many things, and he told all
about them.
He was so like her father, Dorothy Lane
did not like him Why will we love in one
man the traits that make US hate another
Lieutenant Gay was captivated by the
coloners daughter. Maybe he thought the
alliance would help him in an official way
He overstepped the bounds of prudence
and boosted to a group Of superior officers
as they stood in a corner of the ballroom
while the walters fitted by.
Don't anticipate too much, Gay" said
a captain, bsntering. "She luONa higher
than you"
'She couldn't" said the lion calmly.
Then he added, with vain mans rising
voice, Dorothy Lane will marry the lieu
tenant"
A couple Just whirling past caught the
boasting. and the lady dropped from her
companions arm. Turning suddenly upon
the group Of officers the subject OF com
ment said swiftly:
you overrate yourself, sir. | will not
marry the lieutenant.
ANY other man would have been crushed.
He simply ignored her, and returned TO
continue the gossip But the other officers,
annoyed at his i'll taste, had quilted the
corner. and the lion Of the evesing had to
hunt up worshipers.
Next day he asked permission TO accom-
pany the escort back TO Camp BidwelL He
was provided a mount. At l O'Clock the
little cavalcade marched out of Warner
The clouds in the north had thrown out
a skirmish line Of snow. The wind in the
east was heavy with rain.
In an hour the front wheels chncket
down in gully and the ambulance stopped
The commanding officer, laying there al
most on his back, opened his eyes an'
swore.
rWeare lost, sir, J." said the sergeant, from
one side.
,eTbe ambulance is broken" said tn
lieutenant, from the other
1--WE must stay here all night" growle'
the colonel and then he cursed the team
ster, and the dance, and the snowstorn
and the comfortless couch in the ambu
lance.
At midnight some one aroused him b
shouting:
at is the PiutesW
He sprang from his blankets. The sno'
had ceased. The rain had ended. IN
cold moon was shining. There was a Di
ter fight at the door Of the ambulance
The horses had been stabbed. Their pick
rome was broken and they were gallopin
aimlessly about. lie caught one, mounte
and hurried away
Some one was swinging a saber dow
there by the wrecked ambulance. lie ne
cut an open space and was pushing u
fpht. slashing, running forward, retrea
inc darling to the right, springing to q
left II was carte point and right Gu
tierce, and left swing, en- quartz and doV
sweep.
That was Private Larsen. In the no
of need he took command.
Fetch up three horsesW he shoutt
and the sergeant came leading Two
them.
Larsen pulled a woman from the amt
lance and set her upon one Of them
.sMount the others and bring thu
along. - he commanded. Then he sent
saber home with clang, picked up
bine and darted away, leading the no
with its clinging rider.
At daylight he saw a horseman skulki
in the rocks He did not like him, and
fired one shot as a challenge
IL was the recreant Lieutenant Gay-I
of the ball yesterday, pitiful coward {
morning. -.
That evening as the men stood in line
answer roll call the orderly sergeant
nonnced a promotion. Private Larsen '
made corporal by order Of the command
officer.
He was made a sergeant two weeks la
when one noncommissioned man was
charged and another insubordinate, m
As spring approached the command
officer was taken sick Of fever. Lieu
ant Gay undertook to attend him. bu'
annoyed the colonel
On Sunday inspection the officer OF
day pushed his scrutiny into little
board at the head Of Sergeant l'ars
bunk and found it full OF volumes.
who reads this'" asked the ma
holding up a volume of Faust
.I road them. - replied young Larsen