Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1892-07-21

along the edge of the slope leading ~
the river bottom south Of the long row
4 Of officers quarters and close behind the
rear fence, but hg was at tile eventful
moment well down the row beyond Haz-
let's house, whereas DIR. 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 iii
charge Of the fire apparatus kept i'll
that long. low building at the east end,
and had the keys Of the door.
II was by his aid that some of The
Junior officers made IA 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 lamp explosion or Il 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 quarter1naster's men
hft Ir,l
heard q 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 70 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.
4 Nothing. sir, was the prompt reply
of the trooper, as he threw his carbine
to the position Of farms 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 III the evening, when
men are passing to and fro all the
time"
"What made you think any one had
been thereT asked the captain quietly.
Everybody has heard by this time
that there was 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.a
"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 lie 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. sir. right
at the edge Of the wood pile, yonder. He
showed it to me as he came out"
Captain Rolfe was silent moment.
i Ordinarily none Of the enlisted men
had any right to be away from quarters
after the lights out signal, but this
case was unusual Furthermore. 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 tile rank and file, LIZ
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 a
model of neatness when the command
ing officer made his monthly inspection
I of the garrison, and the hose carriage,
the hook and ladder truck, the fire
buckets and other apparatus were all
ways in perfect order and readiness for
service. No one ever inspected Ellis
4 quarters at any other time. The guard
often noticed his light after midnight,
and he had the reputation Of being a
good deal of reader and student. tax
ing books from the post library very
often, besides owning quite a number of
his own.
Observant officers who had glanced
about when making the inspection with
Colonel Farquhar noted that many If
these were texts on mining, mining en-
gineering. mineralogy and geology, and
some had gone so far as % question the
sergeant as to whether lie had ever prac-
tically essayed mining. With perfectly
respectful manner Ellis replied to these
occasional queries, merely saying, Yes,
sir; but without success Asked where
he had made his essay, his reply was
rather vague, tin several western states
and territories, sir-mainly Arizona and
1 Colorado Only once had he displayed
anything like annoyance III impatience
under such fire. He had served his
three years enlistment, was entitled to
his discharge, yet quietly notified Iii
troop commander that lie proposed to re-
enlist IN somewhat sharp manner
that official had whirled about.
Sergeant Ellis,7 said he, ..if l had
had your experience in mining it seems
to me Id find something different from
staying in the regular army
Captain Gorham, was the unex-
pccted reply, tiff you had had anything
like my experience you would be very
glad of berth in the army or ont Of it
preferably ia.
1t was conceded after this episode that
Ellis had a history and the faculty Of
keeping it to himself The colonel was
glad to have him re-enlist, even while
wondering that he should do so. Many
remembered how lie had come to them
haggard and travel worn three years be-
fore and offered himself as a recruit.
This was far out in the mountains. His
language and manners were such that
every one knew it to be a case Of a man
whom fortune had betrayed, and who
"took the shilling IL many another
has done, somewhat as q last resort.
But before he had won his first chev-
rons the men knew well that from some
source or other Ellis was beginning to
receive a good deal of money. When
Sergeant CuIIie was killed bv that
tough in the public streets Of Sheridan,
4 City-a cold blooded and unprovoked
murder-and Currie's wife and children
had not where to lay their heads now
that their support was gone, officers and
men .chipped in and bought them a
little cottage on the banks Of Rapid
run, just at the edge Of town.
Ellis had planked down five dollar
bill az his share on the subscription list,
but did not Kate Currie. the eldest child,
tell how he had come all by himself af-