Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1892-08-25

tIhere were half a dozen OF them, sir,
at Mrs. Hazlett's reading another copy
of that paper as came down. And poor
Mrs Thorpe is crying her eyes out. She's
been utterly upset since the news came
that the Twelfth had been sent out.
Good God, sir, she's coming in nowr
1t was indeed poor Mrs. Thorpe who
entered, pallid, her eyelids swollen with
weeping. Old Kenyon was on his feet
in an instant and leading her to chair.
my dear madam, my dear madam, .
he began, you must not give way so. !
assure you there is no cause for such
dread and anxiety. Do strive to control
yourself.
Il cannot! oh, Major Kenyon, | can
not! have been through so much, such
fearful scenesw she sobbed, wringing
her nervous hands, rocking to and fro
in an agony Of grief. "Oh, it is easy
for those who have not lived the life we
had to live in the old days to counsel
patience, calmness. | was only a child
then lneeling at my mothers side when
the news came in that widowed half the
women in the post spent my girlhood
in the regiment. How many are left Of
the officers who were SO good to me
then? Mother was only one Of a dozen
whose hearts were broken-brolEen as,
oh, God feel mine is to be. They took
my father long years ago, now they de-
mand my husband, my babies father,
my all, their all. 0 Godl 0 Godr'
"Sobbing, rocking to and fro in her
uncomfortable grief, the poor girl clung
to Kenyon's hand, and the old fellows
eyes blinked and smarted with the tears
he could not quite force back. He laid
the other hand upon her bowed and
swayiRg head.
My child" he said brokenly, sfor
your babies sake try to bear up Be
your fathers daughter. | knew and
loved him well-knew you when you
rode your first pony at the old fort up
the Missouri. You know well | wouldn't
try TO deceive you. | can't think the
Twelfth is to bear the brunt of this
business. They don't belong in that de-
partment at all. They are only bor-
rowed from here, and surely there are
troops enough there, more than enough
TO oveFawe that pestilent gang. All that
is necessary will be to surround the In
dians, let them see what q force we
have, and they'll knuckle down. Don't
cry so, Mrs Thorpe; don't cry, my
child. Let me take you over home now.
just get the little ones around you to-
night, and III bring over some famous
oranges that came today, and-why,
don't believe the Twelfth will have to
pull another trigger. Think how many
other regiments and commands there are
there"
Il do, do, and | pray and pray, but
no comfort comes. Did you ever know
a time when they were not in the thick
of the fight? Did you ever hear Of any
time when the loss did not fall heaviest
on ust"
Don't think of that now, " he pleaded.
Don't borrow trouble from either past
or future. Come, let me take you home,
there's good girl. I tell you if that
band hasn't surrendered they've scat
tered all over creation, and you can no
more catch them than you can-than
ou cana newspaper lie. That's the
strongest simile l can think of. Did you
hear what they were saying about Ber-
rien and Brewster?" he queried, eager to
divert her thoughts from her own
misery.
II did. Isn't it cruel? But Major
Perrien has his wife and Winnie with
him, and they're bringing him home;
but If poor George is shot, what can
do?'
do? Why, you shall 80 right to him
if have to give myself seven days
leave and take you" And so, soothing,
comforting as best he knew how, the
veteran major led her homie to her won
dering brood, to the laughing, Growing
baby leaping in the nurses arms, de-
lighted to see the little mother again. to
the joyous children romping in the fire
light, innocent of care or fear, and then
striving for their sake to still her sobs,
to dry her tears, he left her to put the
little ones to bed to clasp their folded
hands in hers as the wee, white gowned
girlies knelt at her side echoing God
only knew with what piteous entreaty-
the lisping prayer for his divine protec-
ton for the loved father, the devoted
husband, the gallant soldier who that
very day had fought his last fight and
lay lifeless on the frozen sod.
Over the eastward bluffs, cold and
gray, the morning light had slowly crept
to the zenith. Over the sky was spread
one limitless pail Of cloud, cheerless and
repellent-a pail so dense that not one
friendly star had peeped, not one rift Of
sunshine now could force its way. All
below, bleak. frowning and sullen, u
bare and blasted landscape; low hills
and ridges east and west, low lying shall
low and swale between, cheerless, tree
less, shrubless, not even veil of snow
to hide its nakedness, to lend one pity
ing touch to break the dull, dead lnonot-
ony of its wintry desolation; sweeps
and slopes rolling away unbroken to the
frowning horizon at the west, sterner,
harsher lines among the bluffs across
the tortuous stream bed, between Whose
ragged banks an Icy, lonely and dismal
riyulet is curdling now, spreading out
into frozen shadows at the flats, moan
ing and complaining around its warped
and sudden bends, desolate as the sur
rounding desolation, deserted as tile
Dead sea, its banks repellent even to
such sharers of Dakota solitudes as the
coyote and the cottonwood, stunned Of
man or beast or tree-a stream of silence
and gloom at the dawn Of this December
day, and 60 cheerless is its every sur
rounding, SO appalling the unnatural
hush, that one would never dream Of
life upon its blasted banks
Yet, listenl Unseen, but dominant.
the sun has risen above the eastern hills,
and as the light broadens even where it
cannot warm, there floats upon the air
from far away at the southwest, faint
and clear, cavalry trumpet call; soft
at first, then crescendo, it ceases sud
denly IN shrill high note. 1t thrills
through and through rare atmosphere
unruffled by the 1eeting wing Of har-
diest bird. Like the wistful call of scat
tered quail it seems to say, Where are
your" And prompt, expectant of the
coming of faithful mate, listen again!
From the dim recesses to the north,
somewhere among these bare and des-
olate slopes, the answer rises, quick,
ringing, even imperative, and the signal
reads, "This way