News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1893-08-24

| rescue little squad of scouts and troop
ers, mere handful, who had ventured
| forth with dispatches for Berrien's COM
mand and were fighting for life behind
their slaughtered horses. Two were
already sorely wounded and all would
doubtless have lost their scalps but for
the veteran majors clear Judgment and
the sense of duty that triumphed over
| physical pain.
''The ould mans clear grit all
through" said his invariable eulogists,
| the troopers. But there would have
| been no dear old man left to them, as
Ellis and Scott had borne testimony, had
| it not been for Brewster's daring charge
! into the midst of the red warriors. 1t
was his bullet that laid low the savage
brandisher of the knife just as he would
have gashed the brave old majors throat;
| but "Whit Wolf" had counted his last
coup and, stripped of his fnery, lay
stiffening on the prairie painted corpse,
awaiting funeral hOnors at the hands of
his bowling comrades.
Every soldiers heart rejoiced that it
was Brewster who saved the majors
life, for Brewster, of all the subalterns,
was first favorite among the rank and
| file And as for Ellis. though he was
too exclusive-''toom much like as though
| he wanted to be an officer"-to be gener-
ally popular among the men, he had al
ways commanded their respect, and his
unexpected prOwess on this occasion
won their genuine admiration. What
nerve the fellow had, to be sure, to lie
there playing possrm" just as though
he were stone dead and ripe for scalp
ing, and so tempt his assailants out from
the cover of the ravine, and then never
stir until they ;vere so close he simply
couldn't miss, and so ''got in his deadly
work" Brewster and Ellis were the
majors avengers, the two troopers who
had dealt out death to the foe, and who
were therefore, from the soldier point of
view, the men most entitled to the hon
ors of the day.
And yet, at the very moment when
every other man in the regiment was
lauding their names and congratulating
them upon their deserved laurels, one
captain, Rolfe, was practically demand
ing at the hands of his colonel that they
should be stripped of their high estate
anu SeUG 10 JIe rear III arrest.
AS DIR. Holden stood there listening to
the accusations and arguments brought
forward by Captain Rolfe, he could not
but recall the remarks that in one form
or other had occasionally been brought
to his ears at Rolfe's expense. Even so
conservative and loyal fellow as War
rcn, the adjutant, had once summarized
his character in forcible terms. Il re-
spect his ability" said he, "but damn
his egotism. ROlfe in this regiment is
just like the one juror who said that
they could long ago have agreed on con-
viction but for the eleven blooming
idiots who held out for acquittal."
Rolfe was man of such intensity of
opinion and purpose that once having
made up his own mind as to what some
a dtaty to ff7sff6HT ffff the the
other party, no matter what that party's
rank or station might be; and this was
practically what Rolfe had been doing
to his colonel ever since Holden ap-
peared upon the scene. Personally
Holden had never met Rolfe before the
arrival of the regiment at Pawnee, but
except a certain dogmatism of manner
in discussions over points in tactics,
politics, law or whist, he had decidedly
liked everything about him, and told the
youngsters as much when he found that
they did not.
"Any man with half an eye can see
that Rolfe wants to make the very best
kind of an impression ON DIR. and Mrs.
Holden" said Randolph. They are
Miss Guthrie's nearest friends and rela-
tives-at least the nearest whom he
knows" But Holden also liked Brews-
ter, liked him we'll, and could not be-
lieve all that Rolfe was so strenuously
urging upon the colonel, first, that Ellis
was a thief and an Outcast, and second,
that Brewster had known it all along and
concealed it. The more positively and
unfinchingly Rolfe asserted himself the
more did Holden resent it.
Finally Rolfe had burst out with:
"Well, Colonel Farquhar, I'm acting
in this manner for the honor of the regi-
ment to which I've been attached
through thick and thin for nearly quar-
ter of century. heard you were just
sending forward q report highly COM
mending these two men, and | believed
it my duty to inform you of their char
acter. As you seem reluctant to accept
my statements, request as a matter of
justice to me that you refer my report to
Major Berrien at once, and he will cor
roborate my opinion"
Then and not till then did Farquhar
firmly and almost sternly call his sub
ordinate to order, and when Rolfe had
been reduced to enforced silence the col
onel turned to Holden, and Holden had
given prompt voice to his utter objec-
ton to their disturbing the wounded
major with any such matter. But
will send for Mr.. Brewster, Captain
Rolfe, and question him in your pres
ence," said Farquhar. And Brewster,
who had just been enjoying a hearty
handshake and pleasant words with sew
eral officers of the Eleventh who, despite
the rising gale, had ridden over to con-
gratulate him, went blithely and briskly
to answer the colonel's summons. War
rem had given him ''the tip" as to the
letter being prepared for Farquhar's sig
nature. 1t was a JOY to know that his
name was to be sent forward with the
praise of his soldierly and honored chief.
1t was almost rapture to conjecture what
Winifred Berrien would think of him
when she heard that his vigilance and
dash had saved her fathers life.
He looked therefore the very picture
of stalwart, soldierly, brave eyed man.
hood as he stepped quickly into the col
onel's tent and stood erect before the ST.
lent trio there assembled. He came with
heart beating high with anticipation;
but one glance at Rolfe's somber and
half averted face, the first words in Far
quhar's grave, though courteous tones,
banished all pleasurable thought and
put him on his guard.
"Mr. Brewster, if l remember Alright,
it was you who presented Sergeant Ellis
for enlistment when we were in the
Hills. Am | right"
eyes, SIR"
"You knew him before his joining us,
did you not!'
"a short time, sir; yes"
"Where had you known him and how
long?'
"At Deadwood, sir; met him there
on two occasions before he decided to
enlist"
"Two occasions? And how long be-
fore he came to us?"
perhaps a week, SIR"
"And you had never known him or of
him before?"
Il had seen him, but cannot say that
had ever known him."
"Mr. Brewster" burst in Captain
Rolfe at this juncture, before he could
be checked, ''do you mean to tell me
| Won were NOT we'll nruunintpd with tbiS