The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-11-28
A FALSE MASCOT.

King was giving a dinner in honor Oh
his promotion. He was a first lieutenant
now and had a fair chance of paying of
some of his debts. Not that he was b
young man of particularly ~extrayagant
habits, but a second lieutenant, be he
married or single, is always more or less
in debt. He is expected and forced by al
unwritten law to make quite as good o
showing as his colonel and to keep W
quite as much of an appearance.
The dinner was a little unique. All the
officers were to leave att O'Clock that
morning on a scout. They were in theil
field clothes, at Kings request, and had
already the rough, unshavcn look of men
able and willing to do or dare anything
In the hall of Kings bachelor quarters
their felt scouting hats hung on the rack.
On the porches of their own houses then
mess kits, ready packed, stood waiting to
b. strapped upon the mules. Their cloth
ing and bedding, wrapped in shelter tents
and ponchos, were beside the chests.
Here in the dining promulgated by a
lamp which King had admired while on
leave and had gone a month into debt to
buy, and another which, in a fit of econ
omy, he had obtained from the quarter
master, and which hung in uncompromls-
ing uglinesS over the table-sat a company
of 12-women in evening gowns, strange
ly beautiful and modish in contrast tc
their surroundings, and men in uniforms
very shiny at the seams, blue flannel
shirts and top boots. They were cavalry
men II belonged to Kings regiment.
Their gayety was not that of prisoners
Just before execution, although there was
the chance that any one, or possibly all OF
them, might never come back alive, but
when one has become used to going off ev-
cry spring and sometimes every autumn
to chase-how often in vainl-the willy
red man one ceases to consider the posi-
bilities of the outcome, and besides it is
not often that officers are killed in Indian
fights. There is frequently a pretty ami.
mated exchange of bullets, but the deatL
list is not heavy.
Howbeit, there are exceptions to the rule.
So these men, each one under a possible
sentence of death, and these women, each
one perchance to say goodby forever to the
man at her side, talked and laughed in
utter carelessness, finding only IN added
zest in the rough clothing of the men and
a little deeper interest in the plans they
were laying for their camps and their dis
cussions Of the contents Of the mess chests.
The dinner did not go off without a
hitch. That was hardly to be expected in
this faroff part of the world, a hundred
or more miles from the nearest railroad,
dependent on a commissary department
and a suffers for its supplies, but nothing
mattered, and nothing was noticed.
After a time they ali rose n wen out
on the porch, where the men smoked their
cigars. They had not staid at the table
and sent the women into the parlor this
time. They were army officers and pre-
ferred their feminine friends to their to-
bacco, and each one was glad to ignore a
custom which made it the proper thing to
deprive himself of the women for even sc
short a time. They were glad of the ex-
cuse which the coming parting gave them
of making the most of the few remaining
hours.
The night was duly dark. The outlines
of the foothills and the mountains beyond
them could not be seen, but a flicker OF
light in the distance from some Indian
signal fires told where they were. Coy
otes were bowling up by the graveyard;
there was a sound of preparation in the
barracks and occasionally the neigh of a
horse at the stables.
The sergeant of the guard called out,
"Ten O'clock" Il the officers made a
movement to get their hats. There was
still much to be lone before the night
march commenced. King sat on the rail
ing of the porch talking to a woman who
leaned against a post. He could not see
her, but knew that her beautiful face was
there close to his.
That was enough. He was asking for a
promise before he shoGld start off into the
heavy darkness across the plains, but the
woman had no wish to promise. She en-
joyed Kings uncertainty far too much. 1t
would have been commonplace to be en-
gaged-she had discovered that on pre-
vious occasions-but to have him for a
sutton would not be so bad. Ho was hand
some, manly, brave and her abject slave.
Besides, if she were to bind herself, she
felt that his time, with this man, she
would have to keep her word.
She laughed slowly as he continued tc
beg the promise. ''1,l tell you what I'll
do. Twill give you the next best thing to
me-a picture of myself. l am always a
mascot. My picture will be moro of one.
1 will give it to you when you start. OF
course well all be there to see you off.
NOW, remember, " she went on, wax
ing eloquent as the charm of her idea
grew upon her and speaking with convic-
tion-sremember that wherever you may
go, in whatever peril you may be, who
ever shall threaten or warn you, you need
have no fear. If l were there in person, ]
would be exempt from danger, so my pic
ture-my other me-will also be, and it
it is with you no harm can come near"
And King had to be content. There
was no time to say more, for the men
were leaving and orderlies passing back
ward and forward.
Through the sightless darkness King
walked home with the girl and caught no
glimpse of the face he kissed so tenderly
at parting. Out of the blackness a hand
he could not see rested in his; up from the
gulf of the night two lips were raised to
his. Then he turned and walked back to
his quarters, lit a cigar and gave his
striker orders concerning the disposal of
his scouting outfit.
In the silence of midnight the troops
rode away. The tramp of their horses,
the muffled clanking of their a%ccouter-
ments, could be heard, but not a thing
seen save the burning points of light from
the officers cigarettes. The signal fires
of the Indians flashed and went out on
the mountains. There were no bugle calls,
no loud orders even, for the enemy had it's
spies lurking penlnu every mesquite bush,
gliding beside every trail.
In front of the commanding officer the
officers halted before they started off. The
women, still In their evening gowns,