The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1894-05-26
THE sTIRRUP-CUP.
A Tragi-C Comedy OF Gcrr.san Life
on tho frontier

They certainly were made for each
other. Every body saw that The young
lady herself saw II better than any.
They were beautifully matched In
every way. lie was dappcr little cav
nlryman who only exceeded the rcgula-
iion height by two inches She was a
dowdy little person. about as big as n
twelve-ycar-old child. lie was hand
some. In u French miniature sort of
way. aud she was pretty. with the
bread-nnd-millS beauty OF extreme
youth As TO mental qualifications, no
two could have suited better, for his
love OF dominecring was that not only
OF the little man but OF an army officer
10 boot; and she was submissiveness
itself; ii really was pleasure TO her
10 be walked over and stepped upon by
anything masculine. which just met
the young officers ideas as 70 what n
wife should be. As II To leave nothing
wanting 10 complete this match-so
evidently of celestial making.-fortunc
had given 10 her only n spendthrift
father, and 10 him the vast wealth OF
n second lieutenant's pay. They could
have loved very comfortably on such
means. and paid OF their accumulated
debts OF years when he came TO DC cap
tain, ne others have done before. But
they may as we'll be introduced; you
may meet them some time. She. then,
was Miss Rugglcs, daughter OF Capt
Ruggles. OF tho ---th infantry; he was
Second Lieutenant pntten, OF the ID
cavalry.
The thing started beautifully. Pat
ten had been twirling his thumbs be-
tween rcveillc and taps. with more or
less cursing Of fate, for IA year lie
was pretty badly In debt 20 the sutler.
and was likely 10 become more so II he
was not Ciycn something to do with
his evenings very soon. lie did not like
reading; he was too lazy To hunt, and
there was nothing but tho elusive prai.
RE dog TO hunt in any case; he was the
only bachelor nj tho fort-which was
hundred miles from the railroad, by
the by--and tho married women could
not be induced 10 ilirt-with him, at
cny rate. 20 the soil was ripe.
Now. just in the nick OF time, Capt
Rugglcs pretty daughter came on from
n New England boarding school, rs in
noccnt. simple. pink and white M such
girls should be or course Pattcn
called on her tho night OF her arrival,
us IL customary In army posts. He
found her quite interesting. Sho sat
and smiled and drank in his poured
out wisdom as the soil of the plains
drinks rain, and the wisdom was lost
in the sandy depths OF her unsophis-
ticatcd soul. as Is also lost the little
rain which falls on the parchcd prai-
ries. However, she evidently admired
him, aud hc went home convinced that
this really was his first love, this time.
In New England boarding schools man
Is never seen. 30 he was Miss Rugglcs'
first experience OF the scS, and she was
sure. too, that this was not only her
first, but her only love. Now Patten
liked the sensation Of thinking OF some
one else; it was novel, and there was
blessed little novelty" in the post at
any time. "a he snid-only he did not
say blessed" exactly
The trouble with novelties Is that n
soon as they arc experienced n few
times, they cease 10 be novelties, and
no lose their spice. That was the way
with this one. After week or two OF
thinking OF Miss EuPglcs-whom he
fondly called Bertha" in what an
swcred for hi5 mind-pattcn got tired
of IT, and concluded that ''old things
nrc best, that he preferred his quon-
dam occupation of thinking only Of
himself, and lac went back 10 IL lit was
far less trouble. and lie objected TO
trouble, attending rcvcillc was enough
of 70 for him In ono day Then n do
iightful element was added 90 his for
mer employment; be discovered in q
short time that some one else was
thinking OF him. That was charming;
he sat back and enjoyed II, absorbed IT,
Heretofore the garrison had never
bothered IT. head about him, and he
had had only the siclsly comfort OF tell
ing himself that he represented pearls,
the garrison swine. Here, however.
was a girl who knew n pricclcts jewel
when she saw IL He admired her
taste, and smiled on her npprovingly.
f3hc smiled back, oven more swcctly,
md, Ia little ways entirely original aud
clever, she tried To lead him on. For
instance, she walked mp and down her
porch on nice starry nights, and
coughed now and then. gentle little
cough. She would 30 10 tho suffers
for crewcls and ribbons at the hours
when Patton was likely 10 be there for
his mall. Tier horse never would stand
still at tho mounting block, the cxas-
pcrating animal! II the young officer
were In sight. All these little tendrils
reaching out arc such, we all know. as
the world has never know before.
But there was good deal OF the ma
ture OF the government mule about
Pattcn. Tho instant Inc could sec that
some ono was attempting TO lead him
he would refuse 20 advance n step; and
nc did see, despite Bcrtha's wholly or
irinnl methods OF. procedure. SO he
stood still. and tho poor girl tugged
and pulled. but Patton refused TO move
over so little. She really became quite
desperate and atruck him In tho face.
Factaphorically. with some remarks
that were meant 60 be scornful and