The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1894-10-12

upon you You'll be there, and he nod
ded Oh, she was bright as button
after that
What did she mean? Be where, do
you suppose? Sloat, this all means more
to me and to us all than can explain 7"
II don't know. / can't imagine. F"
WAS it TO see her again that night?''
II don't know aJ all If it was, he
fooled her. for he never went near her
again. Rollins put her III the carriage. "
Whose? Did she come with the SUIT
tons?''
"Why, certainly. thought you knew
that"
"And neither old Mime. Beaubien nor
Mrs. Sutton with them? What was the
old squaw thinking Off
By this time they had neared the
guardhouse where several of the men
were seated awaiting the call for the
next relief All arose at the shout of
the sentry on No. l turning out the
guard for the officer of the day. Chester
made hurried and impatient acknowl-
edgment of the salute and called to the
sergeant to send him the sentry who
was at the bridge at o'clock. 1t turned
out to be q young soldier who had en-
listed at the post only six months before
and was already known as one of the
most intelligent and promising candi-
dates for corporalship in the garrison.
"Were you on duty at the bridge at
1 o'clock, Carey?" asked the captain.
II was, sir. My relief went on at
11:45 and came off at AS
"What persons passed your post dur
ing that timer"
"There was squad or two Of men
coming back from town on pass. halt
ed them, sir and Corporal Murray came
down and passed them in. -
81 don't mean coming from town
Who went the other way?"
"Only one carriage, sir--Mr. SUIT
TOMS"
Gould you see who were in it?"
Certainly, sir. 1t was right under
the lamppost this end of the bridge that
l stood when / challenged Lieutenant
Rollins answered for them and passed
them ont. He was sitting beside Mr..
Sutton as they drove up. then jumped
out and gave HE the countersign and
babe them good night right there :"
Rollins again." thought Chester.
why did he keep this from me?'
who were in the carriage?" he ask
ed
Mr. Sutton, sir, on the front seat,
driving, and two Young ladies on the
back seat. -
Nobody else?''
"Not soul, sir. could see in it plain
as day. One lady was Miss Sutton and
the other Miss Beaubien. know l was
surprised at seeing the latter, because
she drove home in her own carriage last
evening right after parade. 1 was on
post there at that hour, too, sir. The Sec
ond relief is on from 5:45 to 7:45."
''That will do, Carey. see your re-
lief is forming now.
AS the officers walked away and Sloat
silently plodded along beside his dark
browed senior the latter turned to him:
81 should say that there was no way
in which Mr.. Jerrold could have gone
downward last night. Should not your"
''He might have crossed the bridge
while the third relief was on and got a
horse at the other side. -
He didn't do that, Sloat. had al
ready questioned the sentry on that re-
lief. 1t was the third that l inspected
and visited this morning.
"Well, how do you know he wanted
to go to town? Why couldn't he have
gone up the river or out to the range?
Perhaps there was little game of
draw out at camp.
"There was no light in camp, much
less little game of draw, after 1 1
o'clock. You know we'll enough that
there is nothing of that kind going on
with Gaines in command That isn't
Jerrold's game, even if those fellows
were bent on running their eyesight and
nerve and spelling the chance of getting
the men on the division and army teams.
wish it were his game instead Of what
it is"
"Still, Chester, he may have been out
in the country somewhere. You seem
bent on the conviction he was up to mis-
chief here around this post. won't ask
You what you mean, but there's more
than one way of getting to town if a
man wants to very bad. F"
''How? OF course he can take skiff
and row down the river, but he'd never
be back in time for reveille. There goes
6 o'clock, and ! must get home and
shave and think this over. Keep your
own counsel, no matter who asks you.
If you hear any questions or talk about
shooting last night, you know nothing,
heard nothing and saw nothing"
Shooting last night" exclaimed
Sloat, all agog with eagerness and ex-
element now. "Where was ita Who
was it?"
! But Chester turned q deaf ear upon
him and walked away. He wanted tc
see Rollins and went straight homo.
"Why didn't you tell me Miss Beau
bien was out here last night?' was the
question he asked as soon as he had en-
tered the room where all aglow from
his cold bath, the youngster was dress
ing for breakfast He colored wildly
then laughed.
"Well, you never gave me much
chance to say anything, did you? Yo'
talked all the time, as l remember, ant