Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-04-12

dI2S}A. xss7aIsss
The neat instant he stood erect, wouing
some auhite object high IN air.
of you-yor, Bennett, join the sergeant.
Look alive now but do not let your
selves be seen from the front"
Then as they FASTENED away he
slowed the filmy trihe in the pocket of
his blouse, and drawing his colt from
the holster closely inspected its loaded
chambers. Only boy, barely 23, yet
rich in soldierly experience already
was Drummond. He had entered the
Point when Just II. His father
death, occurring Immediately before the
memorable summer of their first class
camp, had thrown him perforce into the
society of the SO called bachelor club,
and he was graduated in the June of
fle following year with heart as
whole as his physique was fine. Brit
there were some cares to cloud his
young life i'll the army-a sister whose
needs were many and whose means
were few. He found that rigid econ
omy and self denial were to be his por-
ton from the start and was not sorry
that his assignment took him to the far
away land of Arizona, where, as his
new captain wrote him, ''you can live
like a prince on bacon and frijoles,
dress like Il cowboy ON next to nothing
or like an Apache i'll next to nothing,
spend all your days and none OF your
money i'll mountain scouting, and come
out of it all IN two or three years rich
III health and strength and experience
and infinitely better off financially than
you could over have been anywhere
else. Leave whisky and poker alone,
and you re al right. -
He had left whisky and poker alone,
severely alone. He had sought every
opportunity for field service; had
shown indomitable push, pluck and skill
i'll pursuit of Apaches and cool courage
in action. He had been able to send
even more than was needed, or than he
had hoped. to his sisters guardian and
was proud and happy in the concious-
ness of a duty we'll done There We're
no young girls in the scattered garrisons
of those days no feminine attractions
to unsettle his peace of mind. The few
women who accompanied their lords to
such exile as Arizona We're discreet ma
irons, to whom he was courtesy itself
on the few occasions when they met.
but only once had he been brought I'M
der the influence of girlish eyes or of
| girlish society, and that was OH the
| memorable trip to San Francisco dur
ing the previous year, when he had had
the great good fortune TO be summoned
as a witness before general court
martial convened at the Prcsidio He
had been presented to the Harvey sis
ters by the captain of the Newborn
| and would fain have shown them some
attention, but there had been much
rough weather in the gulf which kept
the girls below, and not until after pass
ing Cape San Lucas and they We're
steaming up the sunny Pacific did he
see either of them again. Then ono
glorious day the trolling lines We're out
astern, the elders were amidship play
ing "horse billiards." and Tuck, "
the genial purser, was devoting himself
to Paquita, when Drummond heard a
scream of excitement and delight and
saw the younger sister bracing her tiny,
slender feet and hanging ON to line
with all her strength. In an instant he
was at her side. and together, hand over
hand they finally succeeded in pulling
aboard a beautiful dolphin and landed
him, ieaping, tapping, splashing madly
about, III the midst of the merry party
on the deck 1t was the first time Ruth
had seen the gorgeous hues Of this cele-
brated fish, and her excitement and plea
sure over being horalded as its captor
We're most natural. From that time on
| she had pinned her girlish faith to tho
coat sleeve of the tall, reserved Young
! cavalryman. To him she was "a child,
| even younger by year than tho little
sister he had left, and of whom he soon
began to tell her. To her he was q
young knight Grant, the hero of bud
ding maiden's shyest sweetest, fondest
| fancy and ere long the idol of the dreams
and thoughts she dared not whisper even
to herself. Paquita, with the wisdom
of elder sisterhood, moro than half he
ieved she read the younger's heart, but
wisely held her peace. No wonder the
little maid had so suddenly been 81
fenced by the announcement at the pass
that that very night she might again
see the soldier boy to whom. in the alb
sence of all others. her heart had been
so constant. No wonder the ride. for
ward to Moreno S was one of thrilling
excitement and shy delight and antici-
patton. No wonder her reason, her
very life, seemed wrecked in the tragic
fate that there belell them.
And now as he rode swiftly in pursuit
| Drummond was thinking over the in
cidents of that delightful voyage, and
marveling at the strange fate that had
brought the Harvey girls again into his
life and under circumstances SO thrill
ing Never for an instant would he
doubt that before the sun could reach
meridian he should overtake and rescue
them from tho hands of their cowaldly
captors. Never would he entertain the
thought of sustained defense on the part
of the outlaw band. Full of high con-
tempt for such cattle he arpred that