The Bossier banner., 1894-11-08
he led one to believe, of the good old

Also there was Bayard. Now, he
was what any man with his name
should be-we all know the old mot
to. And he was so blue-blooded;
his people were the very best that
the United States affords His mother
stern, refined, high-souled old
lady--was dead and had left to him
her diamonds for his future wife. 1t
did not even occur to her that he could
marry beneath him, so she gave him
no death-bed warnings. His father,
tall and stately old general, with huge
white mustache and a fondness for
good wines, still lived in Washington,
where he sat in the war department all
day and at the Army and Navy club all
night.
Now Bayard had not much beauty
of feature, but he was well-built- and
refined to the last degree His ambi-
tion was omething unbounded; he
was regimental adjutant now, and
could have had almost any detail or
appointment he chose to ask for There
was for him one aim; to rise as high
as an officer may. He would have
graced any rank, too, better than a
good many others.
For myself, ! need no description
for | was out of the race from the first.
We had Welsh rarebit and some
beer before we left. Miss Rohan
liked beer, but | think she was disap-
pointed in the rarebit.
She came upon the porch the next
morning to see guard-mounting, and
she brought her manicure set with her.
If you can get use to it, a woman really
looks fascinating when she sits before
the world in broad daylight and does,
her nails, more especially if you hap
pen to be one of several lone bachel-
ors who have not looked on the face of
young woman for six months.
After guard-mounting, she went for
a ride with Blake and Bayard. She sat
her horse splendidy, although she did
hold the reins in both hands; but that
was habit she had picked up from
riding hard mouthed cart-horses, she
sweetly explained. Blake and Bayard
took luncheon with her. We sat by
and betted on the outcome.
In honor of the young lady's arrival
we had hop that night. 1t was quite
an affair-twenty couples in all, some
of the best people from the neighbor-
ing railroad town having driven over.
We promptly discovered that Miss Ro-
han could not dance; at least, her
way was not our way. She went
around in a circle, which was enough
to make even a soldiers head swim;
but then she took it SO cheerfully and
sweetly when she stepped on our pat
ent-leather pumps, and informed us SO
honestly that she guessed she never
had been much at dancin," that we
were only too anxious to assure her
that she was perfect fairy. In course
of time she came to believe it.
She had one habit which was de-
lightful, it was so old-fashioned and
quaint, she said: "Yes'm" and ''Nom,''
"Yessir' and ''Nosir," always. Capt.
Grant said it was like servant girl, but
then he had just been on leave and
was engaged to an eastern girl.
We thought she was very good COM
papy, and SO did the garrison children.
They took a violent fancy to her. She
them; she climbed fences and wood
piles; she sat on the top of the barns;
and she rode bare backed horses around
the post. And then she was such thor
oughly good-hearted girl, generous to
the last degree, and such a cook!
For long time Bayard and Blake
divided the honors Miss Rohan and
fate smiled on both equally. But Miss
Rohan was a girl with considerable
natural tendency to aim high; more
over, her married sister had an eye to
the main chance. If there was one
thing more than another that she
hoped for, it was to see the girl Kate
Bayard.
Here is the case stated plainly:
Given lieutenant of twenty-six, who
is born with fondness for feminine
society. who has not had any of it for
at least year-that is, not any young
feminine society; given also two wom-
en-, one of them married and deter
mined, the other unmarried and not
unattractive. 1t needs no great wis
dom to see the natural outcome. Had
Bayard, just then, had one redeeming,
womanly influence, had he broken
away for a month and gone back
among his equals, or had one of his
equals come to him he would have been
saved. AS it was, he was left alone
with his ambition and this girl.
He fell in love; therefore he lost his
reasoning powers, otherwise he would
have been bound to see that this wom-
an and ambition could not both be in
his life. He fell IN love, and he mar
ried her then and there. She wore the
diamonds of the stately old mother, as
she Eat on the porch at guard-mount-
ing with her manicure set.
The first intimation we had of the
way the wind blew in that family was
when the young Mrs. Bayard sat one
day on the front steps and read copy
of Don't" which she told us that
my husband" had bought for her.
She was very much pleased with the
gift, and took much pleasure in read
ing it. We noticed after that that she
was most careful about breaking,
biting, and cutting her bread at din