Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-11

uns, 70 nis 1nexpreSSlDle pr1oe ana com fort, had bullet hole through his scout ing hat and another through his shoul- der strap that raised a big welt on the white skin beneath, but, to the detri- ment of promotion, no captain was kill ed, and Jerrold gave the only file.
 The one question at Sibley was. What will Nina Beaubien do?
 She did nothing. She would see mo- body from the instant the news came. She had hardly slept at night, was al- ways awake at dawn and out at the gate to get the earliest copy of the morn- ing papers, but the news reached them at nightfall, and when some of the la- dies from the fort drove in to offer their sympathy and coincidence in the morn ing and to make tender inquiry the an- swer at the door was that Miss Nina saw nobody, that her mother alopa was with her, and that "she was very still. And so it went for some days Then there came the return of the command to Sib- ley, and hundreds of people went up from town to see the six companies of the fort garrison march up the winding road amid the thunder Of welcome from the guns of the light battery and the exultant strains of the band Mrs. May nard and Alice were the only ladies of the circle who were not there. A son and brother had joined them after long ab- sence, at Aunt Grace's cottage at Sab lon. was the explanation. and the colo mel would bring them home in a few days, after he had attended to some i'm portant matters at the fort. In the first place, Chester had to see to it that the tongue of scandal was slit, so far as the colonel's household was concerned, and all good people notified that no such thing had happened as was popularly supposed--and everybody" received the announcement with the remark that she knew all along it couldn't be SO and thnt a grieyous and absurd but most mortifying blunder had been made. It was @ most unpleasant ghost to down, ihe shadow of that scandal, for it would come up to the surface of garri- son chat at all manner of confidential moments, but no man or woman could safely speak of it to Chester. It was gradually assumed that Inc was the man who had done all the laundering and hat he was supyrscuSitivc on the sub feet.
 There was another thing never satis- 'actorily explained to some of the garri son people, and that was Nina Beau ,ien's strange conduct. In less than a reek she was seen on the street in col irs - brilliant colors when it was Snown she had ordered deep mourning, md then she suddenly disappeared and went with her silent old mother abroad. To this day no woman i'll sOCiety under stands it, for when she came back, long, | ong aftcrwarl. il was a subject on which she would never >prak. There were one or two who vCutur.-d la ask. md the answer w;@. For r,..lsun> that concern me alone" But iT took IIn great power of mental vision tu SIG that her Icart worr black for him forever. | His latter explained il all. She had received it with Il paroXySm of passion Ite grief and joy, kissed il, covered it with widest C,lre~S',S before she began O read. and then. little by little. as the words unfnldcd before her staring eyes, turned cold as stone:
 'It is ny last night of life, Nina, lnd 1 am Slad 'tis sn. Proud and scnsi- i've as am, the knowledge that every nan in my regiment has turned from ne; that l have not q friend among .hem; that there Is no longer place for me in their midst-mOre than all, that deserve their contempt-has bro ken my heart We will be in battle be- lore the setting of another sun. Any man who seeks death in Indian fight can find it easily enough. and I can compel their respect i'll spite of them selves. They will not recognize me, liv- ling, as one of them. but dying on the field they have to place me on their roll of honor.
 But now 1 turn to you. What have been, what am I, to have won such love as yours? May God in heaven forgive me for my past. All too late hate and despise the man l have been-the man whom you loved. One last act of jus ltice remains. If I died without it. you would mourn me faithfully, tenderly, lovingly, for years, but if I tell the truth you will see the utter unworthi- ness of the man, and your love will turn to contempt. It is hard to do this, knowing that ill doing it I kill the only genuine regret and dry the only tear that would bless my memory. but ltI lS lne ohc saCtlhSc e''il hihAC VI complete my self humiliation, and it is the one thing that is left me that will free you. It will sting at first; but. like the surgeons knife, its cut is mercy. Nina. the very night I came to you ur the bluffs, the very night you perilcd your honor to have that parting inter view. went to you with a lie on my lips had told her we were nothing tC each other, you and I. More than that, was seeking her love. hoped could win her. and had she loved me I would have turned from you to make her my wife. Nina. l loved Alice Renwick
 Goodby. Don't mourn for me after this.