The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-10-04
TWO AMBITIONS.
A Brief Tale OF Life at a Frontier
Army Post.

to love all new arrivals; the second
and lasting one is to pick them to
pieces and to backbite them.
We loved Miss Rohan with true
Christian spirit when she first came to
the fort. 1t being the headquarters of
the regiment, and we having 4 band at
our disposal, we gave her serenadc
upon the night of her entrance upon
military soil The style of the ser
enade was largely in what our colonel
called % minor" being his way of
expressing ultra classic" The pro-
gramme had been arranged before we
had had the pleasure of seeing Miss
ROhan, and when we realized how en-
tirely it was unsuited to her style,
there was no time to change
We called on her in a body the night
OF the day that she came. which is the
delightfully."- barbarouS custom at mill
itary posts, like lot of Savages
crowding about newly-arrived run
nor who brings news of the outside
world. 1t is meant well. Most Of the
inane and annoying things that we do
IN tfr, .5y'oios1 'sol1 meant well,
which is their only excuse. Nobody
stops TO think that the travel-stained
wanderer would like time to rid her
self of the rubbed-in coal SCOT and the
alkal powder of the plains that she
would like the first impression to be IL
favorable one.
We sat within the tGwdry little par
lor while the band played symphonies
and andantes under the window. and
We watched the drop of new blood in
our stagnant veins. It was not blue
blood in the least it was hearty and
red and strong; but it was the better
appreciated on that account.
We were four, the bachelor officers
i mean in the room-and one of us
was undoubtedly doomed to become
the prey of this young person. Winch
of MS heaven had set its mark upon
was not then to be guessed. Miss
Rohan smiled on all alike. 1t was II
generous smile which showed too
rows of teeth rather heavily up
holstered IN gold. They suggested
that she had eaten a good deal of
tatfy and picllled lines in her very
youthful days. AS | see it now, III the
light Of cool reason, she would have
made an ideal milkmaid, for she was
plump and fair, her nose W as crimson
from exposure to the Arizona sun. her
hair was an undecided blonde, and her
eyes were bluc-real Irish blue. Also,
seen in the cool light of reason, her
gown was more intricate than grace
ful; she had on a skirt rufflcd quite to
the waist-a fashion, it seems, among
stout women-a very large iiOunce. if
that is the name tor it, falling from
the shoulder and sleeves, which were
simply huge She was very much
laced, too, which may have had some
thing to do with her florid skin. One
is pretty apt to notice a woman's feet;
hers were short and broad and cased
in red slippers. AS for her hands, they
were dumpy, and the tips of her fingers
were square. | learned afterward that
her hands We're her pride. She would
sit on the front porch every morning
at guard-mOunting and manicure
them. There was no hesitation in her
manner nor in her voice: in fact, she
spoke loudly and not always quite
grammatically.
Then | looked at my three COM
panions. There was Blake. who was
tall, fair and handsome-the kind of
man that women fall head over ears in
love with. who stood and looked deep
into their eyes as if he read therein the
story of his life. lie was the son of a
New England farmer, of the kind
called good, plain people" and he
was about as manly and whole-souled
"a fellow as the cavalry held.
Then there was Thomas. who was
small and trim. He had enough con
ccit for n much bigger man, but, then,
conccit is usually IN inverse ratio to IA
mans proportions. He was of the
cavalry, too, and he rode the largest
horse in the garrison. As to his an
cestors, they We're Philadelphians, and,
he led one to be ieve, of the good Old
Quaker stock.
Also there was Bayard. Now, he
wasT what any man with his name
should be 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, a
tall and stately old general, with huge
white mustachc and 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, Hi, ambi-
ton was something unboundcd; 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. lie would have
graccd 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 a 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 neyt
morning to see guard mounting, and
h., la,. ~ ii anna of With bn,.