Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1894-10-04
TWO AMBITIONS.
a Brief Tale of Life at a Frontier
Army Post.

army. individually and collectively, is
to love all now 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 a band at
our disposal, we gave her a serenade
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 pl O.
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 stvle,
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 a lot of savages
crowding about a newly arrived run
ner who brings news of the outside
world. 1t is meant we'll. Most of the
inane and annoying things that we do
in the social body are meant we'll,
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
alkali powder of the plains that she
would like the first impression to be a
favorable one.
We sat within the tawdry little par
Tor while the band played symphonies
and andantes under the window, and
we watched the drop of new blood in
our stngnant veins. 1t 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
Il mean in the room-and one of us
was undoubtedly doomed to become
the prey of this young person. Which
of us heaven had set it's mark upon
r was not then to be guessed. Miss
Rohan smiled on all alike. 1t was a
generous smile which showed too
rows of teeth rather heavily up
holstered IN gold. They suggested
that she had eaten a good deal of
taffy and picked lines in her very
youthful days. AS I see it now, in the
light of cool reason, she would have
made an ideal milkmaid, for she was
plump and fair, her nose was crimson
from exposure to the Arizona sun, her
hair was an undecided blonde, and her
eyes were blue-real Irish blue. Also,
seen in the cool light Of reason, her
gown was more intricate than grace
full; she had on a skirt rutfied quite to
the waist-a fashion, it seems, among
stout women-a very large founce. If
that Is the name for 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 ford 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 were 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 I 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. He was the son of a
New England farmer. of the kind
called good, plain people," and he
was about as manly and whole-souled
fellow as the cavalry held.
Then there was Thomas. who was
small and trim. He had enough con-
ceit for a much bigger man, but, then,
conceit is usually in inverse ratio to a
mans proportions. He was of the
cavalry, too. and he rode the largest
horse in the garrison. AS to his an
cestors, they were Philadelphians, and,
he led one to be ieve, of the good old
Quaker stock.
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 Nso 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 mustache 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. His ambi-
tion was something 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 gard-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 gnard-mounting, she went for
ride with Blake and Bayard. She eat