Evening star., 1895-04-27

I~~ S.xSSsss newspapers were re-
.a,sESSGSSN sumed. Only Nelson,
"~%gSrMEs& big hulk of a fel-
low from the noun
tains of Tennessee, kept his sleepy eyes on
the drunken man. for Nelson had a grudge
against him. and was ever on the alert to
make matters even.
The cause of the grudge was a masquer-
ade ball the soldiers of the garrison had
given the winter before, and spring had
come and gone. and now the summer was
| almost over. and still Nelson had found no
opportunity to square the account.
Some man in ore of the cavalry troops
had proposed this masquerade ball, and
Immediately every soldier in the garrison
indorsed 1t favorably. The commanding
officer, glad to have the men enjoy them
selves In any way not remotely connected
with conduct to tn" prejudice of good Or
der and military discipline, gave his per-
mission without restricting murmur; and
at once every soldier, every soldiers wife
and every soldiers sweetheart in the ad-
| joining frontier settlement began to devise
suitable costumes
Nelson was a man who blushed at even
| the name of a woman, but in his slow. la
borious way spent nine-tenths of his time
| thinking Of one of the girls in the near by
| town. And thinking was hard work for
Nelson, much harder than saving wood or
| walking guard; but the girl was pretty and
worth the time. She had just the neces-
sary tinge of Indian blood to make her
eyes big and her hair black and her lips
| full and red. Nelson was always afraid to
| speak in her presence, but the masquerade
| gave him dreams of greater success. He
determined to go as an Indian, regular
second edition Of cid Sitting Bull, and his
| costume was an easy matter. The Indian
| trader had ghost skirts, war bonnets and
moccasins in abundance. and Nelson gave
| up his months pay for an outfit that
| might have been in service in the Custer
| affair.
| The days preceding the great event he
| was more silent than ever; his thoughts
| kept him busy. 1t never entered his dull
| brain that the girl might prefer another.
| and so his one object was to summon up
| the courage to approach her. To be with
| her all the evening-that was the aim be-
! yond which he could not think. When the
| great day came he went with the other men
| to decorate the hop room. The poor little
| post boasted of one hall where religious
| services, school for enlisted men, dances
and lectures We're held. according to the
particular hour and day of the week. But
| the Quartermaster lent them flags, and the
cavalrynen made stars with their sabers,
and by maneuvering this way and that way
| they succeeded in covering up most of the
worst places on the lamp-smoked walls.
| Some one skilled in lettering cut out a big
| WELCOME in gilt, and they put it up
streamers at one end of the hall.
| The dominoes, the queens of hearts. the
| goddesSes of liberty and the other masQue-
Tading clowns We're walking around in
| grand march when Nelson entered the hall.
| He was woman brave in his war feathers
ard gave big grunt of satisfaction as he
| caught sight of the ample form of a dairy
maid.
| I'D know her anywhere" he said and
| then with motion that was almost a
| shove he took the place of the dairy maid 8
| partner and appropriated her for the rest
of the evening. All his efforts at conversa-
| ton We're so painful that the dairy maids
| only responses were few mods of her
| n ri
! eral times a dancer tore her bodily away
| from him and whirled her madly over the
smooth floor: but when an assumed boot
| black fell on his knees before her and tried
| to put a polish on her shoes, Nelson was
| fighting mad.
At IL o'clock every one was to unmask
| At that hour the burgler would sound
| taps and as the first note rang out on
the still air, Nelson with courage born for
the occasion. seized the ribbon that held
! the mask and head dress completely cover
| ing the dairy maids head.
| You've been hidden long enough" he
| said, and now I'm goin' to Heaven
| above!" he screamed, and with one wild
| lCok around the room he fled across the
| parade to his barracks.
| They found him an hour later sitting on
] his iron bunk, moaning and cursing in the
| darkness.
| My partner was a man." he groaned.
| that damned little Robinson
Tho men Of the company expected
fight. but that was not the revenge that
| Nelson wanted. He could have picked up
| Robinson and dashed out his brains but no
one would laugh at that. They had laugh
| ed at him. and the time would come when
| he would make them laugh at Robinson.
This was the reason he lay on his bunk and
| with half closed eyes watched his enemy
| fall over in drunken stupor.
| The card playing was resumed in the
| squad room, for drunken men are not Gu
| riosities the frontier. Presently Rob-
| inson got up and staggered out through
the doorway. and Nelson followed him as
| soon as he could do SO without attracting
| attention. Out along the road he saw the
| drunken man take drink after drink from
| big bottle, after while sitting down in
the middle of the road. and finally stretch
| ing himself out full length on the ground,
the empty bottle at his side.
| Nelson picked him up in his great arms
and carried him to clump of bushes some
| distance from the road. Then he went
| back to barracks and took a big bundle of
something from his locker.
To say that Fort -Barrenall was excited
| is a weak expression.
| At the unofficial hour of five in the morn
ing the commanding officer rushed to his
| office and reused the sleeping orderly, who,
but half awake, almost forgot to salute as
| hs ran out toward the adjutant's quarters.
| The adjutant tumbled out of bed, dressed
! quickly and took up properly cadenced
| double time to his office. The sergeant
| major was then rudely aroused from COM
| forting dream of increased pay, and this
| awakening did not incline him peacefully
| toward mankind in general and his subor-
| dinates in particular, he ordered his clerk
| to arise and dress. and be blessedly quick
| about it, too.
| All this required time. but time is not the
| root of all evil in army administration.
| Just as the reveille gun was fired. exactly
| one hour after the commanding officer had
| discovered the offense which not even the
| ed Article of War could cover, this was
the situation. The commanding officer sat
| in his office at his desk; the adjutant sat in
the next office, with his feet the par
| ticular desk assigned to him. In the third
| office sat the sergeant major before a desk
with many pigeon holes, while near him,
| at another desk, sat his clerk. Owing to
the scarcity of rooms it is impossible for
! the sergeant majors clerk at Fort Bur-
| renall to have a separate office: hence, the
| sad admission that one in authority sits in
| the same office with his subordinate. But
| each man in his office, at his own desk-the
| time was ripe for the operations of war.
The commanding officer called the adjutant.
| Mr. Parker" said he 1.-The existing con-
| dition of affairs is one that must be treated
| with most deliberate consideration. How
| ever simple may be the solution Of this af-
| fair sir, do not wish to make any move
| in the matter until it has been considered
| from all points Of view. To this end I have
| made rough draft of a letter which /
| wish you to send to the Indian agent at
onca air once air" he added empha f