Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1895-01-03

things
Poor Morgan! his first thought had
been that now he could order suit
able headstone for Carries lonely
grave.
CHAPTER III.
The winter went out in storm and
buster. The springtide set in with re-
luctant flow. The prairie wastes,
swept clean by furious gales in March,
rerobed in glistening white in April,
peeped forth through ragged rents in
their heecy mantle at the soft touch of
the south wind, then, 1ulled by the
plash of warm summer shower, went to
sleep one evening late in May, still
thinly yelled in white, and when the
rosy breath OF Weakening dawn stole
family over the grassy pillows, 10! all
in a night the face of nature had
changed, and the foothills met the
sunshine clothed in fairest, freshest
| green. Who can welcome spring as
could the exiles OF the old days on the
frontier? How those fair women, those
restless little ones, seemed to glow and
gladden. after the long, long months of
seclusion when, snow-bound, they were
penned within the stOckade or limited
TO the sentry lines of some struggling
| prairie post. Now swarIning forth
like bees they came to greet the sun
shine, the softening air, the tiny,
shrinking little flowers trembling in
the breeze along the southwark slopes,
and one. exquisite morning late in May,
perched on the very verge of the steep
bluff overlooking the stream, Con
stance Morgan had flung to the
winds her ripping name Of au-
burn hair and stood stretching
forth a pair of long, slender
arms, encased in very shabby and shin
ing serge, as though welcoming the
first sight of the distant lowlands-thc
broad, beautiful valley of the Mini
! Ska. All the long winter she had
borne on her white shoulders the cares
of an army home, and that q home
without mother. Loving hearts and
| hands, it is true, were there to aid her.
| MOrgan's devotion to his invalid wife
during her two years of martyrdom
and his grief over her loss were mat
ters that had won deep sympathy even
in crowded garrison bent on getting
all the enjoyment possible out of their
few months of home life. All the
previous summer, spring and fall Off
GERS and men of the cavalry, at least,
had spent in exciting campaign, and
no man could tell how soon the order
would come returning them once more
to the field, leaving the wives and lit
tie ones to watch and pray. MAKE
hay while the sun shines seemed to be
the social axiom Of the cavalry in those
days. Enjoy the too brief days as best
we may, for soon the summer Will
| come. when all men must work at their
! appointed trade and seven months out
! OF twelve and sometimes moro it meant
| separation from the loved ones within
the guarded limits of the forts, Il sep
aration that, in too many cases, proved
but the entrance upon that which on
earth, at least, is final. There were
music and dancing, play acting and
feasting, therefore, through the win
ter at Ransom, and frequent exchange
of jovial hospitality with the big
| hearted townsfOl1z over and away at
the transcontinental road, but there
wasn't q day when somebody, from
Tintop down, wasn't sure Is drop in
and have chat or a game Of checkers,
or in the evening a hand at whist,
with Morgan, who sat up in an easy
chair and was made as comfortable
as willing hearts and hands could
devise, and Mrs. Vinton not only taught
but time and again sent them home in
garments newly fashioned, but with
pardonable mendacity represented TO
be something she had that didn't fit
her daughter or that her little Jim had
outgrown. Comics clear eyes saw
through the stratagem, and her soft
red lips quivered as she kissed the fair
round cheek Of the loving woman who
/ so we'll knew how TO bless and comfort,
yet rob the act of every hint of charity
And strangely, too, Comics scant sup
ply OF commissary was eked out by
many dainty sent to Morgan's door
from somewhere along the line. No
one ever gave a dinner or luncheon, or
supper party, that long winter, with
out remembrance of some kind for
those motherless kids, often times in
Guiding some comforting beverage for
old Morgan himself. Eventhe sutler,
whom the men damned for a slxinfiint,
found means to s'chip in unknown to