The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-07-17
A FALSE MASCOT.

trayagant habits; but second lieuten
ant. be he married or single, Is always
more or less in debt. He is expected
and forced by IN unwrtteil law to make
quite rs good Il showing as his colonel
and to keep up quite us mitch Of an
appearance.
The dinner was little iniuur: All the
officers were to leaYG lit l o'clUck that
morning OH a scott: They were Iii their
field clothes. at Kings request, and had
already the rough. ttnshaven look of men
able and willing to do or dare anything
In the hall of Kings bachelor quarters
their felt scouting hats hing oil the
rack: on the pOrchtS of their own houses
their mess-k kits. ready Dackel; stood
their clothing and bedding, Wrapped in
shelter tents ana p6lich6s, were beside
the chests:
Here in the dining roopi- lighted by Il
lamp which King had admired while on
leave, and had gone a month into debt to
my, he had obtained from the Hiiarter-
master: and which hung III iinc8mi,ronlis-
pany of twelve. women in evening
gowns, strangely beautiful ana iii6dish in
contrast to their SURROUNDINGS, altd men
i, uniforms very, shiny ;lt THE seqnls, blue
cavalrymtn and belonged t6 Kihg',s rtgi-
ment. Theif. gattty was; not that of
prisoners just before eXectiBh. although
there was the chance that aiiyUnt; OF
possibly all of THEM. flight ilever come
back alive; but when one has Decome
used to the going off every spring, and
often in vaiii!-- the willy red tiiaii; ono
ceases to consider the p6ssibilities Of the
outcome, and besides, it is not bfttn that
officers arc; killed iG Indian fights; there
is frequently Drttty animated exchange
of bullet, but the dca til list is not heavy.
Howbeit, there are exceptions To the
rule. SO these men. each bne i1ild Ter Il
possible ntehce Of death; aid these
women; each one; .jerchante; tU say
g6od-bvG forever to the man ut her side.
talked and laughed in utter carelessness,
finding only an added zest i'll the rough
clothing of the mieii, and ii little deeper
for their camps and their discussions If
the contents of the niesS-cheStS: ,
The dinner did not, gu off without IL
hitch; that was hardly to be expected
i'll this far-off part of the world; il hun
dred or more mi les from the nearest
railroad' dependent on commissary de-
but nothing mattered and nothing was
noticed
After = time they ali rose aid went
out Oh the porch. where the MEN SliiUkyd
their cigars. They had not stayed at the
table tab land and sent the women into the parlor
preferred their feminine friends to their
tobacco; and each one was glad to ignore
a custom whieh made it the irUper thing
to deprive himself of the women for even
so short Il time: they were glad of the
excuse which the: coming parting gave
manning hours.
The night: was dully dark, .he, outlines
of the foothills and tile mountains be-
yond them could hot be seeli; bitt Il
flicker of light in the distances; from
some Indian sgn;il-fire; told where they
were. Coyotes were hOwlng up by the
graveyard; there was Il sound Of prcpa-
ration in the barracks and occasionally
the neigh of Il horse at the stable
The sergeant of the guard tailed out
40 O'clock" and the bttieers made Il
movement to get their hats; there was
still much to be done before the night
march commenced. King sat on the
railing of the porch talking to woman
not see her. but he knew that her beau
tiful face was there close to his:
That was enough. He was asking for
a promise before he should start off into
the heavy darkness across the plains.
she enjoyed Kings uncertainty far too
much; it would have been commonplace
to be engaged-she had discovered that
on previous occasions-but to have him
for a suitor would not be SO bad; he was
handsome, manly, brave and her abject
slave. Besides, if she were to bind her
self she felt that this time, with this
man. she would have to keep her word.
beg the promise. I'M tell you what iii
do l will give you the next best thing to
me-a picture of myself. l am always Il
mascot my picture will be more of one
l will give it to you when you start: of
course wen all he there to see You Off
Now. remember she went OH, waxing
eloquent as the charm of her idea grew
| upon her, and speaking with conviction
-"remembcr that wherever you may go
in whatever peril you may be, whoever
shall threaten or warn you, you need
would be exempt from danger: so my
picture-my other me-will also be, and
IT it is with YOU. no harm can come
near
And King had to b.: content. There
was no time to say more, for the men
were leaving and orderlies passed back
| ward and forward.
Through the sightless darkness King
walked home with the girl, and caught
no glimpse of the face he kissed so ten
derby at parting. Out of the blackncss
Il hand he could not see rested in his;
up from the gulf of the night, two lips
were raised to his; then he turned and
and gave his striker orders concerning
the disposal of his scouting outfit.
In the silence of midnight the troops
rode away. The tramp of their horses
the mutfied clanking of their accoutre-
ments could be heard, but not thing
seen save the burning points of light
from the officers cigarettes. The signal
fires of the Indians flashed aud went out
on the mountains. There were no buglc
! calls, no loud orders even, for the enemy
had its spies lurking behind every mes
quite bush. gliding beside every trail.
In front of the commanding officers
the officers halted before they started off;
| crowded around them to say goodbye.
They could recognize faces only when
the light from the commandments win
dows fell upon them; beyond that all was
dark.
King waited for the mascot that had
been promised him, and was despairing
when he felt something hard pressed be-
tween his fingers and heard voice,
which seemed to come out of the inky
air, murmur: "Adios."
"Adios," he answered and followed
the sound Of the hoofs of his captains
horse.
In the midst of the chaparral. trotting
slowly along with the column. he struck
Il match and looked at the bit of paste
board in his hand. The light was un-
certain, but he could make out head
and neck, and the eyes seemed to gilt
ter. Then /; gust of wind blew out the
match and Il coyote yelped near by
The rations were almost out and
orders were to return to the post for
fresh supplies. King was happy at the
prospect; naturally. He drew out his
mascot from time to time and looked ut
the beautiful face thereon, the lips half
parted, the eyes CHANGING from under
heavy lids; it was only head, with
masses Of fluffy hair fading into the
shaded background. but it was beautiful,
! perfect. ~. a#s 4 s.r r. &. >, =
The twilight came on. They had
marched all the afternoon; they were
weary of chasing phantoms, of follow
ing useless trails. They passed through
a pine forest and the darkness deepened.
lFI1ss Il 4 a