Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-10-21

| stead. But enough Of that-lt Il nel
an experience 70 finger over.
I'VE were quite nice little party 81
Jrssulpur before the row broke out.
was down on visit to Jack. He had
been home on furlough the year be-
fore. and brought q wife back with
him. She was the most desperate fiiri
l ever met. Not one of those spar
king, piquaIst creatures whom one In
stinctively expects to have some fun
with. but "a daughter Of the gods, d.
vincly fair. A calm. statuesQue beau.
ty. with an oval face, grandly chiseled
features, perfect mouth and wonder
full. luminous gray eyes.
"Old Major Gardner, who was In
command of the garrison. hated the
sight OF her. / soon found out why
She never descended to frivolity, or
Lee men render her conspicuous by
their attentions, but she would listen
by the hour while q man poured out
bis hamesickness, his ambitious, his
ican,y aspirations, his yearnings after
the ideal, and any other beautiful SEN
timeht he happened to possess, and
she would witch the heart out of him
with the subtle, exquisite sympathy
that lurked In her marvellous eyes, and
in the curves of her wistful, perfect
lips. And then, some day, the un-
lucky wretch would lose his head. and
shc-shG would lift her delicate eye
brows incredulously and freeze him
into ncthingness.
Then the crash came. I won't bore
you ty going into that-it is ancient
history now-but l should like to tell
you how that woman died. For five
weeks we held the tiny fort against a
horde OF rebels, and our slender garri-
son thinned daily.
"Thc mutineers knew their business
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to our careful
on the roofs of neighboring houses and
kept NY deadly fire on the fort. The
havoc their shells wrought was fright
full. Strong men were killed at their
posts. Poor wretches who lay moan
ing In the hospital room were hurled
into eternity, together with the min
isrcr;ng women who bent over them,
and the bodies were hastily buried in
the compound after dark. Day by day
our ranks thinned, and the situation
became, IL possible, more serious. We
had got a messenger sent OF to the
nearest station for assistance, but we
neither knew whether he had got safe
ly through the enemy's lines, nor
whether he had found the other forts
in the same plight as our own.
1t was a hideous experience. And
through all the horror and carnage
Mis-. Reeves passed calmly and serene
ly.-like some fair star shining amid
black clouds. In that terrible crisis,
with that awful, palpable shadow OF
death hanging over us, all the falser
side CT her nature seemed to slip away
FROM her like an ugly mask, leaving
only what was good, and womanly and
true. Nothing daunted her, nothing
sickened her. She went to and fro
among the men, looking after their
comfort, cheering the respondent; al
ways brave and hopeful herself, and
injecting others with her brightness.
Her care for the wounded was most
unwearying. She seemed to feel no
fatigue where they were concerned,
tended them without a thought of the
risk she often ran from flying bullets
and other missiles. Their own moth
ers and sisters could not have done
more foi them than she did-or done it
in sweeter way. When food ran short
she evolved meals for us out of most
imp, omising materials, and lived on
the same bare rations as the rest, in
spite OF our protests.
1.-THE men simply worshipped the
ground she walked over, and would
have followed the forlornest of forlorn
hopes at her bidding. The Majors
views concerning her underwent a
complete alteration. / saw him once
dash his hand furtively across his eyes
as lie watched her supporting the head
OF poor fellow dying of a gunshot
wound, and whispering gentle words
into his ear. l think he foresaw the
end from the beginning; though-true
old bulldog that he was!-he never adj
n.itted it. The odds were too great
even for British pluck and valor-un-
less help came soon.
"The fort was a queer, rambling lit
tie AFFAIR. with a detached tower rising
from an angle of the compound. Jack
and shared the same watch at night
on the tower roof. Long watches they
were, as we grew short-handed, and
weirdly still the nights seemed after
the hideous din of the day time-a
cold, tense stiffness, only broken by
the howling of the jackals in the null
labs and the comparatively musical
cries of the rebel sentries. And al
ways, when we had been at our posts
a little while, we would see her Gid
ing toward us, shadowy and ethereal
in the starlight-for the stars came out
and shone down as serenely on us in
our trouble as on our gayties Of
manth before. Years seemed to have
elapsed since then! And she would
slip her hand through Jacks arm and
lay her cheek against his sleeve, and
watch with us-silent and intent as we
for speech between those two. In the
presence of the death angel things
clear marvelously. All their former
differences dropped out Of sight, for
given and forgotten. Only their love
remained, and II ever a man and wo-
man understood each other, they did.
They could read each others hearts