The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1897-10-14

49, @E &AAHNNa
tcrest. Was he not Katesie's brother,
and might not hat brother have some
influence over that obdurate hearty
1t was not the porter OF The hotel WHO
vent for these packages. II WAS Lam
bert himself. hoping. of coarsc. to see
the young lady whom he had so sue
cessfully tormentcd the evening previ-
ous: but his scheme had been check
mated in most absurdly unromantic
fashion. The New Orleans evening
paper among its military items con
tanned a brief paragraph TO the effcc!
hat Lieut.. Lambert was ordered over
TO Austin as n witness before a court
martial there in session. but would re.
turn to the barracks in a week or ten
days. and this paper he had been care
less enough to leave on the veranda.
Katcsie had gone miscrably to her
room. Esther had lit upon the para.
graph, and in ten minutes Lamberts
mclodramatic scheme was exploded.
Never would he forget the snucy merTi.
ment in her pretty fac when he APP
peared upon the scene that morning.
hoping and expecting TO find her peni.
ltll, IlNtbuS, anu UlultlN btSEluE w NC
forgiven before he went away. He had
come prepared to be grave, sorrowful
dignified, and then to be disarmcd by
her distress, to lead her away under the
magpolias to the shaded recesses of the
old southern garden. there to assure
her that she was pardoncd. and then
to tell her how she was loved. A charm
ing chateau en- Espagne was that which
the boy had buildcd: a sweet, sad, bliss
full, e~cstatic parting was it all TO be as
D result of his skillful use Of his "sud-
den orders TO Texas" but, like many
another well-laid plan, it went ludi.
crously aglee. She was there on the
veranda, romping with her kitten,
when he came and never made the
slightest reference to his departure,
He alluded gloomily to the fact hat the
boat would be along in less than an
hour, and she cheerfully responded:
Eyes; All thought All huhd its whistle
just a moment ago." and raced pussy
10 the far end of the gallery. He tried
other announcements with no better
success, and was bewildered and de-
feated and stuug by her apparent
heartlessness and Indifference when at
last he had to 20, and went away mis-
erably jealous and w~retchedly in love,
fairly beaten at his own game.
So gloomy and unlike himself was
Lambert that the two or three class
mates who happened to be at Austin
were much surprised, and so absorbed
was he in his WI woes and pangs that
| not until ha ganahn1 I nV,nngnE l.1 H.,
learn that the soldierly-looking man
who rode all the way from the capital
with him was no less a person than
the Brevet Lieut.. Col. Sweet of whom
he had heard so much at Tugaloo, and
who, promoted to the rank of major,
was now on his way to report for duty
at u frontier post. The stage with the
colonel rumbled away on its journey
for supper. Lambert went on u TO
camp, only to find that Corporal Wal
ton with four men had gone as escort
to that very stage, as there were ru-
mors that the Comanches and Lipans
were on the warpath again. 1t might
be four days before they returned. 1t
would be two before a stage went back
to Austin, and it was now nine o'clock
at night.
The very next morning brought dire
full news. a big band of hostiles had
swooped down on the stage station at
the crossing of the Caliente, so miles
10 the northwest, massacred everybody,
and run off the stock. The cavalry
troop in camp at Lampasas was miles
away by the time the tidings reached
Lambert at the tavern in town. Then
anne worse news. A settler rode
squirting in from the Concho trail to
say that he had seen the Indians when
they attacked the stage with overpow-
eTing numbers, and had just managed
10 escape with his own life. lie be-
lieved that not one soul was left TO
tell the tale. There were many gallant
spirits among the Texans of the from
tier-men who were accustomed to
fight at the drop of the hat, and who,
in defense of home and friends. were
indomitable. Yet even these well knew
the hopelessness of the situation as de-
scribed. They were far too few in
number to undertake the pursuit and
attack of such a band as this. More
over, their own wives and children
would be left in danger were they to
take the field. 1t was even impossible
to persuade two or three of their num-
Der to ride post-haste on the trail of
the cavalry, who, at the first alarm
and OF receipt of tidings that the In
dams had ridden away eastward to-
wards the Brazos, had taken the road
for Waco at dawn in hopes of heading
them of or driving them should they
attack the defenseless settlements.
There were, therefore, absolutely no
troops TO go to the rescue of the stage
party, if, as seemed beyond hope, any
of them were still alive. and Lambert,
burning with eagerness to do some
thing and tormented with anxiety as
to the fate of Brother Floyd" found
himself helpless.
\ sergeant and some semi-invalided
men had been left in charge of camp,
and from these he gathered a little in
formation, but not of an e%nlivening ma
ture. The nearest posts to the west
ward from which help might come
were McKavett and Concho, each over
a hundred miles away; but Concho, be-
ing on the left bank of the Colorado,
and doubtless warned by this time of
the Indian raid, could be sending cav
airy down the valley in pursuit. 1t
was expectation of this, probably, that