Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-02-26

name un0er winch MT. WarlnR was De-
ginning to be known, thanks to his I'M
willingness to appear n second time in
any garment of the fashion of the day.
by CAD, if were the old man I'd OBJ
ject to the j. A. on the ground of nat
ural antipathy!" said Mr.. Burton; and
among the men present, some of whom
had been the colonels advisers in draw.
ing up the charges, there were half u
score who seemed to think that poor
Close could hope for no fair play now.
1t was then that Maj. Kinsey, red-faced
md impetuous, burst in with the re.
bulle that became n classic in the I'M
nails OF the old barracks:
Fair play be damned, and you fell
lows, too! What fair play has the man
had at your hands? It's my belief that
he never would get it but. for the fact
that Warning is detailed"
The sensation Kinsey's outbreak Gre
ated was mild compared with that
caused by Closes appearance before a
grave and dignified court in the week
that followed. On the principle of 81
clean sweep" it had been determined
to arraign him on charges covering the
allegations as to his official misconduct
in failing or refusing to support the
federal authorities during the late dis
turbances. might as we'll get rid of
him for good and ALL" said old Brax.
And so the array Of charges was long
and portentous. So was the bill for
transportation and per diem of civilian
witnesses the government afterwards
had to pay. So was Braxton's face
when, the evidence for the prosecution
exhausted without proving much Of
anything, the testimony for the defense
began to be unfolded. It transpircd
that Mr.. Warning had gone up to head
quarters on the evening of the 1st Of
January and formally asked the gem
eral commanding to be relieved from
duty as judge advocate and allowed to
defend the accused. The general was
astonished, and asked why. Then War
ing laid before him piece by piece the
evidence he had collected as result
of his Investigation, and the chief
ripped out something old Brax and his
adjutant might have been startled to
hear, hut, after thinking it all over,
told Warning to-go ahead, try the case,
Exhaust the evidence" and never mind
the consequences. He sent his aid-dc-
camp down to say to Close that any
officer whose assistance he desired
should be assigned amicus curim. Close
replied that he "rcckoned lie could git
along without any amycuss curious,
whatever that was he'd talked it over
with Mr.. Warning and Mr.. Pierce;" and
the trial went on
Parmelee was the first witness to fiat
ten out and go to pieces, and the only
one who had anything but "hearsay"
to offer on the score of official neglects.
The widows were the next. They be-
gan truculently and triumphantly
| enough, but the cross-eSamination re-
duced them to contradictions and tears.
1t became evident that most of Stones
company fund went north with one Of
them, that the alleged diamonds were
paste and that both Stone and Tighe
had been gambling and drinking for
months previous to their fatal seizures.
1t was established that, SO far from
having dcfrauded the widows of their
! money, the old fellow had sent them
each 500 over and above the proceeds
of the meager sales, besides accounting
| for, as sold Mt fair valuation, items he
never disposed of until Lambert bought
| them.
Then when it came to testimony as to
war md other service, Close sat there.
blind, handagcd. scarred, and little
Pierce, who had volunteered MS "amy-
cliss" anyhow, unrolled one letter after
another and laid them on the table, and
they went the rounds of the court until
old Pike choked them off by saying
they couldn't well attach the accused s
scars and wounds to the records, any
moro than these letters: he was ready
to vote, unless the gentleman himself
desired to say something-had some
statement to offer. How was that, Mr..
Judge Advocate? And Warning turned
10 Pierce, who was beginning to unroll
d batch of manuscript, to which he had
devoted two sleeplcss nights and in
which he had layished satire and sur.
casm by the page upon all enemies or
| uSS0oSio vi liiSo SllCil. HIVE IltilIll
1t to be the sensation of the day, and
The court was crowded to hear him
read 1t, despite the significant absence
of Brax and his now COMPOUNDED advis-
crs. Braxton already was in deep dis
tress, the victim of over,veening conf.
dence in the statements. Of his asso-
GATES. upon my soul, general" he had
said to Pike, "the result OF this trial nj.
ready makes ME feel as though I, not
Close, were the criminal" And Pierce
4ully meant to "show up the scandal
nongcrs in the case, placing the blame
on them and not their colonel.
But it was not to be. Old Close put
forth banduged hand and restrained
him. 1--WE been thinking that oil over. >
he said, "and I'll just say word instid.'
With that he slowly found his feet and
the green patch over his eyes was
brought TO bear on the court. The
silence of midnight fell on the crowded
room, us, leaning on the back Of his
chair, the accused stood revealed in the
worn old single-breasted coat, this
coarse trousers and shoes, so long asso
ciated with him. He cleared his throat
and then faltered. He did not know
how to begin. At last the words came
slowly, and with many hitch ant
stumble:
/ You see. It's this way, Gen. Pike nnt
gentlemen of the court. l never llnev
anything about what was expected of {
regular officer, r wouldn't have triet
it. All knew was what I'd seen durin
the war. when they didn't seem to be Sc
different from the rest of us. I wa:
bred on the farm; never had no educa