Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1897-02-12
AN ARMY E0QuETTE.
by cwENDoLEa ovgnros.


~ time not. nearer tlnn SO wears
npast; but in The service, u sun that
rose ten years Ago shone- on IA goul
aid day. There are railroads now, anu
big gnrrisons near towns, and There ,lrc
no Indians las good old soldiers. un-
derstood lndians). and gambling is In
discrcdit, and colonels whose orders
dre, obscured by liquor fumes have de.
creased 0s per cent, and there are
houses With every Improvement in-
stead OF wall-lents and nLotse hu;s.
and the men have as mnny rights US
women in Wyoming, and the officers,
bave fresh oysters and don'tpay dol.
lar botule for beer. nnd their wives
bave more interesting s1bjcois TO con-
cider than each others most sacrcdly
private business wherefore there is
no longer war in, time OF peace. Never
theless, 10, Is, 20 years ngo--whcn all
these things were not--was the good
old time before the service Ind begun
10 go "a. the particular bow.wows.
This'that am going to tell hhppenrd
in the good old days. II could not very
we'll happen now, becauge. as | say,
things have changed. At the time Bet
ty Mandevillc's fnther was In command
ut Apache and Betty was engaged to
be married TO an unusually fine fci,ow
whose name is not part of the story
lie was second lieutenant and lie was
in love, with all the beautiful disregard
of the facts OF life that is characteristic
of the enninorcd state.
or course the post knew OF tho on
gngcment before either OF tile two
most interested parties did. This was
because this happened in the good old
days. For the same rcason-though II
can occur sometimes even now--opin-
IONS on the match flew thick and fast
and obscured the sky of charity. The,
sad that the second lieutenant wax
making fool of himself. which was
The only unkind remark hc, fell heir to
But Betty Jared worse. She came o.
n bad strain. There were things in the
histories of both her parents TIN, every
ono knew and no one WIS supposed to
know. Her father was English and had
been II jockey. He was tho son Of n
tonceTt-hali singer and II man whose
only nobility was his birth
Miss Mandcvillc. who was more
Mexican than Spanish-hore IL good
Castilinn name which covered II multi.
tude of sins.
There were any number OF Mandc.
vile children younger than BETTY. nnd
all Enthusiastically favoring their
swarthy mother. They were so dirty
that they were disgrace te the roS,.
Rat Iictty was tidy-ns TO drcss--and
WAS blonde; fluffy. curlily blnBdr.
with n fine skin and innocent blue eyes.
and a rosebud mouth. IL WAS said SHE
looked like nm English professional
henuty; but there was no ore 10 rccoy-
ri2c the startling likeness to the coi-
cert.hall grandmother. She had tnstr
for lnces, and hosiery, and .high-hceled
slippers. that may have beencither o.
Spanish or theatrical Inheritance. And
she was beautiful beyond q question.
with n beauty that was only skin
deep.
After she had promised to marry the
second lieutenant, Betty went down to
Lowell to visit her aunt. who was her
mothers sister and was the wife of
Capt. Locke Betty knew that she
would enjoy herself more if the engage
ment were kept Eeeret. She could
keep it quiet, because IT was in the
good old days and news travelled slowly
and distances were great. ''s
On the second day of her stay hci
aunt took her to stay over night with
Senor Franquelo in Tucson. Which
was the beginning.
The Franquelo family was large and
most of it dwelt in the one housr-nn
adobe with the external whitewasli
broken OFF in oddly-shaped pieces. and
built as all adobes were built in the
good old days--one story around n
courtyard. There wns nothing in the
courtyard but chickens ard ollas--
broken and otherwisc--for the. soil Of
Tucson is not fertile. Outside. where
the narrow doorway faced upon the
street. hardly less white under the
burning sun thnn the wh:tened walls
that lined it. a mocking-bird' cage o.
willow hung against the house. with
red chile stuck between its bars. 1t
was the first time Betty hnd been under
the ancestral roof.
Besides her grandmother. who wa
were many cousins, male and fcmale.
Of these, two-second cousins--were in
love. They were Carlos and Ines. In
less than ten minutes Carlos had de
serted biacl.browed Ines and vas l;tn.
gushing at Betty with his two sof;eyes.
Ines was openly wretched. Carlos open
ly infatuated. Betty openly flirting.
I;ut Carlos did not know that.
Betty and her aunt went back Ia
Lowell the next di V. and the same even
ing Carlos rode over to The rost 10 ser
her.
There were. 81, officers calling oil.
Miss Vaudeville, so Carlos SAT arar
and sulked hut he oiitstayed t;iem all
When they had gone. after supper %
canned oyster stew and tapafes. he
dew his chair close beside The sofa up
IN which Betty was half rcrlinirG.
wy do yom like doze oo!reocers bet
ter dan me?" he asked her.
II don't" said Betty; they're u
bore"