The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-10-28

We met her at tho railroad station, ten
miles from the fort--a captain and SER
geant and his squad-and she made the rest
of the journey In an ambulance, seated be-
side the officer 1t may havc been known
among the officers and their families for
weeks that she was coming--a blue eyed,
fair haired girl of 10 from the east named
Miss Bell-but the first we heard Of IL was
when we went to tho depot as an escort.
We did not know whether we werc TO meet
man or woman until Captain johnson
came out Of the building with her. We
could use our eyes and talk TO each other,
and we were not two minutes In deciding
that the new arrival was "peach" and
that we were glad she was going TO honor
tho fort with her presence The escort
was moro matter of form than necessity,
although there were rough, rude men on
the frontier in those days, and there had
been instances where half drunken mon
had to be severely handled.
Miss Bell was regular chatterbox and
full OF natural curiosity, and she'd have
had a word with every soldier in the escort
but for the captains admonition. Sho
couldn't understand the wide gulf scparat-
ing officer from private, but In her awful
ignorance soldier was n soldier, no mat
ter whether be carried saber or \ sword.
Being left alone with Sergeant Larkins
for a few minutes while the captain sent
off telegranitor her. she did not hesitate
TO chatter away as IL she had been formally
introduced and had met before, and this
action of hers was to have strange bear
ing on after events After couple OF
days we noticed change I'm Sergeant
Larkins. Ho was a young man OF 30, well
aIp ovih tlxrc nh
tho common, and there We're rumors that
his father was a wealthy New Yorker ard
that the son had entered the army because
of a quarrel between them. Ho had been
speedily promoted from private to sergeant,
and there werc those who said that outside
influence was the cause of this However
that may have been, the sergeant was
prompt In his duties, respectful TO his SUI
periors and liked by all the men. / repeat
that we saw change In him, and pretty
soon IL came to us that he had fallen in
love with Miss Bell at first sight. 1t was
the sheerest folly under the circumstances,
but these things are generally beyond con
troll The feeling was likely all on his
part, and military discipline would scarcely
permit him to use his eyes to see her across
the parade ground.
A little ring of us laughed and made
merry behind the sergeant's back, but lat
er on It sobered us TO realize that he was
seriously in earnest. He comm itted a
breach Of discipline In placing himself
where he could speak to her, and he was
sharply reprimanded for neglecting his
duties, and by and by half a hundred men
got to know that the sergeant had lost his
head over Miss Bell II she had ever even
mentioned his name after arriving at the
fort, no one had heard of the incident. We
came to know that she was Of stylish,
wealthy family, and we voted that Ser
geant Larkins ought to have his head
sandpapered for making Ounce OF him
self
Miss Bell had been at the fort about n
month when the Sioux on the reservation
began to make trouble, and the Indian
police reported that number OF them
had broken away and were marauding In
the foothills Such stories were always
afloat, and no credencc was given them
until some deed OF violence had been com
mitted 1t had been planned by half a
dozen officers and their wives to hold a
picnic at the fallsof Buffalo river, and but
for the reports from the reservation they
would have gone without escort. The colo
mel favored the picnic, but insisted that
an escort go along, and so Sergeant Lar
kins and the same half dozen Of US were
again detailed without the knowledge of
the ladies we were ordered to take 80
rounds OF cartridges per man, and all the
officers were armed with revolvers. 1t
was IL miles TO the falls, and the picnick-
ers were loaded into two ambulances.
There were five officers seven ladies and
three children. and the escort was ordered
to keep them in sight While we were
nominally under command Of Sergeant
Larkins, Captain Williams would have
charge in case Of any trouble arising. We
gave the ambulance half mile the start,
and then trotted after, and nothing worthy
of note happened on the march out 10
reach the falls one had to enter gorge
from small valley and proceed up a mar
row and rocky path on foot for half mile.
The ambulance and our horses were left in
this valley, and after two OF the escorts
had carried up the baskets of provisions
they returned to us and we prepared for
comfortable day.
From the first Sergeant Larkins sat
apart from us and seemed moody ard
taciturn. There was no question but what
jealousy was at work, and he hadn't tho
strength Of mind to throw 1t off and real
ize the situation We had many wink
and laugh at his expense, and yet we felt
to pity him. As the wind blew down the
gorge we cought the laughter of the wcm-
en and the shouts of the children now ard
then, and the hours passed away and we
had no thought of danger. We had been
told 70 go up for the empty baskets mt
o'clock, and the hour had just gone ?
when fusillade OF revolver shots, followed
by the warwhoops Of Indians, jumped ev-
cry man to his feet Ten seconds later wo
were following the sergeant up the gorge,
and In five minutes we came upon tho
women and children hidden away among
the rocks and stricken with terror. A
quarter Of an hour before the i've officers