Daily camera., 1897-01-20

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before l CO." Slowly he finished slowly
signed, after close study of their con-
tents, the papers placed before him,
then slowly left the tent without an
other word Not until he had bucllled
on his pistol belt-he carried no sword
and was about to start with his silent
and yawning squad, did he seem to wake
from his fit of abstraction, and then
only when Lambert appealed to him
for orders.
''Oh, yes. Well, just have an eye on
them mules, will you, lieutenant?
Everything else, almost, is under lock
and key. The quaEtermaster sergeant
is pretty solid"
"But in case of disturbance, or de-
mands for more detachments, or men
wanting to 90 away?'
"There won't be nuthin now fur
week. Dos you like about givin' the
men little liberty. They've had a
good deal. Everything around here will
be quiet enough, and you'll hear what
I'm after-well. when I've got it.
That night, though worn and weary
and downhearted, Lambert could hard
ly sleep. At II the little detachment
had trudged away into the blackness
of the night, and the tramp of their
march was swallowed up in the rustic
of the crisp brown foliage and~the creall
of overhanging branches. The men re-
naming in camp crawled back to their
l, l,o fro rod 81,
only occasionally whirling forth re-
luctant flight Of sparks in response to
some vigorous puff of the restless wind:
the sentry yawned and dawdled about
the wagon and the store tent; even the
muiss seemed so sympathe tic with their
recovered associate that no whisper of
a bray came from their pen on tllc bank
of the stream Lambert had received
the assurance of his sergeant that the
missing men would surely turn up be-
fore breakfast on the morrow, and had
given permission to that harassed and
! evidently disgusted official to go to be'i.
Then, after a turn around his sleeping
camp, the Young fellow went to his
lonely roost "to think things over"
In the first place, as ne lighted his
candle, there was the tin pail which had
rolled out from the Walton hedge row,
and which; on inspection, he'had found
to contain about two pounds Of fresh
butter, very neatly packed in lettuce
leaves. That proved that the Waltons
still had something of their old garden
left. Lettuce could surely be raised
only under glass at this inclement sea-
son. He had hitherto had no time for
close inspection of the contents. Now
as he turned over the leaves he found a
little slip of paper on which, in girlish
and somewhat "scratchy' hand, were
penned the words: please send small
currency. It's hard to get change. You
can have buttermilk tomorrow night if
you'll bring pitcher. Due, $40. You
must pay it this time. I must have it"
"Now, who on earth is this young
lady's customer?" thought Lambert.
"Surely not Close. He never spends
cent on butter. Nobody else lives nearer
than Parmelee's to the north OF; town
to the south. Can it be that some of the
sergeants have been buying supplies
from this quarter and running up but
ter bill?" BURNS had spoken of trouble
| between the captain and the old lady
and of all hands being forbidden to
enter the Walton grounds on any pre-
text whatever. That. of course, did not
prohibit the men from buying what the
Walton servants offered for sale outside
the fence, and if they were so straitene1
in circumstances they might be glad to
find market for their surplus produce
even among the Yankee invaders, pro
yided Mime. Walton were kept in ignor-
ance of the traffic. She was uncom-
promising. No intercourse with, no
recognition of. the barbarians, was her
rule to kith and kin, and the few negroes
who still hung about the crumbling old
place repeated her words with the fear
born of lon2-continued discipline under
her roof and rod in the days of theil en-
forced and unquestioning servitude.
These and other items of information
as to his surroundings the young lieu
tenant had obtained from Sergt Burns
in the course of their evening watch TO-
gether. He had NO other means of
studying the situation, and was but one
OF many new and comparatively mex
perienced officers thrown upon their
own resources at isolated posts among
''the states lately in rebellion Notye
"a hours on duty with his company, he
had been ordered to proceed with an
armed force TO the succor of officers of
law supposedly .besieged by rebellious
mob, and now, at midnight, in the heart
of strange country and far from the
heart of its people be was commanding
officer of his company and camp, with
out definite instructions of any kind
and only his native common sense to
guide him.
ITO be Con tinued.)