Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-09-22
AND WHAT CAME OF II.


subtlest tragedies of life.
Farland was not of them. He was
! too dis tinctly manly to understand
women. He was therefore, strengthi
/ ened in his resolve to keep silence
I when Miss Camcron's expression in no.
wise changed as he told her that she
must excuse him for the next dance.
az have Just seen the colonel, and he
has been pleased to inform me that 1
! must leave at reyeille,"
For what portion of the globe?"
She gazed over his shoulder in ap-
parent absorption in something at the
| other side of the room. II Farland
| had been a student of the sex he would
| have known that this was overacting.
| 1t was one of the many of Miss Cam
eron's charms that she unusually fixed
| her entire attention upon the person
at hand.
where are you going?" she re-
peated.
ITO join Blake's command After.
| that, wherever the will of Heaven and
the craft of the Apache may lead me-.
For just one instant her expression
changed. But Farland was not acute.
upon scout, them" she asked.
upon a scout yes. And as have to
leave before reveille, and, as 1t is now
II o'clock, there is no time to be lost"
Miss Cameron was smiling again.
"You will not sleep much tonight.
| Things must be serious"
'They are" he told her.
"You must not let me keep you" she
said
Farland was far too well trained to
allow his anger and unhappiness to ap-
| pear in more than an exaggerated un-.
concern. He took her extended hand.
"Shall you be here when I return?"
| he asked. His resolution was near to
breaking. If Ter tawny eyes had
| grown ever so little soft, he would have
flung his golden wealth of silence to
the winds. But her pride was mighty,
and it was aroused.
"Myvisit comes to an endthis week"
she said.
eve shall probably meet again." he
| ventured.
Probably. One can never be sure
that one has seen the last of anybody,
| in the army" And then she added:
"Good-by."
And Farland went out, morally and
bodily, into the night. His was the
code of honor-which considers not
the woman-that holds that if man
may not ask woman to marry him
then and there, neither may he tell her
of his love. He thought he was doing
right, and he was not one to rail at
fate. A little tempest of temptation
had ruffied the deep waters of his con-
science for time. But they were
calm again. He remembered with re-
sentiment the haughtily poised head,
and the placid smile, and the last
glimpse he had caught of her through
the hoproom window "A yellow
gowned figure. swaying to the music
IN full enjoyment of life.
Well, she would have gone back to
Bayard by the time of his return, and
one could never be sure one would not
forget-after years. He went into the
barracks and gave his orders.
When the brass mouths of the bugles
pealed their reveille welcome to the
far across the prairie, Farland and his
command were :rotting toward Mount
Graham, and Miss Cameron, still in the
yellow gown, stood a her window with
her hands clasped before her, and
watched the line of the receding col
umn.
Farland stopped at Bayard two
months later. The scout was over, and
he was taking his command back to
Fort Grant. They were to strike the
railroad at Silver City, nine miles
away, upon the following day.
He meant to see Miss Cameron.
There was no longer reason for 81
lence. He waited with impatience
while the commandant arranged for
the disposition of the men. Then he
walked with him across the parade.
The primroses OF the evening were
opening, a great, pale flower bursting
out here and there in the grass, until,
even as he went. all the ground was
starred with them, and the children
from the officers line and the laun-
dresses row were running, laughing,
and screaming, and calling out, to
gather the handfuls of fragile bloom
that would be wilted before tattoo.
Upon occasions of necessity the
commandant's long, lank body could
bestir itself; but there was no such oc-
casion now, and Maj. Cameron re-
sented Farland's haste.
81 say, Farland," he protested. "slow
up. What is your hurry? You will not
get dinner before retreat, anyway"
Little the lieutenant rocked of din
ner. But he obliged himself to walk
more reasonably. Maj. Cameron
talked of the scout and its outcome.
Farland tried to listen and TO answer.
In his iovful authorization he forgot
that he was asorry-looking sight to GO
R-wooing, that his face was burned,
and his nose peeling, and his hair half
cut, and his clothes ragged and dusty.
Self-consciousness was not one of his
faults. The major broke off suddenly
in the midst of TRADE against Indian
agents, those pet aversions of the line.
81 suppose you are about worn out"
be said.
no." said Farland; mot in the least.
Why?"
You appear not to be able to keep
your mind upon anything. You have
no notion of what l said last"
you said tMescaleros' last"
"But you have no idea whatever
what said abou. the Mescaleros."
II am afraid that's So" Farland ad-
mitted.
"And over there at the corral you
answered three questions that hadn't
asked"
Farland apoligized civilly. But he
had seen, through the window, Miss
Cameron standing with clasped hands
and head thrown back, before the open
fire. 1t was favorite pose with her,
and it recalled so much. The major
might as well have addressed his con-
cluding remarks to the flagstaff.
They went into the hall, and the