The Irish standard., 1898-03-26

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Yet the corrora!'swurnns made him
think of his own favo.i'c saddle horse
and F!oy's pretty hnys She rode so
we'll, SO fearlessiy, trr!css!y. that one of
his very first gifts W Acr had been this
dainty little mare, swift and snrc-foot-
ed as greyhound, AND abou, us won
derful a jumper, un4'FIiprcnce gloricl in
her and in the dasIinS rides they used
to take. They didn,, mind the lack Of
shaded bride paths l,ncy secured the
plain full ga'!op, riding rccklessly after
the bounding jack-r:ibli,s. and cunning
home all a,hriil and agow with the
glorious exercise. Blu, OF late the rides
had become more sctla,r and slow and
less frequent, and then when Mrs Nc
Lane proposed being If the party Flor
encc discovered Miynon to be suddenly
lame, and had shoe removed aud
hoof poulticch, and Randy smiled hut
said nothing. Mignon WAS surprised,
perhaps. but not Mr.. Merriam lie was
thinking Of the unprotected condition
of those stables back of officers row,
where those gentlemen who owned pri-
waite stock We're required TO keep theirs.
instead of. as had been customary UNI
dc, q previous administration, at the
cavalry or quartermaStcr's corrals. The
colonel of the Killers had once been
knncklc-rappcd for allowing public
forage to he fed to private amounts" of
some garrison ladies', aud now he had
his eyes open. The Frccmuns, Haynes,
Graf,ons and Merriams, as we'll as the
doctor, all bad private horses for ladies'
use; so did certain others; and, al
though every mounted officer could
of oats could he get beyond that, and
when it came to forage for ladies'
horscs-animals never ridden or driven
except by ladies', and too light for gov
crnmcnt service, the colonel drew the
line at that entirely, aud WIS sustained
by " virtuous congress.
So Randy had to Eny forage for
Mignon, and luckily forage WAS cheap,
with all those ranches of Santa Clara,
close a, hand. He had often thought
how easy it would he for grcnsrrs-
natural horse thievcs-to sneak in on
that southern front OFFS dark night and
make off with four or five ravori,c horses,
ard The colonel used to keep thrce SELL
tries along There. Now they had only
one. "All the more reason for my
keeping personal watch on that 'front.'"
thought Randy, "and thatwill give me
an occasional chance to look i'm on
Florence"
One O'clock came, and the call had
gone from sentry to sentry, thanks to
the brrnthrss stiffness OF the air, and
the moon WAS clinliiis high. and Hnx
was still up and swearing. A "wirc"
came out from the junction that the
especial" wonltl not. he there for two
hours, so The RiAer&shah stnrketl arms.
unslung packs. and Were smoothing or
skylarkng as suited their l,nmor. The
colonel had given Permission for
dance at Mignel's The band was play
ing, and there was joil}ty in the wind.
Bux said he wnnldn't' have the cavalry
mixed up in any such tnmfoolcry, how
ever, and the patrol was satldled and
ready TO start. Graf,ion. coming back
from his stable. where he had gone TO
personally see TO the selection of tho
mounts required. stopped .. and drew
Merriam 10 one side .-
"1'm sorry for the needless trouble
you took this evening, Merriam. had
hoped That Mrs. Mcl.:inc would sec YOU
and have done with it. Another dis
patch came for her three hours ago, and
it seems to have reused her to action.
She was up and dressed in time to sec
the regiment off, and now, presume,
she's flirting with Whitaker. There
are lights in the parlor. At all events
the orderly hasn't found him, and Rux
may send you after the strngglers in
town."
''Thcn l reckon I'll start ana make
the rounds and get out of the way"
said Randy. by the way, captain.
hope your private stable is we'll secured.
We have only one sentry on that whole
front now, and that matched team Of
yours is a powerful temptation 10 Bravo
horse fanciers. I mean to make two or
three trips around the row tonight"
well, then ] can save you several
hundred yards. Merriam" SAID Graf
ton, fumbling in his pocket. Take the
short cut through my yard. There nre
no private horses between me and the
east end OF the line, you know. Here's
the key to the rear gate"
Merriam took it and thanked him
heartily.
"l'll go 10 the corrals first" said hc
land then come over your way. Good
night"
The lights were still burning di1nly
In the pnrlor us Grafton reached his
quarters, but the slender form of q
woman stood between him and the door,
1t WINS Mrs. McLnne, and she began ut
once.
II have been waiting anXiously for
you. captain. Dear Harriet has gone to
her room tired out, and | thought Mr..
Whitaker would never go-l fairly had
to send him. Mr.. Merriam is officer of
the gunrd. Could see him-could You
take me TO him for just minute? If
I can talk with him three mi"utcs it
will be ample. and cannot rest now
until do"
Grafton was on the point of bidding
her remember that she had refused
chance of talking will him earlier that
night, but RETAINED: lie looked back
across the sallow, moonlit surface of the
parade to where the oil lamps were
burning bleari1y in the Sunrdroom. "IIe
is not there" said he ale has gone
down TO the corrals- Rut"-a happy
thought striking himh"in less han ten