The Florence daily tribune., 1898-03-15
Mrs, Grafton looked concerned; Mrs

court not an hour since" she muttered
TO her hostess, as, after proper ex-
pressions of sympathy and regret, they
regained the roadway.
We, 5 9 las.a', been looking well
for some days" said Mrs Grafton, and
its quite possible she is ILL.,"
The schoolmates had been housed to-
/ gether only n few days before Mrs.
Grafton became convinced that Fanny's
deNoiious were rapidly waning. that
with recovering health and boom and
I spirits the crying need for the one dear
friend 10 lean on had vanished. Less
lnd less grew the hours of confidential
chat, More aud more was the late dis
conso.ate widow becoming Interested.
not to say absorbed, in the details of
/ garrison life. Freeman, formerly of
I the til, but now a squadron com
mander nj Sedgwick, remarked that
the lady was "heoinning to take notice
uncommonly early" and Minurn, with
whom she was quite ready to walk and
even 10 visit the tennis court, was heard
to ask II they never had such things MS
half-mourning hops. Whitaker, who
was srA.y about something and pre-
ternaiurally stntely as consequence,
reminded him that Mrs. McI.ane was
still in deep mourning-fnl mourning
TO which cynic III shouder-straps
who happened TO be present replied
that he on.y wished that other ful,s
could be as lightly worn. "She may
have been in the depths OF woe before
she LETT Chicago, ns Mrs Grafton de-
/ clarcs She was" said Mrs. buxton. a
lady with years OF experiences, ''but
she's brnvely over il soon enough. She'll
be dancing next" And this unchris-
/ tian, uneharitahle remark was called
/ forth by the sight of the lady going to
| ride with Whiitaker--Whittake who
at first cou,d hardly be induced to call.
and who row could hardly be induced
to believe il time 10 go.
And of course, before she had been
| at the post week everybody knew
that this was the woman to whom Mer-
riam was at least believed TO be en-
gnged two years before, and that add
ed to the thrilling interest of tue situa-
! tion. For little while it had been
4 quite. problem how to entertain her.
She didn't go 10 dances or dinners.
/ She could, perhaps. ride and play ten
mis-, but tennis she did not care for.
Riding was unpleasant. because there
were no winding wood roads, no elastic
turf. The mesa was pebbly or sandy
by turns. the canyon marrow, the roads
dusty. Ladies' lunches, very. very
| quiet and informal, she consented to at
tent but she did net care for lunches.
The women presently declared she did
not care for women.
| The men. especially Mintlrn and
Whitaker, had carly become devoted
TO her, and there could be no doubt of
her powers of fascination. The gunner
and the trooper grew cold and con-
strained in their manner toward each
other, and Whitaker quit going,,us go
he used to day and night. 10 Haynes or
Merrianls. The colonel's wife, diving
to be hospitable. had urged a little,
4 quiet home dinner. Just yourself,
1 your friends, the Graftons and Merri-
ans. and, say. Mr.. Minturn." Mrs. Graf
ton assured the kind army woman that
| Mrs. McLane would not think of ac-
cepting. Mrs. McLane amazed her host
ess by eventually saying yes.
Since the Tuesday evening OF their
call, not once had the Merriams held
conversation with the widow. She
called, as has been seen, and Mrs. Mer-
riam had to be excused. Mrs. Merriam
used TO love tennis. but quit the game
as soon as Mrs. McLane began coming
to the court. Mrs. Merriam, who used
to love TO ride with Randy, had dscon-
tinued ii day or two after that al
legged Illness, as though to carry out
httt hut ha dnu ct,a
again appeared in the saddle and gal
1 loped out upon the mesa by her hus-
bald's side. Returning. they met Mrs.
McLane just starting out with her gum
ner friend. and the ice had TO be broken.
The stylsh!y habited widow beamed
on both. begged Floy TO let her know
al what hour they would ride next day.
as she adored.it of all things, and next
day Fioy'S horse was reported dead
lame and she would ride no other
When Mrs. Colonel's invitation came for
that uttely unlooked-for dinrer, the
Merriams were cornered. for Floy,
though looking sallow and heavy-eyed
now,was not really i'll and could urge no
excuse. Garrison dinner bids" must be
answered as promptly as those in city
life. We've got TO go dear" said Mer-
RAM calmly, $50 send our acceptance"
Il won't 60" said Floy TO herself. as
she renned and signed the little note.
and when Saturday came she was too
ill to leave her bed Mrs. Hayne came
to minister to and sit with her. The
Freemans were bidden instead, and
Mrs. Freeman could have stamped
her pretty foot in vexation, for neither
she nor her lord thought it the proper
thing for Mrs. McLane to be going to
dinners so early in her widowhood; be-
sides, there were other reasons.
The dinner came off, however, and
was dismal feast with a dramatic con-
clusion.
As has been shown. only twice had
Mrs. McLane had speech with Merriam