The Delta independent., 1898-10-07

curves until lest in the distance; few
scattered ranches in the stream valley;
collection of sheds, shanties and novels
surrounding a bustliug establishment
known rs the store. down by the ford
the center of civilization, apparently.
for th;thcr trended every roadway,
Path, track or trail visible TO the naked
eye.
Here in front Of the Office 4 solitary
cavalry horse WIS ;ethered. Yorder at
the sut.sr's, early rs it was in the day.
o dozen quadrupeds, mules, mustangs.
or Indian ponies, were blinking in the
suusLiue. Dogs iunu;nerable sprgwled
In the sand Eipeds lolled lazily about
or sqratted on the steps Oh the e;!ge CT
the wooden porch. some in broad SOM
brercs, some in scalp lcck and blanket
none in the garb CT civil life as see,i
in the nearest cities, Vnd the nearest
was 400 or 500 miles away. Ont Oh the
parade were bits of lively color. tie
dresses Of frolicson.e children to tie
east, the stripes and facings of tho cav
airy and artillery ut the west. for. By
sou,e odd freak of the fortunes OF war,
here, away ont ut Fort Worth. Lad
cone a crack light battery of the oil
army, which, with Brooks battalion ct
the cavalry and headquarters. staff.
band and six companies Of the --th in
fantry. made up the garrisnn-the big
ges. then maintained in the department
immortalized ty Sheridan US only sec
ond choice to sheol. 1t was the winter
of 1901. as black and treary n time rs
ever the army knew. for congress had
~, A s,,fn bal
number and blasted all hopes Of promo
tion-about the only thing tho soldier
has TO live for.
And that wasn't the b!acscst thing
sbort the business by any means. The
war had developed the fact that we had
thousands Of battalion commanders for
whom the nation had no place in peace
times, and scores of them, in the hopo
and promise Of life employment in al
honorable profession, accepted the ten
der of lieu.erancies in the regular urIny
in 1866, tho war having broken up al!
their vocations at home, and now. hav-
ing given forr years moro to the ilili-
tary servicc-tni.en Gil these years OFT
of their lives that might have been
given to establishing themselves in busi-
ness-they were bidden to choose be-
: tween voluntarily quitting tho army
with Q boErs OF . years pay aud re-
manning with no hope Of advancement
Most Of them. despairing Of finding tm-
ploJrcnt in civil life, concluded to
stay: SO other methods Of getting rid OF
them were Gcy ised. and, to the nmazo
of the army and the dismay of tho VIC
Tins. big list was Published OF officers
"rendered supcruumerary" and sum
marily discharged.
Ard this was how 1t happened that
gallant. brilliant and glil hearted fell
low, the favorite staff officer Of gloTi-
ous corps commander who fell ut the
head Of his men after three years OF
equally glorious service. found himself
in faraw8y Texas this llGcEest OF black
Fridays. suddenly turned loose on the
world and without hopo CT home
Cruel was no word for 1t. Tutoring
the army before tho war, one OF the
few gifted civilians commissioned be-
cause they loved the service and then
had frirals to back them, Edgar Law
renee had Joined the cavalry ia Texas.
where the frst thing ho did was to fall
heels ever head in lave with his cIp-
tain's daughter, and a runaway match
resulted. Poor Kitty Tyrrelli Poor Ned
Lawrcncei Two Inorc impractical peo-
pic never lived. She was an army girl
with aspirations. much sweetness aud
little sense. lie was u whole soulcd.
generous, lavish fellow. Both were cx
travagart. she particularly 60. They
were sorely in debt when the war broke
out, and he instead Of going in fer the
Il
de-cainp to his old colonel. who passed
Linn on 10 another when he retired. and
when the war was half over Lawrence
was only captain of stat. and captain
he came oct at the close Erevc's OF
course be had. Lu: what are brevets but
empty title? What proiiteih it q man
60 lie called colonel il he have only the
pay cf sub? Hundreds OF men who ca
gerly sought 1iis aid or influence during
the war "held ovor him at the end Of
it, Another general took him on his
staff as aid-de-camp. where Lawrence
was invaluable. Kitty dearly loved city
life. parties balls. operas and thes-.crs.
bat Lawrence grew liued and gray with
care and worry. The general went the
way o. all f,csh. and Lawrence TO Tex
as, unable TO get another staff billet
They set him q coart martial duty at
San Antonio itr several months, for
Texas furnished cuiprits by the score in
the days that followed the war. and
many an unrrcmising army career WIS
cut short by the t:ibu1s! Of which Cap
tain and B.evet Lieutenant Colonel
Lawrence was judge advocate. but all
the time he had a skeleton in his own
closet that iy and by ratified its way out.
Time was in the war days when
many Of the ren Of the headquarters
escort banked their money with the te-
loved and popular aid He had nearly