The Irish standard., 1898-03-26

Vet the corpora!'s warning made him
think of his own favor!'c saddle horse
and F!oy's pretty hnss She rode SO
we'll, SO fearlessly, tirc!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
derfui jumper, Florence gloried in
her and in the dasl juS rides they used
to take. They ddn ! mind the lack of
shaded bride paths. They secured the
plain full gallop, riding rrrklessly after
the bounding jack-r:ibli,s. and coming
home all a,hriil aud ag!ow with The
glorious exercise. Blu, OF late the rides
had become more sctla,c and slow and
less frequent, aud then when Mrs. Nc
Lane proposed being of the party Flor
ence discovered Misnon to be suddenly
lame, and had shoe removed and a
hoof poulticcd, and Randy smiled but
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 were required to keep theirs,
instead of, as had been customary UNI
dc, previous administration. at thc
cavalry or lunrternaStcr'sc orrals The
colonel of the Riflers 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 Frccmans, HAYNES,
Grnf,ons and Merrilms, as we'll as the
doctor, all had private horses for ladies'
use; so did certain others; and, al
though every mounted officer could
draw forage for two horses, not a peck
of oats could he get beyond that, and
when it came to forage for ladies'
UNDERSTANDINGS never ridden or driven
except by ladies', aud too light for gov
crnmcnt service, the colonel drew the
line at that entirely, aud WAS sustained
by " virtuous congress.
So Randy had to lny forage for
Mignon. and luckily forage was cheap,
with all those ranches of Santa Clara
close at hand. lie had often Thought
how easy it would he for grcnsrrs-
natural horse thievcs--to sneak in on
that southern front of darl, night and
make off with four or five favoritc horses.
ard the colonel used to keep ,lrce SEN
tries along There Now they had only
one. "All the more reason for my
keeping personal watch on that 'front.'"
thought Randy, land thatwil give me
an occasional chance to look in on
Florence"
One o'clock came, and the call had
gone from sentry to sentry, thanks to
the brcathless stiffness of the air, and
the moon WAS climlIiiis high. and Rnx
was still up and swe:,tng A "wire"
came out from the junction that the
especial" would not-.be there for two
hours, SD the RiferS4haI Smoked arms,
unslung packs, and were smoothing or
skylarking as suited their h,mor The
colonel had given Permission for
dance at Mig,el's. The. band was play
Ing, and there was ipll}ty in the wind.
Eux said he wnnldn' t have the cavalry
mixed up in any sue i tom foolery, how
ever, and the patrol was was sah.lled and
ready to start. Graf.aop, coming back
from his stable. where he had gone 10
personally see TO the selection of tho
mounts required. stopped, =, and drew
Merriam 10 one side
''l'm sorry for the needless trouble
you took this evening. Merriam. had
hoped :hnt Mrs. Mc1nnc would see YOU
nnti have done with it. Another dis
patch came for her three hours ago, aud
it seems TO have reused her to action.
She was up and dressed in time to see
the reg inlent off, and now. presume.
she's flirting with Whitaker. There
are lights in the l,nrlor. At all events
the orderly hasn't found him. and Bux
may send you after the stragglers in
town."
"1'hcn l reckon I'll start ana make
the rounds and get out of the way"
said Randy. by the way, captain,
hope your private stnble is we'll secured.
We have only one sentry on that whole
front now, and that matched team of
yours is a powerful temptation TO Bravo
horse fancicrs. I mean to make two or
three trips around the row tonight"
We'll. then ] can save you several
hundred yards, Merriam" SAID Grnf
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 renr gate"
Merriam took it and thanked him
heartily.
"lll go to the corrals first" said he,
"and then come over your way. Good
night"
The lights were still burning dimly
In the parlor as Grafton reached his
quarters, but the slender form of u
woman stood between him and the door.
It wns Mrs. McLnnc, and she began Mt
once.
II have been waiting nnXiously for
you. captain. Dear Harriet has gone TO
her room tired out, and thought Mr..
Whitaker would never go-1 fairly had
to send him. Mr.. Merriam is officer of
the guard. Could see hiln--could you
take me TO him for just minute? II
I can talk with him three minutes it
will be ample. and I 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 refrnincd:, lie looked back
across the snllow, moonIit surface of the
parade to where the oil lamps were
burning blcarily in ting Suardroom. "IIe
is not there" said liz. ale has gone
down 10 the corrals. Hut"-a happy
thought striking hilniA"in less than ten