Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1899-05-27

Just what an officers actual rank
might be In the days that followed close
ON the heels ~ the war was q matter no
man could tell from either HE dress or
address. Few indeed were they who
escaped tho dclugc " brcvetn that
poured over the army and soaked some
men six deep.
There were well authenticated eases
" well preserved persons who had
never 40 much as seen battle and
We're yet. ON one protoSt or another.
hrcveittd away M amonE the stars for
faithful aud mefitnrioun service" re-
cruitinE. mastering or dlfburrlnr.
W. had colonies by tito whose func.
tionr were purely those Of the ilie
closer. We had generals by brcvrt who
had never set Hquadfon In the Held and
didn't know tho difference between a
pole yoke and pcdomeior.
Every captain. except one or two who
had lauRhingiy declined. were the
straps u a Held officer, rnmc Few even
~ generals. and 90 when one heard n
military looking man addressed nH COLI
uncl the chances were ten 60 one that
he was drawing only the stipend N n
company officer, and In matters u act.
unl rank In the army II was money that
talked,
iiut there could be no questioning
the right % the senior Of the two nfii-
GERS who had nilghtsd ~ Ranchoa 90
the title " colonel Soldier stood out
all over him. even though his Harb was
concealed by nondescript duaicr. His
face, lined, thin Tipped and rcHniuie,
was tanned by desert suns ana winds.
HIS hair. once brown, was almost white
His beard. once flowing and silky. was
cropped a. gray stumble. His rteely
blue eyes snapped under their heavy
thatch. Ills head was carried high and
well back. nnd his soft felt hat, wide
hrlmmed, was pulled down over the
hrnwa, Ills deep chest, square shout.
derr. erect carriage ana straight, mus
culnr lagn all told ~ days and years In
the field. and every word he uttered
had about II the crisp. clear cut ring Of
command.
n was SAFE. % bot that no mere cont
pnnY was the extent ~ this soldiers
authority, and sancho, keen observer,
had nut him down for q lieutenant
colonel al least. Fun coloneln were
mostly older men, and Arizona had but
ono In "thc days OF the empire"
The rachmnn had eagerly whispered
questions 10 the lounEera ~ 90 the
Identity 81 the two arrivals. hut with
out success Roth were strangers, al
though the junior had been seen AZ the
ranch once before. the dav nlnke's troOn
was camped there on the way back
from the prnro0na. There was tho
packet left by the orderly In h. called
Tor hy officers arriving on the Yuma
stage, addressed in clefkly hand. but
Ranchn alas, could not read.
lowering me- near NJ the gravlty and
dignity ~ his station would permit. h.
had heard tho colonies query about
lilako. lie prlckcd up hla ears at once.
Tcnientc lilake-ihlfty miles east on
the Mnrlcopa r1ndi Why how was
thlH7 Some one had told him blake had
been 10 the Colorado and was coming
back By this very stage. How did
make SGT u the cnst Of sanchO'a ranch.
after having once zone west. without
saucho'H knowing ~
auHplolouHly he watched tho two sol
diera, the grizzlcd colonel. The slim
lieutenant They were talking together
In low tunci az least the colonel was
ticking cngcrly encrgeiically ana with
much genticulAtinn. The junior llstened
NoruleaH Ia every word. What had he
meant By the bird had nownf" why
should Noyiua "HNp3' An unpleasant
fear solxcd upon Ranchn. Ho knew
Nevinr. al least Neyina captain
whom everybody knew IN fact and few
men trusted What had NeVlns been
doing, or rather whnt that he had been
doing was he to be- held 20 account flrf
Why should the colonel % eagerly ask
whore they could reach Blnkef
Time was when snncho battered him
self there was no icviltry going on in
Arizona, except such nA originated with
tho Indians, IN which he had not nc
least tho participation ~ iull knowl-
edge. yCt here came two officials. has
tcrtng hy stage instead OF marching
with military deiibera'ion and escort
and thny were IN qur,t " tho senior
captnln NcylnH. ~ whom all men had
heard and at whose hands many had
suffered, for was not he a player whom
the very cards seemed 10 obey
Was ID not he who broke the bank NJ
Rustamente's during the fiesta AT Tue
son but 1--WE months agonef Was II not
Nevinn who won all the money those