The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1900-05-24
CHAPTER XIv.-CoNr1NuDp.

tuuHRltiSN 81
Copyright, 1890, by F. T~ennyson Neely.l
CHAPTER XIV.-CoNTINuED,
No time need be wasted in telling tie
effect of this assignment to quarters"
Prolific a sourc Of squabble as is the
custom ashore it becomes intensified
afoat, and, when coupled with it came
q shaking up and Encouragement of
seats at table, all hope of harmony van
ished On the instant. The two brave
young army girls still retained their
seats at the captains table; but two
most estimable young women, Red
Cross nurses, were dropped therefrom
and transferred to that of the second
officer on the port side. much to the
comfort of a rather large percentage
of their sisterhood who had regarded
their previous elevation with feelings
OF not unmiSed qualification. Then
officers who had been seated with the
generals staff had to vacate in favor Of
Mrs. Frank and DR.. Prober and Lieut..
Billy Gray; whose father and the chief
were longtime chums, and the Red
Gross nurses who had been at the first
officers table fell back to that of the
third. 1t was every bit as good as the
other, but it didn't sound so, and they
couldn't see it; and there We're faces
sour as the product of the ships baker
when that evening all hands went down
to dinner, and the silence maintained,
or the ominously subdued tone of the
ALL, - +1o of1o,. 10 HI 6 ,-oc -, =, ,o,1,,1
contrast with the hilarity that pre-
vailed where sat the gr%ay-haired, rudy
checked old chick and the laughing
coterie that listened to the fun that fell
from the lips of Witchie Garrison.
Armstrong. silent and somber, at the
captains right, looking forward from
time to time, saw only one face at the
generals table that was not lighted up
with merriment; it was the face of the
boy he envied, if envy of this kind ever
entered into his heart, and he wondered
as he looked at Billy's curly head what
could have come over that glad young
life to leave so deep a shadow on his
handsome face.
One night. just one week later, Arm
strong's eyes were opened. More than
once in the meanwhile he had invited
the Young officers confidence, and Billy,
who three months earlier had been all
gratitude and frankness, protested
there was nothing on his mind. He had
been very i'll, that was all. AS to
Canker's charges they were simply rot.
He hadn't the faintest inkling what had
become of the p%urloined letters any
more than he had of the whereabouts
of his Delta Sig friend, young Morton,
now officially proclaimed a deserter.
r. But Armstrong heard more tales OF
Witches devotions to him in his i'll
ness, and the slow convalcscence that.
ensued, noted how the boys eyes fol-
lowed her about the deck, and how
many a time he would seek her side,
even when other men were reading,
walking or chatting with her. Arm
strong looked with wonderment that
was close allied to incredulity and pain.
Was it possible that this blithe lad, who
had won such a warm interest in the
heart of such a girl as Amy Lawrence,
could be forgetful of her, faithless to
her, and fascinated now by this selfish
and shallow butterfly? 1t was incred-
ible!
But was it? The days had grown hot
ter, the nights closer, and the air be-
tween decks was sitting when the sea
rolled high and closed the ports. Off
GERS had taken to ~snoozing up on deck
in steamer chairs. BY an unwritten
law the port side of the promenade
deck was given up to them after II at
night; but the women folk had the run
of the starboard side at any hour when
the crew were not washing down decks.
Armstrong had been far forward about
two o'clock one breathless night to see
for himself the condition of things in
the hospital under the forecastle. The
main deck was crowded with sleeping
forms of soldiers who found it impos-
sible to stand the heat below; so on his
return, instead of continuing along the
gangway, he decided to climb the iron
ladder from the main to the promenade
deck. It would land him at the forward
end of the starboard side. There he
could smoke a cigar in peace and quiet.
It was high time everybody was asleep.
But as his head and eyes reached the
level of the deck he became suddenly
aware of a couple huddled close to-
gether in the shelter of a canvas
screen, and under the steps leading
aloft to the bridge. He knew Gray's
voice at once, and Gray was pleading.
He knew her tones of old, and she wa
imperative, and listening with obvious
impatience, for, almost at the instant
Of his arrival she spoke, low, yet dis
tinctly: do as ] say; do as beg you
when we reach Manila, and then come
and see how | can reward"
CHAPTER XIV.
Manila at last! Queen city of the
archipelago, and Manila again be-
sieged! The loveliest of the winter
months was come. The Luneta and the
Taseo de Santa Lucia, close to the
sparkling waters, were gay every even
ing with the music of the regimental
bands and thronged with the carriages
of old-time residents and their new and
not too welcome visitors. Spanish
danes and damsels, invisible at other
hours, drove or strolled along the road
way to enjoy the cool breezes that
swept in from the beautiful bay and take
wistful peeps at the dainty toilets of
the American bellies now arriving by
every BOAT from Hong-Kong. All the
Castilian disdain they might look and
possibly feel toward the soldiery of
Uncle Sam gave place to liveliest inter
est and curiosity when the wives and
daughters Of his soldiers appeared
upon the scene; and there was one car