Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1900-01-19
DEVILS LAKE RFFR-oCEAN FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1900

LOW
gan TO reappear IN n Day, ana coanng
and refitting were hurried to the ut
most. The man most eager to get away
was Stanley Armstrong; and if merit
were to decide the matter it was CON
coded among the volunteers hat in
point of style and equipment the
"Primeval Dudes" held over" all com
petitors, even though every competitor
believed itself more than a match for
the Dudes if actual campaigning and
fighting were in contemplation. Sen
ators and members from the states
represented by the volunteers at San
Francisco led burdensome lives, for Of
ficers and men were pulling every wire
to secure the longed-for orders for an
immediate voyage to Manila, when, all
on q sudden, the hopes of all were
crushed. Spain had begged for peace.
mo more men can be sent to Manila"
said the officials consulted, and Camp
Merritt put on mourning forthwith.
But Armstrong had been studying
the situation and was not easily daunt-
ed. He was a man whose opinion car
ried weight, and from the very first he
had maintained that while $4,000 or co.
900 might be men enough to hold Ma
Mia, $4,000 might not be enough to sub
due at once the forces of Aguinaldo in
case they should turn upon the Ameri-
cans, which, said he, placidly, they will
most certainly do before we are a year
older. .
The Dudes, therefore, much to their
disgust, were kept steadily at work.
Other regiments, profting by example,
followed suit; but in others still, a
small proportion of their membership,
believing, as they said, that the zig
was up" took to lawless ana unhal-
lowed expression of their disgust and
became thereby q nuisance to the
neighborhood. San Franciscans, who
had wept %copiously when others sailed
away, would have seen these patriots
sent into exile without shedding a tear.
every man of this command will
yet be needed and yet be sent" said
Armstrong. So, too, did the veteran
division commander, and the brigade
took heart accordingly. The last of the
regulars, with the recruit detachments
for regiments already in the Philip
pines, had been shipped to Honolulu,
there to await orders, and September
seemed destined to go by without u
change for the better in the prospects
of the men still left in camp about the
reservation. The Primes, convinced at
last that the boy they sought was not
T., lo fo,,l ~ Cn1;f,o h,l -
Santa Anita visiting their kindred, the
Lawrences; and Armstrong, buckling
down to hard and constant work, was
striving to persuade himself that he
did not care that the mornings nc long
er brought with them the carriage and
the fair face of that gentle girl; the de-
partment commander himself had gone
to take a look at his new responsible
tiles in Hawaii; little Mrs. Garrison
still held court, though with dimin-
ished %retinue, at the Preside, when one
day, Just as October was ushered in,
there came a message from the adju-
tant general in town. Would Arm
strong drop in at the office at the first
opportunity? A matter of some i'm
portance had come up in the generals
first letter from Honolulu, IN on
which Armstrong; opinion was de-
sired; and the colonel, hoping for It'd
ings of a chance to move even that fur
to the front, made immediate oppor-
tunity and took the first car for the
Phelan building. The a%djutant gener-
al looked up from a Uttered desk as
Armstrong entered.
ut is good of you to come SO prompt
ly," said he. I'm in a stew, to tell the
truth, and I want your advice" Then
he tapped his bell. Excuse me to any
one who for the next ten min
utes," said he to the attendant who
entered. II have business with Col.
Armstrong;"
No soner did the orderly vanish than
the man Of the desk whirled full on
the man of the saddle. Armstrong;
said he, you defended Gray and proved
him innocent. What else has Canker
against him?"
Nothing that I know o~f-why?"
because he's got him in arrest again
at Honolulu, and the chief is worked
up over something. Look here-do you
suppose-did you ever hear about GER
tain letters that were stolen from Gen.
Dayton's tent?"
81 heard-yes. Why" And the look
Of disappointment which had appeared
in the grave face of the colonel gave
way to one of alert interest.
"Just read that" said the staff Of
fetal, holding forth a letter. begin
there at Later!'"
And Armstrong read, his forehead
slowly growing into something very
like a frown.
fla ,Il., ~