The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1900-05-17
spirits simply irresistible. Her sallies

spirits simply irresistible. Her sallies
Of wit had made him roa withdeliEht;
her mimicry of one or two conscientious
but calculated danes who had come
over on the Queen, bound as nurses for
Manila, had tickled him to the verge
Of apopleSy; butwhen later she backed
him into the coolest corner of the
lanai" with the plash of fountain close
at hand, and the sweet music of Ber-
gers famous band floating softly on the
evening air, and told him how her
father had loved to talk Of his, the gen
erals, dash and daring in the great
days of the great war, and led him on
to tell of his campaigns in the Shenan-
doah and the west, listening with di-
lated eyes and parted lips, the cam
paigner himself was captivated, and
she had her will. A great senator had
told him how she had come thither to
nurse a gallant young officer in her
husbands regiment, how she had
pulled the boy through the perils of
brain fever until he was now conval-
escent and going on to rejoin his COM
rades in Manila, and she, she was pining
/ " 1CdSA AC1M AuSOdLo INV Del Wig VI
Gen. Drayton's staff. Other women
We're aboard the Queen; could not Gen.
Crabb find o for her? 1t is hard
for a soldier to refuse a pretty woman
or a prominent member of the commit
tee on military affairs. There was not a
vacant stateroom on the ship. Officers
were sleeping three OF four in a room,
SO were the Red Cross nurses; and the
two army wives already aboard had
been assigned a little cubbyhole of a
cabin in which only one could dress at
a time. There We're only two apart
ments on the big craft that were not
filled to their capacity-the room occu-
pied by that sea monarch, the captain,
and that which, from having been the
ladies boudoir," had been fitted up
for the accommodation of the general.
The piano had been wheeled out on
deck, the writing table slowed away,
and a fine new wide brass bedstead,
with dainty white curtains and mos
quito bar, a large bureau and q wash
stand had been moved in, and these,
with easy-chairs, electric fans, electric
lights and abundant air, made it the
most desirable roo or the ship. Even
Armstrong, colonel commanding the
troops aboard, was compelled to share
his little cabin with his adjutant, and
the generals aides were bundled into
a "skimpy'' box between decks. There
really seemed nc place for Mrs. Gar
rison aboard, especially when it was
found that the passenger list was to be
increased by three, a surgeon and two
officers going forward from Honolulu;
and one of these was our old friend and
once light-hearted Billy Gray, now
nearly convalescent, but weak and, as
all could see, feverishiy eager to get on
to. Manila.
All this was explained to the senator.
It was even suggested that there was
room for Mrs. Garrison on the Louis
lana, a safe old tub, if she was slow;
but Mrs. Frank looked SO pathetic and
resigned when this arrangement was
suggested that no one had the hardi-
hood to actually dwell upon it, and the
senator said it was a shame to think of
it. With whom of her own sex could
she associate on that long, hot voyage
ahead of them? Why not transfer some
Of the Red Cross nurses to the Louis
lana? Mrs. Garrison had no objections,
but they had; and the surgeon in
charge made prompt and vigorous pro-
test. He knew Mrs. Frank, and she
knew him and did not in the least de-
spair. She still had a plan. There was
a cozy dinner one evening-just the
evening before the departure of the
Queen, and the gallant captain OF the
ship, the veteran general, the quarter
master in charge of transportation, the
member of the senate military commit
tee, some charming girls-but none SO
charming as Mrs. Garrison-wero of
the party. There was some sentiment
and much. champagne, as a result of
which, at one a. M, the big-hearted sea
monarch aforementioned swore by the
bones of his ancestors in the Shiny
grasp of Davy Jones that hat sweet
little woman shouldn't have to go
abe gging for accommodations on his
shir. If the general would condescend
to move into his room, by thunder, he'd
sleep up in his foul-weather den next
the chart room, and Mrs. Garrison
God bless her!-could take the gener-
ais room, and be queen of the ship
queen of the Queen-queen of queens
by Jupiter! and here's her health with
all honor! A soldier, of course, could
be no less gallant than a sailor, espe-
cially as the captains room was a bit
better than the "Boudoir," and had an
ice chest and contents that the veteran
campaigner was hidden to consider his
own. The agreement was clinched that
very night before the party broke up;
and little Mrs. Frank shed tears of
gratitude upon the generals coat
sleeve and threw kiss after kiss to the
handsome sailor as she hung over the
balusters of the broad veranda and
waved them away in their swift-run-
ming cabs, and hen danced off to her
room and threw herself on the bed aft
er a mad pirouette about the spacious
apartment, and laughed and laughed
until real tears trickled from her eyes,
and then gave orders to be called at
seven o'clock. She meant to be up and
aboard that ship with all her luggage
before sense and repentance could
come with the morning sun-before
either soldier or sailor could change
his mind.
To the amaze of the women already
aboard, to the grave annoyance of Col.
Armstrong, to the joy of poor Billy
Gray, and the mischievous merriment
of several youngsters on the commits
stoned list, Mrs. Frank Garrison. the
latest arrival, became sole occupant of
the finest room on the ship; and it was
a bower of lilies and tropical fruit and
flowers the breezy day she sailed away