The Princeton union., 1900-10-11

as had her fathers gaze q moment be
i fore.
THAT, my dear young lady I--er
cannot surmise. They are mostly i'm
aginative, Idare say
But Miss Folsom looked unmollified,
Miss Dean agitated, and Burleigh him
self had many a reason for feeling i'll
at ease. Just at the time of all Others
when he most desired to stand on good
terms with the well-to-lo old trader
and his charming daughter he found
/ himself the object of distrust. He was
thinking hard and far from hopefully
as moment later he hastened down
! the street.
Tell them to send up my, buggy,
quick" were his orders as he stepped
within his Office doorway Then low
ering his voice: HAS Capt. Newhall
returned?' he asked the chief clerk.
'The captain was here, sir Left
word he needed to take the first train
freight or construction, it made no
difference-to Cheyenne and expected
to find letter or package from you,
and there's two telegrams in from de-
partment headquarters on your desk,
sir.'
The major turned thither with SOL
emn face, and read them both, his
back to his subordinate, his face to the
light, and growing grayer every mo-
ment. One was curt notification
that $4,000 would be needed at once at
Warrior Gap to pay contractors and
workmen, and directing him to send
the amount from the funds in his keep
ing. The other read as follows:
SHave all transportation put in read
mess for immediate field service. Every
wheel may be needed"
This he tossed carelessly aside. Over
the first he pondered deeply, his yel-
low-white face growing dark and har-
gard.
Ten thousand dollars to be sent at
once to Warriors Gap: Workmen's
pay! Who could have given such all
order? Who would have imagined
payment would have to be made before
July, when some reasonable amount
of work had been done? What could
laborers do with their money up there,
even if they had it2 1t was preposter-
our! 1t was risky to attempt to send
it. But what was infinitely worse for
hint was impossible. The money
was practically already gone, but-not
to Warrior Gap.
Those were days when inspectors
visits were like those of other angels,
few and far between. The railway was
only just finished across the great d.
vide of the Black hills of Wyoming.
Only as far as Cheyenne was there a
time schedule for trains, and that
tar more honored in the breach than
the observance. Passengers boundwest
of that sinfully thriving town were
luckler, as a rule, if they went by
stage. Those were days, too, in which
depot quartermaster with a drove
OF government mules and corral full
OF public vehicles at his command was
a monarch in the eyes of the early set
tier; and when, added to these high
priced luxuries, he had on deposit in;
various banks from Chicago to Chey-
enne, and even here at Gate City,,
thousands of dollars of government
greenbacks expendible on his check
Tor all manner of purposes, from off,
GERS mileage accounts to the day la
borer's wages, from bills for the roof
ing of barracks and quarters to the set
ting OF single horseshoe, from the
purchase of forage and fuel for the
dozen military posts within range of
his supply trains down to can of
axle grease. Everyone knew Bur-
leigh's horses and habits were far more
costly than his pay would admit. Ev-
erybody supposed he had big returns
from mines and stocks and invest
ments. Nobody knew just what his in
Vestments were, and only he knew how
few they were and how improbable
they had become. Those were days
when, as now, disbursing officers were
forbidden to gamble, but when, not as
now, the la" was dead letter. Bur
leigh had gambled for years; had, with
little remorse, ruined more than one
man. and yet stood now awe-stricken