The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1900-02-02
CHAPTER [.

G9#s$l&
EMf&I + WAS nearly midnight, and
'~TGsA still the gay party fingered on
SW the vcrantla There had been
fortnight OF 'gcttiuy settled" at the
new post, preceded 10y Il month of march
ing that had brought the battalion from
distant service to this strange Texan sta.
tlon. Tho new cOmers had been hospita-
Dly welcomed 10y the officers of the little
garrison Of infantry, and now, in rccop-
milton of their many courtcsies, the field
officer commanding the arriving troops
had been entertaining the resident Off
GERS and ladies at dinner The colonel
was host in himself, but preferred not
to draw too heavily on his reserves of
anecdote and small talk, so he had called
IN two of his subaltrrn3 to assist in tho
peasant duty OF being attentive to tho
infantry ladies, and just now, at 1:45 D.
m, he was wondering If Lieut.. Perry
mad not too literally construed his in
structions, for that young gentleman
was devoting himself TO Mrs. Bclknap in
manner so marked as to make the can
tain, her lawful lord and master, mani
festly uneasy.
Mrs. Belknap, however, seemed to ell
JOY the situation immensely. She was
pretty woman at most times, as even
her rivals admitted. She was a bcauti-
ful woman at all times, was the verdict
OF the officers of the regiment when thew
happened to speak of the matter among
themselves. She was dark, with lus.
trous eyes and sweeping lashes, with
coral lips and much luXurianco of tress.
and way of glancing sideways from
under her heavily rringcd eyclids that
inc younger and more imprcssionablo
men found quite irresistible when ac-
corded tho rarc luxury Of Il tctc-a-tcto.
Belknap was big and boStcrous man:
mrs. Belknap was small in stature, and
soft-very soft--of voice. Bolknap was
either brusquely rcpcllcnt or oppressivcly
cordial in manner: Mrs. Bclknap was
either gently and eXasperatingly indif7
fcrent to those whom she did not care to
attract, or carcssingly sweet to those
whose attentions she desired.
In their own regiment tho Young Off.
GERS soon found that unless they wished
to be involved in an rmpIeasantncss with
belkpap 1t was best to be only very mod
erately devoted TO his pretty wife, and
thosc to whom an unplcasantncss with
the big captain might have had no ter
rors or consequences were deferred by
the fact that Mrs. Bcllnap's devotee
among tho youngsters" had invariably
become an object of coldness and aver
sion to tho other DANES and damsels of
tho garrison. Very short lived, there
fore, had been the little nirtations that
sprang up from time to time i'm those
frontier posts wherein Capt. and Mrs.
Bclknap were among the chief orna.
ments Of society, but now matters
seemed to be taking other shape. From
the very day that handsome Ned Perry
dismounted in front Of Bclknap's quar-
ters and with his soIdicry salute reported
TO the then commanding officer that COL
Bralnard and his battalion of cavalry
would arrive in the course of two or
threo hours, Mrs. E'cllinap had evinccd
contentment in his society and assumed
an air Of quasi-proprictorship that served
to annoy her garrison sisters moro than
little For tho timo being all the cav
alrymen wero bachelors, either by ac-
tual rank or "by brevet." as none Of tho
ladies Of the -th accompanied the bat
callon on its march, and none were OK
pected until tho stations Of the regiment
IN its new department had been definite.
NY settled. The post surgeon, too, was
wing life Of single besscdness> as the
'lS spring woro on, for his good wife
>ndC bctaken herself. with the children,
noon tdistant east as soon as the disap-
> Ho OF the winters SHOWS rel. dered
ho ot'''s !ror the hard prairie roads a
rted from Ia great danger or discomfort.
tory. NeithGo Goctor himself who, seated
:. 'ir at the end Of The We.
eXpl'naCloh-ar the cooncrs attention
cation--of the abrl attitude at, Mrs.
1 Cop, and thero "a" e'l recl'Hlns ts M m "
in this connection fro, and impart.
ont sources The dispo|ion to the
is not to regard tho ovacua:9 nmder "miS
serious as at first thought. I'd very
Rim, Jan. 27.-Somo newsp'>s they
say they have cable messag ,s.nrIor ,rD''o
Pretoria saying General Wa ( out
was enticed into Spion-korOo'rTage
I, the Doors fell upon him; tn, ed in
teen of his cannon were cal> Of the
and hasty retreat over, n camp
la river alone can save so that his
ndon, Jan. 7---Dispatf ,nH W'I ,Io oh,y my
II, en- in co)oring, his ;