Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-12-24

finish their work after their long deten-
ton at this hot, barren, yet not 1nhOS-
pitable post, looked briskly up at the
silent. s0mber young officer at the oppo-
site end of the long table.
"Shall we take ten minutes recess
and have a stretch before you go on
with the next case, Mr.. Judge Advo-
cate: [ understand both victims plead
guilty, and we can do 'em up in 80 min
utes. -
Nevins' watch was going the rounds
! of the court at the moment, its beautl-
full and costly case and workmanship
exciting general admiration. Again the
! Judge advocate was slow and hesitant
i'll MS reply, utterly unlike the prompt,
alert official whose conduct Of the trial
had won golden opinions from every
man, old or young, IL the service 1t
was nearly half a minute before he
spoke, and then only after the president
reminded him that several officers
! wished to start that afternoon for the
! ella, so as to meet the eastward stage
at Sancho's two days later.
'fGive mean hour, sir. l cannot go
/ on sooner.
Out under the canvas shelter at the
! adjutant's office stood the two prisoners
/ with their guards For an hour or more
/ they had been waiting their turn. A
shade of disappointment stole over one
Or two faces, but the presidents answer
was prompt.
Certainly, Mr.. Loring. The court
owes it to you, and the recess was de-
clared accordingly. The post quarter
master was one of the Junior mem bers
and Loring detained him. Bidding the
orderly remain in charge Of the prem
Uses, he turned to this official.
You have safe at your office. Will
you permit me to place these in it
and come with me until do sou
"CertainIy. Come right along, It's
but step.
Wrapped in silken handkerchief,
Nevins' watch, with the envelope con
tanning the diamonds, was stored i'll a
little drawer within the safe and Sc
Eurely locked. "You need a drink, "
said the quartermaster to the engineer.
noting again his paIlid face.
'None, I thank you said Loring
briefly, and without another word took
himself straightway to Major Starkes S.
At 1890, when court recOnvened, the
judge advocate went swiftly and me-
thOdicany through his work, read the
orders, prOpOunded the usual questions,
swOre the court, took his own oath,
read the charges and recorded the pleas
without loss of a second Of time Or use
Of a superfuOus word. At 1:15 the
court stood adjourned sine die, leaving
the president and judge advocate to fin
ish and sign the record. By p. N. five
of it's members, in the -four mile
road wagon belonging at Cooke, were
speeding southwark, hoping to catch
the stage to take them to their posts Iy-
ing far to the east. By midnight the
record was we'll nigh complete, and
Loring, locking up the papers, stepped
softly out into the starlight.
Over across the contracted parade a
lamp was burning dimly at the guard
tents, and several others fared at the
brush and canvas shack of the sutler.
Everywhere else about Camp Cooke
there were silence and slumber The
muttered word of command as the 1890
relief formed at the guard tent, the
clink of glasses and murmur Of voices,
sometimes accentuated by laughter,
came drifting on the night from the
open clubroom. Beyond the guard tents
the dim walls of the corral doomed
darkly against the dry, cloudless, star
dotted sky that bordered the eastern
horizon
The sentry, slowly pacing his beaten
path along the acequia that conducted
the cool waters of the Yavapai from the
orI IC no ,Ct,c hn
corral, moved noiseless, dim and gh0st-
ly, and Loring, listening for moment
to the faint sounds of revelry at the
shack, turned away to the north, passed
the rude shelters which had been built
by the labor of troops for the acconmo-
dation Of the officers and the few fam
lilies there abiding and found himself
presently on the open plain full 100
yards out from the buildings and be-
yond the post of the sentry on that
flank, who, far over at the west end of
his long beat, at the moment was dream
ing of the revels he'd have when his
discharge came, and neither heard nor
saw the solitary officer whose one desire
was to get away by himself to some
point where he could calmly think. He
needed to be alone. Even Blake, whom
he had grown to like and whom he be-
lieved to be still at the camp, would
have been in the way
A strange fellow was Loring, man
grown, so far as Judgment and expe-
rience were concerned, when at the age
of 30 he entered West Point, and from
the very start became one of the leaders
of his class in scholarship and later one
of the prominent officers of the battalion
of cadets In scientific and mathemat-
ical studies indeed he had no superior