The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1900-12-21


came in during their long conference
in the afternoon, and the quartermas-
ter had lowered his hand long enough
from that lurid welt on his sallow
cheek TO hurriedly write two or three
in reply. One Folsom felt sure was
sent in cipher. Two days before, Bur
leigh had urged him to protest as We
hemently as he could against the send
ing of any money or any small detach
ment up to the Big Horn, and protested
he had strenuously. Two days before,
Burleigh said it was as bad as murder
to order paymaster or disbursing Of
fcer to the Hills with anything less
than battalion TO escort him, and yet
within four hours after he was put
in possession of nearly all the paper
currency in the local bank a secret
order was issued sending Lieut.. Dean
with ten picked men to slip through
the passes to the Platte, away from
the beaten road, and up to ten p. IN.
Dean himself was kept in ignorance
of his further destination or the pur-
pose of his going. Not until half-past
ten was a sealed package placed in his
hands by the post quarteruaster, who
had himself received IL from Maj. Bur-
leigh, and then and there the young
| officer was hidden by Col. Stevens, as
the medium of the department com
| mander, to ride with all haste com
mensurate with caution, to ford the
Sweetwater above its junction with
the Platte, to travel by night il need
be and hide by day If he could, to let
no man or woman know the purpose
of his going or the destination of his
journey, but to land that package safe
at Warrior Gap before the moon should
wane.
And all this Burleigh must have
known when he, John Folsom, shook
his hand at parting after tea that
evening and had then gone hopefully
TO drive his girls to Emory to see
his soldier boy and found him busy
with the sudden orders, received not
ten minutes before their coming
Something in Burleigh's almost trem-
ulous anxiety to get that money in
the morning, his ill-disguiscd chagrin
at Folsom's refusal. something in the
eagerness with which. despite the flu
| lluuS htlulltlu llbl III the IllOlltuI ne
fore, he jumped at Folsom's offer to
put up the needed money if he would
withhold the threatened chargcs-all
cane bnck to the veteran now and
had continued to keep him thinking
during the night. Could it be that
Burleigh stood in need of all this
money to cover other sums that he
had misapplied? Could il be that he
had planned this sudden sending of
young Dean on desperate mission in
revenge that he could not take Off
cially? There were troops at Hrnyne
going forward in strong force with
In the week. There were other off,
GERS within call, dozen of them,
who had done nowhere near the
amount of field service performed
by Dean. He, a troop commander
just in from long and toilsome
marches and from perilous duty, had
practically been relieved from the
command of his troop, told to take ten
men and run the gauntlet through
the swarming Sioux. The more Fol-
som thought the more he believed
that he had grave reason for his sus-
picion, and reason equally grave for
calling on the quartermaster for ex-
PLANTATION. He reached the corral
gate. 1t was locked, but n little
postern in the stockade let him
through One or two sleepy hands
appeared about the stables, but the
Office was deserted. Straight TO Bur-
leigh's quarters he went and banged
at the door. 1t took three bangs
to bring servant.
81 wish to see your master at once.
Tell him l am here" and as the serv-
ant slowly shambled up the stairs,
Folsom entered the sitting room. A
desk near the window was open and
it's contents Uttered about. The draw
ers in a heavy bookcase were open
and papers were strewn upon the
floor. The folding doors 10 the din
ing-room were open. Decanters, COB
lets, cigar stumps and heel taps were
scattered over the table. Guest or
host, or both, had left things in riot
GUS shape. Then down came the serv-
ant, scared look in his eyes.
"1he major isn't in, sir. His bed
hasn't been occupied, an the captains
gone. too. Their uniforms are there,
though"
Five minutes later, on borrowed
horse, John Folsom was galloping like
mad Cor his home. A door in the
high board fence at the rear of his
house shot open just as he was dart
ing through the lane that led to the
stable, A woman's form appeared in
the gap-the last thing that he saw
for dozen hours, for the horse SHE'D
violently, hurting the rider headlong
to the ground.