Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1900-03-15

NllN vi li'ttI SCI SOdlil. 1bidCG lHG tent
cords and align tents" and a mourn
ful wave Of his forage cap was the only
greeting he dare trust himself to give,
as after few minutes of fruitless wait
ing, the vacant seat was given to an
other officer and the carriage rolled
rapidly away. \ second or two it was
hidden from his sight behind The large
wall tents @luLg he line of fence. then
shot into fun view again as he stood
at the end a the company street look
ing eagerly for its temperance. And
then occurred little thing that was
destined to live in his memory for many
day, and that thrilled him with new
and strange delight. He had never been
81 the so-called "spooncN" set at the
varsity. Pretty girls galore there were
about that famous institute. and he had
danced at many student party and
romped through many a reel, but the
nearest lie had ever come to something.
| more than mere Jolly friendship for IA
2ill WAS the regard in which he held
his partner in the MIXED Doubtless
bht Ailtl' " CO tll VII account VI ItE tN-
uberant health. spirits. general come
Illness Of face and form. and exquisite
>3i't i, enpi~. h0t this DAY i new
i "agrr lul @in% ua- eHiir4 IL lis
heart: t.aner. duil pong seemed 10
~ri.e apou j 4, H. oetr,, III i flash tbat
llse ~t.u 'h:si WAS - h"t, oren his .,a>
occupied l,A ;u office uaa.t Years his
senior, a man he knew only Dy sight
and an enyiable reputation, a man
whose soldierly clean-cut face never
turned an instant, for his ewes were
fixed upon a lovely picture On the op-
posite seat-Amy Lawrence bending
eagerly forward and gazing with her
beautiful eyes alight with sympathy.
interest and frank liking in search of
the sorely disappointed Young officer
There he Isl" She cried. though too far
away for him TO hear and then. with
no more thought of coquetry than a
| kitten. with no more motive in the
world than that of conveying TO him
an idea of her sorrow. her sympathy.
! her perhaps pardonable and eNag9cr-
ated Indignation at what she deemed
an act Of tyranny on the part Of his com
mander, with only an instant in which
to convey it alI-her sweet face flushed
| and her eyes famed with the light Of
! her 1irIiah enthusiasm in that instant
She had kissed her hand to him. and
then Col. Armstrong, turning sudden
| ~ and sharply TO see who could be the
object of interest so absorbing, caught
one fitting glimpse Of Billy Gray lift
ing his cap in quick acknowledgement,
and the words that were on the tip
of Armstrong; tongue the moment be
fore were withheld for 4 more auspi-
cious occasion-and it did moi come too
soon.
1t was only four days after that in
itial meeting in the generals tent the
to camp. but both in city and on the
tented field there had beeh several oc
casions on which the colonel had been
in conference With Mr.. Prime and in
company with the young ladies.
Junior officers had monopolized the
! AlltIG anu IlltlllICii VI illt ihllNi, 49,
| Armstrong was a close observer and
man who loved all that was strong,
| hioh-mnded and true in his ow sex,
and that was pure and sweet and Win
some in woman. a keen soldier, he had
| spent many years in active service, most
Of them in the hardy, eyentful and Wig
orous life on the Indian frontier. He
I had been conspicuous in more than one
stirring campaign against the red war
riors of the plains, had won his medal
Of honor before his first promotion,
and his captaincy by brevet for daring
conduct in action long antedated the
right to wear the double bars of that
grade. He had seen much of the world
at home and abroad had travelled
much, read much, thought much, but
! these were things of less concern to
many a woman in our much married
army than the question as to whether
he had ever loved much. Certain it was
he had never married, but that didn't
settle ii. Many a man loves, said they,
without getting married, forgetful OF
the other side Of the proposition adj
vanced by horrid regimental cynics,
! that many men marry without getting
loved. Armstrong would not have
proved an easy man to question on that.
| or indeed on any other subject which
he considered personal to himself.
Even in his own regiment in the reg
ular service he had long been looked
Of fallau--
Il man who had no intimates and not
many companions, yet, officers and sol
diers. he held the respect and esteem
Of the entire command. even of those
whom he kept at distance, and few
are the regiments in which there are
not one or two characters who are not
best seen and studied through binoc-
ular. Without being sympathetic, said
his critics, Armstrong Wa< square,
but his critics had scant means of know
ing whether he was sympathetic or
not He was a steadfast fellow, an I'M
swerving, uncompromising sort OF man.
a man who would never have done for
diplomat. and could never have been
elected TO office. But he was truthful,
just, and as the English officer reluct-
antly said of Lucan, whom he hated:
"Yes-damn him-he is brave" The
men whom he did not seem to like in the
army and who disliked him according
ly, were compelled to admit, to them
selves at least, that their reasons were
comprised in the above-recorded, re-
grettable, but unmistakable fact-he
didn't like them. Another trait, unpop-
ular, was that he knew when and how
10 say no. He smoked too much, per-
haps, and talked too little for those
who would use his words as witnesses
against him, He never gambled. he