The Washington times., 1901-12-01

That summer a change came over the
post Sentries, if possible, walked
straighter than ever; privates saluted
more promptly, and the officers swords
and buttons shone until they fairly
cleaned at guard mount. 1t came about
this way: The colonel of the Eleventh
grey haired. fatherly old bachelor, who
regarded all men over forty as boys
and under forty as youngsters was or
dered East ny the authorities at Wash
| ington. and great was the digust thereat.
| The welcome of the new commander
even coming. as he did, from a branch of
| the EleyeHth-did not promise to be a
| very cordial ore; but on his arrival the
men actually and unbIushingly capitu-
| lated. for he brought with him keen
wit. a large stock of common sense, a
kindly smile. and-his daughter.
Her devotion to her father had brought
I her out to the Northwest, and she turned
! the small. uncomfortable headquarters
/ into veritable land of Beulah to the
men who had been denied comfort and
/ culture for so long. Pictures and easy
chairs and ''really truly down cushions,
| as Macintosh eonfided TO Darlington, mot
any of your old corncob husks,' found
| their wa out from civilization, and when,
finally, a small upright piano was hauled
4 distance of ten miles from the nearest
| railway. johnson actually sobbed with joy.
! OF course the combination of girl and
/ house can better be imagined than de-
seribed Headquarters became the off,
GERS paradise. and the goal toward which
the privates cast longing eyes.
To the queen who presided over this
bit of earthly heaven, poured afternoon
tea so delightfully."-. and sat in her dead
mothers place at table. the men Of the
Eleventh. from her adoring pater to
Jim. the colored boy, paid homage, mixed
with reverence. True, there was Mrs.
| Birckhead, wife of Captain Birckhead,
| with a Western drawl and gossiping
tongue that caused the officers TO avoid
her as they would the plague, and Mrs.
( Brown, wife of the lieutenant, a pale,
sweet-faced little woman, with lame
back. and Mrs Field. spouse of the sec
ond lieutenant. who was nearly always
absent on a visit" home to Arkansas
not TO mention Mrs. Mcclure, who was
undoubtedly a host in herself, and hall
dozen of her compeers, but whom army
etiquette caused to be ignored by the
men who wore the officers stripes; bIt
these were hardly to be classed with Miss
Elizabeth Dabney Fairfax, daughter OF
Col Randolph Fairfax, of the Eleventh
and late of Fairfax county. Virginia
Therefore, he sway was undisputed and
unrivaled.
She was of the Juno type, tall and dark
and seemingly cold to all save her father
and to gentle little Mrs. Brown. She
rode her Kentucky thoroughbred like al
Amazon. with devil-may-care air of SUI
preme Indifference as to the admirine
glances from the officers and the mer
that followed her; and she sang in won
derful contralto voice that set ones blood
boiling, while she laughed softly and q
little scornfully herself The upshot Of
the whole thing was that the Eleventh
fell head over heels in love with her
desperately, in the regular army fashion
and Darlington was the hardest hit OF
all; but if Miss Fairfax had any prefer
ence she was too much of a woman OF
the world to show it, Educated abroad
she had the fHesse that only foreign cul-
ture can give. and after her school days
4 were over and she had come back 10 heT
father. she had travelled with him from
the colds OF Alaska to the heat of Florida
There was no doubt of 1t; Darlington
was in love; not boyishly, not sentiment
ally. but genuinely in love with that deep
abiding affection that a man gives but
once to a woman in all his life. Mother
father, sisters, brother officers, paled;
friends were lost sight of; Domain, little
| Demain, was forgotten.
He used TO see her, sometimes. when
he passed that way on horseback, but he
rarely paused now, for he was never
alone Once he stopped. and Miss Fair
fax shook hands with the girl. She had
been kind and had tried to draw her out
but Bebe had been unresponsive. The
coloners daughter wondered what ths
men OF the Eleventh saw in her to ad-
mire, and Darlington began to wonder
too He never saw the shadows deepen
ing in her eyes. and no longer missed hei
smile of welcome or her voice. low ant
musical, with its quaint accent, that had
once questioned:
"Demain?"