The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1901-01-25

respect lOf CONSTITUTED duluDAAAJ
was as un-American as his face. He was
tall and fne-Iooking, his English was
quite as polished as StrathmOre's own;
and-which was of infinitely more i'm
portance-he never touched whisky and /
cigars, nor went on a payday spree. 50 1
Strathmore felt himself justified in sup /
posing that he had murdered, or stolen,
or forged, or something, at one time or
another, and he shrewdly guessed that /
Chester was not his real name. But
that was no ones concern, that he
could see, and everybody knows that
enlistment in the army Of the United |
States, even more than baptism, is a
new birth.
Throughout the department Strath-
more was known by the striker he
kept. This had its Disadvantages, but
the advantages Outweighed. No one
could have realized this better than
strathmore himself, and yet sometimes
he was moved in the bosom Of the
mess, to complain. 1T is telling on
me-" he would insist; Il am slowly
breaking down under the strain. I
the other day about how few masters
are worthy to be Wallets. That's what
l am striving to be, and the failure is
telling upon me. They used to-" he
explained complacently, they used to
say-when my name was mentioned
from Dan to eersheba-'Strathmor
Strathmore Of the 'steenth. Big, good
], 1,oH
up Chester's manner OF speech, one
of the Strathmores Of Boston, isn't heF
Now it's 'Strathmore? That's the chap
Chester's striking for? OH yes; l
think I'll send Chester back to the
troop"
Which, of course, he never did Apart
from the fact that he could never have
done without him, he could not have
had the heart.
Chester had been as good a soldier as
he was striker, but he had languished
under barrack rule. Exactly for the
reason that he never said so, it was
plain that he had been used to
better things. 1t was so plain
that Strathmore would never have
thought Of suggesting to him TO
become a bOdy-servant, had not Ches-
, ter himself Il desperado's bullet
had left the position vacant-vOlun-
teered. As a striker Chester had many
r little luxuries that he had lacked be
fore-his own room, his own bath-tub,
and the run of his masters small but
choice library. With the help Of dra-
n Deries and blankets that StrathmOre let
, him have, and with that of some pOtted
plants he managed upon his own &C
count. he transformed the room into
quite a sybaritlc retreat, and his liter
!? airy discrimination was a thing to Won
der at. He tackled up colored supple
5 ments of the London Christmas papers,
and there was a Photographers one
on his mantel-piece. 1t was Of
woman who had soft eyes and hair and
a lovely mouth. Strathmore ventured
e to ask who it was, one day. and Ches-
|. ter told him that it was ian English
woman, sir"
Now, this was in Texas, in the early
= days shortly after the war, in the State
s of the Lone Stars palmiest time. There
: was much drinking in the land, anc
d much poker, as well, no piOus genera
having as yet arisen to bid gambling
cease. There was also some shooting
but Of unattached women there wer'
sadly few, and those that there were
were, generally, not very nice. This
lie condition OF affairs led to a good man!
unfortunate things. Any man prefers
y even a seeond-rate woman to none a
ali. and any man-being deprived OF {
standard Of comparison for length o
h time will come to think that an exceed
h ngly poor article is superior enough
Id fter all.
~ That was what happened to Strath
more. He should have known better
Z because his youth had been spen
tmong women who were lovely In ey
= Try way; but the memory Of man
- Ihort-and he was lonesome. Their
should be provision for this in the res
Nations. When a man gets any OF tn
Ills that frontier service is apt to IL
he duce, they bundle him OF back East o
Sf a sick leave; yet when-which is II
he dnitely more pretudicial to the standin
Of the service-he reaches the stage c
loneliness where he would marry tn
Witch OF Endor herself rather tina
continue to be alone, there Is no one
\ Iindorse his application to be sent som'
~ where where he can find the propS
y sort Of girl.
Strathmore had been in the wilde
ness a matter of FIVE years, and he ws
=. gradually. very gradually, lapsing frol
lite civilization. The first lntimation Of tn
q. that Chester had was that the lieutel
a ant made unnecessarily frequent cal
Nv at a ranch-hOuse some ten miles fro
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