Daily camera., 1901-08-07
Of those stables back of officers

cavalry or G,lartermaster's corrals. ihe
colonel OF the Ritiers had eace been
knuckle-rapped 70" allowing public
forage TO be fed TO private mounts" of
some garrison ladies, and now he had
his eyes open. The Freemuns, Haynes,
Grnftons and Merriams, as well as the
doctor, all had private horses for ladies'
use; so did certain others; and, al
though every mounted officer could
draw forage for two horses, not a peck
of oats could he get beyond that, and
when it came to forage for ladies'
horses-animals never ridden or driven
except by ladies', and too light for gov
ernment service, the colonel drew the
line al that entirely, and was sustained
by virtuous congress.
So Randy had to buy forage for
Mgnon, and luckily forage was cheap,
with all those ranches of Santa Clara
close at hand. He had often thought
how easy it would be for greasers-
natural horse thicvcs-to sneak in on
that southern front of dark night and
make Off with four or five favorite horses,
ard the colonel used to keep three SEN
tries along there. Now they had only
one. "All the more reason for my
keeping personal watch on that front"
thought Randy, land that will give me
an occasional chance to look in on
Florence"
Ohc o'clock came, and the call had
gone from sentry to sentry, thanks to
the breathless stiffness of the ni-. and
the moon was climbing high, and Bux
was still up and swearing. a wire"
came out from the Junction that the
special" would not be there for two
hours, so the Rflers had stacked arms,
unslung packs, and were snoozing or
skylarking as suited their humor. The
colonel had given permission for
dance at Miguel's. The band was play
ing, and there was jollity in the wind.
Bux said he wouldn't have the cavalry
mixed up in any such tomfoolery, how
ever, and the patrol was saddled and
ready to start. Grafton, coming back
from his stable, where he had gone TO
personally see to the selection of the
mounts required, stopped and drew
Merriam 10 one side.
I'm sorry for the needless trouble
you took this evening, Merriam. | had
hoped that Mrs. McLane would see you
and have done with ii. Another dis
patch came for her three hours ago, and
it seems to have reused her 10 action
Sha ir.ga.I -, 80,
the regiment off. and now, ! presume,
she's flirting with Whitaker. There
are lights in the parlor. Al all events
the orderly hasn't found him. and Bux
may send YOU after the stragglers In
town"
Then I reckon I'll start ard make
the rounds and get out OF the way"
said Randy. by the way, captain, !
hope your private stable Is well secured,
W. nave only one sentry OF that whole
front now, and that matched team OF
yours is q powerful temptation 80 Bravo
horse fanciers. mean TO make two or
three trips around the row tonight"
We'll, then l can save YOU several
hundred yards, Merriam" SAID Graf
ton, fumbling in his pocket. Take .Ge
short cut through my yard. There are
no private horses between me and the
eas. end OF the line, you know. Here's
the key to the reIr gate
Merriam took it and thanked him
heartily
Urn 60 TO the corrais hrst," said be,
land then come over your way. Good
night"
The lights were stiii burning iimly
in the parlur As Grafton reached his
quarters, out the slender form OF
woman stood between him and the door.
It was Mrs. McLane, and she began at
once.
II have been waiting auvi1usly for
you, captain. Dear Harriet has gone 70
her room tired out, and / thought Mr..
Whitaker would never gn-I fairly had
to send MIN. Mr. Merriam is officer OF
the guard. Could I see him could yuu
take me TO him for just a minute2 If
can talk with him three rni-utes il
will be ample, and l cannot rest now
until l do"
Grafton was on the point of bidding
her remember that she had refused a
chance OF talking with him earlier that
night, but refraincd. He looked back
across the sallow, moonlit surface of the
parade to where the oil lamps We're
burning blearily in the guardroom. 'lie
is notAthere." said he. 'He has gone
down to the corralS. But"-a happy
thought striking him-''in less than ten
minutes he will be coming through here
on his rounds. | gave him the key of
our rear gate. It's warm and pleasant
out here. You might hail and halt him
as he enters
Meantime there had been sore, sore
hearted young wife farther up the row.
AS wrath and passion sobbed them
selves away and the devil of jealousy
wore itself out, and the thought of
Randy's patience and gentieness and
Of all that Mrs, Hayne had said of his
unflagging tenderness and love, poor
Florence began to wonder if she had not
angered him beyond repair. His last
act had been one of fond, thoughtful
care. He had spread the shawl over her
and fingered over it as though he loved
TO touch her, mad, miserable. ugly,
hateful as she had been, and she had
spitefuliy thrown it off. She picked it
up now and strove to arrange it as he
had done, but could not. She arose
and bathed her face and eyes, and gazed
out over the now deserted parade. She
had not even stirred when the Rifers
marched away. She paced the floor
again and felt that she was weak, and
became conscious that she was most
automatically hungry, and then-Oh,
heavens! how could she!-how could
she have forgotten? Here was Randy
on guard, up all night, and never before
since they came back from their we'd
ding tour had she failed when he was
officer of the guard to have a delightful
little chatting dish supper all ready for
him at 12 o'clock. and he used to come
over from his duties for half an hour
and eat with such an appetite and praise
her Welsh rarebit, or her oysters, and
then take her in his arms with such love