The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1901-01-29
The Mems Qnd The End.
; A Devoted Striker, Two Engage
ments and q Freed Lieutenant.
By awendolen overton.


sheba: 'Strathmore, Strathmore of the
s'teenth. Big, good looking chap y
Strathmore had picked up Chester's man
ner of speech" one of the Strathmores
of Boston, isn't hep Now it's 'Strath-
more? That's the chap Chester's strik-
ing forr Oh, yes, think I'll send Ches-
ter 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 a striker, but he had languished
under barrack rule. Exactly for the rea-
son 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
Chester himself, when a desperate g
bullet had left the position va
cant, volunteered. As a striker Ches-
ter had many little Injuries that he had
lacked before-his own room, his own
bathtub and the run of his masters small
but choice library. With the help of
draperies and blankets that Strathmore
let him have and with that Of some pot
ted plants he managed upon his own ac-
count he transformed the room into quite
a sybaritic retreat, and his literary dis
elimination was a thing to wonder at.
He tackled up colored supplements of the
London Christmas papers, and there was
photograph-just one-on his mantel-
piece. 1t was Of woman who had soft
eyes and hair and lovely mouth. Strath-
more ventured to ask who it was one day,
and Chester 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
of the Lone Stars palmiest time. There
was much drinking In the land and much
poker as we'll. no pious general having as
yet arisen to bid gambling cease. There
was also sorue shooting, but of unattach-
ed women there were sadly few, and
those that there were were generally not
very nice. This condition of affairs led
to good many unfortunate things. Any
man prefers even a second rate woman to
none at all, and any man, being deprived
of standard of comparison for a length
Of time, will come to think that an ex-
ceedingly poor article is superior enough
after ALL
That was what happened to Strath-
more He should have known better,
because his youth had been spent among
women who were lovely in every way,
but the memory of man is Shorthand he
was lonesome. There should be pro-
vision for this in the regulations When
a man gets any of the ills that frontier
service Is apt to induce. they bundle him
off back east on a sick leave. Yet when
which is infinitely more prejudicial to
the standing Of the service-he reaches
the stage of loneliness where he would
marry the Witch of Endor herself rather
than continue to be alone, there is no one
to indorse his application to be sent
where he can find the proper
sort of girl
Strathmore had been in the wilderness
a matter of five years, and he was grad
ually, very gradually, lapsing from civili-
cation. The first intimation of this that
Chester had was that the lieutenant
made unnecessarily frequent calls at a
some ten miles from the res
ervation. Chester knew that a girl lived
there-a dreadful girl, who had plump
ly pretty figure and face, but whose
speech was a thing to shudder at, and
whose name, besides being Halloran,
was Mamie Pearle. He also knew that
If that were not enough TO set Strath-
more's teeth on edge he must be in a
very bad way.
All this worried Chester a great deal.
Frequent contemplation of his one pho
tograph had furnished him with the
of comparison which Strath-
more lacked, and he could see what the
outcome of things as they were going
was bound to be- He explained it TO the
photograph, standing before the mantel
piece with his hands jammed deep in his
trousers pockets and quicker on his
brow, which was fair to the line of the
cap and quite crimson from there down.
"If be marries that freckled face Halo
ran girl" he said, he'll want to shoot
himself and her the first time he goes
east"-Chester cherished cynical kind
of regret that he hadn't done as much
himself some time before-"or he'll COM
promise and take to drink instead. No"
he nodded his head decisively, "he shall
not marry Mamie Pearle. not" - he
looked at the picture long time-"not
if | have to marry her myself. which
heaven forfendT
The next afternoon he found Strath-
more in the sitting room and proffered a
most unprecedented request. II shall
like. SIR" he said, ito be given fur
Tough for a week" Strathmore consid
cred and frowned. "What'n become Of
me, ChesterY' he asked plaintively. What
will dor?
L.. TO OBJ hu nil
sir. He was Captain Lacy's striker for
several years, and he knows his duties.
SIR
Strathmore sighed. "very good" he
agreed. with sufficiently poor grace, 81
expect III make out somehow
Chester went away. feeling contempt
BILE and small. and Strathmore SAT and
dismally that it was emergencies
of this sort that drove a man to matri
mony. He ought to have realized that
when a man marries because he thinks
the woman can be. of use TO him. rather
Than he to her, he is making a grave
mistake. But he fancied the vague dis
satisfaction with his present lot was the
yearning of affection and believed more
than ever that he cared for Miss Halio-
ran quite creditable deal. Before Ches-
ter left the next day he stood in front of
the photographs again. She'll wear curl
papers and his forage cap and cape" he
reflected aloud That was his notion of
the point beyond which vulgarity could
not go. tits devilish contemplate bust
ness, / know it is. But, then, my fu-
lures all behind me, and his is all ahead.
He's only a boy. He has all sorts of
pulP'-what a striker does not know
about his master is not worth considering
at all-''he will be able to get anything
he asks for in Washington. Not" he
unused, that the American army offers
much for young man just now, but he
can get all it can give. If he behaves
himself and marries the right kind. or,
better yet, doesn't marry at all, he may
rise to the roaring height of an attache-
ship. All things are possible with pull. y
He stopped and bent down to knock
the ashes from his brier pipe into the fire.
place. Then he took the photograph in
his hand and started to put it in the grip
that lay on his bunk. But he changed
his mind and tucked it into the tray OF
his trunk instead. And he gave it last
look as he closed down the lid. In
which case, ne nnlSneu as ne turneu tue
key, ''he would be very likely to meet
you"
A hunting leave is only week long
But a great deal can happen in week
to a soldier who has cut loose and Ii
accountable to no one or to lieutenant
madly determined to become just the
other way. What happened to Strath
more was, in sum, this:
The day after O'Toole took charge he
rode over to the Halloran ranch. and
when he came back he was engaged tc
marry Mamie Pearle. When 1t was
done and he sat down to think, he found
that he was not SO radiantly happy as he
had expected 10 be. But the way the sit