Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-08-26

Gle lay before the eyes Of Eric Lang
don. 1t was one to thrill and delight
even an unprofessional eye. but this
was the eye Of praoticed soldier, to
whom every detail was familiar, a SOL
der who many time had taken active
and up to within three months promi-
nent part In similar pageants. Now 1t
was the will of the law that he should
be cut off from further participation in
scenes Of the Kind. BY the stem eaict
Of a court martialiduly confirmed by
the order of the president himself
Langdon stood summarily dismissed
from the military service of the United
States.
1t was a sad, sad story. 1t has had
Its parallels; it may have more. There
was no finer young soldier in the bat
talon Of cadets, and great were the
prophecies Of class mates-indeed of In
structors-when Langdons name came
up for discussion. The corps rose up
and cheered him Oh graduation day
when great public official in handing
the handsome cadet captain his diplo-
ma took occasion to say that young
gentleman who could ride and drill as
he could ought to be most welcome to
the finest regiment in creation, and a
very pretty girl sitting close to Senator
SPOTS, ponderous member of the
board Of visitors, whispered to that
veteran beau:
Now, there's man 1 should like to
know" !.
| And so 1t happened that before the
graduating class were fairly out Of ca
| Diet uniform and into their first "cits'' a
messenger in the shape of the official
orderly of the commandant of cadets
came to Eric Langdon to invite his
presence at the quarters of that high
official, and there he was presented
anew to the distinguished senator to
whom he, In company with his class
mates, had already made the orthodox
and conventional homage required Of
the graduating cadet to the board Of
visitors. and now the senator, all suavi-
ty, led forward an extremely pretty
and vivacious damsel. "Mr. Langdon,"
said he, "this young lady has fallen in
love with the corps in general and your
Craftsmanship in particular, and I
know you will be delighted to recipro-
cate"
1t was an odd moment for Langdon.
He would have been at loss to know
what to do or say had not the girl her.
self, with merry words and laughter,
relieved the situation Of it's embarrass-
ment.
That was the beginning. They met
frequently that summer. They parted
in the fall, when he went to his regl-
ment, he utterly infatuated, she half
delighted, half regretful. She couldn't
think of marrying in the army, she
said. She admired it and him of all
things, but that was all. Twice in
that first year he managed to get leave
and to 60 to her and plead again. He
had some little money beyond his pay.
He felt that he could support her in
comfort, but he little dreamed Of the
scope Of her desires. He was kept
blind to the fact that she had hopes
and ambitions far beyond his. Then
one day the sudden death of senator
shocked the community, and Langdon,
reading the news, never imagined the
influence it was to have on his life.
His letter of coincidence to her brought
an answer that was more than kind.
Their marriage was sudden, but i'm
mensely swell" She came with him
to the regiment a few months, t'stun-
ming" everybody by the elegance Of her
toilet and the extravaganza Of her
ideas. Then she declared she could not
bear garrison life and pined for Wash
ington. She got him detail on staff
duty, and he would not go. His place,
he said, for few years at least must
be with the regiment. She went with
out him, and presently he was bonn
barded with bills the payment Of which
swamped him-took his last cent. 1t
mattered little, she said. Senator
Spotts' only sister, his elder by several
years, was to leave her every penny,
and indeed in the hard times for him
that followed more than once that he
knew of and more than twice that he
knew not of that sorely tried maiden
came to his rescue with checks Of star
Ting size. Then there came rumors
that the lovely If volatile Mrs. Lang
don was flirting desperately at the cap
ital, and one Of the very best young
duty" officers in the regiment was be-
ginning to look haggard and shabby.
She got him to sign notes far beyond
his pay to meet her needs, promising
that cousin SPOTS" would meet the
notes. They began to fall due just as
that amiable lady was taken to her
grave, and then the will was contested,
the legal heirs won. and Mrs. Langdon
had to begin parting with jewelry, not
to meet these notes, but her own crav-
ings. Then came more bills, more
debts, morphine.
Such were three years of Eric Lang
don's married life. The next and last
was the worst. Striving all the time
to stick to his duty and keep up APP
pearances, he was wearing himself out
in the vain hope that his military rec
ord for efficiency might Offset the terri
BILE stigma Of these pressing debts.
Now the creditors were becoming i'm
Fortunate and raining their complaints