Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1902-10-04

of day, but God defend me from the
vicious hatred Of a fiend such as this
man showed himself to be in that one
look. The courtesy with which the Of
ficer of the post conferred with me
about the papers, after / had shown him
at his order what l carried, and the
kindness with which he then sped us on
our way with fresh horses, requesting
me to take Hazeltine's dispatches with
me, did not carry off the cold feeling
that had settled somewhere in the pit
or my stomach at the mans look.
However,, we were in well guarded
territory now, and passed post after
post on our ride into the city. At
Greenwich we stopped a momen for
the last outpost examination, and then
rode on down by the waters sid
through a muddy road over the creek
and into the town.
IT was Il dusky, foggy night with
signs of rain and a high wind that sent
darkness n light over the Shiny
street in quick succession as the clouds
swept by the MOON. l had little
time to notice much, but at
the top of the town we passed on the
left a long row of buildings h a knew
u be the great barracks.
Farther on were the ruins of a beau
tiful church on the right, that l knew,
too, must be Trinity church, burned in
the great fire n few years before. 1t
lay close by the old wall of the town,
now fallen into disuse, n we met
many people cropping along here and
there in the mud and n crowd Of car
riages i~nterspersed with n chariot or
wo. Once we must needs walt a few
moments till n line of vehicles could
move on, and one of the ChariOtS
brought back to my mine a certain
wet country o and such another We
hicle tilted over to one side with the
face of a young girl looking out of its
windows at me.
What the devil means this crowd?"
said l..
Crowd, mani" said Acton, why, do
you not know you are in a city, my
friend? And that just below here
Clinton holds a court as high and
mighty as George the Third at Wind
sor? Where, think We, are We, then; in
camp?"
Then We are near No. 2 Broadway"
l asked.
AYE, here we are" he answered as
we came opposite the head of the line
of carriages, which were discharging
ladies with silken gowns and powdered
wigs at a covered bit of canvas hat
hung over the door of the great house.
The place vas lit from top to bottom,
and l could hear fddles jigging out a
A'AAAS a. liz llHilA VI " llullll VI
voices, jocose greetings of men, and
yells of servant in livery crying out to
one coachman TO move on and to an
other to move up. Twas n bustling
scene u there in the dimly lighter,
filthy street. For no light, except what
came from a lanthorn here and there
over a door, or escaped from the great
house, served to give the eye the small
est chance.
Beyond a doubt that is the house,
and he holds court this very night"
a Acton, as we came opposite the
entrance with the line Of carriages be-
tween us n the door. Twas a jam,
indeed, and before we knew 1t, we were
caught between two lines of Cursing
coachmen, n driving up to the door,
the other turning and moving back.
A chariot drew up, and l had leaned
down on my horses neck to look
through the windows up the steps and
into the house, when the vicious hiss
of q whip on the other side sent my
beast, that was none Of the best, by a
side jump against the coach, bringing
me up to the door with a thuInp that
shook the whole vehicle. And then |
had like to have fallen into the mud:
for there, looking at me out OF the win
dow, in some white and silken gown,
with a whittier neck peeping out from
under a furry cape, was a face l had
had by me these ten days.
She knew me on the instant, and
started forward with a cry Of surprise,
as If to speak. And then, on the i'm
pulse, the powdered head went up with
a movement l knew full well, n the
stare that only n h~igh-bred woman
knows how TO call up from some depth
within her met my eye, as q gruff voice
behind her cried:
Have a care there, my man! What
the devil, would you ride in here by us
Come, Deborah, we are at the door
and l was pulled or by the frightened
horse and reached the door across the
street, | know not how, in a daze OF
mind hat finally landed me in a ditch
by the gutter, as | slid off his back.
She q known me, ] would swear:
and yet she had given me as cold q de-
NAL as eve heartless wench gave any
man. And yet-'twas but human ma
ture to think it-yet l had saved more
than her life but a fortnight ago, and
risked my own skin in the saving. But
what should /, Merton Balfort, expect
after all, and what right had l to think
it could or should be otherwise?
Still, what tricks the mind will play!
/ knew then that that face had been by
me ever since the night at the old tav-
ern, and in my foolish thoughts the
next meeting had happened again anC
again; but the reality was of q far diff
ferent order from the dream.