Warren sheaf., 1903-07-09
BY GEN. CHARLES KING.
opyrisht, 1909. by The hobart Company.

soldier, cowboy, Indian or halfbreed,
at him. Billy Ray, captain of the sor-
rel troop and the best light rider in
Wyoming, was the only man he ever
allowed to straddle beautiful thor
oughbred mare he had bought in
Kentucky, but, bad hands or good,
there wasn't riding woman at
Frayne who hadn't backed Lorna
time and again, because to woman
the major simply couldn't say no.
And though his favorite comrades
at the post were captains like Blake
and Billy Ray, married men both
whose wives he worshipped, the ma
jor's rugged heart went out especial
ly to Beverly Field, his boy adjutant,
lad who came to them from West
Point only three years before the
autumn this story opens, young
fellow full of high health, pluck and
principle-a tip top soldier, said
everybody from the start, until, as
Gregg and other GROWERS began to
declaim, the major completely spoiled
him. Here, three years only out of
military leadingstrings, he was a
young cock of the walk, ''too dam
independent for second lieutenant"
said the officers club element of the
command, men like Gregg, Wilkins,
Crane and few of their following.
1.-THE keenest young trooper in the
regiment" said Blake and Ray, who
were among it's keenest captains, and
never a cloud had sailed across the
serene sky of their friendship and
esteem until this glorious September
of 1Ss- when Nanette Flower, bril-
liant, beautiful brunette came visi-
tor to old Fort Frayne.
And it was on her account the
ma jjor would, could he have seen the
way, said no to the adjutant's request
to be absent again. On her account
and, that of one other, for that re-
quest meant another long morning
in saddle with Miss Flower, another
long morning in which 1.-The sweet
est girl in the garrison" so said
they all, would go about her daily
duties with an aching heart. There
was no woman at Fort Frayne who
did not know that Esther Dade
thought all the world of Beverly
Field. There was one man who ap-
parent]y had no inkling of it-Beverly
Field himself.
She was the only daughter of a
veteran officer, a captain of infantry,
who at the age of so, after having
held a high command in the volun-
teers during the civil war, was still
meekly doing duty as a company
officer of regulars nearly two decades
after. She had been carefully reared
by q most loving and thoughtful
mother, even in the crude old DAYS
of the army, when it's fighting force
was scattered in small detachments
all over the wide frontier, and men,
and women, too, lived ON soldier ra~
tions, eked out with game, and dwelt
in tents or ramshackle, one-storied
huts, built by the labor OF troops"
At 10 she had been placed at school
in the far east, while her father en-
joyed two years. tour on recruiting
service, and there, under the care
of noble woman who taught her
girls to be women 1ndeed-not vapid
votaries of pleasure and fashion, Es-
ther spent five useful years, coming
back to her fond fathers soldier roof
a winsome picture of girlish health
and grace and comeliness-a girl
who could ride, walk and run if need
be, who could bake and cook, mend
and sew, cut, fashion and make her
own simple wardrobe; who knew al
zebra, geometry and "trig" quite as
well as, and history, geography and
grammar far better than, most Of the
young West Pointers; girl who
spoke her own tongue with accura-
cy and was not badly versed in
French; girl who performed fairly
well on the piano and guitar, but
who sang full-throated, rejoiceful,
exulting like the lark-the soulful
music that brought delight to her
ageing father, half crippled by the
wounds of the war days, and to the
mother who sosdevotedly loved and
carefully planned for her. Within
month from her graduation at,
Madame Piatt's she had become the
darling of Fort Frayne, the pet of
many a household, the treasure of
her own. With other young gallants
of the garrison, Beverly. Field had
had been prompt to call, prompt to
be her escort when dance or drive,
ride or picnic was planned in her
honor, especially the ride, for Mr..
Adjutant Field loved the saddle, the
open prairie or the bold, undulating
bluffs. But Field was the busiest
man at the post. Other youngsters,
troop or company subalterns, had
far more time at their disposal, and
begged for rides and dances, strolls
and sports which the post adjutant
was generally far too busy to claim.
It was Esther who brought lawn ten
mis- to Frayne and found eager pupils
of both sexes, but Field had been the
first to meet and welcome her; had
been for a brief time at the start
her most constant cavalier. Then, as
others began to feel the charm Of her