The daily Alaskan., 1904-06-11
The Mysterious
 ... Messenger

IhODLe NNL III lAAt ttA Atlg tAAN taIN NN fancy that the families of soldiers are always prepared for those partlngs con sequcnt upon the breaking out of war This IS not so. When an army woman s obliged to part with a husband, a son or both, knowing that there are many chances that they will not re
 urn to her. she suffers accordingly.
 When the war with the Modoc In 6yans broke out in the early seventies Captain Wintcrton left his bride at frontier post and marched with his command to the lava beds, There he fought while the wife worried and fyettcd till the close of the struggle. One day she was sitting in the living room of her quarters cndeavoring to divert her mind by reading or sewing from the dangers to which he was eN- posed, when there came a tap at the door. and a young sOldiCr-a mere boy of eighteen entered and held out toI her n letter. on which she saw at a rlapce the supcrscription in her hus- bands handwriting The young sol dicr was very pale, and she noticed
 that though the weather was fine his
 clothes were soaked with water. But she was too eager to read the message
 to dwell upon this and, sczing it, she
 carried It to an open window for a
 better light to read it. It, too, was
 soaked with water, and the lines were badly blurred She managed to make
 out that the war was H-yr, ....' - .lin
 Wintcrtou would soon turn to Ter, though since he must accompany his
 commaud.iJ would yrt be t.w days, Then sh., yIrued to the young soldier. UcNv.~ .r-u. iHc sU'il vanislEyut
 so stagd.G uyr t.g, .'e dropped the letter ua sHe v.ldU s.a.
 | Aston ...f s.. , had not heard his step -ur $, .ld into the halL
 which ya. o.. al pt.y. aud would
 surely P. .ouu. and, any tread cspc- rfuIy tl.. g.. .. ..... ~o'l.,r she ran | 10 the fraut annr. oy. ...|ug tu s'c linn watkins s,..s uac "puu.r' to the sol Iirrs' gur,yg, nut no one except the | seutrirs and a lew loun@crS appeared. ! Starting ua.E into thc room, she went
 to thc window Co rrrcad the letter.
 when she noticed that it was not there. 1 The apartments were not far above the ground and she looked out, expecting that 1t had blown out of the window
 and was lying below. She did not see
 1t and went outside to look for it, but | without success.
 She was frightened She dreaded lest this strange message from her hus-
 band. coming in such uucanny fashion,
 was a prelude to bad news She sent
 a request for the officer in command | of the post tn visit her, and when he
 came she told him the story. He de ! c'grnd that Co his Knowledge no mes ] ,ruge9 had Comr from the lava beds, . bot n, would make sure by Inquiry ot
 l.. oH,rr of the day. Tuur officer rr- , D. .-d rat, uu ~ugu~my~~vu=rr had been 1 seen at the post.
 Tn the evening the post surgeon Call- | ed on Ms. Winterton at the command l ants suggestion, ostpnSihly to ask for
 news from her husband, but really to
 see n EIlt W tlN Al'AA hN " he qua
 iety. He found her pale and nervous.
 but could detect nothing further. It
 was the opinion of the officers and their | families that the mysterious courier and the letter were the creation of Mrs. ! Wmtort1n's brain. No one except her
 self had seen either courier or letter. The soldier could not have got into thn
 post without having been seen by the sentry at the gate and the one pacing ! before the officers quarters.
 i The police" squad, whose duty it
 was to pick up every bit of paper that ! Uttered the iuclosure was instructed Co ! look out for the letter. but they never | produced it. Mrs. Wmterton'S nervous ness increased to hyStoria, and word | was sent to her husband to return as
 soon as possible. He obtained leave | to do so and at once set out for the fort. The commamlant met him before | he saw his wife and told him of the
 vision, or whatever 1t might be, that ! had visited Mrs. Winterton.
 Wnterron stood aghast IJ was some | time before he could reply to inquiries
 as to his asiouishmeut, but at last he | said:
 "They say the dead cannot visit us. | have just had evidence that they can. | Young Harding, the messenger, was as
 devoted to me as ever was soldier to
 his commander. He was the son of banker in the east, and, being ambi-
 tious to be a soldier, he enlisted and | would have now been promoted. He
 was a pet of mine, and twice during | this war l saved his life, once by crawl
 ing out to him beyond our firing line,
 where he had been left after a retreat | and could not raise his head without
 getting a bullet through it; again by
 forcing him to the ground a moment | before a storm of bullets was sent over our works. As soon as hOstlities had ceased I chose him to take the news to | my wife. On my way here I learned
 that he was pursued by Indians who
 had not given up the struggle and was drowned attempting to swim his horse | aCEgss a river" &
 It was decided not to encourage Mrs.