Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-11-12

reins dropped by Hooker in sight Of the
Maryland shore. And the same hard
fighting, hard marching, hard swear
Ing, hard used old army hove in sight
Of the stream that had given it its
name, and one corps, at least, had lost
nothing by the change.
a shout had gone up one day on the
Rappahannock when the word went
the rounds that Fred Benton was
back. Suddenly had he appeared in their
midst just before Charlottesville, and
royal was the welcome they gave him.
But Benton had changed, said they,
as a result of the first week of watch
ing. He had grown silent and stern,
If not sour. He seemed filled with rest
less, feverish energy, and no sooner was
the main army back from Hooker's
first essay as chief in command, than
he sought and obtained permission to
go scouting with small force of cav
airy among the by-roads and lanes of
the downstream counties. Released
and ordered to resume duty with that
military modification of the Scotch
verdict, mot guilty, but-don't do it
again = Benton came to the front, burn
ing with wrath at the foe at the rear
foe personal, official and professional,
whom he felt must be McKinnon. He
was not allowed to know at the time,
nor to see until long after, the extent
of McKinnon's intrigue against him or
of its reaction on McKinnon himself.
Only one officer witnessed the scene.
week after the Chiltons, father and
daughter, had been returned to the
southern lines, when Stanton demanded
of the major that he prove his case or
thereafter hold his peace. He had
fooled away whole month" said the
secretary, filled it with vague charges
and failed on specifications" They
sent him away, ostensibly to straighten
out the legal tangle in Kentucky, not
yet blessed with the benefits Of martial
law; then, when McKinnon was be-
yond reach, sent for Benton. OF course
he did not see the secretary. A placid,
baa-lamb, soft-spoken staff officer had
been told what to say. Benton's as
sociations had Observation-Disclosures
ly compromising, and, while his con-
duct on duty had not been called into
question, at a time of such public peril
the department held that it's officers
should be ah-be above suspicion, or
at least show disposition to relieve
themselves from blame, and Capt. Ben
TOMS refusal to surrender papers
confessedly given him by a confeder-
ate officer had added much to the grav-
ity of the case against him. What
case?" demanded Benton, fiercely.
We'll, perhaps that was putting it
rather h-strenuously," said the
officer. what is meant" ooh,
damn It'll" burst in Benton, most i'm
properly. what is meant is that you
know I've been accused without rhyme
and reason-that you dare not let me
meet my accusers, and you won't give
me fair hearing" and for this map
propriate outburst he declined to apol-
ogize. For another week, therefore, it
looked as though, after all, he might
get trial; but it ended in his being
ordered to quit Washington forthwith,
and to report for duty.
In heart, in pride. in spirit he had
been sorely hurt. In heart by Rosalie
Chilton's astounding accusation and
the impossibility of getting the faintest
explanation. After her impetuous out
burst she had whjrled about and
rushed to the waiting carriage, demand
ins Of the astonished major that he