Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1905-01-11
Of which he was oui,s ,..f.,ty nhcssh

or Whlch ne was quite sESf{try hcx&6
not dangerously woundei-;hat ne was
in good hands and would be we'll cared
Tor. and this newS-a great relief-was
promptly transmitted to Fred's general
and by him telegraphed to the far
western home.
On well-made stretcher lay the cen.
trail figure of household and local in
terest. Lieut.. Jack Chiffon, slowly but
surely gaining strength and spirits
with every day. And who wouldn't
under similar influences for two fair
Young daughters of the old common
wealth We'd with each other in assdu-
Gus effort to entertain" the trooper
invalid. Lovely were they both. these
cousins o.. the blood, and most carefully
had they been chosen for this special
duty by their acknowledged leader.
chief of the little clan of kinswomen
Brilliant. beautiful and daring. who
of their brave order could lay claim
TO leadership so long as Rosale cared
10 hold it? They followed and obeyed
her eagerly. Loyalty, though in year,
She was but IS, and five, at least,
Of the sacred band were her seniors.
ever since the days OF short dresses.
oraids and pinafores, she had been
dominant among them. Tomboy had
they called Rosalie at ten, for she
could ride any horse within miles OF
Charlottesville, and preferred walking
stills, flying kites or running races To
the customary allurements of girlhood.
She had one envy, one champion. one
idol-her brother, barely two years
her senior-and apparently but one
sorrow-that she could not do every
thing that Jack could, and not for lack
of trying
Then as they grew older, and other
girls brothers began showing hither>
to unsupported fondness for Jacks sU-
ciety, and coming to see him at ali
hours of the day, and other girls them.
selves began making eyes at Jack. her
Indifference to the first and her fury
at the second were comical to see And
then, when the war came on and W.
ginia sprang to arms and Jack to sad-
die and his first commission In jeb
Stuarts famous First cavalry she WAS
all afire with fervor and patriotism en-
the one hand and of mad jealousy at
Maud Pelham on the other, for on
Maud had Jack cast favoring eyes.
And so, when she brought her brother
home to nurse and pet and coddle to
her hearts content, while she was all
soothing sweetness on the side that
showed to him, she fairly bristled on
the other-that which all well-favored
feminine callers, inQuirers and friends
must needs encounter when they asked
to see him. She established a regular
roster book and told off the list of
the sacred band-her bench women, in
to four ''reliefs" of two girls each-one
relief only TO be on duty each day and
no outsiders to be admitted Needless
to say Maud Pelham was not of tle
elect, and Jack speedily showed he
wished it were otherwise.
And so this sweet April morning.
with a soft, languorous air playing
about the wooded, sun kissed heights.
she had two such awfuIly nice
young girls to cheer him. while she
herself turned dutifully to another
wounded officer. youth in dark blue
ana gold who Gl1 beaf for over an
hour a silent watcher of the merit
ment about Chilton's cot, while hs.
Fred Benton. sat lonely and longing
10 get Tar away.
1t was not that they were cold. con-
strained or inconsiderate when speak
ing TO him. but, the doctor had to be
much away now; Lieut.. Jack was al
ways surrounded by his fair body
guard; the one man Benton loved, his
boon companion Paul, had gone to re-
Join his regiment. and the one woman
who could have made Benton's stay a
world of strange, sweet, watching de-
light was beginning day after day to
show less inclination to approach him
at all. A fortnight of watching THAI
beautiful dark face had done its work.
Fred Benton was mending in body.
but not in mind for doubly now was
he prisoner
ITO BE Continued