Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-03-06


 escorted by that redoubtable woman, Mrs. Bill Hay. and within the week of her arrival Nanette Flower was the toast of the bachelors mess, the talk of every household at Fort Frayne.
 Hay, the trader, had prospered in his long years on the frontier, first as trader among the Sioux, later as sut- Ter, and finally, when congress abol- ished that title, substituting therefor the euphemism, without material clog upon the perquisites, as post trader at Fort Frayne. No one knew how much he was worth, for while appar- entity a most open-hearted, whole souled fellow, Hay was reticence it. self when his fortunes or his family were matters of question or com ment. He had long been married, and Mrs. Hay, when at the post, was a social sphinx-kind-hearted, chari- table, lavish to the soldiers wives and children, and devotion itself to the families of the officers when sick ness and trouble came, as come in the old days they often did. It was she who took poor Ned Robinson's young widow and infant all the way to Cheyenne when the Sioux butch cred the luckless little hunting party down by Laramie Peak. It was she who nursed Capt. Forests wife and I Irrht tars trpt, fnn tyc nY typhoid, and, with her own means, sent them to the seashore, while the husband and father was far up on the Yellowstone, cut off from all com munication in the big campaign of '76. It was she who built the little chapel and decked and dressed it for Easter and Christmas, despite the fact that she herself had been baptized in the Roman Catholic faith. It was she who went at once to every woman in the garrison whose husband was ordered out on scout or campaign, proffering aid and comfort, despite the fact long whispered in the garrisons of the Platte country, that in the old, old
 
 the red men than the white. That could well be, because in those days white men were few and far between. Everyone had heard the story that it was through. her the news of the massacre at Fort Phil Kearney was made known to the post commander, for she could speak the dialects of both the Arapahoe and the Sioux, and she had the sign language of the plains vertically at her fingers ends. There were not lacking those who de- clared that Indian blood ran in her veins-that her mother was an Ogallala squaw and her father French Canadian fur trapper, story to which her raven black hair and brows, her deep, dark eyes and some what swarthy complexion gave no little color. But, long years before, Bill Hay had taken her east, where he had relatives, and where she studied under excellent masters, re- turning to him summer after sum- mer with more and more of refine ment in manner, and so much of style and fashion in dress that her annual advent had come to be looked upon as quite the event of the sea- son, even by women of the social po- sition of Mrs. Ray and Mrs. Blake, the recognized leaders among the young matrons of the tn cavalry, and by gentle Mrs. Dade, to whom every one looked up in respect-al- most in reverence. Despite the mys- tery about her antecedents there was every reason why Mrs. Hay should be held in esteem and affection. Bill Hay himself was diamond in the rough-square, steady, uncompromis- ing, generous and hospitable; his great pride and glory was his wife; his one great sorrow that their only child had died almost in infancy. His solecisms in syntax and society were many. He was given at times to pro- fanity, and at others, when madame was away, to draw poker; but off cers and men alike proclaimed him a man of mettle and never hesitated to go to him when in financial straits, sure of industrious aid. But even had this not been the case. the of his better half would have carried him through, for there was hardly a woman at Frayne to speak of her except in terms of gen. nine respect. Mrs. Hay was truth telling. sympathetic, 8 peacemaker, a resolute opponent of gossip and scandal of every kind. a woman who minded her own business and was only mildly insistent that others should do likewise. She declined all overtures leading to confidences of her past. and demanded recognition only upon The standard of the pres ent, which was unimp.achable.
 All the same 1t came something like a shock to society at Frayne that. when she appeared at the post this beautiful autumn of iss-, nearly three months later than the usual time, she should be accompanied by this brilliant and beautiful girl of whom no one of their number had previously heard, and whom she smilingly. confidently presented ss, My niece, Miss Flower"
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