Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1907-05-03
HIS FATHERS SON

It was just at the head Of the stairs at
the opera house that l met her. She had
observed me mounting them and came
forward to greet me. So, when l gained
the last stair, l came suddenly upon her
standing there with outstretched hand
your" she breathed.
YES" 1 answered. and took her hands
in mine.
For a moment we stood looking at
each other in silence. Then she spoke,
and this time there was a light note in
her voice.
"They have been kind to YOU these
years" she said; but you are older"
And YOU" 1 replied; but, neverthe-
less. more beautiful"
1t was true. Even now as she smiled
and bowed mockingly / saw that her face
had a tender graclousness and her eyes
n steady, level gaze that they had lacked
before. She was only a girl then, and
now she was woman. 1 liked the
woman better.
Come to our box" she said; there are
so many things to talk Of"
1T Is impossible" I answered regret
fully. LAS 1t happens there is a big po-
litical battle coming on and I am here to
interview a cabinet officer. Afterward l
shall have to hurry away"
She smiled at me with that quaint
smile of hers How well l remembered
hooking and admiration. 80 you are
still fighting?" she asked.
I shrugged my shoulders. 1T is my
trade" I replied; "the newspaper man is
| like a soldier"
But" she interrupted. sometimes the
soldier has peace"
Il know" I said; but for us there is
no such thing Our enemy is graft, and
that never ceases. 1t was graft, you re-
member that took me to the Philippines"
Yes" she sighed, Il remember"
| Her face had grown grave at the men,
| tion of the Philippines. It had summoned
| to her brain, no doubt, the memory of
! that tragic night there in which both she
! and I had been actors. Neither of us
would ever forget that. 1 knew, and l
| felt sure that her heart had never been,
| never could be, again so light as it had
| been before
She was Marion Vaughn in those days
a bright, high spirited girl of 90. After
! the fall of Manila, her uncle (they had
! been on a tour of the world) brought her
! to the Philippines. For n time they had
stayed at the fallen city; then. seeking
adventure, he had brought her up to Bac-
! olaf; and that was the seat Of war then
! There he Joined a company that was to
! go on an expedition into the hin country
! leaving Marion in the care of Col. Eustis
who was in charge of the garrison.
1t was not n safe thing to do. There
! was uOSllle FORCE almost on lne OUT
| skirts of the town. Every night the SEN
! tries exchanged shots with them. From
! the window Of the colonels hut she could
| see their camp fires. At any moment
! they might make an assault, and while
| this was not to be feared as the garrison
could defend itself, such an attack creates
sights that are not good for women to
look upon.
After the skirmishing party had left.
the enemy, knowing the garrison to be
weaker, became holder in their attempts
The colonel grew apprehensive and sent
! for reinforcements. On their arrival he
| intended to drive the enemy back. Or
dinarily the plans for this attack would
have occupied the minds Of the garrison to
the exclusion Of everything else; but now
1t did not They had n far more inter
esting thing to watch. 1t was the duel OF
Lieutenant Warner and Lieutenant Eustls
(who was the coloners SOM for the love
of Marion Vaughn.
The duel was all the more interesting
I think, because Warner and Eustis were
the only young officers there. Indeed.
except for Major Black and the Colonel
they were the only officers there. The
| rest We're all on duty elsewhere. SO they
had the field to themselves and fought
| the battle out without hindrance.
But Miss Vaughn was not n girl whose
heart could be easily won. She was
wilful, capricious, hayward Whether
she favored either one, no one could tell.
| There We're times when Warner seemed
to have won, and then suddenly all her
smiles were given TO Eustis. We who
watched were as much in the dark as
her lovers.
Then came the tragic night
As stood before her there in the opera
house, surrounded by brilliantly dressed
men and women, all laughing and chat
ting happily the memory of IT swept
over me with startling vividness. II was
a warm. sultry night. a night without a
breath of wind and black as death, for
there was no moon and the hot brilliant
stars breathed fire but no light. With
my cigar I had wandered out toward our
outposts. My newspaper had sent me up
! into the country to investigate some al
| legged frauds in certain government timber
| concessions; but the unsettled conditions
! had prevented my doing SO, and had
| forced me to remain at Bacolat. I was
| fretting over my involuntary idleness as
I moved about, when suddenly l stopped,
| transfiXed with horror. My wanderings
had led me toward the stream from which
we obtained our water, and now I was
walking directly in its bed with dry feet!
1t had ceased to fowl
The knowledge of our peril clutched me
| with a horrible nausea and I trembled
| like man with fever. At length. with
| great effort / pulled myself together and
! began to think. 1t seemed certain that
what Ilau happened was tnat some
logs carried down by the spring floods
| had damned together in the curve be-
| tween our camp and the enemy's-but
| closer to theirs-and had formed an effec-
| tive dam. That the enemy had done ii
seemed impossible. Had they contemplate
ed such a plan they would have tried It
before now. But in the morning they
would find the dam and strengthen 1t,
and we should be utterly without water.
Our reinforcements could not come in
fully five days; until then an attack
would mean our annihilation-and five
days without water. even one, in that
horrible burning heat
turned and ran for the colonel's hut,
ran blindly in mad panic. Several
times I tripped upon the underground and
fell. Once a sharp rock cut my face
When at last I reached the cottage my
clothing was muddy and torn. my face
covered with blood. The orderly on duty
before the door stared at me. Without
word thrust him aside and strobe into
the coloners presence.
He was seated at the table where he
had dined The dinner things had been
cleared away, but the cloth was still laid
and shone brightly beneath the pleasant
lamp. The colonel and Major Black were
at the table drinking their after dinner
glass of wine. IL would have been hard to
find two men more dissimilar. Colonel
Eustis was tall and slender, with a grave
manner and gentle, courtly air; Major
Black was short and stocky, gruff, blunt
and forceful Both had grown gray in
service.