The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1909-09-02
6he Belle y San
Pedro Springs }
= BY carr.e Eli.abs,h Loeens-

ANNAV SRA1AA6O
IN
~By CArrie EIixab ii Loeon~
/ Copyright, 1902, by w. r. Hearst.)
/ Dress parade and the review was over.
| Silently the vast assembly of men stood
ht parade rest. while the flag fioated out
In the soft, mesuuite-scented breeze. THE
spell was broken by the sunset gun. Down
came the flag. The band played the
Star Spangled Banner, and the men
STOOD with heads uncovered.
\ Leslie Somers watched from the broad
| porch of her fathers cottage. Suddenly
Eout OF the growing dusk q mans face APP
Epeared. a proud, ciear-cut face, with full.
red lips, and large, dark eyes that held
7 her own by a strange magnetism. Black
hair. escaping from an unbecoming cap,
waved softly on his broad forehead. She
| gasped and drew back In the shadow OF
p post until them man, evidently q strayed
recruit, had passed. Leslie sighed. How
like Tom Howe's had been the face in the
dusk! Then she smiled as her eyes caught
IA CLEAN of white fire from the ring Lieu
tenant Grayton had placed on her hand.
The mind of Tom Howe was troubles
by no doubts. He knew that the fair.
haired girl on Colonel Somer's porch was
his one-time sweetheart, Leslie Semers.
She could not recognize, In an enlisted
man, the son of O New York merchant
ind the heir to a large fortune. Alas!
pis father had died bankrupt, and he had
hidden himself in the great military ma
chine. A blue uniform Is an excellent dis
guise. Tom had some misfortune-proof
friends who were trying to obtain a COM
mission for him in some volunteer regi-
ment, forming for service In the Philip
pines.
Toms mind Travelled back I'VE years to
his last year at the Bayhss Military
school. He was then a lad Of IS. George
Grayton came to the school as drill mas
ter. He had spent two years at West
Point. Leslie Somers. a beautiful Texas
! girl, was visiting her uncle. Colonel Bay
Iss, the proprietor of the school. Leslie
had been willing to accept the attentions
Of the young heir, until George Grayton
! appeared on the scene. He was "a, n
bis age and experience gave him an adj
vantage over his weather. rival.
The early maturity of the south made
Leslie appear older than 16. She was fat-
tered by the devotion Of the older man.
He had an eye to his W advantages.
Attentions to the pretty daughter OF a
colonel in the regular army would not
be wasted.
Leslie had promised to meet To&a in the
moonlight glen one May evening. but
she met George Grayton instead. After
that the ''major," as the drill master was
called, had an u~ndisputed field and Les
lie Somers departed for her southern
f1me without one word of farewell from
Tom.
George Grayton made good use of his
time. He enlisted, passed an examina-
ton after two years service, and received
a commission as a lieutenant. Then no
was transferred to Colonel Somers' regi-
ment, where he speedily engaged himself
to Leslie.
Every bright morning Leslie had her
horse saddled and %cantered out to the
beautiful San Pedro park and springs.
you will be killed." shouted the crowd,
but the warning fell UNDECIDED to the ears
h seemed to prefer a time when her
hance was on duty and could not accom-
pany her. She was well-known as a
graceful and fearless rider. People spoke
I Of her with pride as the Belle OF San
Pedro Springs" Her beauty was the del
icate loneliness of the tea rose.
This lovely May morning the greenness
n brightness Of the park seemed to
enter the soul Of Leslie as Black Prince
trotted under the stately oaks Pecan
trees and graceful ~shrubbery caught her
nature~loving eye. The freshly-cut green
grass eramed small mirrors of quiet lakes,
rejecting the blue and bsiiliance of a
Texan sky. The sun poured Its golden
radiance on a happy world. Birds sang
In thet trees or drank and tilted to let the
cool draught from clear springs drain
their tiny throats.
What was that passing with a roar and
a hiss on the graveled drive? Black
Prince had not made the acquaintance Of
racing automobiles. He SHE'D and began
to rear. Leslie could not control the
spirited animal. Tearing down the road
at notwithstanding speed went the fright
ened horse with the plucky girl clinging
to his neck.
Of Tom Howe. White and desperate ne
managed to stop the terrified Beast. 9th
ers tenderly lifted down the almost I'm.
conscious girl. They laid her on the cool
grass. and presently Tom had his re-
ward. Leslie opened her eyes and said
family, THANK you, Tom"
Tom disappeared in the crowd. He was
an enlisted man and dared not raise his
eyes to his colonels daughter: besides
she was the promised wife Of his hated
rival.
Leslie kept the secret of her rescuer's
identity, believing this to be the best way
Of showing her gratitude. She knew that
she had treated him badly. but pride had
stood in the way when she wanted to ask
his forgiveness. With her tardy remerse
the old love for her boy sweetheart re.
turned. She was strangely changed.
more Indifferent to her fance. more at
~fectionate to her father. None guessed
these were the fruits Of a secret sorrow
and a hopeless love.
There was great excitement In Com
pany L, when 1t was learned one morning
that Tom Howe would leave the ranks to
become a lieutenant in the-%volunteer in
fantry. He had been called the "Fift
Avenoo" soldier. but his white muscular
arm had won hin both respect and popu-
larity. This news riyaled the sensation
caused by the broken engagement Of Les
lie Somers and Lieuteant Grayton. Ru.
NOR said the colonel's daughter had OBJ
jected to the n~eutenant's propensity for
gambling.
When the summer moon hung in the
sky Leslie gave Tom an interview on her
fathers porch that should have been his
five years before in the "Ramble" Of the
Bayliss school. The moon smiled on a
different scene, and scattered Its silver
through trailing vines on a happy, golden
head