The Whitefish pilot. [volume] (Whitefish, Mont.) 1904-current, 1911-11-02

s"0 A"r uiuouSe. Ine1r coats were
scarlet. covered with gold lace, and
the sun glittered on their brass but.
tons and their side arms. Here surely
was something admirable for the eye
20 rest upon. There was not a rip in
any mans uniform. not a rusty spot
on any saber. not a furnished bit of
lace.
They trotted on up to Farmer Bar
tons house. and the general. call.
ing Mrs. Barton-the farmer was at
Valley Forge-asked IL there was a
creek or a spring near by. She told
MIN there was q brook farther on. but
II ne wished water only for the party
he had with him she had a-plenty In
her well. to which he was welcome.
During the brief chat Lucy. who
stood BY her mother and was looking
With admiring eyes at the group Of
equestrians whose chargers were i'm.
patiently paving the ground. could
not help contrasting their appearance
with that Of those ragged Continentals
who had passed the house few weeks
before. There was in the party Z
blue eyed. 6axen haired young Brit
tsher with real English roses In his
cheeks. who sat on his horse admiring
her simple country beauty. and she
thought how different he was from the
boy who but few minutes before
che had watched rstreating down the
road. the two prominent objects in
his dress being the patches-one
square. the other round-in his seat
and especially noticeable from their
color being different from that Of his
trousers and from each other.
1t h blew 10 our ideas OF human
constaDcy to contemplate the change
that Immediately came over Lucy
Barton's heart. for she Immediately
withdrew 1t from Abner and gave II
- the young British aid-de-camp.
And yet In view Of the circumstances
can we blame herr The contrast b.
tween the Continentars garb and the
British regulars red coat, bur
bfeeches. high top boots and resplend-
ent decorations was too much for tho
sevenseen.year-old Lucy. who had
thus far seen men dressed only In the
nnsey woolsey Of the period.
The British general concluded TO re-
main few days where he was. max.
ing his headquarters in the Barton
farmhouse. In three days Captain
Arthur Claverly made q greater In.
road upon Lucy's heart than Abner
Wicks had made In three weeks.
True. the Britisher had no use for her
heart. but a common sense view Of
the situation had no place In either Of
them. At the end Of the three days
he rode away. gayly kissing his hand
to the little girl who looked after
him. She had looked after Abner
with the same longing, hut a longing
that sprang from a different source.
She had pitied him; young Claverly
had dazzled her.
Three years passed. Lucy Barton
remembered her two lovers with their
tive very different uniforms. The
Britisher engaged the larger part Of
the thoughts she gave to both. but in
Abner's forlorn appearance there was
always something that caused little
ripples to pass over her heart. More
over. she was now twenty years old
and had become deeply interested in
the struggle between what were now
the United States and England.
Then there were passings of Ameri-
can troops southward-horse. foot.
dragons. artillery. They were going
to Yorktown for the last campaign of
the war. One morning before day
light the watch in Philadelphia who
called the hour announced that the
British army had surrendered. The
news spread all over the country and
reached the Barton farmhouse.
Not long after this the American
troops began to pass Rarton's, moving
1t was late In October,
and the leayes had fallen from the
trees. One evening Lucy Barton. re-
turning from milking. heard a clatter
Of horses hoofs behind her and turned
just in time to see the general and his
stan who three years before had spent
some days at her home gallop past.
Their heads were bowed In mortifica.
ton. for they were paroled prisoners
Of war going to New York to return
from there to England. Lucy saw
among them the young officer who had
80 quickly taken her heart from the
Continental, but he failed to recognize
her.
A week later a regiment Of United
States infantry marched northward by
the house and with very different
mien. Their heads were held high;
their step was springy. their whole ap-
pearance triumphant. At their head
rode their colonel. a youngster who
had attained the command only a