Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-05-30
Self
Conquest
How Love and Bravery Saved
aMan From Himself
By CHRISTOPHER BARKLEY
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation, 1911

citation, 1911
Not far from Fort -, in what was
hen called the far west. was once Il
ranch house. In those days the Amer
can Indian was not kept in continued
rubjecton. and the rancher built his
,ouse near enough to the fort to &c
here with those of his household for
rejection in case Of necessity. The
ort. now that the Indian has been
Eliminated, has sunk to nothingness In
Importance. and the ranch house is
Du: a charred spot, having been burn
ed by the redskins years ago.
Not an hour before its destruction a
couple. a young officer from the fort
and a girl. the ranchers daughter
were sitting on the broad veranda In
the light of full moon. Allen Kim
ball had enlisted in the United States
army because he could neither be con
trolled nor control himself. He had
given in to almost every kind Of dis
sipation. and at the end Of q spree
not having the hardihood to meet his
father and being out Of money. in 9
fit of desperation he had enrolled him
self In a cavalry regiment. choosing
that arm Of the service since It would
send him farthest from his home.
He had not been long at his station
when trouble with the indians came
on, and Kimball showed himself SC
brave that he was rapidly promoted
through the noncommissioned grades
and before the fighting was over was
made q lieutenant This gave him
heart, and he determined to redeem
himself with his family. But pas
sion for gambling stood In his way
At those remote posts there was little
or nothing for the men to do except
drink and gamble. and Lieutenant
Kimball found the temptation to gam
BILE too strong for him. Once he had
begun to play all caution deserted him
and he bet wildly. The result was
that he became indebted to his broth
er officers In large amounts. One or
two Of his creditors In order to get
what they considered to be their just
dues formed clique against him. and
he found himself "cut" man. which
Is the army expression for one whose
brother officers will not speak to him
though some dissented from the rest
on the ground that Kimball did not de-
serve what was inflicted upon him.
Kimball had formed the acquaint
ance of Winifred Armour. the ranch
mans daughter. at the height OF the
reputation he had made for bravery
and efficiency. He loved her. and his
loved was returned. He confessed bis
previous life to her and announced bis
thereafter to be credit In
stead Of q disgrace to his family. She
sympathized with him deeply and
promised him that If he adhered to
bis resolution for a given time she
would marry him.
But" she said. II will confess that
there Is In the east man Of sterling
worth who has asked me to be his
wife. He is much older than !. and
thus far ] respect him only. My love
Is yours. If you relapse into your
former condition when return to the
east shall accept his proposition"
Doubtless she put the matter thus to
furnish an incentive to him to conquer
himself
he mad ridden over to rne rancn
house on this moonlight night to bid
her goodby. He had failed to conquer
himself and had lost her The inter
view WAS painful to both
"Well." he said. lin one thing l re-
joice-you in time will be happy. Thank
heaven. ! am not to drag you down
with me. You will be member Of 4
family. while ii am every day ex
pecting an invitation to resign"
Winifred made no reply. What could
she say? She could not find 1t In her
heart to upbraid him. And there was
nothing she could say to relieve the
mental torture both suffered She sim
ply put out her hand In mute fare
we'll
They were both recalled from the
melancholy status existing between
them by hearing distant sounds OF Il
galloping horse. evidently coming at
full speed. Both listened The ami
NAL was not coming from the direc'
ton of the fort, but toward It Kim
ball knew that the Indians on the
nearby reservation had been unruly
and something told him the conner
was q messenger bringing warn
inS. His fear was realized. A horse
man, reaching q point in the road op'
posite the ranch gate. pulled bis horse
back on his launches and cried out:
"The Indians are coming! They're
eight on us!"
without a word Kimbail ran for the
stable near the house and in a few
minutes returned. leading Winifreds
mare, saddled and bridled. Her father
was away from the ranch. and there
was no one In the house but employ
ees and servants. They. too. prepared
for flight Kimball put his companion
on her horse. mounted himself. and
they tore through the open gate and
away toward the fort They had
scarcely started when behind them
came that terrible whoop which only
an Indian can give.
The fort was six miles from the
ranch-not q long distance for an or
dinary ride. but too great to enable
the fugitves to reach safety with q
horde of yelling savages in their rear.
The horses knew that yell and put
forth all their strength.
Scarcely a mile had been covered
when the gallop of single horse was
heard that had evidently distanced the
rest Kimball knew that he was gain.
ing upon them.
"rm going to slow up and fire." he
said. "You 60 on; don't lose any
time. I'll overtake you"
He pulled his horse back on his
launches and turned him as quickly
as possible, but not too quick, for an
Indian was right on him. Selling a
repeating rife that he carried hooked
to his saddle, he fred when the man
was not a hundred yards from him
and dropped him. Then. turning, he
followed Wipifred. She had preferred