Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1917-06-07

tion Of buying her back within Sear.
He had then started east, too Mtens
upon his purpose to delay even for .
telegram from Vancouver barracks.
and never doubling that his command
ing officer had granted him the Gus
tomary leave Of absence pending inc
accentance of his unconditional ana
immediate resignation.
Great had been his ccnsternatlon
when. the day of his arrival In Wash.
ington, he had reported himself at the
war department. Not only had leave
of absence been denied him and all
action on his resignation been suspend
ed: he had been posted for desertion.
However, his record on the one hand.
and the indecent haste Of the attack
on the other, had brought about sufti-
cient intervention by members Of the
general staff to cause several months
delay in the plan Of his enemies to
crush him. Action on the charges filed
against him by the Indian commission
ers and by his commanding officer had
been postponed from month to month.
Meantime he had been placed under
the nominal arrest of confinement to
the limits Of the District Of Columbia.
which left him free to pursue the ends
for which he had come east. To his
surprise, no contest had been filed
against his mineral claim. On the con.
trary, he had soon found himself lie.
gally entitled to assign the mine to
Marie. His carefully drawn and duly
witnessed conveyance had started west
in the next mail. Marie's note Of &C
acknowledgement stated the esteem and
gratitude of the writer in the most
correct and conventional of terms.
His progress toward the accomplish.
ment of his second purpose had been
far less smooth. In fact, after months
of persistent endeavor, he could not
be sure that he had made any prog.
ress whatever. He had not been bar
red from an inspection Of the docu.
ments relating to the new treaty with
the tribe, and among them he had
found Vandervyn's alleged contract. 1t
purported to appoint the young man
attorney and tribal representative and
to fix his compensation at twenty per
cent of any moneys appropriated to
the tribe in payment for the coded
mineral lands.
Hardy had at first considered the
signatures forged. But examination
with q microscope had shown him that
the thumb prints were identical with
those on the memorandum Of the pro-
ceedlngs of the tribal council. He
had been quick to perceive that his
only chance of defeating the outrage
GUS contract was to bring about either
an executive or congressional inves-
tigation. There had been no difficulty
in dlvining the manner in which Van
dervyn had obtained the signatures at
the tribal council.
Yet so far his every move had been
blocked. He had interested one man
Of official position or influence after
another, only to be met later with eva
sion or procrastination or even out
right rebuffs. One door after another
had been shut in his face. At last he
had found himself regarded as q
crank, than which, in Washington, no
more opprobrious term can be applied
to man.
With the opening Of congress the in.
fluences opposed to him had at last
been able to overcome the opposition
that had delayed trial Of the charges
against him. The afternoon that he
came back to his shabby lodgings after
a final attempt to obtain an interview
with the chief Of the Indian bureau,
he was officially notified to appear the
following morning for trial by court.
martial.
He already knew the charges against
him. They included desertion, failure
to report at Vancouver barracks and.
under the head Of conduct unbecom.
ing an officer and gentleman, his con.
cealment of the developed mine.
The nearness Of the trial brought
matters to desperate pass with him.
he must act quickly.
It was the night of the first ball AZ
the White House. AS usual, there vas
great crush. Hardy, in conventional