Jane Cable

by George Barr McCutcheon

  David Cable lost no time in hurrying away from Chicago with hiswife and Jane. They were whisked westward in his private car onthe second day after the Bansemer exposure. Broken-spirited, Janeacquiesced in all their plans; she seemed as one in a stupor,comprehending, yet unresponsive to the pain that enveloped her.

  "I can't see anyone that I know here," she said listlessly. "Oh,the thought of what they are saying!"

  They did not tell her that Graydon had enlisted as a private soldierin the United States Army; Jane only knew that she loved him andthat the bar sinister existed.

  Cable's devotion to her was beautiful. He could not have beenmore tender had she been his own daughter, instead of his wife'simposition.

  Jane was ill in Pasadena for many weeks. Her depressed conditionmade her recovery doubtful. It was plain to two persons, at least,that she did not care whether she lived or died. The physicianswere puzzled, but no explanation was offered by the Cables. It wasnot until certain Chicago sojourners generously spread the news,that the cause of her breakdown became apparent to the good doctors.Before many days, the girl who sat, wan and distrait, upon theflower-shaded piazza was an object of curiosity to fashionablePasadena. As soon as she was strong enough to endure the trip, thehunted trio forsook Pasadena and fled northward.

  San Francisco afforded relief in privacy. Jane's spirits began torevive. There had not been, nor was there ever to be, any mentionof that terrible night and its revelations. What she may have feltand suffered in secret could only be conjectured by those who lovedher. Bansemer's name was never uttered. His fate remained unknownto her. The far-away, unhappy look in her eyes proved to them thatGraydon was never out of her thoughts.

  David Cable was in Chicago when Mrs. Cable received word from hersister, once Kate Coleman, that she soon would reach San Franciscowith her husband, bound for the Philippines. Kate was the wife ofa West Pointer who had achieved the rank of colonel in the volunteers,by virtue of political necessity. His regiment had been orderedto the islands, and she was accompanying him with their daughter,a girl of sixteen.

  Colonel Harbin had seen pleasant service at the Eastern posts wherehis wife had attained a certain kind of social distinction in thearmy fast set. She was not especially enamoured of the prospectahead of her in the Philippines; but the new colonel was a strictdisciplinarian on and off the field. He expected to be a brigadier-generalif fortune and favouritism supported him long enough. Mrs. Harbincould never be anything more than a private in the ranks, so faras his estimation of distinction was concerned. His daughter Ethelhad, by means of no uncertain favouritism, advanced a few pointsahead of her mother, and might have ranked as sergeant in the familycorps.

  Mrs. Harbin played cards, drank highballs, flirted with the youngerofficers, got talked about with pleasing emphasis, and was as happyas any subordinate could be. They had not even thought of such athing as divorce, and the whole army wondered and expressed disgust.The army's appetite for scandal is surpassed only by its braveryin war. It is even hinted that the latter is welcomed as a loopholefor the former. War brings peace.

  The arrival of the Harbins and a staff of gay young cadets freshfrom the banks of the Hudson put new life into the recluses. Theregiment was to remain at the Presidio for several weeks beforesailing. One of the lieutenants was a Chicago boy and an acquaintanceof Graydon Bansmer. It was from him that Jane learned that hersweetheart was a soldier in the service, doubtless now in Luzon.

  A week before the sailing of Colonel Harbin's transport Janesuddenly announced that she had but one desire on earth, and thatwas to go to Manila with her aunt. She did not present her plea withthe usual claim that she wanted to be of service to her country;she was not asking to go out as a heroine of the ordinary type;instead, she simply announced that she wanted to go as a temporarymember of Colonel Harbin's family, to endure their hardships andto enjoy their enthusiasms. Mrs. Cable recognised the true motive,however.

  Her pleadings were in vain. The Harbins had lucklessly urged Janeto join them. Telegrams flew back and forth across the continentand David Cable came on to present his feeble objections.

  When the great transport sailed away, Jane Cable was one of herpassengers, the ward of the regiment.

  "It's just for a little while, dad," she said wistfully at thedock. "A few months. I'll think of you every minute I'm away."

  The blood of the man in the service was calling to her. The oceanwas between them; the longing to be near him, to tread the samesoil, had conquered in the eternal battle of love. After all, nomatter how the end was attained, she was a creature of life, broughtinto the world to love and to be loved. She put the past behind herand began to build a new future--a future in which the adorationof Graydon Bansemer was the foundation. The hope that makes allhuman averages was at the work of reconstruction; youth was thebuilder. The months of destruction had not left a hopeless ruinas the heritage of dead impulses.

  The world grew brighter as the ship forged westward. Each day sentwarmer blood into her veins and a deeper light into her eyes. Thenew life was not inspired by the longing to be his wife, but tosee him again and to comfort him. She would be no man's wife.

  At last, one hot, soft morning in early July, the great transportslipped past Corregidor and turned its nose across Manila bay, pastCavite, toward the anchorage which ended the long voyage. The cityof Manila lay stretched out before them--Manila, the new Americancapital.

  The troops were marched off to quarters and the Harbins, with JaneCable, repaired at once to the Oriente, where they were to liveprior to taking a house in Ermita or San Miguel. The campaign wasnot being pushed vigorously at this time; it was the rainy season.Desultory fighting was going on between the troops and the insurgents;there were numerous scouting and exploring expeditions into theenemy's country. The famous round robin of the correspondents hadbeen sent to the United States by this time, taking severely to taskthe army censorship which prevented the real condition of affairsfrom reaching the deluded public. The situation was much worseon the island of Luzon than anyone at home could have imagined.But little truth escaped the vigilant wisdom of the arbitrarians.It was not until later on, however, that the effects of the roundrobin were felt in headquarters at Manila; when that time came theAyuntamiento in the walled city was not a pleasant retreat for thenewspaper men who had dared.

  A week elapsed before Jane could find the opportunity to makeinquiries concerning the whereabouts of Graydon Bansemer. Herthoughts had been of nothing else; her eagerness had been temperedby the diffidence of the over-zealous. She and pretty Ethel Harbinhad made life endurable for the gay young officers who came overon the ship; the pretty wives of certain captains and lieutenantshad small scope for their blandishments at close range. Flirtationswere hard to manage in space so small. The two girls were thereforein a state of siege most of the time. The abject following fellaway perceptibly when the broader field of action on shore gavetheir married sisters a chance to manoeuvre with some degree ofsecurity. A faithful few remained in train, however. Ethel Harbin,like the ingenue in the play, had each finger clumsily but tightlywrapped with a breathing uniform of blue. It must be admitted inshame, however, that she changed the bandages often and withoutconscience or ceremony.

  Jane's admirers were in love with her. She was not the sort toinspire idle fancies--either in married or unmarried men. In anyevent, it looked a long time to these chaps before they could getback to the States, and she was worth while.

  Perhaps her most, devoted admirer was Lieutenant Bray. Good-lookingand coming from an excellent Southern family, he was a greatfavourite with all. Jane liked him better than any of the rest;she would have liked him still better had he been able to resista tendency to boast of the stock from which he had sprung. Theknowledge of her disadvantages in life, the contrast between theirrespective positions, all tended to emphasise the irony of fate;and she often found herself wondering how this sprig of truearistocracy would conduct himself if he discovered that, after all,she was only a FOUNDLING.
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  It was Lieutenant Bray who made inquiries at general headquartersand found, after considerable trouble, that Graydon Bansemer'scompany was in the north, subject to the requirements of Young,chief of scouts. Irksome were the lazy summer months for Jane.She tired of the attentions of men; she sickened with longing andanxiety. Day after day she prayed that the troops in the northmight be relieved; she watched for the order that would call fortheir return from the wet lands above. Sickness was prevalent amongthe fighting corps; the wet season had undermined the health ofmany. Constant news came down to Manila of the minor engagements,and she looked at every report for news of Graydon. Colonel Harbin,occasionally, had private advices from the north. She heard ofGraydon's bravery more than once and glowed with pride. Down inher tired, anxious heart she was wondering if it were possible forher to go to the front in any capacity.

  At last, with October, came the waning of the rainy season.November brought active fighting. A general movement of the troopswas directed against Aguinaldo. In his prime, as a leader, hecontrolled the north, and his capture was imperative. Lawton andYoung began operations on the right; McArthur on the centre; withWheaton pushing forward on the extreme left. The insurgents fellback from Tarlac. There were many big fights at San Jacinto andother places now famous in history.

  The Red Cross society held forth at Malolos, reaching graduallyinto the country north. Sick and wounded men came into the hospitalsdaily and in larger numbers than one would have supposed. The villagesor barrios all along the line of advance saw their convents turnedinto hospitals; as fast as possible the nurses were hurried upto them. Men and women in this noble service did heroic, faithfulwork both for the white and the brown men who went down. From thefield hospitals the men were taken to the convents and treateduntil they were able to be moved to Manila.

  Further north fled Aguinaldo and the Filipinos. Wheaton was orderedto cut off his retreat; Young was killed; Cunningham took chargeof the scouts who scoured the country. Parties of ten or fifteenpicked men fell out in advance of the main body, seeking todevelop the enemy and his defences. These brave fellows attractedthe hidden fire of ambush, exposed themselves to all the treacheriesof warfare, and afterwards were mustered out with a kind word fromthe department. They were the men who tested the territory. It waswith one of these scouting parties that Graydon Bansemer venturedfar into the enemy's country early in November.

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE CHASE OF PILAR