Under Fire

by Charles King

  CHAPTER XXII.

  The Cranstons were ready to start on the 23d, but nothing was inreadiness at Mrs. Davies's. On the contrary, that lovely and mostinteresting young woman was, according to her own account, astransmitted to the garrison by her now devoted friend and nurse, Mrs.Darling, in a state of prostration and could do nothing at all. Mr.Davies had been telegraphed for and was coming, and Dr. Rooke said shemust be kept very quiet meanwhile,--so at least Mrs. Darling reported tosympathetic friends who called to inquire and possibly hoped to see.Bluff old Rooke himself was besieged with questions as to his fairpatient, the nature of her malady and the cause of the sudden shock, andRooke told some people not to bother her, others not to bother him, andothers still not to bother themselves about her. She'd come out allright if left alone. It was Mrs. Cranston and Miss Loomis to whom hedelivered himself of the last mentioned. He liked them both, which wasmore than he did most people, for this AEsculapian countryman of Carlylehad much of that eminent writer's sharpness of vision and bluntness ofspeech together with even more of his contempt for the bulk of hisfellow-men. "No, Mrs. Cranston," said he, "don't wait a day for her.Start just as soon as you are ready, and don't give a thought to thislittle flibberty gibbet." And so the Cranstons, with Miss Loomis, badefarewell to Scott, and one radiant winter morning drove buoyantly away,almost all of the officers and ladies being out to wave them adieu.Hastings, with a brace of troopers, trotted alongside as they crossedthe Platte and reported the camp wagon well on its way to Dismal River."I never was so glad to leave a place in all my life," said Margaret toher friend, as they glanced back from the crest of the distant ridgethat spanned the northern sky. "I never have been at a post where therewere so few people I cared for." The driver halted his strong team at alevel spot after a long, tortuous climb, and let the mules breathe amoment while his passengers took their final peep at the dim, dingypatch, far away upon the southward slopes beyond the willow-fringedriver, which indicated the site of old Fort Scott. Already the snow haddisappeared on many an open tract and lay deep only in the ravines andgullies, on the ice coat of the stream and in the dense undergrowth ofthe islands. To right and left for miles the broad valley lay beneaththeir eyes, the rigid line of the railway cutting a sharp, narrow slitacross the level prairie in the lowlands, straight away eastward untilall was merged in the misty, impenetrable veil at the horizon, whilewestward near the forks of the river, in long, graceful curve, it sweptaround an elbow of the snow-mantled stream and disappeared among theroofs and spires of far-away Braska. The boys, with the agile energy oftheir kind, had leaped out to scamper about on the rimy buffalo-grass,dull gray, dried and withered, yet full of nutriment for the littledroves of horned cattle already browsing placidly along the slopes wherebut a few years before the Sioux and Cheyenne chased great herds ofbison. Hastings and his men were riding along a hundred yards or so infront, and the two women were left to their own low-toned confidences.

  "I cannot help it," said Mrs. Cranston, "it may be uncharitable, unkind,but I am simply glad she could not go with us. She does not like us,--meat least. She has pointedly avoided me, and I half believe it was toavoid going with us that she was taken ill. I only hope Wilbur will notmisunderstand the matter."

  "I think you are unjust, Margaret, in one thing at least. There wascertainly some severe fright or shock Saturday night."

  "Oh, a thing that might unstring a nervous, hysterical woman a fewhours, perhaps, but it is no case of nerves or hysteria with her. She'sa perfectly healthy country girl. Mrs. Darling, who isn't thoroughlystrong and well, seems to have been very little affected."

  "Mrs. Darling has been three years out here and is accustomed tofrontier life. Mrs. Davies, probably, never had such an experiencebefore, and she has been worried by these queer incidents that Mrs.Leonard tells us of,--those midnight whistlings and tappings at herwindow. Mrs. Davies is alone, her husband miles away at the agency.Everything has tended to worry the girl. I honestly feel sorry for her,Margaret. I'm sorry that she wouldn't let us be her friends."

  "You are full of excuse for her, Agatha, and down in the bottom of yourheart you know perfectly well she doesn't deserve it. I cannot forgiveher for this flirtation with Mr. Willett. I only welcomed the idea oftaking her with us because of the hope it gave me of breaking up thataffair."

  "Has it never occurred to you that she may have broken it offherself?--that besides this queer adventure with those drunken fellowsthere was something else to agitate her? Be just, Margaret. She came tous utterly inexperienced, even ignorant. She hasn't much mind, I'lladmit, but she is innocent of wrong intent. Is it not possible thatdriving home he may have spoken to her in a way she could not mistake,and that that has had much to do with her prostration? If not, if shedid not then and there forbid his coming near her again, how do youaccount for it that he has not once been out to the fort sinceSaturday?"

  "Well, it's only three days, and the sleighing is practically ended."

  "Yes, but he hasn't let forty-eight hours pass hitherto without a visit,so I'm told, and he has his buggy and wagon, and unless there was arupture of some kind was it not more than likely he would be out Sundayor Monday? Wasn't it the proper thing, really, for him to call andinquire for her?"

  But here the Concord rattled on again, the boys playing "giant strides"hanging to the boot at the back, and the driver, poking his head aroundthe canvas wind-screen at the front, called out to Mrs. Cranston,"There's two of our fellows coming a couple of miles ahead, mum." Andboth ladies leaned from the wagon to strain their eyes in vain effort todistinguish the forms and faces of the distant party, Margaret halfhoping that her soldier husband might have been able to stretch a pointand ride far down to meet her, Miss Loomis half divining who it must be,and it was Miss Loomis who was right. Fifteen minutes further and theConcord halted again, and Mr. Hastings, with Davies at his side, rode upto the open door.

  Even at a glance one could see how much he was changed in the service ofthose two months. The lines about his clear, thoughtful eyes haddeepened and his face was thinner, despite the full, heavy,close-cropped beard, but there was no mistaking the joy with which hemet and welcomed his friends and nurses of that long autumn'sconvalescence. He whipped off his gauntlets and flung them at Louis'shead, as the boys came dancing about his horse, and then extended bothhands in eager greeting to Mrs. Cranston, who was nearest him, and whofrankly grasped and shook them in hearty, cordial fashion.

  "Oh, how glad I am to see you!" she cried. "We thought to meet you atour first camp I had no idea you could come so fast." And by this timeshe had released his hands and he was bending farther in to extend theright to Miss Loomis, who welcomed him with friendly warmth, yet withthat womanly reserve which seemed never separable from her.

  "We did not stop at the Niobrara," said he. "We came right through andcamped at Dismal River late last night. Did you see Mrs. Davies thismorning? How did you leave her?" he asked, with grave anxiety.

  "We left her very comfortable. Dr. Rooke said there was no occasionwhatever for anxiety," answered Mrs. Cranston, tactfully evading thequestion as to "seeing her," and then, fearful lest he should be movedto repeat it, plunging impetuously ahead. "She was looking so bright andwell, so lovely in fact, that none of us were prepared for her beingill. Of course you'll hear all about the excitement and adventure theymet with, so I won't speak of it now. In deed, you know, we hardly knowanything more about it ourselves than you do, for both Mrs. Davies andMrs. Darling saw so little of what followed the first appearance of thefellows. Mr. Sanders jumped right out among them, it seems, and gavechase after some who ran. The one they afterwards captured was one ofyour recruits, Paine by name, and Mr. Sanders can tell you all about itwhen he gets back. He was sent up to Cheyenne. One or two men who havedisappeared entirely are the suspected ones, and he is after them."

  "But I don't understand," said Davies, gravely. "It seems incrediblethat even drunken soldiers should have attempted an indignity to a partyof officers and ladies. Weren't you with them?"
/>
  "No; we were in the midst of packing, you know, and we weren't goinganywhere. Indeed, it was an extraordinary thing and no one knows how toaccount for it, but you'll hear all about it at the fort, and I know youare eager to push ahead, and we'll see you so soon at the Ogallalla, sojust tell me how you left my husband and you may gallop on."

  How blithe and radiant was her face as she spoke! How could he suspectthe dread that lurked behind it,--the artfulness of her effort to escapefurther questioning?

  "The captain's as well as ever and counting the hours until yourcoming," he answered. "How thankful I am, for my wife's sake as well asmy own, that you and Miss Loomis are to be so near us! Think of ourhaving a house while the rest of you live in log huts! But if any subwould exchange with me I'd gladly give him the agency guard and thehouse and come and live in cantonments." Then with a parting shake ofthe hand he waved them on. The driver cracked his whip, the boysscrambled aboard, and away they went bowling on northward, while Daviesand his single orderly turned again their horses' heads to the welcomeawaiting them at Scott.

  Margaret sank back in her seat with fluttering heart and a deep sigh ofrelief. "Thank heaven, that's over, and I have told nothing of anyconsequence, have I?" she murmured to her silent friend. "What will hesay or think when he learns the truth? But you were saying Mr. Willetthad not reappeared. For that matter neither had Mr. Burtis nor Mr.Langston. I believe they'll all be out to the fort this very day. Mr.Langston thought we were not to start, you know, until to-morrow."

  No answer to this observation. Miss Loomis was quite well aware of thefact and had been, for her, an eager advocate of the earlier start themoment it was declared that Almira could not attempt to move.

  "I didn't fib, did I?" asked Mrs. Cranston, after a moment of deepthought.

  "No; you managed to control the examination quite successfully withoutit."

  But people at Scott that afternoon were less skilful or less fortunate.Arriving nearly ten hours earlier than he was expected, Mr. Daviesdismounted at his quarters and, tossing the reins to his orderly,quickly and noiselessly entered. He expected to find his wife an invalidin a darkened chamber. He strode in upon a cosey little party atluncheon, Almira presiding at the tea things in a most becoming_negligee_, and Mrs. Stone and Mrs. Darling nibbling at the dainties setbefore them, rising in surprise and some confusion as the young wifefluttered from her chair to the arms of her returned hero and becominglyprecipitated herself upon his breast. The visitors managed to retiresoon after luncheon was over, despite Almira's evident desire to holdone or both at her side, for in that brief quarter of an hour Davieslearned, as the result of questions that presently became insistent,very much to deepen the grave anxiety in his grave face, very much thatmade him impatient to hear from other witnesses.

  Over the interview between him and his now nervous and fluttering wifewe need not linger. She read disapproval, even distrust in his eyes, inhis grave, deep tones, and all the prostration of the three daysprevious showed forcible symptoms of immediate return. She knew she wasgoing to be wretchedly ill again; she must have Mrs. Darling and Dr.Rooke. Oh, why had they taken Dr. Burroughs away? he was so much nicer,and Barnickel should go for Dr. Rooke at once; and Barnickel, who wasunpacking the lieutenant's saddle-bags and blanket roll, said he knewthe doctor had gone to town and there was no one but the steward about.Mr. Sanders was just back, said he, and some gentlemen from town withhim; whereat Almira started nervously and with fear in her face, andDavies took his cap and, presently, his leave.

  "I will ask Mrs. Darling to come to you at once," he said, gently, "butI must go and see Mr. Sanders." He stooped and kissed her flushedforehead and then turned slowly away. The instant he closed the halldoor behind him she crept to the parlor window, watching him as hewalked rapidly westward along the row; then, slipping the bolt, she flewback to her room, searching in the bureau drawer an instant, drew forthtwo or three little notes, tied with silken ribbon, also a bunch offaded violets. The next instant notes and violets were blazing in theparlor base-burner.

  Davies went straight to Sanders's quarters. It was then only a littleafter two and no one happened to be visible along the row. Over at thebarracks and office there was the customary drowsy silence that followedthe mid-day meal of men who had to be up with the dawn, and at stables,drill, or exercise until the noon recall. But Mrs. Stone had hurriedhome to her colonel and told him of Davies's arrival, and the colonelwas eager to see him. Mrs. Darling had similarly warned her consort, andDarling was as eager to dodge.

  "Lieutenant Sanders has gone to report to Captain Devers," said thestriker who answered Davies's ring, and Davies said he would come in andwait until his return. He wanted to get by himself and quietly thinkover Almira's fragmentary and reluctant account and admissionsconcerning this supper-party at Braska. He threw himself into Sanders'sbig arm-chair drawn up in front of the stove, and leaned his head on histhin, white hand. Trooper Hurley, Sanders's striker, acting under hisusual instructions, presently reappeared with a decanter of whiskey,glasses, sugar, and spoon on a tray. "We're all torn up, sir, packingthe lieutenant's traps for the move, but here's everything but bitters,or lemon, and I can get them in a moment, sir."

  Davies wearily thanked him, but waved the proffered refreshment aside.Hurley deposited his tray on the table close to the lieutenant's elbowand tiptoed out.

  "Did Mr. Sanders say he'd come back here?" called the visitor.

  "No, sir," said Hurley, poking his head back in the door-way; "but hewill, sir. He was sent for by Captain Devers before he had been tenminutes in the post, and he went as soon as he could change his clothesand get into uniform. Mr. Darling run in here just a few moments agoafter him, but he was gone. Mr. Willett fetched him out from town, sir,along with some other gentlemen. They went over to the store."

  "I'll wait a few minutes," said Davies. So Hurley hospitably brought thelate papers and placed them within reach.

  "There's pipes and tobacco if the lieutenant would like to smoke, andI'll be in the back room, sir, packing."

  "Did you hear whether Mr. Sanders had succeeded in arresting the othermen?"

  "No, sir, he didn't. They couldn't be found and hadn't been heard of inCheyenne, but Mr. Sanders said they had bought their tickets for there,and that they were on the train as far as Sidney anyhow. I heard him saythat. They were a bad lot, sir, them two fellows, especially Howard. Themen in 'A' Troop say he made many a ball for Paine to throw, and that hewas the one that was always making trouble for Brannan."

  Davies bowed silently. He remembered Howard well all through the longdismal summer, one of the very "likeliest looking" of the recruits, atfirst glance, and almost the only one of the lot whom Captain Deversseemed to fancy, yet Davies was surprised, when he rejoined after hissick-leave, to find him in the troop office instead of the drill squad.All through the regiment the story had gone the rounds of how Sandershad arrested him on the train in "cits" and evident intent to desert,and how Devers had ordered his release, virtually assumingresponsibility for the entire affair, and no man could account forDevers's action in the matter except that it was Devers's, and thereforebound to be different from that which any other officer would havetaken.

  And it was Howard who, this time at least, had deserted for good, takingwith him a garrison ne'er-do-well whose going was only a good riddance,and leaving as a captive in the hands of Lieutenant Sanders the lucklessPaine, now languishing in the guard-house, while, under the orders of anervous and evidently anxious post commander, parties were searchingeverywhere for the other two.

  From the somewhat garbled and excited account given by the ladies at theluncheon-table, Davies had been able to gather only theseparticulars,--that, as the second sleigh was coming along, oh, just alittle distance behind Colonel Stone's, and as they rounded a sharp turnat the head of one of the islands, a brilliant light flashed from thebank, so close to the horses that they shied violently, nearly topplingMrs. Davies out, and in this flash they distinctly saw the face and formof a t
all young man in dark slouch hat and civilian clothes, and theexpression on his face was so wicked, and he was so ghastly pale that itlooked like an apparition, and Mrs. Davies screamed and nearly faintedfrom the fright and shock, and Mr. Willett, who was driving, made afurious cut at the fellow with his whip, and then as the horses toreaway in fright the occupants of the sleigh had just time to catch aglimpse of some soldier overcoats, and when at last Mr. Willett regainedcontrol of his horses, Mrs. Darling cried out that they must go back forMr. Sanders. He had leaped right out among those brutes, and she wassure she had heard shots. Mrs. Davies admitted that here she protestedagainst going back, so terribly was she frightened, but Mrs. Darlingsaid that they must do so and Willett said that they must, and go theydid, only to find the spot abandoned. Even when Willett called forSanders there was no answer, and then they were dreadfully alarmed forfear he had met with violence, and Mrs. Darling took the reins whileWillett searched, and Mrs. Davies, as she admitted, cowered under thebuffalo robe, and then, all on a sudden, they heard the sound of angryvoices, heard some one furiously denouncing Mr. Willett for lashing agentleman with his whip, heard Willett curse the stranger for flashing amatch purposely to frighten his horses,--some sneering reply to theeffect that a man had a right to light a cigar on a public road, thenWillett's voice calling the man a liar, then heavy blows and scuffle,and then Sanders came running up the road just in time, for the strangerhad Mr. Willett down in the snow and was throttling him. He sprang upand dashed into the willows the instant he heard Sanders's voice, andthat was the last seen of him, for Sanders's first care was for thecivilian, who was bruised and choked, but, after all, not seriouslyhurt. He helped Willett back to his seat, bade him drive the ladies atonce to the fort, but said he was going after those marauders, for twoat least were soldiers. That was all. When Willett and Mr. Darling droveback they found that he had captured Paine, too drunk to run well, andthat the others were gone. Next morning Trooper Howard was reportedabsent, and that settled the identity of the man in civilian dress. Mr.Willett had not been out at the post since the affair simply because hewas nursing a black eye and a sprained thumb.

  What Mrs. Darling and Mrs. Stone couldn't understand was what couldpossibly have prompted the man Howard to stand right on that littlebank, close to the track, and there flash his phosphorus match. He musthave known it would scare the horses even if it did not terrify thepeople. It was a reckless, diabolical thing to do, and then to think ofhis daring to strike and beat Mr. Willett afterwards. Mrs. Darling wasfull of indignation at his conduct; Mira was agitated, but had little tosay. She was thinking of the cross-questioning that was inevitable whenher supporters were gone.

  And now, sitting there in Sanders's easy-chair, Davies was ponderingover all that he had been told at the table, and the little that he hadwrung from her reluctant lips, putting them together with the frequentquestions asked him by the few women who had joined their husbands atthe cantonment,--questions so frequent and persistent as to whether heoften heard from his wife, and wasn't she soon coming, _very_ soon, tojoin him, that even to his unsuspicious nature they carried asignificance he could not down, and now it seemed that Almira had gonewith a gay party to a supper and dance in town at a time when hesupposed that she was spending her hours with his friends, theCranstons, or in quiet and seclusion at her home. There, at least, heshowed his inexperience, for in nine cases out of ten the friends thenewly-arrived wife is surest to fancy in garrison are not those whosepraises her lord has been sounding for six months ahead. Of the hops anddances and drives that had preceded this eventful evening he had as yet,_mirabile dictu_, heard nothing beyond Mira's own meagre account. Infact, he had no idea of them at all.

  He was worn and weary after the long, hard eighty-mile ride. The firewas warm, the room still and peaceful; no sound broke the silence butHurley's occasional step and soft whistle out in the "linter" at therear where lay his packing-boxes. Possibly Davies may have becomedrowsy, dreamy, as he reclined there. At all events he never moved as aquick, nervous step came bounding across the veranda and into the hall.The door burst open and a voice, surely a little tremulous and agitated,spoke low and quickly.

  "Where are you, Sanders? Oh, say, will you do me a favor? I can't--atleast I don't want these other women to know. Was there ever such astreak of hell's luck as this? He's home. I've got to go. Will you seethat Mrs. Davies gets this before to-night?"

  And in the dim light of the little bachelor den, Percy Davies, slowlyturning, was aware of a stylishly-dressed, handsome young civilian,whose face, though pale and apparently bruised, was vaguely familiar tohim, in whose outstretched hand was a little box-shaped packet. Justthen another step came bounding into the hall-way, into the room, andthe lawful occupant of the quarters halted short at sight of the twotall, slender forms confronting each other, one that of the civilian,slowly recoiling toward the door with twitching, tremulous hands, and aface livid as death, the other, in cavalry undress, with bearded,haggard face, deeply lined, under whose heavy, bushy, overhanging browsa pair of blue eyes were blazing. For a moment not a word was spoken,then Davies broke the silence.

  "Sanders, this gentleman wishes you to see that that package is promptlydelivered to my wife, and I should be glad to see you as soon aspossible at my quarters."

  Not until the speaker had coolly stepped past them both and out of theroom had Sanders recovered sufficient presence of mind to sing out, "Allright, old man; I'll come." Then, as the outer door closed after theretiring officer, he whirled on Willett.

  "You inveterate ass! How dare you haul me into this?"