Under Fire

by Charles King

  CHAPTER XXIII.

  Among the gentlemen from Braska visiting the post that afternoon was Mr.Langston, who drove thither full of eager anticipation, and hailed thefirst glimpse of the bright hues of the flag with a thrill of hope andjoy. No spot in all God's green earth at that moment held in his eyessuch vivid charm and interest. Ten minutes later no spot in all theworld seemed so barren and desolate. The sunshine, the sailing clouds inthe vault of blue, the chasing shadows along the slopes, the streamingcolors of blue and white and scarlet at the tip of the swaying staff,the glint and sparkle of the accoutrements of the guard, the gaudylining of the troopers' capes, were absolutely unaltered, yet the lighthad gone from his eyes--following the trail to the far Ogallalla. To himwho loves a woman with all his heart there is more beauty in amud-chinked hovel in a frontier fort where she may dwell than in all"the castled crags" of storied Rhineland or the cloud-capped towers andgorgeous palaces among the mirror lakes of Alpine Italy.

  "FOR A MOMENT NOT A WORD WAS SPOKEN."

  Page 324.]

  Langston learned of the departure five minutes after he reached thepost, and lost all further interest in the day. He said he would "loaf"at the club room until Burtis and Willett got through their calls,which, said they, would occupy some hours,--two or three at least.Indeed, Willett "didn't know but what he might stay out with Sandersovernight" and let Burtis "tool the trap" back to Braska when he gotready. When, therefore, in less than forty minutes Willett's team wasreported being hurriedly harnessed in the post trader's corral and thatgentleman himself came bustling in with a pale, scared face thatintensified the blue blotch under his eye, Langston was astonished. Hewas listlessly turning over the leaves of a magazine at the moment andseeking solace in a cigar. Willett looked nervously about him, bade theattendant bring him some brandy and soda, and threw himself into a chairin front of the stove.

  "You look used up, Willett," said the elder. "What's the matter? Seenanything more of your midnight antagonist?"

  "No, by heaven! I wish I had. I believe the devil himself has gone inleague with the gang at this garrison. I never knew such a string ofmishaps in all my life. Say, are you ready to go back?"

  "Any time; but I thought you wanted to stay."

  "Oh, so did you when you came out, Langston, and now you don't, and I'msimply in the same boat."

  The attendant brought him a tall glass and poured the soda hissing intothe brandy. Willett drank eagerly, then started for the door. "Come,then," he called; "the trap's ready--or ought to be." Langston knew itwas not, so temporized.

  "How about Burtis?" he asked.

  "Burtis? Oh, I don't know or care. He can get back just the best way heknows how. There's an ambulance coming over to town to-night."

  "Well, I think you ought to let him know, Willett."

  "I have. I sent him word by Sanders, whom I just left."

  "Very well, then I'll go with you now. Only stop one minute at Sanders'sso that I can say good-by to him. He goes back to the agency to-morrow,I believe."

  "Well, he isn't there. He's gone out to pay a call. Jump in."

  But as they drove around the level road towards the northwest gate, andthe long line of officers' quarters lay to their right front, twoofficers could be seen in earnest conversation at the front gate of No.12, the farthest away.

  "There's Sanders now," said Langston. "It won't take you five minutesout of your own way. Turn over there, won't you?"

  "I can't. I--I've got to hurry, Langston. If you want to see him you canjump out, and I'll wait for you outside the gate."

  "Well, if you're in a hurry that'll take much more time than if youdrove. I'd have to walk both ways, don't you see?" was the cool answer."Never mind, though; go ahead. Who's that with Sanders?"

  Willett, who had turned red with confusion at his own blunder, turnedredder at the question, then went gray again. "That's LieutenantDavies," said he, briefly.

  "Oh, then he's home. Why, how I'd like to meet him again! Here--just letme out, will you? and you go ahead. I'll come back with Burtis."

  "No; come on with me, Langston. I'm in a devil of a fix and want youradvice."

  And as they bowled swiftly along homeward over the smooth, hard, prairieroad, Langston admitted to himself, as Willett falteringly unfolded histale, that the young man was indeed "in a devil of a fix,"--in whatLangston, who was an old soldier, found it more descriptive to say, adamnable fix. He pondered over it a moment and then said, "I don'tunderstand what you want me to do, Willett," and his tone was very cold."I don't see how I can help you. From your own account you have behavedeither like a fool or a blackguard, and what I can't fathom is whyDavies's commanding officer, or some friend or comrade, did not warn youoff weeks ago."

  Now, admitting that in the absence of almost all his comrades in thefield, and that it was distinctly his duty to protect the honor andinterest of his regimental comrade, let us see to what extent CaptainDevers felt disposed to exercise his prerogative and act against thisindisputable wolf in the sheepfold. Precedents he did not lack.Everybody had heard how Colonel Atherton, of the --th, had served awould-be gallant whose attentions to a lady of the regiment, during theprolonged absence of her husband in the field, had become the talk of abig garrison. Everybody knew how old Tintop, when he made up his mindthat Lieutenant B---- was becoming infatuated with Mrs. CaptainPotiphar, calmly recommended B.'s immediate and indefinite detail at theShoshone Agency, an isolated nook in the heart of the Wind River countrywhere the mails got through only once a week in midwinter and no one butthe mail rider thought of trying to get out. Colonel Pegleg, in the daysof his original wife, had taken a fatherly interest in garrison matters,and instituted a system of post government that was almost patriarchal,especially when most of the men were absent in the field, but Mrs. Stonethe second was made of flimsier stuff, and fond of gladness and gayety,dancing and feasting, and what she termed "an innocent flirtation" washarmless occupation so long as her own queendom was unimpaired. Therecan be no question, however, that she would long since have put herhusband on the trail of this new disturber of the garrison peace but forthe illness that followed Stone's sudden prostration. The command withits powers having devolved upon Devers, she could do nothing. It is ahard thing for a man to find himself by reason of illness suddenlystripped of the robe of command and forced to become only a lay figure,but it is harder yet to many a woman whose social powers were dependentmainly upon the rank of her husband to see herself, through hisprostration, suddenly set aside as though of only vicarious consequence.Naturally, Mrs. Stone could not bear Captain Devers,--few of the womencould,--and it was only through his own wife that the gossip of thegarrison was apt to reach him, and Mrs. Devers had troubles of her ownthat seemed to stifle to a great extent her interest in those of herneighbors. She was neither young nor pretty; she shone not in societyand had no great ambition in that direction. She had seen Mr. Willett'sdevotions to Mrs. Davies,--as who had not?--but with only languidinterest. Such things concerned her less than they did those belles ofthe active list, who felt themselves thereby defrauded of attentionsthat had been quite lavishly, even if impartially, bestowed up to thetime of Mrs. Davies's dawning on the social horizon. Actually,therefore, Captain Devers was not so much to blame as Langston thought,for of his own regiment only one officer was present to advise him, andHastings's advice, as that officer had long since been informed, wouldbe asked for when desired. In point of fact only three officers remainedat the post for whose opinions Devers entertained any respect, Leonard,Rooke, and the chaplain, and he had quarrelled with the first andsecond, and treated with indignity the third, so that no one of thethree now felt disposed to confer with him on any subject. This wouldnot have deterred the chaplain in a matter of duty, however, for thathonest and stalwart soldier of the cross was as ready to battle withhimself as he was to take issue with the devil, but the chaplain hadbeen absent for long days, and returned only when it was supposed thatMira would be whisked away to the agency with the Cranstons, and, safei
n Percy's sheltering arms, be beyond the reach of harm or temptation.

  There were other reasons, however, for Devers's inaction, and graveones. Ever since the ominous visit of the staff officer from divisionhead quarters he had felt that the ground was caving beneath his feet.For years had he been skimming along on the very verge of serioustrouble, yet ever adroitly evading trial; always incurring censure, butescaping court-martial. One after another he had alienated or betrayedevery commander under whom he had served. One after another he had lostthe respect of every officer with whom he associated, and now herealized that if the regiment could but settle down somewhere for a fewmonths, there would speedily follow a crystallization of the sentimentagainst him,--a deposit of all this floating mass of testimony nowapparently held in solution, and the true inwardness of the tragedy ofAntelope Springs, the falsity of his insinuations against Davies, thetrickery of his methods, one and all be brought to light. Already,through Haney, he heard of the sensation created among the men by hisdefence of Howard, and of the depth of feeling among the old handsagainst this airy upstart recruit, not a year in service, who frequentlyboasted that he had more influence with "Cap." than all the rest ofthem put together. Haney himself could not cipher out the secret ofHoward's importance, and was plainly and palpably jealous. Ever sinceearly in the campaign, when young Brannan was pointed out to Devers asMiss Loomis's patient and as a trooper who wanted to get out of "A"troop and into "C,"--ever since the colonel and the major beganinterfering with Devers because of his open rebuke of Mr. Davies, it wasnoticed that Howard, a mere raw recruit, could get the captain's privateear at almost any time, and those were days when a soldier was notsupposed to address his company commander on any point until he hadfirst obtained the sanction of the first sergeant. Every man in thetroop knew that soon after their arrival at Scott, Howard began to getletters from the East, and some of these contained money orders, whichhe had cashed in Braska. Some men in the troop, notably that babblingdrunkard Paine, declared that in a little strong box he had brought withhim Howard had some letters tied up in ribbon that he watched withjealous care. "New hands" who came out in the same batch of recruitssaid that at St. Louis Arsenal, whither they were shipped on enlistment,Brannan, Howard, and Paine had at first been very intimate, but thatsome coldness had sprung up and Brannan kept aloof from them. They werewild and full of "gall," Brannan was sad and sober. Howard used to writelots of letters then to some girl, Paine said, and go off and post themin obscure letter-boxes outside the gates when he could get leave, buthe had quit writing long since, Haney knew, for he watched the newcompany clerk with jealous eyes. He knew and knew well that Howard wassavagely glad when Brannan was sent to the reservation with Boynton'sparty. He noted that Howard became of a sudden fitful, restless, sullen,and then reckless and negligent of his work and eager to go frequentlyto Braska. Presently he heard things of him that made him believe Howardwas contemplating desertion, and no sooner had Lieutenant Davies arrivedthan he became assured of it. "I had to serve under that damned, cantingMethodist preacher," said Howard, "and I won't have him nosing aroundwhere I am. I'll desert first." Now, Haney had no objection to Howard's"skipping,"--it would be good riddance to dangerous timber,--but hewanted first to find out what was the secret of his dislike of Davies,whom most of the men, and all the better ones, had learned to respectand esteem. He plied Howard with questions, hints, suggestions, andwhiskey, but Howard's head, or stomach, was stronger than he thought,and the liquor failed in the short time at his disposal to overcome it.With a few months the result would have been different. Howard onceadmitted, however, that he hated the lieutenant and had reason to, butthat was all that Haney ever wormed out of him, but he and others weremorally certain that Howard meant to desert when the very day of Paine'strip to Braska the company clerk disappeared. They counted on hiscourt-martial and downfall when brought back to the post in "cits" bySanders's squad. They were amazed at the abortive outcome of the affair,and then at last the gang that "had stood in with" the first sergeant asthe surest means of keeping on the right side of the captain began torealize that here was a man with more "pull" than Haney, and the latter,feeling his influence going, determined that the time had come to regainit, cost what it might. He knew beyond peradventure who was themysterious night prowler, knew why Captain Devers had ordered Paine towatch Brannan in hospital, he knew why, or believed he knew why, thecaptain was so down on Brannan and so fiercely bent on breaking him ordriving him out. He knew that he could, if he would, lay before Mr.Leonard certain damaging facts in connection with Brannan's two relapsesinto drinking, and of Paine's detail to town that day when he wasneeded, as they knew he would be needed, at the adjutant's office. Herequired just one or two links more to make a chain so powerful he couldtwist his troop commander in its coils and dictate the terms of theirfuture relations, but he needed Howard's testimony to complete thechain, and the liquor with which he tempted him, in and out of theoffice, at last began to take effect. Howard was getting more and morereckless, sullen, savage. He would get up at night and drink and dressand slip out of barracks and be gone an hour sometimes, yet so stealthywas he that when Haney strove to trail him he turned on him like a tigerand damned him for a spy, and still the sergeant felt that perseveranceand whiskey would bring him triumph yet, when all on a sudden came thedramatic episode of that still Saturday night,--the flash that revealedhim for one instant to the frightened revellers in Willett's sleigh andthen covered his track in shadows impenetrable. All on a sudden Howardhad vanished,--deserted in earnest this time, leaving his firstsergeant in a tangle of unfinished toils and his captain in soreanxiety. It was the contemplation of his own meshes that blinded Deversto those which Willett would have thrown over Mira's pretty, curly,empty head.

  The conversation between Sanders and Davies was very brief and decidedlygrave. Sanders had at first assumed the light air of superiority of theold cadet toward the plebe, and, to head off questioning, plunged intothat species of deprecatory and officious advice which is generallyprefaced by, "Now, my dear boy, let me as a friend," etc., etc. Like thechaplain's wife, Sanders started with the best intentions, and just asshe had excited Mira's resentment so had Sanders aroused Davies's wrath.

  "Stop right there, Sanders, and say nothing about friendship until youexplain that scene. Where is the packet you were asked to deliver to mywife?"

  "I haven't it. I wouldn't touch it. You don't suppose I'd be a party tosuch a thing. The man was an ass to ask me, and I told him so."

  "He doubtless reasoned that a man who could accompany the wife of abrother officer to a place of such miscellaneous character asCresswell's would not be above carrying secretly to her that which hedare not send openly."

  "He had no right to judge by it, Davies! Lots of ladies go there,--andMrs. Stone matronized us."

  "No ladies of our regiment have ever gone there, Sanders, until youaccompanied my wife,--an inexperienced and ignorant child. What Mrs.Stone or her associates may have seen fit to do is no concern of mine.You know and I know that women like Mrs. Cranston, like Mrs. Truman,like Mrs. Leonard or Mrs. Wright would not go there under anycircumstances, and the fact that a party of women from the fort was inone room simply served to attract a party of--very different women tothe next."

  "Then I'll bust Cresswell's head for him inside of twenty-four hours,"exclaimed Sanders. "The idea of his daring to allow such people in thereat such a time!"

  "The idea of your not standing my friend--you, the only fellow-graduateof my regiment here at the post--and preventing my wife's being takenthere at any time. Think of that, Sanders."

  "Why, damn it, Parson, don't be so brutally unjust. I supposed if youcared a rap you'd have stopped it before."

  "Stopped it before? Why, Sanders, what are you saying? You don't meanshe--my wife--had been there before?" And all the indignation had gonefrom Davies's face. It was now white, almost awe-stricken.

  For a moment Sanders knew not what to say. All at once there dawned uponhim the realization that now t
hrough him, in this utterly untoward,clumsy, miserable way, was Davies for the first time being made aware ofwhat common, every-day rumor said of his wife. He would have cut histongue out rather than wilfully put in circulation a word of scandal,yet it had been reserved for him to bring to a husband's ears the firstill-omened tidings of a wife's misdoing.

  "God forgive me, Davies, if I've blundered!" he burst out at last. "I'llnever forgive myself. I supposed--they all talked of it so fully--freelytogether--I supposed you knew all about it. I never dreamed of harm init. Mrs. Flight--or rather Mrs. Darling and she together--occasionallywent there, and the other ladies had their husbands as a rule, or atleast sometimes, and there was good sleighing, you know, between hereand town, and absolutely nowhere else were the roads beaten. They sortof had to go there, don't you see?"

  "Go there with whom?" said Davies, grasping the rail of the fence andbreathing hard.

  "Why, with Willett, of course; he was the only fellow that had a goodturnout. He used to come for them, I believe, and sometimes he had Mrs.Darling and Mrs. Davies--he and Burtis--and sometimes Mrs. Flight."

  "And do you mean that they--that these four, went there to Cresswell's?Do you know this, Sanders?"

  "Well," said Sanders, "they were all talking and laughing about it,never dreaming of anything harmful or unbecoming. Why, Parson, old man,you mustn't be too strait-laced out here. You know it's the way of theWest."

  But Davies threw out his hand as though imploring silence, seemed aboutto speak again and ask another question, but finally turned withoutanother word, and leaving Sanders standing dejectedly at the gate,re-entered his hall and closed the door behind him.