"Pardon, madame; the quartermaster sends me to unload these boxes at Captain Truscott"s quarters, if madame will designate the room to which they shall be carried."
"The captain will be here in a moment," she replied, hurriedly, and moving into the gate as though eager to avoid the very presence of the soldier. "Oh! may I ask you in, gentlemen?" she added, glancing over her shoulder, and still evidently discomposed.
And Gleason followed.
The parlor was cool and pleasant after the hot sunshine without. Mrs.
Truscott threw herself into a chair, then rose as hastily and went into the dining-room beyond. Miss Sanford"s eyes followed her anxiously as she stood at the sideboard pouring out a gla.s.s of water.
"That man--er--Wolf, who came with this batch of recruits, tells me he was first sergeant of Captain Truscott"s troop at the Point," he said, tentatively.
"Yes. When did he get here, or how?"
"He came with recruits two nights ago; transferred from West Point with some other men on the captain"s application, as I understand it. I presume he is to be a.s.signed to our troop."
And here the clatter of hoofs outside announced the captain"s return from drill, and Gleason soon took his leave, pondering over what he had seen. What was the secret of Mrs. Truscott"s evident uneasiness, if not agitation? what of Miss Sanford"s visible annoyance?
It was very late that night when Miss Sanford sought her room. There had been a drive to town during the afternoon, and a pleasant dance at the hop-room afterwards. Not once had she had an opportunity of speaking alone with Mrs. Truscott, nor was she quite certain of what she wished to say even had the opportunity occurred. For several days previous to their start from the Point, Sergeant Wolf, with others of the cavalry detachment, had been constantly at the house packing goods and furniture. Nothing could exceed the punctilious distance and respect with which he addressed the ladies whenever occasion required that he should speak to them at all; but Miss Sanford could not forget his mysterious conduct the night she discovered him at the front gate. Once she spoke with half-laughing hesitancy of the a.s.siduity with which the sergeant devoted all his spare time to his captain"s service, or to madame"s, and Grace had looked so annoyed that she ceased further mention of him. She wanted to tell her of his being at the gate that night, and his going around under the library-window, but it proved a difficult thing, and she postponed it from day to day. Then came the sudden departure of the sergeant and his party for New York, where they were ordered to report at a recruiting rendezvous. Believing that they had seen the last of him she breathed freer, and decided to keep the story of his midnight visit to herself, at least for a time; and now here he was again, and his coming had evidently startled her friend. She wanted, above all things, to have a frank talk with Mrs. Truscott. This keeping a secret from her was distressing, and she could not bear the thought of a possible cloud or misunderstanding between them, but poor Grace had totally forgotten the existence of such a person as Wolf by the time they got home. She was having a little trouble of her own. They were strolling across the parade in the brilliant moonlight, Grace on her stalwart husband"s arm, looking up in his face with all her soul in her eyes, chatting merrily over the events of the day. Miss Sanford was amiably listening to the dissertation of an infantry friend upon astronomical matters, while Gleason was elsewhere escorting Mrs.
Whaling. At the door Truscott looked back and hospitably invited the young officer to enter, but the latter doffed his cap and gallantly said something to the effect, that all who entered left their hearts behind, and took himself off with the conviction that he had made a glowing impression. It reminded Mrs. Truscott of the stencil inscription over the local Inferno.
"Oh, Jack! Have you seen Mr. Blake"s latest absurdity,--that slangy paraphrase of Dante at the club-room?"
"I heard of it," said Truscott, smilingly. "Who told you of it, Queenie?"
"Why!--I--saw it to-day," she replied, as though suddenly conscious that she had put her foot on forbidden ground. Then, as he said nothing whatever, she went on in anxious explanation: "Mr. Gleason asked us in to have a lemonade on our way from drill. You know the ladies often go, Jack."
"I know some of them do, Gracie."
"Ought we not to have gone--I mean, ought I not to have gone? for Marion would not. Indeed, Jack, the moment I saw she had not come in I left at once. Was it--are you vexed?"
"There"s no great harm done, dear. I had not thought to warn you against it, though I knew the others--some of them, went there at times."
"You mean you had not supposed it would be necessary, Jack."
And so, it must be admitted, he had; and poor Grace was in the depths as a natural consequence. It was the first time she had felt that he was disappointed in her, and though the matter was trivial and his loving kiss and caress rea.s.sured her, she was plunged in dismay to think that in entering the club-room with Mr. Gleason she had done what he disapproved of, what, as a woman of refined breeding, she should have shunned, and--what Marion _had_ declined. She was too much a woman not to feel that therein lay an additional sting; she was too gentle and loving a wife not to feel forlorn at thought of having disappointed Jack. Some women would have resented the idea of his objecting to such a thing. (No, fair reader, of course I don"t mean you; but is it not just possible I may be right in saying so of Mrs. ---- next door?)
Grace had kissed her friend good-night just a wee bit less affectionately than usual, and Marion well knew that husband and wife were best left alone together, as the surest and speediest way of settling the affair. She, therefore, went to her room.
There were only two rooms up-stairs in the little army house, each with its big closet, a door connecting the two, and others opening out on the narrow landing above the stairs; each with its sharply sloping roof and dormer-window. Grace had insisted on her guest"s taking the front room, looking out on the parade as she had at the Point; but after much laughing discussion they settled it by pulling straws, as many a question had been decided in the old school days. This reversed the a.s.signment, and the rear room became Miss Sanford"s. The view from the window was not attractive. Immediately beneath was the shingle roofing of the dining-room and kitchen annex, stretching out to the servants"
rooms and sheds beyond. The yard, like all its fellows, was bare and brown, for nothing would grow on such a soil. Rough, unpainted wooden fences separated them one from another; rough cow-sheds, coal-sheds, or wood-sheds were braced up against the fences, and back of all the yards along the row ran a high rickety barrier of boards, as rough and unprepossessing as the others. Beyond this fence lay a triangular s.p.a.ce of open prairie ornamented only by ash-barrels and occasional heaps of empty cans awaiting the coming of the "police cart." Beyond this s.p.a.ce stood the big brown hospital on the north; the back-yards of the surgeon"s and sutler"s quarters on the east; while the hypothenuse of the right-angled triangle thus limited was the unsightly fence that bounded the back-yards of officers" row. Mr. d.i.c.k Swiveller"s delightful view "of over the way" was a gem of landscape in comparison.
But for such gloomy outlook Miss Sanford had little thought. She went to the window to draw the curtain, and far out across the distant prairie slopes, where she could see them at all, the moon was throwing her silvery beams, while closer at hand broad, irregular wastes of blackness sailed over the dry plateau as the clouds that caused them drifted across the dazzling face. Harsh and unlovely as were the surroundings by day, they lost something of their asperity under the softening shimmer of that mystic light. Far down by the stables she could hear the ringing watch-call of the sentries proclaiming half-past twelve o"clock and all well, and then--and then as a cloud floated away and the bright beams poured down in unhindered radiance, she became aware of a form enveloped in a cavalry overcoat standing in the corner of the fence. She could see the moonlight glinting on the polished insignia,--the crossed sabres,--on the front of his forage-cap, and though she could not see the face, she knew it was that of Sergeant Wolf.
Captain and Mrs. Truscott were still below. She could hear them putting out the parlor lamps and locking the doors. She could hear a quick footstep on the hard-beaten walk in front and the clink of a scabbard, and knew it must be the officer of the day starting out to make his rounds. So too, apparently, did the mysterious prowler in the back-yard.
He stepped quickly out of the enclosure, and the next instant she could see the erect, soldierly figure moving rapidly away towards the northwestern entrance of the post, where lay the band"s quarters.
CHAPTER XII.
A SERENADE.
"News from Mr. Ray!" exclaimed Mrs. Stannard, as she came in all smiles and sunshine the morning after the Fourth. "Just think of it, Captain Truscott! the major says they were all wondering when they could hope to get letters from home, when who should come trotting into camp but Ray with a bagful. He found a couple of men at Laramie who had been left behind when the regiment went through, and the three of them slipped off together, and by riding all night managed to escape the Indians. Did you ever know such a reckless fellow?"
Truscott shook his head. "I wish Ray _would_ be more prudent. If there were any occasion for such a risk "twould be a different thing----"
"But there _was_" said Mrs. Stannard, promptly. "The commanding officer at Laramie had received important orders for the --th by telegraph, and he didn"t know how to get them through. No scouts or runners were in.
Ray got there the evening before, and the moment he heard of it he went right to the colonel and begged to be allowed to go. It seems that trouble is expected at the agency," she continued. "The major sends just a few lines to say they expect to leave the Cheyenne valley and go right in there. The pickets have chased Indians coming from the northwest,--runners from Sitting Bull, they say,--and the officers do not like the looks of things."
Truscott"s face was very grave but his manner was unchanged. Mrs. Grace and her friend had risen from the breakfast-table to welcome their ex-hostess and valued neighbor, and the three ladies looked as though news from the front brought far more of anxiety than comfort. Before anything further was said there came a light tap at the door, and Mrs.
Turner fluttered in, bewitchingly pretty in her white muslin, with bright-colored ribbons. There were ill-natured people who observed at times of Mrs. Turner that she took far more pains with her dress when the captain was away on campaign and "the doughboys" were running the garrison, than she did when her liege lord was at home. Of this we cannot speak advisedly. Certain it is that on this particularly bright, glorious sunshiny morning of the fifth of July in the Centennial year, Mrs. Turner was most becomingly attired.
"I wouldn"t have intruded at so unconventional an hour only I saw Mrs.
Stannard come running in; I knew she had a letter, and so had I. Isn"t it horrid? Captain Turner says it looks as though they might be out all summer! Oh, Miss Sanford! I"m so glad you are dressed and ready, for the ambulance is coming around now, and I _know_ you and Mrs. Truscott want to go in this morning and see Mrs. Wing"s new goods. She opened yesterday, you know, and Mrs. Wilkins says all the bonnets are fresh from New York and lovely. You _will_ go, won"t you? Come just as you are. You"ll only need a light wrap, for the sun is very warm."
Why is it that when one woman knows herself to be tastefully and becomingly dressed, she is so eager to a.s.sure others who are to accompany her that they need nothing by way of adornment? The ambulance _was_ at the door. The visit to town had been contemplated for two or three days, so matters were quickly arranged. There was abundant room, and Mrs. Stannard decided to go too.
In a few minutes half a dozen ladies in their airy summer costumes were gathered around the Concord wagon, ordinarily referred to as "the ambulance." Mr. Gleason was promptly on hand with other officers to a.s.sist; the band was just marching away towards its quarters, when Miss Sanford"s quick eye was attracted by the sight of some evident commotion at the adjutant"s office at the west end; one soldier was running at full speed in pursuit of the old and new officers of the day, who were descending the slope to the creek valley, another soldier--the commanding officer"s orderly--came running down the road towards the party.
She was already seated, as were most of the others. Mrs. Turner sprang lightly in, and coquettishly kissed her hand to the group of officers on the walk.
"Go on, driver," she said.
"One moment, Mrs. Turner; please wait. I think something is the matter.
Look!"
And Miss Sanford pointed to the running men. All eyes were instantly fixed on the orderly. He came up, wellnigh breathless.
"Captain Truscott! gentlemen! The commanding officer"s compliments, and desires to see all the officers at once."
The group started at the instant. Truscott turned and held out his hands to his wife.
With the quick intuition of a woman accustomed to "war"s alarms," she felt that evil tidings had come, and was already starting to leave the carriage.
"Oh! what can it be?" almost wailed Mrs. Turner. "Do you know, orderly?"
"It"s been a big battle, ma"am, and they say General Custer and lots of officers is killed."
Truscott swung his wife from the wagon, and almost lifted her to the piazza. Miss Sanford, white and silent, sprang out unaided and ran to her side. Mrs. Stannard, with an awful dread in her kind blue eyes, took Truscott"s hand as he returned and a.s.sisted her to alight.
"Will you stay with Grace?" he whispered. "I will go at once to the office. Come, Mrs. Turner."
But Mrs. Turner hung back irresolute. "Perhaps it isn"t true at all, captain, and this may be the only time we can have the ambulance for a week."
For answer he silently took her at the waist in his powerful hands, set her speechless with astonishment on the sidewalk, sprang in, and spoke sharply to the driver,--
"Whirl round. Get there to the office quick as you can."