第17章
Nevertheless, in spite of this foregone conclusion, he DID speak to her.To his surprise she did not deny it.Lieutenant Forsyth,--a vain and conceited fool,--whose silly attentions she had accepted solely that she might get recreation beyond the fort,--had presumed to tell her what SHE must do! As if SHE was one of those stupid officers' wives or sisters! And it never would have happened if he--Peter--had let her remain at the reservation with the Indian agent's wife, or if "Charley" (the gentle Lascelles) were here! HEwould have let her go, or taken her there.Besides all the while she was among friends; HIS, Peter's own friends,--the people whose cause he was championing! In vain did Peter try to point out to her that these "people" were still children in mind and impulse, and capable of vacillation or even treachery.He remembered he was talking to a child in mind and impulse, who had shown the same qualities, and in trying to convince her of her danger he felt he was only voicing the common arguments of his opponents.
He spoke also to the colonel, excusing her through her ignorance, her trust in his influence with the savages, and the general derangement of her health.The colonel, relieved of his suspicions of a promising young officer, was gentle and sympathetic, but firm as to Peter's future course.In a moment of caprice and willfulness she might imperil the garrison as she had her escort, and, more than that, she was imperiling Peter's influence with the Indians.Absurd stories had come to his ears regarding the attitude of the reservation towards him.He thought she ought to return home as quickly as possible.Fortunately an opportunity offered.The general commanding had advised him of the visit to the fort of a party of English tourists who had been shooting in the vicinity, and who were making the fort the farthest point of their western excursion.There were three or four ladies in the party, and as they would be returning to the line of railroad under escort, she could easily accompany them.This, added Colonel Carter, was also Mrs.Carter's opinion,--she was a woman of experience, and had a married daughter of her own.In the mean time Peter had better not broach the subject to his sister, but trust to the arrival of the strangers, who would remain for a week, and who would undoubtedly divert Mrs.Lascelles' impressible mind, and eventually make the proposition more natural and attractive.
In the interval Peter revisited the reservation, and endeavored to pacify the irritation that had sprung from his previous inspection.
The outrage at Post Oak Bottom he was assured had no relation to the incident at the reservation, but was committed by some stragglers from other tribes who had not yet accepted the government bounty, yet had not been thus far classified as "hostile." There had been no "Ghost Dancing" nor other indication of disturbance.The colonel had not deemed it necessary to send out an exemplary force, or make a counter demonstration.The incident was allowed to drop.At the reservation Peter had ignored the previous conduct of the chiefs towards him; had with quiet courage exposed himself fully--unarmed and unattended--amongst them, and had as fully let it be known that this previous incident was the reason that his sister had not accompanied him on his second visit.He left them at the close of the second day more satisfied in his mind, and perhaps in a more enthusiastic attitude towards his report.
As he came within sound of the sunset bugles, he struck a narrower trail which led to the fort, through an oasis of oaks and cottonwoods and a small stream or "branch," which afterwards lost itself in the dusty plain.He had already passed a few settler's cabins, a sutler's shop, and other buildings that had sprung up around this armed nucleus of civilization--which, in due season, was to become a frontier town.But as yet the brief wood was wild and secluded; frequented only by the women and children of the fort, within whose protecting bounds it stood, and to whose formal "parade," and trim white and green cottage "quarters," it afforded an agreeable relief.As he rode abstractedly forward under the low cottonwood vault he felt a strange influence stealing over him, an influence that was not only a present experience but at the same time a far-off memory.The concave vault above deepened; the sunset light from the level horizon beyond streamed through the leaves as through the chequers of stained glass windows; through the two shafts before him stretched the pillared aisles of Ashley Church! He was riding as in a dream, and when a figure suddenly slipped across his pathway from a column-like tree trunk, he woke with the disturbance and sense of unreality of a dream.For he saw Lady Elfrida standing before him!