There was Faye's mother,
a splendid housekeeper - her very first day in our house. His colonel
and an abnormally sensitive palate - his very first meeting with each
of us. His classmate, a young man of much wealth - a perfect stranger
to me. A soldier cook, willing, and a very good waiter, but only a
plain everyday cook; certainly not a maker of dainty dishes for a
dinner party. And my own experiences in housekeeping had been limited
to log huts in outlandish places.
Every little thing for that dinner had to be prepared in our own
house. There was no obliging caterer around the corner where a salad,
an ice, and other things could be hurriedly ordered; not even one
little market to go to for fish, flesh, or fowl; only the sutler's
store, where their greatest dainty is "cove" oysters! Fortunately
there were some young grouse in the house which I had saved for Mrs.
Rae and which were just right for the table, and those West could cook
perfectly.
So with a head buzzing from quinine I went down in the morning, and
with stubborn determination that the dinner should be a success, I
proceeded to carry out the plans I had decided upon during the night.
The house was put in splendid order and the dinner prepared, and
Colonel Knight was invited to join us. I attempted only the dishes
that could be served well - nothing fancy or difficult - and the
sergeant's wife remained to assist West in the kitchen. It all passed
off pleasantly and most satisfactorily, and Colonel Fitz-James could
not have been more agreeable, although he looked long and sharply at
the soldier when he first appeared in the dining room. But he said not
a word; perhaps he concluded it must be soldier or no dinner. I have
been told several nice things he said about that distracting dinner
before leaving the garrison. But it all matters little to me now,
since it was not found necessary to take me to a lunatic asylum!
Mrs. Rae saw in a paper that Faye had been shot by a desperado, and
was naturally much alarmed, so she sent a telegram to learn what had
happened, and in reply Faye telegraphed for her to come out, and
fearing that he must be very ill she left Boston that very night. But
we understood that she would start the next day, and this
misinterpretation caused my undoing - that and the sand storm.
That man Oliver has at last been arrested and is now in the jail at
Las Animas, chained with another man - a murderer - to a post in the
dark cellar. This is because he has so many times threatened the
jailer. He says that some day he will get out, and then his first act
will be to kill the keeper, and the next to kill Lieutenant Rae.
