in the army,--a sister whose needs were many and whose means were
few. He found that rigid economy and self-denial were to be his
portion from the start, and was not sorry that his assignment took him
to the far-away land of Arizona, where, as his new captain wrote him,
"you can live like a prince on bacon and _frijoles_, dress like a
cow-boy on next to nothing or like an Apache _in_ next to nothing,
spend all your days and none of your money in mountain scouting, and
come out of it all in two or three years rich in health and strength
and experience and infinitely better off financially than you could
ever have been anywhere else. Leave whiskey and poker alone and you're
all right."

He _had_ left whiskey and poker alone, severely alone. He had sought
every opportunity for field service; had shown indomitable push,
pluck, and skill in pursuit of Apaches and cool courage in action. He
had been able to send even more than was needed, or that he had hoped,
to his sister's guardian, and was proud and happy in the consciousness
of a duty well done. There were no young girls in the scattered
garrisons of those days, no feminine attractions to unsettle his peace
of mind. The few women who accompanied their lords to such exile as
Arizona were discreet matrons, to whom he was courtesy itself on the
few occasions when they met, but only once had he been brought under
the influence of girlish eyes or of girlish society, and that was on
the memorable trip to San Francisco during the previous year when he
had had the great good fortune to be summoned as a witness before a
general court-martial convened at the Presidio. He had been presented
to the Harvey sisters by the captain of the "Newbern" and would fain
have shown them some attention, but there had been much rough weather
in the Gulf which kept the girls below, and not until after passing
Cape San Lucas and they were steaming up the sunny Pacific did he see
either of them again. Then one glorious day the trolling-lines were
out astern, the elders were amidship playing "horse billiards," and
"Tuck," the genial purser, was devoting himself to Paquita, when
Drummond heard a scream of excitement and delight, and saw the younger
sister bracing her tiny, slender feet and hanging on to a line with
all her strength. In an instant he was at her side, and together, hand
over hand, they finally succeeded in pulling aboard a beautiful
dolphin, and landed him, leaping, flapping, splashing