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The Queen of Bedlam; A Story of Frontier Army Life
The Queen of Bedlam A Story of Frontier Army Life Author:Charles King General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1889 Original Publisher: F. Warne Subjects: History / General Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-B... more »ooks.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III. AN UNPOPULAR BEAUTY. The compact little post of Fort Laramie looked hardly big enough to contain its population two days afterward, when, under the influence of a warm sunshine and the sweet music of the band, all the women and children seemed to have gathered around the parade. Guard-mounting was just over, and the adjutant had ordered the musicians to stop and play a few airs in honour of its being the first morning on which it was warm enough for the men to appear without overcoats and the women without their furs. The little quadrangle, surrounded as it was by quarters and houses of every conceivable pattern except that which was modern and ornamental, was all alive with romping children and with sauntering groups of ladies chatting with the few cavaliers who happened to be available. A small battalion of infantry had marched up from the nearest railway station at Cheyenne, a good hundred miles away, and pitched its tents on the flat to the north of the post, and this brought a few visiting officers into the enclosure; otherwise, except old Bruce, there would have been no man to talk to, as Hattou and M'Lean were "marching on" and "marching off" guard respectively, and the surgeon, adjutant, and quartermaster were all engaged in the old headquarters office with Major Miller. While many of the ladies were seated in the sunshine on the piazzas, and even "Bedlam" was so ornamented, there were several who were strolling up and down the broad gravel walks, and of these Fanny Forrest was certainly the most striking in appearance. Sh...« less