The National tribune., 1885-12-31

"Left-left-left!
ebay Hayfoot-strawfoot !!
keeping time with Sis somewhat irregular
steps.
Hello there, yout Change step and you'll
march easier sC ct
"Look at that ere poor feller; the only man
left alive of his rijiment Great Caesar, how
they must have suffered Say, what rJiment
did you b'long tor"
"Paymaster's comin', boys; here's chap
with payroll round bis neck!" ST had put
on that morning the last of the paper collars
he had brought from home.
YOU'D better shed that knapsack, or it'll be
the death of YET"
a say there, how's all the folks to home?"
How dye like it as far as you've got, any
way?"
"Git some commissary and pour into them
gunboats"
Second relief IS come boys; we can all go
home nOw."
"Grab root!"
Hep-hep-hep
"How d ye leave Mary Ann?"
Si had never been under such fire before.
He stood it as long as he could, and then he
stopped.
HALT" shouted a chorus of voices. "Shoul-
der-Arms!" "Order--Arms!"
By this time Sis wrath was at the boiling
point. Casting around him a look of defiance,
he exclaimed:
! "You cowardly blaggards; I can jest lick
any two of ye, an I'll dare ye to come on. If
the 200th Indiana was here we'd clean out the
hull pack of we quicker'n ye can say scat!"
This is where ST made a mistake. He ought
to have kept right on and said nothing. But
ST had to find out all these things by expert
| ence, as the rest of the boys did.
All the members of the regiment now took a
| hand in the game They just got right up and
| yelled dischargng at 81 a vOlley of expletives
and pointed remarks that drove him to des-
| peration. Instinctively he brought up his gun.
| Load in nine times-LOad!" shouted q
| dozen of the Illinois tramps.
| If Sis gun had been loaded he would have
! shot somebody, regardless of consequences.
! Thinking Of his bayoaet, he jerked it quickly
from its scabbard
"Fix-Baynet!" yelled the ragged veterans.
+, And he did, though it was more from the
| promptings of his own hostile feelings than in
| obedience to the orders.
"Charge-Bay y'net!"
ST had completely lost control of himself in
| his overpowering rage. With blood in his eye,
he came to "charge," glancing fiercely from
one side of the road to the other, uncertain
where to begin the assault.
! Instantly there was a loud clicking all along
the line. The Illinois soldiers almost to a
man, fixed their bayOnets. Half of them
sprang to their feet and all aimed their shin
| ing points at the poor little Hoosier patriot,
| filling the air with shouts of derisOn.
| 1t was plain, even to ST in his iniamed state
| of mind, that the odds against him were too
heavy.
Unfx-Bay'net!" came from half the regi-
| ment.
ST concluded he had better get out of a bad
scrape the best way he could. So he took off
his bayonet and put it back in its place. He
| shouted words of defiance to his tOrmentOrs,
but they could not be, heard in the din.
Shoulder - Armsf " Right - Face
Right shoulder shift-Arms!" Forward
march," These commands came in quick sue
cession from the ranks amidst roars of laugh
| ter.
81 obeyed the orders and started off,
"Left-left-left!" " Hayfoot-strawfoot! ~
| Forgetting his blisters, 81 took the double
quick, while the mob swung their caps and
howled with delight
ST didn't "ketch up" with the 200th Ind
until after it had gone into camp. Shorty had
quart of hot coffee waiting for him.
"Shorty," said 81, as they sat by the fire
"Pm goin' to drop dead in my tracks before
I'll fall out az in" r. -.
"Why what's the Inatter?"
"Oh, nothin': only you jest try it, said 81
Had it not been for the fun" the soldiers
had in the army to brighten their otherwise
dark aud cheerless lives, they would all have
died ST was a true type of those who had to
suffer for the good of others until they learned
wisdom in the school OF experience.