Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1885-11-12

temper and vindictive nature were
known TO us all
While the horrible thoughts sug-
gested to my mind by all that had oc-
Cured on this stirring night were
crowding upon me, another Sergeant
relieved me with orders to take the
stragglers to the shanties, AL but the
Pennsylvania, who could not be re-
moved.
In hollow place behind the shan
ties burned the great fire where the
company's cooking was done. Its
glare was hidden from distant OBJ
servers, and the wind kept off by the
shanties in front and the ridge which
rose steeply behind. and at each end
was shaded by screens of laurel bushes
interlaced with pine branches. In the
open space before the prlght embers
that sparkled against a huge back
log, the men gathered to while away
the long evenings until the hour
camo to ''turn i'm for sleep. Many
of the soldiers were stripliugs, not
yet out of their teens. But there
were some there in the groups that
used to stretch thel feet into the ashes
before that fire who could no doubt
have told stranger tales than any they
told, had they been so inclined; half
grizzled waits from various parts of the
world, veterans of European, Asian and
African wars; sailors who had sailed
in all the known seas-one of these
had made several slave voyages, an
other had been an accomplice in ia
nous mutinv where the crew killed its
master and mates were running the
ship off to turn her into pirate when
overtaken and captured by an Ameri-
can man-of-war. There were the fag-
ends of humanity enlisted for pelf and
from hatred of work, and associated
with honest and patriotic men. Like
some of the crusaders OF old they
were fighting for meat and drink, and
pay, in glorious cause. Yet, mer-
cenaries as many of these men were,
and frankly acknowledged themselves
to be, they were mostly brave and
were loyal to the flag they had chosen
to follow. And over us all was a cap
captain who was an earnest man in the
skillful soldier, very pious withal, and
a great hater of Intoxicating drink.
In front of the fire, within semi
circle formed by all of us at the shan
ties, lay PARIS body, decently stretch
ed out on the blanket in which he had
been brought across the bridge. Fifty
faces looked down upon their dead
comrades rugged face. Parr was
finely shaped man with strong but
good features, and, in sailor fashion,
for he had been man-o'-war's man,
he wore thick beard enclrciing his
throat from ear to ear. the rest of his
face being shaved smooth. There was
no sign about him that we could see
of a violent death. He was scarcely
even paler than usual. The captain
ordered the stragglers placed IN the
front rank of the semi-circle, and in
his indignation burst into q scathing
harangue against drinking.
The Welshman. however, drew the
covert scrutiny of all by his behavior.
He shook violently as his eyes search
ed all the faces about the ring, and
it was noticed that never once did he
let his turn toward PARIS body. But
while the captain was at the height of
his elOquence, pointing to the lesson
of total abstinence to be drawn from
the tragical incident, one of the strag-
glers, very loquacious fellow, of an
envious mind and bitter dislikes, had
been uneasily watching the Welsh
man. Suddenly, as if by an instinct,
he rushed over to the body, and kneel-
ing down beside it, called the first
lieutenant's attention to something
under PARIS beard. 1t was three
cornered cash sinking deep into the
throat At the exposure OF this
wound, now for the first time OBJ.
served, another of the stragglers, usu-
ally the sprightliest young fellow in