Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-03
A PAYMASTER'S STORY.

instructions from Washington. l had writ
ten for permission 10 go TO New Orleans, as /
had relatives there with whom | wished TO
pass the winter; but at the end OF the week
my hops were all nipped in the bud by the
following missive:
MAJOR: You will proceed at once TO Fort
Stetson; thence, with all possible dispatch, TO
Fort Carson: and thence TO Fort Kearney, at
which posts you will pay off the enrolled men
and officers, and also settle all duly authcnti-
Gated bills against the Office ON account Of
provisions, forage, camp and garrison stores,
etc
1T is particularly requested that you will
be careful and exact in your return of esti-
mates for the coming winter months.
Capt Goodwin will detail for you such
escort as you may require.
Il have the honor TO be, etc,
&c. p. BOWMAN, d. p. NJ G.,
EMajor and Paymaster, U. S. A
sTo G. s. Cochrane"
This did not reach me by the hands OF
Capt. Goodwin, however, whom should
have been happy to meet; but by the hands
of Sergt James Connover, who came with
nix men snder his command, TO escort me on
my way, il deemed such escort sufficient
Goodwin who was sick with fever and egue,
wrote by the hand Of his clerk:
Il would send you more men; but, really, l
think more would be in your way. There
are no Indians ON the trail between jefferson
and Stetson, and certainly this escort is suiii-
cient against any ordinary highway inter
polation. Sergt. Connover is not very
brilliant man; nor is be over and above
sociable: but have found him true steel;
and the privatss-memSers of my own COM
pany-whom send with him, you can rely
upon in any emergency Only-they have
the common weakness. Don't give them too
free run at the whisky bottle. They won't
break faith with you to get it, but If allowed
full sway they might get drop too much for
your own comfort
And he wrote about other matters, but
nothing more of his men.
After reading the letter raised my eyes
and met the gaze of the sergeant, who stood,
with his CAP in his hand, on the opposite side
of the small table. He started when looked
up, and thought he was ashamed Of having
been caught staring at me so fixedly. But
the flush quickly left his face, and he inclined
his head another way,
He was @ man of medium size, very heavily
built and evidently very muscular. In short,
he was made for a fighter, and for one of
those valuable fighters who possess stubborn
will and dogged resolution rather than hot
and tmpetuous pugnacity. be was not
man 10 be ever in a ferment; but man who,
when fairly aroused, is TO be feared. He
was not far from 45 years Of age, and the
stripes upon his forearm showed that be had
served four full terms OF enlistment previous
to the present.
@Well. sergeant" | said, as pleasantly as
possible, Capt Goodwin gives such good ac-
count of you that ! already feel thankful
that | am to have your company; and
trust you will have no good reason to COM
plain Of me"
He returned my look; but not smile
warmed the chilly gloom of his brown face,
nor was there even a CLEAN OF good feeling
70 break up the hard crust of dogged reserve;
but with an effort he ducked his head. and
said:
I'll try, sir, 10 do the best1 can
/ came very near showing my dislike OF
this sort of behavior; but remembering what
Goodwin had written, / concluded that /
would take the fellow for what he was and
make the best Of him However, perhaps
this hard crust might break under the infiu-
ence Of acquaintance.
sAn right" said. ave can none of US do
more than try. We've q tramp of several
days before u.s. and hops they may be pleas
ant ones"
Certainly" Connover responded.
There was slight relief in the tone, and
took hope
/ went out with the sergeant and found the
six men on the piazza, standing at ease under
arms They were really fine looking fellows,
and answered, respectively, TO the names:
Smith, Adams, Mealy, oesau, Van Writ and
Connolly. Smith was a Yankee; Adams was
an Englishman, and had been in the queens
service as a dragon; Mealy and Connolly
were Irishmen; 0esau was Dutchman, and
Van Writ was a German. A wide range Of
nationality for so small a squad, but a fair
sample Of our standing army, nevertheless; I;
and, furthermore, six men Of one nation
could not have been more brotherly than
were these six. Unlike their sergeant, they
were free and pleasant, and seemed to be
thankful for the privilege of taking the forest
tramp with me; while |, in turn, gave them
to understand that would do all L could to
make them comfortable. The squad had
come with good horses, so the only prepara-
tions had to make for the start were TO get
my own horses ready and draw my money.
My estimates had been to the amount Of
SIS, 600, and this l must take in gold. / went
to the bank, with the sergeant and three Of
the men, and got the money, which took
away in four small canvas bags, weighing
about forty pounds each; but at the hotel
acked the gold in a sort Of pannier saddle, a
contrivance which / had invented myself,
and in which could 50 pack anywhere from
100 TO 400 pounds Of gold that Ii would neither
sway nor jingle. In short, a horse could
bear in this saddle pack burden of dead
weight almost as easily as he could bear a
human rider. And l had horse on purpose