Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-01-15

on with q hurried step, hanging his
head; s'there is an ugly scar. !"
And guessing there was some tale ate
tached to it, I added, to goad my com
panion into relating it:
Ess.' It is not generally in the back that.
a.eaptain OF ZouaVes gets hit by a bull.
let. 81 b 81
But he did not seem to hear me; he
was nuttering to himself, and biting
his mustache.
B elbow could it have come there! It
as q long way from the battlefield of
sMelegnanoto the Boulevard deere
nellie. Yes, Iknow, theresare the Wi
lures, who follow tho. army and plum
der the corpses. But why just there,
not two steps from the Military
School, but where the others regimen.
is quartered7 And he must have
passed here; he must have recognized
it, Oh, il is like seeing III ghost 4 sss
"Come now, Pere Vidal" said /,
taking him by the arm, intensely in
terested: you are not going on talk
ing riddles: you may just as we'll tell
me what that old, torn tunic has re-
minded you Of &c.,.
But Igverily believe that if he had
not drank thot,e two absinths I should
never have heard the story: for when
l asked him to tell me, Pere Vidal
shot suspicious and almost frighten-.
ed glance at me, then suddenly, as if;
he had made up his mind, he began to
speak, insa dry, hard voice: 1S3A*.5
Well, then, yes, will tell you about
it; for you are q clever young man,
and honorable, and can trust you;
and you will tell me-honestly, on
your Observation-Disclosures you think
was right to act as I did. Let me
see-where shall / begin? Ali in the
first place, Lean NOT tell YOU hisname
the OTHERS, 1 mean. because
he il still alive. I e shall haze
to- call him blythe nickname va gave
HMM theS regiment, Thirsty, ! We
called him, and he deserved sthenanae,
too, for he was one OF those fellows
who are never out of the canteen, and
would toss off his twelve glasses of
brandy, one for each stroke, when the
clock struck twelve He WAS sergeant
iE the: same company where Twas
quartermaster, and we walked side by
side in the ranks. a good soldier-a
capital soldier A drunkard, quarrel
some, and brawler, he had all the
faults OF an African army But he
was as brave as an African lion. He
was not an easy one to manage-you'
could see that with the first look at
his sun-burnt face, with its red beard
and cold, steel-blue eyes. When I
joined the regiment Thirsty had just
finished his time; he re-enlisted, re-
ceiyed the bounty, and went in for a
three.days' regular carouse, in the
lowest parts Of Algiers. With four or
five boon companions like himself,
they drove about all packed in an
open carriage, and flourishing a tri-
colored with the motto, "This can't
last forever!" on it. He was brought
back to the barracks with his head
cut open by q sword wound, that he
had got in some Moorish den, where
he had q fightswith the Arabs. Some
|swonlan there hgots g kick IN the
scramble, and died. Thirsty got we'll;
he was sent to prison for q fortnight,
and had his stripes taken from him.
1t was the second time he had been
put back into the ranks. If it hadn't
been for his bad I conduct, Thirsty
would have been an officer long ago,
for ne belonged to a very respectable
family and had been well educated.
Well, he lost his stripes after the affair
with the Moorish woman, but he got
them back again eighteen1months later,
ut the Same time'that myself rose to
be nt-quartermaster thanks to
the kindness OF the captain, who had
great patience with Thirsty. He was
an old soldier himself. and had seen
him under fire in Kaby]ie
But just at that time our old cap
tain was promoted and left. the regi-
ment, aud they sent lis otit g. young
fellow only twenty eight to take his
place. He was q Corsican named Cen
tile, d cofd, ambitious imam, jus Out
ofthe school-a very good officer, they
said, but fearfully hard on the men.
He would give you eight days under
arrest for spot OF rust on yonr rifle
Or tabutt nssinissing off your CATERS;
he9had never lservad in Al geria, and he
had notion of5any characterization
on disorder. From the very first mo-
ment he and Thirsty were at dagsers
drawn. That they we're sure to be.
The first time the sergeant was absent
at roll-call he put him under arrest
for a week; the first time he got drunk,
FORA Fortnight. when the captain
ID little dark man, aa stiff as a
poker, with bristling mustaches-ord-
cred him under arrest, adding, in q
isgern tone: ..Istksnewssmy friend, and
II mean to MASTER ypu" Thirsty never
sanswefedh words,llbllt walked quietly
saweYt ward the gllakd room; still, J.
fancy t'fescap tainswotiid have lowered
his tone a bit, all the same! if he had
seen the sergeant's face Redeemed with
anger. and how his terrible blue eyes
ff + :, s. .n ' }arnsa 1. awas
Meanwhile the emperor declared
war on Austria, and we were all
shipped pit to Italy. II pass sever the
alfcif ellts .ofthe canlpaian and come,
to the point at once. The evening be- 1
fore the battle of Melegnano--where lI.
lost my arm, you know-our battalion
was encamped in a small village, and
before we brokefqranks the captain
gnlade5us q little speecl-he Was quite
right WAS the captain--r eIraindin MS
that we were ii Is 5friendlyscountry,
and that for the honor Of the army
we should be on our good behavior,
and he added thatany one who calsed
the slightest annoyance to any Of the
Inhabitants would be punished most
severely. While he was making this
speech, Thirsty, who Was standing
near lf1n lear itsp 10 10 =