The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-12-07
Ill SERGEANT'S VOW,

AA"Ak "
l had written for permission to 90 tc
New Orleans, as 1 had relatives there
with whom l wished to pass the winter;
out at the end of the week nv hopcs
We're all nipped in the bud by the fol-
lowing mi>sivc:
MAJOR: You will proceed at once to Fort
otJt on; thence, with all possible dis1 atch,
GO fnlt Carson; and thence to Fort Kearney.
a. Mhicn posts you may. pay OH the enrolled
men ana officers. and also settle all duly au.
tnent.cated bills against the Office on account
sto; eS, etc.
1t is particularly re1uested that Won will
be careful and exact in your return of esti-
mates for the CO ming winter months.
captain oodw will detail for you such
'eSor6 as you may require. Ihave the honor
70 De, etc., y. T. BOWMAN, D. Z. M. G.,
To G. S. Cochrane. n'aS' % D. a.
n did not reach me by the hands of
Captain Goodwin, however, whom I
should have been happy to meet; but BY
the hands of Sc: gcnnt James Connover,
who came with SIX men under his com,
mand, to escort me on nv way, if I
deemed such escort sufficient. Goodwin.
who was sick with fc, er and ague, wrote
by the hand of his clerk:
II 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 GER
talnly this escort is sufficient against any
ordinary highway Interpolation. Ser
geant Connover is not a very brilliant
man; nor is he over and above sociable:
but l nave found him true as steel; and
tne Prlvates-members of my own COM
pany-whom 1 send with him you can
rely upon in any emergencies. Only,
1ney have the common weakness. Don't
give them too free a run at the whisky
bottle. Thy won't break faith with
you to get it; but if allowed full sway.
they might get a drop two much for
your W comfort"
And he wrote about other matters. but
nothing more of his men.
After reading the letter I raised nv
eyes and met the gaze of the Sergeant.
who stood with his cap in his baud on
the opposite side of the small table. He
started when 1 looked up, and I thought
he was ashamed Of having been CAUGHT
staring at me SO tixedly. But the flush
quickly left his face, and he inclined his
head another way.
He was a man of medium size. very
heavily built, and evidently very muscu-
lar: In short, he was made for a 6ghter
and fer one of those valuable fighters
who possess stubborn will and doeycd
resolution rather than hot and impctuous
pugnac.ty. He was not q man to lie ever
IN a ferment; but a man who. when
talrly aroused. is 10 be feared. lie was
not Tar from %forty-five years of age, and
She stripes upon his forearm showed that
ne had served fo@r full terms of enlist.
Ament previous to the present.
1 went out with the Sergeant and
!ound the six mel on the p'azza, stand
ing at ease under arms. They were really
hne looking fellows, and answered, re.
sPectlvely, to the M Smith, Adams.
mealy. Oesau, Van Writ, and Connolly.
Emlth was a Yankee; Adams was an Eng
t1shman, and had been in the Queens
service as q Dragon; Mcaly and Con-
noity were lrlshmen; Oesau was a Dutch
man, and Van Writ was a German. A
wide rangeof nationality for so small a
squad; out a fair sample of our army,
nevertheless; and, Furthermore, six men
OF one nation could not have been more
tree and pleasant than were those six.
their Sergeant, they were free
and pleasant, and seemed to be thankful
the privilege of taking the forest
tramp with me; while /, in turn, gave
them to understand that I would do all
could to make them comfortable. The
squad had come with good horses, so
the only preparations l had to make for
the start were to get my own horses
ready and draw my money.
My had been to the amount
OF $50, 0CO, and this I must take in gold.
l went to the bank with the sergeant and
three Of the men and got the money,
which l o away in four small canvas
bags, weighing about forty pounds each,
but Mt the hotel I packed the gold in n
sort of pannier-saddle, a continuance
l had invented myself, aud in
which 1 could SO pack anywhere from
one to four hundred pounds of gold that
it would neither sway or jingle. In short.
q horse could bear in this saddle-pac a
of dead weight almost as easily
he could bear a human rider. And I
mad a horse on purpose for the work {
one that l used for several years, and
that understood his duty as though it {
had all been reasoned out in his mind.
Bright and early on q clear, cool Octo.
Der morning we set forth from Jefferson {
with three days rations in our haycr- s
for Stetson was 100 miles away
and we would be doing we'll to make the
trip within the time jndil a.ed. I rode
in advance--not because l desired it, but
because the others were inclined to fall
the rear.
We were passing over a narrow bridge
just on the outskirts Of Jefferson when
mot w men and two boys driving !
them n drove of cattle. I had
met and gone clear of the herd without
difficulty, and was thinking how 1 would
like to lake one Of the latter bullocks
along with me, when an exclamation of
arrested my attention, and turning
In my saddle I discovered one of the
wild, frolicsome thinn-had A.