The Arizona sentinel., 1888-09-08
J OK A DOG
BUT A BETTER SOLDIER NEVER LIVED.

 Jack enlisted, or rather joined Con- pany D, -th Infantry, at Mobile, shortly after the close of the war, and soon be- came as closely attached to the com pany as if he had signed the roll to serve the country for five years in re- turn for thirteen dollars month and one ration" He was young dog then, and at once became a general favorite as well as a subject of much discussion among the men as to his breed. Some claimed that he had St. Bernard blood in | him, while others were sure he was part mastiff, and still others who professed themselves authorities were just as pos itive that Jack could trace his ancestry back to the bloodhound; but these diff ferences of opinion did not worry Jack, and he passed the days of his youth in happy ignorance of the fact that his ancestry was a matter of so much spec ulatlOn.
 For some time he took little interest in military matters, and conceived a
 
 tion for the company cook, but as he grew older and latter he began to at tend drills and parades as regularly as the oldest veteran. When the reveille sounded in the morning. Jack would wake out of a sound sleep, and amble lazily out on the parade-ground after the most approved sleepy-soldier style. This pleased the men greatly, and they soon taught him to answer to his name, which in time was regularly called at the end of the roll. So also at tattoo, the last rol1-call at night, Jack was al- ways present. No matter where he might be at the time, or what doing, as soon as he heard the drum beat for tattoo he would dash toward the com pany quarters, intent on reaching them in time to answer to his name. At guard mount he took his place among the file closers in the rear, and went through the maneuvers with as stolid an ex- pression on his face as the most exact ing officer could wish, but at dress parade he used to take his position on the right of the post band, and accom- pany the music most zealously. It was, however, the dinner call, am sorry to say, that he seemed the most willing to answer. and q soldier had to be particu- larly prompt who could reach the mess room before his four-footed comrade.
 When the regiment moved to Vicks- burg in 1S6--, Jack, of course, went with it; and again, when it was ordered to Texas, he followed Company D. For some time after the consolidation of this and another regiment Jack seemed rather uncertain in his mind as to what company he belonged, or whether he, like many of his comrades, had not been mustered out, but he soon came to the conclusion that he was a member of Company F, and to that he attached himself, and followed it on its marches across the prairies until it had reached its destination in the West.
 There was, regret to say, some disposi- tion on his part to shirk his duty on the march, and when he had concluded that he had walked far enough, he would limp painfully along on three legs, until some tender-hearted man would hand his musket to another, and take him up in his arms to see if his foot had not been injured, but after having carried him some distance and not finding any thing the matter, the man would put him down again, when he would trOt along until he thought he could. impose on some one else. This became an old story at last, and no attention was paid to Jacks ''sojering" by any one except recruit; and here let me say that so sure as there was a recruit in the com pany on any subsequent march, Jack would invariably ''sojer," " and generally with success.
 In their spare moments the men taught him many tricks, and his natural brightness enabled him to learn them very quickly. He soon came to know an officer from an enlisted man, and would no more have ventured into their quarters than would any of his com rades in the ranks To tell the truth, he was not fond of the wearers of shoulder-straps, and, like many of his fellows, had an especial antipathv for