The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-12-01
THE AFFAIR AT COULTER'S NOTCH.
ny AMBROSE BIEacE.


Co0ltar would like to put one of his gums
In hsrs 2" the General asked.
He was apparently mot nltogcther
serious; IL certainly did not seem u place
where any artillerist, however brave, would
.sIike'' to put n gun. The Colonel thought
hat possibly his division commander
meant good humoredly to intimate hat
Captain Co0lter's courage had been too
highly cxtolled i'm n recent conversation
betWecn them.
"Geueral," he replied. warmly, "Couiter
would like On put n gun within
reach of those people"--with q motion of
his hand i'm the direction of the enemy.
.'It b h only place." said the General.
The '.place' was q dcpression, q notch,
In the sharp crest of u hill. Ii was n pass,
rsd sar1 :S;s h Il san a no s;%snH sa s. w ca,ira,:
by a stnuous ascent through a thin forest,
ran straight nway toward the enemy. For
the ridge. though occupied by a line OF
infantry lying close behind tho sharp
crest and appearing as IL held I'm place by
arsiiiery. There was no place but the
bottom of tho notch, and that was barely
vide enough for the rnadbed. From the
mandc Try an entire battery posted on n
slightly lower elevation beyond a creek
and a mile away H a., Al the guns but one
that one-it seemed a bit of Impotence
WA directly in front of n rather ~grandiose
Nl1luuuKs liz III HuWeIlItXs II uf RtIl
wa safe enough i'm it's exposure: the rifles
of that day would not carry n mile with
out such an elevation an made the fire, in
a military sense, harmless: IL might kill
here and there hut could not dislodXe.
Coultcr's Notch-it came to bs called So
vi: not, that pleasant summer afternoon,
q place where ono would "likc To put n
Three or four dead horses lay there.
men i'm a trim row at one side of IL and n
little black down the hill. All hut one
were cavalrymen belonging to the Federal
General con%n%ains the diSi.ios and the
Colonel commanding the brigatie, with
their stall. and escorts; had ridden into
Kuns-which had straiRhtway obscurcd
themselves in towering clouds of smoke.
about gums which had the trick of the
cuttleflsh, and the season of observation
was brief. AZ its csnclusion-n short
occurred the conversation already partly
reported. at il the only place." the Gem
s ;Ssn, s.'pc"'ed' 'ho"sh'fully' -" get ut
The Colonel looked at him 9ravely.
b IL room for hut one n,Gcncrai-
one against six"
."Ii.at il true-foro only one at q time
said the Commander with something like,
yet not altogether like u smile. "But
then: your brsye Couitcr!-a whole bat
The tone of irony was now un~mistakablc.
Il angercd the Colonel, but he did not
AbloW Va VI aAy uc Ill Oh ullblGtTY
s~uboriination is not favorable to retort.
nor even depreciation. AT this moment u
young officer of artillery came riding
slowly up thu rond attended 10y his bugler.
II was Captain Coulter. He could not
have been mors, than twcnty-threc years of
age. He WINS Of medium height, but very
slender and 1.-the, sitting his horse with
something of the air of ~ civilian. In face
lac was of N type singularly unlike the
eyed with "A slight blonde mnou st.cIe. and
long. rather hair of the same
color. There was an apparent negligence
IN his attire. his cap was worn with the
visor N trifie askew; his coat was buttunetl
only ut the sword belt, howin u consid-
erapie of white shirt, tolerably
clean for that stage of the campaign.
But the negligence was all i'm his dress
and bearing; i'm his face was "a look of ii-
tense Interest IN his surroundings; His
strike right and left across the landscape.
like searcl-iights, were for the most part
Axed upon the sky beyond the Notch;
until he should arrive at the summit OF
the road there was nothing else in that
direction Ia see. As lie came opposite his
roadside lac saluted mechanically aud
was about to pass on. Moved 10y a sud-
den impulse the Colonel signed To him To
halt.
'aCaptain Couitcr." he said, .thc enemy
has a battery Of six pieces over there on
the General he directs that you bring up u
gun and engage them"
There was a blank silence; the General
hspSAeo StptpthtJ ~ - !. TtEfttIIt
swarninR slowly up the hill Trough
rough underground. like n torn and drag
gled cloud Of blue SNAKE; the Captain APP
pearcd not to have observed him. Pres
emily he spoke, slowly and with apparent
effort:
"On tile next ridge did you say. sir ?
Are the gums near the honse?
"An. you have been over this road be-
fore. Directly mt tho house,"
"And u TO Engage them !?
The order il imperative 2"
His voice was husky and broken. He
was visibly paler. The Colonel was
astonished and mortified. He stole n
glance at the Commander. In that i'm
mobile face WAS no sign; il was rs hard
rs bronze. A moment later he rode
silently away. followed by his staff and
escort. The Colonel, Inundated and i'm
diRnant. was about to order Captain Coul-
ter in arrest. when the latter spoke a few
words in n low tone To his Rubler, saluted
and rode straight forward into the Notch.
where. shortly. at the summit of the road,
his field glass at his eyes, he showed
against the sky, he and his horse, shar ply
defined and m~otionless AS AN equestrian
statue. The bugler had dashed down the
road i'm the opposite direction at hcadlong
speed and disappeared around - corner.
Presently his buRle WAS heard singing i'm
the cedars, and in an incredibly short time
q ningle gun with it's caisson, each draw n
By siK horses and n by its