San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-08-15

"Why, / must go out to the post" he
said 70 the operator. II am not at all
ready to take the field. Let them know
that | have arrived, and will come out
there without delay. Better have the
troop unsaddled and wait for my COM
ing"
will the captain pardon me?" said
the operator; the orders from the de-
partment commander that went through
this morning were that the troop should
not take more than an hour in refitting
at the post and should start at once. !
thought could see them coming over
the divide inst rs the whistle blew"
The cGp,ain gave no sign of enthu-
siaSm Is lie received this news. He was
still pouGc,ing over the contents Of his
diSpa.c.l i4o.A t..o collinauuiHs general
its tone was so like that of his order
from the war departments utterly
unlike what his admiring circle of rela-
tives and friends would have expected.
Stepping int- the telegraph Office he
took some Jl2ln>s and strove to compose
dispatch that would convince the gen.
eral that he was wild with eagerness to
ride all night to the support of Lane,
and vet THAI would explain how abso-
lutely necessary it was that he should
first go out to the post. But the fates
were against him. Even as he was
gnawing the pencil and cudgeling his
brains the operator called out:
Here come some of 'em now, sir"
And, looking nervOusly from the win
dow, Noel saw three horsemen galloping
in to the station. Foremost came lieu
tenant Of infantry, who sprang to the
ground and tossed the reins to his order
ly the instant he neared the platform.
One of the men had led horse, COM
pletely equipped for the field, with blan-
kets, saddle bags, caTbine, canteen and
haversack; and Noels quick intuition
left him no room to believe that the
steed was intended for any one but him.
The infantryman came bounding in:
is this Capt. Noel? am Mr.. Renshaw,
post adjutant, sir, and had hoped to
| get here in time to meet you on your ar
rival, but we were all busy getting the
| troop ready. You've got your orders,
sir, haven't you? My God! captain, can't
you wire to the fort and larg the major
| to let me go with you? I'll be your
slave for a lifetime. I've never had a
chance to do bit of real campaigning
yet, and no man could ask butler
chance than this Excuse me, sir, |
know you want to get right into scout
ing rig-Mr. Mason said his extras
would fit you exactly; but if you could
take me alOng-you're bound to get there
Just i'll time for the thick of it." And
the gallant little fellow looked, all eager
ness, into Noers unresponsive face.
What wouldn't the hero of the Queen
City club have given to turn the whole
thing over to this ambitious young sol
der and let him take his chances of
"glory or the grave"
Very thoughtful of you all, I'm sure,
to think of sending horse and kit here
for me, but really ought to go out to
the post. There are things l must at
tend to. You see, | left the instant i
could induce them to relieve me, and
there was no time to make preparations. "
"But-you can't have heard, captain;
your troop will be here in ten minutes.
Capt Lane by this time is past Pyramid
mountain, and will strike them early in
the morning. There won't be any time
to go out to the post: you've got to ride
at trot or gallOp most of the night as it
is"
Capt. Noel, pardon me, SIR" inter-
posed the operator. The general is in
the Office at Wilcox station. He wants
to know if you have started from here"
Tell him the troop isn't here yet. /
I'm waiting for it."
"Yonder comes the troop, sir" called
out Mr.. Renshaw, who had run to the
door Now let me help you off with
your cts Bring that canvas bag in
here, orderly"
Three minutes brought a message
from 1.-The chief" Lose not a moment
on the way. Report here byowire the
arrival of your troop and the moment
you start Behind time now"
Poor Noel! There was no surgeon to
certify that his pallid cheeks were due to
impaired heart action, no senatorial cou-
sin to beg for staff duty, no Mrs. Riggs
to interpose. He had just time to send
a dispatch to Mabel announcing that he
took the field at the head of his troop at
once, another (collect) to Amos Wilders,
ESQ.,. of similar import, and one to the
general, saying that at 4:45 they were
just on the point of starting, when the
troop, fifty strong and in splendid trim,