Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-12
to-, and Edward Rapier.


moved about III between the tents, 9TH
eTs sat smoking at tent doors; here an
energetic colonel of horse was putting his
unframed men through foot drill, and
beyond the square of wagons the
g friendlies'' squatted on their hams and
chatted volubly.
The flag waved over the headquarters
where the band of the regiment had
gathered, and presently the peaceful
strains of lively waltz broke out in
strange contrast to the martial scene.
Laughter, suatches of songs, and hearty
Interchange of jokes told of q jOvial and
careless disposition. The horror and
earnestness of grim war were banished,
as though bloodshed we're unknown and
death remote possibility, yet
every mess had its vacancies, and
every man had lost q friend.
On entering the camp they filed by
tent, near which was tethered a lean and
hungry horse who had cleared every ves-
tige of grass within a radius of twenty
yards and was now paving ut the
ground
"What in thunder has the poor brute
done that he should be starved?' asked
Rowe.
con-" said a trooper, "that is the
ohaplain's horse. Keeps him tethered
to be handy in case the Xulus come. It's
- shame. Ought to be chained up
himself and kept short of grub. -
Capt. Ddlston at once took Rowe to
Commandant D 'Arcy CT the Frontier
hight horse, in whose ranks Blaine held
command, and with that distinguished
officer he left him.
Commandant 'Arcy, a man of fine
presence and reckless courage, put a few
questions to his new recruit.
al see you have already been III
scrimmage, from those scratches-not
canteen brawl l hope. We don't care
for Quarrelsome men,, and the officer
eyed the new conner from head TO foot.
Rowe gave brief account of his fight.
darcy laughed heartily at the others
exaggerated description. ''Well,
you II do. Capt. Blaine will be glad TO
have you in his troop. You can of
course ride and shoot.
''Try me, sir. -
"Good, - said the stalwart command
ant, sIapping Rowe good humoredly on
the shoulder. al will. Richards, - he
called to passing trooper, "is the white
horse in the troop?'
eyes, sir. -
"Has anyone succeeded in mastering
him?''
"No sir. He buoked two men off this
morning.
''Bring him here at once
elf you'll allow me, sir, I'II fetch
him myself" said Rowe. "and ride
him without saddle
1.-THE devil you will. All right. take
care that you fall lightly
Rowe went off, after filling the cham
bers of his revolver, remarking that he
would try his craftsmanship at the same
time.
The news that a stranger was going to
ride the white horse, and ride it bare
back, spread around, and very soon a
crowd of officers assembled about d 'Arcy
while troopers, and even 'friend-
lies, - came to enjoy the fun. One
native-whose face was colored red with
clay, as IL protection against fiies-was so
interested that he joined the group of
officers.
Rowe entered the troop of horses and
made direct for the white animal-whose
color made him conspicuous. He stopped
short in astonIshment, then q smile
spread over his face. and he winked.
"Wal, blame me, eff it amt George
Washington. Old hoss, you and me can
show 'em trick.
Here, you,'' growled big trooper,
who was doing horse guard, twatcher
doing?'
"Gwne to ride this boss. -
"No, you don't. You loose him-and
loose him smart, d We near; want no
horse thieves here. -
Rowe unfsstened one end of the neck
rein, and took twist with the slack
round the ANIMALS jaw, leaving a loose
end for rein.
"Leave off meddling or / II knock the
stuffin out of yer, eff there is any in that
lean carcase.
Rowe snatched the troopers broad |
brimmed hat, whirled it into the air, and |
whipping his pistol out fired twice.
The trooper picked up his smasher :. |
looked curiously at the two neat perfora- |
lions in the crown, and whistied.
'Take the - horse, aud NAV he |
break your neck. He bucks like Satan -
At the same time the trooper, with an |
arttul leer, placed "doublejeen be- |
twixt the seat of the rider and the |
horses back.
"doubleiee is one of those eccen- |
tricities of nature which, like the taran- |
tula, seem made for nothing but pure |
cussedness. 1t is a seed capsule armed |
at four corners with sharp spike. |
When model boy in South African |
school rises to receive his masters ap-
proval, his envious class compan ions |
strew 'doublejees'' on the form to sur |
prise him when he resumes his seat, and |
it serves the same purpose as the bent |
pin of civilizations youth.
II happened accordingly that when the |
white horse had gone few PAGES he felt
an unaccustomed pricking on his back.
To get rid of it he quickened his stride
and flew toward the camp. He cleared
the yawning donga at a terrible bound
that threw Rowe on his neck, and re-
lieved the irritation.
'Well done, splendid, hurrah for the
frontier HORSE Such were the shouts
that greeted this feat from the specta-
tors, but Rowe himself felt that his horse
was putting too much energy into the
$50 slow. wash,' he expostulated,
Dc he wriggled back into the seat, bring
ing the pressure TO bear again upon the
spike.
George Washington felt that this was
going beyond joke. He got his head
down between his knees, amid warning
cry of 'he's going TO buck - stiffened
his legs, arched his back and sprsng
from the ground. Once. twice, thrice
ne sprung into the air, but Rowe shut
his thin lips and stuck like limpet.
The horse now had got its spirit up.