The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-03-06

sick this tide to make certain"
AN you, you fat lI'Irishman..s hiftin
an shirsiin' up there among tic arrcr-
root an the sago."
AN the port wine. You've forgot
the port wine. Orth'yis. It's none sc
so bad" Terence smackcd hi, lips pro-
volsingly.
AN we're wore off our feet with
these 'crc-kangaroos. Como out o.
that, an earn your pay. Como on down
outer that an do somcthin' stead G.
GRIMM up there like n jew monkey,
you frowzy headed Fcnian."
"When I'm better nv my various COM
plants I'll have Il little private talkn'
wild you. In the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Terence flung an empty mcdicinc-b
tie at Ortheris' head and dropped into
long chair, and Orthcris came to tell
me his opinion of Mulvancy three
times over-each time entirely varying
all the words.
"There'll be n smash-up one O. these
days." he concluded. "Well, it's no
fault o mine, but it's ard on b COM
pany."
1t was very hard on b company, for
twenty seasoned men cannot push twice
that number of fools into their places
and keep their own places at the same
time. The recruits should have been
moro evenly distributed through the
regiment, but it seemed good to the
colonel to mass them i'll n company
where there was Il large proportion of
old soldiers. He found his reward carly
one morning when the battalion was
ar uo Inv
from the right. The order was given
to form company squares, which are
compact little bricks of men very I'M
pleasant for line of charging cavalry
to deal with. b company was on the
left flank, and had ample time to know
what was going on. For that reason,
presumably, it gathered itself into
thing like n decayed aloe-clump, the
bayonets pointing anywhere in general
and nowhere in particular; and in that
clump, ROUNDED or mob it stayed till the
dust had gone down and the colonel
could see and speak. He did both, and
the speaking was admitted by tho rcgi-
ment to be tho best thing the ''old
man" had ever risen to since one dc
lightful day at sham-fght, when n
cavalry division had occasion to walk
over his line of slSirmishcrs. lie said,
almost weeping, that he had given no
order for rallying groups, and that he
preferred to sec little dressing among
the men occasionally. He then apollo
gizcd for having mistaken Il company
for men. lie said that they were but
little weak children, and since he could
not offer them each n perambulator and
Il
read, but b company heard it by word
of mouth and winced) perhaps the
best thing for them to do would be togo
back to squad drill. To that end he
proposed sending them, out of their
turn, to garrison duty in Fort Amara,
five miles away. Ut may be observed
that company were next for this de-
testable duty and nearly cheercd the
colonel.) There he devoutly hoped that
their own subaltcrns would drill them
to death, as they were of no use in their
present life.
It was an exceedingly painful scene
and made haste to be near Il company
barracks when parade was dismissed
and the men were free to talk. There
was no talking at first, because each
old soldier took now draft ara kicked
him very severely. The non-comnis-
stoned officers had neither eyes nor
ears for these accidents. They left the
barracks to themselves, and Ortheris
improved the occasion by q speech.
did not hear that speech, but fragments
of it were quoted for weeks afterward.
1t covered the birth, pnrcntagc and
education of every man in the compa-
ny by name. 1t gave n complete ac-
count of Fort Amarn from a sanitary
and social point of view, and it wound
up with an abstract of the whole duty
of q soldier, each recruit. his use in
life. and the speakers views on the
use and fate Of the recruits of com
pany.
you can't drill, you can't walk, you
can't shoot-you-you awful roollies
Wot's the good Of you? You eats and
you sleeps, and you eats, and you goes
to the doctor for medicine when your
innards is out Of order, for all the world
as if you was bloomin' generals All,
now. you've topped it all, you bats
eyed beggars, with getting us druv out
to that stinkin' Fort Ammorer. Well
fort you when we get out there.
Eyes, an we'll 'ammcr you, too.
Don't you think you've come into the
harmy to drink heno, an clot you com
p'ny, an lie on your cots, an scratch
your fat hands. You can do that at
home sellin' matches, which is all you're
fit for, you l1eb-huntin', penny-toy,
bootlace baggage-tout, 'orsc-'oldin,'
sandwich-backeds sewers, you, (Orthcris
meant soors, which means pigs) I've
spoke you as fair as know 'ow, and
you give good 'eed. cause if Mulvancy