The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-10-14
PRIVATE BILL.

II stalied III really grand adobe hut, where
he roasted by day and froze under n Navajo
u blanket ut night And just across the river
II was Mexico.
\ What sleepy little town it wasl
" And how white and fierce the light of tho
SUM And how black and sharp the shnd
owsl How hot and baked the wide plnzni
HOW grimly holy the little church with it's
Eliucd slender cross atop, for all the world
IKE q bantam astray from religious
chicken coop and Boosting n fiery comb
And the priest of the placel
And the not too coy San Marinsi
20 h'ime"ous-and in every case minus n
halo. But rs they stood against the gold
background of Il Mexican sky it perhaps
accounted for the worship accorded them
ny the men who were under the rcgimcntal
coiors, ana who suffered cnnui because of
YAM longing To listen To the musical hop.
ping of empty cartridge cases
But the San Marias were few, and the
lonHinSs for escape grew. Even that good
friend. Tobacco, failed to comfort and the
splish splash in the river of II night be-
came more and more frequent. And cspe-
ciaily true WAS this of the company To
which Private Bill belonged
All. that pale stretch of gray land
across the ribbon Of cleaning, silver!
How 1t was gloatcd over by longing
eyes! And the meny They had come TO
fight. Very we'll But they had not en-.
listed Mt Frisco Ia he Erillcd alive in :,
torrid little town. And since it seemed
there was to bu 10 fighting for that par
ticuinr regiment, many found it convenient
to leave their mates, minus even II parting
call. And in no company were dcsertions
more frequent than in the company of
Private Bill
IL was II queer company to start with.
Made up in San Francisco, it. consisted of
men whose fingers were all more or less of
the ink inky. From the little drummer.
who had been II printers devil, to the cap
tam. who had been IL book tailor they were
all III 1t. And many Of them had sat side
by side in editorial chairs before they be-
came companions of the mess. If they
could have fought they would have done
so, but IA for roasting on the spit Of war
well, there WAS the river and over be-
yond 1t Mexico, which meant being lost,
like that disoblging but proverbial needle.
60 IT happened that often Of a night might
he heard n splash, a gurgle, in the ldncid
ripping river, followed by an oath from
the officer of the guard. and at roll call
somebody was missing.
Ana when all this came to the ears OF
the colonel of the regiment he immediately
said that that particular company must be
made an example of. He did not EXPRESS
In just that way, but he meant that a
man OF varied attainments, the colonel was
singu.arly original i'll the matter of Ian
guage. He loved his oath For instance.
on this occasion he expressed himself
somewhat rs follows:
Great II Soon | shall have not a
- lnan left! l shall make an exam
pie Of that --- company! And pretty
quick"
"Ycs, sir. Certainly, sin" stammcrcd
the little orderly rcSDcctfI,llv
You go to i" added the colonel
briefly.
Yes, sir"
shut up! And if have to- put the
whole - - company in the guard
house III break this thing up"
The little orderly tried not to look skeD.
teal.
That night one of the guards on duty
himself deserted.
Give my alterations to the COLONEL" he
bawled across the river as he climbed out
of the water shook himself and walked
away.
And the officer of the guard, being fool
1shly conscientious, did so, with the result
that the guards themselves were cast in
the guardhousc. Anu among them was
Private Kerr.
Call out this - companyp' or
dercd the colonel as his horse was brought
l..
can do with 'emp'
And then it was that Private Bill re-
fused to come ont with his company
He even whstlel scornfully as he sat Mt
the door of his tent and kicked his heels in
revciile against big box which n COM
pauion had stolen from the provision tent
You tell 'em when they let Private
Kerr out of the gunrhouse I'll come"
said he, and went on with his heels and
their reveille.
That was all. He would not talk about
1t, but just sat there kicking and showing
his wicked white teeth, suuintinr his
merry eyes and wrnklng the freckles
which profuscly adorned his nose and
cheek bones. There was nothing remark,l-
BILE about him in any way except his OBJ
stnacy.
AS for the colonel he nearly fell off his
horse when he heard of it. Thon he looked
ugly in strange, busnesslike way.
And he never once sworc.
That fact alone struck a cold chill down
each spine in the company. For the colo
mel cursing in his own unique manner
was the colonel they all kncw-a human
tinderbox with an enormous stock of
oaths. But now-he only looked very
quietly at the ground, and those nearest
heard him mutter:
"This is mutiny and shall be treated ac-
cordingly" And the company was scared
to death.
'"'E's sharp little BRUTE" said one man
reaectively. IAN &c must know the colo
mel ill have lis way"
what is e up tor" pondered another
And eacn stared, lost in thought.
"'E always was that spunkyl" said an
orderly to the captain.
And so he was
He won't do Kerr no good" growled