Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-11-02
A SoInIER,S DOOM.
iiitten by Mad Iior-". It Was Only c
 Question of Time.

One day nt the fuIt u sudden cry wac raised that the ninjoT'> hnrSc hnd gone mad, but it was not until the wild eyed and foam flcck,-d animal had bcCIi shot as he rushed back and forth across the pa- rade ground that we learned he had bitten Corporal Wallace on the arIu when he first gained his liberty. Som" said the horse had been bittsn by rptilo Or insect and was only frenzied with pain. Othrrs drop ped their voices to whisper they re- called the suspicious actions of Il strange dog which had been fired upon and driver; away n week or two before. The teeth of the horse had torn cloth and flesh and drawn blood. He had not bitten like horse, but snapped like n dog.
 Pooh, man, no danger. no danger the surgeon had said as hc dressed tho wound.
 Its only n scratch, and We won { talk about it," the corporal made answer to ah his comrades.
 We had nothing more tO say, except among ourselves. but from that hour cv cry trooper in ''C'' company felt that Cor poral Wallace was Il doomed man. just as surely doomed as if n court martial had sentenced him to death and the president had refused tn interfere with the findings You will say 1t was curious that we avoid ed him. % it was, and yet we could not but feel that Inc was dead man walking about among Us. We hcard him speak, We saw him in apparent gOod health, We lis tened to his songs and stories at night, | and yet every man who heard and saw and listened kept repeating over and over to himsclf
 "The corporal was bitten by mad horsc and s"uncr or later hr will go mad and die
 The man sought to blind himSrlf to the | situation, hut he could not We had the feeling upon Us, and we could not shake it | off Each morning WI lnuktl nt him and | wondered II the terrible virus would show itself before night. Each night wC looked | nt him and wondered why he dld not rush out on the broad plains in the darkness l and try to run away from the Spectcr | He was big brave hearted fellow. carry ! ing the scarS Uf half a dozen battles He i sang and whistlcd and was merry, and yet l he did not deceive Us We knew the haunt ing fear and terrible thoughts which came to him at night when wrapped in his | blanket and the barracks were quiet.
 Days passed away. and yet men whis- pcrcd when they spoke of Corporal Wal lace Weeks passed away, and yet mcn looked at him askancc and still regarded | him as walking in tho shadow of death. April, May. June. and then the rrst less Indians broke away from the rcsCr- yntion, and the troops were sent out to find and drivC them back. When "C" company was drawn up in line for departure, there was Corporal Wallace fin his proper place. Why nut1 ThcrC was no bigger, healthier man In the troop, nor one whose saber or carbinC could bs acpcndcd on tC do moro execution. And vet we wondered that he should gO, and there were murmurs of dissatisfaction as wc rode away. He was a doomed man. T dead man sitting in the saddle as if ift were one of us.
 Days and nights of hard riding and hun
 ger and thirst, and we turned the Indians back. IL had been a week of wild has't and constant excitement, and tho troopers were bruised and sorc and exhausted us Vt made camp after an all day s ride. We had | no fuel for fires and little to cat, but therC
 was n grand spring Ht which man arc
 beast qucnchcd their thirst. The darkness
 was falling and we had huddlcd tOgethCl
 when some ono whispered that Corpora l Wallace was sitting alone by himself | Then another drew us closer together aiit I snid hc had sCen the corporal kneCl dowI | to drink at the spring and start back as !
 he had caught sight of q serpent. W. . whispcrcd and wondered aud pCcred n
 him through the gloom. but no man hp ! proach,l him By and by hc arose stOO'
 for q moment as if undecided and the walked with faltCTing stCp tO the spring
 When he reached 1t, he turned his hca'
 away md knClt down. Then Inc made n
 if he would drink, but sprang to his feet
 with n cry of horror, and rushed away int
 the darkness.
 , "It has comet The corporal l. mad' | was shouted through tho camp, and for ! moment confusion rcigncd supreme. Thci
 there came a sudden silence, broken nftc Il a few seconds by tho voice of our captain | making a dctnii to secure tho man and b
 the blood curdling yclls of the corporal n
 he raced away into the black nigbt wit , death keeping pace at his side.
 Five, ten, twenty men pursued hin | within the hour. Ilc ran hero and thcrC
 lodged and turned, always escaping tn | hands which sought to clutch him, an ! again and again returning to the spring { | quench the awful thirst upon him, but al
 ways shricking at the sight of the wate r bubbling up. For moro than an hour W ' pursued him as If he were some wild nnl
 nal wo sought to capturo- Then nt last '. broko through our lines agnin, circle
 back to the spring, and with n cry of agon [ | which was heard all over the camp he fe
 down and writhcd and twisted about for 1 | moment or two and died. He had been
 doomed man for weeks and months. w i | bent over the body and saw the look C
 horror on the face growing pale, the hhr : shut teeth, the blood and fruth on his lip:
 and WIG were glad that death had come s
 last. M. QUAD.
 Francs's Psesid-nt Acts Promptly.