The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1894-09-29

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1VEAEN ing only an adjutant,
WlAh however. he couldn't
NAV swear at it, and SO keep
-[&.\ on even terms with his
chief. He bottled, his wrath, as he did
che colonels commentaries, and kept
them both for future emergencies. A
relic Of the Wanted old. dragoon days
was the colonel: one Of the fast vanish
ing lot Of hard-riding, hard-fghting,
and sometimes hard-swearirg ca1u-
paigners who had learned their trade
under masters of the art long years be-
fore the war. He had crossed the -lano
Estacado and camped on the Mimbres
and chased the Navajoes when Nava-
joes were monarchs Of the southwest
ern plains, were bellicose not bucolic,
raised sheol instead of sheep-a state
ment otherwise expressed by Kit Car
son, keen scout and keener judge
of aboriginal nature, who said that
when 'th1Vswere not raising hell or ha'r
in equal proportions the Navajoes were
either dead or asleep. We were having
campaigns ten times more thrilling in
point of incident, ten time fiercer in
point of fighting and casualties, ten
times tougher in point of hardship and
privation-and the food we lived on
than those of the Navajo days, to be
sure, but the colonel would have it the
service wasn't to be mentioned along
side that to which he had been &C.
customed when they secuted with
Kearney or Fauntleroy and rode races
with the Mounted Rifles at Albuquerque
and Santa Fe. ''They made cavalry
men in those days." said he. Then
with gloomy reference to the losses of
the summer just gone by: ''Now they
only kill 'em, and this set of summers
they are sending out to recruit us is
only fit to be-, killed, anyhow. Why
the devil did you send me such a
wooden-headed idiot for an orderly on
this day of all others?" he demanded
of his staff officer. "Why, he couldn't
speak English!'
Now, when the colonel began to ask
questions and invite explanations we
all knew that he had, measurably at
least, blo~vn off his wrath; was begin
ming to regret anything sharp he had
said; was penitent, and wanted to be
Modified and forgiven and taken into
good fellowship again Nobody knew
this better than the adjutant, or pre-
sumed on it more. At this stage of the
proceedings Bob became downright i'm
pudent. But his brown eyes twinkled
with fun as he stood facing the colonel
and waiting for an opportunity to
speak.
'sNo, sir; he couldn't speak word of
English" repeated the colonel.
"We-en,' said Bob, rehectively, 'tit
wasn't civil service examination was
running He was the cleanest man on
guard, and your orders are"
'Then send me the dirtiest so long as
we are in the field" burst in the colonel,
impetuously. "What I want in an
orderly is just what don't want in an
adiutant-a man who can repeat what
i say, and not think
.'Well, anybody ought to be able to
do that, SIR" began the adjutant, with
q twitch under the heavy thatch of his
moustache.
"Wait till I get through, young
man. interrupted the colonel again,
impressively; "then you may be as
harmless as you know how. What
need in an adjutant is one who can
think and not say nything-except
when tell him to. Now, you sent me
Dutch doll thatcouldn't even squawk
In English. He called me names in
some foreign lingo"
s.Well, you wouldn't want him to do
it in English, would you, colonel?"
s'Wouldn't? didn't-d-n it! where
are your wits this morning. Gray? He
he-what was it he called me, Fallon?"
''Sounded like O-burst; was all I
heard, sir:'' said the quarterrnaster,
uncomfortably. ''But Sergt. Stein says
colonel"
Mr.. Gray's eyes were dancing now.
81 never saw the man before in my
life, colonel" said he. ''He came with
that big batch Of recruits the other
day. Manning's first sergeant marched
him on. He looked spick-span neat
and clean and intelligent long odds
the trimmest and most soldier-like fell
low on guard
y mot excepting the officer of the day
and adjutant, suppose" interposed
the colonel. a
''No exceptions whatever, sir. In
deed, not excepting any man in the
whole command, from the colonel up
II mean down. You were saying yes
terday that the only way to tell real
cavalryg,en from recruits was that we
looked like jayhawkers and they like
Jew-store dummies Still, thought
the sight Of man clean shaved, with
buttons and buckles polished, would
please your eyes after all this cam
paign's mud, so ]: sent him. Of course,
Sc he could only call you names in
Dutch I'm sorry, and will see that
you're properly looked after next time lin s
But even Did Iintop" began to see
the I'm under the sedate gravity Of the ].