St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1894-02-17
THE YoUNGsTER.


THE YoUNGsTER.
Mistake of . Raw eecond Llsutenont
Among the Indians.
He did como out to us as second
lieutenant-a young and beardless
graduate from West Point-and the
ragged old troopers who had been
fighting Indians for three years smiled
in contempt. Pity was mingled Will,
contempt, however. 1t was unjust to
the boy to put him up against the saw.
age Apachcs for his first trial. Even
some of the veteran officers Of the wnr
had made a bad failure of it when they
came out to the plains.
The youngster, as the men called
him, had been with us . fortnight
when the colonel ordered him out on
scout We were to Go down the valley
four miles. turn to the west and ride
down the bank of Walnut creek three
miles and then come back over the
hills. One sergeant, one corporal
twenty-five troopers in ALL Al
that time the chances were against
sighting an Indian, but the movement
would tell their spies that we were
alert and watchful.
In due time we reached the creek
and turned in. 1t was lined with trees
and bushes and offered cover to an enc
my. The youngster gave no orders. how.
ever. and appeared greatly surprised
when he looked back and observed the
attitude of the men. They held their
carbines ready for what might CONS
and obliqued of against the hillside.
think the officer was about to hurl
some indignant protest at us when we
got a volley from the bushes. Every
man in that troop realized on the in
slant that we had only ten or q dozen
redskins to deal with-every man hut
the officer. Had we wheeled into line.
fred volley and charged. we should
have driven them from cover and
had good show to extermi-
nate the band. The youngster
was ratified by the suddenness of the
attack, and because twoo three horses
went down he lost his head and ordered
us to push forward at gallop. leaving
two men who had been dismounted.
but were unhurt, to be deliberately
shot down as they sought for cover.
We had dashed forward about half q
mile, when every trooper suddenly
pulled up and wheeled about. No one
gave the order, but all acted in con-
cert. We were too late to save our
comrades. but the sight of their mutt
lated bodies brought shouts for re-
venge as we charged the thickct. We
got feeble volley, and another horse
went down, but in ten minutes we had
wiped out the last warrior. Nine of
them had put the twenty-five of us to
flight.
The youngster was brought back to
us by the sound of the firing His face
wore look of astonishmcnt and dis
may as he saw the dead. When he was
informed that we had made q cowardly
retreat before such a small force. and
when a trooper held up the scalp locks
Of our dead comrades and growled out
that they had been a abandoned to their
fate when . cool head would have saved
them, the face of the young man was
white as death, and he made no reply.
A trooper was sent to the fort for an
ambulance to carry in the dead. and
after beating mp the bushes again we
sat down to await his return. For
long time he sat with his face in his
hands gazing at the earth, and there
wasn't one of us who didn't feel sorry
for him. BY and by he called the SER
geant over to him and asked:
Sergeant, did yon realize that we
were being fired on by 80 small q
force?"
Il judged them to number from nine
to twelve, SIR" was the reply.
'And had You been in command what
action would you have taken"
''Fours right. wheel. and . volley
and charge. That would have been
my way if they had numbered one hun
them from cover and let us in"
''And the order gave was to push
forward, which was the same as re-
treat?'
80 we understood. SIR
"And you returned and STACKED
without orders?"
"Without orders, sir"
THAT will do. sergeant The am.
bulance should be here soon. You SEQ
about the bodies. Try and tell plain,
straight story about the fight when
you report to the captain.
With that he got up and moved up
the hill as If surveying the country,
and no one happened to be looking at
him when he put his revolver to his
head and sent q bullet into his brains
He was dead before we reached him.
Poor youngster! A court martial would
have dismissed him from the service.
Even had no charges been preferred,
he could not have held his head up
among men-fighting men.
Say" exclaimed the sergeant, as
we stood looking at the body, "he
made mistake, but paid for it with
his life, and no man shall speak i'll Of
him. He was youngster, and had
never seen an Injun. and that's all
that allied Hmm. Y. Sun.
But Not Getting Better.
Mike Roonan was as honest an Irish
man rs ever carried hod. He had j
family Of nine children, who were al
ways hungry and whose shoes were al-
ways out at the toes; so when the hard
times struck his ward last summer and
Mike found himself out . job, he felt
that fortune had dealt him q pretty
hard blow. However, Mike was not
wholly disheartened. and he hustled
about to find some honest employment.
The prospect was discouraging, but
he kept boldly At it, and was 1t last
rewarded by securing = place with .
gang Of street PAYERS His particular