Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-07
TROOPER BAPTISTE'.

:. = = Z u
jean Baptistc was Canadian
FrcucHuan. and his.proper place in life
NVuld haye been the woods of New
BrunSu tek or Nova Scotia: but. through
DRINK and the devil and women. or
a woman. he was Il trooper in troop +
OF the Seventh United States Cavalry
Regimen. which company WAS station
ed az For; Concjos. in Colorado. Now.
the meaning of conejOS is plainly con
eys. which are not. again. To be Bibllc-
ally rendered as rabbits. but IL prairie
dogs: aud Trooper Baptiste was. when
sober Just as mild, and even milder.
than any'prairie marmOset in the whole
sage brush country. For prairie dogs
will bark or rather whistle. at one.
and Baptiste only looked II Il man with
Grca round, foolish black eyes. which
could be very fond of friend and
show il most pathctically. But. in
spite OF this gentlencsS. there was Il
terrier hanging about him. for he WAS
superhumanly strong His very hand.
nay. his fcrefinger, was something IL
beware Of: he could break clay-pipc
bows between two fingers; he could
smash cocoanut with his fist; h.
could shoulder a great brass howitZcr
thar commonly took five men tO handle
without being faxed. He was
very devil OF muscle. and when he WIS
drunk his mind went wrong-he GOT
mac. The whole troop was scared Of
him Yet. not all of them literally. for
one. Jack Robertson. the Englishnan.
could even handle him like Z cl.ild for
Jack didn't drink. himself
Blu how it was that the whole troop
didn take to liquor. and having got
drunk didn't cut its universal throat,
WAS Z puzzle. For the fat plain was
sage brush and alkali. and when it
didni rain it froze. and when the freez-
Ing was over Il norther blew fit to per
iSh whole squadron. man and horse
and when the northers ''petered" the
SOutherly WiidS came up from the low
lands and across Texas it was like q
recreation ground in hell. with dirt and
heat and flies. Some of the men got
Ophthalmia ana went blind or saw
double or biiulled vaguely through
ruined H.. hcrenf.er. and some desert
ed and died - dlkal like the bullOcl,s
of 4 team 81 tbe White desert or the
great Mo.lave. and others got into diff
cul.ies ana were knitted by NexicanS,
or some border ruiiian. even worse 10
handle OF reckon on: and some. like
Judas. went out and hanged them
selves. for hey had sold their own souls
for an American eagle which struck
Its claws Of iron through their hearts
Oh. its NOT good /" he soldier i'll peace
time anywhere but to be one ut Il Uni
ted States outpost III Il sage brush des-
ert. whcr, thc devil reigns in the Off
GERS hearts IT being in such Il hole. is
worse than all For there is no chance
of glory or of fighting. At the very
best a m0n rarely gets the chance of
reddeniug his haads if he spares his
own carotid and is delicate about his
own iusuiar So they drink and gamble
and die and the fools don't desert.
About tlirae-qua- of mile from
Conejos on the road to Chama there
was a Mexican she bang log shanty.
a. groG shaniy AMI in it most people
got rid of their cash very promptly
some got rid Of their lives. too. Ii was
fayoritc haunt of Baptiste's. though
they did not much like him there. For.
being Il soldier. they had Il natural ten
derness about finishing him in the usual
way. They were afraid of his com
rades But one day word came to the
camp thai trouble was brewing at Mex
lean Joc's Blptisrc was drinking. AMI
his rage was rising like a cyclone that
comes quickly and bursts all st once.
Where RobertsOn?' said the Cor
poral OF the guard. and they reused the
young fellow out. The! knew lie WAS
the only one who could handle the
Frcnciman They ran down the road
five OF them. and the dirt rose in clouds
They choked III ten yafds and each
strove 10 be first. Then they spread
out like skirmishcrs and left dirt be-
hind each. instead of smoke
whats tIis:" said the Corporal us
they came within fifty yards of the
shanty
For ouf If the door there came a
mans body 1t rolled over and over.
and then it. appeared TO be alive. Just
as the ownercf that apparent corpse dis
proved the inference of his eternal limp
ness another body dropped on him. AMI
then thir'; came. and the three rOlle,i
llrstily. ,ud rose UP white nnd volublc
when they cot their breath. Then Bap-
tiste came outside. roaring i'm French
and SpaniSli aud good round United
States "a polyclot mass of Oaths; and
ne rolled them cufil they were almost
lnsensibie and dropped their drawn