, 1897-11-23
PRIVATE LAUFER.

NV
l remember well the day we all mel
at the adjutant's Office to receive oul
portion of Il big batch of recruits VIII,
arrived on the previous day. Recruit.
are sent u without assignment excep,
to the regiment in general, ''25O re-,
cruits to the Tenth cavalry" for in.
stance.
Then the colonel, a stiff old Yves,
Pointer, from the general list assigned
to each troop the number required t.
fill up the gaps the last campaign haf
left. We were all standing around tht
porch u Church. our nd. u,ant, called
off the names of the men for each troop.
A, b, G, ID.
AS each mans name was called he
stepped Ii pace to the front and Il side
step to the right, so that they woulG
form u separate squuG when the list wa.
completed. When MY troop, J. wa.
reached. l naturally lad "a general in.
terest i'll what all Of men NIGH
fall to my Let, hut / confess l was Lot
so absorbed as l would have Lecn if
was receiving 20 horses instead of re.
cruits.
However, l was short of good timber
just 'hen and was struck by the appear.
ance Ca the man who stepped out as
Church called George Laufer." His
crisp, distinct Here" in reply to his
name made Mo ,nink that it was his
own and a name he was proud of. The
vast majority of enlisted mems lanes
in the army. like those in the peniten.
tiary, are fictitious and run from Chris
tan Scripture to George Washington,
with only one rule seeming to govern
their ~selection-the better the name tn,
worse the man. Christian Scripture was
the worst soldier, drunk or sober, l even
knew.
Laufer, however, had every mark of a
we'll bred man about him, was Of an aver.
age height, with u light, strong frame,
weighing l6j or 10 pounds; young.
with brown eyes and hair, small dark
%mustache, clean, well groomed face and
a complexion that dissipation would
have ruined i'll u week, but which was
now clear ard healthy.
My sergeant took the squad and
marched them down to the troop quar-
tiers, where, with my ~lieutenants, l in
spected them, listening to the stories Of
all the rest--the same old story | had
heard Il thousand men tell and vary onl,
i'll detail-as to wE,re they lived, wheth-
er they were married, why they had en-
listed, etc. Laufcr promptly told me all
that it was reasonable | should know
..ud as promptly showed his manhood
when amy irrelevant question was pro-
pounded by declining to answer.
| was satisfied that he had told the
truth and that | had luckily picked up
q jewel Of u man. | made up my mind
that should he fulfill my first impress
sions during his setting up and grad
uation from recruit to II private Ii,
should be II corporal after oEe or tw1
tours of guard duty.
The colonel frequently came around
from one troop to another during the
ceremony of stables. Morning and even.
ing a cavalryman's horse is thoroughly
groOned. fed and watercd, each private
and corporal grooming the horse he
rides. the extra horses Icing taken care
of by the recruits or ly the stable guard
when there we're no recruits.
That afternoon l was right glad to
walk down With the .'old man." rs We
called our colonel. He was II harsh
and swift in his punishments, yet net
slow in his rewards just, but col.
blooded and almost unmerciful, n man
in many ways cordially hated by us all,
yet in many mere ways idoiized by
every one who knew him We turned
into my troop stables, and to my utter
establishment l found my stable sergeant
standing with Recruit Lauter, ready for
my order to put him i'll the Enardhouse.
Dressed now in his white stable frock
and trouscrs. he looked a typical cayal-
ryInall, bu, there was that ill his lace
not defiance, rather determination
plainly showing that he had made his
decision.
Whats the matter, Sergeant Cars
well:'' asked the colonel.
Recruit Larfor refuses to groom his
horse, sir" reported Carswell, with his
hand AT the visor Of his cup
REFUSES to groom his horse, eh?'
the colonel asked, with that twang in
his voice which every soul from the kid
bugler to the lieutenant colonel knew
meant mischief. Then. turning to Lau-
fer, i'll u manner to make stout nerves
culver. he asked:
why won't you groom your horse:'
Because ! am no groom, sir, and be-
cause such was not explained to me as
part Of my dutics when enlisted" said
Laufer, saluting, but steady as u veteran.
"The-you say" reared the old man,
now mad beyond all hope Of calming.
Sergeant! Sergeant (arswell! Ser
yeant!' lie yelled.
"Yes, SIR" said the sergeant, who
had stepped aside to look after the. 9TH
er recruit.
Sergeant Carswcil. have the saddler
make u halter Tor ills man, tie him up
IN this vscant stall rhen it's on him,