Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1897-05-26

Sometimes ne learns IL Ut MS ihothei
knee, sometimes on his father's-face
down. Otherwise he receives physical
demonstration from bigger boy
From which it would appear that the
youngsters gaZetted to the lrrepressi-
bles were not we'll brought up. AT all
events. they had the reputation of be-
ing the most rowdy crew In the army
list Now, in India. a reputation Is only
gained by being deserved. And II was
in a hill station that the subalterns OF
the Irrepressibles reached the loftiest
pinnacle Of their folly. The affair was
hushed up afterward. for the honor OF
the regiment, as such things should be-
The Irrepressibles were uniucky in
their quarters that year. They were
fixed on the plains at time when there
was nothing to do. no game, no society,"
no anything. In case like that they
were thrown back on themselves, and
the result was unfortunate. Mems tenn
pers began to give way under the strain,
and, from the commanding officer
down to the smallest boy capable OF
beating a drum, there was not one who
-
least seven times a day.
The trouble came. 1t all arose out OF
the Junior Subaltern going out fishing
one day, or out Of the fact that he
caught nothing. Coming back. how
ever. he must needs run across cobra,
which. with his usual fOolhardin"ss,
he duly forked and transferred alive
and wriggling into his creel. Thence
on arrival at quarters, II was removed
to a perforated box and tenderly fed.
Two of the subalterns began to de
velOp a most astonishing degree Of ha'
tired the one for the other. They were
two men sufficiently alike in character
and capa bilities to be either the firmes'
of friends or the bitterest of enemies
AS a matter of choice they were the
latter. Jealousy was at the bottom of
the trouble, no doubt. In the natural
order of things, this little feeling didn't
make life any the pleasanter for the
rest. At first II was treated as wei
come diversion. and for time the 9th
er youngsters used to take an artistic
pleasure In tanning the quarrel, fore.
most being the Junior Subaltern.
What was originally n variation OF
the monotony OF life, however. soon
came to be a nuisance, and the lrrepres-
sibles began to feel very sick. Then
they got to wishing that one or both of
the men would die. This is not nice
sentiment to entertain toward any
man, especially If he is brother-of-
ficer. But most of all, each of the men
wished that the other would go out, and
this was even worse.
At last matters came to q head. The
two subalterns had n regular row one
night after mess. They would have
come to blows If 1t hadn't been for the
Interference Of the older men. There
were six men present, all subalterns
except one, and it would have been bet
ter II they had let the two fight it out
then and there Probably the difficulty
might have been settled finally. But
| peace was patched up for about three
| days, and then they broke out worse
| than ever, and said things that half a
] century ago would have led to pistols
| next morning. In the meantime, the
| Junior Subaltern and four other imps
| of mischief had matured a plan by
which they hoped to fix up the matter
once for all. And in this plan, natural
| ly enough. the snake took some part
| 1t was a grim enough practical joke a,
the best, and they ought to have pos
| sessed more sense between the five OF
them than to think of such a thing
The idea was nothing more or less
than TO propose to the two men tC
! spend a night together, and with the
cobra, in a disused room in quarters
| They were to he locked in and left tC
| settle the matter among themselves
| during the night, and in the morning
| the rest of the party would release the
survivors. If any. OF course there was
no thought. even for a moment, of let
| ting loose the cOrba In that way, but
as the Junior SubaItern said: 1T won
do them any harm to think it out, and
perhaps with reflection will come al
increase Of wisdom"
While the two men were still in the
heat Of anger, the Junior Subaltern pro
| pounded to them his idea of settling
their difficulty by means Of the snake
The affair being thus decided. a dis
| used room was chosen as the scene ot
the ordeal, and was hastily cleared Ol
what furniture was in it. This beins
done, the two men, who had mo-
changed color during the scene. wer,
stationed at opposite corners Of The
room. propped up in sitting positions
| with a clear space between them o
something like fifteen feet
All preliminaries having been ar
ranged. the boy brought in the fata
box and deposited it in the center of th'
I room, in such a manner that the Ii,
should open sideways. Here again hi.
ingenuity came into play. 1t was oh
vious that the box must be opened
when all except the principals wer,
outside the door. Luckily, the box hat
O sliding lid, and the Junior SubalterI
was able to arrange 1t SO that, by at
taching a piece Of string. any on,
standing outside the door would be abb,
to slide back the lid and so release tn,
presumed occupant Of the box
During all these arrangements th'
five conspira tors had felt very serious
They began to realize that IT Wal
rather a grim joke they were having
and it Is probable that the two men
who weren't behind the scenes, who
each doubted whether he might lie
alive in the morning, were less nervous
But then they were still very angry
and hadn't had time yet to think oui
all the details.
At last all the arrangements had
| been settled with due exactness. The
i Junior Subaltern had been an uncon
scionable time ut work. It - probable