The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1898-10-02

for captain and second lieutenant, said
some Of the others, but, serenely indif-
ferent to what others said, the two kept
on their way.
Thought you were goin to wear
mournin for Lawrence the rest Of your
natural life, Brayton, and here you are
tyin to Barclay as if Lawrence had
never lived" said Mr.. Bralligan only
day or two before Lawrence's return,
and Brayton started almost as though
stung. What Bralligan said was not
half as i'll grounded as most Of his state
ments, and Brayton was conscious OF
something akin to guilt and self re-
proaoh. In common with most Of the
regiment, he had felt very sore over
Lawrence's going. He had been much
attached to that gallant and soldierly
captain, but now that another had taken
his place and he could compare or con-
trast the two the youngster began to
realize with something like q pang Of
distress, as though il were disloyal to
think go, that in many ways Barclay
was "head and shoulders" the superior
man. Lawrence never rose till o'clock
except when in the field Lawrence
rarely read anything but the papers and
interminable controversies over the war.
Lawrence, despite the claims of Ada and
little Jimmy, often spent an evening at
the club and always stopped there on
his way from stables Lawrence never
strdied and OF the drill ground never
taught Indeed almost all the drills the
troop had known for months and months
Brayton himself had conducted. No
wonder the boy had wasted hours of
valuable time. No wonder there was q
little game going on among the young
sters in Brayton's back parlor" many
a day. He had simply been started all
wrong.
But even before Barclays books were
unpacked the new captain had found
means to interest the young fellow in
professional topics that Lawrence had
never seemed to mention. Barclay had
evidently been taking counsel with pro-
gressive soldiers before joining his new
= regiment, had been reading books Of
their choosing and, among others, was
a valuable treatise on the proper method
of biting horses, and he found that here
was a matter that Lawrence and Bray
ton had never thought Of and that Bray
ton said was never taught them at the
] Point, which was strictly true.
To the amaze and Unspeakable indig-
nation Of Denny Sullivan, who was
soon to be overhsuled on graver points,
the doughboy had laken his lieutenant
from horse to horse IN the troop as they
stood at rest during drill and shown
him at least 20 bits out or the 45 in
l 3 II l. 81
him some that were too broad from bar
to bar and that slid to and fro in the
tortured creatures mouth; others that
hung too low, almost fell through 80
others whose curb chain or strap, in
stead of fitting in the groove, bore saw
agely on the delicate bones above it and
to-mented the luckless charger every
time his rider drew rein. Barclay gave
the boy his own carefully studied hand
book. Not another cavalry officer then
at Worth had read it, though several
had heard of it. The youngster was set
to work fitting new bits by measure
ment to the mouth Of every horse in the
troop.
Then Barclay drew him into the dis
cussion of the cavalry system of sad
uAAnB Ao LANA HACcOAADC0-NAO AC<N
tree set away forward close TO the
withers-and Brayton could only say
that "tbat was tactics and the way
they'd always done it" But Galahad
pointed out that the tactics then in use
were written of foreign dragon sad
die with long fat bearing surface. II
was all very we'll for that to be set as
far forward as it would go, because
even then the center Of gravity of the
rider would be we'll back ON the horse.
But" said he, ''you take this short
Mcclellan tree, place that away for
ward, and then set a man in it. His
center of gravity will rest in front Of
the center of motion of the horse-will
throw the weight on the forehead and
use up his knees and shoulders in nc
time" This, too, set Brayton to study
ing and thinking, while Mullane and
Fellows declared Sir Galahad acrank,
and even Brooks and Blythe. welded
to tradition, thought him visionary.
Then when the books came Galaha6
unpacked, and Just where the poker "a
BILE used to stand il stood now, but il
was covered with beautiful maps d
Alsace and Lorraine. and Galahad'l
deek with pamphlets sent him from
abroad, the earliest histories Of the
memorable campaign about Met5 and
Sedan. ~-----
! The next thing Brnyton knew he wal
, as deeply interested as his captain, and
10, other men came to look and wonder
and 90 of shaking their heads-thos'
, Of them who were Of the MuIlAne per
suasion sneering at those "book gen
erals, 4" while others, like Blythe. pulleC
up chair as invited and followed thu
, Junior captain through his modest ex
PLANTATION with appreciative eyes. Thos'
were days when there was all too littl'
time for study and improvement, thank