The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-02-12
"Doggonedest

talked with a soft drawl 'Doggonedest
clean up ever saw"
''They hadn't no business to come Up
heah' yuh know. They come some dis
lance now"
"shuah We amt hundn rabbits.
Whatd yuh suppose?"
Then they went on.
The mist came up white and cold and
! covered IL all over. He could not see
the wall any longer, though he could
hear the voices. lie turned on his face
and craWled along below the brambes
and rocks to where the clump Of trees
stood with a deep hollow below them.
They were chestnut trees. Some one
was sitting in the hollow with mis- back
against the roots.
During the rush up the slopes and ter
races Dinkey Colt fairly enjoyed himself.
The sporting blood in him sang in his ears.
an Old song, that the leopard knows, il
may be- waiting in the notified shadow,
that the rider knows on the race course,
the hunter in the snow; the song of
craving that only excitement satisfies. The
smoke blew down the hin in his face. lie
went down a hollow and up the other side,
Then something hot and sudden came into
the middle of him, and he rolled back
against the roots OF a great tree.
"Hufly gee. I'm plunkedr' he grumbled
disgustedly.
For the time he felt no pain. but his
blood ceased to sing I'm his ears. Every
thing seemed to settle down around him,
blank and dun and angry. He felt as if
either the army of the north or the army
OF the South had not treated him rightly.
II they had given him a minute more. he
might have dubbed something more while.
He sat up against a tree wondered what
his chance was to pun through, thought
II poor, and thought he would sell it for a
drink
The firing dropped off little By little and
the mist was coming up Dinkey began TO
see sights. His face and hands were hot,
and things seemed to be rip-roaring inside
him generally. The mist was fan Of fIiclc-
ering lights, which presently seemed 10 be
street camps down the Bowery. The front
windows OF Reilly's saloon were glarlng.
and opposite was Gottsten's jewelry store.
where it happened that he hit one IIalh-
gan in the eye for saying Baby Reilly
was his girl and not Dinkey's; and he
bought Baby a 9O-cent gold ring of Colt
STEM which proved Halligan 10 be a liar
The cop saw him hit Halligan, too. and
said nothing, being his friend. And HAIL
gan enlisted in Co G. with the rest OF the
boys, ami Nes keeled over in the dark one
night on picket duty, somewhere up coun-
Try, All the gang went into Co G. The cap
tain was one of the boys, and so va; Pete
Murphv the big lieutenant. He was sort
of ward sub-boss, was Pete.
Reilly, he's soured on me- Pete. I dun
no wot S got the OF man."
The lights seemed to grow thick. tin
everything wss ablaze.
law, come off! Dis amt de Bowery.' he
muttered, and started and rubbed his
eyes
The mist was cold and white all around
him, ghostly and still, except that there
was a low, continual mutter of voices
above, and now and then a soft moan rose
up from somewhere. And IL seemed nat
ural enough that a ghost should come
creeping out Of the ghostly mist. even that
1t should creep near TO him and peer into
his face ghost with a gray chin beard
and haggard eyes.
I'm going down." it whispered Come
on. Don't make any noise"
"Hully, gee" thought Dinkey. TITS the
poDel-
A number of things occurred to him In
confusion. The deacon did not see he was
hit. He said to himself
II amt no can to spoil is luck, If he is
country"
He blnked a moment. then nodded and
whispered hoarsely: 60 on"
The deacon crept away in the mist.
Dnkey leaned back feebly and closed his
eyes.
wished Ia die quick. It's rotten luck.
wished i could see Pete. ~
The deacon crept down about 200 yards.
then stopped and waited for the young
man Colt. The night was closing in fast
A cry in the darkness made him SILVER.
He had never imagined anything could be
so desolate and sad. He thought he had
better see what was the matter with
Dinkey. He never could make out after
ward why it had seemed necessary to look
after Dinkey. There were hundreds OF
better men on the slopes Dinkey might
have passed him. 1t did not seem very
sensible business 10 go back after that
worthless little limb of satan. The deacon
never thought the adventure credit to
his judgment.
But he went back, guiding himself by
the darker gloom OF the trees against the
sky, and CROPPED his way down the hollow,
and heard Dinkey babblng and mutterng
things without sense. It made The deacon
mad to have to do with irresponsible peo-
pie such as go to sleep under the enemy's
rifles and talk aloud in dreams. He pulled
him roughly by the boots, and he feH over,
babbling and muttering. Then il came.
upon the deacon that II was not sleep, but
fever He guessed the young man was
hit somewhere. They had better be going
anyway. The enemy must have out
picket line somewhere. He slipped his
hands under Dinkey and got up. He tried
TO NiltnD out quietly Jul Atti dSdHiot the
bank Someone took a shot at the poise,
and spattered the dirt under his nose. He
lifted Dinkey higher and went on. Din
KEYS mutterings ceased. He made no
sound at all for a while. and at last said
huskily:
"Wot's up?''
ITS me-
'Hully geel wot yer don'?"
His voice was weak and thin now. He
felt as il he were being pulled in two in
the middle
Say. oil man. I wont Jolly Yer. Les
find Pete. There's a MIME bah messed
up me stommick awful
"Tain't far, Dinkey," said the deacon
gently.
And he thought of Pete Murphy's red,
| heshy face and black oily mustache. 1t
| occurred to him that he had noticed most
men in Company G. if they fell into trou-
Bile, wanted to find Pete. He thought he
! should want to himself, though he be Kill
ed anywhere. he thought he should like
Pete Murphy TO tell his wife about it.