Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1899-07-06
THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT GOu|GH1LY
By RUDYARD K1pL1NG.

i've forgotten the countersign, seq e.
/ ooh! You ave- ave you?' seq l.
But I'm the colonel, /" seq e.
"Ohl You are, are you?' seq l. "Coone!
nor no colonel, you waits ere till I'm relieved
an the sarjint reports on your ugly old mug.
Choop!' seq 1.
An selp me soul, twas the colonel, after
all! But was recruity then. The Unedit
ed Autobiography of Private Ortheris.
Ii there was one thing on which Co.
lightly prided himself more than an
ether, it was looking like San officer
and a gentleman He said it was for
the honor of the service that he attired
himself so deliberately, but those who
knew him best said that it was lust
personal vanity. There was no harm
about Golightly-not an ounce. He
recognized horse when he saw one
and could do more than fill cantle.
He played very fair game at billiards
and was sound man at the whist ia
BILE. Every one liked him, and nobody
ever dreamed of seeing him handcuffed
on station platform as a deserter
But this sad thing happened
He was going down from Dalhousie,
at the'end of his leave-riding down
He had cut his leave as fine as he dared
and wanted to come down in hurry
1t was fairly warm at Dalhousie,
and, knowing what to expect below, he
descended in a new khaki suit-tight
ftting-of delicate olive green; pea
cock blue tie, white collar and snowy
white solah helmet. He prided himself
on looking neat even when he was rid
ing post He did look neat. and he was
SO deeply concerned about his appear
ance before he started that he quite for
got to take anything but some small
change with him. He left all his notes
at the hotel. His servants had gone
down the road before him, to be ready
in waiting at Pathankote with change
of geat. That was what he called trav-
cling in Eight marching order He
was proud Of his faculty of organiza-
tion-what we call bundobust.
Twenty-Five miles out of Dalhousie
it began to rain-not mere hill show
er, but good. tepid monsoonish down
pour Golightly hustled on. wishing
that he had brought an umbrella. The
dust on the roads turned into mud, and
/ the pony mired good deal. So did
Golightly's khaki CATERS. But he kept
on steadily and tried to think how
pleasant the coolth was
His next pony was rather brute at
starting and, Golightly's hands being
slippery with the rain, contrived to get
rid of Golightly at a corner. He chased
the animal, caught it and went ahead
briskly. The spill had not improved his
clothes or his temper, and he had lost
one spur. He kept the other one en-
ployed. By the time that stage was
ended the pony had had as much exer-
else as he wanted and, in spite of the
rain Golightly was sweating freely. At
the end of another miserable half hour
Golightly found the world disappear be-
fore his eyes in clammy pulp. The rain
had turned the pith of his huge and
snowy solah topee into an evil smelling
dough, and it had closed on his head
like half opened mushroom; also the
green lining was beginning to run.
Golightly did not say anything worth
recording here. He tore off and squeezed
up as much of the brim as was in his
eyes and plowed on. The back Of the
helmet was Tapping on his neck, and
the sides stuck to his ears, but the
leather band and green lining kept
things roughly together, SO that the hat
did not actually melt away where it
tapped
Presently the pulp and the green
stuff made sort Of Shiny mildew, which
ran over Golightly in several directions
down his back and bosom for choice
The khaki color ran. too-it was really
shocklngly bad dye-and sections of
Golightly were brown, and patches We're
violet, and contours were ocher, and
streaks were ruddy red, and blotches
were nearly white, according to the
nature and peculiarities Of the dye.
When he took out his handkerchief to
wipe his face and the green of the hat
lining and the purple stuff that had
soaked through on to his neck from the
tie became thoroughly mixed. the effect
was amazing.
Near Dhar the rain stopped, and the
evening sun came out and dried him up
slightly. 1t fixed the colors too. Three
miles from Pathankote the last pony
fell dead lame, and Golightly was
forced to walk. He pushed on into
Pathankote to find his servants. He did
not know then that his khitmatgar had
stopped by the roadside to get drunk
and would come on the next day saying
that he had sprained his ankle. When
he got into Pathankote. he couldn't
find his servants, his boots were stiff
and ropy with mud, and there were
large quantities Of dirt about his body
The blue tie had run as much as the
khaki. So he took it off with the collar
and threw it away. Then he said some
thing about servants generally and tried
to get a peg He paid annas for the
drink. and this revealed to him that he
had only annas more in his pocket
or in the world as he stood at that hour
He went to the station master to ne
gotiate for a first class ticket to Khasa,
where he was stationed. The booking
clerk said something to the station mas
ter, the station master said something
to the telegraph clerk, and the three