The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1899-08-31

rose in dense clouds from beneath the
crushing hoofs, and, leaving Brayton
with the troop, Barclay cut across the
chord Of q long arc in the trail and
refined up alongside the major The
command at the moment was moving
at sharp trot through a long, low de.
preston in tie prairielilse surface.
Brooks returned the captains punctil-
ious salute with CHEEKY nod and COR
dial word Of greeting.
with your permission, sir, will
fall back 100 yards or so, divide the
troop into sections and so avoid the
dust -
Brooks glanced back over his shout
der. "Why, certainly, captain,'' said
he. II ought to have known the dust
would be rising by this time. It's s
o'clock, he continued, glancing at his
watch. Barclay turned in saddle and
signa]ed with his gauntlet whereat
Brayton slackened speed to the walk,
and gap began to grow between the
rearmost horses of Mullane's troop and
the head Of DIS already dusty column.
"Ride with us moment, won't you,
Barclay?' called the major significant
~ as his subordinate seemed on the
point of refining aside to wait for his
men. II want you two to know each
other" And the new and the old cap
tain Of D troop, who had courteous
ly shaken hands with each other when
presented in the dim light of the declin.
ing moon at 4 o'clock, now trotted side
by side, Lawrence eying his successor
with keen yet pleasant interest He had
been hearing all manner Of good of him
during the wakeful watches Of the
night, and was manfully fighting
against the faint yet irrepressible feel
ing of jealous dislike with which broad
er and better men than he have had tc
struggle on being supplanted. Do what
he might to battle against it, Lawrence
had been conscious of it hour after hour
and felt that he WINGED time and AGAR
when some Of the callers spoke ever
guardedly of the changes Barclay was
making in the old troop, changes al
men except the ultra conservative rank
er element Gas the ranker was SO Otter
constituted at that peculiar time, be il
understood) could see were for the bet
, ter.
"You and Barclay lead on, will you
Ned?" said the major, in lis genia
: way. II wish to speak with Mullane {
moment. Whereat he refined out tt
the right and waited for the big Irish
man to come lunging up. Mullane wa:
already squirting close at his heels
} gloomily eying the combination il
front. "There are Oirish and Oirish, ,
} as one Of their most appreciative ant
: broad minded opponents, Private Ter
} ence Mulvaney, has told us, and it gall
ed the veteran dragon to see his JUNO
in rank hidden to ride even for the mo
ment at the head Of the swiftly moving
column. So, reckless of the fact tina
) his individual squirt would call for
J certain forcing Of the pace along his en-
tire troop, now moving in long column
, Of twos, Mullane had spurred his hors
} to close the 10 yard gap between him
} self and the majors orderly, determines
: that there should be no conference O
the powers in which he was not repre-
sented.
Captain Mullane,'' said Brooks, Z"
see it is getting dusty. You might di
vide into sections, as D troop has done
and keep so yards apart, so that tn
, dust can blow aside and not choke you
, men,
"This is l. troop, sorr, an my mel
) are not babes in arrums," was Null
l lanes magnificent reply. At any othe
! time he might have felt the pertinenc
of the suggestion, but here was a cas-
where doughboy captain, bedad, ha,
instigated the measure for the comfor
Of his men. That was enough to damn
it in the eyes Of the old dragon. Th
l answer was shouted, too, with doubl
intent. Mullane desired Barclay to hea
$ what he thought Of such oversolici
tude, but Barclay, riding onward stu1
$ Oily if not quite SO easily as was Law
t renee, gave no sign. He was listening
with head inclined to the words of tn
t keen campaigner on his right.
Brooks was quick to note the inten
t ton Of the Irish officer, and equal
t quick to note the flushed and inf1ame
l, condition Of his face, the thickness q
t his tongue. $50 no, my Celtic friend.
l said he, as he saw that two canteen
o were swung on the off side of Mullane'
! saddle, one at the cantle under tn
q rolled blanket, the other half shade
" by the bullying folds of the overcoat a
the pommel. II thought there wa
o more whisky than wit in your eager
Q ness at the start. Now know it,
d But even to Mullane the major woul
S not speak discourteously. "We al
y know L troop is ready for anything
g captain, - he smilingly answered, "bu
r have to call for unusual exertion tc
Q day, and the fresher they are tonigh
y the better. Let them open out, as
n say" he continued, and Mullane sa,
/ it was useless to put on further airs.
d 'Ye 'tind to it, sergeant" he grun,
n ed over his shoulder to his loyal bench
man, and then, unlimited, ranged u
# alongside the leader
o The prairie was open here, the roa
n split up into several tracks from tim
D to time, and the men could have riddle
r platoon front without much difficult
d 4or two or three miles, Awav To th