The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-06-23
haa u,.d Ian n, flring u.rtv orders;

| NOW I'm SICK 70 90 Om0-90 Omo-8o
'omei No. I amt nanny sick. because
my uncle brung metup but I'm sick for
London again; sick for the sounds O
'er, an the sights O. 'er, an the stinks
O 'er--orange peel an hasphalte an
gas comm in over vaux all bridge; sick
for the rail goin down to Box'Ill. with
your gal on your knee an new clay
pipe in your face, That, an the stran'
lights where you knows ev'ry one, an
the copper that takes You up Is old
friend that tux you up before. when
you was little, smitchy boy lyin looss
tween the Temple an the dark harchea
| No bloomin guard mountin, no bloomin
rotten stone, nor khaki, an yourself
your own master, with gal to take an
see the humaners practicin a-hookin
dead corpses out O. the Serpentine O
Sundays An I lef' all that for to serve
the widder beyond the seas where there
amt no women an there amt no liquor
worth 'avin. an there amt nothin to
see, nor do. nor say, nor feel, nor think.
Lord love You. Stanley Orth'ris but
you're a bigger bloomin fool than the
rest O. the reg'm ent an Mulvaney
wired togetherl There's the wilder sit
tin at 'ome with gold crown'd on or
cad, an ere am Hi. Stanley Ortiz 'riA
the widder's property, rottin fooll"
His voice rose at the end Of the sen.
tence, and be wound up with six shot
Anglo Vernacular oath. Mulvaney said
nothing. but looked at me as II he ex.
pected that could bring peace to poor
Ortheris' troubled brain.
remembered once at Rawal Pindi
having seen man, nearly mad with
drink, sobered by being made fool Of.
Some regiments may know what !
mean. hoped that we might shake of
Ortheris in the same way, though he
was perfectly sober, 10 said
"What's the use Of grousing there
and speaking against the widowf"
II didn'tr said Ortheris. "S'elp me
Gawd. never said word sg'in 'er, an
wouldn mot if I was to desert this
minutel"
Here was my opening. swell, You
meant to, anyhow. What's the use Of
cracking on for nothing' Would you
slip it now If you got the chancef"
sony try mel" said Ortheris jump
ing to his feet as If he had been stung
Mulvaney jumped too "Fwhat are
You goin to dor said he
"Help Ortheris down to Bombay or
Karachi, whichever he likes. You can
report that be separated from you be-
fore tiffin and left his gun on the bank
hereI'
"I'm to report that-am II" said
Mulvaney slowly. Every we'll If
Orth'ri names to desert now an will
desert now, an you, sorr, who have been
a friend to me an to him, will help him
to ut, l, Terence Mulvaney, on my
oath, which I've never bruk yet, will re-
port as you say. But"--here he stepped
up to Ortheris and shook the stock Of
the fowling piece in his face-"your
fistes help You, Stanley Orth iris if ever
come across you ag 'inI"
II don't carel" said Ortheris. "I'm
sick O. this dorg's life. Give me
chanst Don't play with me- Lee me
gol"
"strip," said I. land change with
me and then I'll tell you what to do. "
hoped that the absurdity Of this
would check Ortheris, but he had kick
ed off his ammunition boots and got rid
Of his tunic almost before had loosed
my shirt collar. Mulvaney gripped me
by the arm.
"The fits on him; the fits workin on
him still By my honor an sowl. we
shall be accessiry to a desartion yet;
only 26 days, as you say, sorr, or SO.
but think av the shame - the black
shame to him an mep' had never seen
Mulvaney SO excited.
But Ortheris was quite calm, and, as
soon as he had exchanged clothes with
me and I stood up, private Of the line,
he said shortly: "Nowl Come on What
nex'3 D'you mean fair. What must !
do to get out O. this ere hell2'
told him that If he would wait for
two or three hours near the river I
would ride into the station and come
back with 100 rupees. He would, with
that money in his pocket, walk to the
nearest side station on the line, about
five miles away, and would there take
first class ticket for Karachi Know
ing that he had no money on him when
he went out shooting, his regiment
would not Immediately wire to the sea-
ports, but would hunt for him in the
native villages near the river. Further,
no one would think Of seeking deserter
In first class carriage At Karachi he
was to buy white clothes and ship, if he
could, on cargo steamer.
Here he broke in. If I helped him to
Karachi, he would arrange all the rest.
Then ordered him to wait where he
was until it was dark enough for me to
ride into the station without my dress
being noticed Now, God in his wisdom
has made the heart of the British SOL
der, who is very often an unlocked
ruffian, as soft as the heart Of little
child in order that he may believe in
and follow his officers into tight and
nasty places. He does not SO readily
come to believe in "civilian, but
when he does he believes implicitly
and like dog. had had the honor Of
the friendship of Private Ortheris, at
intervals, for more than three years,
and we had dealt with each other as
man by man. Consequently he consid-
cred that all my words were true and
not spoken lightly.
Mulvaney and left him in the high
grass near the river bank and went
away, still keeping to the high grass,
toward my horse. The shirt scratched
me horribly.
We waited nearly two hours for the
dusk to fall and allow me to ride off
We spoke of Ortheris in whispers and
strained our ears to catch any sound
from the spot where we had left him.
But we heard nothing except the wind
in the plume grass
I've bruk his head, said Mulvaney
earnestly. "time an ag'in. I've nearly
kilt him wild the belt, an yet I can't
knock thin fits out av his soft head.
Mol An he's not soft, for he's reason
able an likely by natur. Fwhat is uti
Is ut his breedin which is nothin, or his
edukashin which he niver got7 You
that think you know things, answer me
that"
p,k fouod M opswor uoa uon.