Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1899-05-20
The ROIt Of The White HuSSQTS.
By RUDYARD KIPLING.

| from panic III In6 nlSnU,
-Beoni Bar.
Some people hold that an English
cavalry regiment cannot run. This is q
mistake | have seen 437 sabers flying
over the face of the country in abject
terror; have seen the best regiment that
ever drew bride wiped off the army list
for the space of two hours If you re-
peat this tale to the White hussars, they
will in all probability treat you severe
ly. They are not proud of the incident.
You may know the White hussars by
their side. which is greater than that
of the cavalry regiments en- the roster.
If this is not sufficient mark, you may
know them by their old brandy 1t has
been go years in the mess and is worth
going far to taste Ask for the "Mc-
Gaire' old brandy and see that you
get it. If the mess sergeant thinks that
you are uneducated and that the gen
uine article will be lost on you, he will
treat you accordingly. He is good
man. But when you are at mess you
must never talk to your hosts about
forced marches or long distance rides
The mess are very sensitive and, if they
think that you are laughing at them,
will tell you so.
AS the White hussars say, it was all
the colonel's fault. He was a new man,
and he ought never to have taken the
command He said that the regiment
was not smart enough-this to the
White hussars, who knew they could
walk round any horse and through any
guns and over any foot on the face Of
the earth That insult was the first
cause of offense
Then the colonel cast the drum horse
the drum horse of the White hussarsl
Perhaps you do not see what an I'M
speakable crime he had committed 1
will try to make it clear The soul of
the regiment lives in>the drum horse
who carries the silver kettledrums. He
is nearly always big piebald waller
That is point of honor, and a regi-
ment will spend anything you please
on piebald. He is beyond the ordinary
laws of casting His work is very light
and he only maneuvers at foot pace.
Wherefore so long as he can step out
and look handsome his well being is as
sured. He knows more about the regi-
ment than the adjutant, and could not
make mistake if he tried.
The drum horse Of the White hussars
was only Is years old and perfectly
equal to his duties. He had at least six
years more work in him and carried
himself with all the pomp and dignity
of a drum major of the guards The
had paid 1 200 rupees for him.
But the colonel said that he must
go, and he was cast in due form and
replaced by a washy bay beast as ugly
as mule, with a eve neck, rat tail and
COW hooks. The drummer detested that
animal, and the best of the band horses
put back their ears and showed the
whites of their eyes at the very sight
of him. They knew him for an upstart
and no gentleman. l fancy that the
colonel's ideas of smartness extended to
the band, and that he wanted to make
it take part in the regular parade move
ments A cavalry band is a sacred
thing 1t only turns out fer command
ing officers parades, and the bandmas
ter is one degree more important than
the colonel. He is high priest and the
excel Row" is his holy song. The
excel Row" is the cavalry trot, and
the man who has never heard that tune
rising, high and shrill, above the rattle
Of the regiment going past the saluting
base has something yet to hear and I'M
derstand.
When the colonel cast the drum horse
IF the White hussars, there was nearly |
q mutiny.
The officers were angry, the regiment
was furious and the bandsmen swore
like troopers. The drum horse was
going to be put up to auction-public !
auction-to be bought, perhaps, by a
Parsee and put into a cart! It was
worse than exposing the inner life of
the regiment to the whole world OF
selling the mess plate to Jew-a black |
Jew.
The colonel was mean man and a I
bully. He knew what the regiment
LuOuSAI tUOuU LIS dCL1Ou, anu, WACu
the troopers offered to buy the drum
horse. he said that their offer was mu-
inous and forbiddenby the regulations
But one of the mathematician
Yale, an Irishman-boug the drum
morse for 100 rupees at the sale, and the
colonel was wroth Yale professed re-
pentance-he was unnaturally submis-
sive-and said that, as he had only
made the purchase to save the horse
rom possible i'll treatment and starva-
ion, he would now shoot him and end
5he business. This appeared to soothe
The colonel for he wanted the drum
horse, disposed of. He felt that he had
made mistake. and could not of course T
it. Meantime, the presence
If the drum horse was an annoyance to
him.
Yale took to himself glass of the old
brandy, three cheroots, and his friend,
Martyr. and they all left the mess to-
,ether. Yale and Martyr conferred for
,wo hours in Yale's quarters, but only
The bull terrier who keeps watch over
Eale's boot trees knows what they said.
horse, hooded and sheeted to his ears,