Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-02-23

..ssssases!s>A 4 >AgsssHo self more Than is
Common or iudicious for one of Uncle
Sans horsemen in field or post
A troop is a family of big boys.
Some of them are big bad boys, and
an odd thing about it is that these
are not always the unpopular ones.
Troopers do not fall on the neck of
new man. They treat him with pin
nacled dignity, like old cavalry horses
treat additions to the picket line. If
the new man, in reasonable period,
develops no Objectionable traits, he
will find himself a member of the
family, which are other words for
good fellow.
But he can't be silent man nor
sneak; neither can he manipulate
voluminous correspondence. These
things are fatal. Lander was silent
man.
He was also my s'bunkie, which
means that could put out hand al
most any time in the night and touch
hims. Naturally, under such condi-
tiohs, my very proper prejudiee againet
him on account of his internal reserve
would either grow into an uncomfort-
able suspicion, if not worse; or else I
would learn to look beyond this seri-
Gus mental arrangement of his. As it
was, l began to feel for him that
strong, wholesome respect which one
always has for physical capabiiity,
when it is not accompanied by mental
sluggishness.
Then I liked Lander's face. He
was handsome fellow-handsome
astride his horse, and at mess and at
grooming--handsome when silent.
Yet have seen his eyelids droop over
q wicked pair of shining eyes, and
seen an ugly, bloodless look about his
lower lip.
I saw this on the hot day when
Lieutenant Mat Grim kicked him in
the back, because-I wish knew my
self. 1 will tell you what 1 saw.
A couple of troops of the regiment
were out on target range. We were
camped in bunch of unaspiring foot
hills which, late in the afternoon,
rested in the huge conical shadow of
Old Baldy The tip of Old Baldy's
icy cone punctures the sky at one of
the highest points in Arizona. We
were in that sand-stricken land where
wayfarers have to climb for water and
dig for fleetwood. We were in that
heat-ridden land where the lean, long
coyote scents death and trots eau
tiously thither-where the vulture
cranes his bare crimson neck from be-
hind cloud, and peers earthward for
dying things.
Lieutenant Mat Grim was q little
wasp-waisted chap, who had dirty
trick of getting mad. His West Point
days were too fresh in his mind for
him to be good officer. He never
allowed himself to lose sight of the
fact that he was a commissioned
officer and that mighty stretch of
superiority lay between him and
common, enlisted man. Grim had
just been transferred to our troop.
lander had come from another regi-
ment two months before. The two
men met that hot afternoon-just be-
fore grooming time.
Lander saluted. Grim stopped
short, caught at his breath several
times and began to relieve himself of
lot of livid English, all of which
struck me as mysterious. Lander
stood sat attention." said something
in low voice and walked away.
Lieutenant Grim was ungovernable
He sprang after Lander, kicked him
~ 4ba hool and aoi1.
'I'll make life miserable for you,
Charlie Howard which Judge must
have been Lander $ civilian name.
Lander larghed low and melodi-
ously. L Sasl thinking how wicked
Lander lonkedl when he laughed that
:. waI Then the bugle sounded
stables sas
Every nan In the troop detested the
Lieutenant and all admired Lander for
keeping h.gnsrye. One of the most
proftabies things a soldier can do IS
to strike a su perior officer The same
kind of finish awaits him as if he had
been found sleeping at his post.