The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1899-06-07

mounds OF roses, ana the DOuy, uHoef
sacking, was carried out to the place
where the anthrax cases We're crematad.
Two-thirds of the regiment followed.
There was no band, but they all sang
ssThe Place Where the Old Horse Died
as something respectful and appropriate
to the occasion When the corpse was
dumped into the grave and the men be-
gan throwing down armfuls Of roses to
cover it, the farrier sergeant ripped out
an oath and said aloud, ssWhy, it amt
the drum horse any more than it's
mei' The troop sergeant majors asked
him whether he had left his head IN
the canteen. The farrier sergeant said
that he knew the drum horses feet as
well as he knew his own, but he was
silenced when he saw the regimental
number burned in on the poor, stiff,
upturned near fore.
Thus was the drum horse of the
White hussars buried-the farrler ser
geant grumbling. The sacking that Gov
cred the corpse was smeared in places
with black paint, and the farrier ser
geant drew attention to this fact But
the troop sergeant major of z troop
kicked him severely on the shin and
told him that he was undoubtedly
drunk
On the Monday following the burial
the colonel sought revenge on the White
,hussars Unfortunately. being at that
time temporarily in command of the
station, he ordered a brigade field day.
He said that ne wished to make the
regiment s.sweat for their damned inso-
lence, and he carried out his notion
thoroughly. That Monday was one OF
the hardest days ia the memory OF the
White hussars. They were thrown
against a skeleton enemy and pushed
forward and withdrawn and dismount-
I'd and scientifically handled" in ev-
cry possible fashion over dusty country
till they sweated profusely. Their only
amusement came late in the day when
they fell upon the battery Of horse ar
tiuery and chased it for two miles This
was personal question, and most OF
the troopers had money on the event,
the gunners saying openly that they
had the legsof the White hussars- They
were wrong. A march past concluded
the campaign, and when the regiment
got back to its lines the men were
coated with dirt from spur to chin
strap.
The White hussars have one great and
peculiar privilege. They won it at Fon-
tenoy, think.
Many regiments possess special rights,
such as wearing collars with undress
uniform, or a bow of ribbon between
the shoulders, or red and white roses in
their helmets on certain days of the
year. Some rights are connected with
regimental saints and some with regi-
mental successes. All are valued highly,
but none so highly as the right of the
White hussars to have the band playing
when their horses are being watered in
the lines Only one tune is played and
that tune never varies l don't know
its real name. but the White hussars
call it .sTake Me to London Again.
It sounds very pretty. The regiment
would sooner be struck off the roster
than forego its distinction.
After the .sdismiss" was sounded, the
officers rode off home to prepare for
stables, and the men filed into the lines,
riding easy-that is to say, they opened
their tight buttons, shifted their he'll
NETS, and began to joke or to swear as
the humor took them. the more careful
slipping off and easing girths and curbs.
A good trooper values his mount exact
" as much as he values himself, and
believes, or should believe, that the two
together are irresistible where women
or men, girls or guns, are concerned.
Then the orderly officer gave the or
der water horses, and the regiment
loafed off to the squadron troughs which
were in rear of the stables and between
these and the barracks. There were four
huge troughs. one for each squadron.
arranged en- echelon, SO that the whole
regiment could water in ten minutes it
ii liked But it fingered for II, as a
rule, while the band played
The band struck up as the squadrons
fled off the troughs, and the men slip
ped their feet out of the stirrups and
chafed each other The sun was just
setting in big. hot bed of rcd cloud,
and the road to the civil lines seemed to
run straight into the suns eye. There
was a little dot On the road. It grew
and grew till it showed as horse, with
sort of gridiron thing on his back
The red cloud glared through the bars
of the gridiron. Some of the troopers
shaded their eyes with their hands and
said, "What the mischief az that there
'orse got on i'm p
In another minute they heard a neigh
that every soul-horse and man-in the
regiment knew, and saw, heading
straight toward the band, the dead
drum horse of the White hussarsl
On his withers banged and bumped
the kettledrums draped in Grape, and
on his back. very stiff and soldierly, sat
a bareheaded skeleton.