The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1900-03-29
CHAPTER III.

had been dismal. A soft south wind
had kept the fogs Of the Pacific far out
TO sen and cleared the summer sky OF
every wisp Of vapor. The sun Of early
August shoue hot and strong upon the
sandy wastes between the western linn
its Of the division camps and the !oamy
strand beneath the low bluffs, and beat
upon the cnnvas homes of the rejoicing
soldiery, Stacking cloth and cordage SO
that the trim tent lines had become
broken and jagged. thereby setting the
teeth Of ''Old Squcers" on edge ms he
gnxed grimly from under the brim his
upsightly felt hat and called for his one
faithful henchman, the orderly. Even
his adjutant could not condone the rcgi-
mental commanders obiee tionablc
traits, for crusticr old villain Of vet
~ran lived not In the line OF the army.
"Ould Canker" the troopers had dubbed
him during the few years he had served
In the cavalry, trnnsplanted from foot
regiment at the time OF the reorgnniza-
tion. so-callcd. of the army In II; bu.
n few years OF mounted duty In Arizona
and later In the Sioux country had sick
ened him Of cavalry life and he gladly
accepted a chance TO transfer back to
the infantry. Now, 20 years after,
risen by degrees to the grade of lieuten-
nnt-coiorel, he found himself In com
mand Of famous old regiment Of regu-
lars, whose colonel had donned the stars
Of n general officer of volunteers, and
the pet name--save the mark--0f cav
II IA, k,J vxla N<.N hn Nnt q
tcring sobriquct derived from that hor-
ror Of boyish reoders--the ill-favored
schoolmaster Of Dothcboys hall. lie
Ind come to the --teenth with n halo
Of condemnation from the regiment In
which he had served as major and won
his balcful name, and "the boys" Of his
command soon learned to like him even
less than those who had dubbed him
"Squeers." because, as they explained.
there wasn't any privilege or pleasure
he would not 'do the boys" out OF IL he
possibly could. Gordon had promptly
rendered his resignation rs regimental
adjutant when his beloved colonel left
the post TO report for duty in the army
destined for Cuba, but Lieut.-Col. Can
ker declined TO accept II, and fairly told
Gordon that. ns he hadn't friend
among the subaltcrns. there was no one
else to take Il. Then. too. the colonel
himself added word or two and settled
The matter.
A big review had been ordered for
the morning. An entire brigade of
sturdy volunteers was already forming
and marching out by bnttnlions to their
regimental parades, the men showing
in their easy stride and elastic carriage
the effects OF two months hard drill and
gradually increasing discipline. The
regulars were still out in the park. hid
den by the dense foliage and busy with
their company drills. The adjutant and
clerk were at their papers In the big
Office tent. and only the sentries, the
hxi1t ard the special duty men remained
but the body of camp. There was no
one. said Private Noonan to himself, rs
he paced the pathway in front Of the
coloncl's tent, after having scrupulous-
ly salutcd him on his appearance: mo
wan fur the ould man To whack at, bar
rim it's me-" but even Canker could
find nothing to "whack at" in this vet
ernn soldier who had served in the
ranks since the days of the great war
and had borne the messages of such
men MS Sheridan, Thomas and McPher-
son when Cankcr himself was sweating
under his knapsack and musket. Like
most men, even most Objectionable
men. Canker had some redeeming fea-
lures, and that was one of them-hc
had been a private soldier. and brave
one, too, and was proud oft.
But life had little sunshine in II for
one of his warped. ill.conditioncd ma
lure. There was a profound conviction
in the minds of the company officers
that the mere sight of happiness or con
tent in the face of u subordinate was
more than enough to set Canker's wits
to work to wipe II out. There was no
doubt whatever in the minds of the
subalterns that the main reason why
Squeers was SO marifcstly down on
Billy Gray was the almost indestruct-
iblc expression Of good nature, jollity
and enthusiasm that had shown In the
the regiment. "If we call the old man
Squeers we should dub Billy Mark Tap
ley" said Gordon one day, when the
lad had laughed Oft the effect of an un-
usually acrimonious rasping over u
trivial error In the guard report book,
Hes no end kind when n fellows In u
hx," said Gray, in explanation, "and all
ihe time hr was soaking me was think
ing how he stood by Jimmy Carson in
his scrapc"-a serious scrape IL was
too, for young Carson, detailed to escor,
certain prisoners TO hlcatraz and in
trusted with certain funds To be turned
owe. to the chief qunrtermaster of the
department, had unaccountnbly fallen
into deep sleep aboard the train and
awoEe to find both funds and prisoners
gone. Explanations were useless. Tn,
commanding general would listen 10 nc
excuse; a court-martial was ordered
and a very worthy young officers mill
tary career seemed about to close under
cloud, when "Old Canker" threw
himself into the breach. lie Ind long
suspected the sergeant who had nc
companied the party In immediate
command Of the little guard. lie hated
the commanding general with all hi,
soul, and how II came about no on,
could thoroughly explain. but one day
Canker turned up with indubitabl,
proof that the sergeant was the thief
that he was bribed to bring about the
escape OF the prisoners, and that he had
drugged the fresh spring water h,
brought In to the young officer after
the burning heat OF the desert was lef,
behind In the dead Of the summer night