The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1900-02-15
Copyright. 1899. BY F. ,rennyson Neely.l

s
company of student volunteers was
formed; its members agreed to drill an
hour daily in addition to the prescribed
work, provided Billy would stake holdn
in earnest, and this was the company
that, under his command, swept the
boards six weeks later and left San
Pedro's contingent an amazed and dis
gusted crowd. Then Billy went to
metaphorical pieces again until the wal
clouds oVerspread the land; then like
his fathers son he girded up his loins,
went in for a commission and won.
And here he was a Sub" in Uncle Sans
stalwart infantry with three classmates
serving under him in the ranks and half
a dozen more, either as junior officers
or enlisted men, in the camps of the
volunteers. He was a handsome boy,
a healthy, hearty boy, and, as boys go,
rather a good boy-a boy in whom his
mother would have found, had she not
long since been lifted above the cares
of this world, much of comfort and
mor to condone, but a boy, neverthe-
less, who had given his old dragon of
a dad many an anxious hour. Now,
just as he neared the legal dividing line
between youth and years of discretion,
Billy Gray had joined the third bat
talon of his regiment, full of pluck,
hope and health, full of ambition to
make namef for himself in a profession
he loved as, except his father, he GER
tainly loved nothing else, and utterly
scofing the idea that there might come
into his life a being for the sake of
whose smile he could almost lay down
his sword, for he had yet to meet Amy
Lawrence.
"Who are the women folks up at
headquarters, Billy?" asked a youth of
his own years and rank, peering eagerly
through the drifting mist at the dim,
ghostly outlines of the generals camp.
Didn't get to see 'em. Where's the
old mantle coIonel?" was the reply.
"Chief wants him toot de SWEET"
"What's wanted? ?" called a voice from
the biggest of the neighboring tents,
and a c~lose-cropped head was thrust
out between the front tent flaps. ''That
you, Billy? Who wants the colonel?
He and the 'brig" rode over to the Pre-
sidio an hour ago-ain'tgot back. Come
A puff of warm air blew from the int
rior and confirmed the statement. 1t
was well along in summer, and not a
dozen miles away to the east men were
~strolling about with palm-leaf fans and
wilted collars. Here, close to the gray
shores Of the mighty sea, blankets and
-overcoats were in demand. Hospitality
the older officer tugged at the lacings
of the military front door, swore be-
tween his set teeth when the knots,
swollen by the wet, withstood his eff
forts, and then shouted:
Sergeant major, send somebodyhere
to open this"
A light footstep sounded on the
springy board floor, nimble fingers
worked a moment at the cords, then
the flap was thrown open and the adj
%jutant's office stood partially revealed.
It was a big wall tent backed up against
another of the same size and pattern.
Half a dozen plain chairs, two rough
board tables Uttered with books, pa
pers and smoking tobacco, an oil stove
and a cheap clothes rack on which were
hanging %raincoats, ponchos and a cape
or two, comprised all the furniture. In
a stout frame of unplaned wood, cased
in their oilskins and tightly rolled,
stood the national and state colors of
the famous regiment; and back of them,
well within the second tent, where one
clerk was just lighting a camp lantern,
were perched on rough tables a brace of
field desks with the regimental books.
The sergeant major, a veteran of years
of service in the regulars, sat at one of
them. A young soldier, he who had I'M
fastened the tent flap to admit Lieut..
Gray, was just returning to his seat
at the other. Two orderlies lounged on
a bench well beyond and back of the
sergeant majors seat, and a bugler,
with his hands in his pockets, was smok-
ing a briar-root pipe at the opposite
back doorway. Woe to the enlisted men
who sought the presence of the colonel
or adjutant through any other channel.
Il oO1 SSCuC 4lOJO4 "ou1u uIUp Oh ulIl
with the force of a baseball bat.
"Who all are over yonder at the
chief's?" asked the adjutant, as soon
as he had his visitors we'll inside, and
the soft accent as we'll as the quaint
phraseology told that in the ~colonel's
confidential staff officer a southerner
spoke.
"An the brigade and most regimental
commanders 'cept ours, T should say,
and they seem to be waiting for them.
Can't we send?" was the answer, as the
junior whipped off his campaign hat
and sprinkled the floor with the Wig
orous shakes he gave the battered felt.
"Have SENT" said his entertainer,
briefly, as he filled a pipe from the open
tobacco box and struck a safety match.
"Orderly galloped after him ten min
utes ago. Blow the brigade and bat
talon commanders! What I asked you
was who are the women up there 2"
"No, you didn't! You said who all
are up yonder?' I'm a sub, and s'posed
you meant men- soldiers = officers.
What have I to do with anybody in pet
ticoats?"
"And I'm a grizzled vet of a dozen
years duty, crows feet and gray hairs
a-comin'," grinned the adjutant, pull
ing at a long curly mustache and draw
ing himself up to his full height of six
feet, "and when you're as old as I am
and half as wise, Billy, you'uknow that
a pretty girl is worth ten times the
thought III old frumps of generals de-
mand. My name amt Gordon if I
haven't a mind to waltz over there
through the mist and the wind just to
tell them I've sent for Squeers. Then
I'll get a look at the girls"
"I've got to go back said Billy, "and
you've no business to-with Mrs. Cor