The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-11-20


swer for me in the mornin. Thin me
an him will fight as we've done before
him to go an me to hould him-an so
we'll both come on the books for dis
turhin in barricks. I've belted him, an
I've bruk his head, an I've talked to
him, but tbs no manner av use whin
the fits on him. He's as good bhoy as
ever stepped whin his minds clear.
know fwhat S comm, though, this night
in barricks Lord send he doesn' t loose
off whin / rise for to knock him down.
'Tis that that's in my mind day an
night. 4"
This put the case in much less
pleasant light and fully accounted for
Mulvaney' s anxiety. He seemed to be
trying to coax Ortheris out of the eft,
for he shouted down the bank where
the boy was lying;
Listen now, you wild the pore pink
toes an the glass eyesl Did you shwim
the Irawadi at night, benin me, as
bhoy shud. or We're you hidin under
bed, as you was at Ahmed Kheyl?''
This was at once gross insult and
direct lie. and Mulvaney meant it to
bring on fight But Ortheris seemed
shut up in some sort of trance He an
swered slowly, without sign of irrita-
ton, in the same cadenced voice as he
had used for his firing party orders;
'sHi swum the Irawadi in the
night as you know, for to take the
town of Lungtungpen, nakid an with
out fear Hand where was at Ahmed
Kheyl you know, an four bloomin
pathans know too. But that was sum-
mat to do. an l didn't think O. dyin
Now I'm sick to go 'ome-go 'ome-go
'omel No, ain't nanny sick, because
my uncle brung me up, but I m sick for
London again: sick for the sounds O.
'er, an the sights O 'er, an the stinks
O. 'er-orange peel an hasphaIte an
gas comm in over Vaux all bridge; sick
for the rail goin down to Box Ill, with
your gal on your knee an new clay
pipe in your face. That. an the Stran
lights where you knows ev'ry one, an
the copper that takes you up is old
friend that TUX you up before, when
you was little, smitchy boy lyin loose
tween the Temple an the dark marches.
No bloomin guard mountin. no bloomin
rotten stone, nor khaki. an yourself
your own master, with gal to take an
see the humaners practicin a hookin
dead corpses out O the Serpentine O
Sundays. An lef' all that for to serve
the wilder beyond the seas where there
amt no women an there ain no liquor
worth 'avin, an there amt nothin to
see, nor do. nor say, nor feel, nor think.
Lord love you, Stanley Orth ris, but
you re bigger bloomin fool than the
rest o the reg 'ment an Mulvaney
wired togetherl There's the wilder sit
| tin at 'sme with gold crown'd on 'er
cad, an ere am Hi, Stanley Ortiz ris,
| the widder's property, rottin fooll'
| His voice rose at the end of the SEN
tence. and he wound up with six shot
Anglo ernacular oath. Mulvaney said
nothing, but looked at me as if he ex-
pected that could bring peace to poor
Ortheris' troubled brain
remembered once at Rawal Pindi
having seen man, nearly mad with
drink. sobered by being made fool of.
Some regiments may know what l
mean. hoped that we might shake off
Ortheris in the same way, though he
was perfectly sober, SO said:
whats the use of grousing there
and speaking against the widow2''
81 didn't" said Ortheris. 'elp me
Gawd never said word ag'in 'er, an
I wouldn mot if was to desert this
minutel'
Here was my opening. "Well, you
meant to. anyhow What's the use of
cracking on for nothing7 Would you
slip it now if you got the chance?''
sony try mel" said Ortheris jump
ing to his feet as if he had been stung
Mulvaney jumped too. .'Fwhat are
you goin to do?' said. he.
"Help Ortheris down to Bombay or
Karachi, whichever he likes. You can
report that he separated from you be-
fore tiffin and left his gun on the bank
herel'
"I'm to report that-am II" said
Mulvaney slowly Every welll If
Orth 'ris names to desert now an will
desert now. an you, sorr, who have been
a friend to me an to him. will help him
to ut. l, Terence Mulvaney. on my
oath, which I've never bruk yet, will re-
port as you say But here he stepped
up to Ortheris and shook the stock of
the fowling piece in his face-"your
fistes help you, Stanley Ortiz is, if ever
\ | come across you g'inl''
81 don't care' said Ortheris. "I'm
sick O this dorg's life. Give me a
chanst Don't play with me. Lee me
go!"
strip, said l, land change with
me and then I'll tell you what to do =
l hoped that the absurdity of this
would check Ortheris. but he had kick
ed off his ammunition boots and got rid
Of his tunic almost before had loosed
my shirt collar Mulvaney gripped me
by the arm
1.-The fits on him; the fit 8 workin on
him still. By my honor an sowl, we
shall be accessiry to a desartion yet
only % days, as you say, sorr, or Sc.
but think av the shame - the black
shame to him an mel" had never seen
Mulvaney SO excited
But Ortheris was quite calm, and, as