The National tribune., 1900-01-11

if you koot kct de gorn-meal for nuttings.
Dey plague de life out of me. INT der
officers amt tamt pit peter Dey all
ought TO pc blo%ed away togedder."
Capt. WirZ," said Col. Tate angrily,
you shut up, you Internal Dutch fool.
| won lake none o yer slack. I'm a
blamed sight better man than you ever
dared to be, and my men air better'n airy
Dutchman that ever ct sourcrout Shet
up, now"
"Gurnel Date" said Capt. Wirz. ignoring
the personal allusons. "how many bris-
oners haf you kot?"
Between 500 and 6OO."
"Dere it ISIS again. Petween 800 unit 800.
You don'd know how many you've kot.
YooSt like desc tamt militia officers. Dey
CANT count, unit dey ton't know anything
for certain. How many did You stard
yrom Marietta wit: III pet you'fe lost
half off dem on de roat. T'would be yoost
like you Reserfes. You'd let dem jump
!, fe drain unit SCATTER oud all ofer de goun-
try"
You're liar" said the Colonel hotly.
but wuz shot down before he'd got two
rods I've got every other that | started
with"
Il ton't pelieve it. Led mo see the lisd
de Provo-Marshal gif you. Where iss id?''
THE paper the Provo done give me?
y y
hit ter Capt. Smoots ter keep. As he had
to bring up the r'ar, | thought he orter
have hit, that he mout know how many
we had, an ter keep track o them"
"Yoost like a tamtfool Reserfe officer,
| muttered Capt Wirz under his breath.
the Colonel. Capt. Wirz hyah wants that
air paper which the Provo-Marshal at
Marietty done give me. Bring hit up
hyah.'
Capt. Smoots started to walk up the
line. unbuttoning his coat as he did so, and
putting his hand in his breast for the pocket
book, in which he had placed the paper.
a look Of blank dismay spread over his
large, red face.
Il have bin robbed" he gasped. 1--WE
done bin robbed of over $500 in Confederit
money, besides a lot of vallerable papers.
They picked my pocket, while l wuz on
the kyahS."
picked yer pocket" said Col. Tate scorn-
fully. Bright man, you air. How could
they pick yer pocket. when yo' had yer coat
buttoned up that away, an wuZ wide
dered yo'. Likely story, sah."
Likely or not. hits true as I'm liyin'
man. They done tuck away from me a
big calfskin wallet sich as I alters tote
my Justices papers in. | had in hit,
besides my papers and notes and due
DlliS, Sooo tiiat got from Ndte SIraWn 1Or
my niger boy Bounce, beside some other
money"
"Yoost like YOU tamt Reserfe officers"
snarled Capt. Wirz. "Efery dime yo' ket
near de Yankees dey sdeal you plind
Dey'd sdeal de ferry headts off YOU. if dey's
vass worth sdealings, which Gott knows
dey aind. egsbect some day dfy'll sdeal
a whole rechiment, Gurnel. unit all, unit
garry it off to de Yankee lines Yon say
id vaSs a large ledder bocket-pook? Vhell
ven Wind id. Dey CANT hide dat vrom
me. Which are de men dat vass in de gar
nit ycu? Pint dem oud."
"AlI fanks look alike to me-" said Capt
Smoots, surveying the ranks with troubled
eyes. Il can't tell them now. But | wllZ
in the r'ar kyah, an the men at that eeud
o the line must've bin the ones. as they'u 'uns
got off the train last" and he pointed to the
left of the line.
"All rigid" said Capt. Wirz. Now
were in de gar?"
'I rayally don't know" said the Captain
Il declare didn't count them
"Of course YOU didn't. you hindwoods
yokel. You'd tint half sense enough
to think off id. an if you hat fought off id.
many You probably hat sixty or zeventy
in de gar. Ven dake de lasd hundret to
make sure. Nun. two. tree, and he counted
the front rank up to 90, and them COM
manded:
side step to de left. Dere. Halt. Holt
up your hants. Now, garts, if yum of dem
moves, or trops his hants before gitdrough,
shoot him town at vunce. Don't wait for
no orters Watch dem CLOSE dat dey don't
drop nuttings to de grount unit hide id in de
sand nit der veet. Watch dem CLOSE"
lie began searching the men on the
right OF the line with swift dexterity, born
of long practice.
"There was man in the kyah wearin'
a sugar trough for a hat, "said Capt. Smoots.
cudgelling his memory. There he is. now
''Yes, unit he looks de thief all ofer," said
Capt; Wrz' ponmeinga ;a upon ds the iuckless
off your gloZe, unit hant dem to me, vun py
vun."
The dazed Irishman did as hidden.
WirZ took each garment, and ran his hand
over it, and threw it down on the ground.
Soon the man was stark naked under the
broiling sun, but no signs of the pocket
book nor of any of the papers it contained
had developed.
"There was man in the kyah that had
a poke OF meal. suggested Capt. Smoots,
pointing to another man who had received
a similar favor to Sis. "Thar he is, now"
Capt Wirz pounced on him, dragged him
out of the line, emptied his bag of meal
on the ground, stirred it up with his foot,
and then compelled him to strip naked
with like paucity of result
Wirz was getting to the end of his limited
patience.
"How pig did you say dat bocketpook
vass?" he asked Smoots.
20, quite good-sized one. Big enough
ter hold writS and summonses and capi-
ases."
20, know. Pig as a horse-collar, unit
yet you didn't know when it vass daken
afay. Veil, I'll Wind id. Ids too pig for
dem to hide"
He passed rapidly and roughly through
the rest of the 100, showing them about and
cursing them, as he examined, but, OF
course, found no pocketbook. Then he
went back to the others, and put them
through the same ordeal. When he came