Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1900-02-08

N EMxs1<H ~ eign to every in
4 YWk z stinGt within you
7 A w h n you sit
down to reason
about it, after the manner of the age
may be the very one you will follow
when there is no time for reason. If
any one had told Mackworth that un-
der fire he would be coward, Mack
worth would have knocked the in
formant down then and there, and
have reflected upon the danger to his
commission afterward.
Mackworth had been graduated,
too, but being right minded boy, he
remembered that it was to Horatius
that the molted image was made, and
not to the fellow who built the bridge;
so he very properly chose the cavalry,
and heaven rewarded him by sending
him straight to the frontier. And this
was in the days when there was a
frontier; when men endured discom-
forts that they sigh to know again, as
none ever sigh for the luxuries of the
past; when the Apache and the Chiri-
cahua were in the land, and still
struggling to be masters of it; and
when woman was truly blessing of
the gods, and might, even under dis
advantages, have her pick of the de-
partment. But as there is no woman
in all this, that is irrelevant.
Except after the manner of cadets
which is not to be taken seriously
Mackworth had not let women enter
into his scheme of existence. His
ideals were of another sort, just then.
He was young and full of belief and
things, and he thought that the way
to win the approval of the War De-
partment and the gratitude of his
country was to avoid wire pulling, and
to kill Indians. Therefore he reioiced
greatly when, after only six weeks of
his thoroughly undesirable garrison,
Chatto took the Chiricahuas on the
warpath, and he was ordered out in
the field. He had had his kit all rolled
in rubber poncho, and his mess chest
pretty well stocked for the whole of
the six weeks. He believed that a
soldier should be always in readiness.
He believed so many things then
though, before long the bottom fell
out of his universe, and he was filed
with an enduring skepticism. And
this was how it came about:
The first time he was under fire was
when they were caught at rather Il
disadvantage among the pines in the
Mogollons. The fight began about
dusk and lasted we'll into the night.
1t may have been the result of some
bugaboo stories of his babyhood, which
had fostered an unconquerable fear of
the dark; it may have been some lurk-
ing instinct, or it may have been just
blue funk which overcame him. Any
way, he hid behind bowlder, ,crouched
And covered there, trembling SO that
his carbine fell from his hands.
And Morley, his captain, found him
SO. What are you doing?" he de-
manded. He was an Irishman and a
soldier of the old school, but he did
not swear. Mackworth knew, from
that, how bad it was. He scrambled
up and babbled. sect out of there, 4"
the captain said. He would have used
better tone to one of the troop ours.
Mackworth felt for his carbine and
got out, staggering, but no longer
afraid, only ashamed-sickeningly
acknowledgement all endurance. He
tried hard to get himself killed after
tha<. He walked up and down in
front of his men, giving orders and
smoking cigarettes, and doing his best
to serve as target. The captain
watched him and began to understand
His frown relaxed "You'd better
get under cover" he suggested; "you
are taking needless risks" Mack
worth looked at him with wide, blank
eyes, and did not answer. His face
was not only white now, it was gray
and set, like the face of a corpse.
lnorley's heart softened. "It's only
a baby, anyway" he said to himself,
"and 1t is unhappy out of all proper
ton" And presently he went to him
again. "Will you get under cover,
Mackworth?" he insisted.
NO." said the lieutenant, 81
won't"
The captain swore now, fierco oaths
and loud. 81 order you back under
cover, sir"
Mackworth glanced at him and went
on smoking. Morley did not fancy
his own position, arguing with green
boy, fully exposed to an invisible
enemy. He knew that wasting officers
is pretty, but is not war. 'I shall
order You to the rear under arrest,
unless you get back there with the
men Immediately.
Mackworth retired, with look at
his superior for which he should have
been court-martialed After that the
scout went the way of most scouts, be.