The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-12-14
THE SERGEANT or TIE s2ND.

his psychCIogical possibilities by his size
or complexion. Take CHG Taylor for
Instance. he was the smallest. red
headedest, ugliest. ''ornierest soldier II
the Thirty second Regiment. From the
time the command left tbs Preside Il
after the surprise and massacre of Cal
ignac he never cid have any standing
with lieutenants. captain or colonel. In
fact, he spent half his time il the guard
house and was known III the brigade as
trouble-maker and insubordlnate-
When Colonel Gary. of the Thirty-sec-
ond, got orders 10 send q battalion around
by the Cocooan River TO Gagni, and 10
make a connection with the Seventh Ar
tiilery en- route, CHG TAYLOR was
happy man and a good soldier What
he needed was action. and here was the
Irst chance he had since he landed in
Manila. First ne got away from the bad
influences of the cheap groSgeries Of the
archipelago. and. second, he had a sick
comrade on his hands. Tim Scuily was
his ''bunky. and "Chig" knew al about
his record in the states. Tim had
done time" back in the states. but IN
spite Of that he had been a good soldier
and had split rations with the hungry
CHG" That's a good deal. If you're
a soldier YOU know what a half-portion
Of beans and sow belly means
Everybody hated CHG" He was the
S-4istiltSL man II tlte regiment TNcu-tcrG-
ed, freckled quarrelsome, lazy and AFRO
CANT. he had all the besetting sins of the
despised rookie and none of his virtues.
for he was economical, voracious as TO
his food, jealous OF his honor and moral
In the fine sense.
CHG was a sergeant and so thorough
~ despised that when there was sink
digging or garbage moving 10 be done
he was the elect, the chosen one. He was
fs, ?, Ie1f- e hi
damniag his captain and bclittling his
heutenants 10 that degree that the men
with shoulder straps began to suspect
singing hurts from the rear. Nothing
was put past" CHG Taylor.
THAT fellow will land in a post prison. -
said Lieutenant Campfield. the West
Pointer. He has a bad heart and a
mean. yellow eye"
And so when X Company and the rest
Of the battalion was sent round by the
Cocoon River. TAYLOR, the ''freckled SER
geaut" got all the dirty work. Every
commissioned whipper-snapDer in the
command used" him for valet and
bossed him around like hired man. At
Bahgnag it was supposed that the Thirty
second Battalion would be re-enforced
by Major Capper's two companies of ar
tillery-they called them BATTERIES but
in reality they were infantry with two
arrived in Balignag il was found that
Capper was twenty miles to the north
west on a little excursion of his own de-
vising.
The only telegraph operator IN the COM
mand was a ham native, and when
Major Helery tried to reach headquarters
he found that his operator" couldn't
transpose an English message and the
receiver" couldn't translate one in Span
- Ill, - ,r-fr~ IN
his battalion. but his orders were plain.
Push on to Calignac," they read;
make a junction with Cspper at Balig-
nag, taking the Hotchkisses, and report
back to headquarters inside of sixty-two
hours"
1t was all plain enough, but when Hell
cry and his command reached Balignag
and the teegrapher proved a failure, and
Capper was missing and half the bat
TALON was sick with it's twenty-four
hours in the morasses things began 10
look bad for the famous Thirty
Major Helery was worried. but he could
not reach headquarters. The jungle, full
of ''niggers," and a sea of yellow mud,
lay before him.
I'm goin' to lay down." said ScuIly.
Don't do it. Tim said "Chig" Tay-
Tor. We're from the same state. the
same county and the same town, an the
gO00 Lore KNOWS ain SOL no EtpulhtApu
to waste. Have you?"
The day after Major Helery left with
out his reinforcement he was ordered
back to headquarters, but he didn't get
the message. When the orderly rode out
six miles after him he was twenty miles
into the jungle, and Tim Sculiy was still
talking about laying down. CHG,
the red headed ne er-do-well, was carry
ing the load.
1t was "a Friday that the Thirty-second
captured Calignac and drove the mig
gers" 400 strong, out of the village.
Beyond the village lay rows on rows of
stunted brush. and the Hotchkisses would
have come in handy, but not having
them Major Helery pushed on, every Off
Ger and man carrying rife and all
loaded to the guards with extra cart
ridges.
As usual. "Chig' Taylor and his asso-
ciates, the meanest gang in the regi-
ment," were pushed forward TO do scout
duty Each day they found themselves
from one to five miles ahead Of the col
umn. 1t was on Tuesday. four miles 10
the front, that they ran into Del Caseo,
the half breed. with 400 Tagals. well arm
ed and sure of their superior knowledge
of the jungies. "Chig" Taylor was ad-
mittedly the crack shot of his company.
Scullv. Tim. the man with the bad foot,
was his only rival. They We're coming,
forty Of them, the advance guard Of
Major Helery's expedition, across sub
merged rice field, when the niggers
opened up.
Nothing showed above the level surface
of the flood water. but the little lateral
ridges Of the rice burrows. There was no
shelter.
..Br-rr-r-r." sang the Mauser bullets.
smashing the dirty water as they skim
med like hot hail into the wet. Six sharp
shooters were fuddling in the water.
Tim Scullv was out in front and CHG
Taylor. the sergeant, carrying his load,
was on his flank.
CHG" growled the soldier. II n goin'
10 stand up and shoot back"
lay down behind the rice ridges and
shoot. yelled the red-headed sergeant
Not me" Tetorted the stubborn Soul
~. II didn't lay down for the sore foot,
and Ia rather die than walk TO Gagni."
'.Br-rr-r-r." sang the bullets.
Say, CHG % grumhled Scully. leveling
his rife at the dim. gray row OF stunted
trees when the rattle Of rifles sung; say,
CHG
YES. Tim" said Taylor. the sergeant.
IF 1 git il here. CHG
'.Bsng. bingi-' went his rife.
III sit it here, chs, VIII you drag
me out? / don't want to fan into them
niggers' hands
The sizirrnlsh line had fallen back be-
hind the river trenches now CHG Tay-
Tor and SculIy were out knee-ceep fl the
water ell alone The water about them
was splsshiug with rain Of Tagal bui-
lets Then ScuIly went down IL the tnlre
with grunt.
..tles-ve hit ne Rememter. don't
want no bolo business IN mine.
And then he sl0lghee over in the mud
a-d .C.hIE. Tavlor. ne red-healel ser