The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1901-12-25

appeared s1iSy and OOOrisii. !.c was
only hunting for the just ,.ct!ir::n anc
the proper note and had foun,. ncithe,
because he had never faced himself ir
a big thing. With his men l.c was a.
ill at ease as he was with his mess. ant
his voice betrayed him. l heard two
orders, and then: Sergeant, what ii
that rear-rank man doing, d--n him?'
That was sufficiently bad. A company
officer ought not to ask sergeants fo,
information. He commands, and com.
mands are not held by syndicates.
1t was too dusty to see the drill &C
curately, but l could hear the excitet
little voice pitching from octave t.
octave and the uneasy ripple O.
badgered or bad-tempered files running
down the ranks. Ouless had come OF
parade as sick of his duty as were the
men of theirs The hot sun had told OF
everybody's temper, but most of all OF
the youngest mans. He had evidently
lost his self-control, and, not possessing
the nerve or the knowledge to breal
off till he had recovered it again, wa.
making bad worse by using lillian
guage. That is to say, he was abusing
his command.
The men shifted their ground ant
came close under the gun l was lying
on. They were wheeling quarter-right
and they did it very badly, in the nat
ural hope of hearing Ouless swea,
again. He could have taught then
nothing new, but they enjoyed the ex.
hibition. Instead of swearing Dulles.
lost his head completely and struck out
nervously at the wheeling fiank-mar
with little Malacca riding cane tina,
he held in his hand for pointer. The
cane was topped with thin silver over
lacquer and the silver had worn through
in one place, leaving triangular flap
sticking up. had just time to see that
Ouless had thrown away his commits.
sion by striking soldier when hearo
the rip of cloth and a piece of gray
shirt showed under the queens shoddy
on the mans shoulder. 1t had been
the merest nervous flick of an exasper.
ated boy-but quite enough to forfeit
his commission, since it had been dealt
in anger to volunteer, and no pressed
man who could not under the rules OF
the service reply. The result of it.
thanks to the natural depravity OF
things, was as though Ouless had cut
the mans coat off his back. Knowing
the new draft by reputation, I was
fairly certain that every one of them
would swear with many oaths that
Ouless had actually thrashed the man.
In that case Ouless would do well tc
pack his trunk. His career as a serv.
ant of the queen in any capacity was
ended. The wheel continued and the
men halted and dressed Immediately
opposite my resting place. Ouless' face
was perfectly bloodless. The thanking
mans was dark red, and I could see
his lips moving in wicked words. He
was Ortheris. After seven years serv-
ice and three medals, he had been
struck by boy younger than himself.
Further, he was my friend and good
man. a proved man and an Englishman.
The shame of the thing made me as
hot as it made Ouless cold, and if Or
theirs had slipped in a cartridge and
cleared the account at once l should
have rejoiced The fact that Ortheris
of all men had been struck proved that
ChS wy SouAu INV AoSC huO"A WAOIu
he was hitting: but he should have re-
membered that he was no longer a boy.
And then was sorry for him, and then
l was angry again, and Ortheris stared
in front of him and grew redder and
redder.
The drill halted for moment. No
one knew why, for not three men could
have seen the insult, the wheel being
end on to Ouless at the time. Then,
Brander, the captain, crossed the drill
ground, and his eye was caught by not
more than square foot of gray shirt
over shouldcr-blade that should have
been covered by well-fitting tunic.
"Heavens and earth!" he said, cross
ing in three strides. "Do you let your
men come on parade in rags, sir? What's
that scare-crow doing here? Fall out
that flank, man. What do you mean by
deuce do you mcan?'
beg " pardon, SIR" said Ortheris.
II scratched it against the guard-gate
running up to parade"
Scratched it! Ripped it up, you
mean. It's half way up your back"
ut was n little tear at first, sir, but
in portin' arms it got stretched, sir. an
l can't look behind me. felt it givin',
SIR
"Ha" said Brander. II should think
you did feel it give. thought it was
one of the new draft. You've a good
pair of shoulders. Go on!'
lie turned to go. Ouless stepped aft
err him. very white, and said something
in low voice.
"Hcy, whay? What! Ortheris"-thc
voice dropped. saw Ortheris salute,
say something and stand ut attention.
DISMISS" said Brander. CURLY. The
men We're dismissed. II can't make
this out. You say"-he nodded at Gu
less. who said something again. Orthcr-
is stood still. the torn flap of his tunic
falling nearly to his waist-bclt. He had,
as Brander said, II good pair of shout
dcrs, and prided himself on the tit Of his
tunic.
beg y pardon, sir" I heard him