The National tribune., 1901-02-07

THEY LEFT THE MARK OF THE REC
dy II discover strawberry mark on your
| left arm, 81, and find that you're his long
lost brother. As for Cap. Bowersox,
| know that he'll at once turn over the com
mand of Company q to me, and give me
an order on the Commissary for straight
| barrel of best minie-bullet whisky, 500
yards point-blank range
| well, he won't, if l know him. an
swcred 81. Hell be mighty glad to see
you, but if he allows drop of whisky In
| the company he's not the officer he used
| TO be. No, the fun'll be to have a good
supper. and then sit around the great fires,
and have the boys tell us all that has hap
pened since we left. Won't that just be
| great? An hour o. thatn be worth all
| that we've been through"
| They went up on 10 the railroad and
marched along it, to make sure of not miss
| ing their regiment. To their left, and some
| feet lower, ran the wagon road, with
thick curtain of bushes between the two.
| They were watching eagerly down the
| line of track for q sight of a regiment
when they heard Col. McGillicuddy' we'll
remembered voice command:
battalion, HALTi Front. Right dressi
| 'FRONT.' Backward march to clear the
road Halt! Right dress! Front. Order,
ARMS! Stack, ARMS
| NOW, NEIL, cOHIlnueu Lie toiOuti, Tlu-
| ing down the road to the center of the
regiment, to address it in Il more conyersa-
| tional tone:
| ..Break ranks, and cook your supper.
| After supper we'lr'--
He was interrupted by a wild cheer
| from the railroad bank above Of: "Hooray
for the 200th Injianny Volunteer Infantry!
Three cheers for the 200th lnjianny.
| The cheers were followed by tumultu-
1 ., tI,n lp1c ii and bic
squad tore down from the embankment
and rushed into the breaking ranks. The
| veterans of the regiment recognized their
| old comrades at once, sent up an answer
| ing cheer, and everybody pressed around
TO shake Sis and Shorty's hands, who tried
hard to take all of them at once.
As the commotion subsided little, Col
| McGillicuddy rode up and said smilingly,
as he extended his hand to 81:
Sergeant that is a very unceremonious
way in which to enter my camp"
| Il know it is, Colonel" said 81, be-
| thinking himself and becoming very sol
dierly. Il beg your pardon. l knOwed
| better than to come in this way. | in
tended to do it properly. But it seems to
me that we've bin trying to get to the
regiment for more'n year, and had all
sorts o times in doing it, and we've bin
hunting you through the corps all day, and
when we suddenly heard your voice and
saw the regiment, l just couldn't control
my self nor the boys"
mo apologies, Sergeant; none is neces-
sary for minute. I'm so very glad to see
you that we won't stand on ceremony Of
any kind"
Col. McGullicuddy," said 81, in the
most formal manner, Il have to report the
arrival of myself and Corporal Elliott,
with 5S furloIghed men and recruits of
| the detachment we were ordered to take
| charge of at Indianapolis. We lost one
man killed on the way, and left one severe
| ly wounded behind in the hospital at De-
| catur, Ala. All the rest present and ac-
| counted for.
"A very excellent report" answered the
! Colonel, in his official manner. MAKE
written report to the Adjutant of the ac-
| tions in which you were engaged. Much
better than could have expected. Adju-
| tant, take charge of these men and dis
| tribute them to their companies. Ser
| geant (resuming his friendly tone), I'm
more glad to see you than | can tell you.
| felt all the time that you would come
| through, if it was in the cloth, but | gave
you up after we started from Atlanta. /
suppose you have had quite time. The
| first leisure we have l want you to come
to my tent and tell me all about it. To
| night we've a big job of railroad destruc-
ton on hand. You had better go right over
| to 20. u and get your supper.
| 1t was hard work for Si and the rest
TO eat all they wanted to after their long
| march; drink as much coffee as their sys-
tens demanded, and answer all the ques-
| tiOns that the eager members Of Co. Q
| fired at them. They had scarcely gotten
half as much as they wanted when the
bugle blew Attention." and the regiment
fell swiftly into line.
Nov, men," said the Colonel, walking
| down to the center, "the plan is this: Co.
A will 90 up the road about half mile.
just this side of that clump of trees, and
deploy as skirmishers, about a pace apart.
The other companies will follow and do
the same, back to here. Then when the
bugle sounds Forward the line viii move
to the railroad, and each man will station
himself opposite the end of tie. When
the bugle sounds Ready he viii stoop and
take hold of the end of the tie. At the
sound Fire he viii lift his end up and
throw it over. Follow the bugle prompt
ly, and throw the whole length of the track
over at once, just like an Order, Arms
After you've thrown the track over, pull
the ties, stringers and rails apart-some
tools and sledges will be distributed by the
Ouartermaster, to help you do this-make
piles of the stringers and ties, set them
afire, and lay the rails on them. After the
rails get redhot, twist and bend them in
some way, so that the rebels cannot
straighten them out and use them again."
Say, Si,' said Shorty, with a nod of
approval toward the Colonel, "old mans
a planner, amt he? Shad couldn't we
laid out that job better"
"Great head-long as a watermelon"
answered 81.
Though tired with their days march,
the regiment went at the work with enthu-
siasm, and quickly the word went along
the line that everybody was in place.
Ready" blarsd the bugls, and each