Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-08-30

ne CHOSEN 10 act as orderly 10 the COM
| mander of the garrison. As you can
readily imagine there was a great deal
of rivalry between Kelly and Devine
and also between troop X and company
c, and we never went on guard mount
together without the members Of each
command betting on the result,
sTAKED ALL THEY HAD.
zone day there was an unusually
heavy stake up Company c, betting
every blanket and dollar that It's mem-
beers could rake and scrape that Deyint
would be orderly, all Of which was COW
cred by troop X, the members OF which
were equally certain the Kelly would be
the successful competition for the hon
or. When we marched out to the par
ade ground you can Just bet that SOL
ONION in all his glory was not crcum-
stance to Kelly and Devne, who were
as neat and clean as two pins, with
their belt buckles and guns gltterIng
In the sun like diamonds. II was the
custom OF the adjutant to inspect the
guns first, walking along the front of
the line, and after this to inspect the
equipment Of the men. and as usual,
Money was on hand, and following him
on his rounds between the files Of MEN.
Everyone was guessing who would
be orderly, and some OF the boys OF our
company Deylne included, were feeling
just the least little bit shaky for the
reason that, on that particular occasion,
Kelly was surely out OF sight. We sim
ply glittered and shone all over like a
piece of brand new silverware. and al
though Devlne was gotten up to kill,
every man on the ground somehow felt
in his bones that Kelly would be the
man selected for orderly. / am con-
WINGED that such would have been the
case had It not been for an action that
turned fortune In our favor.
In following the adjutant about on
his rounds Nancy had her attention ar
rested and drawn TO the bright and
gltterlng buckle on Kelly's carblne
Sling, and stopping on her round with |
the adjutant, she proceeded, to Kelly's |
dismay and CONSERVATION, to deliberate !
ly lick the buckle over from endto end, |
leaving II as dun and dngy as II would |
have been after a weeks neglect The |
result was that the adjutant, on his |
second round. inspecting the equim- /
ment Of each man, noticed the dlngy |
ana unpublished state Of Kelly's buckle, !
and appointed Devine to act as or
derby.
I'VE had a great time chatting the
Troop X boys after guard mount, and |
won big pile Of money, blankets, and
tobacco, but the funniest part Of the
story have not told and that was that
the men of Troop X got mad, and swore
up and down that some one In our COM
pany had trained Nancy TO go round
and lick the buckle on'Kellys equip.
ment
a DEER AS A MASCOT.
81 remember a deer, which we called
Bob, that | caught and trained myself
up at Fort Meeker, Just after the fam.
GUS ThOrnburg massacre and Capt.
Dodge's celebrated forced march with
the Colored regulars. At that time the
country around Fort Meeker was fairly
alive with game OF all kinds. and one
day. when a party Of soldiers, myself
Included, were out hunting one of them
shot doe that had two little fawns
that had been weaned scarcely over a
week, one OF them got away but with
the assistance OF very INTELLIGENT
shepherd dog named Ring that be-
lOnged 10 my company ! succeeded in
capturing the other one alive, and
him into the fort.
He became quite tame, and grew up
at the fort to full maturity. He and
Ring became great friends. and used TO
take turns chasing each other about
over the parade ground, romplng in
this way for hours at a time. one day
q herd Of wild deer came within sight
Of the fort, and then II was that Bob
began 20 act very strangely shifting the
air, uttering that peculiar whistle which |
Is about the only noise that q deer ever
makes, and paving the ground. He |
would not play with Ring any more.
and finally, after many strange antics.
he bounded off across The prairie, never
TO return.
But the stranrest part Of the matter
was that although he never came
back, but resumed his wild life, he was
by several " our men on
hunts which they took long after he
left the fort lie was not afraid Of them.
and would come pretty close when his
name was called but the minute they
would essay to ley hands on him he
would bound away In the direction the
lther deer had taken. Several times
Ring happened to be along, and the two
It once recognized each other as old
friends. rubbing noses and chasing each
'ther around In q circle lust rs they
lsed TO do at the fort. Bob was finally I
'hot by some hupter who did not know
lin, for none Of our men would ever
lave thought ~ doing such a thing
Post,