Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-08-14

the roight up to 1G. Whin | give the
worrud, number wan is to fOirC at the
first mounted officer at the right for
ninst him, number two at the mkt, an
so on, an aich az We kape on shootin'
till ycz bring down yer man. Whin
they amt got any gincrals an colonels
an majors an things, mebbe they'll
shtOp to talk about it an give our rigt-
mint n chance to come up an charge
'em. Them min that amt got no
mounted officers to shoot at, foirc loike
blazes at the colors. Don't any man
shoot till holler 'toimcr"
The Jacket filling heart throb that all
soldiers can recall came upon meas Hay
down and selected rest where there
was clear way between the shrub
berry and weeds which always infest
country fence row. The promise was
Of a fight Of a kind for which | had al
ways Ionged-a fight with mass of
troops instead of with occasional heads
and shoulders half screened by trees
and stumps. But l had also longed to
be In the saddle and following dash
ing, trusty commander and with an
even chance of success. Now | was
hugging the ground, with an unfamil-
lar carbine in my hands, a Summerton
rufiian for my commander and the odds
against me at least so to l.
"Toimew screamed Mick.
Our carbines reported almost in vol
ley force style The heat simmer pre-
vented good aim, yet there were three
less heads visible above the gray line
when the smoke had been blown away.
"Kape peggin' at emp said Mick as
he leaned on the fence, shaded his eyes
and peered forward. A few more shots
were fired in quick succession by each
man, after which no more mounted
officers were visible. The gray line
stopped quivering like heat band.
Evidently it had halted.
"Kape on foirin'," Mick ordered, "an'
make aich shot tell! Pepper all along
their Ioine! Take lot of ground to the
roight an lift, youse felIers on the
fIanks, so they'll think our lOine is Ion
ger an there's more Of US than there
be-"
The order was obeyed. The gray
line had decreased the distance be-
tween US to about a quarter Of a mile,
so we could note breaks in the ranks
whenever our shots told.
"Aim carefulr' Mick ordered. ITS
no tonne to fool away cartridges"
was Of the same opinion, and was
beginning to wonder what would hap
pen should we run out Of cartridges.
There was a standing order in the reg
iment that every man should always
have 40 carbine cartridges in his box
and 10 full rounds for his revolver, but
so short had been our many previous
fights that all of US had become care
less as to quantity Of ammunition. Sci
dom had any man more pistol ammuni-
ton than that already in his revolver.
No one was astonished to hear big Pat
Callahan growl:
'Dhivil another cartridge hev l to me
name"
"Nor l." said Brainard.
"Ye're dhivils, both av ye! But kape
yer revolvers-all av ye-fer close ac-
tionm shouted Mick, "an' pray fer the
rest av our rigimint 10 come up"
The carbine fire continued, but more
slowly, while men who were out of
cartridges borrowed from comrades
with fuller boxes. Soon the firing ccas-
ed entirely. Mick frowned, glared
wildly and said to me:
"Coppyral Frost, ye'ye the biggest
ears in all Summerton. Go out to the
road an lay yer ear down to it an see
nv ye can hear the regiment a-cOmin."
| obcyed orders and at first mistook
my heartbeats for hoofbeats, but l was
obliged to report that l could hear
nothing.
The silence was becoming appalling,
for the enemy had not yet fired a shot.
The Johnnies, more sensible than their
adversaries, seldom or never wasted
their bullets on smoke puffs and Gov
ers" behind which figures did not
show.
"OPd lOike to LUX into the Oiye ay the
felly that's a-bossin' 'em an see that his
thrick'll be-" said Sergeant Mick. CAV
OF was him an things so quot in front
av me, Old think he was sneakin' for a
back holt. Coppyral Brainard, fhats
yer own opinionY
Same as yours, sergeant" Brainard
replied. "He doesn't know how few
we are, for we've fired a great many
shots, and he doesn't imagine we have
breechloaders. Probably he thinks his
enemy has left his front and is trying
to flank him. l wonder, though, that
he doesn't send out skirmlshers to look
into the situation over here"
"Thrue fer yez. It's ividint yez
didn't lave yer brains in yer bunk back
in camp. Now moind whole Oi spakG
to yez all. Call in thin min on the
fianks-tell 'em to come on their hams
an knees. Are yez all here? Thin
listen Ay they sind skirmishers over,
we mustn't let none ay 'cm cit back,
ilsc their bOss'll know how wake our
line is, an they'll try to cut off our rigi.
mint from camp, unless maybe the rigi.
mint's already done the same by them,
an they'll ate us up intoircly.
$50 we must kape livery dhiyil ay
'em from gittin' back. Scatter TO the
rOight an lift whin the skirmishcrs
come Let 'em git over the fincc an
toward the horses. Thin close in an
give 1t to 'em IN the back wild yer pls.
tolls, an don't foire till yer so close
that yez can't miss 'em. They can't
foire more than wan shot apiece-the
skirmishers can't-if ye don't give 'cm
a chance to reload"
Can how'll we git away then, with
the Johnnies close to our hOrscsF' ask
ed big Pat Callahan
cit away, is it? Ye don't git away
till ye kill me-ye or any ay ye. We're
here to houd the fnce, an here we stay
till the rigimint comes, or we go to
glory. If yer pistol gifts Imply, pick up
a fince rail an use it loike a lance or a
poke. Glory be to the pokes av auld
Oireland that me gran'fathcr an his
neighbors used ag'in the English!
Thin pine rails is loight, an they're