The Central Nevadan. [volume] (Battle Mountain, Nev.) 1885-1907, 1903-02-26
UNDER TWO FLAGS

About me. You may. ii you like. MI
Black Hawk"
Which title she gave with a sauc.
laugh, hitting with a chocolate bon
BON the black African burned Wis
xgg " the on1nipotent chief she has
thS Xudacify to attack. High or low
flisy were an the same to Cigarette
Sh3 would have ''slanged' the EN-
bef6f himself with the selfsane cool
ness, and the army had given her +;
passport Of immunity so wide that /
would have Jared Ill with my one whs
had ever attempted to bring the Vivian
t1iere to book for her uttermost mis-
chief.
by the way" she went on. quicl
rs thought, with her reckless, devi
may care gayety, zone thing-youl
corporal win demorallze the army Of
African
sEh? He shall have an ounce OF
cold lead before he does. What inT'
HE will demoralize It," said Ciga
fctte, with a s%agacious shake of hel
head. IF they follow his example, We
shan't have 4 chasseuf or a spahis Oh
a piou-piou or a sapeur worth any
thing
"Sacfei What does he doT The
t0fofiels strong teeth bit savagely
through his cigar. He would have Civ
en- much to have been able to find Q
single thing of INSTRUMENTATION or lax
fly of duty In a soldier who ~irritated
and annoyed him, but who obeyed him
implicitly and was one Of the most
brilliant fire eaters of his regiment.
HE won't only demoralize the ar
my" pursued Cigarette. with vivacious
e~loquence; "but II Ills example is fol
lowed He'll ruin the prefets. close the
bureaus. destroy the e~xchequer, beg.
gar all the officials, make African life
Is tame as milk and water and rob
tou, colonel, of your very highest and
dearest privileges"
"Sacre bleu!" cried her hearers as
their hands ~instinctively sought their
swords. what does he doT
Cigarette looked at them out of her
arch Dlack laShes.
"Why, he never thieves from the
Arabs! If the fashion come in. adieu
10 our occupation. Court martial him,
colonelw
With which sally Cigarette thrust her
pretty, soft curls back over her tenn
bIes dffd launched herself into lansque-
het with all the ardor OF a gambler
Ind the vivaclty of a child, her eyes
flashing, her checks flushing, her little
teeth set. her whole soul In the whlrl
bf the game, made all the more riotous
by the peals Of laughter from her com.
FADES and the wines that were washed
down like water.
Meanwhile, where she had left him
Hf1ofig the stohes Of the ruined mosque,
the chdsseur whom they nicknamed
Bef-a-fdire-tedf in a double sense be-
tauSe OF his "woman's face" as Tata
Ieroux termed 1t. and because Of the
terror his sword had become through
North Africa. sat ~motionless. with his
fight arm resting on his knee and his
bpurred heel thrust into the sand.
He was a dashing cavalry soldier.
who had had a dozen wounds cut over
his body by the Bedouins In many and
hot skirmishes, who had waited through
sultry African nights for the lions
tread and had fought the desert king
ind conquered. who had ridden a thou
sand miles over the great sand waste
and the boundless arid plains and slept
Under the stars. with the saddle be-
heath his head and his rife In his hand.
all through the night; who had served.
and served well. In fierce. arduous. I'M
remittihg work In trying campaigns
and In close discipline and who had
blended the brilliance, the daring. the
eat- drink dnd enjoy for-tomorrow-we-
nie OF the French chasseur with some.
thing that was very different and much
more tranquil.
Yet, though as bold Il man rs any en-
rolled In the French service. he sat
alone here In the shadow of the col
pmn. thoughtful, m~otlonless, lost in ST.
lence.
In bis left hand was a newspaper six
months old. and his eyes rested on a
line In the obituary:
ION the 10th tlt.. at Royallieu. sud
denly. the Right Hon. Denzil, viscount
Royallleu, aged 90"