Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-12-10
DAILY SHORT STORY
THE PASSING OF BUCK.
fOriginal.l

man, asked him if i'll a hand to hand
contest he. felt renorse at killing an
enemy.
NO." he replied. but 1 once fired
death shot on the field of battle that
cost me hitter pang."
TELL me about it,
II began my military career on what
was then frontier ground, the plains
which was covered with Indians. and.
since I occasionally had to take to my
heels to save my scalp, l made spe-
cial effort to secure a fast horse. I
happened to find thoroughbred among
the horses in the Quartermaster's hands,
made a requisition for him and finally
bought him. How he got I'm with the
common herd I never knew. He was
heet as the wind and had more fnteih-
gence than many Il man. ! asked IN:
f1ancee-now my wife-to aame him.
and. being from the Buckeye State she
called him Buck.
"If ever man loved horse or horse
loved man loved Buck. and Buc,:
loved me. had owned him year
before I realized his speed and endur-
ance as well as his intelligence. One
morning n messenger rode from Fort
c.. his horse falling dead as soon as
he reached us. to say that the Indians
had surrounded the post and would IN
doubtedly take it before sunset. My
fiancee the daughter of the cOmman-
dnn nf n.t ~
can imagine the condition of my fee.
ings. knowing the barbarity of the H.
dams. who would murder every man,
woman and child they captured. We
had no force to send, but ut Fort L.,
fifty miles to the north of us and some
panies Of the --th cavalry.
81 begged the colonel to send me to L.
with orders for the commandant to
gallop to the relief of C.. He assented,
and. mounting Buck. I made the run.
1 was beside myself with terror at the
Buck to do his best for me. Do you
know, that horse understood me as well |
as If he had learned English He knew !
he had a long run. and in the beginning !
kept himself well together, as If hus |
banding his strength. but with every |
he increased his speed. making the last |
part of the journey in quicker time
than the first. We reached l.. in six |
hours, and In twenty minutes more 300 ,
men were riding to the relief of c.
When they arrived the garrison was 7
about to surrender, but our men dash
ed in on the Indians and scattered them !
to the four winds.
You may imagine that Buck, having :
saved garrison, and especially the |
one nearest my heart, became very dear
to me. After that 1 was caught out
alone on several occasions, had to run
for it. and Buck always left the In
dams behind. Then the civil war came
on. and Buck carried me down over
Kentucky and Tennessee, taking me
Donelson and Shiloh. At
Stone River l fell from his back shot
the shoulder and would have
been left in hands of the enemy had
he not seized me by the coat with his
teeth and helped me back TO our men.
Poor Bucks end came at PerryvilIe.
In retreat ! had got separated from
my command aud had run into a rebel
regiment They called on me to sur
render. but turning Buck 1 lay fiat OH
his neck and he carried me safely
away. receiving several bullets that
were intended for me. He might have
recovered from these. but on jumping
q gully he came down with his fore leg
in n hole. and the leg snapped.
Il suppose il we had been in garri-
son might have been foolish enough
to strap him up and try to save him.
But in any event you can't keep
horse still long enough to enable bro
ken bone to knit. and Buck must be
put out OF his misery. Everybody was
busy ut the time, but seeing a drummer
boy pass me i stopped him. handed
him my revolver and told him to put
ball into Bucks brain. l couldn't bear
to see him do II, so l started away. /
heard Whitney and. turning. saw
Buck looking after me. saying with his
eyes more plainly than man could
have said in words. You aren't going
to desert me after all I've done for you.
are your
Il went back, and, seeing that the
boys hand was trembling from the OK
element OF the fight that was on. l took
the pistol from him and. sitting on the
ground, laid Bucks head i'm my lap. i
gave him a hug, saying to him at the
same time:
Buck, 1t nearly kills me to do lit.
You've done me more real service than
any living being. You've often saved
my life. and once you saved a life dear
nr to me than my own. And now I've
got to render yOu a last service. I've
got to put you out of your misery
81 have always believed the horse I'M
me- He laid his head down on
my lap and waited. put the muzzle
of the pistol against his forehead. and
he never WINGED. though he knew as
much about q pistol as l did Anxious IL