The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1905-11-01

were right -n,o' than right. Accept my
hand. sab, and let Us bury the hatchet.'
"1hOse were his words, sab, while his
denleanOr was in with
them. And what could l do but shake
his hand and order twenty pounds Of
sugar sem to my house as a clincher?
Another Ut MY critics was Majah
Hoke. The majah insisted that my
wish to die for my country had moth.
ing to do with it; that l had been or
dered to hold a certain position and
that 1t was my duty to do it; that it
looked more like leading a regiment
out to play a game of baseball than
to fight and other remarks that cut
deep. l could not challenge him. he
being my inferior, but l tweaked his
nose for him and stated that If he
would challenge me I would waive the
difference in rank.
1.-THE majah was all ginger, sab. He
had the challenge ready in ten minutes,
and all was arranged to meet next
mawning. Each was fully determined
to kill the other, but we were not to
meet. That night while he was going
the rounds Of the pickets he was so
badly kicked by an army mule that he
was sent to the hospital. A few days
later he was gobbled up by the enemy
and held prisoner to the end Of the
wah. l met him on the streets of this
town a year later. l was about to
glare at him and pass him by when he
held up his hand for me to halt and
said:
"Colonel Bunker, l have come tt the
conclusion that my words of years ago
were uncalled for. You were put in Il
certain place to exercise your best
Judgment, and whatever you did was
right. l wish to recall those words,
sab, and l wish you to accompany me
around the co:ner and take 4 min in
honoll Of the renewal Of our friend
ship
at was Il time when all men We're
burying their aninosities, and the ma
jah and l soon buried ours. l then had
only one more man to deal with. He
had been lieutenant colonel in my bri-
gade, and it had SO happened that we
had played poker together OH many oc-
Ne'AoAAcs ~ Atu ii AtliJClCJt, us IL
Will sometimes, that l had most al
ways been the winner. The colonel
was a gentleman, sab, as we'll as Il SOL
der, but his losses ranked Il bit.
when my trouble came he remarked
that l was probably leading my regi-
ment in search of Il four ace hand. and
when called on him and demanded an
apology he refused to make one. l
waived the difference in rank and chal-
lenged him. He promptly accepted. AS
both Of us wished to have the affair
over with at the earliest possible mo-
ment we vent ut within the hour. AS
both of us were dead shots it was pre-
dicted that there would be Il double
tragedy, but there was a roaring farce
instead.
1--WE entered a meadow we'll beyond
the lines and were about to take posi-
tons when we discovered that we had
stirred up a nest Of bumblebees. The
Insects attacked us with fury, and both
Of us We're stung repeatedly befo' we
could make our escape. The humor OF
he thing appealed to each man, and a
few judiciOus words from the seconds
brought about a reconciliation
II had determined to play no mo-
poker with the colonel, but ut his ear
nest and repeated solicitations l did
relieve him Of small sums at regular
intervals for the next year or two. \
good soldier and a game man, sab, but
not up on the points Of the great Amer.
lean game. That's all, sah-that's ALL"
And when the cocktail was brought
he drank it at a gulp and was soon
nodding in sleep. Nj. QUAD.