The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1905-11-02
Colonel Bunker'S Critics Apology
BY NJ Quad, Copyright 100, by R. B. Mcclure.


were righI-mo' thnn right. Accept mr.
hand. aah, nnd lei us bury The hatchct.'
Those were his words, sab. while his
drmeanor was IN consonnnce with
them AMI whit could do but shake
bis hand and order twenty pounds Of
sugar gent 10 my house nv cllncter?
Another Of my critics WINS MnJnh
IIoke, The maIah insisted .hst my
wish 10 die for my country had Moth.
ing 10 do with II; that had been or
dcrc1 10 hold u certain position and
TINT II was my duty to do IL: that Il
looked more Ike lending regiment
oul 10 play game 0f baseball tlian
to fight aud other remarks that r,
deep. ] could not challenge him. he
being my Inferior. but twenkcd his
nose for him aud stated that II he
would challenge me ! would waive the
difference IN rank.
''The mnJah was nli ginger. sab. lie
had The chnlleng. ready Ia ten minutes,
aud NIL was arranged 10 meet next
mawning. Each was fully determined
10 Kill the other, hut We were not 10
meet That night while be was going
the rounds of tbe pirkets he was so
badly kicked by an army mule that be
was sent 10 the hospital. A few days
later he was gobblcd up by the enemy
and held prisoner 10 the end Of the
wnh. ! met him on the streets Of this
town a year later. was about 10
glare at him and pass him by when he
held up his hand for me to halt and
said.
Colonel Bunker, have come 10 the
conclusion that my words Of years ago
were uncalled for. Yon were put In
certain place 10 exercise your best
Judgment. and whatever you did was
right ! wish 10 recall those words.
sah, aud ! wish you 10 accompany me
around the corner and take Il nip In
honoh Of the renewal Of our friend
ship
1T was time when ali men were
burylng their nnlmositIcs. and the ma.
Jah aud soon buried ours. then had
only one more man 10 deal with. lie
had been lieutenant colonel In my brl |
gadc, and II had 80 happened that we
had played poker together on many oc.
caslons, II had also happened as Il |
will sometimes, that had most al. |
ways been the winner. The colonel
was n gentleman. sab. as well as sol
der but his losses ranked bit.
when my trouble came he remarked |
that ] was probably leading my reg.
mcnt In search OF four ace hand, and |
when called on him aud demanded an |
apology be refused 10 make one. I !
waived the difference In rank and chai
lenged him. lie promptly accepted. As
both OF Us wished TO have the affair
over with at the earliest possible mo-
ment we went out within the hour. AZ
both Of us were dead shots II was pre-
dicted that there would be a double
tragedy, but there was q roaring farce
instead.
"We entered meadow well beyond
the lines and were about to take posi-
tions when we discovered that we had
stirred up nest Of bumblebees. The
insects attacked us with fury. and both
Of us were stung repeatedly befo' we
could make our escape. The humor OF
the thing appealed TO each man. and a
few judlcious words from the seconds
brought about a reconciliation.
II had determined 10 play no mo-
poker with the colonel. but at his ear.
nest and repeated solicitations I did
relieve him OF small sums at regular
Intervals for the next year or two. A
good soldier and game man. sab, but
not up on the points Of the great Amer
can game. That's all, sah-that's ALL"
And when the cocktail was brought
10 drank II at gulp and was soon
noddlng In sleep. NJ. QUAD.
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