Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1905-12-23
Giving Him a
\hGVU b. c. ..
OaAO" LEWIS
copyright. ms, BY K. 4. Whitehead


only boy Of twcniy-onc nt thlt
Thing were at Loose ends at the fl..
The colonel was away on leave "a. D
three or four other officers there 81 .,
much sickness among the troops. AMI
the hundred iufantrymen able 20 d.
duty were almost Ia "A state 81 mutiuy
owing to a general laxity Uf discipline
and the fact that they had not been
paid on for four months. The arrival
OF the boy lieutenant under the clrcum
stances was hOOted az.
Roy Blissheid had been assigned to
Company T.. and he soon discovered
that his captain was paying more at
tention 20 whisky and poker than 90
discipline and that the worst men in
the fort seemed 10 be- members of his
company. lie was told 90 20 Ia AMI
straighten the men out, hut his hrt
move showed him that he had his hanls
full They were sullen. unciyil aud Il y
obedient. and the young officer found
himself almost helpless He should
have been Loyalty backed by the non
commissioned officers. but. aside from
the orderly sergeant. none gave hlm
open support Indeed. the ringlellcr
appeared 10 be the second sergeant.
and after few days II was realized
that until his influence was removed no
Improvement Ia the morale Of the com
pany need Ice looked Tor.
n wouldn't fret over H." replied the
easy going captain when complaint wa
made 20 him we are NJ peace with
the Indians. the weather Is Internally
hot. and the men are short Of ratios.
and pay Let them take things go 3
for awhile They'll be- feeling better by
aud by"
That was the Fort COncho way that
summer. but IL WAS not what the Young
officer had been taught at West Point
The men knew that they had him 40 a
disadvantage. AMI they made things ~
unpleasant ~ they could. They were
sent 10 the guarlhousc by the hall
dozen. only to l'e released next morn
ing on their plea TO The commando
that the officer had misunderstood
them. Things went along In bad WAY
FOR a month.
Thompson" said the officer one clay
20 the second sergeant. Il want you u
take a walk with me down 10y the cp'
raj. want 10 have a little talk wiiI
you"
"All right" was ilic reply. without .
salute or q sir.
When the two were out of sight 81
the barracks aud headquarters the lic,'
tenant halted aud began to remove lii~
outer garments The sergeant wntchc
him for couple of minutes aud the.
querled:
well. what Is ~"
m you wish To- remove any Of your |
clothing do ID now. ! have been told a |
hundred times over that West Point |
scallops don't 90 here. and now l'm ~ |
ing 20 find out the reason why You /
appear 10 be the leader. aud Il has bo /
come a question which ~ ms Is going /
10 run things
rs IL 10 be- a scrappug matchY'
1T ls."
"But | shall be- court martialt7l aui
imprisoned Tor striking an officer
Not at all | promise To make un
complaint against YOU, aud ! presume
half the company Is hiding behind tine
stables over there aud will be- yo'i
witnesses. strip on
Il shall best YOU sir"
"Oh. you have got q sir out ~ last.
have yout Perhaps you will continue
10 improve. II you best me there VIII
Ice no complaint Are you ready
The thirty or forty members Of com.
pany r. who saw that scrap from dis
lance will talk about Il all their lives
The sergeant was the taller aud heir
Ter. and he was self taught boxer
who thought Ice knew all the tricks.
Encouraged by the lieutenant lie did
his best. but at the end Of quarter ~
an hour he was knocked out aud had
10 be carried 10 his quarters The frsi
thing his comrades did was To swear F.
each other to secrecy. II had been |
square night aud the best man had won
on his side the officer said nothing, and
no report was made TO captain or com
mander
Say" said the defeated champion
when he sul oh htH tttN asaih' WV Il
boy Is game aud shall have a squar"
deal We want 10 quit making him
trouble aud give hn show
There was immediate improvement n
the morale ~ Company y, and thing /
moved more satisfactorily for the ncN /
fortnight Then the wood chopper /
went out under guard to get q ne
supply OF fuei among the hills t'irrc !
miles away. The guard was compose.
81 ten men. and the boy from We |
Point was IN charge. with Sergwu .
Thompson as second There WAS PEA. e I
In the laud. aud whrn the wagons hI /
reached The hills every man laid aside F.
his muskct aud took up an nX.
The officer bad received NO iusiruc /
lions lie had not been told that 81 4
treaty or % truce with the red man wa /
only q farce and that band ~ liu /
tiles might seck ~ jump the outfit /
any moment lie found q seat from
which he could overlook the work. au1
for mn hour ai went we'll Then there
was sudden alarm \ hand of th'ri, /
warrior. crrpi mp aud opened Gre. AMI