The Cairo bulletin., 1906-05-08
CHE HERO or
THE REGIMENT


girls, waving us enthusiastic adiens'
Were an heroes going out ! said
10 the man marching on my right
wonder how many OF Ms VIII return \
heroes"
An ugly little dog emerged froh nc
tween the legs of man standing On
the curb and came tagging al my heeis'
THAT cur is ugly enough TO ne the
regimcntal mascot" | remarked
sergeant kicked ut the little beast with
the intention of driving him ont OF me
ranks. but the dog wouldn't he driven
and the sergeant. after sevefai vi
military attempts to drive MN on helu
his position. and the dog held MS y
leutenant made thrust with his
sword. but the brute was agile anu
sprang out OF The way. By TINS 'iine
he was noticed by the marching hlen'
and some Of them cried oul; l+et tile
doc alone. Hes going to 'uha Wi'h
this company
And so he did. When we boardeu
the train the dog boarded II rs we'll
THAT eur" said one Of the men y
hound 10 make soldier Of himself IA
hot he's a corporal within a month.
rbera was j laugh at this, ana some
one suggested that he might return J
colonel, The dog Went TO tampa WIN
us and during our stay there was form
ally adopted into the company He
was the smartast dog | ever saw, lie
seemed to learn all about soldering as
EclI rs any of MS. He mover missed
guard mount and came 10 know the re-
spcet we had for the colors perfectly
He seemed to understand hedtHefehfe
between the officers and prlvates ;liid
knew many Of the bngle calls. ~ hiil-
ner call he would rush for the mess.
frislsing and barking. and any man pc
side whom he took position would leed
him. we decided on lompoh for MS
name. and he was soon faNof!tc mol
only with the company he had joined
/ but with the whole regiment
We were all anxious to see now
pomron would behave in 4 fight, ana
/ some of us who were always betting
had bets as to whether he would stand
| fire or run away with his tail between
his legs Las Guasimas was our iitst
| fight. and pompon, as well ms nearly
IAN Of us. smelled powder for the flrst
time. If ever n dog took z fancy 70
ANYTHING. that dog became infatuated
with lighting His company recoiled
before the Mauser bullets OF the span
lard and what did Pompou 30 b'll
rally them, lie stood before the hest
tating men barking, then ran toward
the enemy The men refusing 70 iol-
low he repeated his maneuyer agalo
and again. till with one accord thes
turned and literally followed the uos
as Il leader.
pompon became ambitious TO be one
of the color guard and continually
marched with it, One day when We
were about to advance through dense
wood he dashed forward disappeared
among the trees and III 1wlilkilhs
was back, barking ana Jumping III
against the men. At last the coiohe
not.ced him and took The hint. HAT
ing the regiment, he sent skirmisherS
forward. and they had scarcely enter
cd the wood before we heard Il Noliey.
! But II was when we came to the bat
lie in which the storming OF san Jnai
hin occurred that pompon gained TIL
title of hero. He went into tue hsll
with the colors, and to the coiors III
stuck Finally the color guards were
All shot down-though it was claimed
that some of them ran-lnd Tue mai
fell | am sorry TO say that the reg
meiit was marching in reverse lfou
the enemy. and was following Il
What were now the rear files, turnm
occasionally TO fire.
Presently was struck dumb VIII
astouishment | saw the regiments
colors coming. not held abort by
stalyart color bearer. but skimmin
J along within few inches OF u
rro,lnd. Before ! could see what wa
!. The motive power the tag passed ihI
i a dcpression aud was lost to sigh
r For a moment | thought II must nav
been blown by tie wind. Bot the
Il was no wind While | was wonieflh
= nver the crest of rise came the ia
and now | saw what was bringing
e rompon had grasped the staff IN I
mouth and. raising his bead as AL
as he could. was making herculeah
forts to bear what was far too hea
for him. 49,.
nc The sight of the heroic little d
e. saving the honor OF the regiment W
We TOO much for my instinct of self pr
ne prvation. | called the attention OF
: others to IL. We turned and, push'
60 forward. supported our color bearer
u The colonel who saw Ponip"h
ny what he was failing to do hihS'
after the fight mentioned The dog
- general orders. and there was not
= man in the regiment who did not W
.bip the savior Of the colors. WI
the WAR was over and we got home
colonel had y collar madc-it was
massive gold cnain-and put u arou
The dogs neck ON the plate was
craved: "pompon commenced
Gallant anil mcritorious service
him be- well fed
After my discharge | was walk
along the street OF the cts from WI
we had marched away With Tue V