Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-06-20
DAILY STORY.
A CHANCE FOR HIS LIFE.
Copyright. 1906 by Homer sprague.l

Yer WIS morse named Eureka.
Eureka had been with the battery for
over two years and had made two sue
| cessful Indian campaigns when trag-
| edy came into his life. One of his hind
| legs began to swell, and III three or
| four days he was disabled from duty.
| The veterinary took him in hand at
once, but made no progress. The limb
swelled To three times its normal size,
and no remedy was found to be of
avail. More than Il dozen veterinaries,
| soldier and citizen, had look at the
horse before a final verdict was pro-
| nounced, and all knew what the end
would be, and all pitied him. At the
! end of three months the leg was no
better. and the fiat went forth that he
was 10 be shot.
Corporal BriXton and guard will
take the horse out on the prairie and
shoot him." read the order. and the
colonel added verbally, And do it as
decently as you would shoot man
When Eureka was ready to be led
forth TO execution 800 men insisted on
gathering to bid him gOOdby. He was
everybody'S horse to admire and praise,
but it was only the battery men who
had the privilege of rubbing his arched
neck and smoothing his velvet nose
and telling him that he should never be
forgotten. though replaced. Strangely
enough, the ailment had not affected
the horses general health His eye
was just as bright and his spirits just
as high as when allie to move with the
swfftness of an antelope. He rubbed
his muzZle against the cheeks of the
men and whimpered for sugar, and
when he went limping away caps came
off and men felt lump gathering in
their throats.
The cortege wound over the hill q
quarter of mile away and then de-
Scended into the valley, and the pace
was that of funeral procession When
il was out of sight of the fort Private
Daily asked of Corporal BriXton:
corp, are We man or a scoundrel?"
I'm Il man. I'd have We know. and
I've proved it fifty times over" was
the answer.
And have We got a heart in yer
bosom?'
LAS big as a beer key"
and would we murder helpless
baby:'
you are driving.at. and y0l leave it to
me-
Half a mile across the valley they
came to the fringe of bushes and en-
tered them. Eureka had but the slight
est use of his beg. but he hobbled on
after n fashion and made no complaint.
On the contrary, ,he snorted and sought
to dance around as in the days of his
strength. BY and by CLASSY glade
was reached. Here was food and wa
ter for hundred horses, and the cor
poral called a halt.
DAILY and Henderson, listen to me-"
he said. THE orders are to shoot Eu-
reka. / WON'T
Bully for you, old man." they shout
ed
Il shall have to report him dead, but
it will be a lie. and If either of you
ever betray me Ill.have a ballet ready
for you in the firstSkirnish that takes
place If / was cold blooded enough to
shoot down horse like this I'd want |
Uncle Sam to kick me out of the army
and me own mother 10 go back on me. |
Make ready now-aim-tire.''
The carbine shots rang out. The |
noise did not startle the horse in the |
least but it might have been heard |
at the fort by any one listening. The |
men had aimed above the horse. and |
their bullets went singing through the |
treetops.
"Is he finished?" asked the corporal |
as he turned his back on the feeding |
horse.
He is. sir" answered Daily.
"Then heaven rest his soul for good
horse, and forward march,
For four or five days thereafter the
men of the entire garrison looked
askance at the three men and drew
away from them. They had acted
under orders. but they had SHOT down
Eureka. They knew what allied their
comrades, but they kept their own
counsel. The report of the corporal
was accepted without question, and
the incident passed into history.
Had Eureka been well in limb he
would have made his way back to the
fort before dark. AS it was, he fed
and drank and slept. They had given
him his discharge from the service
had made an outlaw of him, and he
had no further right on the lines or I'm
the stables. He did not move out of
tne Slaue tnat uay OF night ABOUT
big timber wolf came out
of the foothills and circled around him
and glared and growled, and the horse
rose up with painful effort and made
ready TO defend himself with teeth and
hoof. The wolf did not attack, how
ever, and when daylight came the Grip
pie hobbled up the valley in search Of
a more secure retreat. That was in
the last days of May. The valley was
not settled, and the horse had 1t all to
himself except for the few deer, buffa-
10 and wild horses that strayed in occa-
sionally.
June, July and August came and
went, and one day early In September
the battery was taken out for drill.
it had been at work for half an hour
with ernlutions when IL sudden Irrrrhool