The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-08-09
4 chanee 70 His Lifs

r. AEEAA A4GAA AEAA NAN
over two years and had made two sue
tessful Indian campaigns when q trag
ady game into his life. One OF his !
legs began to swell, and In three OF
l four days he was disabled from duty.
THE veterinary took him In hand at
once, but made no progress The limb
swclled to three times is normal size,
aud no remedy was found to be OF
avail. More than a dozen yeterinaries,
boIdier and cirizen, bad a look at the
aorse before a dnal verdict was pro
bounced, and all knew what d end
would be, and all pitied him At the
lend OF three months the leg was no
better, and the nat went forth that he
was t be shot.
corporal Brixton and guard VIII
take the horse out ON the prairfe and
shoot him. read the order, and the
colonel added verbally. And do It as
iecently as you would shoot a man"
when Eureka was ready to be led
forth to execution 900 men insisted on
gathering to DC him goodby- He was
s~veryDody's horse to admire and prnlse,
but it was only the battery men who
aad the privilege of rubbing his arched
neck and smoothing his velvet nos
and telling him that he should never be
forgotten, though replaced. Strangely
enough, the ailment had not affected
the horses general health. BIS eye
was Just as bright and his spirits just
as hish as when able to move with the
swIftness of an antelope. He rubbed
his muzzIe against the cheeks OF the
men and whlmpered for sugar, and
when he went ltmpinE way caps CANA
on and men felt a lump gathering IN
their throats.
The eortege wound over the hill a
quarter OF a mile AWAY and then de
scended into the valley, and the pace
was TINT of a funeral procession. When
1t was out of sight of the fort Private
Daily asked of Corporal BriSton:
Corn, are ye Il man or a scoundrel?"
Tn a man, I'd have ye know, and
I've proved 1t fifty times over" was
the answer.
lbosom?"
dAs big as a beer keg."
And would ye murder . helpless
oabyT"
"cuss me II I would I know what
you r driving at, and you leave 1t to
me"
Half n mile across the valley they
came to the fringe OF bushes and en-
tered them. Eureka had but the slight
est use OF his leg, but ne hobbled on
after a 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 a CLASSY glade
was reached. Here was foo and wa
ter for u hundred horses, n the cor
poral called a halt.
Daily AID Henderson, listen to me-"
ne said. The orders are to shoot Eu-
reka. won't"
Bully for you. old manF' they shout
sd.
81 shall hive to report him dend, but
1t will be n lie. and IL either of you
ever betray me I'll have u bullet ready
Lcor you In the frat skirmish nttakes
place. II 1 was cold bIooded enough to
shoot down n horse like this I'd want
Uncle Sam to kick me out of the army
and me own mother to go back on mo.
Make ready now-nim-freT'
The carbine shots rang u The
noise did not stRrtle the horse in the
least, but 1t might have been heard
at the fort by any n listening. The
men had aimed above the horse, and
their bullets went singing through the
treetops.
rs he anished?' aske the corporal
as he turned his back on the feeding
horse.
He Is SIR" Daliys
''Then heaven rest his soul for a good
norse, and forward march"
FOR four or five days thereafter the
men of the entire garrison ooked
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 OWE
counsel. The report of the corporal
was accepted without question, n
the Incident passed into history.
Had Eureka been well In limb he
would have mnde his way back to the
fort before dark. AS 1t was, he fed
and drank and slept. They had given
him his discharge from the service
had made an outlaw of him, md he
had no further right on the lines or In
the stables. Tie did not move ont OF
the glade that day or night. About
midnight a big timber wolf came out
Of the footh,us and circled around him
and glared and growled. and the horse
rose up with painful effort and
ready to defend himself with teeth ana
aoof. The wolf did not attack. how
ever, and when daylight came the crlF
pie hobbIcd 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 bad 1t all tS
himself except for the few deer. buffa-
10 and Wild horses that strayed Ia oeca-
sIonally.
June, July and August came n
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