Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-01-18

regiment he was ofteneSt in trouble
with his men and was obliged to re-
port the most assertions. James Dali
ton was assigned to Company G, and
within two days and for no reason that
ne or his comrades could argue out the
captain was down on him and showed
it in various ways. 1t wasn't two
weeks before he was in the guard
house for some dereliction that would
have been passed over in another. The
colonel was fatherly man, and in his
desire to be fatherly toward the young
recruit he made matters worse.
Dalton asked for no ones sympathy.
He gave 10 one his confidence. He
tried his best to obey all regulations
and fit himself for a soldier. He would
have had praise from the right sort
of officer. Indeed, lie did have it in
way from the lieutenants of the COM
pany, but there was nothing but
growing and fault finding from the
captain. His conduct almost created a
scandal at the post. One day on COM
pany drill he was singled out and
needlessly rebuked and sneeringly crit
icised and ordered off to the guard
house under arrest. There was q NUT
tering up and down the ranks, but this
only provoked Captain Coleman to add
other charges That nighC in the
guardhouse a gray haired corporal said
to Dalton through the Stats of the
door:
'"What it's about l dunno, but the
captain isn't giving you a square
deal"
"And it will grow worse instead OF
better" replied the prisoner.
"You can bank on that He's hound
ed a dozen men out of the company
since l got these stripes. It'll be court
martial and five years for you if he
can bring it about"
"And what shall 1 do?"
"Fve got to go out to post No. 3. /
shall be gone fifteen minutes. The
heavy iron poker has got in with you
somehow. If was inside there, be-
lieve 1 could pry off these Stats with
it."
'"Thank you"
When the sergeant returned, Dalton
was gone; also one of the muskets and
a belt of. fifty cartridges. Over on Off
GERS row private soldier with mus
ket in his hands STOOD for three or four
minutes looking up at a certain win
dow as if thinking to send a bullet
into the opening. Then he lowered the
musket and turned away and crept
from the fort between posts Nos. and
g. 1t was a summer evening, with the
crickets singing, and the sentinels
drowsed as they walked. Daylight
brought excitement and a hustle. A
member of Company G had deserted.
Three mules had been run off from the
corral. Indian signal smoke had been
seen at daylight, and by sunup ser
tiers came pouring in with the news
that Red Bull had broken loose and
was in the hills with 500 warriors.
Dalton had made for the hills. He
must go into hiding and exist some
way until the hue and cry was over.
He knew that the redskins were
threatening, but he had no choice. In
the darkness he crossed the mile wide
plain and then made his way up the
side of Eagle peak for the same dis
lance, and the coming Of daylight
found the warriors all about him. All
the long forenoon they could see the
puffs from a score of Indian rifles.
They knew that it was the soldier
and deserter, but they could render
him no aid until afternoon-until they
knew that his last cartridge had been
fired an hour before. Then 300 men
marched out and found and buried the
CHASTITY thing the fields had left. He
had demanded ten lives for his one.
He had ostracized himself-enlisted,
deserted and there among the rocks
ended it all. NJ. QUAD.