The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1908-05-07
THE OLD COLONEL
BY HUGH JOHNSON


/ HciC uANWH save ptcs THO WbyN AAo
was half white embers, and the room
was stuffy and dark In the gloom
lest corner Of all, where the great pol
ished desk was dimly outlined in the
shadows. sat the leonine old man him
SELF, his weakening gray eyes strained
out across the drill ground where b
squadron Of his cavalry was maneu-
yerlng in the white glare Of a Texas
sun on naked Texas limestone The
motives and the song Of the rapidly
shifting picture was youth, triumphant
and resistless
The horses were wild, eyes blood
shot, nostrils red, but the men who
rode them still loosened rein, stood in
their stirrups ana yelled like the
demoniac horsemen Of Attila. Their
cheeks were flushed with the adoles-
cence Of 20; and as the gait grew
furious, boot to boot and shoulder to
shoulder, they. too, became crazed
with the primal fervor of swift, ire
sistible motion. The tapping pen
nants Of the guidons and the flying
names blew in their faces, and
through the dust clouds from their
horses feet their sabers flashed glints
Of the sun to the colonel's eyes and
his own blood quickened with theirs.
but as they wheeled into column and
broke to right and left at the end
Of the course, he dropped back in his
chair, his eyes gazing dumhly at the
rows Of photographs above the bronze
mortars Of Chapultepec.
There were they-the men who had
been young with HMM all their
quaint bravery, baldric, tunic and dol
man, and out on the plain were the
men who were young when he was
old-so old. II, was they-they and
their youth--who were slowly forcing
him from the service that he loved;
and he almost hated-them and their
youth. They were always respectful
even admiring; but between him
and them there was no one thing in
common. Even his majors were
young majors, and in garrison Of a
thousand souls he was pitifully alone
lie remembered the hill and the gen.
eral on his immortal white horse and
every face that looked down on him
from the wall The youngsters might
laugh, but 1t was all very real to the
colonel; and he was sure that he
hated them and their youth.
He arose and crossed over to the
mess as they came in all aglow from
drill The boisterous excitement Of
the charge was still with them, their
spurs dragged with the brayado that
4 young spur-weaIers know. their sabers
clanked with every movement and
they talked Of T. troops error or "Co
troops mistake in loud, boylsh voices
but as the colonel passed into the BIZ
i Hard room every voice quleted. hats
came of, and chairs rasped across the
floor as their occupants got to their
feet, all laughing ceased He was not
Of them and they could not have said
SO in palmer words; bis very pres
ence was a discomfort to them. and
ne scowled from under his hat brim
and gutturaled unintelligibly. He
walked angrily into the stewards S room
and the door crashed behind him. he
stalked along the gravel path to head.
quarters and sank again into the big
leather chair beneath the rows II
photographs on the wall, gl0oming.
Once he raised his eyes TO the brave
faces; his own dropped forward on
bis hands and rested there long. Per
haps he drowsed little.
This was why the adjutant who sat
in the colOnel's outer once and acted
as a bufer between him and his regl.
ment, shook his head to subalterns.
and even to youngish major who
stood ready to tap the coloners door.
Better cnidado. he warned. THE
old mans all liver to-day" and the
subalterns and The youngish major tin
tOed away thankfully, having init.
mate knowledge Of the bitter tongue
4 ~ AAE AAtDA1AA4 Vfu tHHH.
Lord pity that new youngster from
the Point II he joins to-day, two DAYS
over his leave. breathed the youngish
major, safe in the mess window seat.
and % LOrd!" echoed the subalterns.
Hes coming all right" volunteered
the Quartermaster. whose business It
is to know everything in a garrison.
Here's his telegram from perdido
station. The Daugherty's been gone
to meet him Tor over two hours"
Poor kid!" DatroniEed the snbal.
terms from the prestige Of their two
! years service.
The Daugherly clanked into Fort
Pegdido Ia the late afternoon. the four
mules, the boot. everything white
with alkah dust. It drew up with a
oreaking Of brakes before the adm.
tant's quarter and very straight
very slender. brown-eyed boy climbed
out Of its depths as the teamster
tumbled long military trunk from
the boot and threw ehamois-eoyered
saber on the walk. The boy. whose
cheeks glowed through their coating
81 dust like the bloom OF a dead yIpe
peach through its fuzz, stood b. his
suit case and gazed about him ln be-.
wiiderment; then, as the subalterns
4 locked ont to greet him who tsa. ~