Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-12-29
THE EVENING STORY.
The Man on Horseback.
By William Chester Estabrook.

lie could never have been The Man
ON Horseback had he not seemed much
taller sitting than standing.
On foot he was a stubby. clerky fel-
4ow, mounted he was the Marshal Mag
uificent, after the populaces own heart
Vt work. he was the humble old book
keeper at Cass x S;acey's; ut play. he
was Mars. chapeau crowned. ON the one
hand. uagsins obscuTity: on the other
hand. dazzling publicity. To think that
ones legs should make 4 difference like
that, He despised those legs and the
life ne had led on them. but he sloried
IN his torso aud the occasional triumphs
il brought him.
Ii must not be Thought for a minute
that horseback life held for him any
visions OF limtless desert or grassy plain,
Of sky and earth meeting IN ann us.
tances. of long forest bride paths, or oil
high lifting mountain trails. The air OF
the town. the crowd at the curb. the roar
Of the band. the swing OF following legs
and the drop of following feet. races at
innumerable windows. tine magic melting
of traffic ahead. color music. glitter,
cheers-all these were plenty good enough
Tor him.
Tine crowd will have nothing oyerdone,
nothing underdone. II must have II done
Just right That is the reason so many
men on parade are failures An ounce
too shy or ounce too vaingiorlous and
they are lost forever. II is a fine thing
10 gauge instantly tho exact estneticai
demand of a street full OF people.
old Marcus Degremont could do that
Where he got the knack of 1t heaven
knows. One doesn't find such things on
the leaves of ledger. But lie had IL,
ilfallibly and surely had il. The man
who rides at the head OF parade sue
cessfully must possess that most rare OF
all faculties. rhe power TO balance a long
line of display.
Any ma. shall can make display of
himself. but there are few marshals who
can make display of the men behind
them Old Marcus Degremont could do
that. too
lie could do vastly more than that in
deed: he could embody, at the head of
parade, the spirit that lay at the foun-
dation of all its units. All, but that is
something! To make ten thousand spec
tators feel fraternity when four thin
lines of lodgenen stripe the streets; TO
make ten thousand spectators see public
Improvement when civic societies follow
the drum.
Is il any wonder that when stran-
gers asked the townspeople who The
Man on Horseback was that they
Degremont? Is it any less wonder
that. when men meditating parades
sought old Marcus Degremont. his wife
should say. although her husband had
never smelled stronger powder than
that she used in her biscuits, Col.
Degremont is not in Will you waltz?
or Col Degremont will be glad to
talk the matter over with you, I'm
sure" She always said Col. Degre-
mont" like that. as if some other Deg
remont were trying TO steal his thun-
der.
All this was before the Spanish war.
There was "A real colonel in town now,
10 say nothing of captains and cor
porals. and there were even privates
" no We're not ayerSe 10 display. Mar
Gus Desremont had welcomed them
~ x- hrv~ he I'm rhay
would ever threaten the place he had
made for himself. 1t had not seemed
possible TO him, perhaps, that a real
commander could ever care for the oc-
casional honors of a mere make be-
leve.
Not that the town had known no real
colonies nor privates before, but that
those of its acquaintance were quiet
old men with dimming eyes and slack
ened steps. who had fought in the
great war and were forever tired of
battles and display and wanted hence
forth but q warm fireplace and the
honor, once year. of walking with
flowers TO the graves of their fallen
comrades.
But these Iatter-day Spanish war vet
erans, with their ardent zest of life.
their youth, their rollicking irresponsi-
bility. their khaki uniforms. so jaunt-
tly simple, their boyisn faces-these
+ouns veterans OF young war Were
ne ones 10 make things hard for him.
nell la, ha. they would laugh with
tolerant good humor, or, mockingly
serious. Col Degremont of the-er-
what regiment did you say
Lancy was the new colonels name
lie was tall splendid looking fellow.
with an lncurying back, but with not
Inuch chest 10 speak Of. Marcus Degre-
mont had noted that chest at once. 1t
was too narrow. and there Were little
creases over the clavicles. II was not
swelling chest. Marcus Degremont
could initiate his chest till il strained
the cloth of his stoutest uniform and
caused the brass buttons 10 protrude
almost to bursting
tie had that military countcnance and
taat commanding poise of the head seen
IN good pictures of Mai. Gen Hancock
lie had the same soldierIy white mus
ttehe and the same eyes. His skin was
inclined. 10 ruddiness. and il had a habit
u purpling Rightly when he was ex-
clted-a &arfike shade which might have
pleased any soldier. His hair was snow
White. and was cornbed straight back and
long. IL was fetchinglv .pugnacious seen
beneath 4 i. OF +. chapeau
ana ms legs? We say Of crippled legs.
htS are crippled and that is all; fur
her, pathos forbids But one could
only say Of Marcus Degremont's legs
thar they were funny-that is one said
u until ones glance reverted to the
splendid body above them. They were
tiln legs for SO large Il body and ridicI1-
.ousiy short Below the knees they
eowed rearward well as sidewise
WHAT those legs had cost him. Times
lunumerabie during the rebellion he had
responded To the call for men, his. heart
nuTninS with patriotism and had each
ttIne been refused. until tired Of hayin.-
i'm about the recruiting station the ser
gctint had pointed to his legs, smiling sig
nifcantly. After that Marcus DegremoHt
gave him no more bother.
Life had not. however. been entirely
without its triumphs. its glory. The
town could not recall when he had not led
its IaradcS. By some .hazy process il had
chosen hiIu-tne law of uncons cious seller
ton has been responsible for more than
one man fame-and having chosen him
Il abided by him on parade 1t obeyea
MIN. by platoons. and when the narada
was over il promptly forgot all about him
BY platoons-
Strange how men since the be@innipp
Of time have built their fondest homes o7
the crowd when the crowd is So tickle
blowing hot and cold. But IL usually
blows cold last. And il was beginning To
blow cold for Marcus Degremont
shortly after the soldiers came hom,
from Cuba there was parade and IancI,
rode al the head of il. Although he had
not seen any more real service than had
Dcgremont. he wore the halo which even
playing at war sometimes contriyes
Then, too, he was a man of affairs and
lad been a social lion before the war
IS II any wonder that old Marcus Deg
reTnont felt the ground slipping from be-
Meath his feer2
What made his position intoierably
bitter was the fact that after thirtI