Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1928-04-20
BY Morton Sauen


Clark investigated. He looked up dis
mally.
"Yuh mean to say yuh amt even slew
"sh-h-hl" Delmonico warned. "They's
been too many fellers around. An be-
sizes, It's a her, not a him. Stick around
TIL get tn menagerie fed and I'll muir
der the bird"
"Aw, my Gawd, Murphy, what tn hell
do yuh think I'm doin'-reducin to en-
Ter tn most beautiful solder in France
contest? l amt ct since breakfast, Just
thinkin' about this here orgy"
Well, gimme a chanel, gimme a
chance. Like the guy says, they's a time
an place fer everything. an yuh don't
wanna inform the whole dizzy comp'ny,
do yuh? Come back after mess an we'll
Or go an eat some slum till it's ready
"AW, hell" Clark growled, n strobe
of toward the orderly room.
He'd be damned If he'd eat anything
now till he got that chicken. He had
been crazy, of course, not to eat at noon,
but how was he to know that Delmonico
would not have the bird ready! H e had
been hungry many times before, but
never with the aroma of hot mess in his
Northumberland any one had eaten,
he had-he had always taken care of
that. 1t wasn't SO bad to go hungry
when there was nothing to eat, but
Il gotta stand here an watch them
guys eat while thai elegant chicken per-
uses the signs of them boxes,' he
groWled. 'Ea some slum'-hell! I've
ct SO much slum since I been in France
l look like a mess kit fulla beef an
potatoesl"
To eat now would be fatal to that
carefully encouraged appetite. What's
the good of sitting down to rare delica-
cies If one has gorged ones self will vul-
gar Stun an dcoffee! Well, an hour-an
hour n a half-then the kitchen po-
lice would have cleared out, and the
feast would begin. He could wait and
1T would be even better for the waiting.
But an hour and a half later, when
he pushed open the wide doors of the
kitchen. Clark had expected the
c%linging, hot odor of steaming feathers,
but only the familiar slum and coffee
hung in the warm air. Two cooks and
a couple of kitchen police were cleaning
up and putting things in order for the
morning mess; Delmonico, engrossed in
a requisitiOn, bent over a table. He
looked up vaguely when Clark growled.
"Well-well-is it today I eat-or next
week."
Keep your britches on" Delmonico
warned softly, keep your britches ont
Waitll them K. P.s is finished"
Clark's brows lowered.
"Looka here. Murphy" he demanded,
do we eat that there fowl, or don't we?"
Sure we do. All in time. You ain
got nc idears about propri'ty. Now me,
I'm all fulla neatness an order"
"Xpohn Clark cmf1ad apid1u HvOI1'rp
fulla neatness an order, an I'm fulls
great open spaces. I'm beginnin' to think
l amt never et-the way / feel"
i Delmonico cast an estimating glance
toward the K. P.'s.
Clark sank down on a box beside the
table, and Delmonico continued listing
the kitchen requirements.
Say" he questioned, did you know
we got a new second looey while yuh was
out on the march t'day?"
"Thell with second looeys," Clark
snapped.
YEAH" the undisturbed Delmonico
went OH, "a guy l know. 1 and he was
sergeants in tn old seventeenth together
before this here guerre. TIL dirtiest
double crosser l ever seen"
Clark made no comment.
1--WE was playin' poker one night" Del
monico went on, an him awinnin'
plenty. One hand l calls him, an when
he lays down, it seems both of us got q
ace Of spades. Oney that exter ace gives
him kings full an me oney three bull
let's. So, l sock him on the iawr to prove
he's a crook That's the last hand we
play, and since then we're poison to
each other"
For cripe's sake, Murphy" Clark OBJ
served, II amt interested in your dis
gustin' youth. I'm thinkin' about that
there Philadelphia capon."
Delmonico grinned but nodded signif-
cantly toward the K. P.is.
wasn't in my youth" he replied. "Just
before the war. Wait1l / tell yuh-
seems ii guy put in one hitch in tn
marines, but he's so dirty some leather
neck down to Quantico busts him in the
nose, an advises him against reenlistin',
so he tries tn army. He's got a female
name: INSTRUMENTATION Suskinde-so tn
outfit christens him Merry Sunshine
especially as he raises more hell, with
dirty little tricks, than hat there G.. o.
about tn prejudice of good order an
military discipline"
Observation-Disclosures Clark growled
witheringly.
yeah" Delmonico agreed. well, come
the war, an Merry Sunshine-which amt
stoopid-he's a sergeant, but the skipper
don't love him, IN he sends him to
of them officers trainin' camps, an
peace reigns in tn outfit again. But this
here now Merry Sunshine knows too
much to get kicked outta the trainin'
camp, oney nobody don't crave him espe-
cial, on account he's so snooty, so they
make him one O. these mongreeal second
looeys. They give him his commission
which says President Wilson an congress
has made a gentleman outta him. an
Merry Sunshine gets to thinking that
part over. Pretty soon he's all excited
with tn idear an believes it hisself."
Clark got up n strobe over to the
boxes concealing the chicken.
How come he's in this OUTFIT" Del
monico pursued without looking up.
Seems when we get ready to sail for
La Belle France an give the mad'ma-
selles a treat they put up a squawk we
need more looeys; n tn gang where