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14
The Old Hag's
Long Leather Bag*
By Seumas McManui.
Author of "Through the Turf-Smoke,”
"In Chimney Corner*," etc,
(Copyright, 1900, by Seumas MacManus.)
Once on a time, long, long ago. there was
a wMow woman who had three daughter*.
When their father died their mother
thought they never would want, for he
had left them a Jon* leather bag filled
with gold and allver.
But he waa not long dead when an old
Hag dame begging to the house one day
and stole the long leather bag filled with
gold and silver, and went away out of the
country with it, no one knew where.
So from that day the widow woman and
her three daughter* were poor, and she
had a hard struggle to Hv and to bring
up her daughters.
But when they were grown up the eld
est said one day: “Mother, I’m a young
woman now. and It’* a shame for me to be
here doing nothing to help you or myself.
Bake me a bannock and cut me a callop
till I go away to push my fortune.”
The mother baked her a whole bannock
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O here, horse of mine, did you see this maid of min*.
acd asked her If she would have half of
It with her blessing or the whole of it
without. She said to give her the whole
bannock without.
So afae took it and went way. She told
them If she was not back in a year and
a day from that then they would know
•he was doing well, and making her for
tune^
She traveled away and away on before
her, far further than I could tell you, and
twice as far as you could tell me, until
ah* came Into a strange country, and go
ing up to a little house, she found an old
Hag living In it.
The Hag asked her where she was go
ing.
She said she was going to push her for
tune.
Said the Hag: "How would you like to
stay here with me. for I want a girl?"
"What will I have to do?" said she.
"Tou'U have to wash me and dress me.
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She struck her with a white rod and turned her Into a stona.
end sweep the hearth clean, but on the
peril of your life never look up the chim
ney,” said the Hag.
"All right,” she agreed to this.
The next day when the Hag arose fhe
washed her and dressed her, and when the
Hag went out she swept the hearth clean
and she thought it would be no harm to
have one look up the chimney, and there
what did she see but her own mother's
long leather bag of gold and silver. So
she took It down at once, and setting it
on her back, started away for home as
faet as she could run.
But she had not gone far when she met
• horse grazing In a field, and when he
saw her he said: "Rub me! Rub me! for
1 haven’t been rubbed these seven years.”
But she only struck him with a stick
•he had In her hand and drove him out
of her way.
She did not go much further when she
met a sheep, who atd: "O, (hear me!
Shear me! for I haven't been sheared theae
•even years.”
But she struck the sheep, and sent It
scurrying out of her way.
She had not gone much further when
she met a goat tethered, and he said:
”0, change my tether! Change my tether,
for It hasn't been changed these seven
years.”
But she flung a stone at him and went
on. Next she came to a llme-klln, and It
said: "O, otean me! Clean me! for t
haven't been cleaned these seven years."
But she only scowled at it, and hurried
on.
After another bit she met a cow. and It
said: ”0, milk me! Milk me! for I haven't
been milked these seven years."
She struck the cow 'out of her way and
went on.
Then she came to a mill The mill said:
"O turn me! Turn me! for 1 haven't been
turned these seven years.”
But she did not heed what It said, only
went In and lay down behind the mill
door, with the bag under her head, for
It was then night
"When the Hag came Into her hut again
and found the girl gone, she ran to the
chimney and looked up to see if she had
carried oft her bag. She got Into a great
rage, and she started to run as fast as
•he could after her.
She had not gone far when she met the
horse, and she said: “O, horse, hone of
•**'* ■*** Ifh'l MS ihl* elf SytfttS ffRT 11 ►
my tig with my tag, with my long leather
bag, and all the gold and allver I have
earned stnea I was a maid?”
"Aye,” said the horse, ’it Is not long
since she passed here.”
So on she ran, and It was not long until
she met the sheep, and said she: "Sheep,
sheep of mine, did you eee this maid of
mine, with my tig, with my tag. with my
long leather bag. and all the gold and
allver I earned since I was a maid?"
•Aye." said the sheep. "It Is not long
since she passed here."
So she goes on and It was not long be
fore she met the goat, and said she:
"Goal, goat of mine, did you see thl* maid
of mine, with my tig. with my tag, with
my long leather bag, and all the gold and
silver I earned since I was a maid?”
"Aye,” said the goat, "it is not long
since she passed here."
So she goes on, and It was not long be
fore she met the llme-klln, and said she.
she: "Lime-kiln, lime-kiln of mine, did
you see this maid of mine, with my tig,
with my tag, with my long leather bag.
and all the gold and silver I earned since
I was a maid?"
"Aye.” said the lime-kiln. "It Is not
long since she passed here.”
So she goes on and it was not long be
fore she met the cow, and said she,
"Cow. cow of mine, did you see this maid
of mine, with my tig. with my tag, with
my long leather bag of gold and silver I
have earned since I was maid?”
"Aye,” said the cow. "it is not long
since she pasesd here.”
So she goes on, and It was not long be
fore she met the mill, and said she: "Mill,
mil! of mine, did you see this maid of
mine, with my tig, with my tag. with ray
long leather bag of gold and silver I have
earned since I was maid?"
And the mill said: "Yes, she is sleep
ing behind the door.”
She went In and struck her with a white
rod and turned her Into a stone. She
then took the bag of gold and sliver on
her back and went away back home.
A year and a day had gone by after the
eldest daughter left home, and when they
found she had not returned, the second
daughter got up and she said:
"My sister must be doing well and mak
ing her fortune, and isn't it a shame for
me to be aittlng here doing nothing, eith
er to help you, mother, or myself. Bake
me a bannock." said she, “and cut me a
callop, till I go away to push my for
tune.”
The mother did this, and asked her
would she have half the bannock with
her blessing, or the whole bannock
without.
She said the whole bannock without,
and she set off. Then she said: "If I am
not back here in a year and a day, you
may be sure that I am doing well and
making my fortune, and then she went
away.
She traveled away and away on before
her, far further than I could tell you,
and twice aa far as you could tell me, un
til she came Into a strange country, and
going up to a little house, she found an
old Hag living in It.
The old Hag asked her where she was
going.
She said she wag going to push her
fortune.
Bald the Hog: "How would you like to
stay here with me, for I want a girl?"
“What will I hove to do?” says she.
“You'll have to wash me and to dress
me and to sweep the houst clean, and
on the peril of your life never look up
the chimney," said the Hag.
“All right," she agreed to this.
The next day when the Hag arose he
washed her and dressed her, and when
the Hag went out she swept the hearth,
and she thought It would be no harm to
have one look up the chimney, and there
what did she see but her own mother's
long leather bag of gold and sliver. So
she took It down at once, and putllng It
on her back, started away for home as
fast as ehe could run.
But she had not gone far when she met
a horse grazing in a field, and when he
saw her he said: ' Hub me, rub me, for
I haven't been rubbed these seven years."
But she only struck him with a stick
she had in her hand and drove him out of
her way.
She did not go much further when she
met the sheep, who said: "O, hear me,
shear me, for I haven’t been sheared in
seven years.”
But she struck the sheep and sent It
scurrying away out of her way.
She had not gone much further when
she met the gout tethered, and he said:
“O, change my tether, change my tether,
for It hasn’t been changed In seven
years.
But ehe flung a stone at him and went
on.
h •***> * * file kiln, and that
setr: “O. (■•••• i
THE MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY, AUGUST 5. 1900.
I haven’t been cleamd these seven years.”
But sbe only scowled at It and hurried
i on.
Then she came to the cow and It said:
“O, milk me, milk me. for I haven’t
been milked these seven years.” She
struck the oow out of her way and
went on.
Then she came to the mill. The mill
said: "O. turn me, turn me, for I haven’t
been turned these seven years.”
But she did not heed what it said, only
went in and laid down behind the mill
door with the bag under her head, for
it was then night.
When the Hag came Into her hut again
and found the girl gone, she ran to the
chimney and looked up to see if she had
carried off her bag. She got into a great
rage, and she started to run as fast as
she could after her.
She had not gone far when she met
the horse, and she said: "O, horse,
horse of mine, did you see this maid of
mine, with my tig. with my tag, with
my long leather bag of gold and silver I
have earned since I was a maid?”
"Aye,” said the horse, "It Is no* long
since she passed here."
So on she ran and It was not long un
til she met the sheep, and said she:
"Sheep of mine, did you see this maid of
mine, with my tig. with my tag, with
my long leather bag of gold and silver
I have earned since I was a maid?”
“Aye.” said the sheep, “It Is not long
since she passed here.”
So she goes on, and 1* was not long be
fore she met the goat, and said: "Goat,
goat of mine, did you see this maid of
mine, with with tig, with my tag, with
my long leather hag of gold and silver I
have earned since I was a maid?”
"Aye," said ihe goat, “it is not long
since she passed here.”
So she goes on and i* was not long be
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V,..... ...
The mother was now ever so glad to see them.
fore she met the lime kiln, and said she:
“Lime kiln, lime kiln of mine, did you
see this maid of mine, with my tig, with
my tag. with my long leather bag of
gold and silver I have earned since X
was a maid?”
“Aye,” said the lime kiln, "It is not long
since she passed here.” s
So she goes on, and It was not long
before she met the cow, and says she:
"Cow. cow of rnlhe, old you see this maid
of mine, with my tig, with my tag, with
my long leather bag of gold and silver I
have earned since I was a maid?
"Aye," said the cow, “it is not long
since she passed here.”
So she goes on and.lt was not long
before she met the mill, and said she.
“Mill, mill of mine, did you see this
maid of mine, with ray tig, with my tag.
with my long leather bag of gold and
silver I have earned since I was a maid.”
And the mill said: "Yes,” she to sleep
ing behind the door.”
She went In and struck her with a
white rod and turned her Into a stone.
She then took the bag of gold and sil
ver on her back and went back home.
When the second daughter had been
gone a year and a day, and she hadn t
come back, the youngest daughter said:
"My two sisters must be doing very well
Indeed, and making great fortunes when
they are not coming hack, and It's a
shame for me to be sitting here doing
nothing, either to help you, mother, or
myself. Moke me a bannock and cut me
a callop, till I go away and push my for
tune.
The mother did this and asked her
would she have half the bannock with her
blessing, or the whole bannock without?
She said, "I will have half of the ban
nock with your blessing, mother.”
The mother gave her a blessing and
half a bannock, and she set out.
She traveled away and atvay on before
her. far further than I could tell you
and twice as far as you could tell me,
until she came into a etrange country and
going up to a little house, she found an
old Hag living in it. *
The Hag asked her where she was go
ing.
She said she was going to push her
fortune.
Said the Hag: "How would you like
to stay here with me, for I want a girl?”
"What will I have to do?” said she.
“You'll have to wash me and dress me
and to sweep the house clean, and on the
peril of your life never look up the chim
ney," said the Hag.
"All right,” she agreed to this.
The next day when the Hag arose, she
washed her and dressed her, and when
the Hag went out she swept the hearth,
and she thought it would be no harm, to
have one look up the chimney, and there,
what did she Bee but her own mother’s
long leather bag of gold and silver. So
she took It down at once and getting It
on her back, started away for home as
fast as she could run.
When she got to the horse, the horse
said: "Rub me, rub me, for I haven’t been
rubbed these seven years."
“O poor horse, O poor horse," she said,
"I'll surely do that.” And she laid down
her bag and rubbed the horse. Then she
went on and It wasn't long before she met
the sheep, who said: “O shear me, shear
me, for I haven't been sheared these sev
en years.”
"O poor sheep, O poor sheep," she said,
"I’ll surely do that,” and she laid down
the bag and sheared the sheep.
On she went till she tnet the goat who
said: "0 change my tether, change my
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! tethr. for It hasn't changred these
seven years."
“O poor goat. O poor goat." she said.
| Til surely do itvat and she laid down the
| bag and she changed the goat's tether.
Then she went on til! phe met che lime
kiln. The lime kiln said: "O clean me,
clean me. for I haven’t been cleaned these
j seven years."
' "O poor lime kiln. O poor lime kiln."
| she ®a*d, "I*ll surely do that.” and nhe
i la-id down the bag and cleaned the lime
! kiln.
Then she went on and met the cow.
The cow said: "O milk me. milk roe. for
I haven't been milked these seven years."
! "O. poor cow. poor cow." she said. Til
surely do that." and laid down the
bag and milked the cow.
At last she reached the mill. The mill
said: * 0 turn me. O turn me, for I hav
en't been turned these seven years."
"O poor mill, O poor mill," she said.
"I'll surely do that," and she turned the
mill too.
As night was on her. she went in and
laid down behind the mill door to sleep.
When the Hag came into her hut again
and found the girl gone, she ran to the
chimney to see if she had carried off her
bag. 9he got into a great rage and start
ed to run as fast a3 she could after her.
She had not gone far until she came up
to the horse and said: "O horse, horse of
mine, did you see this maid of mine, with
my tig. with my tag, with my long leather
bag of gold and silver I have earned since
I was a maid?"
The horse said: "Do you think T have
nothing to do but only watch your maids
for you? You may go somewhere else
and look for Information."
Then she came to the sheep. "O sheep,
sheep of mine, have you seen this maid
bf mine, with my tig, with my tag, with
my long leather bag of gold and silver I
have earned since I was a maid?”
The sheep said: "Do you think I have
nothing to do only to watch your maids
for you? You may go somewhere else and
look for information.”
Then she went on till she met the goat.
"O, goat, goat of mine, have you seen this
maid of mine, with my tig, with my tag.
with my long leather bag, filled with gold
and silver I have earned since I was a
maid?”
The goat said: "T>o you think I have
nothing to do only to watch your maids
for you? You can go somewhere else and
look for Information."
Then she went on till she came to the
lime kiln. "O, lime kiln of mine, did you
see this maid of mine, with my tig, with
my tag, with my long leather bag of gold
and silver I have earned slncte I was a
maid ?"
Said the lime kiln: "Do you think I
But she flung a stone at him and went on.
have nothing to do but only watch your
maids for you? You may go somewhere
else to look for Information.”
Next she met the cow. "O, cow, cow
of mine, have you seen this maid of mine,
with my tig, with my tag, with my long
leather bag of gold and silver I have earn
ed since I was a maid?"
The cow said: "Do you think I have
nothing to do only to watch your maids
for you? You may go somewhere else and
look for Information.”
Then she got to the mill. "0, mill, mill
of mine, did you see this maid of mine,
with my tig, with my tag, with my long
leather bag of gold and silver I have earn
ed alnce X was a maid?"
The mill said: “Come nearer and wtys
per to me.”
She goes nearer to whisper to the mill
and the mill drags her under the wheels
and grinds her up.
The old Hag had dropped the white rod
out of her hand and the mill told the young
girl to take this white rod and strike two
stones behind the mill door. She did that
and her two sisters stood up. She hoisted
the leather bag on her back, and the three
of them set out and traveled away and
away till they reached home.
The mother had been crying all the time
while they were away, and was now ever
so glad to see them, and rich and happy
they lived ever after.
••It Was lot and 1 told but Or.”
From tlio London Mall.
During a dull interval after dinner the
other day one of the guests among a par
ty of men maintained that he could give
a simple little sentence which at first
glance seemed absolute y unintelligible,
but upon the addition ol a <omnia and the
emphasis of two words would at once be
come as cleat’ as the sky. As every gen
tleman pies nt hod sporting blood In his
veins, the bt was at once taken up. The
challenger th n wrote the following on a
piece of paper and passed it around.
"It was not aud 1 said but or.”
The tusk was to punctuate this s-n
--lance ar.d emphasize the words hi such
a manner ar to make It read Intelligibly.
A half hour was given for the task.
When the hall hour was up not a per
son In the company was able to write the
s nt<nc at it should be written, and
many expressed doubts that It could be
made Intelligible at all.
The young man who had drafted tho
sentence with a few strokes of his pencil
made It lo* k like tills:
"It was not ‘and’ I said, but 'or.' "
And ns he took the money some of th*
others wondered why they had not seen
It before, while a few even could not see
It then.
Buck Bill's Burying.
The Old Corporal Spin* a Yarn of
Old Time*.
(Copyright. 1900, by P. Y. Black.)
"Ye’re the most extrorny fitture of the
campaign,” the old corporal said with
placid admiration. ”1 loves daisies, an'
ye're one of the prettiest spesbmens I
know, so ye are. You ought to be dead, by
all right*. Both legs gone. Man. ye're
In great luck. Ye’re worth $72 a month
forevermore. But what tickles me is ye
didn’t die. an' I bet on yer dyln'. Ye’re
tough, my joker. Ye ought to have died.
Ye’re the most extroony fitture or the
campaign."
The corporal and the recruit were sit
ting by the. bedside of a wounded soldier
in camp near Santiago. The man on the
cot was deathly pale from loss of blood,
but the Immense vitality which had en
abled him to survive the loss, by a shell,
of both legs above the knee, now permit
ted him to be cheerful and hopeful.
"Seventy-two a month pension will be
a picnic,” said he, with a laugh. “Won
der if they’ll give me fake legs like that
one Amos Chapman rode about with at
Fort Supply In the nation. Gee! Corp. wait
till I hobble down to. the parade an’ see
you fellers sweating at the double time
with old Daddy Weiss hollerin' at you.
'Mind the distance, you there! Sergeant,
see that that man has an hour’s extra
drill! Keep your hands up! You’re like a
lot of sailormen!' An’ I’ll sit by and laugh
at you! Wow. won't I laugh!”
The corporal grirmed, but the recruit
looked piteous and sorrowful.
“Would—wouldn't you rather have your
legs?" he asked w-onderlngly.
"O, I dunno,” the crippled soldier re
plied. “I never had no trade nor eddica
lion. S'posin' I'd kept my legs. I'd never
'ave been nothin’ but a big buck private
anyway, and died or been shot In line of ;
duty. Now I’m fixed for life an’ I’ll get j
around, never fret.”
“It’s so,” said the corporal reflectively.
The earth parted and out came Bill from thedead.
"An’ not bein’ a responsible charakter, ys
might have been bobtailed and gone on
the bum, having as you say no trade an’
too old to larn. Ye’re in luck. But I bet
ye'd die. By rights, because the doctor
said it, ye ought to have died.”
"The worst of it,” said the convalescent,
“is the pain In my toes.”
“Y'our toes?” cried the recruit.
"They always feels It.” said the cor
poral, "more or less. It depends on how
they burled your legs. I’ll look yours up,
and have them burled right. There was
old Mahoney, who went railroading, and
got smashed up by an engine, with his leg
cut off. He suffered terrible from his toes,
an’ his son had the buryln’ ol’ the leg.
‘lt’s burled proper, dad,’ says he, but the
old man doubted it an’ got a friend to look
It up. Sure enough, the boy had just
put it in the ground, and the earth was
pressing hard and heavy down on it. Ma
honey’s friend put it in a box where it
had room, an’ the pain left Mahoney. ‘I
knew,’ aays he. ‘the boy hadn't buried It
proper; it hurt so.’ ”
The recruit laughed, but the cripple said,
anxiously:
“Look mine up. Corp will you? I’m
thlnkin' mine ain’t put atvay right.”
"Ye’re tough,” said the corporal, harp
ing on the subject of the soldier’s vitality.
"Most fellers would have died. Some
fellers is mighty hard to kill. There is
Buck BUI. He’s with the Twenty-second
now. I mind when we blew taps over his
grave down on the Washita.”
“How?” said the recruit. ”1 thought
you said he is with the Twenty-second
doughboys?”
"All’ so he I*. I'll tell you how It was.
See, In them days, the boys was havin'
hot times with the Comanche 9 and the
Kiotvas down in the old Southwestern
frontier. It was in them times when I
was enjoying myself like a rookie for fair,
and all things was new to me and I never
thought but what I’d wind up os a major
anyhow. Like him there. You ain’t so
old as me, but you know how It is.”
The convalescent nodded grimly. He
wore two service stripes on his sleeye.
The recruit looked dreamily out of the
farther door of the hospital tent. He
was very young, and—some day there
might be a war worth calling a war, not
a campaign. He had hopes.
“We are all bucks, of course," the cor
poral went on, “but this feller Bill was
called Buck Bill poor—purr—there’s a
foreign word, rookie?”
"Par example?” the recruit suggested
timidly.
"Right. I guess. In matters of the
United States language, I don't take no
corrections from no one, but In foreign
talk, my rookie, you may know more'n
me. He was Buck Bill always. He had
the most extrorny bumps behind his ears.
A frennlgist—”
"A phrenologist?" the rookia meekly
Inquired.
"That ain’t a foreign word." said the
old corporol, angrily. "It's good United
States, and it goes, see? I eald a fren
nlglst, ain't that right?”
The convalescent nodded and the re
cruit was humbled.
"This here frennlgist felt onct of Bill's
head and drawed a paper of It. Says
he to Bill, ho ways. you’ve the most
amazing bump of vitality I ever seed '
he says. Them tvas the bumps behind
Buck Bill's ears he meant, see? Mino
ain't remarkable, but I guess yourn arc."
The patient felt behind his ears and
opened hi* eyes wide.
"By gee!" he sold. “You're right,
Corp; I've got 'em big ”
"Thought so," said the corporal, “or
you'd never have pulled through this
rastle. Outs* you'd give the yeiler fever
Itself a hot time to down you.”
The racrult fel* at the back of his ears
Ivith alarm.
"I fancy," he said thoughtfully, "that
It wouldn't pay me to have both legs
cut oft "
"Well, sir," the corporal said. "Buck
Bill was n thing It was the hardest of
hard to kill. He got cut up by a cowboy
In Cheyenne and lived. In the hospital
he broke out on a bitter cold night, got
drunk, caught cold, got eerrlesipples—
shut up, rookie, that's United Slates, too
—and (ha doctors gave him up. but he
lived through. He was ahot in the atom
aeh by a Piute and lived through. His
horse put Its foot in a gopher hole and
rolled on him. and hie saddle crushed four
ribs and a collar bone, and dislocated his
liver, but he lived through. He had moun
tain fever and pneumonia and a touch
of smallpox all in one year, but hs lived
through. When we was swimming horses
across the Platte for drill, he was kicked
by bis horse and was under water for
ten minutes, but he lived through. Says
the colonel, ha says:
‘Of all the buck soldiers in my coalman,'
says he. ‘Bill Is the toughest buck,' he
says. 'He'd buck up against the bubonic
plague.’ he says, 'and live through.' So
we called him Buck Bill.
“Well, we was down on the Washita,
as I was a-savln’ an' old Phil Sheridan
an' Custer was there, an' things was
merry—very, very merry. Thlnkln' back,
them here Spaniards ain’t In It with In
juns for puttin’ up a hot fight—not the
Injuns of the old days. No, sorree, Buck
Bill was enjyin’ of himself to beat poker,
so he was, an' In the thick of It ev'ry
time. The old troop was out by itself un
der orders from Phil to scout along ihe
border. Daddy liked that. Daddy was
happiest when he hadn't no reports to
turn in every mornin’, but was free to do
as he liked. The Comanche* was thick
about us, flghtin' foot an' flghtln' horse,
and I'm durned If the squaws an’ pa
pooses weren’t puttin’ In good licks, too,
so they was. There was *he night charge
on a village with snow a foot deep an'
freelin' hard. 'Twas before your time.
I got ah arrow from a papoose that night
myself right in the shoulder. There’s
devils and devils, but them was devils.
"It was one clay the old troop was
caught slick when we never thought there
was a Comanche or a Kiowa within ten
miles of us. ‘Twasn't on ambush, 'zact
ly, for Daddy saw it in time, but it gave
us the chills for an hour or two. There
was a creek, see? an’ w-e was going to
camp near the headwaters of that creek,
we was. It was getting toward sundown,
and we was tired. Where the beggars
came from don’t ask me, but all at once
It looked as if the troop was surrounded.
Gee, they came. We fought and we
fought, skirmish line, mount and charge,
dismount, skirmish line, commence firing,
rally by company,' to the rear, gallop—
O, say. It was hot, and, by gum, we re
treated, we did. 'Twas a fine moonlight
night, and the moon was up when the
sun went down. We was dead tired af
ter a long march and no time for chuck,
and by 8 o’clock we was nigh beat. Cur’-
ous for Injuns, they kept on fighting af
ter dark, for It was a fine moonlight night,
see? There W'as a bit of a hill with
scrub bushes on it back of the creek,
and Daddy—he did it fine, too, retreated
to that hill, where we might hold the
red devils off until Phil could come up.
“We couldn’t get there at onct, though.
The Injuns saw what Daddy was after,
and they got there before we did. Well,
we was fighting down on the creek side
and Buck Bill, he went and got killed,
and, worse’n that—he’d dropped off his
horse, bein’ wounded—he got scalped. Bill
was allright, he was, an’ we liked him,
we did. When we tumbled to what he’d
got, we got mad, and Daddy was mad,
too. We charged an’ scattered the black
guards for a time, and we got Bill’s body
before they had time to mutilate It, save
the scalping. We liked Bill, we did, and
Daddy liked him. He was a fine build
of a man. The troop held the position.
Hot shooting It was, and we dug a grave
and we buried Bill to save him from mu
tilation. We blew taps over him, too,
and all the time the Injure were tearing
around on their ponies, shooting in on us
like mad. Being so, we hadn’t time to
dig the grave very deep, but we put BUI
under all according to the rules and regu
lations and Revised Statutes. We was
sorry and we was mad, for Bill was a
fine build of a man and played a good
game at poker.
“We’eM, we had to hurry up a bit, and
then we retreated In good shape, got over
the creek, cleared out the Injuns from the
hill—lively, that was—and had time to
think what we was doing. We threw up
a few bits of rifle pits, and got a bite
to eat. Mind you. all the night the Co
manches were circling round the hill, and
putting in a good, steady fire. It looked
almighty rough for us, for there was no
chance to send out a runner with word
to Phil. So, when It was near morning.
Daddy spoke up.
’Bovs,’ eavs he, ’we’re trapped,’ says
he. ’There’s no way to get help sent to
us. So,’ says he, ’as them devils are all
about us, and we’re short of chuck and
water and ammunition,’ he says—not Just
like that, but them was his meanings—he
says, ’l’m going to cut my way out. Is
It right?’ he says.
"Right It was. It was our only chance,
for we were completely surrounded, and
what he said about the ammunition was
correct. We had Fred Colville wllh us,
the bugler—you’ve heard of him. He’d
played taps over Buck Bill when we bur
led him. There was no use In laying low.
We didn’t care how much row we made.
Fred up and gives a roaring call, full
blast and to hell with the rest. Boots and
saddles! Yup! I never got my fingers
twitching nt a call as I did that time. Up
we went Into the saddles, revolvers at the
carry, carbines loose In the boo's, and
faced the reds. I never thought I'd live
through It, but all I was mad about was
to empty them six chambers Into the
Cctnanches that were thick about us. They
saw what we were up to. Trust them.
They're cute. The beggars got together
on the only road we could take to find
the command, and waited. Give me a
Comanche for a square fight. They form
ed up In the gray of the morning to meet
us, and says I to myself, says I, It's a
massacre, so It Is, for they were about
five to our one. ‘Boys,’ says Daddy, cool
as ieeehests, 'you see,' he says, ‘l’m go
ing to charge in column of fours,' he says,
’and cut. through. Loik out for your
selves, and luck to us all. Trumpeter,’ he
says, ’sound (he boots and saddles again.
It’s a dandy,' he says. ’lt’s a good deft.’
he says.
"And at that Fred Upped the bugle,
and it went to rouse the land. You'd
have thought they'd have heard It at
Washington. Whoopee!
•' ’Again,’ yells Daddy, for he seen it
put blood Into us, an’ seemed to scare the
reds.
"Fred let her go again, and I was look
ing at the other side of the creek where
we’d burled Buck BUI, between where the
Injuns were and the water. I guess I
cried out, lor Daddy howled at me:
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M vTEE THE POINT?
“ 'What’s the matter with you? Are
you crazy?’
“ 'Twas enough to make a man crazy.
The little mound of gravel over Buck Bill
was heaving. Bill was coming out of hie
grave. I yelled out. but the old man waa
giving his commands.
•' 'Trot,' says he. ‘Gallop!’ sayß he.
■Charge!' says he, and at the word
‘charge’ Fred let out a yell from that old
bugle that would scare Madrid. The In
juns were excited and looking for us and
ready for us, and we didn't have much
chance, but that call waked Buck Bill
for fair. Right between us his grave was,
and the mound heaved and the eartn
parted, and out came Bill from the dead.
He staggered .a bit facing the Indians,
and we were coming down across the
creek pistols cocked, full charge. Ha
never looked at us. He faced the reds.
Man, they were scared. 'Charge!' yells
Bill, and goes for them just as he was,
in the shirt end drawers we had buried
him in. 'Charge!' he yells, and we
howled, and begob I was like the Injuns;
I thought It was a ghost! They cleared
out; they scattered; they thought he wa*
a spirit. We cut after Bill, but he whip
ped them Comanches himself. I guess It
took the blood out of them to see dead
men rising out of their graves to fight
them.
"i forgot to tell you, you see, but
maybe you’ve guessed It. Buck Bill
wasn't dead at all. He was scalped and
senseless all right, but only stunned like.
and It was lucky we hadn't time to bury
him deep.”
The corporal paused.
“I guess,” he said, rising, “the nurse’ll
be kickin’ us out if we don’t go of our
selves. Say, you're like Buck BUI; you’ve
got the bump of vitality strong. You’ve
lived through this without a bugle call
to rouse you, either. But I betted you’d
die. By rights you ought to have died.”
umim.
125 Gonoress St, tel.
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Builders’ Hardware.
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NEAL-MILLARD CO.
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Sash, Doors and Blinds,
Paints, Oils, Varnishes,
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