Show A Wyoming Sergeant One sawtoothed spring day I and Pete hit Wyoming with a half dozen fat steers for a local slaughter house That morning a fellow in a U S Army captain’s uniform and full of glowing descriptions of army life in general and the beauties of patriotic volunteer service in particular rented a room in the Pacific Hotel and proceeded to enlist “men used to horses for service with Tor-reyRough Riders an organization to be composed entirely of western cowboys” who were to start the next Sunday for Cuba arrive there Monday A M rope and tie all the Spaniards on the island (but a few) before supper finish the job by ten o’clock Tuesday spend the rest of the day and Wednesday eating bananas and bread fruit and seeing the country take the evening boat for Spain spend Thursday and Friday roping and tieing all the Spaniards over there and get back to town and tell the fellows about in Sunday A M I and Pete listened five minutes yelled “Remember the Maine” and jabbed the spurs into our horses for the homes of our ancestors with the recruiting officer’s opinion that we would make the best pair of trumpeters in the U S Army if the paternal consent necessary to get a couple of seventeen year old kids into the job were forthcoming Pete got the required consent I got mine also but it had a condition on it If Spain lasted long enough ’s so that Uncle Sam needed me I could go My breast became rankled with a bitter hatred for the human race I continued to feel blue until I had had three letters from Pete then I began to feel better and about the thirteenth letter Diamond Dick and a quiet horse herd which tried to split and scatter all over Wyoming only seven or eight times a day was good enough for me I began to dream only occasionally of swooping onto the Spanish army on a big pinto with wings on his hind feet and watching bunches of dagoes shrivel up and blow away every time I sounded a “charge” on a gold bugle But just the same I was lonesome and when I heard that Old Pete was mustered out and was coming home I was the happiest kid on the range I sent a note to Dad stating that I very much needed a two weeks’ vacation and would lie please send some one up to the corral to run the horse herd while I took it Old Jet came out to relieve me and brought the information that the army was back so I spurred for Pete’s Dad’s ranch When I walked in on him he stood on a chair on the table up in the gable end of his room and had just finished driving a circle of tacks through the rim of a He much worn campaign hat crawled down and shook hands with me about twenty minutes I suggested that if the hat were mine I’d have it down where it would be gilt-liead- ed 0 |