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Show CAUTION IN STORY TELLINC. A Captain Who (turned No Bridge ftihlnd Him -A Hard Pipe tn Beat. , An adventure was related over a soldiers' sol-diers' camp fire at San Carlos that is worth preserving, and has not yet been in type. The general of the department depart-ment was a guest of the mess, and under un-der tie influence of some claret, imported im-ported for tho occasion, a captain told a story. The captain laid that he bad been fishing in one of the smaller canyons near Fort Apache shortly before, and had hooked an immense trout. He played him up and down stream, became be-came intensely excited, and was just about to land him when he beard a fierce growl, and, looking up, he perceived per-ceived a tremendous bear on the opposite op-posite side of the narrow creek. The captain was not anxious to lose his life and the bear was making for him. Neiihor did he careto lose tho tisli. So he quickly transferred the fish pole to his left hand, drew his revolver with his right, killed the bear, and then landed the trout. There was a lull at the end of this story. The bearers waited to bear what the general would say. Pretty soon he asked: "What did you do with the bear, captain?" "Gave him to some Indians," was the reply. "And the fish?" continued the general. "He was such a line one that I put him back inthecrrek. I don't believe in spoiling spoil-ing the sport of future i.reriei'atious." There was another lull. Presently the irener.il asked: "Do vou call that ai bear story' or a 'fish story,' Captain?" The captain replied: "I don't call it either." Then agsiin came the gnueral to the charge: Couldn't you till that story up so that you could be killing a rattlesnake with one ot your feet at the same time?" The captain rose aud walked away, i There were two caotains in the th j j cavalry. Each was proud of his record, j j his horses, his family, bis dogs in i short, everything that was his. If one had a thing that he particularly prized the other had a better one, or got one, or tried to get one. Captain X. had a very old meerschaum pipe, and, scenting an antiquity, lie sent it to an expert in Now York, who returned re-turned it with a certificate to the effect that il was 300 years old. Ho impatiently impa-tiently waited until the ollicers assem-b.ed assem-b.ed at headquarters the next morniun. exhibited his prize, and read the figures on the expert's certilicnte. Captain B., his rival, declared that his family had a meerschaum pipe that bad been in their possesion for 1)00 years. Now, Captain X. was too polite to remind Captain. B. that neither tobacco nor pipes were known in Europe 000 years ago, aud he went home crushed. There a bright idea occurred to him. He put a figure 1 before the 300 on his certilicate, and bis pipe was certified to be 1300 years obi. The next morning he returned to headquarters, announced that ho had made a mistake in reading the certificate ou the previous day, and that his pipe was really 1310 years old. To prove it he showed'the certificate. |