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Show The Company Feud ms frWg By William H, Wassell, U. S. A, H Coprleht, by 8hortaury Pub. Co.) Wlicn Private Murphy of P company com-pany was backed up by his followers to raco with I'rlvnto Johnson of K company, no one (Treamcd of tho com-plications com-plications thnt woro to follow. For a long tlmo Johnson had been tho fleet-e8t fleet-e8t man In the garrison, and 13 company com-pany had gloried In his powers. They boasted about hlmi they smiled Indulgently Indul-gently when n mnn of another company com-pany wbb spoken of as a runner. Tiny said that B company was tho best company In tho regiment; nnd ns thero was somo foundation for their claim, tho boasts ruDlod tho Bplrlts of the ' men of F company, hecauso. thoy nlso laid claims to superiority. Ono day n recruit camo to P com- Ipany. Ho was a well-built follow, and It soon leaked out that he was fleet of foot F company look him out on tho prairie, measured off n hundred yards, started him with a blank cartridge, car-tridge, and timed him with tho best watch In tho company. Then thoy danced back to tho barracks and laughed E company In tho face. And K company Jeered back at them, nnd sent P company a challenge tho men to run for nil tho money tho two companies com-panies would drnw on their noxt pay day This was moro than P company com-pany had bargained for, but thoy had conlldenro In their man, and tho challenge chal-lenge was accoptcd. Tho garrison never forgot that raco. t,lko unleashed hounds the two runners run-ners shot from tho mark; not a breath was drawn by cither B company or P company as tho pontestants tore down tho track sldo by side. Then a mighty cheer wont up from B company as, at tho finish, their man forged ahem! and won by a yard! How th y screamed and hugged each other! And they carried Private Johnson back to barracks; they thought too much of him to allow him to walk. Tho cinder track origin of tho feud had been all but lost In n larger and moro comprehonslvn rlvnlry, when ouo line morning tho colonol's pretty nloco arrived at tho pout for n visit. Twenty-four Twenty-four hours after her arrival her heart, hand, and dalntv smile wero all violently vio-lently besieged by tho respective second lieutenants of companies 13 And then tho company fight found a fresh Inspiration, and was waged for all It was worth. , When tho P company second lieutenant lieu-tenant wns allowed to taUs her sweetness sweet-ness to tho first post hop following her arrival, tho hearts of the men who slept on Iron bunks In P company wero full of rojolclng. When tho second lieutenant of E company stood highest In favor, E cmnnanv nt once nrnceedod In a body I to tho cantcon ns a consequence. Hut this Is not a story of t'ho loves of two second lieutenants. Absorbing as was tho competition Into which theso officers of E nnd P companies respectively re-spectively had entered, nnd ardent as was tho passion thnt Inspired It, neither havo moro than an Incidental Interest In this tale. Ono October morning, tho scntlnol In roar of odlcprs' lino saw flames bursting from tho roof of the colonel's quarters. "Fire, number threo!" ho yelled, nt tho samo tlmo firing his rifle. Tho stillness of tho autumnal morn-In morn-In was gone. Bugles blow, tho reveille re-veille gun was fired, soldiers tumbled out of barracks, officers dropped their cards or tholr babies, Tho deserted parado was at once allvo with men and littered with flro buckets, with hose carts and with ladders, Tho second lieutenants of companies com-panies E and P rushed out of tho colonol's house togothor. Between them was Miss Wllckcns, but which one carried her, or whether neither or both of them enjoyed this privilege privi-lege not even tho colonel's cook could tell. They left hor reluctantly on tho sldo walk, and oach, with a parting look of undying lovo, fairly flow ncross tho parado to conduct his own command com-mand to tho scene of danger. Thu first sergennts met them half way with the hastily formed companies, and back again they madly raced to tlio burning houso, easily beating all competitors In n-dead heat for first placo. In every well-conducted garrison each company Is assigned a flro duty. Borne bring the ladders, others the hose, and' others, still, flro buckets. For tho latter duty woro detallod Oompanlos E and P; but finding no water for tholr buckets, "thoy wero ordered Into tho quarters to carry out the coIonol'B belongings. With F company rushed Ub socond lleutonnnt. A moment later ho hurried forth bear-lag bear-lag a divan pillow under each arm, and his eyes caught the second licit-tenant licit-tenant of E company not only calmly standing on the sidewalk, with Miss Hj Wllckcns, but actually wrapping his j capo around hor. A moment later tho girl's pretty Bhouldors wero coy-ercd coy-ercd with another second lloutonant'B cape, and from, that tlmo on com-panics com-panics E and P worked without their Junior ofllcers. The colonel's quarters wero old, and the puny streams of water that were thrown upon tho blaze seemed but to H doublo the anger of tho flames. Tho j little tongue of flro on tho roof grow ln BP'te of all effort to subdue It, un- Itil the attltfa woro a seething mass. Black clouds of smoke poured from the second story windows, and a regiment regi-ment of men Btood by, anxious, willing, will-ing, yet powerless Company E and Company P close to tho building, each longing for a first chanco at anything. Among Miss Wllckens possessions as n maid, and Just as tho Becond nontenants of Companies E and F "'nuHnncoeidy asked to bo allowod to fB da somethlnB anything In her bo-hfIf bo-hfIf Miss. Wllckens suddenly ox-H ox-H claimed 9B "b, whero's Baker? Whero's Bak-aflB Bak-aflB err MR? "M1 Wllckens' maid!" chorused WSm B(nd lloutonants. That whs enough for F compnny, and more than enough for E company With Just a Second's Btart E company rushed again Into the burning build Ing, up tho stairway, through a rain of water from tho hoso that could attain at-tain no greater height, to gropt' through tho smoko and flamo for the missing maid. Having started ohcad of P company, they blocked the door way and packed tho stairway so that not a man of that hated body, except little Dorgan, tho recruit, could get Into the houso. The smoko wnB suffocating, nnd E company gasped for breath, but manfully man-fully held to Its taBk. Flames darted i rffll Fainted In the Arms of Both Second Lieutenants. out from all parts of tho second floor, but E company gavo no thought to Its singed hairs and blackoncd faces But whoro was tho girl 7 Was all their search to be in vain? "Whoro Is sho? Which Is her room?" And as the flames raged with an cvor-lucrcnslng foroclty, tho waiting crowd of soldiers felt tho premonition of death In their hearts. Suddenly a cheer broko from somo ono In tho burning building. They had found hor! Tho hoarse, smoke- choked cheer ran through tho men on tho stairway, Bwelllng louder and louder, until tho outsiders caught It and sent It back to tho rescuers a roar of npplauso for their bravery. Ever so gently tho sweaty arms on tho stairway stretched out to receive j tho unconscious form, thoughtfully wrapped In woolen blankets; cnrefully yet quickly, thoy passed her down. Was she burned? Where was tho doctor? GIvo hor air, Oct her away from that building. And another cheer was given, a cheer for E company. And to their lasting credit bo It said that P company com-pany stnrtcd tho cheer. As tho last Blx bearers with thelt unconscious burden reached tho sldo-walk. sldo-walk. Miss Wllckens glanced away frnm the flro nn alone tho Hue of of ficers' quarters. Thon she gave a lit-tlo lit-tlo shriek: "Thcro's Baker! Shu i wasn't In tho flro at nil!" and promptly prompt-ly fnlntcd ln tho arms of both second lieutenants. At tho same moment there was a lively scrambling In tho woolen blankets. blan-kets. A second later, llttlo Dorgan, tho F company recruit, was Bprlntlng across tho parado as though tho lo-glons lo-glons of Satan wore after him. "Much obliged to E company!" ho yelled as ho ran. "I knew sho wasn't ln tho lire! I knew It all tho time! But much obliged to E company for carrying an F company man so nlco!" Llttlo Dorgan got six months In tho guard houso, but ho Is P company's hero. A wcok after tho lire, a tall "clt" camo out from tho east. He did not know tho dlfferonco between "fours right" and "fours left," but ho know how to put a solltalro ring on tho proper Anger of Miss Wllckens' pretty left hand, Tho second lieutenants lieuten-ants of Companies E nnd P simultaneously simultan-eously applied for leavos of absence. A laugh Is bettor than nil olse, so to bo laughed at Is worso than all elso; therefore F company camo out of the company feud with flying colors. |