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Show H ()i)iiijniiiiii)'Hmmn)mnnmi s Paetc Train 13 s v, """' 7Vw" " I . i.' Hi Rlowly starving Infantry, part o H two tolnntrrr batlatlons were sprawl- M ed about in (ho dusty moonlit plaza of B Alp) mrn that night. A email croup HI of fked and famished wir scribes H were nmong them anil these men com inentel seriously upon the Ugly and - thankless proposition which Ufa la Now and then a commissioned officer wore loudlr at hla men alternately raiting thrra blood thirsty devils anl nerve-shattered yoiinK ladles Tha enlisted en-listed men cursed back In half audible crawls In the air waa that queer inur muring undartone which can alway Iki heard In the mldtt of American ,. lri)w Juit after a brush with the "ulggns ' And straight above the foul and nnelent town a hot white ml I night mucin Mated down taunting! Nrvcr-to-be-forgottcn la that hat Jin iiary night nt Alphonto way down In one of the lower protlnrei nt Luzon dark for 10 rainless days, feet) It at rnre And Irrrgilar Intervals upoi Iwvnu and hardtack, rharge It uion Urn, ainoklnr rebel trencbea mi or fwlee overy 41 houra, ami on the tenth day keep up the program eirept for ll baron and hardtark then look al (he battalion If you are Interest I at nil In devilish rrood or the causes of crime ion will understand then the necessity of a perdition hereafter anl the likelihood nt Ita being rrnwlel The service In Luzon tearhra tnat It la a place of falhomlee mud during the mini and of terrorising heat w ie i tha rain are not It alen loaches a man to duly sweat and to look nt, tragedy without squinting Hut morj and mot of all In l.uion a man lo.irnt, loo what a (aunt, heiress auluial he la learna It from the hitting leaeoa whkh a craving lomh teaches Anl flila la a Iraaon libit kill pride, pure thnuchta and drenma of home The men In Ihe pi in of dirty Alphon no learned Ibl lesson that day. anl thai nlgb( It wa linpreMeJ upon them ttuddenly Ihe senlry on duty at tJo north end of the town shouted T.io mra In Ihe plaia Jumpcil to their fett and listened Then faint an I far oft could tx heard Ihe tinkle of a pack tr&ln'a bell mare The ration were coming! Nenr In profane hlitnry of the world did urh a yell attend nt from the plaza of Alphnnso The near eat thins to me wa a rlclou ami cured cur-ed pony which ha I JoiichI me shabbily for ten houra that day I hugged the pony and the ugly bead, bereft of all fine lentlnienti, kicked lj the front of bamboo ahack, to which I bad loth rc! him Tha oldler alappe) each other facetiously aud were men with human hearla once more Feed n dog it yon would hare him follow you, fjr there I something of the man In hint, Not long after that there pounde I Into In-to the plata a train of the harden to I-er, I-er, man and bead. In Uncle Sam's pay They were marveloue to look at gaunt, thaggy, unkllleblo mul a, each standing up under 201 odd poll id of government straights i doicn tanned, tan-ned, haggard and Just as unkllltble packers handling Ihe big train with un Intense but whlsperel profanity, for the day and the trail and the mil a had kilted the voices In their throila The mule pushed the soldier out of the plaza swung Into lino aud smclled the necks of their neighbors, nt tne eamo time wiping clear the foam from their mouths They seemed to be pass ng through the herd now, a gene at Inquiry as to how each other had fuel thiough the prolonged helllshiiPM o' the hyke Meanwhile the packer insisted in-sisted by spirit-willing but noierlac-lets noierlac-lets gulleral profanity, unloaded anl unclnchcd, anl the pile of provliluui grew high In Ihe plaza The soldier crowded near, aud one oilier lie one spoiled the wholo system by gettlug Into the bota packer a way Npl '(let bick, you d Infanta. oi'vo 5J grubbed twice alma we have Tne ff4 volte of the pack Irulua chief wo.il I J have been a roir naturally, but Ila M atrtngth had gone from him that HJ night With towering Irony he finish H ed Mummi 11 have dliiney fur tables In a little while" J llnneslly the love bonds which exist HJ between packers and Infaiitryn ei would be easily levered And this I HJ strange ton for few are the packers HJ who have not "sol llered" nt one time HJ In Unci flam' service As n matter HJ of fact what have three stronr strango HJ .rough men not done at one time In HJ 'their llett Old Dad will tell ou of HI the days In I'ncl Ram'a cavnlry when M It was the brawn of arm aud tho km granlle of one's fists which beat It way W Into the superiority of a non com a OB atrlprs the daya when tioopers role Bj In tho homewest hunted (leronlmo J and the Aparht Kid rode long live I lj lian! and that true Bear Face, the H gretser will tell you huw he smuggled ml callous of Mexican mesial across the I Illo Grande, when nobody waa watrh- lug but the man In the moon an I V about the wads of money he iua out of the white soldiers on pay dijs t- Dirty Ike. the rook of tho trsln, went F wWl Itcno. when the fpisdrons of Ihe - un)u;ky Berenth horse ttparated to i corral Sitting Hull In the 70s, Dirty 1 Ike rill lell you how bo helped to bury the dead ot Cutter a command In tho circling shadows of vulture wings, and ;g how the dead men looked way out In Montsnn that hot Juno day llroken I foot mil, my.lett of friends In pack train 1), will tell you how he hit an L leeherg while rounding Cape Horn In a whaler and lost his personal proflti I1 of three years toll 410000 worth of t sperm oil He tells of dealing faro In " the black reek of crime of 1'ort Bald on the Sues. Ah, the Ilroken-Foot has H bt'n a wanderer Yea In n pack train you wtll ae men whose natnrea have led them In , all the dark places on the surface of the earth They have found gold pick ings In some of three places they will tell you and vlllalnoiH whisky In all In the deeirahle thing ot clvlllzitlnn In Ihe toft wile of fair women they are as little children, but If you nr a while man and need a frlen I a dollir a squire meal or all three these packers pack-ers will growl at you give It to you and tell you to call again And you who woull write books procure a Jut of good whleky If possible but whisky at all event strll n e parkrr s ramp at night when the mules are quiet over their forage and yon will hear tales with the rolor of all Ian Is snl the heart beat of rugg d manhool AnJ do lint forget lo tk ihe Jug out to the lunely fellow whimi trick It It lo guard the herd that night fur he will not forget yo i If you fall lo remember him Hut I was writing about that nltht al AIiiIioiimi As each heavy pack was removed from Ihe bark of a mule t ie swearing animal moved out of line shook himself with miny aitlifl'l, grume and then snnkdown noisily up ' on Ihe turf of the plaza In scratch h s numb and Itching hark In Ihe only way he knew This procees was performed with many grunts of Intense pteasuiu and even after the killing day unler Ihe packs there was a grnlle rot Isb kicking In the herd when Ihe roll ng was over niter tolling the mules gathered together about the hell-mare and raited their voices In mighty mag liltude to Ihe moon demanllng tho water and forage for which Ihey had -nrlirtl hard all day Ob (he din of i hat midnight rliorua' One would think that n big chain of iiiountvllii were dying with sins un forgiven And Ihe bell mare In the midst of her n liy adorers kept up a loquettlsh anl x rcssant kicking and luting This Is why she Is hired so and sought after the parkers will lell you Till lady ot the herd Is very Impor lent, and her knowledge of the fait it apparent She must havs Ihe temper of n Jezebel and Ihe ley soul of a t'hll Ipplnn female lo bold her ntcendency Should the warm a Utile toward some great shaggy head which bends neir her adoringly there would bo scandal In the herd and Ihe bell mare and her favored one would be klrked out of builnes promptly Hut so long ns she kicks and rqurals Impirllstly towird all the great stupid burden bearers follow whither the leads ' licit a woman" observed the pickers, pick-ers, with tho largo wisdom ot single men and ezlle from things feminine. If you would have her love you' Thoso men nihleve such helghti of wisdom berauso they know mules and bell mares The lady of Ihe herd carries no louts Tho packer In the advance leads hoe nnd by virtue of her heartlrssnees she keeps the whole herd In her train If It were not for her the packers could not keep the mules together, for their heads aro free from hallir or bridle when on the trail A bell Is strapped around her neck, an I In tho d irk too mules of n train follow (ho sound nnl are satisfied Whcro the bell Is there Is also eace In the herd, when fit lull It silent the mulo undertake to learn Ihe riason nnl In a frenzlej search they cover tails tract of tor rltory In all dlret lions which Is na turally bothersomo for tho packers My head was full of the marvel of all Iheao thing that night In Alphon to I saw one of tho big beasts Ir.cJ careleM fit of affection plate his hen i too near the I eels of the belle. B'ie used her htcls as usuil and landed lievtvlly Kor a second Ihe mule wis blinded, staggered, then (oh, the shame tho irime ot It) he forgot himself nnd kicked baik at the Udyll 1 believe ho was bruised for life by the rest, before ha got out of the herd. Tiny fires dotted the outskirts of I lie plaza now, and Ihe glorious smell of baron and hardtack was In the air It was a glorious smell but It mid-deiicd mid-deiicd me I wus quite n stranger to the Infintry battalions, having hyked for the first tlmo with them that day And 1 had no rations! You who have never been In n similar condition, are wholly alranger lo tho keen, raggod edge ot the word suffering Suddenly a brilliant thought ramo (o me. 1 went over to Ihe rook nt the pack train who had a big fire stnrtcd 1 riease, sir, ' I said eagerly, ' can t I get jou another pall of wnterf He sized mo up for n moment, feeling the edge of u butcher knife Then he kicked an empty bucket In my direction direc-tion and said ' lliut vourself!" I turned with the water and became very busy poking Ihe fire, washing the rnffre-pot and keeping out of the cook's way Suddenly he seemed to wsrm lo me "Who In h are you? be sskel kindly I exclaimed briefly and added deeming It wise In be honest, that I had lost a pony the day before, that 1 didn't know the Infantry outfit In town that I was hungrier than the she-wolf of the Scriptures. In eon elusion I asked hastily "Will I get some more water! ' Tne Utile camp Ores of the acldieri were embers now and beside them ha men from the States were lying In tht moonlight rapturously rolling about In that big nnd general sympathy which I an adjunct of lobarro and slrona eoffee At last the packers eame In from Ihe mule The animal hid been watered and fel and only the herd guard was left with them now Tome nnd gel It while Its hot, you savage" ordered the cook Then he mide me swell up until I wa giddy by observing Here nn eztrn mesa tin, if you haven't got one And by way of Introduction ho roncluded, "Feller "Fel-ler this Is one of Ihem short handel fi as wr ie for the papers Hi lost his mouth an I la out of grub The only good thing about him I know la that he Isn t one of them d soldiers Then I met Old Did nnd S ar Face ond llroken I oot They made a man out of me with coffee nn I bacon and treated me s If I had been one alwav an I Ihey to I me wonderful tiles which I hive yet to repent Ah, that was a marvelous night In tho moon light at dirty Alphonso' Wh-n most of the fellows were dro vsy . Urn'ten Foot Illll went out lo the herd to take hi trlrk nt tho guird I went with him Listen lo the words Il-o'trn Coot said to me tint night and you will tee hi big heirt Bee Hist big rr-n brute with n hol In his aide?" ho ntked 'Well, that's Manklllrr Ihe dead ringer for old Mono lire who killed herself to lay. Don't go nrnr that brute he'a wicked Old Moon Fye wna the snipe of thM brute, only he was a grnllemnn. He had n hole In his side We hivei't packet him for three daya Th'a nomine; he waa stiff and routdn I follow fol-low Io lost hi ielf from tha herd shout noon and I saw him way u i nn lop of n rllff He wa n pet of mine and I celled to him HI front tea' were right on Ihe edre He looked nt mej kind of sorrowful and then pushed himself over He n tnyen out there now In one nf them innon ro't 10 miles from here I liked Old Moon Kye decent feller " An hour afterward we wero tlll 'landing together wnlrh'ng the herd llroken Fool nnl I lie seemed to want In say something more and so I watted At last It came 'Hay I ve got an old mother hick In Bt. Louis I send her something every liny day. but 1 hain't heard frou her for bIz months Will you fin I nut about her an' write me when you get tuck, Kldr-llrnken Fool Illll Utird sell I'nck Train Thirteen" I promised And after that there was no sound In the plaza save the crunching of the mule nt their forage and an occasional coquettish aqueil from the bell mare And the moon swung over lo Ihe northeast, and hung low and walled for the dawn. And the next morning I started lo hyke with tho pack train and durlni (he next eight daya I leirnrt to be proud of my strong new frlen Is In Train Thirteen And I saw wonderful things watching General Schwsns big campaign In tpo lower provlnrrs of Luzon from tho back ot the bell-mare. |
