Show t tsJlll ecr i n 11 i i OUSTER AS t n8E1LN A Few Extracts from the New flool by Cutters AVidow I never tired of watching the start for the hunt The General was a figure tha would have fixed attention anywhere lie had marked individuality of appear ance and a certain unstudied careless ness m the wearing of his costume thai gave a picturesque effect not the least out of place on the frontier He wore troopbootsreaching to his knees buck skin breeches fringed on the side a dart navyblue shirt with a broad collar a red necktie whose ends floated over his shoulders 1 exactly as they did when lie and his entire division of cavalry had = worn them during the war On the broad felt hat that was almost a soiru brero was fastened a slight mark of his rank Tie was at this time thirtyfive years of age weighed 170 pounds and was six feet in nearly height His eyes were clear blue and deeply set his hair short wavy and golden in tint His moustache was long and tawny in color his complexion was florid except where his forehead was shaded by his hat for the sun always burned his skin ruth lessly Ho was the most agile active maul ever knew and so very strong and in such perfect physical condition that he rarely knew even an hours in disposition Horse and man seemed one when the General vaulted into the saddle His body was so lightly poised and so full of swinging undulating motion it almost seemed that the wind moved him as it blew over the plain Yet every nerve was alert and like finolytempered steel for the muscles and sinews that seemed so pliable were equal to the curbing of the most fiery animal I do not think that he sat on his horse with more than the other officers for they rode superbly but it was accounted by others almost an impossibility to dislodge the General from the saddle no matter how vicious the horse might prove He threw his I feet out of the stirrups the moment the animal began to show his inclination for war and with his knees dug into the side of the plunging brute he fought and always al-ways conquered With his own horses he needed neither spur nor whip They were such friends of his and his voice seemed so attuned to their natures they knew as well by its inflections as by the slight pressure of the bridle on their necks what he wanted By the merest inclination on the Generals Gen-erals part they either sped on the wings of the Avind or adapted their spirited steps to the slow movement of the march It was a delight to see them together they were so in unison and when he talked to them as though they had been human beings their intelligent eyes seemed to reply I As an example of his horsemanship he I had a way of escaping from the stagnation I stagna-tion of the dull march when it was not I dangerous to do so by riding a short distance dis-tance in advance of the column over a I divide throwing himself on one side of his horse so as to be entirely out of sight from the other direction giving a signal that the animal understood and tearing off at the best speed that could be made The horse entered into the frolic with all the zest of his master and after the race the animals beautiful distended nostrils glowed bloodred as he tossed his head and danced with delight In hunting the General rode either Vic or Dandy The dogs were so fond of the latter that they seemed to have little talks with I him The Generals favorite dog Blucher would leap up to him in the saddle sad-dle and jump fairly over the horse in starting The spirited horses mounted by officers who sat them so well the sound of the horn used for the purpose of calling the dogs their answering bay the glad voices and hoipla to the hounds as they partly galloped down the valley are impressions ineffaceable from my memory They often started a deer within sound of the bugle at the post in a few hours their shouts outside would call me to the window and there dropping dropp-ing across the back of one of the orderlies order-lies horses would be a magnificent black tailed deer We had a saddle of venison hanging in the woodhouse almost constantly con-stantly duing the winter The officers I and even the soldiers tables had this rarity to vary the monotony of the inevitable I I inevit-able beef 1 |