Obeying Instructions.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 22 August 1910, Page 4

Obeying Instructions.

TWO GI'NS IX TROURLLO

Sergeant I{ya„, of the Northwest Mounted I'olue, stood i n the. office ol the commissioner. mou"^ 0 " 11 ,''" sai:l llia superior, Uld Iwo Gn n s a n d his gang are out agai,,. They have pitched tliew teepees o„ the li„e of the u ew railroad, and say tihe vwo„'t. move. hike some one with you and move thorn. ' The commissioner lowered his head a n d continued bis writing. ics, sir," said the sergeant, as lie saluted a n d left the room. ,1110 order was definite u n d precise—as orders always were from that source. The method of carrying them out was, as usual, left with the person direvtlv concerned. 11; till is particular ca.se it was Rva n . He walkod out to the bare, windswept parade brou n d. The o n lv thing <>n Ins mi n d was that part ol the order which instructed iln'ini to take "some one" with him. "Some one ' meant one--only one. The commissioner evidently thought that o n e would be e n ough. So did Ryan-for long training had made him accept the opi,,ion of a superior as something that had been arnived at by deliberation a n d consideration. Unconsciously, however, he found himself considering the number of Indians who trained under old Two wins ba n ner, as compared with the. force be was to lead against them. Whom to take—that was the „ext H'! 6 ™"!]: Hc "' onl(1 »itl>or have Al Williams, a eow-piin<ihrfr from -Montana, but Williams was helping to move an overanibitious home steader back into the confines of his allotment; or Tardv Dwver-hut he was away off to the north, after a hwetle with a broken leg. Just then, -from around the corner of the cook-house, came a small figure clad in new uniform. ,Raw,, remembered him as being o„e of'the ..last batch of recruits. Something in the square shoulders, the short neck, and the thin ■legs prompted Rya,, to call out: "Here there, rookie!" "Hey there, yourself!" came the answer.

Wa n t to tako a little ride? Or cap t you .ride yet " naked 1 Rva n . "Peevish again!" replied tli'e recruit, ignoring the question, "Maybe your milk wasn't warmed for yOii tins mortiiiig," lie continued. ' 'H'm!" gru n ted Rya n . "Pretty fresh you are for a rookie!" He eyed thte unbroken youngster critic-

nllly, ayd added sharply: "You'll get a chance to have some ot yoiu bumps polished off to-day, maybe!" "'Twoji't he the first time," quickly said the ma n . Then, with a little drawl, lie asked: "Where's the crowd going to-day—shell was foi the cook, or sort old horseshoes ■for the blacksmith?" Half from the novelty of the thing, -int! half from the new recruit's evident lack of excitement, Ryan decided to take him. "Get mounted. Bri n g your arms. He ready i n half a n»i n ute <»' sooner, if you can," the sergeant sm\, abruptly terminating the preliminaries. Some time later, when Rvan and tiu. recruit turned i tl to the timber out of sight of the barracks, the sergeant asked of the small ma u beside bun : "Ever see a n y Injins?" "W.s, I saw a lot of veiling Sioxes chase a herd of many buffaloes around a tent once—or did you mean tire woode,, kind?" he asked, suildenly looking Ryan in the eve, without a smile. "Thunder!" exclaimed Rva n in disgust. "You'll see the real thing tut,!l .v the pizo n kind. A n d now that we have the time, let me tell you .something. There may be some lireworks to-day, and we may only get rain-cheeks; but whatever you d(. do it quick. A u d do n 't do what fli -Li.pi,| experts you to Rio—do soiiiethin' else. Anyhow, don't wait lor me; a, t d you know the rule don't use your gu n unless you're bred <», first. Then take mv word -shoot for the belly; that gefs 'em," he added emphatically. For tihe entire distance of the twenty odd miles that lay between them a„d the lij,e of freshly overturned earth which they found skiif.i,,g toe foot-hills, Sergeant Hyaij impressed upon the recruit the limitless .supremacy of the mounted poli:e. Doubly" emphatic he made the fact that as Io„g as 'he revruit wore lihe red tu,,icj he held in his ha,|d the mysterious power that made every win to. desperado and every red devil between f <h > Antic Circle and the forty-iji„tl.' parallel count this fingers twice Lelue he balked. And so the pair rode oj, (I »»v,) into t]ie long grass, Ryan 'iifiging upon the service that lie l'>\al. and the recruit maintain: ,g a tl interested sile„ce. They did ~ot stop at tihe partly finished, construction camp ol the railway contra •; > r Init pushed o,) to the huddle of !ecpees on be bank of the creek. Ryan dismounted at the edge U the Indian camp, amd handed ins bridle rein to the unquestioning iecruit. "'You ain't gettin' squeamish, are von.-"' he asked. "Not unless they ring in h.n-ss shoes i n mitts," was the answer. Rya,, stopped for a moment >i,,able to comprehend the recruit's icply: then ignoring the bunch cf young bucks who rushed up brandishi,|g their giin-s, he strode over tv the nearest teepee, inserted his leps between the door flaps, and kicked over the lodge-pole. Turning to the exited bucks, he pointed across the creek, as he cleared the tuvbli li'..'' teepee. ;'Oit!" he said. Then he wept on to the next icepee, which came down with a criioh a,id a rattling of skins. Close b". hind him came a rabble of ba ,, kij,g dogs, gesticulating bucks, and a clicking of gun-levers. The »;,gry red skins shook their weapons i„ his face, ai,d threatened ihiin in a m xtine of pure free a„d adulterated English. From the still standi-,g lodges more Indians crawled (it, adding their shouts and threats to the constantly increasing commotion 'li his wake. Ryan, however, seemed insensible to all this disapproval of his campbi caking method. He made straight for a teepee somewhat apart from the rest. When the .sergeant was within a little more tha,, striking distance a„ r 1Iclin.n stepped out. It was IVo Gu,|S. Across the bridge of bis n» y e. and extending from ear to eat. was painted a crimson ha,, 1 - the war-sign-hastily done. 1,, his right hand he held a heavy rev •.:- ver. Just for an instant Ryan hesitated. He saw that Two Giins had been drinking, that he might n OL reason quickly, a,)d that a little change of plan would be necessary to avoid a killing. "Two Gu,,s,' Mie saiid slowly, with a slight interval between each word, "you take your gang and get out oMioiv!" _ ] The India,, raised his revolve''; levelled it squarely at Ryan's breast n 11(1 growled :

''• \ on- go—to—" Rut tho directions were never finished. Ryan felt a small body slip by his own. He saw a piece of khaki cloth strtcb out into an arm that brushed Lack the covering revolver, and a sharp elbow draw back from the side. Then, fjuicker than his eye could follow, a bunch' of bare knuckles landed with a thud in the middle of tho red stomach before him. The mocassined heels left the ground, and the striped face lurched forward just in time to receive a swinging fist squarely upon the point of the jaw. Two Guns went to the grass in .t heap. His knees drew up convulsively and ibis eyes rolled back in his head. Then he lay still. "Keep back!"' yelled Ryan, jerk iy, gliis gun from the holster arid sweeping it into the red faces that surged ahrrtit him. Quickly lie stepped back to the side of the recruit, who stood with feet wide apart, chin drawn in, and ibis left arm extended, hard set for the expected rush. "Now, and for the last time, git!" roared the sergeant. Kit her because they saw the determined bronzed, face with the two narrow slits that barely showed the snapping eves > or because they knew the tireless, unrelenting policy which first subdues and then, pun-ishes—-t-ho policy of which this redcoated sergeant was a part tihe India n-s hesitated. For a moment of hesitation, Ryan knew that lie had .won. Slowly relaxing from the aggressive' to a mode of apparent un c .°n cer n> he restored bis weapo nto its (holder, and again pointe dacross the stream. They sullenly drew back—muttering, cliekij.fr the hammers of their (runs—and returned to the disorder that Ryan 'had made in the teepees. The two men waited until the last straggler had crossed the creek, and watched them head tiheii ponies toward the north. When the last pony disappeared behind the little rise, Ryan turned k his silent comrade. He reached out, took the short, stubby hand into the palm of his own- For a moment die looked the recruit in the o,>e; then, with a shake that nearly drew the other from his feet, lie exclaimed : "Young feller, that was the .slickest tliipg I ever saw done! 1 wa'-'t looking for it." "Neither was the painted gent!' answered the recruit, with a smile. "I followed your instructions—the unexepected, and in the belly." "H'm!" grunted Ryan, releasing the other's hand. "Where dlid you learn the way of turning a trick like that!" "Oh, I used to be light-weight champion of 'England, sir," replied the recruit, as the' straightened', a bit, and handed the reins to Ryan—L. K. Devendorf.