PAGE 6
The Worst Man In The Troop
by
The lieutenant stood for an instant stunned,–simply stunned. Involuntarily he made a step towards O’Grady; their eyes met; but the restraint of discipline was upon both. In that brief meeting of their glances, however, the trooper read a message that was unmistakable.
“Lieutenant—-” he said, but stopped abruptly, pointed aloft over the trees to the eastward with his right hand, dashed it across his eyes, and then, with hurried salute and a choking sort of gurgle in his throat, he turned and went back to his comrades.
Mr. Billings gazed after the retreating form until it disappeared among the trees by the brook-side; then he turned to see what was the meaning of the soldier’s pointing over towards the mesa to the east.
Down in the deep valley in which the little command had halted for the night the pall of darkness had indeed begun to settle; the bivouac-fires in the timber threw a lurid glare upon the groups gathering around them for supper, and towards the west the rugged upheavals of the Mazatzal range stood like a black barrier against the glorious hues of a bank of summer cloud. All in the valley spoke of twilight and darkness: the birds were still, the voices of the men subdued. So far as local indications were concerned, it was–as Captain Buxton had insisted–almost dark. But square over the gilded tree-tops to the east, stretching for miles and miles to their right and left, blazed a vertical wall of rock crested with scrub-oak and pine, every boulder, every tree, glittering in the radiant light of the invisibly setting sun. O’Grady had not disobeyed his orders.
Noting this, Mr. Billings proceeded to take a leisurely stroll through the peaceful herd, carefully inspecting each horse as he passed. As a result of his scrutiny, he found that, while most of the horses were already encumbered with their annoying hobble, in “A” Troop alone there were at least a dozen still unfettered, notably the mounts of the non-commissioned officers and the older soldiers. Like O’Grady, they did not wish to inflict the side-line upon their steeds until the last moment. Unlike O’Grady, they had not been called to account for it.
When Mr. Billings was summoned to supper, and he rejoined his brother-officers, it was remarked that he was more taciturn than usual. After that repast had been appreciatively disposed of, and the little group with lighted pipes prepared to spend an hour in chat and contentment, it was observed that Mr. Billings did not take part in the general talk, but that he soon rose, and, out of ear-shot of the officers’ camp-fire, paced restlessly up and down, with his head bent forward, evidently plunged in thought.
By and by the half-dozen broke up and sought their blankets. Captain Buxton, somewhat mollified by a good supper, was about rolling into his “Navajo,” when Mr. Billings stepped up:
“Captain, may I ask for information as to the side-line order? After you left this evening, I found that there must be some misunderstanding about it.”
“How so?” said Buxton, shortly.
“In this, captain;” and Mr. Billings spoke very calmly and distinctly. “The first sergeant, several other non-commissioned officers and men,–more than a dozen, I should say,–did not side-line their horses until half an hour after you spoke to O’Grady, and the first sergeant assured me, when I called him to account for it, that your orders were that it should be done at sunset.”
“Well, by —-! it was after sunset–at least it was getting mighty dark–when I sent for that black-guard O’Grady,” said Buxton, impetuously, “and there is no excuse for the rest of them.”
“It was beginning to grow dark down in this deep valley, I know, sir; but the tree-tops were in a broad glare of sunlight while we were at the herd, and those cliffs for half an hour longer.”
“Well, Mr. Billings, I don’t propose to have any hair-splitting in the management of my troop,” said the captain, manifestly nettled. “It was practically sunset to us when the light began to grow dim, and my men know it well enough.” And with that he rolled over and turned his back to his subaltern.