On the Trail of Geronimo — page 17: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ON THE TRAIL OF GERONIMO. 9 scene which caused the Academic board, the parents of the young officers, their sisters, cousins and aunts and fair admirers to hold their breath while the cyclone swept past them. Hats were lost, collars flew off, and several an- imals, taking the bits in their teeth, carried every- thing before them. Some of those steeds are vicious, and, but for the skill of their riders, two of them would have burst upon the very porch of the hotel, among the ladies, who fled screaming out of their path. Several horses ran away and circled far out on the plain before they could be brought to a halt, champing their bits, their pant- ing sides flecked with foam and their eyes flashing fire. Dick had one of the worst animals of the lot—a fierce, black mare, which had thrown him many a time when riding in the drill, and which seemed to be inspired with the spirit of Satan himself on that hot day in June. She felt it was a final contest between her and the handsome cadet, and she meant he should remember it. She would teach him that he was not yet her master. But Dick was on his mettle, too, as he came (C(O) mM