Adventure Magazine Cover — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

The Fresh Yank “Fancy the beast finding his way here through all the British army! This is the most ’straw’nary thing I ever heard of! Well, take care of him. Have them stand to horse, sergeant, we must be ready to move!” The crowd broke up at once. As the men scattered in all directions, the Yank saw his friend, the sergeant of the patrol, step up to the officer and salute. The sergeant began to talk earnestly and once the officer appeared about to call back the horse, who was being led away into the fog, but he reconsidered and suddenly laughed aloud. He went away slapping his leg. The Yank made up his mind that the sergeant had been rebuffed and all the weary time the troopers stood waiting for the order to mount, he wondered what the check had been. Something about that horse. : “That was curious,” said the Yank to himself, “that that horse should find his way back to the troop all that distance. I’ve heard of such things before. I wish { had some kind of instinct like that. It would be a tremendous help on patrols.” He inspected his sword which he had been working at all this time. He held the blade out at a level with his 2ye and squinted along it. “Not bad,” he decided, “but it will stand a little more scrubbing. Well, this is enough for today.” He tossed the sword up by the blade, about to place it in his scabbard. The sergeant who had been in his thoughts so much came by leading his horse and ostensibly inspecting his troopers. “Morning,” said he gruffly. “Morning,” said the Yank. “Did you know that Neddy’s horse had come back?” “Aye,” said the sergeant. ‘“‘’Ave you seen ’im?”’ “Sure,” said the Yank, hoping that he might draw the sergeant on to tell of his in- terview with the officer. ‘What about him?”’ “Did you look at ’im closely?” “Fairly closely.” “Did you notice as ’ow his curb reins was knotted on ’is neck and ’is stirrups was crossed over ’is withers?” “No, I didn’t. But what if they were?”’ “You didn’t notice as ’is snaffle reins was draggin’?”’ ‘6 ‘No.”’ “You believe as that ’orse found ’is way ’ere all by ’imself?” {5 “Well, he couldn’t fly here and the only other way he could get here would be to have some one bring him.” “Hexactly. Well, ’00 would bring ’im?” “T can’t imagine,” said the Yank, grin- ning, for he was beginning to find the ser- geant’s air of mystery highly amusing. “Well, then, I’ll tell you. The same peo- ple brought ’ im as killed Neddy.’”’ The Yank very nearly laughed as the offi- cer had done, but he did not dare. An officer may laugh at a sergeant, but a trooper mustn’t. “Let the ranking man laugh first,” is a good motto. “How do you make that out?” asked the Yank when he could keep a straight face. “Why, them youlans ’as been a doggin’ us, an’ ’avin’ Neddy’s ’orse, ’e breaks away from whoever was leadin’ ’im and comes down ’ere.”’ The Yank rested the point of his sword on the ground and twisted it medizatively. Clattering of hoofs in the distance made him look up. Beyond the town, figures of horse- men moved faintly in the mist. ‘There goes a patrol,” said the sergeant, “within fifteen minutes of marchin’. That’s the first one out, I knows very well, for I would ’ave ’eard any others.” “Tf there are any uhlans in those woods,” said the Yank, “that patrol will root 7em out.” ‘“They’re more like to get rooted then selves,” observed the sergeant. The Yank laughed and started to replace his sword again. “What are you doin’ with that?” asked the sergeant. ‘“{ was just shining it up a bit.”’ ““Let’s ’ave a look at it.” The Yank turned again, and for the next few minutes he listened to an exposition of the sword. “Isn’t it about time we were moving?” he inquired presently. The sergeant consulted his watch. “It’s five o’clock. We must ’ave ’ad or- ders to ’old up ’til the mist clears a bit. What’s that?” The noises of the men whistling, horses neighing, kits being thrown into wagons, the suck suck of a distant pump, seemed suddenly hushed. The faint rush of gallop- ing hoofs sounded. “Look there!” cried the sergeant. Far off, across the fields to the north, cConmicloool. 1 @)