Trooper Tales — page 123: what you’re looking at

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

A Soldier of Misitine 2 MSE knows that Duffle upon showing his discharge, could re- enlist in any outfit in the service. | This wasn’t his idea. He had money. He vowed that he would touch no drink until he reached the States— hence he would have money then—enough to be a civilian. But there was a secret in the brain of the discharged cavalryman that day—a pleasant, thrilling secret, more important by far than the finals which would be cashed in San Juan, more important than the captain’s estimate of his character. It was the secret which creeps into the brain and heart of every soldier some day; and many are the army men who would have died in the Soldiers’ Home were it not for its spell. Now any person who has been in Porto Rico will tell you that the native senoritas have wonderful eyes. The American soldier who did not become impressed with this fact during his first hour on shore, was either on sick report at the time or else he landed in the night. A close observer will tell you also that the wonderful eyes of the Porto Rican senoritas dwell lingeringly upon the length and breadth and toughness of American manhood clad in army blue. All of which couldn’t be otherwise. The point is that Senorita Euphrasie, the dark, delicate and dreamy-eyed, should look into the plain face of ‘Trooper Duffie, and care to look again. This was strange, certainly. Perhaps the Corizel maiden saw something in those clear, gray eyes which no American woman, save the mother of her boy, had ever seen; something which n> fellow-trooper cared to know about, since Duffie was EComichbooks;co