Trooper Tales — page 219: what you’re looking at

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

THE FEVER’S FIFTH MAN. Fogarty was the heaviest and most depraved man in the troop. Moreover, he had the reddest face I ever saw with one exception—a man connected with political adjust- ments back in my native burg. Maybe I wrong Fogarty. It depends upon the point of view from which one scans depravity. Briefly, his faults were these: He terrorized recruits. Following each pay-day, he flirted with serpentine combinations until broke. He was utterly devoid of reverence or moral conception. He cursed incessantly, executing weird flourishes and intro- ducing innovations of the most nerve-shriveling nature. Scientists would have called him a study of degeneracy. Cavalrymen deemed him only superficially depraved be- cause he threw away money and loved his horse. Mint Julep was the horse’s name. Now, I was a recruit and in Fogarty’s squad. No man or boy is a rational being during his first month in the cavalry service. Veterans say their marked suc- cess in life is due to it—or their failure. A recruit has much to learn, but first of all he must overcome the if-mama-could-only-see-me-now expression his face is Eomichooks:com