Trooper Tales — page 247: what you’re looking at

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

A Soldier and a Man. 231 and smiled for a single, memorable, rapturous second— and was gone. ** * ** * * * xk * Trooper Arden was respected, if not understood. And let it be known that a private soldier is not respected by his fellows without reason. - Trooper Arden won the regard of the other troopers in seven minutes, on the hurricane deck of a transport, the second day out from Savannah. When one writes that Corporal Carey was a good sol- dier, it does not necessarily imply that he was a good fellow; but nobody ever said that the corporal wasn’t game to the backbone. Anyway, the corporal was Irish and proud of the force in his fists. In fact, the whole troop was proud of Carey, just the same as it would be proud of owning the fastest horse in a regiment. Trooper Arden sacrificed Corporal Carey, and thereby attained the respect of his fellows. It was legitimate, and this way: : “Oi could lave you fur dead in tirty seconds,” said the corporal, on the hurricane deck, and the crowd lounged closer. “Tf I should fight you,” Arden replied quietly, “I would be court-martialed for hitting an officer.” “The nerve av him!” jeered the corporal. “If Oi win, Oi’m an officer—if Oi lose, Oi’m a man, and a scrubby little wart at that.” “Then I’ll fight you,” said Arden wearily, tossing away a cigarette. Gomicidooks.com