Trooper Tales — page 56: what you’re looking at

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

48 The Degeneration of ‘Laddie. the falls just at the right of the seventh crossing. He stood ankle deep in the river. A big red horse, resting in the shallows, skipped out almost from under his feet. It~ thrilled him unpleasantly. Faintly, in the moonlight, he “could see the trail continuing on the other side. He faced a few degrees up stream and plunged in. The mountain current chilled him breast high, and soaked some papers in the pocket of his army shirt. Laddie made the sixth, and the seventh, too—after a fearful fight. His constant thought was, “What would I do without the moonlight?” He felt strong when he dis- cerned the lights of Manati, glimmering in the valley be- low. It was only half-past eight. He had done well. Laddie passed the volunteer military headquarters going back, and inquired of the sentinel the time of night. It was about to strike twelve. He would be in his own quarters by three—if the moon shone on the fords. He was quite happy. Stars were visible only in patches. Black streaks were moving around the moon. Laddie looked up and started on a trot. When the city was left behind, he removed his trousers and put on his leggins once more next to the skin. ‘The memory of the red horse in the shallows made him do this. For the first time he felt weary, when he climbed up the Ciales bank of the fourth crossing. Rain- drops struck his face. The next ford was the ugly one, and it was growing darker, darker. Already he could hear the plunging river. His feet were troubling him now, and the trail was slippery from rain. Comicbooks co