Adventure, August 1917 — page 63: what you’re looking at

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

Dan of the Sword He preferred to crawl safely into power, rather than storm the heights of glory, hit or miss. @ Accordingly it behooved him in play- ing safe, not only to safeguard his own skin in a country where death lurks in the whis- pering jungle naked kris in hand, but to avoid complications at Washington, where the powers about this time were frowning on anything that smacked of bloodshed—par- ticularly Moro blood. ‘‘Win them by kindness,”’ was the gist of an order that had gone forth. If a Moro slipped into camp at night and killed a sen- try or a sleeping soldier it was lamentable of course, but after all merely an incident in the “‘horrid” game. Better to lose a few en- listed men than raise the clamor of the pacifists against ‘‘a brutal army.” It was an order that exactly fitted Colonel Coldfoot’s hand. Relieving him of much responsibility, it enabled him to sit tight in his doubly guarded camp, while his men drowsed on their dangerous posts under the strain of extra duty and his wife pulled the wires that would move him up. If the iso- lated sentry suffered, that was the sentry’s lookout. Now the soldiers knew that the hands of their officers were tied in the red tape of a thin-skinned department and could have forgiven inactivity in the face of murder, but in their eyes it was no excuse for those life-size skirmish figures crying of cold feet, nor the belittling of a colonel’s proper dig- nity in kowtowing to these murderous heathen brown men. In the class privacy of guard-room and mess-tent they expressed their innermost convictions with fluency and fervor. As yet, however, they had handed Cold- foot over to nothing more shameful than a natural death, but there came a time when all prayed that a Moro might chase this “‘cold-footed gu-gu-loving”’ colonel across _ the parade-ground in broad daylight and straight into the popular American equiva- lent for hades. This followed the cutting up of Private Jack Benton on post No.5. ‘True, other men had been slain, and that quite fre- quently, but never before had the murderer left a clue behind. It was found by a de- tachment of the guard, a gaudy sash clutched in the dead man’s hand, and was identified as the property of a follower of Datto Laem Tao. Colonel Coldfoot was so apprised. 61 There followed a courteous exchange of messages and another two-hour powwow, at the end of which Coldfoot made final apology to his dear friend, the'Datto. It was ‘absurd, he said. Sashes are so much alike. Soon after this incident Coldfoot was re- called to a more congenial job in Zambo- ango, where Mrs. Coldfoot awaited him tri- umphantly. The colonel who came to relieve Coldfoot was a different kind of man. He had no wife, and scarcely any acquaintances at Washington. His pull was less than noth- ing. But he knew his business, which was a refreshing fact to the wiser ones at head- quarters, who know that connections and red tape do not make an army. ‘Yankee Dan” was the distinguishing appellation most frequently used behind his back, but it was “Colonel Brown” to the shrewd, truculent old face of him. As man and soldier, Colonel Daniel W. Brown was thoroughly respected, and a little feared by some of his superiors whom he had embarrassed on more than one occa- sion with his too fine knowledge of military matters and his bull-headed way of living | up to it. This alone was enough to make his pull a minus quantity. Colonel Brown took hold of a difficult situation with the vigor of a strong man who knows what he wants and goes after it. From the first his blunt aggressiveness went a long way toward endearing him to his men. It revealed itself on the morning Coldfoot turned over the command and undertook to do the same same thing with the daily powwow. Yankee Dan looked the Moros over without enthusiasm. ‘‘What’s this?” he demanded. “‘A royal function?”’ “Tt is their way of showing good will and friendship,”’ Coldfoot replied, ‘‘and I have found it good policy to humor them. They can give you a lot of trouble if so minded.”’ ‘“‘They seem to have given you plenty,” erunted Brown, who was anything but a diplomat.. ‘‘As for friendship, let ’em prove it by staying home nights and keeping their crooked knives out o’ Christian people. Let ’em demonstrate. A few months will show how friendly they are. Let ’em prove Oe “But, my dear Colonel,’ Coldfoot ex- claimed in horrified amazement, “‘these are men of rank. They are entitled to some consideration.” CoOmiclsoo CO |