These little incidents did much to enliven the
march, which became monotonous after the first six or seven hours, and
Archie appreciated the mishaps very much until he took a few tumbles
himself. He was usually, much to the amusement of the officers,
marching at the very head of the regiment, and "setting the pace," he
said, so that he was more likely to trip than any of the others. He
was always the first to discover a snake in the road, too, and kept a
great stick with which to kill them. He seemed to have no fear of
them, but walked up to lay them out, and on one occasion the colonel
warned him just in time or he would certainly have been bitten by a
snake whose bite is certain death. This experience made him more
careful, but he still kept his place at the head of the regiment, and
came to be called the mascot by the men.
At noon the regiment halted at a grassy spot, where there were trees,
and made their dinners from their knapsacks. The officers warned them
to go carefully, or they would find themselves without provisions
before returning to Manila, for they had been so sure of catching the
rebels at the town behind that they had neglected to bring along many
supplies. Now, of course, they didn't know how long it would take them
to find them,-- two days at least, and probably longer.
Archie had stocked his knapsack with some food from the old
headquarters in the town, so that he felt safe for a few days, at any
rate.
Pages:
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128