They began to dishpute till Kiss, that was always playin" Shpoil Five, sez: "Thry the kyards!" Wid that he opined his tunic an" tuk out the greasy palammers, an" they all fell in wid the notion.
""Deal on!" sez Vulmea, wid a big rattlin" oath, "an" the Black Curse av Shielygh come to the man that will not do his duty as the kyards say.
Amin!"
""Black Jack is the masther," sez Kiss, dealin". "Black Jack, sorr, I shud expaytiate to you, is the Ace av Shpades which from time immimorial has been intimately connect wid battle, murdher an" suddin death.
"_Wanst_ Kiss dealt an" there was no sign, but the men was whoite wid the workin"s av their sowls. _Twice_ Kiss dealt, an" there was a grey shine on their cheeks like the mess av an egg. _Three_ times Kiss dealt an" they was blue. "Have ye not lost him?" sez Vulmea, wipin" the sweat on him; "Let"s ha" done quick!" "Quick ut is," sez Kiss t"rowin" him the kyard; an" ut fell face up on his knee--Black Jack!
"Thin they all cackled wid laughin". "Duty thrippence," sez wan av thim, "an" d.a.m.ned cheap at that price!" But I cud see they all dhrew a little away from Vulmea an" lef" him sittin" playin" wid the kyard. Vulmea sez no word for a whoile but licked his lips--cat-ways. Thin he threw up his head an" made the men swear by ivry oath known to stand by him not alone in the room but at the Coort-martial that was to set on _me!_ He tould off five av the biggest to stretch me on my cot whin the shot was fired, an"
another man he tould off to put out the light, an" yet another to load my rifle. He wud not do that himself; an" that was quare, for "twas but a little thing considerin".
"Thin they swore over again that they wud not bethray wan another, an"
crep" out av the gra.s.s in diff"rint ways, two by two. A mercy ut was that they did not come on me. I was sick wid fear in the pit av my stummick--sick, sick, sick! Afther they was all gone, I wint back to Canteen an" called for a quart to put a thought in me. Vulmea was there, dhrinkin" heavy, an" politeful to me beyond reason. "Fwhat will I do--fwhat will I do?" thinks I to mesilf whin Vulmea wint away.
"Presintly the Arm"rer Sargint comes in stiffin" an" crackin" on, not pleased wid any wan, bekaze the Martini-Henry bein" new to the rig"mint in those days we used to play the mischief wid her arrangemints. "Twas a long time before I cud get out av the way av thryin" to pull back the back-sight an" turnin" her over afther firin"--as if she was a Snider.
""Fwhat tailor-men do they give me to work wid?" sez the Arm"rer Sargint.
"Here"s Hogan, his nose flat as a table, laid by for a week, an" ivry Comp"ny sendin" their arrums in knocked to small shivreens."
""Fwhat"s wrong wid Hogan, Sargint?" sez I.
""Wrong!" sez the Arm"rer Sargint; "I showed him, as though I had been his mother, the way av shtrippin" a "Tini, an" he shtrup her clane an" easy. I tould him to put her to again an" fire a blank into the blow-pit to show how the dirt hung on the groovin". He did that, but he did not put in the pin av the fallin"-block, an" av coorse whin he fired he was strook by the block jumpin" clear. Well for him "twas but a blank--a full charge wud ha"
cut his oi out,"
"I looked a thrifle wiser than a boiled sheep"s head. "How"s that, Sargint?" sez I.
""This way, ye blundherin" man, an" don"t you be doin" ut," sez he. Wid that he shows me a Waster action--the breech av her all cut away to show the inside--an" so plazed he was to grumble that he dimonstrated fwhat Hogan had done twice over. "An" that comes av not knowin" the wepping you"re purvided wid," sez he.
""Thank ye, Sargint," sez I; "I will come to you again for further information."
""Ye will not," sez he, "Kape your clanin"-rod away from the breech-pin or you will get into throuble."
"I wint outside an" I could ha" danced wid delight for the grandeur av ut.
"They will load my rifle, good luck to thim, whoile I"m away," thinks I, and back I wint to the Canteen to give them their clear chanst.
"The Canteen was fillin" wid men at the ind av the day. I made feign to be far gone in dhrink, an", wan by wan, all my roomful came in wid Vulmea. I wint away, walkin" thick an" heavy, but not so thick an" heavy that any wan cud ha" tuk me. Sure and thrue, there was a kyartridge gone from my pouch an" lyin" snug in my rifle. I was hot wid rage against thim all, an"
I worried the bullet out wid my teeth as fast as I cud, the room bein"
empty. Then I tuk my boot an" the clanin"-rod and knocked out the pin av the fallin"-block. Oh, "twas music when that pin rowled on the flure! I put ut into my pouch an" stuck a dab av dirt on the holes in the plate, puttin" the fallin"-block back. "That"ll do your business, Vulmea," sez I, lyin" easy on the cot. "Come an" sit on my chest the whole room av you, an" I will take you to my bosom for the biggest divils that iver cheated halter." I would have no mercy on Vulmea. His oi or his life--little I cared!
"At dusk they came back, the twelve av thim, an" they had all been dhrinkin". I was shammin" sleep on the cot. Wan man wint outside in the veranda. Whin he whishtled they began to rage roun" the room an" carry on tremenjus. But I niver want to hear men laugh as they did--sky-larkin"
too! "Twas like mad jackals.
""Shtop that blasted noise!" sez O"Hara in the dark, an" pop goes the room lamp. I cud hear O"Hara runnin" up an" the rattlin" av my rifle in the rack an" the men breathin" heavy as they stud roun" my cot. I cud see O"Hara in the light av the veranda lamp, an" thin I heard the crack av my rifle. She cried loud, poor darlint, bein" mishandled. Next minut" five men were houldin" me down. "Go easy," I sez; "fwhat"s ut all about?"
"Thin Vulmea, on the flure, raised a howl you cud hear from wan ind av cantonmints to the other. "I"m dead, I"m butchered, I"m blind!" sez he.
"Saints have mercy on my sinful sowl! Sind for Father Constant! Oh sind for Father Constant an" let me go clean!" By that I knew he was not so dead as I cud ha" wished.
"O"Hara picks up the lamp in the veranda wid a hand as stiddy as a rest.
"Fwhat d.a.m.ned dog"s thrick is this av yours?" sez he, and turns the light on Tim Vulmea that was shwimmin" in blood from top to toe. The fallin"-block had sprung free behin" a full charge av powther--good care I tuk to bite down the bra.s.s afther takin" out the bullet that there might be somethin" to give ut full worth--an" had cut Tim from the lip to the corner av the right eye, lavin" the eyelid in tatthers, an" so up an"
along by the forehead to the hair. "Twas more av a rakin" plough, if you will ondherstand, than a clean cut; an" niver did I see a man bleed as Vulmea did, The dhrink an" the stew that he was in pumped the blood strong. The minut" the men sittin" on my chest heard O"Hara spakin" they scatthered each wan to his cot, an" cried out very politeful: "Fwhat is ut, Sargint?"
""Fwhat is ut!" sez O"Hara. shakin" Tim. "Well an" good do you know fwhat ut is, ye skulkin" ditch-lurkin" dogs! Get a _doolie_, an" take this whimperin" scutt away. There will be more heard av ut than any av you will care for."
"Vulmea sat up rockin" his head in his hand an" moanin" for Father Constant.
""Be done!" sez O"Hara, dhraggin" him up by the hair. "You"re none so dead that you cannot go fifteen years for thryin" to shoot me."
""I did not," sez Vulmea; "I was shootin" mesilf."
""That"s quare," sez O"Hara, "for the front av my jackut is black wid your powther." He tuk up the rifle that was still warm an" began to laugh.
"I"ll make your life h.e.l.l to you," sez he, "for attempted murdher an"
kapin" your rifle onproperly. You"ll be hanged first an" thin put undher stoppages for four fifteen. The rifle"s done for," sez he.
""Why, "tis my rifle!" sez I, comin" up to look; "Vulmea, ye divil, fwhat were you doin" wid her--answer me that?"
""Lave me alone," sez Vulmea; "I"m dyin"!"
""I"ll wait till you"re betther," sez I, "an" thin we two will talk ut out umbrageous."
"O"Hara pitched Tim into the _doolie_, none too tinder, but all the bhoys kep" by their cots, which was not the sign av innocint men. I was huntin"
ivrywhere for my fallin"-block, but not findin" ut at all. I niver found ut.
""_Now_ fwhat will I do?" sez O"Hara, swinging the veranda light in his hand an" lookin" down the room. I had hate and contimpt av O"Hara an" I have now, dead tho" he is, but, for all that, will I say he was a brave man. He is baskin" in Purgathory this tide, but I wish he cud hear that, whin he stud lookin" down the room an" the bhoys shivered before the oi av him, I knew him for a brave man an" I liked him _so_.
""Fwhat will I do?" sez O"Hara agin, an" we heard the voice av a woman low an" sof" in the veranda. "Twas Slimmy"s wife, come over at the shot, sittin" on wan av the benches an" scarce able to walk.
""O Denny!--Denny, dear," sez she, "have they kilt you?"
"O"Hara looked down the room again an" showed his teeth to the gum. Then he spat on the flare.
""You"re not worth ut," sez he. "Light that lamp, ye dogs," an" wid that he turned away, an" I saw him walkin" off wid Slimmy"s wife; she thryin"
to wipe off the powther-black on the front av his jackut wid her handkerchief. "A brave man you are," thinks I--"a brave man an" a bad woman."
"No wan said a word for a time. They was all ashamed, past s.p.a.che,
""Fwhat d"you think he will do?" sez wan av thim at last. "He knows we"re all in ut."
""Are we so?" sez I from my cot. "The man that sez that to me will be hurt. I do not know," sez I, "fwhat onderhand divilmint you have conthrived, but by what I"ve seen I know that you cannot commit murdher wid another man"s rifle--such shakin" cowards you are. I"m goin" to slape," I sez, "an" you can blow my head off whoile I lay." I did not slape, though, for a long time. Can ye wonder?
"Next morn the news was through all the rig"mint, an" there was nothin"
that the men did not tell. O"Hara reports, fair an" easy, that Vulmea was come to grief through tamperin" wid his rifle in barricks, all for to show the mechanism. An" by my sowl, he had the impart"nince to say that he was on the sphot at the time an" cud certify that ut was an accidint! You might ha" knocked my roomful down wid a straw whin they heard that. "Twas lucky for thim that the bhoys were always thryin" to find out how the new rifle was made, an" a lot av thim had come up for easin" the pull by shtickin" bits av gra.s.s an" such in the part av the lock that showed near the thrigger. The first issues of the "Tinis was not covered in, an" I mesilf have eased the pull av mine time an" agin. A light pull is ten points on the range to me.
""I will not have this foolishness!" sez the Colonel, "I will twist the tail off Vulmea!" sez he; but whin he saw him, all tied up an" groanin" in hospital, he changed his will. "Make him an early convalescint" sez he to the Doctor, an" Vulmea was made so for a warnin". His big b.l.o.o.d.y bandages an" face puckered up to wan side did more to kape the bhoys from messin"
wid the insides av their rifles than any punishmint.
"O"Hara gave no reason for fwhat he"d said, an" all my roomful were too glad to inquire, tho" he put his spite upon thim more wearin" than before.
Wan day, howiver, he tuk me apart very polite, for he cud be that at the choosin".
""You"re a good sodger, tho" you"re a d.a.m.ned insolint man," sez he.