"It's gospel truth," exclaimed the old man. "Here's another sample of how they do it: A captain was standin' in front of the adjutant's office smokin' a cigar, an' a corporal strolled up to him an' asked: 'I say, Cap, have you got the mate to that about your clothes?'"
"Peck, do you believe him?" said Jack, appealing to me; and without waiting for my answer, he continued: "I do be afeared Tom's been mixin' his drinks."
"Here's another one," said Tom. "A lieutenant an' about a dozen men come out of their quarters an' started straggling off toward the stables, an' I followed 'em to see what they were up to. They went into the stable an' went to saddling their horses to go somewheres. By and by the lieutenant got his horse saddled an' called back into the stable: 'Are you all ready there, boys?' Some were ready, an' come leadin' their horses out; but one fellow called back to him: 'Don't you get in such a rush there now, for I've got to put my spurs on yet.' Another fellow said: 'I've got a notion not to go, for I told the sergeant not to put my name on this detail.' 'Oh, yes, John, you'd better come along. We'll have a good time,' said the lieutenant, kind of coaxing him.
"Well, after callin' back again to the man who hadn't got his spurs on, an' getting the answer that he was about ready, instead of giving his commands in military style, to 'Lead into line!' 'Count fours!' 'Prepare to mount!' 'Mount!' 'Form ranks!' an' then move out 'by fours,' how do you suppose he did it? Well, sir, he just says: 'Well, get on your horses, boys,' an' climbed onto his horse, an' started off, saying as he looked back over his shoulder: 'Come ahead, fellows.' An' they straggled off after him.
"Well, they're good enough men, on an average, I guess," continued Tom, "an' will make good soldiers if they just had the right sort of officers over 'em; for good officers make good soldiers, an' vice versa. But how can the blind lead the blind? Their officers can't instruct the men, for the officers don't know anything about military matters themselves. An' it's one of the truest sayings that ever was said that 'familiarity breeds contempt'; an' if an officer, or even a non-com, expects to command the respect and obedience of them that's subject to his orders, he's got to hold himself aloof from 'em, to a reasonable degree; an' he's got to prove himself competent to command 'em."
Naturally, Jack and I became very anxious to go over to the fort and see things for ourselves, and when the time came for going after our next mail and taking in another load of wolfskins Tom agreed to let us both make the trip, on a strict promise from Jack that he would not taste liquor.
At the post we found the state of affairs about as Tom had represented. Officers and men seemed equally ignorant of military affairs and especially of frontier service.
While loafing about the sutler's store next day, Weisselbaum came out of his back room and, calling me to one side, said confidentially:
"I've got a job for you, Peck, and there's good pay in it, too. It's this way: There's a young man here, Lieutenant Lang, in command of one of these companies; he's got plenty of money; his father's rich an' furnishes him plenty. He's a first-rate fellow. But he's considerably embarrassed just now," he continued; "the captain of the company has been away from it for several months, leaving the lieutenant in command, and during that time he has received a lot of government property, for which he's got to account, of course, and he's kept no accounts and has nothing to show what's become of this stuff. You see, he's in a bad fix, and unless he can find some one who understands these affairs to help him out, he's going to have to pay the government several hundred dollars—maybe as much as a thousand or two—out of his own pocket, or his daddy's rather. He stated his case to me and asked if I knew of any one that he could get to straighten up his company papers; and when I saw you I remembered that you used to be company clerk in your old company at Fort Riley, and I thought you would know how to help him out of the scrape, if anybody would. He'll be willing to pay you big for it. What do you say to the job?"
"I hardly know what to say," I replied. "I'll have to consult my partners over at the camp before I can give an answer. It may be that I can arrange with them to get away from the wolf hunting business long enough to do this work for the lieutenant, but I can't promise it till I consult Tom and Jack."