A SWIFT CALL TO DUTY
"SEE that man in the black derby and the brown suit, coming this way,
Noll? The one with the iron-gray hair?"
"Of course," replied Noll.
"Salute him, if we get close enough."
"Why?"
"He's an officer."
"Maybe," half-assented Noll, eyeing the man with iron-gray hair.
"There isn't much doubt about it," retorted Hal. "He boarded the train
at Kansas City. It's summer, but he's going somewhere up in the hills,
for he had an overcoat over one arm when he boarded the train, and that
overcoat was an officer's coat. He's in the service, and he isn't any
junior officer, either, judging by the color of his hair."
"But----"
"Sh! Be ready with your salute."
The two young recruits, their uniforms looking spick and span, despite
their long journey by train, now brought their right hands smartly up to
their cap visors as the man with iron-gray hair stepped close.
He gave Hal and Noll a prompt, smart acknowledgment of their salute,
then suddenly paused, glanced at them, and asked:
"My men, how did you know me to be an officer?"
"I observed your overcoat, sir, when you boarded the train at Kansas
City," Hal answered.
"You judged rightly, men," replied the officer, with a smile. "I am
Major Davis, Seventeenth Cavalry. And you, as I see by your caps, belong
to the Thirty-fourth Infantry."
"Yes, sir," Hal answered. "We are joining the first battalion at Fort
Clowdry."
"Recruits?"
"Yes, sir."
"I wish you a pleasant life in the Army, men."
"Thank you, sir; we feel certain of finding it," Hal replied.
Both young soldiers saluted, again, as the major turned to resume his
walk.
The train had stopped at Pueblo, Colorado, in the middle of the
afternoon. It would be but half an hour's delay. Noll had been eager to
step out away from the railway station and see as much of Pueblo as was
possible. Hal had negatived this idea, through fear that they might be
left behind.
"And we've not an hour to spare, you know, Noll. This is the last train
for us to take if we're to report in season. So we'd better stay close
to the conductor."
During the forenoon the train had rolled across the mesa or tableland
below Pueblo. Hal and Noll, seated in one of the two day coaches of the
train, had studied the mesa with longing eyes. Here they caught
occasional glimpses of cowboys on ponies, for this mesa is still a
favorite cattle region.
At this height of some five thousand feet above sea level even the late
June day was not really hot. It was a glorious country on which the
young recruits feasted their eyes.
"Where do we eat next?" asked Noll, of a trainman standing by.
"Any time and place you like, if you've got the chow with you," replied
the trainman.
"What is the next eating station at which the train stops?" Noll
insisted.
"Salida. We ought to stop there about nine o'clock to-night."
"Good eating place?"
"Great."
"It's a long time to wait," complained Noll, whom the mountain air was
making furiously hungry. "Come along, Hal. We'll lay in a few sandwiches
as a safety-valve."
"I hope they're not as bad as some we've bought along the way," Hal
laughed, as they started toward the railroad restaurant. "Do you
remember the sandwich we bought at Chicago that had the stamp on the
under side, 'U. S. Army, 1863?'"
"No, and neither do you," grinned Noll.
"Fact," insisted Hal. "I found the stamp on the sandwich, and threw it
out of the car. I'm sorry, now; I wish I had saved that sandwich for a
curiosity. Father would have been proud of it."
Noll with a bag of sandwiches, Hal with a box of fruit, the two recruits
turned toward the train again.
They were soon under way. After leaving Pueblo they forgot all about
eating, for some time, for the train now bore them through some of the
most picturesque parts of the lower Rocky Mountains. Both rookies spent
their time on one of the car platforms, hanging far out at either side
to get better views, as well as glimpses down steep cliffs into gullies
below.
"Say, it's going to be dark, soon," remarked Noll, looking toward the
western sky. "Why on earth didn't we get a train that would do the whole
trip between Pueblo and Salida in daylight?"
"Because we didn't know the route well enough," sighed Hal. "However,
we may think we've had plenty of Rocky Mountains before our regiment's
station is changed."
Half an hour later both went back to their seat in the car. Black night
had come on and shut out all further possibility of viewing the
wonderful country through which the train was passing.
"We can eat, anyway," sighed Noll.
For the next fifteen minutes they regaled themselves, though they were
careful not to eat enough to spoil their appetite for a good hot supper
at Salida.
Then, as peering out of the window revealed nothing, Noll settled back
in the seat.
"If I go to sleep, be sure to wake me at Salida," he begged. "What time
is the train due at Fort Clowdry?"
"Two o'clock in the morning," Hal answered.
"That's a beastly time to have to be awake," growled Noll, and began to
slumber.
Not for long, however. On a steep up-grade the train was barely crawling
along.
Suddenly it stopped, and with a considerable jolt, too.
Bang, bang, bang! The whistle of bullets was heard alongside the train,
wherever windows were open.
"What's that?" demanded Noll, jumping up.
But Hal was in the aisle before him. Both hastened to the rear door.
"Here, laddy-bucks," called a brakeman grimly, "stay inside! It's
healthier!"
"What's up?" demanded Hal, without pausing.
"Judging by the sound, the train is held up, laddy-buck. It's a bad
business going outside if that's the case."
But at this instant the door was opened before Hal's face. Major Davis
bounded into the car.
"Come with me, men," he called sharply. "You're not armed, are you?"
"No, sir."
Even at that exciting moment Hal did not forget his salute.
"Then keep behind me," ordered the major, drawing his revolver. "This is
a mail train, and, as a United States officer, I can't allow an attempt
to rob it pass without an attempt at a protest."