"He's not a regular but he's 'smart.'" This tribute to the soldierly
bearing of the trooper above was bestowed, forty-nine years after the
taking of the picture, by an officer of the U. S. cavalry, himself a Civil
War veteran. The recipient of such high praise is seen as he "stood to
horse" a month after the battle of Antietam. The war was only in its
second year, but his drill is quite according to army regulations--hand to
bridle, six inches from the bit. His steady glance as he peers from
beneath his hat into the sunlight tells its own story. Days and nights in
the saddle without food or sleep, sometimes riding along the 60-mile
picket-line in front of the Army of the Potomac, sometimes faced by sudden
encounters with the Southern raiders, have all taught him the needed
confidence in himself, his horse, and his equipment.
[Illustration: THE MEDIATOR