[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
burned me out and I lost everything. So I went back into the army. If I'd gone
in a year sooner I'd have made it."
"There are always ifs, sir."
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Hill turned his head to look at Callaghen. "You say you've met Sykes before
this?"
"Yes, sir. It was he who broke me from sergeant ... both times."
"Want to tell me about it?"
"Well, you know how some people think about the Irish. We're despised in a
lot of places, and there are even hotels where we aren't accepted, restaurants
where we are refused service. Sykes was worse than most.
"I knew nothing of that, but he was having trouble with his Chinese
laundryman. He was berating the man frightfully, and seemed about to strike
him. I offered my services."
"You what?"
"I offered to interpret, sir. I speak Chinese."
Hill stared at him. "Chinese?You do?"
"I speak seven languages, sir, and half a dozen dialects. Well, sir, he told
me what to tell the man and I did, and managed to straighten the matter out. I
saluted, and was about to leave when he called me back and told me never,
under any circumstances, to interfere again."
"And then?"
"He was on me, sir. He found out I was Irish, although he should have guessed
it before. I got all the rough duty. But it was the girl who really made the
difference."
"A girl?"
"Yes, sir. She came to the post to visit someone she had known as a child,
and I was detailed to ride escort when she went riding.
"She kept looking at me, sir, and suddenly she said she had seen me before.
She asked me again what my name was, and when I told her she recognized it.
She had known me before, Captain ... outside of Soochow, inChina . I'd come up
to an old temple with a small command. I was a major, sir, in Ward's
outfit Gordon's outfit by that time. The Ever-Victorious Army, they called it.
She was just a skinny kid then, and she'd been stopped near the temple. She,
her mother, and a doctor had run there for shelter from some of the rebels. We
fought our way out of there and took them with us."
"And you were a major then? You've had quite a career, Callaghen."
He shrugged. "Ward had picked up his army off the waterfronts, Captain. He
had scum of the earth, and right alongside them some of the finest fighting
men in the world. He enlisted men of all nationalities, and he didn't screen
them. Combat did that for him, and we were in battle almost constantly.
Seventy per cent of the men had served in other armies there were a couple of
hundred Irishmen in the outfit. When Chinese Gordon took command he had a
trained battle outfit. A man couldn't go wrong with them."
"Did Sykes know about the girl's recognizing you?"
"He saw us talking, and he was furious. I was an enlisted man and I was being
too friendly. Of course, Malinda spoke up, and in the midst of it her father
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appeared. He'd always been grateful to me for getting his family out of that
situation, so we had a long talk, and Sykes just faded out.
"Two days later I was transferred. They were building a new outfit for
frontier service, and I found myself one of the cadre that would form it."
"And that left him with the girl?"
"No, sir. Malinda had a mind of her own, and she was suspicious about the
transfer. No, sir. I am afraid it didn't do him much good."
Chapter 6
MAJOR EPHRAIM SYKES was a man of definite mind. Positive in his opinions, he
approached every problem knowing that there could be just two possibilities:
his way and the wrong way. The opinions he held had been absorbed with his
mother's milk, and nothing subsequent to that time had served to alter even
one of them.
He was tall, handsome, immaculate in appearance. He was gracious, polite, and
considerate to those he regarded as existing on his level. Others he ignored,
or considered only with contempt. An only child, he had been brought up to
believe that as an Anglo-Saxon white man of the right church, the right
schools, and the right social position, any decision he made was of course the
correct one.
He had been born on the right street in a medium-size town where his father
operated the largest of the town's three banks. In school he had been bright
but without brilliance, capable but without imagination, and he had graduated
close to the top of his class. At the beginning of the War Between the States
he had been given a commission, and he had advanced rapidly to the rank of
major, partly by virtue of a cavalry charge in which he smashed the enemy at a
crucial moment, driving them from their position and so turning the tide of
battle.
A fact that he had conveniently forgotten was that the charge had begun when
his horse ran away with him, and his men followed. Uncomfortable about the
praise that came his way, he had gradually forgotten how the charge had begun,
and modestly said it was nothing. He had, he said, been fortunate enough to
detect a weakness in the enemy line at that point.
The war ended too soon for him, for he had hoped to become a general or at
least a colonel. Failing that, despite the surplus of officers after the war,
he had hoped to be sent to a good station where he might win a smashing
victory over the Indians the Plains Indians, of course, who had dash and
glamour as fighting men.
The immigrant Irish were despised by many of the "right" people, so he
despised them. The only Irish with whom he had ever had contact were a group
who had settled on the edge of his town to build a spur of track for the
railroad. Many of them drank too much, and most of them seemed to be amused by
him, and this offended his dignity. In the army he had a few Irishmen in his
command, and they, too, drank too much and were amused by him. As his father's
partner, he owned a part of a small shoe-manufacturing plant, as well as the
bank. At the plant they hired no Irish, but that attitude was quite frequent
at the time, and aroused no comment.
He had found no girl who appealed to him for more than the moment until he
met Malinda Colton. Her family was of the best. Her father was a diplomat, her
uncle a general. On two or three occasions he had escorted her to dinner or to
Page 25 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
burned me out and I lost everything. So I went back into the army. If I'd gone
in a year sooner I'd have made it."
"There are always ifs, sir."
Page 23
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Hill turned his head to look at Callaghen. "You say you've met Sykes before
this?"
"Yes, sir. It was he who broke me from sergeant ... both times."
"Want to tell me about it?"
"Well, you know how some people think about the Irish. We're despised in a
lot of places, and there are even hotels where we aren't accepted, restaurants
where we are refused service. Sykes was worse than most.
"I knew nothing of that, but he was having trouble with his Chinese
laundryman. He was berating the man frightfully, and seemed about to strike
him. I offered my services."
"You what?"
"I offered to interpret, sir. I speak Chinese."
Hill stared at him. "Chinese?You do?"
"I speak seven languages, sir, and half a dozen dialects. Well, sir, he told
me what to tell the man and I did, and managed to straighten the matter out. I
saluted, and was about to leave when he called me back and told me never,
under any circumstances, to interfere again."
"And then?"
"He was on me, sir. He found out I was Irish, although he should have guessed
it before. I got all the rough duty. But it was the girl who really made the
difference."
"A girl?"
"Yes, sir. She came to the post to visit someone she had known as a child,
and I was detailed to ride escort when she went riding.
"She kept looking at me, sir, and suddenly she said she had seen me before.
She asked me again what my name was, and when I told her she recognized it.
She had known me before, Captain ... outside of Soochow, inChina . I'd come up
to an old temple with a small command. I was a major, sir, in Ward's
outfit Gordon's outfit by that time. The Ever-Victorious Army, they called it.
She was just a skinny kid then, and she'd been stopped near the temple. She,
her mother, and a doctor had run there for shelter from some of the rebels. We
fought our way out of there and took them with us."
"And you were a major then? You've had quite a career, Callaghen."
He shrugged. "Ward had picked up his army off the waterfronts, Captain. He
had scum of the earth, and right alongside them some of the finest fighting
men in the world. He enlisted men of all nationalities, and he didn't screen
them. Combat did that for him, and we were in battle almost constantly.
Seventy per cent of the men had served in other armies there were a couple of
hundred Irishmen in the outfit. When Chinese Gordon took command he had a
trained battle outfit. A man couldn't go wrong with them."
"Did Sykes know about the girl's recognizing you?"
"He saw us talking, and he was furious. I was an enlisted man and I was being
too friendly. Of course, Malinda spoke up, and in the midst of it her father
Page 24
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
appeared. He'd always been grateful to me for getting his family out of that
situation, so we had a long talk, and Sykes just faded out.
"Two days later I was transferred. They were building a new outfit for
frontier service, and I found myself one of the cadre that would form it."
"And that left him with the girl?"
"No, sir. Malinda had a mind of her own, and she was suspicious about the
transfer. No, sir. I am afraid it didn't do him much good."
Chapter 6
MAJOR EPHRAIM SYKES was a man of definite mind. Positive in his opinions, he
approached every problem knowing that there could be just two possibilities:
his way and the wrong way. The opinions he held had been absorbed with his
mother's milk, and nothing subsequent to that time had served to alter even
one of them.
He was tall, handsome, immaculate in appearance. He was gracious, polite, and
considerate to those he regarded as existing on his level. Others he ignored,
or considered only with contempt. An only child, he had been brought up to
believe that as an Anglo-Saxon white man of the right church, the right
schools, and the right social position, any decision he made was of course the
correct one.
He had been born on the right street in a medium-size town where his father
operated the largest of the town's three banks. In school he had been bright
but without brilliance, capable but without imagination, and he had graduated
close to the top of his class. At the beginning of the War Between the States
he had been given a commission, and he had advanced rapidly to the rank of
major, partly by virtue of a cavalry charge in which he smashed the enemy at a
crucial moment, driving them from their position and so turning the tide of
battle.
A fact that he had conveniently forgotten was that the charge had begun when
his horse ran away with him, and his men followed. Uncomfortable about the
praise that came his way, he had gradually forgotten how the charge had begun,
and modestly said it was nothing. He had, he said, been fortunate enough to
detect a weakness in the enemy line at that point.
The war ended too soon for him, for he had hoped to become a general or at
least a colonel. Failing that, despite the surplus of officers after the war,
he had hoped to be sent to a good station where he might win a smashing
victory over the Indians the Plains Indians, of course, who had dash and
glamour as fighting men.
The immigrant Irish were despised by many of the "right" people, so he
despised them. The only Irish with whom he had ever had contact were a group
who had settled on the edge of his town to build a spur of track for the
railroad. Many of them drank too much, and most of them seemed to be amused by
him, and this offended his dignity. In the army he had a few Irishmen in his
command, and they, too, drank too much and were amused by him. As his father's
partner, he owned a part of a small shoe-manufacturing plant, as well as the
bank. At the plant they hired no Irish, but that attitude was quite frequent
at the time, and aroused no comment.
He had found no girl who appealed to him for more than the moment until he
met Malinda Colton. Her family was of the best. Her father was a diplomat, her
uncle a general. On two or three occasions he had escorted her to dinner or to
Page 25 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]