登陆注册
4808000000015

第15章 THE MUTINEY OF THE MAVERICKS(3)

"Because I'm not a fat-headed fool. Boys, 'tis what he's been driving at these six months - our superior corp'ril with his education and his copies of the Irish papers and his everlasting beer. He's been sent for the purpose, and that's where the money comes from. Can ye not see? That man's a gold-mine, which Horse Egan here would have destroyed with a belt-buckle. It would be throwing away the gifts of Providence not to fall in with his little plans. Of coorse we'll mut'ny till all's dry. Shoot the colonel on the parade-ground, massacree the company officers, ransack the arsenal, and then - Boys, did he tell you what next?

He told me the other night when he was beginning to talk wild.

Then we're to join with the niggers, and look for help from Dhulip Singh and the Russians!""And spoil the best campaign that ever was this side of Hell!

Danny, I'd have lost the beer to ha' given him the belting he requires.""Oh, let him go this awhile, man! He's got no - no constructiveness, but that's the egg-meat of his plan, and you must understand that I'm in with it, an' so are you. We'll want oceans of beer to convince us - firmaments full. We'll give him talk for his money, and one by one all the boys'll come in and he'll have a nest of nine hundred mutineers to squat in an' give drink to.""What makes me killing-mad is his wanting us to do what the niggers did thirty years gone. That an' his pig's cheek in saying that other regiments would come along," said a Kerry man.

"That's not so bad as hintin' we should loose off on the colonel.""Colonel be sugared! I'd as soon as not put a shot through his helmet to see him jump and clutch his old horse's head. But Mulcahy talks o' shootin' our comp'ny orf'cers accidental.""He said that, did he?" said Horse Egan.

"Somethin' like that, anyways. Can't ye fancy ould Barber Brady wid a bullet in his lungs, coughin' like a sick monkey, an'

sayin', 'Bhoys, I do not mind your gettin' dhrunk, but you must hould your liquor like men. The man that shot me is dhrunk. I'll suspend investigations for six hours, while I get this bullet cut out, and then -'""'An' then," continued Horse Egan, for the peppery Major's peculiarities of speech and manner were as well known as his tanned face; "'an' then, ye dissolute, half-baked, putty-faced scum o' Connemara, if I find a man so much as lookin' confused, begad, I'll coort-martial the whole company. A man that can't get over his liquor in six hours is not fit to belong to the Mavericks!'"A shout of laughter bore witness to the truth of the sketch.

"It's pretty to think of," said the Kerry man slowly. "Mulcahy would have us do all the devilmint, and get clear himself, someways. He wudn't be takin' all this fool's throuble in shpoilin' the reputation of the regimint -""Reputation of your grandmother's pig!" said Dan.

"Well, an' he had a good reputation tu; so it's all right. Mulcahy must see his way to clear out behind him, or he'd not ha' come so far, talkin' powers of darkness.""Did you hear anything of a regimental coortmartial among the Black Boneens, these days? Half a company of 'em took one of the new draft an' hanged him by his arms with a tent-rope from a third-story verandah. They gave no reason for so doin', but he was half dead. I'm thinking that the Boneens are short-sighted. It was a friend of Mulcahy's, or a man in the same trade. They'd a deal better ha' taken his beer," returned Dan reflectively.

"Better still ha' handed him up to the Colonel," said Horse Egan, "onless - but sure the news wud be all over the counthry an' give the reg'ment a bad name.""An' there'd be no reward for that man - he but went about talkin'," said the Kerry man artlessly.

"You speak by your breed," said Dan, with a laugh. "There was never a Kerry man yet that wudn't sell his brother for a pipe o'

tobacco an' a pat on the back from a p'liceman.""Praise God I'm not a bloomin' Orangeman," was the answer.

"No, nor never will be," said Dan. "They breed men in Ulster.

Would you like to thry the taste of one?"The Kerry man looked and longed, but forbore. The odds of battle were too great.

"Then you'll not even give Mulcahy a - a strike for his money,"said the voice of Horse Egan, who regarded what he called "trouble" of any kind as the pinnacle of felicity.

Dan answered not at all, but crept on tip-toe, with long strides, to the mess-room, the men following. The room was empty. In a corner, cased like the King of Dahomey's state umbrella, stood the regimental Colours. Dan lifted them tenderly and unrolled in the light of the candles the record of the Mavericks - tattered, worn, and hacked. The white satin was darkened everywhere with big brown stains, the gold threads on the crowned harp were frayed and discoloured, and the Red Bull, the totem of the Mavericks, was coffee-hued. The stiff, embroidered folds, whose price is human life, rustled down slowly. The Mavericks keep their colours long and guard them very sacredly.

"Vittoria, Salamanca, Toulouse, Waterloo, Moodkee, Ferozshah, an'

Sobraon - that was fought close next door here, against the very beggars he wants us to join. Inkerman, The Alma, Sebastopol! 'What are those little businesses compared to the campaigns of General Mulcahy? The Mut'ny, think o' that; the Mut'ny an' some dirty little matters in Afghanistan; an' for that an' these an' those" -Dan pointed to the names of glorious battles - "that Yankee man with the partin' in his hair comes an' says as easy as 'have a drink' . . . Holy Moses, there's the captain!"But it was the mess-sergeant who came in just as the men clattered out, and found the colours uncased.

同类推荐
  • 清季外交史料选辑

    清季外交史料选辑

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 高上神霄宗师受经式

    高上神霄宗师受经式

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 诗学源流考

    诗学源流考

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说梵摩难国王经

    佛说梵摩难国王经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 曾子

    曾子

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 重生小夫妻

    重生小夫妻

    老天爷:家庭的不幸是对你的磨砺女主:好吧,这个没的选老天爷:重生是对你的考验男主:好吧,这个没的选,也不错老天爷:小三是对你们爱情的......女主(男主):不行!这个不能选!看女主和男主重生回十岁,为了家庭为了幸福为了爱情携手拼搏,披荆斩棘,降妖除魔每天暂定一更,上午十点到十一点左右各位看过的亲们要留下票票呦,别忘了推荐收藏夜雨在这里拜谢啦。
  • Boss男配要逆袭

    Boss男配要逆袭

    两年前三月抛夫弃子选择逃离,两年后情夫追来想要她负责,这次三月继续逃跑,不过这次带上了儿子,可怜祁阳Boss追妻之路漫长。六年后,三月悄悄带着天才儿子和腹黑女儿归来,祁阳一边追妻一边讨好两小祖宗。
  • 医案精华

    医案精华

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 娱乐圈模范家庭

    娱乐圈模范家庭

    为了妻子和孩子的梦想,叶洛身处平行时空的娱乐圈,不弄虚作假,不恶意炒作,不借故撕逼,一切靠作品说话,做娱乐圈模范家庭。
  • 灵宝九幽长夜起尸度亡玄章

    灵宝九幽长夜起尸度亡玄章

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 江少每天都在求名分

    江少每天都在求名分

    【墙裂推荐超甜新文《我在娱乐圈带崽躺赢》】重生后,叶思白一心要虐渣打脸一路高歌走上人生巅峰,却偏偏被她最不想见到的人捡回家,当成了便宜‘弟弟’?面对长得乖巧却格外不听话的小魔头,江斯允严厉教育:“不许打架,不许逃课,不许谈恋爱!”当某天小魔王一袭长裙,惊艳出现在电视里,江斯允怒火滔天,当即将人绑了回来,深入教育!!……看着被揍得生活不能自理的追求者,她眼角抽搐,说好的不能打架呢?正上着课被某醋王强行拉出教室扛回家,说好的不能逃课呢?最后连哄带骗的被忽悠到了民政局,叶思白泪目,X你大爷,说好的不许谈恋爱呢!!!
  • 血腥的盛唐7:盛唐结局是地狱

    血腥的盛唐7:盛唐结局是地狱

    在最鼎盛时期,唐朝经济GDP高达世界总量的六成,领土面积是当今中国的两倍,300多个国家的人们怀着崇敬之心,涌入长安朝圣,2300多名诗人创造了无法逾越的文化盛世;然而事实上,如此繁荣的景象只持续了不到整个朝代一半的时间,大唐王朝的最后近百年间,连年内战,四处硝烟,黄河流域尸横遍野,千里无鸡鸣,万里无狗吠,落日的余辉下,是一望无际的地狱之国。翻开本书,中国历史上最著名的主角们:李渊、李世民、武则天、杨贵妃、唐明皇、李白、安禄山、黄巢……帝王将相,轮番上阵,诗人草寇,粉墨登场,紧锣密鼓,不容喘息,连演数场好戏:一场比一场令人血脉贲张!一场比一场起伏跌宕!一场比一场充满血腥和阴谋!
  • 嘉平关纪事

    嘉平关纪事

    一场尘封十年的旧事,让嘉平关城笼罩在阴霾之下,家国之情、兄弟之谊、恋人之爱该如何取舍,面对家国安危,众人的命运又该何去何从......
  • 绝代帝君:我给陛下管宫廷

    绝代帝君:我给陛下管宫廷

    穿越成记录陛下后宫生活的史官,苏锦年表示压力很大啊,每日每夜地观察着陛下的私生活,还得提心吊胆担心自己女扮男装的事情暴露。“苏爱卿长的很清秀啊。”“呵呵呵,营养不良,营养不良。”“苏爱卿是受伤了?”“呵呵呵,小伤小伤。”本官明明是来大姨妈了好吗?“苏爱卿还有画春宫图的爱好?”“呵呵呵,业余业余……”“苏爱卿昨日给朕上的奏折……”“陛下没事就不要往后宫里跑了。”【笑】“那朕就往苏爱卿的府邸跑吧。”“……”
  • 哈佛心理学大全

    哈佛心理学大全

    内心强大才能真正强大,心理健康才会真正健康。哈佛大学被誉为“美国人的思想库”,是诞生世界精英的摇篮,为全世界培养了众多商业名流、政治领袖和知名学者,其中包括美国总统、诺贝尔奖得主。哈佛人的成功与哈佛心理学理念密不可分,哈佛人用亲身实践启迪我们完善健康心理,享受幸福人生!