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"On the Firing Line"

"
"To escort the little Canuck with his mounts, and to study the
surface of the land, to be sure."
Carew's eye swept the barren, desolate expanse about them.
"It is a bit monotonous, though."
"It's monotony that's healthy. You can't make a whole dinner off
from red pepper, and you can't make a whole campaign off from
smokeless powder. In either case, you get too much heated up, for
the show it all makes. Strike hard and eat hot at long intervals and
with exceeding unction; and, meanwhile, pause and let it soak in.
It's not the hottest fire that gives off the most blazes. And where
is that nigger of a Kruger Bobs?"
"In among the wagons with The Nig." "Just for all the world like the
deuce of spades! The Black Watch would better adopt the two of 'em
for their colors. The Nig is a pretty bit of property; but this is
the brute for me." And Paddy bent over in the saddle to stroke the
neck of Piggie who snapped back at him testily.
However, in all truth, the little gray broncho deserved all of
Paddy's praise. Scarred from muzzle to pastern by errant bullets,
limping slightly on one fore leg, she still had borne her master
bravely over weary miles of veldt, into many a skirmish and through
the kicking, squealing throngs of her kindred which crowded the
Lindley kraal.


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