se, he'll play all night,
he'll drink much if it go agin' him, and I pray it may. He'll be too
sick, when morning comes, to join us, and, by my faith, we'll leave his
horse and orderly and march away without him. As for Potts,--an he
appear not,--we'll let him play hide-and-seek with his would-be
reformer. Hullo! What's that?"

There was a sound of alternate shout and challenge towards where the
horses were herded on the level stretch below us. The sergeant of the
guard was running rapidly thither as Carroll and I reached the corner of
the corral. Half a minute's brisk spurt brought us to the scene.

"What's the trouble, sentry?" panted the sergeant.

"One of our fellows trying to take a horse. I was down on this side of
the herd when I seen him at the other end trying to loose a side-line.
It was just light enough by the moon to let me see the figure, but I
couldn't make out who 'twas. I challenged and ran and yelled for the
corporal, too, but he got away through the horses somehow. Murphy, who's
on the other side of the herds, seen him and challenged too."

"Did he answer?"

"Not a word, sir."

"Count your horses, sergeant, and see if all are here," was ordered.
Then we hurried over to Murphy's post.

"Who was the man? Could you make him out?"

"Not plainly, sir; but I think it was one of our own command," and poor
Murphy hesitated and stammered. He hated to "give away," as he expressed
it, one of his own troop. But his questioners were inexorable.

"What man did this one most look like, so far as you could judge?"

"Well, sir, I hate to suspicion anybody, but 'twas more like Corporal
Potts he looked. Sure, if 'twas him, he must ha' been drinkin', for the
corporal's not the man to try and run off a horse when he's in his sober
sinses."

The waning moon gave hardly enough light for effective search, but we
did our best. Blake came out and joined us, looking very grave when he
heard the news. Eleven o'clock came, and we gave it up. Not a sign of
the marauder could we find. Potts was still absent from the bivouac when
we got back, but Blake determined to make no further effort to find him.
Long before midnight we were all soundly sleeping, and the next thing I
knew my orderly was shaking me by the arm and announcing breakfast.
Reveille was just being sounded up at the garrison. The sun had not yet
climbed high enough to peep over the Matitzal, but it was broad
daylight. In ten minutes Carroll and I were enjo