"I'm powerful dhry, and this reminds me there'll be no
more beer at all."
"Fwhy not?" said Dan, with a twinkle in his eye as he stretched
himself for rest. "Are we not conspirin' all we can, an' while we
conspire are we not entitled to free dhrinks? Sure his ould mother
in New York would not let her son's comrades perish of drouth - if
she can be reached at the end of a letter."
"You're a janius," said Horse Egan. "0' coorse she will not. I
wish this crool war was over, an' we'd get back to canteen. Faith,
the Commander-in-chief ought to be hanged in his own little sword-
belt for makin' us work on wather."
The Mavericks were generally of Horse Egan's opinion. So they made
haste to get their work done as soon as possible, and their
industry was rewarded by unexpected peace. " We can fight the sons
of Adam," said the tribesmen, "but we cannot fight the sons of
Eblis, and this regiment never stays still in one place. Let us
therefore come in." They came in, and "this regiment" withdrew to
conspire under the leadership of Dan Grady.
Excellent as a subordinate, Dan failed altogether as a chief-in-
command - possibly because he was too much swayed by the advice of
the only man in the regiment who could manufacture more than one
kind of handwriting.
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