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Updated: June 22, 2025
"It was thrue, thin, William Connor?" repeated Coolin. "As thrue as that yander tripod pump kills wan man out uv ivery fifty. As thrue as that y'r corn-beef from y'r commysariat tins gives William Connor thirst, Coolin." "She was drownded, Connor?" asked Coolin in a whisper. "As I dramed it, an' allowin' fer difference uv time, at the very hour, Coolin.
"But Mary Haggarty, Connor?" "I was drinkin' hard, ye understand, Coolin drinkin', loike a dhromedairy ivery day enough to last a wake, an' Mary tryin' to stop me betimes. At last I tuk the pledge an' her on promise. An' purty, purty she looked thin, an' shtepping light an' fine, an' the weddin' was coming an.
Never seen a rebel or a raider till I got to town. Figgered Nell made the trip in five hours. I went straight to the camp of the cavalrymen, an' found them just coolin' off an' dressin' down their hosses after what looked to me like a big ride. I got there too late for the fireworks. "Some soldier took me to an officer's tent. Nell was there, some white an' all in.
'E lived long enough to say to the Subadar Goordit Singh, 'I would take scorn uv me to lave widout askin' y'r pardon, Subadar. And the Subadar took 'is 'and and salaamed, and showed 'is teeth, which was meant friendly." "What else did Connor say?" asked Coolin, eagerly. "'E said 'is kit was for you that's spoilin' a good name in the condinsation of the Commissaryat, Coolin."
The pantry had been emptied, the bumble-bee was on his way again, and Mr. Toad was on his, hoppin' lively and huntin' for well, for ice water or somethin' coolin', I guess likely. Granddad tapped me on the shoulder. 'Sonny, says he, 'there's a lesson for you. That hoptoad didn't wait to make sure that bumble-bee was good to eat; he took it for granted, and was sorry afterward.
"Ye'll take what ye can get, Coolin; fer wid a splinterin' bullet in y'r gizzard ye lie where ye fall." "But Mary Haggarty, Connor?" "I was drinkin' hard, ye understand, Coolin drinkin', loike a dhromedairy ivery day enough to last a wake, an' Mary tryin' to stop me betimes. At last I tuk the pledge an' her on promise.
"An' ye did?" asked Coolin, open-mouthed and staring; for never had he seen Connor with aught on his face but a devil-may-care smile. "Ordered away we was next avenin', an' sorra the glimpse of Mary Haggarty to me for Headquarters is a lady that will not be denied. Away we wint overseas.
I remember that I felt just as I had felt when on that August night I had explored the crevice of the Coolin the same sense that something queer was going to happen, the same recklessness and contentment. Moving a foot at a time with immense care, we came to a right-hand turning. Two shallow steps led us to another passage, and then my groping hands struck a blind wall.
Before midday I was close under the eastern side of the Coolin, on a road which was more a rockery than a path. Presently I saw a big house ahead of me that looked like an inn, so I gave it a miss and struck the highway that led to it a little farther north.
"He tuk it fer truth an' a warnin', an' he would not be denied," said Coolin to Henry Withers, of the Sick Horse Depot, two hours afterwards, when the Berkshires and the Sikhs and the Bengalese were on the march towards Tamai. "The bloomin' trick is between the Hadendowas and the Subadar," answered he of the Sick Horse Depot. "Ye take it fer a warnin', thin?" asked Coolin uneasily.
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