Chummie [pp. 77-85]

CHUMMIE: A TALE OF TWO FRIENDS
BY D. H. NOURSE
ACK always said that he had "jes
nacherly drifted" to Fort MAeade.
When Jack was only ten, his father,
Abram Green, a widower from a time
shortly after Jack had been born, had
sought his fortune in the Black Hills.
Within two years he was killed by an
explosion in a mine, and Jack was left to
shift for himself.
So life had been unkind to Jack. The
miners were charitable enough fellows, but
they were rough and world-hardened.
Boys were scarce in the Black Hills in
those days. The Indians were still
threatening, and the miners who were
married considered their wives and children safer in more closely settled communities. There had been, therefore, no
friendships, and none of the real pleasures
of boyhood in Jack's life. Strong within
him was the desire for some one who
understood him, who appreciated the
wants and joys of a boy. He was lonely
and ignored, and, while Jack himself
probably could not have put his want
into words, he really craved sympathy.
It was while in this mood-Jack called
it "the dumps "-that he met Chummie.
Jack had-but that has no bearing on this
story of Chummie. Chummie had yellow
hair of the roughest and most outlandish
description, and early in life he had lost
that important portion of a dog's anatomy,
his tail. For Chummie was a dog,. When
Jack first took up with him, he evidenced
a decided thinness about the ribs, and at
no time in his history was he especially
clean. But Jack was loyal to his com panion in the face of the most sarcastic
criticism. "For all he's a yeller that
is n't very pretty on the outside," said
Jack, "he's white on the inside, an' he
never goes back on a feller what's his
friend." And Jack said that many times
before-but that is telling the story a little
too fast.
Chummie, also, was probably lonely
when Jack first met him, for something of
accord made them friends and kept them
such. Chummie evidently belonged to no body in particular, and was ill-treated by
everybody in general. The first good office
Jack performed for Chummie was to bind
up a swollen paw. From that time the
two became inseparable. When Jack came
to the Fort, Chummie, of course, came
with him, and it was Chumrmie who had
caused him all this trouble.
During the two years following the
death of his father, Jack had moved about
from town to town a good deal, doing
whatever a boy of his age and wits could
find to do. Then he "drifted" into the
Fort.
The Fort had been established immediately after the Black Hills had been
secured by treaty from the Indians, and
the original owners had moved farther
east, to agencies in the great Sioux reservation along the Missouri River and its
tributaries. From that time on, and until
this day, soldiers are stationed here to protect the growing settlements of miners
from the raids of Indians. After the
capture of Sitting Bull in the Big Horn
MAountainis, but little difficulty in keeping
the red men subdued had been experienced,
but an ill feeling still existed over the
partition of lands, and every year, as
winter came on, rumors of a probable outbreak of the Indians were widely circulated. When Jack fell into this trouble,
the reports of rising anger at the agencies
to the east were more general than usual.
Jack made friends among the soldiers
with ease. He was apt and accommodating,. Hle was quickly a favorite at the
commissary, and it was not long until his
obliging manners challenged the attention
of even the Colonel commanding. Final lv he was called to work about the Colo nel's quarters. Here, though his duties
were lighter, his troubles began.
The Colonel hated dogs, but had an
inverse liking for cats, and several sleek furred members of the feline family of
various types found warm lodgings and
affectionate care in his quarters. Chum mie remained by Jack, and, of course,
Chummie and the cats did not agree.
Fights about the Colonel's quarters imme diately became numerous; but although