VOLUNTEER TROOPS AT LARNED 



first-rate fellow. But he's considerably embar- 

 rassed just now," he continued; "the captain of 

 the company has been away from it for several 

 months, leaving the lieutenant in command, and 

 during that time he has received a lot of govern- 

 ment property, for which he's got to account, of 

 course, and he's kept no accounts and has noth- 

 ing to show what's become of this stuff. You see, 

 he's in a bad fix, and unless he can find some one 

 who understands these affairs to help him out, he's 

 going to have to pay the government several hun- 

 dred dollars — maybe as much as a thousand or 

 two — out of his own pocket, or his daddy's 

 rather. He stated his case to me and asked if I 

 knew of any one that he could get to straighten 

 up his company papers; and when I saw you I 

 remembered that you used to be company clerk 

 in your old company at Fort Riley, and I thought 

 you would know how to help him out of the 

 scrape, if anybody would. He'll be willing to 

 pay you big for it. What do you say to the 

 job?" 



"I hardly know what to say," I replied. "I'll 

 have to consult my partners over at the camp 

 before I can give an answer. It may be that I 

 can arrange with them to get away from the wolf 

 hunting business long enough to do this work for 

 the lieutenant, but I can't promise it till I con- 

 sult Tom and Jack." 



"Well, come back into my office," said Weissel- 



199 



