These men were breaking two laws. They had not
only stolen the horses, but were trying to evade the American
Customs. Your father always called them 'The Rapparees,' for they
were Irish, and fighters, and known from the Red River to the
Rockies as plunderers and desperadoes. There was some trouble to
the north at the same time; barracks was pretty well thinned; not
a man could be spared to help him. But when Corporal Black got his
instructions and listened to the commanding officer say, 'If that
detachment returns from the Qu'Appelle Valley within twenty-four
hours, I'll order them out to assist you, corporal,' the plucky
little soldier just stood erect, clicked his heels together,
saluted, and replied, 'I can do it alone, sir.'
"'I notice you don't say you _think_ you can do it alone,' remarked
the officer dryly. He was a lenient man and often conversed with
his men.
"'It is not my place to _think_, sir. I've just got to _do_,'
replied the corporal, and saluting again he was gone.
"All that night he galloped up the prairie trail on the track of
the thieves, and just before daybreak he sighted them, entrenched
in a coulee, where their campfires made no glow, and the neighing
horses could not be heard.
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