Copyright, 1897, by Harper & Brothers. All Rights Reserved.
| published weekly. | NEW YORK, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1897. | five cents a copy. |
| vol. xviii.—no. 903. | two dollars a year. |
THE RINGGOLD ARCHERS.
A REMINISCENCE.
BY FRANK R. STOCKTON.
When I was a boy I belonged to a small company of young fellows, allunder fourteen, who had banded themselves together for the purpose ofpractising archery. Our company owed its name to our great admirationfor Major Ringgold, about whose valiant exploits in the Mexican war wehad often read and talked. He was a romantic man, and romance always hasa charm for the young, even when they do not understand it. The Majorwas a brave cavalryman, and we had seen pictures of him charging at thehead of his horsemen, with his long hair floating in the wind. In thislong hair lay his romance; for we had heard the story that, having beencrossed in love, he vowed he would never again cut his hair. The pointof this resolution we did not then understand, nor can I say that Ifully[Pg 378] comprehend it now, but I am quite sure that each one of us wouldhave been perfectly willing to be crossed in love