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Excerpt from Frog: The Horse That Knew No Master <p>There is only one excuse that I can see for its pub lication. There is a sad dearth of stories dealing with peace-time army life. It was to try to fill this gap that I started writing. In my books, I hope to give my readers some idea of how the United States Army lives. Not the patriotic, war-time army, fired by patriotism to enlist, and expecting to meet an enemy in armed conict, but the peace-time army. That little group of men, less than in all, who have seriously devoted their lives to the military profession. Who are not fired by patriotic motives especially, but who like the military service. Who are making of themselves a living laboratory for the testing of new devices in warfare and new develop ments in tactics, and a repository for keeping alive the art of defense, and the lessons learned in blood, of previous conicts. They live, they carry on, they die; unheralded and unsung; satisfied with a day's work well done; and their mode of life is an interest ing one - to me, at least. There, I have let the cat out of the bag. Perhaps I did mean to instruct a little, after all. <p>In writing Frog, I have again, as I did inservice for both backgrounds and materials. Even as Jerry was a real dog who wandered onto the post at Benicia Arsenal one day and won his right to re main there, Frog was a real horse. He was my first mount during those days in 1919 and 1920 when I commanded the sub - post of Empire. I think I have painted his portrait truthfully, although the haze of years may have made the picture more rosy than it really was. At any rate, he had the trick described, of jumping straight forward without any visible preparation, and from this he got his name. It was a very disconcerting trick, and I must admit that he policed me more than once before I learned it, and how to guard against it. <p>About the Publisher <p>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.f