THE regiment was standing at
order arms at the side of a lane,
waiting for the command to march,
when suddenly the youth remembered
the little packet enwrapped in
a faded yellow envelope which
the loud young soldier with lugu-
brious words had intrusted to
him. It made him start. He uttered
an exclamation and turned toward
his comrade.
"Wilson!"
"What?"
His friend,
at his side in the ranks, was
thought- fully
staring down the road. From some
cause his expression was at that
moment very meek. The youth,
regarding him with sidelong glances,
felt impelled to change his purpose. "Oh,
noth- ing," he said.
His friend
turned his head in some surprise, "Why,
what was yeh goin' t' say?"
"Oh, nothing," repeated
the youth.
He resolved not to deal the
little blow. It
148 was sufficient that the
fact made him glad. It was not
necessary to knock his friend
on the head with the misguided
packet.
He had been possessed of much
fear of his friend, for he saw
how easily questionings could
make holes in his feelings. Lately,
he had as- sured himself that
the altered comrade would not
tantalize him with a persistent
curiosity, but he felt certain
that during the first period
of leisure his friend would ask
him to relate his adventures
of the previous day.
He now rejoiced in the possession
of a small weapon with which
he could prostrate his com- rade
at the first signs of a cross-examination.
He was master. It would now be
he who could laugh and shoot
the shafts of derision.
The friend had, in a weak hour,
spoken with sobs of his own death.
He had delivered a mel- ancholy
oration previous to his funeral,
and had doubtless in the packet
of letters, presented vari- ous
keepsakes to relatives. But he
had not died, and thus he had
delivered himself into the hands
of the youth.
The latter felt immensely superior
to his friend, but he inclined
to condescension. He adopted
toward him an air of patronizing
good humor.
His self-pride was now entirely
restored. In the shade of its
flourishing growth he stood with
braced and self-confident legs,
and since nothing could now be
discovered he did not shrink
from an encounter with the eyes
of judges, and allowed no thoughts
of his own to keep him from an
attitude of manfulness. He had
performed his mistakes in the
dark, so he was still a man.
Indeed, when he remembered
his fortunes of yesterday, and
looked at them from a distance
he began to see something fine
there. He had license to be pompous
and veteranlike.
His panting agonies of the
past he put out of his sight.
In the present, he declared
to himself that it was only the
doomed and the damned who roared
with sincerity at circumstance.
Few but they ever did it. A man
with a full stomach and the respect
of his fellows had no business
to scold about anything that
he might think to be wrong in
the ways of the universe, or
even with the ways of society.
Let the unfortunates rail; the
others may play marbles.
He did not give a great deal
of thought to these battles that
lay directly before him. It was
not essential that he should
plan his ways in regard to them.
He had been taught that many
obligations of a life were easily
avoided. The lessons of yesterday
had been that retribution was
a laggard and blind. With these
facts before him he did not deem
it necessary that he should become
feverish over the possibilities
of the ensuing twenty-four hours.
He could leave much to chance.
Besides, a faith in himself had
secretly blossomed. There was
a little flower of confidence
growing within him. He was now
a man of experience. He had been
out among the dragons, he said,
and he assured himself that they
were not so hideous as he had
imagined them. Also, they were
inaccurate; they did not sting
with precision. A stout heart
often defied, and defying, escaped.
And, furthermore, how could
they kill him who was the chosen
of gods and doomed to greatness?
He remembered how some of the
men had run from the battle.
As he recalled their terror-
struck faces he felt a scorn
for them. They had surely been
more fleet and more wild than
was absolutely necessary. They
were weak mortals. As for himself,
he had fled with discretion and
dignity.
He was aroused from this reverie
by his friend, who, having hitched
about nervously and blinked at
the trees for a time, suddenly
coughed in an introductory way,
and spoke.
"Fleming!"
"What?"
The friend put his hand up
to his mouth and coughed again.
He fidgeted in his jacket.
"Well," he gulped, at last, "I
guess yeh might as well give
me back them letters." Dark,
prick- ling blood had flushed
into his cheeks and brow.
"All right, Wilson," said
the youth. He loosened two
buttons
of his coat, thrust in his hand,
and brought forth the packet.
As he ex- tended it to his friend
the latter's face was turned
from him.
He had been slow in the act
of producing the packet because
during it he had been trying
to invent a remarkable comment
upon the affair. He could conjure
nothing of sufficient point.
He was compelled to allow his
friend to escape unmolested with
his packet. And for this he took
unto himself considerable credit.
It was a generous thing.
His friend at his side seemed
suffering great shame. As he
contemplated him, the youth felt
his heart grow more strong and
stout. He had never been compelled
to blush in such manner for his
acts; he was an individual of
extraordi- nary virtues.
He reflected,
with condescending pity: "Too
bad! Too bad! The poor devil,
it makes him feel
tough!"
After this incident, and as
he reviewed the battle pictures
he had seen, he felt quite com-
petent to return home and make
the hearts of the people glow
with stories of war. He could
see himself in a room of warm
tints telling tales to listeners.
He could exhibit laurels. They
were insignificant; still, in
a district where laurels were
infrequent, they might shine.
He saw his gaping audience
picturing him as the central
figure in blazing scenes. And
he imagined the consternation
and the ejaculations of his mother
and the young lady at the seminary
as they drank his recitals. Their
vague feminine formula for beloved
ones doing brave deeds on the
field of battle without risk
of life would be destroyed.
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