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VOL. V.
An h Enemy’s v -r
■
hSM Bullet.
BT CHA8. B. LKWIS.
He had been a captain for a year
of rifere-^Captain Bligh of com
p»iy^“B, 1 ” t J?ourteeuth infantry—
4»ut he had been on detached ser
Vice instead of in the field with
JHSjjuey. Ik> had i^ad, and talked
df'the batfcftfc in whifth the Four¬
teenth he
was h&d'4mi4g«#jtfm&lf < ex til tt»& ufcer/ it* 1 victories.
He with the
company, in time of battle—in his
place as commander— calling out
orders—cheering on the fighting—
holding the men up to their work
like a stone wall. It had never
occurred to him that his courage
might not stand the test of battle.
Had any one questioned it the cap¬
tain would have fought him on
the Spot.
And Captain Bligh had finally
been released from special duty
and sent to the front of his com¬
mand, and he arrived to find the
camps in commotion. Orders had
been issued to prepare three days’
rations, aud that meant a iqove
mentaud opening of the campaign.
He was judilant at first, and
wondered that the men were were
glum and grim instead of exultant.
Now and then he caught the sound
of laughter, but it was not sincere.
Now and then some soldier broke
into song over his camp-fire, but a
score of others growled him to si¬
lence. Captain Bligh was looking
for a pomp of war, aud this grim
nessdisappointed him and
serious thoughts. Through the cot¬
ton walls of his tent he heard two
of the privates of his command
talking as they stood guard
some commissary'stores.
“Goin’ after Lee, eh?” queried
the first.
“That’s the chalk, old man.
Grant’s goin’ to find Lee and
for him, and we’ll be right in
“Wonder if our captain’s
sand!”
“Dunno. If he hasn’t he’d
ter go out and hang himself.
look to me like a very
CUS8.” .
“Nor me, either. He hasn’t even
seen a fight yet, and oh ! Lord, how
he’ll weaken iu his knees when
shells begin to fly and the
to hum! If he goes bock on
some of the boys will put a
into him.”
The words struck Captain Bligh
strangely. The rank and file
been sizing him up, and the
dict was unfavorable. The
were questioning his courage,
Mi going into battle every
eye would be upon him. If
showed the white-feather-!
it possible, asked the captain
himself, that his courage could
fail him, aud that he might be
branded as a coward! To ask that
question was to doubt himself, and
as the” doubt found lodgment, his
lips became dry and his breath
grew short. Ten minutes later he
was asking of a corporal whom he
had sent for;
“Corporal Henderson, you have
been in several battles,
you?”
“Three big ones, sir, and three or
four skirmishes,” was the reply.
“How did you feel in your
battle?”
“I wanted to bolt, sir, and
Lord only knows bow I
- through it. I didn’t get over
ing scared till the seargent kicked
me and made me mad. I am told
that seven of our men got into
ditch and had to be kicked out.
The first battle is hell, on the
nerves, sir. begging ypur pardon.”
“But no officer ever bolts, corp-
I 26 97
o V* 3 CORD f" #
Devoted to the Interest of Johnson County and Middle Georgia,
WRIGHTSVILLE, GA,, TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1807,
“Of course not. if acommisioned
should ever run away it
be worse than death for
him. No. sir—his way would be
to shoot hiinselt on the field.”
For an hour after the corporal
away the captain sat and
thought over the matter and dis¬
it with himself. He feared
his courage, now that was to bo put
to the test, but he was grimly re¬
not to disgrace his company.
corporal had given him an
idea, and if worst came to worst
would act upon it.
A hundred thousand men broke
and went marching to the
for twenty miles, and then
found a lion in the path. The
heads of columns filed to the right
and left, guns were hurried up and
planted at intervals, and the le¬
faced each other in battle
line. There was only skirmishing
that day—developing the strong
and weak points in each other’s po¬
sition. A few hundred werekilled
a few hundred wounded. The
Fourteenth had three or four men
wounded by stray bullets, and the
victims were laughed at as they
went to the rear.
“Watch the captain! Watch
the captaiu!” whispered the Com¬
pany “B” men at frequent inter¬
vals during the afternoon. And
Captaiu Bligh realized that his
every move was under criticism.
As the lines of battle were formed
he became pale-taced, and there
was a treamor in his voice as he
spoke. As a shell screamed over
the head of the regiment he looked
furtively about him, but shut his
teeth hard. The cries of the
wounded men and the sight of
blood made him stagger, but he
pulled himself together after that
one betrayal of weakness.
“He aiut going to flunk,” sa>d
one veteran to another, as they
watched. If there was a single
man awake in Company “B”
Captain Bligh did not knottf
it. He lay for hours looking up
at the stars and fighting with him¬
self. The events of the afternoon
had proved t® him that he was
lacking in courage. It was a hard
thing to admit, but it was true.
He had wanted to seek the cover of
a wall—to fling himself down in a
ditch-to turn his back on his com¬
pany and tty to the rear. He had
suffered with fear until he was ex¬
hausted. Yes, he lacked courage,
but he had pride. Pride will com¬
pel a mau to halt when fear is car¬
rying him away. In one sense
pride is the superior of courage.
At midnight the Captain rose up
and walked about, and after awhile
he came upon the corporal whom
he had talked with before the army
moved. He roused the mau from
a sound slumber and whispered to
him:
“ Corporal were you watching
me this afternoon?”
“Not much,” was the reply.
“Did I—did I seem to be upset?”
“Somewhat nervous, sir but that
was to be counted on. It would
be better if you could sleep.”
“ I can’t sleep—I can’t sleep !”
groaned the captaiu. “Do you
know, corporal, that I am a cow¬
ard!”
“Good God! but you don’t mean
itl”
“Yes, I do. I was on the point
of running away several times this
afternoon. We shall have a bat¬
tle tomorrow, and I’m afraid of
myself. If I could only get killed
at the very opening of the fight!”
“But cheer up, sir. You are no
coward. It’s just the strain on the
nerves. It is always so in the first
battle.”
“No, corpora], uo!” sighed the
captain, as he sadly shook his head.
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[mt Qmmm ’AIG’BEELIXW—fi’fif—“mt
H Were If You He!
Yes, if you were
the creditor and
saw the merch
ant sitting idly
in his shop ac
‘ cum’latiug more
dust, cobwebs
and out-of-style
goods than cash,
‘ you would prob
I ably feel like ask
iug, Why don’t
you ,
Wake Up
and use the ad
; vertising col’una
of THE RECORD.
and exchange
your stock for
i What legal say tender? you?
“Welt, yon go to sleop again
you can. It’s my la8t night on
earth, and I can’t close my eyes.”
“But who can say you’ll even be
scratched tomorrow?*’ protested
the corporal.
“Let me tell you something.' I
haven’t the courage to go through
a battle which may last two
I shall want to run away at oiibe.
Then I shall do this.”
And he pulled his revolver from
his holster and put themuzzle to his
temple, and for a half a minute
the men looked into each
eyes and neither breathed. Then
the corporal gasped:
“It’s awful, sir—it*s just
“But I’ll do it,” said the captain,
as he rose up and moved away.
The sun was scarcely above the
treetops next motniug when the
battle opened. It began on
right wing and rolled along down
the front as you have seen a
wave run along a breakwater. In
quarter of an hour from the
crash of musketry the ceuter was
fighting for its life. The men
company “B” who had said to each
other the afternoon before: “Watch
the captain,” gave him uo thought
on this morning. They saw the
battle lines of the enemy marching
out one after another to attack
them, aud they waited with baited
breath for the first shock. Only
the corporal had his eye on Cap¬
tain Bligh. As the men roused up
from sleep and took a hasty bite
the captain moved among them.
As the orders came to form battle
hues he repeated them. He was
palefaced, but he held himself
erect aud his lips were compressed.
“It will be ten minutes more of
this waiting,” said the corporal to
himself, as he looked across the
fields at the tramping lines. “If
he can hold out ten minutes he
will pull through the battle 1”
Tramp! Tramp! Tramp I A
host of meu in gray, with flags rip¬
pling in the morning breeze aud
lines dressed as if on parade,
moved across the barren fields
with stern set faces. Along the
lines in blue the man lay in thou¬
sands behind the breastworks of
rails and dirt, with every musket
at the full cock and every finger
on the trigger.
“God! how pale he Is,” whispered
the corporal as he turned his head
to look at the captain. “They are
coming—they will be in range in
three minutes tnofe-“fie will pull
through!”
Tramp! Tramp! Crash! Crash!
A wall of flames two miles long-a
cloud of blue-black smoke rolling
back ever the meadows—ten thou¬
sand cheers and yells and curses as
the shock came. Before the volley
there had been silence in the ranks
of Company “B.” As the sheets
of flame leaped out every man be¬
gan to cheer or cuise.
“This will break the strain and
hearten him up all right now,” said
the corporal, as he peered throug!
the smoke.
Five minutes later as lie was
pulling a dead man aside, the cap¬
tain stood before him. He had de¬
serted his place. His face bore the
pallor of death, oven when seen
through the heavy smoke, aud his
looked the terror which was
at his soul.
“Go back, captain-for God’s sake
back!” shouted the corporal as
he pointed to the head of the line.
“I’m running away — running
1” replied the captain, as he
the man by the shoulder
sc retried the words into his oar.
“I told yon 1 couldn’t stan<J it,,
I told you—’
In his right hand he had! hi® re¬
volver. Be lifted the weapon to¬
ward his face, and the corporal
seized it and cried:
“Don’t, captaiu—don’t I You are
NO 25,
all right now! Go back—go back!
No, I won’t—! God,- but look at
that!”
A bullet from the breastworks
had struck the captain in the head
and spattered the corporal with
his blood. It was a thousand times
better that than dishoneT or sui¬
cide,
A SIMPLE FIRE EXTINGUISHER.
Hand grenades, the simplest
form of fire extinguisher, can be
made at home cheaply and easily.
And it is well to have at hand a
simple contrivance for extinguish¬
ing a small fire at its start.
Take twenty pounds of common
salt and ten pounds of sal ammo¬
niac (nitrate of ammonia, to he
had of any druggist), and dissolve
in seven gallons of water. Procure
quart bottles of thin glass, such as
are ordinarily used by druggist,
and fill with this, corking tightly
and sealing, to prevent evapora¬
tion.
In case of fire throw so as to
break in or near the flame. If the
fire is ia-sach a place as to pre¬
vent the bottle from breaking, as
in wool or cotton, knock . off the
neck and scatter the contents.
The breaking, of the bottle lib¬
a certain amount of gas,
the heat of the fire generates
more, thus working its owii destruc¬
.—Scientific American,.
CHINESE DETECTIVES.
The North China Herald pub¬
lishes the following report from!
its Newchwang correspondent
“A notable arrest was made in the
native town some days ago by the
Government detective. The crim¬
inal, who goes under the name of
Kang, was a resident of soldo years
in Pekin, where he lived in good
style. Unfortunately, however,
being of quarrelsome disposition,he
during that time knifed forty men,
and such was his skill that none of
the victims was ever known to re¬
cover, death as a rule being instan¬
taneous. Two hundred of his sect
were pressed into government ser¬
vice and sent to ecour the country
round disguised as cake vendors,
despatches were also forwarded to 1
all the district officials, the Taotai :
of this port among others, to the*
that should it be proved that
Kang had been in their town os'
without capture having
been effected tlie consequences' to'
would be unpleasant,
and a special band of Pekin de¬
tectives were sent on his tracks.
“In spite of all Kang would have?
them had not the detectives'
across a friend on his by
Lien, whom they prevailed!
to act as decoy. Lieu, itr
whom Kang had the utmost’ con¬
being in fact his own es¬
comrade, agreed to invite'
friend to dinner, and as- Kang
mtered the door bowing the usual
Habitation he was seized from be
lind, thrown on his face and ir
jiied. A man of indom i table pluck
powerful physique, the detec¬
with a brutality essentially
further secured him- by
iron rings through each'
and proceeded to Shau
theuce by rail to- Pekin.
the then bad state - of the 1
the journey By cart to Shau
means hard traveling for'
days, and the unfortunate'
suffering must have been ex¬
Nevertheless when a temp¬
halt was made before leaving
ports East Gate he regaled the*
with a comic song.”
“Does-your wife call you as many
names as she did when you
first married?” “Er—not as
pet oues.”—Indiannagoli#.