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THE SOUTHERN "WORLD, OCTOBER 15,1883.
DREAMS OF CHILDHOOD.
BY CLARA. BUSH.
The fairest scenes oft come before me,
In happy dreams;
Youth's early mom reflects back o’er me,
Its rosy beams.
Wrapt in the gentle folds of slumber,
I Beem to be,
A little child, whose glad years number,
Scarce three times three.
Sometimes in the flowery wildwood,
Alone I roam,
The place so well beloved in childhood—
The fairies’ home.
The days of womanhood and sadness,
Are all forgot;
There comes no feeling save of gladness,
In that bright spot.
With infant hands I pluck the flowers,
So sweet and fair:
And twine beneath the leafy bowers,
Wreaths for my hair.
I listen to the wild birds trilling.
Their blithe notes free,
The breezes and the woodlands filling,
With melody.
There echoes in those regions fairy,
A mystic strain,
Entrancing music, faint and airy,
With low refrain.
The little brooklet, onward flowing,
Kepcats a song,
As if to greet the flow’rets growing,
Jts banks along.
Sometimes I watch its waters flashing,
In ripples free,
Far out some leaf or pcbblo dashing,
In childish glee.
The bright hued butterflies flit near me,
Or rest the wing;
Tho little birds seem not to fear me,
As sweet they sing.
The old brown school-house, gemmed with
mosses,
Rises to view,
Within whose walls life’s cares and crosses,
I never knew.
The play-ground by the elm trees shaded,
Tho samo appears;
Not a leaf or floweret faded,
In all these years.
I see the faces—hear the voices,
Of playmates dear;
And again my heart rejoices,
To have them near.
A happy band we roam together,
Over the hill,
And seek the daisies in tho heather,
And by the rill.
The fleecy clouds, like floating castles,
Attract our eyes:
Kings enthroned und waiting vassals
Fancy descries.
Gently, silently, onward drifting,
Airy and light,
Into u thousand weird forms shifting
Thoy pass from sight.
In childish awe and adoration,
Enrapt l’vo stood,
Watching the wouders of creation,
So grand und good.
O, those happy dreams elysian,
That come at night!
They fade like phantoms from my vision,
When dawns the light.
Yet, still they leave a thrill of gladness,
Tho’ brief their reign,
And take from life somo hours of sadness
And weary pain.
THE DeSAUSSURES.
A Historical Romance.
BY B.'F. SAWYER.
CHAPTER X.
As Captain Chatham was striding on
to his quarters there came a little lull in
tho storm of his wrath, and for a mo
ment it occurred to his better sense to
ask what all this violence of methods
was to accomplish. He, by the code
men call honor, was estopped from a
further prosecution of the quarrel with
his officer. That code to which he had
appealed had decided, and while he
should certainly not obey its instruction
so far as a withdrawal of the provocative
offence was concerned, he was as cer
tainly acquitted of all cowardice in not
insisting upon its corollary, the apology
from Lieutenant Shirly. He could not
in honor further insist upon an apology
from Shirly without first withdrawing
the provocation. This he would die be
fore doing. How then was he to proceed ?
Clearly, only as Captain Norris had
plainly put it, as a blackguard and a
bully. Could he afford to do that? In
the hot wrath of his soul he could, but
in the eyes of his brother officers he
could not.
“ Curse him!” he muttered, “I could
break his head with a club or grind his
face in the mud with my boot heel, but
then my negro Jake could do as much.
Curse this milk sop Norris for his
squeamishness. I could slap his face for
a blubbering baby. I have a great mind
to appeal to some one else to reopen the
matter. There will be other gentlemen
—officers here in a day or two—and by
Heaven, I will do it.”
And then it flashed in the captain’s
mind to consider other possibilities that
the coming of other gentlemen and offi
cers would open. The regiment was to
be organized, and that organization
meant the election of a colonel, lieuten
ant-colonel and major. His ambition,,
as did the ambition of every man who
entered the service, looked to promotion.
The command of the regiment would so
much better accord with his opinion of
his own deserts as well as his capacity
for command.
“ I could much better manage a regi
ment than a company. Then I would be
isolated from the low herd, and would be
free from these petty annoyances. And
why not? I have never yet failed in an
election. I think I shall try it. Yes, I
shall run for colonel, and if I do, perhaps
I had better submit to this infernal dick
er. Faugh! it makes me sick to think
of it. But—but I see it will have to be
done. Yes, I will do it, and, egad, I
will turn the thing to a good account
since I have to do it. I will do it with
such a good grace as will make friends.
I will put on the magnanimous and will
not even require an apology from Shirly
—curse the bull-headed fool—and Shirly
will certainly support me for it makes a
step in his advancement. My election
will make him captain. Egad, that’s
the trick. I shall play it sure. And
there is DeSaussure. I must do the
amiable toward him. He is worth a
dozen Shirlys, for the men all swear by
him. I noticed that in our organization.
He virtually selected the officers, and by
the by, I, in fact, owe my election to
him. Yes, he has to be conciliated. I
shall publicly apologize to him for my
harshness and reinstate him to his former
position. It will bo best anyhow, and it
will please the men. Ah, there it is.
Curse the men, it is an outrage to the
service that an officer has to stoop to
such an indignity. The officers should
be appointed. It is too bad to have to
pander to the favor of such a herd. But
it can’t be helped. Only, by Heaven,
when I am colonel I snail stick it to
them.”
I was thus minute in the stenography
of the captain’s soliloquy as best ex
plaining the cause of this surprising
change in his manner and conduct to
wards his officers and men, that so sadly
puzzled them to make out.
It was a momentary flash through his
brain, but it outlined in that instant his
policy and his purpose. It required,
however, all the courage his genius for
dissimulation could impose to enable
him to put it at once in operation. He
had even to take a little detour around
the hill and a minute’s rest beneath an
old hickory tree before be could suffi
ciently arm himself with words and
looks to begin, but having mustered his
vocabulary of conciliatory expressions
and put on a friendly grace that did
indeed so better become his handsome
face, he walked forward. He almost
dreaded to find Shirly, like Achilles,
sulking in his tent, and was agreeably
surprised to see him again busy with his
awkward squad.
With a smile that the hunchback of
Gloucester himself might have envied,
he walked direct to the lieutenant, and
offering his hand, said:
“Lieutenant Shirly, I owe you an
apology for my inconsiderate conduct to
wards you yesterday evening. I do
hope, sir, you will accept my apology
and that we may be again the friends
we were.”
The astonished lieutenant stood a mo
ment in open-mouthed wonder. His
friendly nature instinctively accepted
the proffered hand,but the touch recalled
him to himself and he drew back as he
answered:
“ No apology is necessary, sir. I care
nothing about it, only this, Captain
Chatham, you must never again presume
upon your rank in addrestf n$ me.”
The captain colored, but with an effort
he put down his impulsive wrath, and
quickly answered:
“ I sincerely trust, Lieutenant Shirly,
that we may never have occasion to dif
fer again. I can assure you, sir, that
do most sincerely regret the whole occur
rence.”
“ Very well. I, too, hope it may never
occur again,” replied the lieutenant.
“ It snail not so far as I am concerned,”
assuringly said the other, and then with
a patronizing look on the men whom the
lieutenant was trying to initiate into the
mysteries of “Hardee,” he added: “I
see you have commenced the work of
drill already. That’s well. I hope, my
men, vou will not become discouraged at
its difficulties. They will appear tedious
at first, but you will soon overcome them
all. Lieutenant Shirly, I must thank
yon for initiating the good work.”
“You should tnank Frank DeSaussure.
He commenced it,” curtly replied the
lieutenant.
“Ah, yes. DeSaussure is a capital
drill officer. Where is he?” he asked.
“Down in the field there,” pointing
across the thicket; “he has the compa
ny over there drilling now. He knows
more about it than any of us and I turn
the company over to him while I try to
improve my own self by teaching this
squad,” answered the lieutenant.
“Yes? Well, that is very good. I
shall not interfere with the arrangement.
Only this, lieutenant,” he added with a
telling humility, “ you must not make
the same mistake that I did and be too
exacting at first. Two hours’ drill a day
is enough—one in the forenoon and the
other after.”
“No danger of that,” replied the
other, turning to resume his attention to
the squad, who had been wondering
listeners to the captain’s pleasant words.
“ How do the boys like their camp?”
asked the captain, following up the good
work so happily begun.
“ Not at all, sir. It-is too devilish hot
smothered up here in this pine thicket.
They need better shade and more air,”
replied the lieutenant.
“Ah! Well then, if you please, I
will trouble you and Lieutenant Bauk-
night to select a more suitable place,”
graciously said the captain.
“ It wifi be no trouble, and we will be
glad to do it. This deuced place is not
fit for a mule lot,” answered the lieuten
ant.
“ Very well. Suppose you look around
and we will move at once.”
“ All right. Attention, squad. Shoul
der arms! One—two—stop there, Tom
Bates. Go back; you must do that over.
Now, shoulder arms. One— Oh, the
devil, can’t you recollect a thing? Here
raise your gun so—vertically to the right
of your breast; put your elbow closer
to your body—so; now catch the gun
with your left hand below the other—so;
now drop your right, quickly, and catch
the gun just below the cock—so; your
thumb and forefinger around the guard,
don’t you see ? Now straighten the gun
against your shoulder with your left
hand, the arm level before you and near
ly straight. That’s the first motion.
Two, drop your left hand by your side—
so. There, that will do. Now attention,
squad, in two ranks right face. Arms,
? ort. One—two— There you are again,
om. Here, throw your gun this way
diagonally across the body with the lock
from you. That’s it. Now attention,
all. Break rank •, march. By Heaven,
you know how to do that. Now, captain,
I will get Bauknight and we will hunt a
place to camp.”
“ If you please, and I will recall De
Saussure and have the tents struck ready
for the move. Will you go by the quar
termaster’s and send out the wagons?”
“ Certainly; have everything ready by
the time we get back. We will have
little enough time to move in to-night.”
“I will. Send the wagons over as
soon as you can and everything will be
ready. Sergeant Fox, step across there
and tell DeSaussure to bring the men
in,” said the captain, turning to the ser
geant of the squad.
The sergeant hurried away. He was
the bearer of good news and the con
sciousness gave length to his stride.
“ Hello, boys, the captain came in and
says you must come into camp. We are
going to move.”
“ Going to move?” omnes.
“ Yes; the captain’s got all the starch
knocked outen him. He roars now as gent
ly as a suckling dove. He apologized to
Lieutenant Shirly—begged nis pardon
and all that thing—and says he intends to
ask your pardon, Frank, and he has sent
Lieutenants Shirly and Bauknight to
look out a better camp-ground, and he’s
now a tearing down the tents and has
sent for the wagons and we are to move
at once, so hurry up and let’s get away
from this devilish place before he gets
on another high horse.”
“ Surely, sergeant, you are jesting,”
said DeSaussure.
“ No. You won’t know him. I sus
pect he got scared of Lieutenant Shirly.
They have been juggling about this thing
all day. That other captain came over
this morning and called Lieutenant Hol-
stin aside and they went tramping off
together. I could see something in the
wind. The devil was to pay, certain,
and the captain just couldn’t stand the
racket. That’s my opinion.”
“ No, you are mistaken there,” said
DeSaussure; “whatever else men may
say about Captain Chatham, they can
not accuse him of cowardice. But we
will go. Attention, right face, forward
maren.”
Arriving at camp, he halted the com
mand, fronted ana dressed it, and had
shouldered arms preparatory to breaking
ranks, when the captain approached and
addressing DeSaussure, said:
“ Do not dismiss the parade, Sergeant
DeSaussure, mst yet. I have a few
words of apology to say to them, and
first of all to you. I am very sorry in
deed that a foolish vexation yesterday
betrayed me into the injustice I did you.
My conduct was inexcusable, and I must
rely wholly upon your generosity to for
give me. I do most earnestly beg your
pardon for the unwarrantable indignity
put upon you, and I do it thus publicly
that all may know how sincerely I speak.
I have also to ask you to allow me to re
store you to the position I so foolishly
dismissed you from. You are first ser
geant, and as such you shall be obeyed
and respected.” DeSaussure bowed.
He was too generous to cherish a resent
ment, but he distrusted the sincerity of
this friendly speech. The captain ad
vanced and offered his hand, as he con
tinued: “I hope that you accept my
apology.”
“ It was not necessary for you to apol
ogize to me. I cared nothing for the
doubtful position you reduced me from,
as I can do my duty equally well in the
ranks,” he answered, accepting the of
fered hand.
“ But you will accept the amende, will
you not? It is your duty,” asked the
captain.
“If it is your order, sir, certainly,”
he answered.
“Then it is my order. You will at
once resume your duty as orderly ser
geant. And now, men, I must apologize
to you for what you may have considered
a harshness in the matter of uniforms.
When I made a requisition for the cloth
ing I had no idea it would be such as it
turned out to be. You can understand
the necessity of a uniform in the service.
The clothing issued is not such as I am
willing for you to wear, and I assure you
that at my own expense I have ordered
handsome cassimere suits for the entire
command. A tailor will be here as soon
as he can come from Columbia to take
your measures, and as soon as they can
be made you will be relieved of the un
gainly suits you now wear. And now,
sergeant, dismiss your parade, and let
each mess prepare at once for removal
to a more pleasant camp.”
A feeble effort at applause followed
this gracious speech, as the parade was
dismissed ana hurried preparation for
the removal commenced.
Various were the comments elicited by
the captain’s change of conduct—one
group avowing that this offer to pay for
better clothing himself was a gratuity
S uite as insulting as the order compelling
le wearing of the coarse uniforms.
“ There are not ten men in the com
pany who are not as able to pay for their
own clothes as he is himself,” said young
Walter Mitchell.
“And I had rather pay for those ten
than to allow Chatham to do it,” said
Tom Bates.
“ We’ll have none of his gratuity.
We’ll wear this cursed toggery first,”
said another.
“ And this, I am sure, is good enough
for the Mulligans,” added another.
“But what does he mean?” asked
Tom Bates.
“ I don’t know, unless it be as Fox
suggests, Lieutenant Shirly has put him
on his good behavior,” answered Mitch
ell.
“No; there is something else. I bet
you Frank DeSaussure can tell,” said
Bates.
“ What is it, Frank?” asked Mitchell.
“What is what?” asked DeSaussure.
“ What is it that put the captain on
his good behavior?” repeated Mitchell.
“ Oh, I cannot tell, nor do I much care
if it will only keep him on it,” evasively
answered the young man.
“ Ah, there’s the rub. Will it?” ask
ed Bates.
“Nous verrons,” answered DeSaus
sure, turning away.
In an incredibly short time the tents
were taken down and folded, and every
thing was ready for the wagons when
they came, followed a moment later by
Shirly and Bauknight, who reported that
they had selected a place in the grove by
the camp of Captain Norris. Indeed
that officer had been directed to the place
by Bowman as the nucleus of the regi
mental camp, the ground having been
selected for that purpose.
It was sundown before the removal
was completed and the tents all pitched
in proper order.
The next day the camp was increased
by the arrival of three other companies
of one hundred each, and the next day
four others reported. One more was
lacking to complete the regiment and
the next day the one came and the regi
mental quota completed.
Then came an order from Colonel Vin
cent for an election of colonel, lieutenant-
colonel and maior, and then began the
work of open electioneering. A caucus
of officers was held to select candidates