Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-08-23

The distant camp. Anxious to secure the
rio he incautiously broke open one OF
he nacSages and loaded, to have shot at
= he had covered the beast, and was
firing at the tiger, when he heard another
ranoIt simultaneously with that OF his
own carbine. He saw the tiger roll right
over as if shot, and then bound away. In
another instant the officer came round the
slone bleeding, and ordered him into arrest:
He was quite sure he hit the tiger, and
equally sure that another rifle was fired at
the same moment that he pulled the trlg-
ger.
| OF course such lame statement had nc
| effect, and he was sentenced.
l could not help thinking that there was
| a flaw in the evidence How was it If there
was, as agreed, loud report,-which
meant a full charge of powder,-that the
| bullet stopped at the saddle, instead OF go
ing through both saddle and horse. Ina,
was a great dscrepancy,-a fill charge
would have made loud report, ana sem en1
right through anything 1T a distance OF SVt
wards. / felt there was something wrong
and made up my mind to go on the
spot. / had but six days to go in, but
much might be done. Margaret insisted
Oh going with me in spite OF all could &c
to keep her away.
"Have 1 not done all you wished me to
do since we have been out here? DO, to-
Heavens sake let me have my way In this.
| So we went up the country In pos
haste.
| was, of course, as one of the stall, adj
mitted to see Gerald, whom found terri
bly, cut up. ..,-
al don't mind the Imprisonment; it's
| the disgrace! The lashes By God ! shall
kill myself directly l get loose after 1t, L
| knows | shall"
"No, no." said Meggie "dOn't, Tor my
sake o Gerald if you knew how have
| suffered for weeks past, you would live for
nv sake d. not care about the brand
of the lashes. l know you are innocent,
and that there has been some horrl-
BILE blunder committed in this matter. y,
| Willie, dear, do think of something to save
| him.
go, do, there's a good fellow! get
me some stuff that will make an end OF
me-" =,
Don't talk like that, Gerald there's
| some Internal mistake in it. Don't despair
vet. Let's go over the ground again step
by step" and made him tell me the whole
story over again.
aft seems to me, Gerald, we want not q
few Things to show you not guilty. We
want the tiger you shot at, and that we
shant get; and we want the clew to the
mystery of the other rifle.
40, I've thought of it all till I'm sick. |
don't care what happens now. I'll wait till
the day before it's to come of, and then
break my head against the walls"
"Don't be fool, Gerald Pm sure you
| are innocent. So is Margaret"
Eyes; $50 are hundred others; but it's
all no use. In three days am disgraced
for life, if [ live"
"Well, l must leave you now, and see
| what can do"
"Let me have five minutes with Meggie,
will you?"
| left them alone some ten minutes, and
| then told Meggie she must go home with
me.
| was beaten; could not see how
could get any fresh evidence, and without
that reprieve-a postponement-was I'M
| possible.
went TO the wounded officer, the cap
tain of his own company, and got him to
tell his own story; it was just the same
thing over again, always the exceedingly
loud report, and the fouled and still smok-
ing Garbine; ;, - a,
| WOutu, Sdlt bIlO CdDtdlD1 udfC
given the price of my commission rather
fellow as ever sat horse, brave, kind, and
as thorough a gentleman as the colonel
himself; always made him my orderly
| when / could, so as to have company. L
| declare to you that did my best at the
court-martial for him, and got into disgrace
with the general presiding for 'coloring
nv statements that was his expression
so as to favor the prisoner. l almost
sniveled when / heard the sentence, as il
he had been my own brother. The men
are mad about it; there had not been
a lash or public punishment of any kind
in the regiment for the last twenty-five
years"
1 hardly knew how to pass the
time; 1 tried to think, but my ideas
only travelled in the same old grooves
again.
invited the assistant-surgeon to come
up to my quarters, and introduced him to
my sister. He was quite young fellow
and seemed quite 1attered by my simple
attention, for in the army they have not
quite made up their minds whether med
ical officer should be treated as a gentle
man but the strangest thing ever saw
in my life was my sisters conduct. OF
course, speaking to you fellows sham be
misunderstood, and some of you have seen
her. She laid herself out to- please him to
an extent | never should have thought my
dear grave Meggie capable of; sang to
him, played to him, and made eyes at him
till thought her brain was turned. She
said she should like to see his quarters,
asked him to ask us to lunch, and shut me
up like rat trap when l ventured to hint
that it might not be convenient.
| Well, he went away at last as mad as
| she. l spoke to her after he was gone,
and she fell into my arms, sobbing as if
her heart was breaking, and then, with
out word of explanation, ran out of the
| room.
Next day we went to his quarters, and
nothing would satisfy her but that he
| should mix up some medicine for her out
| of the bottles of his little travelling case
There she was, handling, and shifting, and
| tasting everything, like a child of ten
| rather than girl of eighteen. She led him
| about the room made him bring books
| from the opposite end of it so that she
| might read about the properties of the
drugs; and, in short behaved so like lu
matte that thought the trouble about Ger
| aid must have affected her mind. l got
her away at last, and intended to insist on
| her remaining in the house and put
| ting some ice to her head. 1t was
quite unnecessary the minute we left
the surgery she was calm and silent as a
man.
| Well, the days passed in some sort of
dreary fashion till the evening OF the 18th.
l had been asked during the day to go
L al NIT ha nfAn fn h