The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-09-23
s=+g ssssasTa sa Hsy .s1rtgg
COLUMBIA, TENNESSEE, FRIDAY

4
nonsense at your time Of life ~ And
then, reading in. my distressed .counte-
nance how really upset my mind was,
he spoke most kindly to me, and said
"I suppose you have got into some
scrape.. have q boy about your age
1 should be most thankful If any one
helped him in difficulty; tell me all
about it.u Is. s--.'..' - D's..,5 Z. -
I did tell him all about It, merely
suppressing what had happened in
London. Nea- - "a ~,
"Yes,n he said, "you will lose your
commission, to dead certainty, if you
do not catch that ship; and, even if
you do catch her, You will probably
be at once put under arrest. But cheer
up; i will see what / can do for YOU.
The vast probabilities are, that before
twenty-fOur hours are over, we shall
have an extremely severe Southwest
gale. Very likely the Hiawatha will
be forced to put in at Plymouth. It SO
happens, that, at Plymouth 1 have
great influence much more than /
have here. am most intimately ac-
quainted with the Port-Admiral at
Plymouth. You must get down to
that town as fast as you can by post
ing and isil; go at once to the Port
Admiral and give him letter I will
now write:s as
In the letter he begged his friend to
havea lookout kept for the Hiawatha,
and if within SO many hours she did
not put into Plymouth, to send stea-
mer and seefif by any means she could
meet with the troop.ship and put me
on board. ,i,a" nit
The predicted gale came on in the
course of a few hours. The POrt-Ad-
miral at Plymouth not only received
me most kindly, but gave me a letter
to Col. -, which he said might do
me good. To my great delight the Hi
awatha was driven into Plymouth by
stress of weather. Ineed hardly say /
lost no time in getting OH board. Ibid
not report myself as Ensign Temple,
but asking for Col. F. said: "Ad-
miral -- begged me to give you this
letter." He read it. "Come down to
my cabin, Mr.. Temple y and when
there, he continue I'd =" The letter you
have given me from Admiral is
one in which he begs, as a personal ia
vor to himself, will not put you under
arrest, and receive you favorably in
every way, if can do SO consistently
with my dutysi You do not appear to
ME to deserve any kindness. I treated
you with unusual favor in allowing
you leave of absence ur to the very
last moment. In my letter to you I
told you in plain language what would
be the consequence if you did not reach
Portsmouth, at the appointed hour.
With plenty of time before you with
certain results staring you in the face,
you chose to absent yourself from your
regiment for longer period than you
were allowed; and, indeed, it is only
by mere chapter of accidents that
yOu were able to join your regiment at
all. Now, before I. make up my mind
what to do, tell me plainly and truth
fully everything connected with your
absence. Do not attempt to make ex-
cuses.n II I.r.4 ~ n.
1 told him everything, merely re-
spectfully requesting him that he
would keep my escapade quite secret.
He attended to my tale, grew interer-
ested in my outside railway journey,
and all but laughed at my police ad-
venture. To cut my story short, l
will give his parting words to me:
Mr.. Temple, 1 had thought that
probably dissipation or carelessness had
detained you in town. For many rea-
sons 1 will take no notice whatever of
what has happened. If Itook any no
tice at all, it must be in q very serious
way. Report yourself to the Adjutant;
or perhaps had better take you to him
myself, and introduce you. Make what
excuse you like to your brother officers
for your nOn.appearance; and l will
not exact promise from you, but re-
member you have got into this scrape
through drinking"-
81 was not at all drunk, sir" said /.
"No, / never said you were, Mr..
Temple; but being by nature an excl
table temperament, you did that which
you would not have done had you Ia
ken no beer, champagne or sherry for
lunch; and putting aside the bodily
rick you ran, you did that which might
have cost you what you value prOba-
bly, more than life-I mean your good
name. Now, my very strong advice
to you, Mr.. Temple, is this Do not let
any circumstances whatever lead YOU
to drink anything strong before your
dinner. do not mean to imply that
you are likely to get drunk but the
silly habit of drinking ON an empty
stomach merely for drinking's sake;
the silly habit of making two dinners
a day, when beer, sherry. and cham
pa yne are drunk at lunc..-, may or may
not injure others, but will probably
lead person of your temperament to
do, in some moment of excitement,
that which you will all your life regret"
promise, sir, tO"-
"No, don't promise, Mr.. Temple.
You little know the temptations which
aJ a young officer, you will encounter.
Don't promise, but ever remember my
advice"
Colonel - sleeps in the Crimea; he
died in my arms. Admiral - and
Captain - are also both dead. Of
John Smith, the medical student, 1
know nothing; perhaps, when he reads
this, he may claim my acquaintance.
Most religiously have kept my dear
old colonel's advice. 1 can safely say,
that in health, in pocket, in happiness,
in every way, have prOspered, save
as regards my wOunds-Harry glanced
at his shattered, useless armand to
the last hour of my life, remembering
my own early days and narrow escapes
never, unless l am fully persuaded
that he deserves it, will L be hard upon
a youngster. Il.t