River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-02-03
CAPTAIN CAMLION.
BY JULIA HAWTHORNE.
London World.


regiment, the 2O0th Massachusetts,
had fought in many of the bloodlest
battles of the war, and comparatively
fe,F of the original volunteers now sur
yived CamliOn, Fred. Bolton and my
self, however, still held together, and
neither one of us, in all the dangers to
which we had been exposed, had ever
received a wound.
Our acquaintance antedated the war.
We had been classmates in Harvard
university. | remember we used to
nickname CamliOn captain" long be-
fore the war of the rebellion was
thought of He was tall, strong and
serene, with a dignity about him half
boyish and half manly, which made
him respected as well as loved. He
was president of every college society
to which he belonged; he pulled the
heaviest oar in the university crew.
No exertion tired him, and no provo
cation put him out OF temper, though
| do not forget is encounter with Fred
Bolton. 1t was, indeed, the beginning
of their friendship Fred was a Nir-
gilman by birth, though he afterwards
fought on the northern side; he was
full of fun and humorous mischief, but
subject to upgovernable Outbursts of
passion. One day he undertook to
play of a practical joke on Mrs. Clap
per, our laundress, who was more than
suspected of using chemicals in her
washing to the detriment Of the fab
RIGS committed to her charge Fred,
who was something of a chemist, hit
upon the ingenious device of saturat-
L. 1 L,
which, when brought into contact with
the ingredients Mrs. Clapper was &C
cused of produced an explosion which
utterly upset her and her washtub, and,
besides rendering the old lady almost
idiotic with fright, injured her rath or
severely on the hands and face. Fred
related the incident with great glee at
the supper table that evening. We all
thought it funny and laughed-all ex-
cept Camlion.
You ought to beg the woman's par
don, Bolton" he said. There was an
immediate silence when his low but
powerful voice struck in, and every
BODY turned toward him as he sat with
both hands resting on the edge of the
table, and his face, which was the type
y
reddening. Fred laughed, fancying Mt
first that CamliOn was chatting. But
in moment the latter added, 1T was
blackguardly thing to do"
Thereupon Fred jumped up, white
with rage.
"WiiI you take that back ?' he called
out
Il said it was Il shameful and cow
ardly trick, was Camlion's answer.
Bolton snatched up heavy bread
knife that lay on the table, and hurled
it with all his force at Camlion's face.
1t struck him on the cheek, little be-
low the right eve. 1t was a murder
Gus act. We all rose cCnfusedly to our
feet, anticipating a violent sequel;
for Camlion could have shaken Bel
toms heart out of him with one hand.
He alone remained seated, however,
pressing his handkerchief to the deep
cash, while he kept lis glance fixed on
is assailant.
"Of course that makes no difference,
Bolton" he said, alters pause.
Bolton, who was by no means II bad
fellow, had no sooner done the deed
than he was sorry for it, and manfully
SstANl 40 llAAAtAA Va w l'yNa
Il don't care a Jig about this, an
swered Camlion quietly; "but, The add
ed, with the grim tenacity which was a
feature of his character, you ought to
make it up to Mrs. Clapper."
The upshot was that Bolton yielded,
and presented Mrs. Clapper with S2J
md a handsome apology But the in
cident aroused a good deal of discus
sion, and opinion was for awhile some
what divided as to Camlion's behavior
Some declared that he ought to have
sent the sOuthernor a challenge; hut
most of us felt that duel would have
been gratuitous absurdity for man
like CamlOn. and it was sign of the
general confidence felt i'll him that nc
one ventured to intimate that the fact
of Bolton being a VIGOROUSLY dead shot
had ANYTHING to do with the pacific
termination of the affair. CamliOr
himself never alluded to it i'll any way
but as have said, the two men after
ward became firm friends, and Bolton
who had before belonged to the fast set
gradually mended his ways under
CamliOn's influence, and joined the
athletic party.
announcer IOLlOMtI vi NtIilliOll ttlAN
he had many, though his lntlmate'
were few-was Frank Capel, also {
southerner. and well-mannered pleas
ant fellow enough. He was chiefly
noted, however, for his fanatical devo
ton to a certain famous sister of his, t.
whose praise his friends were obliged Il
listen i'm season and out. She was, &C
cording to Frank. the cleverest, mos
beautiful. most fascinating creature
above ground. Her dancing, her rid
ing. her music were all perfection, ant
Frank used to declare that she coult
beat Fred Bolton hollow at shooting.
.Whv, I've seen her. Frank eX
claimed. take her revolver and put
bullet through each of the fingers o
nv glove while | was throwing 1t up Il
the air ten PAGES away from her
In short. She was the ideal of all tina
woman can or might be, and we look
ed forward with interest to her promls
ed appearance on our class day.
wen introduce Camlion to hel
and he shall make her an otter of mar
riage,' said Bolton with a chuckle.
The Joke of this suggestion lay in tn
fact that the else heroic Camhon wa
what is called. "afraid" of young Ia
dies; that is he could seldom be got +
open his mouth in the presence of an.
woman who was not over thirty am
married. And if brought to bay h
would stammer and blush like a school
boy, and stand twisting his great hand
behind him and CHANGING anxiously thi
way and that for chance to bolt. t
imagine him carrying on courtshl
was too daring 4 flight of fancy for m y
one but Bolton. With children, how
ever. Camlion was completely at HON,
and he would spend hours of uproarou
happiness in 4 nursery, tumbling HI
gigantic frame about on the floor ami
the screams of delight of the small pee
pie. He treated them with ardent rev
erence and abject forbearanee, and the
led him unresisting captive.
Our class day came at last-the Ions
eSt and loveliest day of summer-wlt
its spreads" in the mems rooms, II
Examinations in the evening, and Il
various other diversions. Miss Cape
was there, and beyond doubt she wa
in appearance at least, nearly all this
Frank had declared her TO be. But fc
my own part, while recognizing the bt
witching brilliancy of her face an
manner, | found her slender lips to
.;,;,oI a,,d her clear brown eyes To