Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1884-03-04
MISCELLANEOUS.
A Brave Man.

| ~ Jou "dil6 Ilc 70 CeLI you Il story
about brave man, little people, -
said Colonel Graylock, as his half
dozen nephews and nieces, tired with
their afternoons play, gathered
around his arm chair by the fire.
Well, I've seen plenty of them in
my time, but the bravest man l ever
knew was young Ensign in our reg
ment, whom we used to call '' Gen
tleman Bob''-and right we'll he de-
served the name, though not as we
meant it
Soldering is very different thing
now from what it was in my young
days, and men have lcarned-what
lisa pity they did not learn sooner.
that man may make none the
worse officer for being gentleman
and a Christian. Henry HavelocIS
taught US that pretty fairly, but in
the rough old times it was very diff
fercnt thing. Then the harder an
English officer drank, and the louder
he swOre, and the more he bullied his
men, and the reader he was to fight
a duel or to join in any low frolic, the
better his comrades liked him, and
I'm afraid we were much the same as
the rest.
So you may fancy what we thought
when man like I" Gentleman Bob"
came among us, who was always quiet
and sober and orderly, and, instead
Of brawling and riOting like the rest
Of us, spent all of his spare time over
dry scientific books that we knew
nothing about, and read n chapter of
the Bible every morning and evening.
How we did laugh at him, and make
mock of him, to be sure! But the
provoking thing was that he never
seemed to mind one bit, and he was
so good-natured, and so ready to do
any one good turn when he could,
that it certainly ought TO have made
us ashamed of ourselves; but it
didn't, morc's the pity.
But before long something did
make us ashamed of ourselves, and
this was it. Our Colonel was in
great hurry one day to find the where
abouts of a village that wasn't mark
cd on his may, and none of us could
help him, when, 10 and behold! for
ward stepped Gentleman Bob, "
with neat little map of his own
drawing, and there was the very place,
just where it should be. The Colonel
looked at it, and then at us and said
grimly, It's not often, gentlemen,
that the youngest officer of a regiment
is also the smartcst; let this be les
son to YOU"
g You may be sure this reproof
made us the more Unmcrciful in talk
ing against poor Bob; and perhaps
we might have done something more
than talk but for n thing that hap
pcncd ono night at mess. Our junior
Captain, rough, bullying kind of
fellow, was going to empty glass of
wine over Bob's head, when the En-
sign grasped his wrist, and ovcrturn-
ed the wine upon him instead, and the
wrist was black and blue from that
squeeze for many day after.
l About a month after this, one of
, our mon, who used to have fits of
: madness every now and then from an
: old wound in the head, came flying
along with big knife in his hand,
: slashing at everything within reach.
Some cried to shoot him, but Bob
= said, quietly, " A mans life is worth
: more than that; let me try" And
/ in a moment he had seized the fellow s
knife-hand, and tripped him so clev-
2 erIy that he was down before we could
call out; and then some OF the meI
t came up and secured him.
OF course we could say nothing
I against Bob's pluck after that; bu
all this was a trihe to what was coming
+. a few days later came on one of thu
, greatest battles during the war, anC
y we were so hard pressed on the Ief
= (where my regiment was) that at las
a there was nothing for it but to faI
5 back. We formed again under cove
n of some thickets, but even there VIC
d had enough to do to hold OUR grount
:, for the enemy had brought up severa
n guns, and were giving it to US prett,
: hot.
Suddenly, between two gusts O
e smoke, one of our wounded, lying ou
d on the open plain, was seen to wav
, his hand feebly, as if for help. !
+ was one of our Lieutenants, who ha
g been harder than any one upon "Gcn
d tleman Bob" and his chance was
s poor one, for it seemed certain deaf
d to try and reach him through such
r peEt Of shot, while if bullet didn'
1t finish him, the scorchin sun wa:
IS pretty sure to do it.
&c All at once man was seen step
IT ping out from the sheltering thicket
5, and that man was "GentIeman Bob.
s. He never looked to RIGHT or left, bu
IS went straight to where his persecuto
'e was lying helpless, and tried to rails
/. him. At first the French bange'
;ei away at him like fury, but when the.
tsaw what he was doing, several off