The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1886-04-07


talked for hours about Spencer and Mill
and Chopin and Ruskin, Il was rather for
the sake Of the deepset, dark eyes of the
Sibyl In that curious cave and the waves
dark forehead than for any wisdom that
might proceed from my niece Cicely's
pretty mouth, that turns down so delicate
iy at the corners like the old simils of
Theirs was small garrison at sackett's
harbor then. l do not think there is now,
and as It was just around the corner. as
one may say, OF the river and the lake.
which meet at Cape Vincent, the officers
were forever running down ''tho bay' to
itors.
Among them was young Lieutenant OF
infantry, Blankenburg, think, by name. .
nice young barbarian, whom Cicely had
met in Washington, and whose simple
mental purposes. He had had campaign
against the Piutes OF the Apaches, or some
other of the red barbariaus, whom white
barbarians like this young Lieutenant
chase around that uninteresting Western
country every summer. As q consequence
he had as many tales as Othello, and moth
ing suited my niece Cicely better, after
she had settled the artistic tendencies Of
the age with Robert in the afternoon at
the DEVILS Oven, than to relax her miud
stories about the death Of Els Major, the
tremendous strategy Of General Crook at
the affair of Led Horse Canon and the real
reasons, plagiarized by artful Lieutenant
of Se o% Fsn. Szsgss. s1 s
ter's command was lost at the Big Horn.
These seances took place at evening, in one
corner Of the third-story voranda, while
the band crashed out waltzes on the ball
room floor beneath, and the lights of Harts
and Titusville across the steamboat chan
mol threw crimson fire upon the dark water.
During them my sIster-in-law would
descant in my browsing ears upon the de-
terioration of the assemblies since the
first one she attended in the year 1866,
young Blenkenburg would appropriate all
the experiences of his arm of the service
in order to keep his stream of anecdotes
strictly personal for my niece's benefit,
and Robert Martin would glover in the
dark.
Cicely never paid any attention to him
on these occasions. The Lieutenant had the
field in tho evening, and in the afternoons,
as she told me at the time, she would ana
lyze his character to Robert in the DEVILS
Oven. They held long debates over tho
1t were piece of antique armor. They
assigned it sometimes to the fifteenth and
sometimes to the sixteenth century, again
putting it clear back into mid-mediHvalism,
military bric-a-brac among the Highlanders
Of Dundees time. Despite these daily
revenges, Robert rowed or to- his yacht
across the CRIMSON bars on the rivers
breast every night in very bad humor.
Robert and some friends of his had hired a
cabin sloop to Toronto, and wero making a
tour of tho upper river and lower lakes.
The thing had gone on, / think, for five
nights, when Lieutenant Blankenbursh
moulned for the third time in that period
eral Candy in the lava beds, closing for the
third time also by dilating upon that
gallant officers bravery. When tho recital
was finished l saw ebuilient symptoms in
Robert, and kicked him. It was no use.
SIT seems to me-" he said in q coldly criti-
cal tone of voice, as much as possible as the
Saturday Reviesc would talk II it had tongue
| instead of type that in our era we should
look for very different outward manifesto
tions of what is called bravery than in any
Ny sister-in-law had gone into her room,
which was just behind where we were sit
ting, and lighted the gas to look for shawl
The lightkhone very clearly on Cicely' g
face, and1 saw her broad, white forehead
contract In frown. She did not like the
breaking in upon her study of the Lieuten.
ants character: Besides, being . cleve,
girl, of course she knew that something un.
pleasant was coming II think you are
talking little over our heads" she an
sCersd but perhaps ySI can bring your
think he can, Lieutenant"
ssIf he can show me how bravery is any
different now from what 1t was hundred
c.sDt ago he ds pretty EsSs Es1s swys .s said
lawyer, amt You, Mr.. Marina" g...a-
10 Imeap,h Robert blurted out, ''thst
we leave rows and rumpuses and riots te
policemen and that sort Of people nova
days. We pay taxes for them to fight foI
us.. I don'tlay claim to the slightest dc
gree Of physical courage myself; neither
does any sensible man know Of. II was
foolish enough to get into fight hope
should be sensible enough to run away by
the time it got fairly started. People to
full Of valuable and perishable goods and
think him worse than fool to 60 out and
| get 1t stove In and smashed up in any way
and thus let its contents be lost to the
world. Now, what ! call true courage II
makes my clothes. He used to have . shoI
on Thirteenth street. This spring he looked
the thing over, took In all the points fol
and against his grand strategy. and put
every cent he had into the rent and stool
s'He chanced the savings Of lifetime
when he signed that lease, and was in hi
shop whom the lawyers clerk brought II
down, and saw his hand tremble when he
did sign it. That was true courage"
II Canadian bomb had come &C. .aminl
across from one Of the Nsrteilo towns il
| Kingston Bay, and pumped down on the
parapet ct Sackett's Harbor during guard
mount, Lieutenant Blankenburgh would
not have been more surprised. What he
thought, however, Of being classed with
policemen and subordinated In courage t0
tailors, We never knew. The last whistle
Of the boat for Cape Vincent blew at that
moment and, making hurried adieux ia
everybody but Robert, he rushed for the
stairway, and q moment later we saw him
leap across the space between the dock
and the steamer where tho gang-plsnk had
just been drawn In.
Ny niece Cicely rose when the Lieutenant
splendid shouldsrs thrown msjssticaiiy
back and the tail of her long white gown
sweeping the floor with an angry rustic like
| the train of an outraged queen. She
vouchsafed no more attention to Robert
than had the officer.
"You have done very nicely, young
man." / said in what pride myself on al
my most satirical tone, after the young
ssGon on the psssc tendencies y the age
and in doing 80 you insult an army officer
in the presence of lady, and descend
| pretty nearly to personal abuse in doing
so.r- Yes, you have acted with that philoso.
phic consistency which Is the most chaste
bit Of virtu in the mental furniture of q
gentleman Of the nineteenth century"
I thought that this was pretty good
BE- able to remember II.
~ don't care,n snarled my young friend.
~ wish he would take some notice of II In
the wsy he'd like to, and I'd show him how
far my principles agree with my practice.
Good heayens, man, is some Western cow.
iassosd and corraled ct West Point, going
| In Cou1a fntO the nOCi4tv Of 0entlemen and