St. Landry democrat., 1886-04-17

TOOL ike that pretending to dictate tc
officers old enough to be his father..:'
Captain Harcourt' friend, concurrcG
win nm, and The story of Tregarthcn'
presumption spread rap div throughout
the regiment. Next day he was treated
with evil ent GOODNESS, and some of his
brother officers who had hitherto been
on friendly terms with him took pains
TO AVOID hin. He was not unpopular,
to begin with, but it was the general
sense OF the corps that the sort of inso-
lence he had shown deserved rebuke.
tie must be made to see at once that
this wa, not the tone to take.
lhat evening there came Il time when
the conversation at the head of the
table was animated and loud. The
youngsters at the lower end smoked
! and listened, and got little good by
listening 1t was nothing less than the
reputation of a lady which SO excited
the seniors. One man held ont against
the rest, and avowcd his belief that the
lady was chaste as ice and pure as
snow The Others naturally laughed
at him. for the woman he defended was
an actress; and in those days-it may
De better noW-an actress was any
body,s fair game at mess table
wait Bit said Colonel, with
his wicked, bronchial old chuckle. .In
tell You story PROPOSE
Everybody listened, and the Colonel
told his story. 1t redounded infinitely
to his own credit as a man of galiantry,
and Infinitely to the discredit of the
lady whose personal charms he sang
and whose character he stole.
Now, who do you think that wasp
asked the Colonel. Nobody answered,
and the fat old roue relit his cigar and
gazed about him with look of twin
king triumph. "None other,' he said,
after pause Ethan our chaste young
friend. Miss Churchill. What do you
say to that?'
1t happened at this moment that the
Colonel S twinkling eyes looked full into
the eyes of Tregarthen, who was bend
ing forward a little at the bottom
OF the table and watching his command
ing officer with an expression of sat
uenme disdain. The blacl-browed Cor
net half rose in his place.
Il beg Your pardon, SIR he said,
slowly and distinctly. You seemed to
address your question to me- If you
press me for an answer | must give YOU
onen
1t was generally felt that the hour
had come, and the assembled gentle
men braced themselves to support
authority. If the Colonel had under
stood the situation he would probably |
have snubbed the querist, by leaving
him unseen and unanswered. But, |
being taken by surprise, he raped out:
We'll, sir?' and stared at the Intruder,
with look, half surprise, half anger
Il am to answer your question, sir?'
said Tregarthen. Il think, then, sir,
that no gentleman could have told such
A story, and that no assemblage of gen.
tlemen could hear it without marking
heir sense of its cowardice, its brutal
ty. and its general offensiveness
The Colonel bounced to his feet and
'enc dozen wine glasses flying. Major,
Adjutant, Captains Lieutenants and
Comets all leaped up wildly. Tregar-
hen resumed his seat and was calm
am;d this tempest of his own raising.
''Retire to your quarters, sir!''
tormed the Colonel. Consider YOUR
elf under arrest. sir!'' He stood puff
ng and snorting for moment while
he offender arose. saluted and left the
ness room. "Resume your seats, gen.
lemen," he said then, and all sat down,
q awkward silence.
A general sense of relief was felt five
minutes later, when, after muttered
rord or two to his neighbors at right
nd left, the Colonel arose and with
rev, followed by Major Eykin and
captain Harcourt. Clamor ersued, and
othing was talked of but the awful and
nheard of incident of the evening
Tregarthen in the meantime walked
} his quarters and returned the salutes
ffered him by barrack loungers and
entries ON the way. 1t was summer
me, and the twilight fingered softly.
n odor of mignonette stole pleasantly .
trough the open easement of. his cham
er, and he seated himself on couch ,
ear the window and locked at the
arkening zenith as he smoked. If he !,
ere not altogether as placid as he l
emed-and he made it point of
onor to be outwardly tranquil even in !, .
IS own sole company-he was less dis !
lrbed than might have been predicted =,
man SO young after his share in
lch scene.
The mans q blackguard, he said. :.
lietly. perhaps l was an ass to tell :
m so-and yet don't know That !;
TT of thing ought not to be allowed to h
, on among gentlemen, and, if it does, +
is clearly some ones duty to put 4
OF upon it, j
He threw away the stump of his i,
gar, lit new one, and stretched 7
mself along the couch. In tina. posi- 3
N he smoked until he could see moth h
/. / L p