The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1886-01-15

IJONNAs NAIaA N' A'N'EO
cred him under arrest, adding, In q
stern tone: Il know my friend, and
mean to master you" Thirsty never
answered n word, but walked quietly,
away toward the guard-room; still, l
fancy the captain would have lowered
his tone a bit, all the same II he had
seen the s~ergeant's face Redeemed with
anger, and how his terrible blue eyes
flashed as he turned away.
Meanwhile the emperor declared
war on Austria, and we were all
shipped of to Italy. Ipass over the
incidents Of the campaign n come
to the point at Once. The evening be
fore the battle Of Melegnano-where |
lost my arm, you knOw-Our battalion
was encamped in a small village, and
before we broke ranks the captain
made us a little speech-he was quite
right, was the captain-remindlng us
that we were in a friendly country,
and that for the honor OF the army
we should be on Our good behavior,
and he added that any one who caused
the slightest annoyance to any or the
inhabitants would be punished most
severely. While he was making this
speech, Thirsty, who was standing
near me, leaning unsteadily on his bay
onet-he had emptied a good many
glasses since the mOrning-shrugged
his shoulders; but fortunately the cap
tain did not notice him.
In the middle OF the night l was
49,, l-D,nl $50 r,,llnrlyv StnJ,nrr fpNnN
the heap OF straw l had been sleeping
on the corner Of a farm yard, and by
the light Of the moon | saw Thirsty
with a young girl in his arms, all torn
and ~disheveiled, and calling on the
Madonna and all the saints in heaven
to save her. He was trugglingfurious-
iy, like lion, with lot ofpeasants and
soldiers who were trying to rescue her
from him. Iran up to help, but Cap
tain Gentle got there before me.
With one glance-he had a very com
manding glance, had the little Corsi-
can-he drove back the sergeant cow
ed; then when he had spoken a few
r~eassuring words to the girl in Italian,
he came back and stood beforeth cul-
prit, and shaking his finger before the
others face.
"They ought to blow out the brains
of wretches like you," said he. GAS
soon as I can see thecolonel you shall
have your s~ergeant's stripes taken
from you; and it will be for good this
time. There will be a battle to-mor-
row; you had better try and get kill
ed"
We went back to bed again. But
the captain was right, and before the
break Of day we were awakened by a
cannonade. We flew to arms and
formed in a column, Thirsty taking
his place next to me. Thought i had
never seen his fierce blue eyes lookmo
terrible. The battalion began it's
march. We were to dislodge the
white coats, who had taken
up their position in the village of
Melegnano, which they had fortified
with cannon. Forward march, We
hadn't gone two miles when, bang! the
Austrian cannon burst upon us side
wise and knocked over fifteen of our
men. After that the officers, who
were only waiting for the order to
charge, made us lie down in the maize
fields like the sharpshooters. They
remained standing themselves, Of
course, and / can tell you our captain
stood up as straight as any of them.
We men, kneeling among the corn
stalks, kept up an incessant fire on
the Austrian battery, which was with
in range. Suddenly / felt some one
nudge my elbow. / turned around
and saw Thirsty loading his rifle and
looking at me with a sort of dare
devil smile lurking in the corners Of
his mouth.
"You see the captain?" said he,
Jerking his head toward that officer,
who was standing at q distance Of
about twenty feet from us.
Eyes; what of it?" | answered, look.
ing in the same direction.
What of it2 He al,eht net &c hay;
spoken to me as he did last night"
Then with.a rapid, we'll calculated
movement he leveled his piece and
fired. Isaw the captain, with a sud
den, convulsive spasm, throw back
| his head and beat the air with his
hands, then drop his sword, and fal
heavily backward to the ground.
"Murderer!v I cried, Selling the ser
| geant's arm.
But he sent me roiiingtwo or tire,
feet from him, with o blow in the chest
from the butt-end OF his rifle.
"Fooll How viii you prove ] kill
ed him?"
Isprang to my feet, furious; but al
the rest rose at the same time. Fol
there was our colonel, bareheaded, OF
his smoking horse, pointing with hi
sword to the Austrian battery, ant
shouting with all his might.
Forward, zouavesl Charge Will
the bayonetin
What could / do but charge with tn
rest? And it was q fine thing, too
that charge OF the Zouaves at Melee
nanol Have you ever seen a heav,
sea beating against a rock? Yes
Well. that is lust what it's like. On