Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-10-03

three strides. do you Y. your men come on
doing here2 Fall out that flank, man. What
do you mean by-you, Ortheris, Of al men!
What the deuce do You mean2'
Beg y pardon, SIR" said Ortheria. II
scratched It against the guard gate running up
81. ,se a r. Ripped IL up. you mean. It's
at was little tear At nrst, sir. but in
Portin' arms it got stretched. sir, and / can't
look behind me: felt it givin', SIR"
HmI said Brander, Il should think You
did feel y give. I thought it was one Of the
Go on!"
He turned to go. ouless stepped after him,
very white, and said something in low voice.
Hey what? What! Ortheris"-tho voice
cropped. saw Ortheris salute, say something
Dismiss" said Brander curtly. The men
we're dismissed. II can't make this out. You
say'-he nodded at Ouless, who said some
tning again. Otheris stood still, the torn flap
OF his tunic falling nearly to his waist belt He
mad as Brapder said, q good pair of shoulders
Beg pardon. SIR" 1 heard him say, "but
l think Lieut. Ouless has been in the sun too
long. He don't quite remember things. sir.
come on p'rade with a bit Of a rip and it
spread, sir, through porting arms. as have
Brander looked from one face to the other,
and, suppose, drew his own conclusions, for
ne told Ortheris to 60 with the other men who
were Hooking back to barracks. Then he spoke
70 Ouiess and went away, leaving the boy in the
middle OF the parade ground, fumbling with
his sword kuot.
He looked up, saw me lying on the gun. and
came to me, biting the back Of his gloved fore
nnger, so completely thrown off his balance
tnat ne had notsense enough to keep his trouble
to himself.
II say, you saw that, I suppose2" He
1erked his head back to the square where the
auss ieit 6y the departing men was settling
II did," answered, for was not feeling po-
What the devil ought to do2" He bit his
1nger again. Il told Brsnder what had done.
I'm perfectly aware of that" said, "and
don't suppose Ortheris has forgotten it al
ready"
"Ye-es; but I'm dashed if know what 1
ought to do. Exchange into another company,
l suppose. can't ask the man to exchange, I
suppose. Hey?"
The suggestion showed the glimmerings Of
proper sense, but he should not have come to
me or any one else for help. 1t was his own
analr, and told him so. He seemed uncon-
vinced and began to talk of the possibilities of
being cashiered At this point the spirit
moved me on behalf of the unavenged Ortheris
to paint him beautiful word picture Of his in
significance in the scheme of creation. He had
papa and mamma 1000 miles away and per-
haps some friends. They would feel his dis
grace, but no one else would care one penny
he would be only Lieut.. Ouless Of the old
regiment, dismissed the queens service for
conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentle
man. Tho commander-in-chief who would
confirm the orders Of the court-martial
would not know who he was; his mess
would not speak Of him; he would return
TO Bombay, III he had money enough to 60 home
more alone than when he had come out
FINALLY rounded the sketch with precision
he was only one tiny dab Of red in the vast
gray field OF the Indian empire. He must
work this crisis out alone and no one could help
him, and no one cared (this was untrue, because
l cared immensely, he had spoken the truth to
Irander on the spot whether he pulled
through it or did not pull through II. At last
his face set and his figure stiffened.
Thanks, that's quite enough. don't want
to hear any more, he said in q dry, grating
voice, and went TO his own quarters.
Brander spoke to me afterward and asked me
some absurd questions as to whether had seen
Ouless cut the coat of Ortheris' back. l knew
well, but contrived to impress on Brander the
completeness. the wonderful completeness, Of
my dlsassociation from that drill l began to
tell him all about my dreams for the new terri
torial army In India, and he left me-
could not see Ortheris for some days. but
was told that when he returned to his fellows
he had told the story of the blow in vivid
language SAmuelsOn, the Jew. then asserted
that 1t was not good enough to live in q regi-
ment where you were drilled of your feet and
knocked about like a dog. The remark was q
perfectly innocent one and exactly Tailed with
Ortheris expressed opinions. Yet Ortheris had
called Samuelson an unmentionable lev had
accused him OF kicking women on the head in
London and bowling under the cat, had hustled
him, as bantam hustles a barn-door cock.
from one end OF the barrack room to the other
ana nnaliy had heaved every single article in
Samuelson's yalise and bedding roll into the
veranda and the outer dirt kicking Samuelson
every time that the bewildered creature STONED
to pick up anything. Ny informant could not
account for this inconsistency, Blu. il seemed
70 me that ortheris was working of his temper
Mulvaney had heard the story in hospital
FIRST his face clouded, then he spat and then
ne laughed suggested that he had better
return to active duty. but he saw it in another
light and told me that Ortheris was quite capa-
bic OF looking after himself and his own affairs
An II did come out" said Terence 'like as
not l would be catchin' young Ouless by the
him before the men. Whin Dinah came back l
would be under court-martial an all for the
sake av little bit av bhoy that'Il make an
officer yet. What's he goin' to do, sorr; do We
KNOW
'.Which?" said l.
"Ouless, av course. I've no fear for the man.
Begad tho it ut had come to me-but II could
not have SO come-rd ha' made him cut his
wisdom teeth on his sword hilt.'
Il don't think he knows himself what he
means to do" said.
II should not wonder" said Terence.
There's dale av thinkin' before Young man
whin he's done wrong an knows ut. an ia
studyln how to put ut right. Give the word
from us to our little man there, that if he had
ha' told on his superior Off Ger I'd ha' come
out on tut to Fort Amara to kick him into the
Fort Ditch, an that's q forty fut dropr'
Ortheris was not in good condition to talk to.
He wandered up and down with Learovd
brooding. 80 far as could see over his lost
honor, and using, as / could hear, incendiary
Learoyd would nod and spit and
smoke and nod again and must have been
great comfort to Ortheris-almost as great
comfort as Samuelson, whom Ortheris bullied
dissracefully. II the Jew opened his mouth in
the most casual remark Ortheris would plunge
down 1t with all arms and accouterments . while
the barrack room stared and wondered.
Ouless had retired into himself to mediate.
saw him now and again and he avoided me
because had witnessed his shame and spoken
my mind on it. He seemed dull and moody.
and found his half company anything but
pleasant to drill The men did their work and
gave him very little trouble, but iust when
they should have been feeling their feet and
showing that they felt them, by spring and
swing and snap, the elasticity died out and Il
was like drilling with war game blocks. There