Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1891-09-24
THOMPSON OF OURS.
How a "Harum Scarum Young
Devif' Acquitted Himself

Up there between Quctta ami an
dahar il gets very cold in January
nasty. biting. clustering cold that nips
the liver and shortens the temper. that
comes whlstling round your mud hut
with a northeast wind from Of the
SHOWS, and cracks the shriveled skin
Of you like old parchment
The colonel blew on his fingers,
howIei for fresh wood 10 be piled upon
the fire. and fell ~ the contemplation
of his thumb, which was frustbitten-
Before him upon the table lay the
loathsome sheets of foolscap known as
the s.AnnuaI Confidential Reports
Some of these were already filed in.
some blank a. yet Each was headed
by the name of an officer. and fringed
by the impertinent personal riddles
sent yearly for commandants 10 answer.
Now. even when forced I look from
the point Of view Of disapproval upon
any one Of his boys. this honorable,
kindly English gentleman held the sys-
tenn of confidential disparagement in
horror. But really this niorning.-what
with the cold and the maggots in the
rice which had put him off his break
fast. and tbs extraordinary delay in
the mail letters. he felt inclined to
damn every m~an-jaek Of them. himself
iAIuded With n roaring blizzard
searching your bones. and a suspicion
OF fever in your blood. and nothing de-
eent To eat. you don feel Ike certify
ing that every soul under your com
mand is remarkable for ali Qualities
that 20 to make saints upo1 earta-
Anyhow the colonel dd not feel ike
IL He began turuins over the sheets
with that sicklv. Aanguid feeling Of re-
vol. with vh<h mouotony in its I'M
$500, fs apt To inspire one
P.eaHe psars % p~seut Grind n.
after long, Hs.s skelet6~ -
ated the white. 1t was f 20
az ,fs-the same weary STR the
The snstrfvs s-~sh with fair words
.- where it ought to be
fNo" where il ought To b.
t. or were they indeed-all
ith-zealOsf2 in well doing ali
~. all tacsfnl. al o. eauabls
snperF Had they. every .se OF them
been endowed from their cradles with
unnatural sagaeity and aptitude for
command We're .hev. in short. rraaw.
made generals from the utomen th~x
entered the service? Alas. no, 'rhs
eoloneis eye wandered To his crippled
thumb again. and then back 10 the
sheets under his other hand. and pres
emily fell upon a certain name heading
one of them Whereupon he cured
h authorities in his heart for a paas
Of fools and sighed. IL was Thompson
Lieut. William Thompson-knowr
by the name Of Billy
The colonel took il in his hand ane
sighed again. There was not one. OF
hardly one. of those cut and driet
questions that could be answered
gracefully. yet eonscientiously. as re.
garued this young man Il could de,
scribe him in three words" groaned
he colonel '-harum-scarum young
devil
Then. for he liked the lad, he began
To wonder how on earth he was to Ill
up that report He was a keen soldier
himself, and. IL the truth be told. has
a p~artiality for the type 50 pithily de.
seribed in those three words lie would
rather have such with him in the field
than ONT others for whom. perchanee.
more would be said on paper. OF such
he knew was the kingdom Of heroes
The ghosts of many haunting trag-
edAes came crowding into the old sol.
dier's mind as he sat lingering that in
fernal paper Did any of these harsh
moral photographs Of them. with
~Yes's" and Nos in the most un,
becoming places. lie rotting still per
haps in the adjutant generals Offices?
Tie go. up shivering kicked the
logs into a blaze. then returned with
stern determination To the study of the
vexing questions in hard. What would
he say for Billy Thompson2 The lad
had the temper of a game buIl-terrier.
the tact and judgment of a Newfound.
land puppy, and about as much ability
and requirement as the average Eng.
lsh schOOlboy. The thought that
Bully Thompson as ornznented with
the complete list of confidential re-
port virtues was nothing less than
grotesque-
He glanced down thu list Why. that
very morning he had spent i bad hal.
hcar n -igging the youngster for
shortcomings - almost every ten