The record-union., 1891-06-20
A MILITARY INCIDENT.

Yes! 1 will write it down at last For
years and years have kept to the resolve
that none should ever know the history
of an event which was the turning point
of my life, but to-day change has come
over me. To-day has been for me a
happy day; one of the happiest, indeed,
have ever known.
am an old fellow now and have served
my Queen for many long year. in many
distant land. 1t has pleased God to
bless my career, and to have enabled me
to do my duty to the satisfaction of my
superiors. / have met with far greater
rewards for my services than they merit,
and to-day has come my crowning tri-
umph. My gracious sovereign Whom
God ever bless and preserve) has this
day sent me, with a letter so kindly and
so sweet that it made my old eyes dim to
read it, the Grand Cross of the Rath--the
soldiers blue ribbon of fame!
AS sit in my quiet room it hangs over
my mantelpiece in the place of honor
over the little glass-protected case where
hang my other decorations, my five. war
medals and, most priced OF all, the bronze
Victoria cross / won at Delhi. 1t hangs,
sweet daughter Effie placed it this evening
amid the shouts of her curly-headed lit
tie ones.
Then how my darling addressed the
pretty mob about grandfather's new
honor! How her face, her figure, the tones
of her voice, reminded me of her dead
mother, my dear wife, whose absence was
the one thing which dimmed the happi-
ness of the day.
Could help that feeling of choking in
| the throat as l listened to my Effie's
words as, in tones which trembled now
and again with her love for her old SOL
dier father she told them Of the honor he
had won, and bade the two sturdy blue
eyed lads, who gaZed up at her with
parted lips as she spoke, follow his foot
steps and gain, like him, the love of all
round him, the admiration of his coun-
try and the appreciation of his Queen?
Much she said-far too much for my
humble deserts-but she spoke with the
partial feeling of loving daughter. She
told them once more the story they had
so often heard, of how the Victoria Cross
on the little shelf was won, and then, as
she hung the last glittering trophy on the
wall, she called on the little throng to
give three cheers for their dear old grand
| father; and the little childish trebles, as
they cried out in my honor, moved me
more than the cheers of the thousands
who were welcoming back the defenders
of Harounabad, and I could only clasp
my Effie to my heart as she cried with
her kindly emotion. And now the old
house IS quiet; the nursery banquet is
over and the little jewellers are in bed. I
sit alone in my room, and think, and
think. And more vividly than for many
years comes up in my mind the memory
Of that evening, now so long ago, when,
but for Gods m6rcy-for never will cali
| it or think it chance-I should not have
l,rr1yR
| old age, surrounded by loving children.
| Many time since then have looked
| death in the face, but it was honorable
! death. Numerous have been my perils
and hairbreadth my escapes, but never
was l nearer death, and shameful death,
| than that evening.
/ have said none has ever heard the
story, and none shall ever know it while
| am alive, but l shall seal this and place
it in my desk, so that it will not be read
until after my death. | could not bear to
! tell Etfie Oft, but | know she will forgive
me anything after am gone from her.
Here is my story; it may be that some
may learn lesson from it:
When l was lad | Joined as an ensign
| the nd Regiment of Foot. Ny father
| was not rich man, but was vet able to
give me an allowance which should have
! been ample for my needs. had happy
| home, my mother was one of the best Of
| women, though it may be she had been a
| little over-lnduIgent to me. / was lad
of a somewhat impetuous temperament.
| eXcitable and headstrong: l had never
| learned the value of Self-control and was
| too much given to self-indulgence Gifted
with strong imagination, there was a
romantic vein in my nature which led
me to find the keenest endowment in adj
venture. The youngsters of the regi-
ment were rather loose lot and were
| considered by the other corps in the
garrison as being decidedly FAST set
of men, but even among these I soon ac-
quired bad eminence," and, with one
exception, was looked upon as the worst
/ of the lot.
This exception, Claude Helmsdorf was
my most intimate friend. He was a Ger
man by blood, but his parents were nat
| uralized English people. There was that
| in Claude's disposition which endeared
him to me above all my companions. His
] tastes were the same, and he had the same
! half-sentimental, half-grotesque sort of
| philosophy which made me something of
an enigma to my other more matter-of-
| fact comrades.
| We were neither of us happy without
excitement. The dull monotony of gar
rison life at Gibraltar, where the regiment
was quartered, gave US scant openings,
but what we could do we did. Drinkino,
gambling and other kindred vices, so far
as means were available we indulged in
| without stint. Occasionally we used to
| go on short leave into Spain, where, in a
| somewhat less strict society, we could
plunge more deeply into our favorite
/ vices. we got into numerous scrapes, some
of them very serious ones. More than
once we nearly lost our lives in mad es-
| capadeS after women. On these occasions
each had found the other as true as steel.
and our mutual affection grew daily
| stronger and stronger. Pleasures such
as those which alone had any zest for US
| cannot be obtained for nothing, and after
| two years Of this life money troubles be-
| gan to harass us. Now and then lucky
/ coup at the gaming-table would keep
matters straight for short while, but the
| luck would soon turn, and again the
clamoring of creditors would assail us.
| No troubles wear down mans courage
and patience like money troubles, and
on my excitable and emotional nature
| the long strain began to tell / grew
morose and gloomy, and had fits of ter
| rible mental depression, which did not
| escape the notice of those about me.
knew it was whispered that Helmsdorf
and / were getting into serious difficult
ties, and this knowledge was gall and
| wormwood to me. At last | wrote, in
| desperation, to my father. l sent him a
penitent letter, stating that / was in
great straits for money, finally imploring
| help, limiting that my reputation and the
VI my yCOulIuISSlOu ueDGnU6u
a favorable answer. Once before, in a
less serious crisis of my affairs, I had
made an appeal which was successful, but
my father, while granting my request,
had written in terms which made me
feel far from hopeful when writing the
second time.
My forebodings proved true; enc dull,
dark afternoon Helmsdorf found me in
my room In the casemate barracks read
ing my fathers answer. It had come