Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-02-20

ments-the men who had served ten | years of their time-and there they should breed us white soldiers, and per haps second fighting line of Eurasians. At all events Kashmir was the only place in India that the Englishman could colonize, and if we had foothold | there we could.
 Oh, 1t was beautiful dream! left that territorial army, swelled to a quar- | ter of a million men, far behind and swept on as far as an independent India, | hiring warships from the mother coun- try, guarding Alden on the one side and Singapore on the other, paying interest on her loans with beautiful regularity, but borrowing no men from beyond her own borders-a colonized manu- featuring India, with permanent sur plus and her own flag. had just in- stalled myself as viceroy, and by virtue of my office had shipped four million sturdy, thrifty natives to the Malayan archipelago, where labor is always wanted and the Chinese pour in too | quickly, when became aware that things were not going smoothly with the half company. There was great deal too much shuh1ing and shifting and ''as you wereing." The non-com- missioned officers were snapping at the men, and fancied Ouless backed one of his orders with an oath. He was in no position to do this, because he was a junior who had not yet learned to 1 pitch his word of command in the same key twice running. Sometimes he | grunted, and a clear, full voice with a ring in it has more to do with drill than people think. He was nervous, l lA S,o he was unproven, and knew it. One of his majors had said in his hearing: ''Ouless has a skin or two to slough yet, and he hasn't the sense to be aware of it." That remark had stayed in Ouless' mind and caused him to think about himself in little things, which is not the best training for young man. He tried to be cordial at mess and became overeffusive. Then he tried to stand on his dignity an0 appeared sullky and boorish. He was, only hunting for the just medium and the proper note and had found neither, because he had never faced himself in a blg thing With his men he was as ill at ease as he was with his mess, and his voice betrayed him. heard two orders, and then: Sergeant, what is that rear-rank man doing, d-n him?" That was sufficiently bad. A company officer ought not to ask sergeants for information. He commands, and com mands are not held by syndicates.
 It was too dusty to see the drill &C., curately, but I could hear the excited little voice pitching from octave to octave and the uneasy ripple of badgered or bad-tempered files running down the ranks. Ouless had come on parade as sick of his duty as were the men of theirs. The hot sun had told on erybody's temper, but most of all on the youngest mans. He had evidently lost his self-control, and, not possessing the nerve or the knowledge to break off till he had recovered it again, was making bad worse by using lillian guage. That is to say, he was abusing | his command.
 The men shifted their ground and came close under the gun I was lying on. E'hey were wheeling quarter-right and A& ey did it very badly, in the nat uraf hope of hearing Ouless swear again. He could have taught them nothing new, but they enjoyed the ex- hibition. Instead of swearing Ouless lost his head completely and struck out nervously at the wheeling hank-man
 with little Malacca riding cane that he held in his hand for a pointer. The cane was topped with thin silver over lacquer and the silver had worn through in one place, leaving a triangular flap
 sticking up. had just time to see that Ouless had thrown away his commis- sion by striking soldier when 1 heard the rip of cloth and piece of gray shirt showed under the queens shoddy
 on the mans shoulder. It had been
 the merest nervous flick of an exasper- ated boy-but quite enough to forfeit hls commission, since it had been dealt in anger to a volunteer, and no pressed man who could not under the rules of the service reply. The result of it, thanks to the natural depravity of things, was as though Ouless had cut
 the mans coat off his back. Knowing the new draft by reputation, I was i, fairly certain that every one of them !, would swear with many oaths that l Ouless had actually thrashed the man. In that case Ouless would do well to pack his trunk. His career as a serv- ant of the queen in any capacity was ended. The wheel continued and the , men halted and dressed immediately ! opposite my resting place. Ouless' face I Was peF1ecL4y DLoooAcSS' Ano AdnAAuS mans was dark red, and I could see his lips moving in wicked words. He was Orther1s. After seven years serv-
 ice and three medals, he had been
 struck by a boy younger than himself.
 Further, he was my friend and a good
 man, proved man and an EnglishmanD
 The shame of the thing made me as | hot as it made Ouless cold, and if Or. theris had slipped in a cartridge and
 cleared the account at once I should
 have rejoiced. The fact that Ortheris
 of all men had been struck proved that
 the boy could not have known whom
 he was hitting; but he should have TO.
 membered that he was no longer boy.
 And then was sorry for him, and ther