The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1892-06-07
COPYRIGHTED by The Constitution.


1t was 4 very painful business. I don't
think that any of us have forgotten it or
are ut all likely to. The morality Of the
Thlfd CarabnierS was as loose as their
discipline was tight, and if II man rode
straight and was keen on soldering he
might work OUT his private record to his
own mind. But still there is a limit to
what even such q thorough going Old
sportsman as the colonel would stand,
and that limit was passed on the instant
thai there was a breath of suspicion about
fair play at the card table.
Take the mess through, they had ridden
through the dccaloglIe rs Gaiiy as through
Ara bis guns at Kassassin. Professionally
they had made FREQ with other mems
lives. But the UnWIitten laws of honor
+ lay uabroken amid the shattered COM
m2ndnents They were short and sharp,
ara woe to the man who transgreSscd
then. Sporting debts must be paid. There
was no such thing lis q White feather.
Above all, n man must play fair. 1t was
q simple code Of ethics. but it commanded
an absolute obedience which might have
been refused to {: more elaborate system.
II there was one man In the mess who
cou,d be held up by the youngsters as the
embodiment of honor 1t was Major En-
rin@t0n. He was older than tho chief,
and having eerYed twice as a volunteer
war correspondent and once rs q military
atltche, he had been shot over by BCr-
dams and Mannlicher repeatcrs, which
seemed to us q much more Saudy thing
than ,jCZails or even Egyptian Rcming
tons. We had III done Egypt and we had
ali done the SOudan, but when he would
begiA his modest little after-meSs anec-
dot2 with Il remember when Gourko
crossed the Balkans or II was riding
beside the red princes staff just two
days before Grayeiotte, we would feel
quite ashamed of our poor Puzzles" and
"Pathans," and yearn 10 replace the for
eign Office by a committee of Subaiterns
OF The CarabinierS, all pledged to q spirit
ell money.
1aen our m9'oF was so humble and
geptie W tn it ali. that was his only fault
as ,9l3sr. He cf2ld 1ight-none better
4 ~ say i;,aaa ,sC2rn. No matter how
R&s>1H25 M uet,.Te' ~,., ailp ''eIa'.tter Wbo
how absolutely be might purse up his re;to-
uveS into froWn, there was still some
thing so very human always cleaning
from his eyes, that the most drunken
deserter could not but feel that this. In
stead of being q commanding officer, was
merely a man and a brother. Though far
the richest man in the regiment, for he
had ample private means, he lived always
IN the simplest fashion Some even set
him down as parsimonious, and blamed
him for It. But most OF
us saw IN 1t only anotll-
er example Of the majors delicacy which
made him fear to make others feel poor
by showing himself rich. 1t was no Won
der that he was popular We subalterns
worshiped him, and it was to him that
we bought all those tiffS and chickering's
aud MISUNDERSTANDING which need lit
tie gentle wisdom to set them Alright,
He would sit patiently, with his cheroot
rocking from the corner Of his mouth and
his eyes fixed upon the ceiling, listening
to our details, and then would come tie
quick, Il think you ought to withdraw
the expression, Jones' u, Under the
circumstances you We're quite justified,
Hail. which settled the matter forever.
If we had been told that tho chief had
had burgled tho regimental plate or thst
the chaplain had invited the saculalfSt
sergeant major TO tea, we should have
been less astonished than at the ru1nor
that Major Burlington had been guilty or
ANYTHING which was diShOnOraDle.
1t came about in this way: The chief
was u born plunger. Horses cards, dice
they Were all the sane to him llo would
bet Oh, or he would bet against, give the
odds OF take them, but bet he would. IT
was all very we'll as long as he stuck 90
shilling points and half crown rubS at
whist, or made his little book upon the
regimental cup; but when he took TO
American railway script, and lald out
all his savings on per cent bonds Whlch
were selling at siXty-tWo, he started d
game where the odds are al on the bank
h. -in7n
street. 1t was no use telling the old man
that Monte Carlo was Il sound falInly
investment in comparison. He held on
criuly until the inevitable came round.
The line was squelched by big capital
list. who wished to buy it, and our chlcT
was left on the very edge of bankrupt S
court uncertain from week to week now
long It might be before he would need to
send III his papers. He said nothing, LOT
he was proud rs LucifcT; but he looked
hlpary about the eyes in the morning. ana
his tlnic did not fit him quite as uGht
as it used to. OF course, we were very
sorry for the poor old chief, but we We're
sorl'ier still for his daughter, Flolet- !"
were all in love with Violet LoYell, anu
hcr grief was a blight to the regiment.
She wasn't such q pretty girl, either, but
She was fresh and bright and spughtly
GOOD, and sympathetic, that she was just
the type of womanhood for all Of us.
sine was one of those girls about whom,
when once you come to know them, You
mover think whether they are pretty or
not. You only know that it pleasant 10
be near them, to see their happy faces
to hear their voices, and to have life made
sweeter and more beautiful by their pres
encc. That was how we all felt towards
Ni0let-from the old major to the newly
Joined s,1baltcrn. with a brand new razor
case upon his dressing table. So when
that bright face clouded over as the
shadow of her fathers troubles fell upon
il. we clouded over also, and the mess OF
the GARDENERS sank into state from
which even the caterers Deutz and
Guedelman of 81 was unable tC
redeem it.
The major was the most stricken of all
I think that he took the whole matter tt
heart even more than the colonel did
although it had been against his strenu