The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1893-03-18
CAPTAIN CUOHING'S COURAGE.

Philip Cushing was in his way very
fine fellow; he was gentle in his manners
refined in his tastes and honest and
straightforward in his dealings. Before
however, he had been long in the army
he found himselfdisliked and despised by
his brother officers. The dislike was
probably chiefly due to the difference be-
/ tween their habits and his. His principal
pleasure of life lay in study and in intel
lectual society; theirs in rough and bois-
ferrous gaiety; and they resented what
they regarded as his atfectation of tastes
superior TO theirs. But the contempt that
they gradually acquired for him arose
from quite another cause. His behavior
on one or two occasions had raised that
worst of all suspicious in the case of a
military mantle suspicion of personal
cowardice. The suspicion was largely I'M
lust Probably i'll circumstances OF real
danger, III the trenches or on a battle
held, Philip Gushing would have shown a
! cooler courage than many OF his rough
companions. But he was of a high
strung, nervous temperament, that AT
( times made him display symptoms of
uneasiness which untriendIy observers
might easily mistake for fear.
I 10 oOOL d. ILlO COIN lDdI Ne WAS
timld became firmly established in the
reglmental mind, Philip Cushing's life
grew uncomfortable. He obtained an ex-
change 1nto another regiment, aud for a
time things went fairly well. Soon, how
ever, his old reputation followed, and
overlook him, and he once more found
himself the object of constant jeers and
| houtS IN his own meSS-room. He tried
| another exchange, only with the same re-
suit. Then, making his fathers death
and the necessity OF looking after the es-
| tate an excuse, he retired from the army
and took up his residence at the old fam
| lily mansion in an out of the way corner
| OF DoltShire.
His life at Gushing Hall soon became
nearly as unhappy as it had been in the
army. Philip Gushing had no taste what
ever for outdoor sports; shooting was 10
MN an abomination and hunting foolish
| ness. Unfortunately, however, these
| We're not merely the chief pleasures, but
the chief occupations of his neighbors in
DoItshIre, and they could not understand
now man who had the opportunity of
enjoying them could prefer to spend his
days and nights in the garden and libra
ry. They felt that there must be some
thing wrong, and, before two years We're
over military man who was visiting in
the nelghDorhood supplied them with the
key OF the supposed mystery. Philip
Gushing did not like field sports because
he feared the dangers incident to shoot
ing and hard riding. He was a recIuse
because he was coward. And the mil
itary man enlarged on the contemplate
reputation which Philip Cushing had pos
seSSed when he was in the army
Icing now independent OF other peoples
opinion, Philip Cushing would have paid
little attention to 1t but for one thing.
shortly after he came to reside in Dolt-
SHIRE he had fallen deeply in love with the
| only daughter of his nearest neighbor
Squire Huntley. Now, OF all the fox
hunters IN the country, Squire Huntley
and his son Jack were the most enthusi-
| astlc, and of all the cross-country riders
| they were the most reckless, ana to them
to dislike foX-hunting was unnatural, and
to fear It's dangers was unspeakably con-
temptible. So, though Alice Huntley
showed partlaIlty towards Philip CuSh-
ing, her father and brother looked upon
his suit with marked disfavor. ITO
Think" the Squire would say, in the pri-
vacy of his own tireside, ito thinl1-of my
daughter marrying a man who's afraid
to mount a horse! Would you disgrace
the family, Alice?' And though Alice
could not see the connection between fox
hunting and marriage, still, her father and
| brothers contempt for her lover acted
evllly on her own opinion of him.
What, perhaps, further induced the
Huntleys, father and son, to discourage
Captain Cushing's suit so strongly. was
the fact that Alice had another, and,
from their point OF view, more eligible
admirer, This was DIR. Grinley, the Su-
| perintendent of the great County ASYLUM.
which was situated in the neighborhood.
DR.. Grinley's post was very valuable
| one, and, besides, he was known to have
a large private fortune. He had some
years before married an elderly lady of
great wealth, and on her death she had
| bequeathed everything to him. AS far
as means went he had the ADVANTAGE of
Captain Gushing, whose estate was small
| and encountered, but in other respects
those respects which appeal more to the
| lady than her papa-Captain Cushing
had at least one equal advantage over
him. He was As, Captain Cushing IS; he
was plain, Captain Cushing was good
! looking; he was bald; Captain CUSHING
wasn't. So, whilst it is not strange that
the Squire and. Jack favored DR.. Grin
ley, it is not to be wondered at that Alice
favored Philip.
It.so happened that DR.. Grinlev's as
Sistant at the asylum was Philip Cush-
ing's best friend in Doltshire, or, perhaps.
III the world. DR.. Madden was a hand
some young lrishman. OF refined manners
and cultivated mind. Alone, of all the
| people in the neighborhood, he did not de-
spise Captain Cushing for his supposed
|
tlmldlty. OF dauntleSS COURAGE himself
! he did not feel it necessary to attract
attention to this possession by sneerino
at those who were believed to lack it,
lie regarded the quality from a purely
| scientific standpoint, and its existence or
non-existence in any given person was,
in his mind, merely a result of certain
| physical peculiaritieS, and man was no
more to be blamed for having bad nerves
than for having a bad digestion. His
view on this point tended to create a
kindness towards him in Philip Cush-
! ing's mind, and this kindness was turned
! into warm friendship by DR.. Madden
many endearing qualities, and by the
! similarity OF tastes which marked him
! and Philip. Many an evening Philip,
| Inundated by some rebuff from Alice or
sneer from her father, had made his way
| to DR.. Madden's house in the asylum
| grounds, and there, in long talk about
men and books, had forgotten his woes
and returned late in the night to Cushing
Hall, thanking fortune for providing him
| with at least one such nelghbor.
! One evening Captain Cushing walked
over TO the asylum TO have one of his long
chats with DIR. Madden. He was in
rather depressed spirits, as that day Alice
| had been exceptionally cold with him.
| She had even done what she had never
ventured to do before-hinted at his lack
OF courage. Captain Cushing was morti-
fed to degree, and angrier than he
cared to show at what he felt to be an
unjust reflection upon him.
! When he was shown into DIR. Madden's
sitting-room, to his annoyance he found
that his friend was not alone. Two Wis
itors was there, and they were just those
whom of all the world he wished least
to meet that night-his rival, DIR. Grinley,
and Alice's brother, Jack Huntley. They
and DIR. Madden were drinking whisky
that was a weakness of DR.. Madden's-
while DR.. Madden tried to teach them
how to play that charming national game
| nRaUoar u