The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1893-11-23
BULLET MARKS.

BULLET MARKS.
We were sitting round our tent one even
ing last year at Wimbledon we" be.
ing our major, the captain and sub of our
company, his covering sergeant, Cornoral
Williams and certain sapper-to wit, nv
self. We were drinking pale ale and smok.
ing as was every one else III the hundred
tents around us.
Here's my last bullseye," and the ser
geant produced from his cap pouch fiat.
tened bullet, turned inside out as neatly as
possible.
What's the cause of all that, l wonder,n -
sfid the corporal.
You sce,' said the captain-being an
engineer he was bound to know-"when
the point of the bullet strikes the target.
part of the lead is melted by the develop
ment Of heat caused by tho sudden arrest
OF the bullet $ motion and goes off in the
Splush; the rest Of the bullet is softened bv
the heat, and inasmuch as the parts must
stop in their order Of succession the edge
Of the cup Of the bullet is driven in level
with the base of the cup. Is that so. ma.
jorfn
YES, quite right; but, II you like, can
spin you yarn about these said bullets
thht may luSt last out these weeds"
We'll, lets have it,"
The 81 Dry was:
had a sort Of second cousin, Gerald Ash
ton who had beeI brought up with myself
and my sister, my father being his guardian.
We had all been like brothers aud sisters.
when one day he woke up to find he could
not live without nearer relationship to
her. He spoke to the old gentleman, and
there was IA little family fracas.
He had only hundred year, and my
father did not think that was enough.
though Gerald did There was no objec-
ton ut all in other respects. Let him earn
some more, and they would see--wait lit.
tie" You know the kind of thing an old
gentleman would say. Well, it was Of no
use He said he felt himself burden. There
was no scope for his energies, and he would
go-and 20 he did.
! urged upon him that he should get
something to do. lie had been well edu-
Gated, and clerkship or something of that
kind could he got for him if he still re
solved not to 20 on at the hospital.
No, he woud CO. There was only one
thing he did do woll-thnt was shoot-aud
he would carry his abilities to market
where they would he appreciated. And so
at the mature age of 2! he left us, his pro-
fesslon, his home and his prospects. lie
disappeared, and six months after we heard
he was with, say, the Fortieth dragons
In lndla. We wrote and offered to buy his
discharge, but he would have none of us. y
lie liked it very we'll; was already cor.
poral; expected the three stripes soon and
was Gentleman Jack" with his comrades.
Some six months after this was sent out
to India with company, and as my sister
was getting thin, and showing other signs
of the desirability of a sea voyage and of a
warm climate it was agreed that should
take her over. We reached Calcutta, and
In a few weeks settled down. There was
war going oil, and was placed In charge Of
one of the chief dcpots for small arms and
ammunition, besides having my regular
duties with the company. One day was
down at the store, when my sister arrived,
pale and breathless
Look, Charles, poor Geralds in dread
full trouble"
put her into an Office chair and took the
newspaper and read
~ esterday evening as an officer of the
Fortietb Dragon guards was returning to
camp, he was shot at from behind clump OF
bushes. The bullet struck him in the thigh
and lodged in the saddle. Although
wounded 50 severely he had sufficient pres
ence of mind to ride straight 10 the bushes,
and there found one OF his own men, cor.
poral of the troop, nicknamed "Gentlcman
jack by his comrades, whose rifle was
still smoking from the discharge. Fort,l.
nately at this moment the guard arrived.
and the man was at once arrested. A court
martial will, of course, be held at once,
and although the man has previously borne
good character and is reported to be re
specially connected it is to be hoped he
Will receive the proper reward for SO abom-
Unable en- crime"
"Oh, ! said, this is all nonsense. Ger
aids no murderer, or else he's very much
changed. l'll see what they say at head
quarters
DO, for Gods sake, go. If anything
happened to Gerald, should never forgive
myself, for II l had run away with him
when papa was so cruel he never would
have enlisted at all"
Don't talk nonsense, Meggie, but 20
home, and I'll come with tho telegraph
news
went to headquarters They gave me
permission to use the telegraph for a ques
tion or two. The report was not encourag
ing
1t was our Gerald-the officer had seen
the flash and heard the report, an eN
tremely loud report as il there had been
two charges Of powder in the carbiue.
The bullet was found in the saddle. and
one cartridge was missing from his 20
rounds. Court martial had declared him
guilty, and the generals confirmation OF
the sentence hud just arrived-5O lashes in
the camp square and four years imprison-
ment in the civil Jail, sentence to be car
ried out on the 18th. Everybody was
sorry, but quite convinced he had tried to
murder his superior officer. No one could
understand with what motive,
| did not know what to think. There
was more evidence forthcoming in a day or
two when we had the papers.
His statement in defense was that he had
Just been returning from guard when lie
remembered that he had forgotten to bring
ina book one Of the officers had asked him
to bring in from the town, some three miles
distant. Without stopping to think, he
walked off at once, got the book and was
within half a mile of the camp when he
fancied lie saw tiger. He got behind the
bushes to watch aud saw one making for
the distant camp.
Anxious to secure the prize, he incau.
tiously broke open one of his packages
and loaded to have shot at It. lie had
covered the beast and WAS firing at ths
tiger, when he heard another report stimuli.
taneously with that Of his own carbine. lie