The herald., 1893-02-19
A BROKEN PAROLE.

"Yes," said my friend the general, "you
may boast of the forms and solemnities Of
your civil tribunals, of your oaths and afIi-
davits and rigid cross examinations, What
are they but retrenchments which prove
that perjury is an active foe2 Now in the
army it Is pride, not fear, that is the safe
guard. The word of an officer en- his honor
rs soldier apd gentleman is never
doubted"
''Yet an officer is HUMANE"
'There are men and men, sir. 1t is a
matter of education, which becomes an in
stinct. A soldiers word is sacrament,
and is SO recognized by the army regula-
tions"
"Oh, well, the Roman soldiers did some
times desert their standard, turn their backs
on the enemy and abandon their general.
Catiline and Antony lived us we'll as
Brutus and Scipio. Come now did you
never know an officer to break his word?
Hump The general looked serious and
even sad. Il do remember one case; but it
was excusable, sir, most excusable. Poor
young fellow, so handsome, SO gallantl
After all these years can see him as he sat
erect and manftIl on his horse, his face livid,
his lips bitten, the drops of agony stream
ing from his brow. He was tempted be-
yond mortal strength and he yielded-a
grievous fault, for which he woefully
atoned."
'Tell me about it, pray; not as it i'm
pressed you, but from the beginning"
From the egg to the apple, Ell? You
eee, we old soldiers are not forgetful of cur
Lstinity. Well, will, though the task is
a melancholy one. During one of the latter
years of the rebellion was stationed in d
southern Atlanticstat and had command
of the outpost. On either side of us was
river beyond these, dense morasses In
front, about seventeen miles distant, was
city, held by the enemy and filed with
military stores. And twenty-five miles
beyond was another hostile town. A rail
way ran between the rivers. and furnished
communication between these two places "
docs an outpost require any definite
forcea"
mo. That depends on the extent of the
country to be guarded. In this instance
my front covered five miles, and l had
brigade-two regiments of infantry, regi
ment of cavalry and four pieces of artil-
lery-a fine command. I also had few
men from the engineer corps, and one OF
these--at the peril of his life, too, for he
would have been shot If captured-had
drafted Typographical map of the sur
rounding country. From this planned an
expedition on the eneny's outpost
II detailed an officer of tried intrepiditp
Captain Brown, to make detour with
company to the right flank and rear I'll
night they marched through the swi
and impenetrable thicket, distance
over twenty-five miles, and yet kept
serve of strength and pluck for the ne
rows fighting. 1t was most gallantly
achieved. MeanwhileI set out two hours
before daybreak with 1900 men, marching
in three columns along the three practicable
roads. Everything tlanspired in accord
ance with my fondest anticipations. AS
soon as we engaged the enemy Captain
Brown seized the bridge in their rear and
advanced boldly, making d tremendous
noise"
"a la Chipese?"
"The Chinese are no fools with their ket-
tledrums, sir. Warfare is a royal game
in which fipesse often wins Captain Brown
left a portion of his scanty command in the
rear, which assumed the appearance Of
reserve to the bewildered foe They b
ieved that they were surrounded and
an overwhelming force and SO they yield
When the captain Joined me we found Il
we had bagged a southern brigadier
eral, with his staff, several pieces of al
y,
nous black stallion renowned from the
James to the gulf, at least hundred men,
besides an immense quantity of military
stores. We dismantled the bridge as well
as we could, and then we made off, and
quickly too"
"Why so?"
Because re-enforcements had been tele-
graphed for to that farther city on our ap
proach and were hurrying thither as fast as
steam could urge them. We had done toe
well to risk PyTrhic victory Well, be
fore we started Captain Brown brought til.
.brigadier general before me- fine appei
ing fellow, splendid with new regalia.
Pm sorfy for yon, general, said. otis
the fortunes of war;
g Rather malignant ones for me- he re
piled, with grim smile. | had just won
my star Still
"'We will make your comfort our pleas
ure,' protested. II you and your staff
no restraint He laid his hand on his
sword NO, nor continued Keep your
side arms and your horses
"T pledge you my word on my honor as
an officer and gentleman that ] will not
attempt to escape said the captive chief
tain, and so likewise repeated each one OF
his staff
"''Tis sufficient, gentlemen I replied.
we must now ride briskly to camp
eat this juncture Captain. Brown ad-
vanced with another prisoner, who had
been held by his reserve guard.
"'Good God Macrane,' exclaimed the
brigadier, did they take your My poor fell
low, how unfortunate, how terriblel
"'Yes, general. The Clergyman had just
finished bis prayer 1 had just kissed my
wife for the first time, said the young Off
Ger as he sat erect and soldierly, as have re.
tcalled him, hut the personification of de
}hpafr.
"EIis commander looked at me wistfull
u II JernpJeu, TO make 1nJer cesslon. tt
kisk kape grew stern. ''Tis the fortune
war,' be repeated bitterly. Give your
fo3e, Macrane'
1.-THE young officer placed his hand on
sword, but threateningly- He glanced abol.
him. There was no lane of escape Through
thb masses Of blue.
Z pledge my word on my honor as an
cllcsr and q gentleman, that will not at
tempt to escape he said, and as he spoke
his +. x .ss.tr, :, : ;..S.'N iii...