Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-12-07

10 tdhc NY lag lIOul uoi Soho
now. can this be possiblei Let him
give the Prussians what is his Own-his
silver plate and his gilded coaches-but
this is mine. 1t is my honor. l forbid
any oae TO touch il. "
His sentences were broken mp by
his hurried pace and his stammering
tongue; but, after all, the old fellow
had a plan. a clear and fixed purpose to
tako his flag, to carry it into the midst
of the regiment. and with any who
would follow him TO failupunflis Prus-
slams and destroy them utterly - When
he reached the colonel's house. be was
not even allowed to enter. The colonel
too, was furious and would admit no
one. but Hornus did not understand
this. He wept, no swore, he tried to
push past the orderly.
MY hagi l want my flag" he
shouted.
Finally a window was thrown open.
"It is you, Hornusf"
"Yes, colonel--I'-
"All the flags are at the arsenal.
You have only to go there for a re-
ceipt."
"A RECEPTION what?"
''It is the marshal's order"
"But, colonel"--
"Gi-m-peace!' and down went
the window.
Old Hornus staggered like drunken
man.
"A receipt. A receipt, he repeated
mechanically. Finally he went off
with but one clear idea in hi1 head
that his flag was at the arsenal. and
that, come what would, he must see it
again.
The arsenal gates were opened wide
for the passage of the Prussian wagons
which were ranged in the yard. A chill
passed over Hornus as he entered. All
the other ensigns were there and so OF
60 officers, silent and heartbroken.
With the somber wagons standing in
the rain and the groups of men with
ba-ed heads, it was like a funeral. All
the flags of Bazaine's army were lying
in heap on one corner of the muddy
pavement. Nothing could be saddel
than those strips of bright hued silk,
that debris of golden fringe and carved
sticks, all that glorious paraphernalia
thrown ON the ground, soiled with mud
and rain.
An officer picked them up, one by
one, and as his regiment was called
each ensign went forward to get re-
ceipt. Hard and unsympathetic, two
Prussian officers watched the registra
ton.
And you are going away thus!-O
sacred, glorious tatters-displayine
your rents, trailing sadly over the pave
ment, like birds with broken wings
You are going away with the shame Of
beautiful things soiled, and each of yor
will carry away a little of France. Ii
your worn folds the sunshine of the
long marches still fingers. In youl
bullet holes you preserve the memory
of the unknown dead, fallen perchanct
beneath the banner, struck"--
"Hornus, you-they are calling you
Go get your receipt.
There was the flag before him. Il
was really his, the most beautiful, the
most mutilated of them all, and seeing
it once more he seemed to be standing
again on the railroad bank. He heart
the balls sing, the shells burst and the
colonel's voice, ITO the flag, boysl"
His 20 comrades lay there on tht
ground, and he, the twenty third, wa
springing forward in his turn to seize it
to lit the poor flag, tottering for want O
a sustaining arm. All! he swore tina
day to defend it. to guard it till death
And now-the thought of all this sen
every drop of blood in his body to nil
head. Maddened, desperate, he sprans
upon the Prussian officer, tore from hi
grasp his beloved ensign and tried tt
lift it very high, very upright, crying
ITO the H. but his voice died in hi
throat. The staff trembled and slipped
from his fingers. In that weary air
that deadly air That weighed so heavily
ON the surrendered town, no flag coul(
wave, no pride could live, and old Hor
nus fell, crushed. d.-Alphonse Daudet.