The herald., 1893-11-29
OLD HORNUS.

A single French regiment, on an I'M
Stcltared railroad bank, stood like tar
get for the Prussian army, massed in
tho woods some so yards away. AS
tho bullets fell thick about them, the
French officers ordered their men to lie
Gown, but not one would obey. All
remained proudly standing about their
Gag.
O.. In that broad e1spanse Of green pas
lures and waving colnfelds illumined
\ by tho setting sun, that body of tor
I mcatcd mon, c-lveloped III a cloud of
smoke, looked like flock surprised in
the open fields by the first gust of
Terrible telnpest. 1t did indeed rain
| lead On that hillsidei Nothing could
bo heard lut tho cracking discharge
'of muslgctry, the heavy rumDling of
shells end the ccasclcss vibration of
balls all over tho battlefield.
Again and again the flag fell, but
every tilnc clear, bold voice rang out
above the din of tho muskotry, the
oaths of tho wounded, the death rattle
of the dying ITO tho flag, boysl To
n the flag!'
And instantly like vague shadow
in that fiery fog, an officer would spring
forward, and tho dauntless ensign, as
if restored to life. would look down
again upon tho bartle.
Twenty-Five times it fell Twenty
two times its staff, still warm as it slip
ped from dying hand was caught and
raised again, and when at sunset the
remnant Of the regiment, little hand
iul Of men, slowly retreated the flag
was but tatta1ed rag in the hands of
Sergeant EoTnus, the twenty-third en-
sign OF tho dsy
This Sergeant Hcrnus, an old fellow
\ who could eeareely sign his name, had
{ been 30 years in gaining the rank of
a norcommia5iorad officer. The mis-
telics Of the foundlng and the brutality
of tho barracks had lcft their impress
| lin his low, cfstlg .4irJw, his back bent
| lby Tie lrapsac.. ard that unscrupu-
lous air Of the trooper III the ranks. He
3stammercd lltge, TOO, bat eloquence
Is not essential i IN onign. That
samo evening of ~ latte his colonel
said to him, "4,u h2vo the flag, my
6NAitNiAO iNiANNf ~ Ae'
And on his ahsi ;rgpy coat, worn
and faded hy ri,in ana powder, the suit
Ter placed at o,.cc rs golden badge of
1.-THE ensign. This was The one glory of
! his life. From this time the old troop
er held up his head. The poor soul,
who heretofore had walked with bent
back and downcast glance, henceforth
stood proudly orect, with eyes ever
shifted to watch that scrap of cloth fiut
toring in the breeze, and to hold 1t very
high, very upright above death, de-
feat and trcachery.
Never was there a man so happy as
Hornus when he stood on the battle
field his hands clasped about his flag
staff in its leathern sheath. Silent,
motionless, grave as a priest, one would
, have said that he was holding some
thing sacred. His whole life, his whole
= being, centered in the fingers gripped
about the beautiful golden rag upon
which tho balls seemed to hurl them
= selves, and his defiant eyes looked the
Prussians straight in the face as if to
say" Just try now to take it from mel"
No one did try-not even death. After
those deadly battles of Borny and
+, Gravelotte tho flag left the field cut to
pieces, literally riddlcd with bullet
holes, but it was still old Hornus who
bore IT, Then came September, the
army at Metz, the siege, and that long
:, encampmcnt in tho mud till the cannon
rusted, and the finest troops in the
world, demoralizod by inaction, by
4 lack of provisions and of news, died in
the trenches of fever and despair and
deadly weariness. Leaders and men
y alike lost confidence. Hornus alone still
had faith. His tricolor rag was all the
world to him, and as long as he kept
, that it seemed to him that nothing was
lost.
~ Unfortunately, as there was no more
fighting, the colonel kept the flag at his
quarters in one of the suburbs of Metz,
. and honest Hornus was very like a
mother whose child is out at nurse.
He thought Of it continually, and when
= his longing for it became uncomfortable
he would rush of to the colonel s house,
!. where the mere sight of his flag, rest
ing TRANQUILITY in its place against the
wall. would send him back with cour-.
!, age renewed, to dream under his soak
! ing tetrt of marches, of battles, of the
flag floating gayly down there ON the
y Prursian trenches.
An order Of Marshal Bazaine destroy
cd these illusions. One morning Hor-
: nus awoko to find the camp in an up
aroar. the soldiers in excited groups
shouting and talking angrily and ges-
ticulating toward one part of the town.
"Otf with hint Shoot him!" they
cried, and the officers, walking apart
with heads bowed in shame before the
amen, lot them talk on unheeded.
) 1t was indeed shameful To 150, 900
well armed. ablebodied men had Just
been read an craef ,suzrendering them
= to the enemy withoJst.ss FLOW
"AndShe fsss' ociaHzsfaas1 H0Enus.
"The 'Aagswere stsM;snasEE-s WITH the
Y rest-tlle guns, u~e rcr1sSns OF the
wagon tral1ss---svoryt thing
!. .sTh-th -tArad ~ astarrn.ered the poor
fellow, .'ttey .ats,.----.,'t,kse -1ire. %
And he set off onlt;se run toward that
aide sef the es@n. SEaere, too all was