The Van Buren press., 1893-07-29


and that was all anyone thought about
It. But It happened at that SPOT and Ut
that moment drum head cou' trmartial
was slit ing. A poor devil had somehow
impressed bis commanding officer with
the belief that he was coward. ldonot
remember, IL ever heard, the particu-
lars. At any rate, he was being tried
by drumhead court-martial IN this out
of-the-way- place on the charge Of COW.
ardice. OF course the the penalty, II
convicted. was death. A few minutes
had passed since the explosives ef the
artificial aerolite. IL had been forgot
ten. II ID had been made q natter ef
even passing remark. The general was
debating to his adjutant general Aids
md clerln were sll busy, when sudden,
" sn apperition appeared hefere them
II w.e Evidently . soldief. out bare
headed. his hair and face begrimed
withpoutlsr and ~ covered with thick
dust that. saturated with reekiug per
spiration. il ran into mud and gave
him the appearance OF wild Indian.
The hue Of his clothing had evidently
once been blue. but it was covered
with dirt and to all appearances fresh.
ly torn into sbreds His audacity in
appearing In such plight lscfore the
general and his staff without even ask.
ing permission was the first wonder.
hut when he did 20 with tho exclama.
tion: II am no coward, gcncral!" sur.
prise gave way 70 the indulgent i'm.
preston. "another poor fellow gone
daft, perhaps affected by the heat"
"Well, who said you were? What do
you want here? See to him, adjutant," !"
quickly spoke. the general and again
turned to his work. srer,.ssexsz -
.What Is the matter, siry Don't you
know better than to intrude yourself
this way ID the presence of the gen.
eral?" asked the aid. ''Speak up at
once, SIR"
Lam no aQwAsl, don't want to be
shot fur ! 60 ward" the poor fellow con-
tinued pleadingly. 'What am to dog"
Ne asked. wiping the trickling CRIME
and mud from his face and forehead
|-ssith tho sleeve of his
old wooden shirt Then, more compos-
edlys<h< related how'he was being tried
for eQWardice by cQnrt-martial .down
the kulch over there's, how = tremen.
douA mortar shsll huA drdpped, explod-
ing and interrupting the proceedings,
knocking him over. tearing his cloth
ing. mutilating his body to some extent,
and had left him half dead and half
buried;- how he bad come 70, and. look
| ing ubont, could - no one 6fsthc off,
Gers before whom he was ut the
time being tried for his life; and
so he had come to the general to ask
what he should do and to tell
him be was no coward. A hurried in.
vesti9ation proved the truth of the poor
fellows story. The shell had exploded
in close proxitnify to the court. but the
I. accused wns the only one who had suf.
sfered other inconvenience than des.
pcratc shock of the nerves. Every mem.
Der Of the court had cxcitedly taken
himself to . more secure place and be.
fore they had rscoversa-ta>eir compla-
centy sufficiently torenAnber that they
had left the ptisoner on the ground. the
latter had reported to the general by
whose order he was being tried. It was
a lucky fall for the soldier. The com.
mander thought he had shown more in-
trepidity than the officers who were try
ing hin.s lie ordered him to report to
the captasn of Ms company for duty.
The hour that, had it not been for the
interposition of the enemy, might have
marked his death as craven saw him
restored to the confidence of his COM
rades. A few days afterwards he gave
proof that this confidence had not been
misplaced. He fell with his face to the
foe, in the assault that followed the
famous mine explosion, q hero-Omaha
Bee.