The Irish standard., 1894-09-01

Il
his men to charge across an open field
and attack the Fenian force in the
woods-a brilliant but foolish move.
To the command the volunteers gal
lantly responded, but against stupidity
the gods are powerless. In the field
they were appalled, to hear the order
given to form square and receive cav
| airy. Even the schoolboys knew the
Fenians could have no cavalry.
Having formed their square, the Cam
! adams found themselves the helpless
targets of the Fenians in the woods.
If O'Neill's forces had shot with rea-
| sonable precision they must have cut
the volunteers to pieces. The volun-
teers were victorious if they had only
known it, but, in this hopeless square,
panic seized them, and it was every
man for himself, and at the same time
the Fenians were. also retreating as
fast as they could. This farce is known
as the battle of Ridgeway, and would
have been comical had it not been that
death hovered over it. The comedy
without the tragedy was enacted a day
or two before, at a bloodless skirmish
which took place near a hamlet called
Waterloo, which afray is dignifed IN
Canadian annals as the second battle of
: that name.
| When. Yates reached the tent he
found it empty and torn by bullets.
| The fortunes of war had smashed the
jug, and the fragments were strewn in
! front of the entrance, probably by
some disappointed man who had tried
to sample the contents and had found
| nothing. Yates was tired out. He
flung himself down on one of the de-
serted hunks, and was soon sleeping
almost as soundly as the man behind a
log not six feet away with his face
among the dead leaves.
When the Canadian forces retreated
Remark, who had watched the con-
test with all the helpless anxiety of a
non-co1nbatant. sharing the danger but
having no influence upon the result,
| followed them, making a wide detour
! so as to avoid the chance shots which
were still flying. He expected to come
up with the volunteers on the road but
was not successful. Through various
! miscalculations he did not succeed in
finding them until towards evening.
At first they told him that young How
/ ard was with the company and unhurt,
but further inquiry soon developed the
fact that he had not been seen since
the fight. He was not among those
who were killed OF wounded, and it
was nightfall before Remark realized
! that opposite his name on the roll
would be placed the ominous word
! missing" Remark remembered
! that the boy said he would visit his
home if he got leave, but no leave had
been asked for. At last Remark was
convinced that young Howard was
either badly wounded Or dead. The
possibility of his desertion the profess
sor did not consider for moment, al
though he admitted to himself that it
was hard to tell what panic of fear
| might come over boy who for the first
time in his life found bullets flying
about his ears.
With Il heavy heart, Remark turned
, back and made his way to the fatal
field. He found nothing on the Ca
madam side. Going over to the woods,
f; he came across several bodies lying
where they fell; but they were all
strangers. Even in the darkness he
would have had no difficulty in recog-
nizing the volunteer uniform which he
! knew SO we'll. He walked down to the
Howard homestead, hoping yet fearing:
to hear the boys voice.-the voice Of a
deserter. Everything was silent about
the house, although light shone
through an upper window and also
through one below. He paused at the
gate. not knowing what to do. It was
evident the boy was not here, yet how
to find the father or brother without
alarming Margaret or her mother
puzzled him. AS he. stood there, the
door opened, and he recognized Mrs.
Bartlett and Margaret standing in the
light. He moved away from the gate,
and heard the older woman say:
ooh, she will be all right in the
morning, now that she has fallen into
nice Sleep I wouldn't disturb her
tonight, if were you. 1t is nothing
but nervousness and fright at that hor-
rible firing. It's all over now, thank
God. Good night, Margaret"
The good woman came through the
gate and then ran with all the speed of
sixteen towards her own home. Mar
garet stood in the doorway, listening
to the retreating footsteps. She was
pale and anxious, but Remark thought
he had never seen anyone SO lovely,
and he was startled to find that he had
most unprofessor-like longing to take
her in his arms and comfort her, a feel
ing which had never assailed him in
the dim educational corridors of the
stately university building. Instead
of bringing her consolation, he feared
1t would be his fate to add to her
anxiety, and it was not until he saw
that she was about to close the door
that he found courage to speak.
margaret" he said.
The girl had never heard her name
pronounced in that tone before, and
the cadence of it went direct to her
heart, frightening her with an un-
known joy. She seemed unable to
move or respond, and stood there with
wide eyes and suspended breath, gaz-