The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1895-07-18
WHICH WAS THE BRAEEST
81 WILLIAM HENRY SHELTON.

The affairs of the small village ot
/ Round Hill had been administered
for almost generation by It's three
most illustriOus citizens.
-Four times a year the school child
ren came together on the steps OF the
church to see the Colonel, the Major
and the Captain ride solemnly out o.
town on their long-tailed horses, witt
| their pension vouchers buttoned Sc
curely under their medals over then
scars, and then the boys, fired by mil
itary ardOr, commonly ran III a body
| 10 the little red cannon house at the
end Of the village street, where they
j0stled and shouldered each other al
the kezhole and caught such glimpscs
az they could of the grim Old Union
gun in the shadowy interior. 1t was
ali that had been left of the Captains
battery, and everybody knew how the
Captain had stuck by that gun. After
the war was over the people at Wash
iugt0n had given him the gun for his
own. The Captain carried the key II
his pocket, and on holidays, if the boys
had been good, he unlocked the doors
and took them in 10 see his pet
Everybody knew that the Colonel
had lost his leg al Charlottesville
that the Majors eye had been shot out
at Cedar Mountain, and that the Cap
tain had worn an empty sleeve since
the battle Of Getty 5bur5.
The three had gone away n the
same company. Of which the Colonel
was plain, and they had como back
hOrs De combat, at various times dur
ing the progress Of the war. just a.
Providence and the disabling wound
had decreed
Mai. Peck, who had been the first
to return, had takon his fathers place
as landlord Of the village tavern,
which was q temperance house; hung
up his sword in the Office, and turned
his mysterious glass eye on the travel
ing public, which was a very small
public indeed.
Next in turn came Col Rose, on his
cratches, Just in time to limp into the
vacant postoflice, where under presi
dent after president, he had sorted the
letters, and nobody had dreamed 0i
turning him ont.
Capt Bissel, who had come last, had
been promptly made sexton Of the lit
tie Episcopal church, where the Col
onel read the sermon every Sunday
mCruing, and had been promoted at
once to the equally honorable duty OF
reading the prayer.
Three more gentle, simple minded
easy going citizens than the Colonel
the Major and the Captain wer7 not tc
be found in all the town They were
mOdestly conscious that they had only
done their duty, and the Major, who
was by nature tImid man, concealed
in his breast a profound secret, which
was known only to the Colonel.
Nothing, however, in the minds OF
the villagers, any more than IN the
minds Of three boys, could divest the
the three crippled soldiers Of the
smell Of powder and the din Of battle.
From the first they had been regard.
ed as heroes Of extraordinary courage
and like sensible men, they accepted
the honors and the offices which every
body said they had earned.
Soon after the Colonel came into
the postotfice he had beon elected by
an overwhelming majority to be super
| peryisOr OF the township and the major
came to be the perpetual Justice Of the
| peace, because the long ball room il
the tavern was the only suitable place
in which to hold court. Then, as the
two positions held by the captain were
without pay or Prerequisites Of any
Kind, the voice Of the villagers, as one
man, woman and child, demanded
that he should teach the village. anJ
a well disciplined school school it wa:
where no winter boy ever rose in hi>
might to try conclusions with the mas
| ter
! All these events followed each othe1
/ in the most natural way al Round Hill
and then came the liberal pensions, to
/ gpther with periodical allowances fO
q leg. arm and an eye, and the mono!
| flowed into the circulation OF the VII
/ llge and the three officers We're NOR,
! firmly in the saddle then ever, SO tina
when the captain rang the church bel
/ at 9 o'clock III the evening, 1t had al
| the military authority OF tattoo, an,
! the lights soon faded ont of the chamh
! er windows as IL the town had beer
aader martial Law. The people dream
/ el and snOred and slept as securely il
their beds as If the colonel had beer
sitting on his horse all night at one en-,
of the street and the major at the 9th
en- with captain standing at the trai
of his gun in the starlight down by tn
| cannon house. Round Hill was sucI
! military town that the people neye
hook hands. They stood at attention
and saluted each other Just As the cap
tain salUted the colonel When the
turned about. they always turned /
the right Ike the major, by puttini
/ the right foot behind the lefJ and com
ing around ON sAe heels.
The colonel. the major and the cap
tain hadit all their own way, and wer
/ loved and respected and obeyed unit
they grew old and died and were bul
lied in the side hill church yard. Th
colonel had the right of the line an,
the three were dressed on each othe
and faced to the front ready for tn
last roll call. and now that they weT
gone the people were prouder tha
ever Of their record, They had bee
such heroes. each in his own way. iha
no one could say which had been th