New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1896-09-23


ton to the captain, and he knew his
order was mistake. Nevertheless it
was his order and he would not reverse
| it. He hesitated an instant and then:
"You heard the order" he said.
"Obey it, s@.
They were standing on the main deck
| just outside the executive officers Of
fee. The executive was at his desk fin
fishing up the last of his work before
going ashore The window was open,
and he heard all that was said by the
captain and the sergeant. When he
heard the order repeated, the executive
looked out of the window. He saw
Pfeifer standing, white faced and deter
mined, facing the angry captain. The
| sergeant breathed in quick, short gasps,
| and as the executive watched he lifted
his hand again in salute and said:
"The moment my men and I are
ashore, sir, we are no longer under your
command. My superior officer then is
the commandment of the marine bar
racks If I go ashore, sir, cannot obey
your order to salute the flag, for my
duty then is to report at once to my
commanding Officer
The captains face went red and
white, and he lost his grip on his tenn
| per. His voice rose to an angry shout,
! and he exclaimed:
'Take your men ashore and salute
! the flag from the wharf -
Without word Pfeifer saluted,
wheeled On his heel and went away.
Presently the bugle summoned the ma
rines to fall in. Pfeifer was at their
head. Down the gangplank they march
ed, and on the wharf they formed up.
Fright face!' shouted the sergeant
His we'll drilled men wheeled as one
and stood facing the marine barracks.
forward, march, commanded
Pfeifer, and Off the marines of the war.
| ship swung to report to the comman-
dant of the barracks, leaving an amazed
and angry Jacky standing by the hal
yards, with no one to salute the flag as
he hauled it down.
The captain was furious. He had
been de6ed by sergeant of the marines,
and he meant to make Pfeifer smart for
it, but he did not know that the execu-
tive had seen and heard it ALL Pfeifer
did,
Pfeifer went to the marine barracks
and reported, but said never a word of
the captains order. His men were not
so silent, and the barracks hummed
with the story. The men knew there
would be reckoning, and they waited
impatiently for the result.
The captain went to the admiral and
told his story. The next morning Pfei-
fer was summoned before the admiral
There the captain confronted him. The
captain was still angry. He knew down
in the bottom of his heart that he had
made a mistake, but he hoped to be able
to force his complaint through by blus-
ter, perhaps, if he couldn't make it ap-
pear bad enough for Pfeifer by his mar
ration Of the sergeant's refusal to obey
his orders So he told his story, and lie
counted that his word would stand
against that of an enlisted man.
Then it was Pfeifer's turn. He gave
q simple, straightforward account of
what had occurred, and his honest face
and soldierly bearing lent it strength
When it was finished, he added:
and the executive officer was in his
Office, sir, and he heard all that was
said.''
''Orderly," said the admiral, task
the executive officer to come here -
The captains jaw fell, for he saw
that he was caught in a double trap
He had failed to observe the regula-
lions, and after that he had lied about
it, He waited uneasily until the execu-
tive officer came. The executives story
was as Pfeifer had told it. A scowl
came over the face of the admiral.
''You may 60, sergeant he said to
Pfeifer, and when the sergeant had sa-
luted and gone the admiral turned
upon the captain and exclaimed:
Captain Allenson, am ashamed Of
You, sir. You are the damnedest fool in
the United States navy. You are dis
grace to your uniform and the flag and
the service. lam amazed and chagrined
that you should require to be tanght
the regulations of your service by SER
geant of marines, and that man not a
@ASsSA ~ - q wi SOAAAl4 OA al q a O4S>
grace, sir, and am ashamed Of you. = -
sPfeifer walked back to his quarters
with his head erect and smile under
his long, tawny mustache, but in his
heart there was shade of regret, for
he liked the captain, who was gallant
sailor, after all, and besides, although
he had triumphed, it was through a
disobedience of orders. So the matter
never went any farther. ew y ork
Sun. 0
The First Sapphire.
There is an Indian legend that
Brahma, the creator, once committed a
Gin that he might know the torments
of remorse and thus be able to sympa-
thize with mortals. But the moment he
had committed il he began repeating
the mantras, or prayers Of purif cation,
and, in his grief, dropped on the earth
q tear, the hottest thas ever fell from an
eye, and from it was formed the first
sapphire.