The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1896-05-22

Though we may thank him for the plow:
Wen not forget the sw "o9E'ab, fies sisckax:
A COWARD AND ( HERO,
1t was the, 10Th Of December; before t fore
Son-Tay: For two days Ne had spiasbed
in the mire Of the, rice fields, the Water
up to our knees, 1 Knew well I'VE should
get used to it. but it, was Worrying, all
the same. Neyertheless,,, we tilare hed
steadily on. rs regular and attentive DIS
if we We're on drill. 80, . ~, -. T.,
l tell you this is true. am I'LL old
trump; l have been nine years in the
service, and six with. the; rank Of ser
geant, and the number of young, soldiers
l have trained und tonlliiandpa fright
about face Is inc;ilculable, but hever
have seen men march like these Shout
der to shoulder, as exact az If dfa VII. by
a line; and that. tell you, in two feet
of mud. Sapristi! but it was superb.
l was jubilant. and yet q littla. yexed,
step when they chose: Al, well, / hsd
Well, not bit too soon; Thought; and
/ filed my pipe and 1fSokta at5apd pl Is sgt
where we were. Rice fields to the right,
to the left, and behind us thick slush
made by our tramping feet. A little cor
poral, who has, a tongue yell hung--in-
deed, too well htinE - ! oit to tl!ti
rand. no need t6 Light YOUR pipe: Wait d
while: they will Erht il FIR xhii''
The jackanapts! As if i didn't know
we would soon be Under THE, fife of. the
enemy! Suddenly htuF1 thsiii tallitis
the roll of lily c6niijanx; and saw My
brave fellows break ranks and trUt like
rabbits across the Flee fields to infect the
baggage master; who was RETURNING with
a great package under his arm. -:
good TIME to distribute Hfs ieetttts: Fht e
they were running like SO niaiiy iiiadiiien.
| was the only one 10 reniain Tranquil
1t is true; | have no one, to write to
me, no family, iio friends; iiobqds-
a. alone lin IN the world like an old Bear
At last I see my ineh fetHrn to their
places, holding up their: hands t6 keep the
b st5ef car fs9m benz s9 Skv &$tt ing TS
the last y1oras ard &stip9n Mt 81 Ehsif dy
ing mothers. Al: Jacah& has i letter.! .
.News from home, Jacade?'' ~ "a,
Jacque is the sergeant of my, COM
pany. l ain chief of the first section, he
of the second. a handsome voting fell
low, with bright, boyish face, a beard
less chin, and cheeks as smooth as a
Neverthelesss / hold. Il little sra,idgse
these brats Of = iiroElnGtetd alonsgside. Of
an old trooper like. nie: Bit for all that
he is Il nice hoy, aid the men woitld 70
through fire and water, for him, He Is
we'll connected, of good family, arid often
receives letters with the seal Of the war
But that is his business,
not mine.
eye as he ran through the letter. Then
glistened on the end Of his :eyelash:. I
pretended not to see it, even joked lit
tie to make him laugh: :,
What has she written to you, Jacdue?
What says my fair LADY,
He turned to me without a st1iile; and
gravely said: II have no lady fair, Befa
trand. 1t is from my mother :.
"Ah!' | felt as; if / had made a fool
Of myself, and said no more:
these letters. Bertrand? 1t would be
better not to receive them in times like
these"
That was my opinion. dis | have, al
ready said. 1t was not good to allow
them to break ranks, the scamps; they
lsk nothing better. But out of pOliteness
to Jacque said: 1T is always pleasant
to receive good news from homie, no mat
whSEs 1a nHPs y shodf f his G hed dis
"Qh, no, to the contrary"
That was all. Master JacGue was not
this 1ntttiiflg. His eyes were
fixed ON the horizoit fat away, where
there was nothing to be seet1 but bit of
blue sky. / wondered what he could
see over there.
Forward, march, l repeat at last.
Forward, march, for my section. =
Jacgue, no doubt. was still dreaming;
heard the lieutenant behind him say:
hind already!'
Jacque SAID not word, he simply re-
peated. Forward, march," i'll drag
ging tone, as if he were weary. That is
TO say, it was not the, tone q French SER
genat uses when he Commands, For
ward, march, They never humble
these two words, but shout them out
with Sergeant .Jacque this morning? He
is not like himself.
All, that was Il rough day, tell you.
When night came, we were still in the
water, but up to our waists this time.
And all around us little field pieces were
splitting fire, like SO many demons. But
we marched steadily on until we were
within 500 metres of the citadel. Not
q gun shot. not a movement; the rascals
were saving their powder until we were
nearer. ~s~
l said to myself: "Wait, old fellow,
you will have something to warm you up
by and by; don't be discouraged"
When behold, we were again com:
to halt. -
The captain stepped in front of the
ranks, and demanded, in low voice
all the same, it was distinctly under
steed-"A suboficer willing to undertake
a secret and dangerous mission" -,
Naturally l stepped forward. Now, I
well appreciated by my captain, an old
toughskin like myself, who had been my
lieutenant in Africa.
: Not you, Bertrand. know you well,
and when l want you will find you
out. Just be kind enough to remain
quiet" ~, = -r#l = gsEs@
You see, some officers will not grant
you the least favor Then l said to
myself, This is just the, thing for
Jacque." -.
: The captain seemed to be Of the same
opinion, for he stopped exactly in front
of him, and repeated under his nose, "a
subofficer willing tosundertake a danger
GUS mission" - j. I'LL. W. ,:.zs :, +.
1t was plainly to be seen that he was
making advances to Jacque and you will
think / am knocking you when tell you
my fine fellow lowered his eyes under
the gaze of the captain and said not a
word. You may be sure the captain was
angry. for you know It is not pleasant
to make advances to anyone, and have
them thrown buck in your teeth. .@E$S I
ri heard him sneer under his moustache,