Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-01-30

retAItati00. k5e called - III 1ha VIE 06GSoE
he could thiuk+o and said u 6s Nod III
pope there BE wou.d dip him II he -
heels uppermost. Through all this tisAde 70
insult darcy stood erect, calm and col, !
cigar 10 his month and his light hand . III
rusty revolver In his coat pocket. II 49,
Z moment OF terrible snspense to ne. I
knew darcy like I brother. He was ! man
OF fiery temperament, as brave - I lion and
in fact did not know what fear vas. ne,
was great lover Of the pope, and when
the miserable sergeant uttered hia insults
against the poniilf | thought Darcy would
lose control Of himself and use his revolvef.
At this moment / caught his eye and pat ~
fingers to my lips as signal Of encouragement
to him to keep himself well in hand. Il
was one Of the finest examples Of self csn-
troll under difficult circumstance that / have
ever see.l. Apparently he was as composed
and thoroughly self possessed a. il standing
might light his cigar, and the sergeant
roughly told him mo-
meanwhile the sergeant and his guards
continued drinking and getting tipsier and
tipsier. At length the sergeant turned 10
the others and said, 1--we a miad i shoot
the dogs This suggestion was greeted with
drunken cheers, and things began to look
pretty serious for US. Load your gums.
boys commanded the sergeant. The men
loaded their carbines with savage glee,
meanwhile making coarse Jokes about our
departure into the next world. The sergeant
lined his men up facing US and then turned
and said to them:
"'Now then, boys. when / say .'Fire!''
you fire. Pm in charge here, and / guess I
can do what ] like with these beggars.'
81 don't think I will ever forget that
moment continued General Tracey. 1.-THE
scene is as wildly before my eyes at this
moment as it was at that time. The men
were simply waiting for the word to fire.
and considering the desperate character and
drunken condition of the sergeant We ill ex.
pectcd that word to be uttered at any nc
ment. would not have given so centimes
for my life.
Just then, as luck would have ii, the
boat which I had hailed and told to 80 back
for the captain of the guards came along
side. The swish of the oars in the water
was music in our ears, l can tell you. IN :
second more the captains head appeared
above the rail, and / was never before or
since SO glad to see q living man. My heart
had for some minutes beer up IN my throat,
but when the captain jumped on deck with
his sword drawn and his eyes flashing Ere
that organ Of mine dropped back into it,
accustomed place. To this dav / occasion
ally wake up in the night imagining that /
have seen in my dreams the ugly features
and wicked eyes Of that drunken sergsant
and his tipsy comrades. Well, the captain
soon put a stop to the high minded proceed
ings Of his men. He placed the sergeant
under arrest, roundly scolded his privates
md nv0n1NntwAd ~ We 81 IlA tAA~a~.A fAJ~~n
y.u shall 60 ashore and have NO further
trouble with these fellows The gallant
fellow embarked in the boat with NJ hinnsels
for fear the soldiers might shoot at us il We
went alone.
s'Just as we were embarking it the boat II
noticed one of the stewards who had reported
D'Arcy's conversation to the guards reach III
a closet on deck for his hat, though I paid
no particular attention 20 the incident 1t the
time. When we got ashore, they kept 10
talking in the common honse for q little
while until the captain Of the guards could
explain where we came from and whittier
we were going. A carriage was then called
to take us to the railway station, and l was
just getting into the vehicle when / 4 heard i
scuf1e behind US. Turning quickly, Isaw
that steward with a long dirk knife ID His
land and his arm raised to strike at D'Arcyss
back. At that instant ore of the custom
house officials grasped the villain BY the
throat and threw him to the Sidewalk. We
jumped into the carriage as quickly As posi-
bic and drove to the station. In ten min
utes we were abroad the train and on our
way to Switzerland, and l confess l was
heartily glad to get out Of Italy with i whole
skim"
WAKTER WELLMAN.