Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1899-06-23
HIS ORDERLY.


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He had been general; now, a sensitive,
honorable man, was stranded in far city.
A 10 cent piece in his vest pocket was ev-
erything he possessed in the world.
Across the street, as he walked aimless-
ly along, his eye caught sign, "Bones
.Bostub, Groceries"
"Why, that must be my old orderly.
There can't possibly be two of that name
in the world. If it is. I'n-yes, ZIP
Not even mentally would the general per-
NIT himself to finish the sentence, but he
crossed over and stood where he could look
into the busy shop.
Yes, it was Bostub; no doubt abolt it.
The general fingered a moment, then tim.
idly entered the grocery store, where q
smart young fellow Immediately asked
him civilly but abruptly what he would
have. Bostub was in the rear Of the store,
close to the little Office.
II will take" declared the general, Il
will take 10 cents worth Of yeast
The youth looked his surprise, then
called out to Bostub, ''The gentleman
wants 10 cents worth Of yeast, father"
"Then why don't you give the gentle
to me9 It's cakes he wants, of course, " and
Bostub went on with his talk with the
bookkeeper.
for them. You see, we haven It that many
in the shop" said the boy. "Ill be back
in q moment" and he departed.
The proprietor, having finished his talk,
walked slowly forward. ''Fine day, sir.
'why''-looking his customer square in the
ment, "it's the. general" and, SO saying,
he squared his shoulders, drew his heels
together and made a formal salute, while
his eyes moistened and his chin quivered.
The man whom he most loved and hon
-ored of all men on earth stood before him.
In those few seconds he knew perfectly
we'll, from tie appearance and bearing of
his old commander, that he was poverty
stricken.
asking the generals pardon, wasn't
the yeast what we used to call rooster"
z.-s4". A what2" :, ~.g.a7 r.-., - 49, e7s,e-
"Why, that thing that's all fair in war,
but laundering cheat any other time"
"Oh, see "a ruse de guerre
1.-THE general has it-it's that mean"
Ito the boy who came in with the yeast
cakes Keep them to sell again. Tele-
phone to the hotel for barouche-the best
they have. DO me the honor, sir, to walk
into my of1ice-or, I should say, the gen.
erals office. Twas the general gave me
my start by what he taught mo. 1 have
never been slack, never been lazy. never
borrowed an: money
The general felt that these last words
had been thrown out as skirmishers to
bar an advance on Bostub's treasury, and
the officer felt his hoart sink as he remem-
bered how, years ago, he had thought q
borrower an object Of contempt and fur
Their remembered that Bostub had heard
him say so more than once.
When the carriage came, the grocer e.
corted his guest to the sidewalk and,
opening tho door, slammed it as the gen.
eral took his seat and sprang upon the
box by the driver, who regarded him with
great respect and wondered what all this
meant.
When they were seated in the handsome
dining room at a luncheon that had been
ordered by telephone from the store, Bos-
tub took all the talk on himself. His ma
tive sagacity had been developed by his
struggle for wealth, his mind seemed to
work not through chain of logic, but to
jump all chasms and alight on the precise
spot at the precise moment.
"You don t need, sir, to tell me about
yourself You see, the newspapers have
kept me informed. You are public man.
AS you say, you are on your way east, apd
you shall go on the evening train If you
insist. Have you bought your tic'etsf 1
hope not, for 1 can get you pass through.
No? Excuse me, then, for moment"
and he left the room and telephoned to his
office to send over and buy through
ticket for New York, with section In the
sleeper.
II have prospered," he said, seating
himself again, land it's mostly through
what the general taught me. Prospered
about money and those things, but lost
my wife. Have two boys, one you saw at
the shop, one a kid up stairs Oh, but the
old days, sir, when I was u raw recruit
and standing on my rights under the Deo-
laration Of Independence and the constitu-
ton of the United Statesl twas the gen.
eral knocked that out of me and brought
me to my bearings. But for that I might
now be loafer ON the street corner, cry
ing for my rights. Here's the kid. Salute
the general, Bob"
The 6-year-old boy ran to his father,
who took him afectionately on his knee.
HE knows both them immortal instru-
ments by heart-the constitution and the
Declaration. Repeat the Declaration Of
Independence as I've taught 1t to you,
Bob"
"When In the course Of human events
It becomes necessary for one person to
obey another's orders, the quicker he obeys
them the better"
"Good for that" said the father: Snow
the constitution of the United States.
"We, the people Of tho United States
have right to all we earn and full liberty
to obey the laws of our country"
II fnd," said Bostub, releasing the
child, "that the supreme court OF sne
United States sustains those views every
time, and now, II the general Is to take
that train, tits time to be on tho way to
the station. It's q long time since !
asked favor of the general, but I'll do 1t