The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1900-05-17
.'Are you a Canadian? r. he asked.

camp, you must give me your word that
should you fall in with the enemy you
will give no information to them Of
our position, numbers, or Of anything
else you may have seen while with u.s.
Il shall not give my word. On the
contrary, if I should fall in with the
Canadian troops will tell them where
you are, that you are from eight hun
dred to one thousand strong, and the
worst-looking set Of vagabonds have
ever seen out of jail" H., &.
Gen. ONeill frowned and looked from
one to the other. sz..
"Do you realize that you confess to
being a spy, and that it becomes my
duty to have you taken out and shot?"
''In real war, yes. But this is mere
idiotic fooling. All of you that don't
escape will be either in jail or shot be-
fore twenty-four hours
''Well, by the gods, it won't help
you any. I'll have you shot inside of
ten minutes, instead of twenty-four
hours
''Hold on, general, hold on cried
/ Yates, as the angry man rose and con-
fronted the two. II admit that he
richly deserves shooting if you were
the fool-killer, which you are not.
But it won't do. will be responsible
for him. Just finish that pass for me,
and I will take care of the professor.
| Shoot me if you like, but don't touch
| him. He hasn't any sense, as you can
see, but I am not to blame for that, nor
are you. If you take to shooting ev-
orybody who is an ass, general, you
won't have any ammunition left to con-
quer Canada with.''
The general smiled in spite of him.
self, and resumed the writing of the
pass. "There," he said, handing the
paper to Yates. "You see, we always
like to oblige the press. I will risk
your belligerent friend, and hope you
will exercise more control over him il
you meet the Canadians, than you were
able to exert here. Don't you think,
on the whole, you had better stay with
us? We are going to march in couple
of hours when the men have had a lit,
tie rest He added in. a lower voice, SO
that the professor could not hear: s'You
didn't see anything of the Canadians, !
SUPPOSE"
"Not a sign. No, l don't think I'll
stay. There will be five of our fellows
here some time to-day, I expect. and
that will be more than enough. I'm
really here on vacation. Been ordered
rest and quiet. I'm beginning to think
I have made a mistake in the location ~
Yates bade good-by to the commander,
and walked with his friend out of the
camp. They threaded their way among
sleeping men and groups of stacked
guns. On the top of one of the bayo.
nets was hung a tall silk hat, which
looked most homogeneous in such a
place.
II Think" said Yates, 'that we will
make for the Ridge road, which must
lie somewhere in this direction. It
will be easier walking than through
the woods; and, besides, I want to stor
at one of the farmheuses and get some
breakfast. I'm as hungry as bear
after tramping so long,
every well,'' answered the professor
shortly.
They stumbled along until they
reached the edge of the wood, then
crossing some open fields, presently
came upon the road near the spot where
the fst-fght had taken place between
Yates and Bartlett. The two. now
with greater comfort, walked silently
along the road towards the west, with
the reddening east behind them The
whole scene was strangely quiet and
peaceful, and the recollection of the
weird camp they had left in the woods
seemed merely bad dream. The
morning air was sweet, and the birds
were beginning to sing. Yates had in.
tended to give the professor a piece Of
his mind regarding the lack of tact and
common sense displayed by Remark
in the camp, but somehow the scarcely.
awakened day did not lend itself tc
controversy, and the serene stiffness
soothed his spirit. He began to whistle
softly that popular war song, Tramp
tramp, tramp, the boys are marching
and then broke in with the question::
Say, Kenny. did you notice that
plug-hat on the bayonet?"
Eyes" answered the professor; "anc
I saw five others scattered around the
camp
lingo! you were observant. I car
imagine nothing quite so ridiculous a!
a man going to war in tall silk hat.
The professor made no reply anc
Yates changed his whistling to Orally
round the flag"
81 presume" he said, at length
''there is little use in attempting to i'm
prove the morning hour by trying t.
show you, Remark, what a fool 70,
made of yourself in the camp. You:
natural diplomacy seemed to be slight
ly off the center.''
II do not hold diplomatic relation
with thieves and vagabonds.
''They may be vagabonds, but so an
/, for that matter. They may also b,
well-meaning mistaken men; but dc
not think they are thieves
"While you were talking with tn,
so-callcd general, one party came il
with several horses that had bee,
stolen from the neighboring farmers
and another party started out to ge
; some MORE"
, ooh, that isn't stealing, Remark
So