Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1900-07-12
The Duty Soldier.

from some place to the relief of some
other place, carrying your guns over
a 3now mountain"
"Ah! know what you're thinking
Of" said the colonel. 'It was man
called Whippett did that. A splendid
chap he is, too; you really ought to
know him..
There was a confusion in the
names, Jemmett and Whippett. Whip
petit said nothing about it, but it was
corrected as soon as possible"
81 don't see that Jennie 1 and
Whippett sound at all alike, pro-
tested the widow.
''No, but on the telegraphic code
they're much the same"
''How stupid of these horrid news
papers!' the widow calculated dis
gustedly.
''Well, it really was not so stupid"
| the colonel argued. ''For it might,
in sense, have been !, instead of
Whippett, that did it,"
"How do you mean?" asked the
widow sharply.
well, you see," replied the col
onel, trihe nervously, cali Pindah,
where was Ben Williamson, who had
to be relieved, was at the apex of an
isosceles triangle of which line
drawn between Fort Dulferin, where
! Whippett was, and Fort Mich olson,
where 1 was, would have been the
| base"
That conveys no idea to me- re-
turned the widow pettishly. Cant
! Won use plaiu Fnplisl2"
81 mean to convey" said the colonel
desperately, THAT Whippett and 1
were luidistant from Ben William
son, and it was toss up which of us
made a dash for him
"And why were you not the one to
do it," Queried the widow.
You know ! never was dashing
/ fellow" answered the colonel humbly.
You don't mean to say you were
afraid?" she sal / after little while.
The colonel nodded his head. 'I
was afraid.
She waited vet awhile before deliv-
ering what she meant to be taunt;
II cannot understand why you did
not follow your fathers profession.
II ha not enough brains for it,
tached TO my own trade--so attached
that | do not know what will become
OF me after another year.
What ha opens then?' she asked,
without interest.
81 shall be retired" he told her.
'The age clause falls heavily on a man
like me who has never had a chance to
distinguish himself
II thought you had Whippett's
chance" she cut at him.
For a moment he stared at her stu
pidlv, then said without bitterness, bnt
reprovingly as father to child: u
see you have not understood me- Yor
have perhaps forgotten that your hus
bands nickname foc me was The
Duty Soldier. "
'1es, she retorted, without weigh
ing her words, ''and he defined it as
one who is afraid of God and man, and
for his own skin"
Her teeth closed on her tongue as
she said the last word, for Colonel
Jemmett arose AMI shook himself. II
see that my call has been an intrusion
on you; l shall not repeat the indis-
cretion. Goodby"
''ioodby" she repeated mechan-
ically, and touched the bell. She felt
powerless to detain him, but looked
wistfully at the door when it had
closed behind him.
Ten days later she had letter
from him bearing the Southampton
postmrak. 81 am leaving for the
Tirah,' he said, ''to command b j.
gade. If had done what you wished
in the Black mountains 1 should
have risked the lives of 5000 men,
women and children. l was afraid to
do this. Perhaps in this new busi-
ness l may be able to present the
Duty Soldier in q better light-at
least, in one which you can see"
after all, lie can be ironical," the
widow said, and wondered if he could
escape retirement. She thought she
might write to him.
} Colonel (local Ma or GeneraD Jem-
NETT received the widows letter the
| morning of the day his brigade was
to attack the enemy's position. 1t was
| the first battle in which he found him
self his own commando, and such a
} time is not the best for reading a
woman's - particularly a beloved
J woman 's-letter. He was duty sol
der, and though the touch of il
} burned his fingers, he put it in his
: left breast pocket unopened.
1t was good, he thought, to have
, her writing next his heart; but he al
most reproached himself for thinking
about it at all. Things were not going
so we'll in this campaign that any man
could afford consideration of his pri-
vate affairs. One. by name Winter,
he who commanded the brigade a
the other side Of the big hill yonder,
by thinking of his chances of winning
c. b. had sacrificed the better part
of @ battery of i'll spared artillery. L
Jemmett were to follow his example
the welfare OF athriving district woult
I - l.