The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1900-06-19
WHITE FEATHER.
A Coward That Was
a Hero.

lHdL DelOuSS TO the army alone.
Suffice 1t to say that his comrades
are proud of his name
He should never have entered the ar
my at all, much less hard riding cav
airy regiment which had reputation
to sustain by yearly tribute of broken
necks and collar bones.
His proper vocation was that of a
linen diapers assistant, and he had
filled that occupation very satisfacto-
rily till one evil day he had fallen in
love with girl, silly, shallow girl, at
whom no practical man or boy would
have taken a second look.
He adored her, and she adored sol
diers. In their walks abroad she would
direct his steps toward the Horse
guards or Wellington barracks, that
she might gaze in admiration at the
fine, strapping soldiers who were to be
seen there, and every time she pinched
his arm and exclaimed, "Oh, Jack, look
at that lovely soldierr' his heart gave
him pang at the thought that he was
only diapers assistant, with nothing
/ in common with the military but the
handling of red cloth! He was a dream
er by nature, and falling in love did
mot lessen his weakness in this direc-
! tion. Dreaming is pardonable in a
poet, but an objectionable crime in q
linen diapers assistant, and as he
/ stood at his counter his mind was far
away from his work Instead of lis
tening to the Forward of the shop
walker he could only hear the short
/ flung word of command and the blare
lof the bugles that sounded through his
1 dreams; wherefore it was not long be-
/ fore he came into conflict with his prac-
teal chief. A few sharp words passed.
He threw up in three seconds a posi-
ton it had taken six years of hard, I'M
RENTING labor to attain. Then he en-
listed.
He gained his title on his first dis
play in the riding school, where, after
short ride on the neck of the riding
masters pet buck jumper, he turned
might be allowed to dismOunt
The horse at once gratified his desire
by throwing him ON to the tan, where
he lay trembling in every limb, much
to the diversion of couple Of rough
riders who were standing by. They
were quick to inform their respective
squadrons, and, his former occupation
being known, he was promptly chris
tened White Feather.
In those dark days it was the joy of
the more hardy recruits to take him
aside solemnly and request the service
of threepence 3 farthings' worth of
white feathers. Any morsel Of down
or fluff that might float into the bar
racks was promptly captured and pre-
scented to him with due ceremonies by
Trumpeter Pipes, the low comedian of
the regiment.
The older men forbore to join in with
these somewhat firing repetitions Of
stale joke They remembered their
own experiences in the riding school
and recognized that White Feather
was quiet and inoffensive fellow, de-
void of the impudence and bad man
ners peculiar to recruits and respectful
and helpful to his seniors.
The sergeant instructor, too, after
time took a fancy to his timid recruit
and took extra trouble to learn him
how to keep his heels out, his hands
down and his head up.
'I've made smart cavalrymen out O.
bigger buffers than you" he used to re-
mark encouragingly as he flicked White
Feathers horse into canter, f'and I'll
make rider o. you, or I'll break your
neckr' White Feathers neck remain
ed unbroken, so it is to be presumed
that the sergeant instructor fulfilled
his word.
Presently he began to lose the hang
dog look of suppressed terror with
which he had been accustomed to enter
the riding school and to acquire the
easy swagger of eavalryman. His
chest contracted by long hours at the
i counter, developed under healthy train
ing. Fresh air and much exercise help
ed White Feathers development, which
had been sadly retarded by the heavy,
gas laden atmosphere in which he had
lived. His nerves acquired tone, and
he learned to take a tumble now and
then as a matter of course and to fire
his carbine without shutting his eyes
and blanching at the explosion of the
cartridge.
BLOW me, If he isn't going to shape
into man at last" quoth the sergeant
/ instructor.
Then a great blow fell upon him. He
received one morning a letter from the
girl to tell him that she had given him
up in favor of a shopwalker who had
expectations of being set up in bust
ness by his father. She admitted that
she had adored soldiers and that she
had caused him to enter the army for
! her sake But she had omitted to state
/ that the soldiers she adored were sol
dlers who possessed the queens COM
mission and who wore stars instead Of
worsted stripe.
i If poor White Feather was physical
4 coward, he was a moral hero. There Is
no chance of q display of feeling in a
barrack room; so, like the Spartan boy
of old, he Rugged his trouble to him,
1 slipping the cheap little engagement
ring with which he had sealed his
f lIOI1 lulO HIS pOChCl NithOdN q S4e5A ~
/ yond the twitchings of his white lips
+ Then he lit his pipe with the letter, not
out of contempt, but because there Is
little privacy accorded in the CORE
spondence that comes to the barrack
room. and private soldier is not pro-
vided with a desk wherein to keep his
faded flowers and other sentimental to-
4 kens of the past.
/ The blow was very heavy one, for
White Feather was without the world
ly knowledge that should have told
| him long since that he had fixed his af-
/ fections upon a vulgar, selfish and
brainless fiirt, and he still believed in
her.
For her sake he had learned to over
come his physical cowardice. He had
dreamed of a possible commission in
the dim future and had rejoiced in the
recently acquired promotion as a step
toward her.
For her sake, too, he received the
news cheerfully when the word passed
through the barracks that the regiment
was ordered to South Africa to meet
the Beers. He knew that he was by
nature a coward, but for the memory
of her be swore an oath to himself to