The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-02-18

"Grcat Scott" he rOa1ed. You lazy,
idle 10ung Tillatn"
for he was choleric, although not cross
grained. Under a stern face and rough
manner he had kindly nature far
down, for he did not wear his heart
upon his sleeve, certainly not for an
erring subordinate, as he considered
me just then.
l felt rather sheepish and uncomfort-
able as l appeared before the great
man. The general was tall in stature
very thin and straight, while his
strong, weather beaten face-the deep
bronze contrasting sharply with the
| bristling white mustachios and long,
projecting eyebrows, over fierce, steely
blue eyes--commanded respect
He began on me at once. "By the
Lord Harry, this won't do, Wood! he
cried, with amazing volubility ana
force. "What have you got to say for
yourself? Slept late? OF course you
will sleep late If you waste the night
flirting and phllandering with that lit
tie madcap devil, Frida Fairholme. But,
I tell you, l won't have the business or
this office neglected. Now you are late
for parade and you know insist upon
Dunctuality. And ! practice what l
preach. ! was here as the clock struck
10 this morning, and I'd already been
TO Hounslow and back on my bike
But there, you'll end by putting me out
of temper. Don't do 1t again.
, II won't, Sir Charles" l said meekly'
| vet wondering why l, a man of mil
| lions, submitted to such slavery, and
turned to go.
"Ah, by the way, Wood, bring me
that report of yours, will you, on the
defense of the Canadian frontier? 1t
Is ready, presume"
"Well, no, Sir Charles, not quite. l
have been delayed by
Great scotty" he roared, instantly
blazing up into white heat. "You lazy,
idle young villain! believe you want
! to drive me mad. You know as well
as do that the foreign Office is press
ing for the paper that promised 1t to
Lord Salisbury within week, and
here you, you oh, go away! want
none Of your excuses. I've had enough
of you. You shan't stay here, bringing
discredit on the office. I'll have none
of it. You shall 60 back to your grovel'
ing, guard mounting routine, and when
you are grizzling your soul out In that
beastly tropical hole, Bermuda. you
may be sorry for the chance you've lost
Go away, say. I've done with you
l hate the very sight Of you"
And | went, meaning In my rage
for l, too, had become furiously angry
to take him at his word and walk
straight out of the house. But custom
is strong. The spirit of subordlnatiOn
of obedience, the sOldierly sense OF
duty, when once imbibed, are not to bt
shaken off In a second. When I re-
gained my desk and saw the papers
there, l remembered that was bound
In honor to fulfill my obligations. MY
chief had, no doubt, gone too far, but
that did not release me. Before ! tool
any further steps l must first com
plete my work.
There was not much wanting to fin
ish my report on the Canadian from
tier, and l did 1t out Of hand. Then
sent It In to the chief and prepared tc
tackle the second set Of papers, which
proved to be q scheme. marked strict
ly confidential" for combined attack
upon New York by sea and land. (OuI
political relations at that particular
moment were greatly strained. There
were rumors Of grave disagreement, Y