St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-02-27
orders are Orders.

ben MIC" live, and neither will Ger
asIops % ,a officer, whose name, for
tain s" that are plain in The tale that is
fsasI,n o,y cannot mention
10 'OlG%%r'a ry service, "orders are orders. -
10 I'.' g one OF the reasons why men
and lu' as without reasoning and some
DO tnuEI hon, reason. II they carry out
ttlIna,nctions, they cannot 60 wrong Is
i9s a.,' 1bey look at it. 1t is none OF
The wy o5snons,biity they are relieved OF
their ItSD o,e, ces. have heard men say,
all cou' ling OF relief, although percelv
win a ' .'r he inevitable: "Here are
irg Pl S.rs. I have got to do so and So
ny 1!y. U,t it IS all wrong and probably
ltn'nn tiIIed in fact, in app ars tn
will : ., rs will be killed. But IT'S none
most u do;no Ill am killed, tit not my
DIN" o' And with this rather strange ex-
aul'ti citing ready to die. as it devoid
cg't W he man will go forward. 1t is d
o. o!I lard and his mind may not be IN an
Dill na,U state. bat he actually feels relief
Ha ts;oo pnbu,drned OF the coming re-
al .'h h5ty If he carried out his orders
Spln nI.'+sr and returns, we'll aud good,
10 u. loes NOT. we'll and good again, So
i Jus oh hs Is concerned. He has done his
s, as IN ~" accordance with military usage.
dp9 ~ many miles sou h OF the Vaal
a sD ,o, had been encamp d for day
Jus ,d a. little. halldry waIelcourse, IN
NS, nt,v that once had reputation as
'ou NV lining district. There were num-
h ts" I If prosperous looking homesteads
Us, ,,bn lew miles of one another, with
N'nn ~ mral,e fields and plowed ground
a. .n, ,v;ng taIIow aud unsowed since the
w" of the war. 1t was scarcely
u s'or,y Of morning, but the army was
wv ssnd srirr ny. There had been no
d fpbing to So ak OF Tor two or three
3o's md the three divisions under Con
u 'ols Tucker. Pole Carew. and Hamilton
.ad hetn moving on in parallel columns
U u,t the evening brIore, directly in front
af,he Eleventh Division, there had been
..bs,n lutle rattle OF rife fire, and one
p,mngton scout had been killed, and
. M or four mounted infantry.
.n wounded. 1t had been al
m at dusk when this bad oc
& cr,r,d and had quite forgotten 1t. /
q uos,n the saddle early. and as | passed
tbrouob the camp an officer stan ling up,
With a CUP o coffee in one hand and 4
b,scp,t IN The other, h iiled ME peasantlv,
Il ,sLr 20 me to stop and partake OF refresh.
mems As had already breakasted, |
u defined nv friend S invitation and rode
II m II had br,n my intention To stop a
= little white farmhouse that could see
sian ing in a garden with trees, some
n two m les away to the eastward.
"Prst mt, first serve l." holds good
n On he yc DIT The place looked innabl
ii I'D and thought tnatl might possibly
a hgrgain with the WON III tor a fowl or
Il two or perhaps Obtain those longed Tor
injuries soft bread. milk a, d eggs. S !
~ rore slowly on. When ] got 10 the bank
II o(the lit k stream, could ste that d
Il white fag on nigh pole was h'ing
rom he corner of the g rden, and that
q smother bit of whte rag fl 'pped II ON The
81 pabIt end OF the house Ii was rather
II early tor call, and, as there was fairly
N detp pool of wat,r in the Spru,t, l tied
n my horse to a tree and proceeded to take
VI along deerrei plunge. AS was dress
~ rg was surprised to see number OF
4 infantry come down through the bushes,
and heard nv name called Looking up,
thte vas the young officer who had
~ spoker to me an hour or SO before.
NJ lntepy to my question as to what ht
N was doug so ar off he line OF march, hr
II frowre an shook his head.
ave got rotten job" he said, short
H. I'm ordered to set fire to this farm
N house wonder Some of our mountto
men we're fired on rom the walls and The
q buildings last night. hope there are nc
I womtn about don't believe much II
4 this burning business
mo more do l." | returned. "And
4 an glad there has been little fit"
As We came up the bank | perceivec
that 1t must have been here that lh'
81 rmlsh had taken place the evening De
4 fore, tor d al horse, shot throug th'
head ana stripped OF his saddle aud &C
cou erments, lay just on tie fringe OF th'
\ trees. The house and garden were per
haps thousand yards away.
\ ASNe approached, we saw that they
had all the evidence OF belonging to peo
PIE who We plainly prosperous. Inc
garden had been planned long time
ana the gum.trees, rose to at ieas'
thirty or torly eet throwing shade
over the low, stone-hagged stoep. There
were some vtge ables still growing or
each side of we'll kept path, and a mum
DIR OF Towering plants in tin pots sloo
on each side of the doorway. Their
wire curtains at he windows, and sign
Of female occupation on the wash line. 4
hammock was strel ched fr, m the corrle
ithe house to one OF the big gums. Th
ou'bulIdlngs were in good repair, al
though the lott window OF the stabI
stood gaping wide, and the ground wa
n't5red WITH oat straw. AS we cam
round the corner tat fux.terrier rushet
out and barked at us, and at the soun'
q, woman app, AIRED on the threshold
one was well dressed and perhaps s'xt,
years OF age, with a kindly, pleasan
race although it bore traces OF worr.
ana suffering. The officer hesitated a
the gate.
'Coniound it," said he beneath hi
breath, Just what expected"
Inc old lady. perceiving that we hat
stopped there, called to us to enter. ant
~ we came up the path young girl q
sieateen or thei ca bouts, very pre't..
srl' appeared behind her. They did no
lIoS ike Beers, and the old lady's speed
showed that she had little Dutch abou
I'm so sorry for what occurred her
yHeSttrd y" she said. II begged tn
Doe's not to fire from our garden, blu
taey would do so despite me. com
nom the Colony and 80 did my bus