Marshall County independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1897-1902, 1901-04-12


! shopwalker he could only hear the
blare of the bugles that sounded
| through his dreams; wherefore it was
/ not long before he came into conflict
with his practical chief. A few sharp
words passed. He threw up in three
seconds a position it had taken six
/ attain Then he enlisted.
He gained his title on his first dis
I play in the riding school. where. after
short ride on the neck of the riding
masters pet buck jumper he turned
deathly pale and cried aloud that he
might be allowed to dismount.
The horse at once gratifed his de-
sire by throwing him on to the tan.
where he lay trembling in every limb.
much to the diversion of a couple of
rough riders who We're standing by
They were quick to inform their re-
spective squadrons. and his former &C.
cupation being known. he was prompt
ly christened White Feather.
In those dark days il was the joy of
the more hardy recruits to take him
aside solemnly and request the service
of three pence three farthings worth
of white feathers. Any morsel of
down or fluff that might float into the
| barracks was promptly captured and
presented TO him with due ceremonies
! by Trumpeter Pipes, the low comedian
of the regiment
The older men forebore 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 a quiet and inoffensive fellow, de-
Void OF the impudence and bad man
ners peculiar to recruits and respectful
and helpful 10 his seniors.
The sergeant instructor too. after a
time took fancy to his timid recruit.
and took extra trouble to teach 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
remark encouragingly as he ficked
White Feathers horse into a canter.
and I'll make a rider o. you. or I'll
break your neck" White Feathers
neck remained 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 swag2er of cayalryman. His
chest. contracted by long hours at the
counter developed under healthy
training. Fresh air and much exer-
else helped White Feathers develop
ment, which had been sadly retarted
by the heavy, g3s-laden atmosphere in
which he had lived His nerves ac-
quired tone. and he learned to take a
tumble now and then as a matter of
course and to fire his car5ine 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 SER
geant instructor
Then a great blow fell upon him. re
received enc 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
diers who possessed the queens COM
mission and who wore stars instead of
worsted stripe
If poor White Feather was Il physi-
cal coward. he was a moral hero. There
is no chance of a display of feeling in
barrack room, so, like the Spartan
boy of old. he Rugged his trouble to
him. slipping the cheap little engage
ment ring with which he had sealed
his troth into his pocket without a syn
beyond the twitching 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
tokens of the past.
The blow was a very heavy enc. for
White Feather was without the world
IL knowledge that should have told
him long since that he had fixed his
affections upon 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 regi-
ment was ordered to South Africa to
meet the Beers. He knew that he wa,
/ by nature a coward, but for the men,
! DRY of her he swore an oath to himself
to do his duty without sparing himse.f
in the coming fight
Look ere. old chap. We amt goiny
to call you White Feather no more"
said Trumpeter Pipes as they lay to-
gether behind the shelter OF large
bowlder. against the face OF which the
Boer bullets were pattering like 4
heavy rain.
In full sight of the whole army their