Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-11-04
TEN YEARS TRIAL
The Story of a Soldiers Struggle
BY Brigadier General Charles King
copyrigh, 1901 by charcls King
CHAPTER Z.

Three days more. and Melville was
pronounced well enough to travel, and
Langdon was alone. The first flush Of
enthusiasm over, his exploits had died
out. The populace of Brentwood had
settled down to its usual routine. and
but for some scores of unemployed men
and gang of troublesome tramps in
Testing the outskirts little was left in
the town itself to recall the excitement
and turmoil of the days of the strike.
Over in the yard of the Seattle masons
and carpenters by the dozen were bus
lily at work, nearly all Of the%l local
craftsmen. The i'll wind that whirled
the Seattle's thousands up in smoke
and fame was blowing modest hun
dieds into the pockets of Brentwood's
artisans and through them to the cof-
fers Of Brentwood's merchants. THE
Big Horn might be the better managed
road in some respects, said Brentwood,
but the Seattle brings the money. Bar
clay's banquet had turned many a
head and not few hearts among the
municipal leaders, and Barclays dol
lars were potent among the people.
The regulars had gone home over the
Seattle, the guardsmen had preceded
them over the Big Horn, and the ronds
had returned to the guardianship Of
their own Waterman and Brentwood's
police. The sheriff had discharged his
extra deputies, and Eric Langdcn, be-
ginning the world over again on mod
est salary, took counsel with himself
in the absence of other advisers and
planned his daily life. 1t had been
Channing's expectation that he should
take a room near the yards and his
meals at the Brentwood, but Langdon
had decided on rigid economy. 1t
might be long months before he could
hope for promotion and better pay,
and it was his determination to save at
least half of each months stipend to go
toward the payment of his debts and
$40 more to form fund on Which he
could depend in the event of ills or &C.
cident Mine host Of the Brentwood
hated, he said, to have him go. bit di-
| rected him to quiet, homelike little
place, where he secured room and
plain but sufficient board under the
roof of a widow whose sole support
had been killed in a collision On the
Seattle three years before. Yet the ho-
tel man was at heart not sorry to. see
him go. He liked him well, but Ger
tain of the owners did not HeEbegEef
Langdon to come round and make tfifm-
self at home whenever he felt like it.
but secretly hoped he might be too
busy. There had been a few days inn
mehiately following the strike when
the mayor, certain OF the common coun-
Gill; the district attorney and other
prominent citizens and business men
had expressed themselves as delighted
to meet MI. Langdon and as grateful
beyond words for his gallant conduct
at a critical time. But since Barclays
banquet they met him with certain
constraint when they met him at all,
for his duties kept him at the yards
from early morn till after dark. There
seemed to be just one set of men whose
eyes lighted up at sight Of him, who
,, were eager to press his Acquaintance
and many of whom never passed him
without some semblance OF military
salute These were the members Of the
Brentwood rifles, officially known AS
Company G of the Fourth Nebraska.
One evening, hardly week after Mel
vile had gone, three of them came ito
see him. Cap" they said, was going
to quit. He had been SO quizZed and
criticised for. letting the strikers get
away with their guns that he cohldn't
stand the pressure. The lieutenants
were green, and wouldn't Mr. iLangdon
come round to the armory two even
ings a week and drill them? Now,
Langdon had been planning Spurse
of reading in the library OF the Young
Mems Christian association. but the
rifles were importunate. Something
might come of it, and he consented.
Eighteen men appeared the first might
One of the lieutenants was the son Of
the leading banker of Brentwood, the
other a young lawyer. Both greeted
him civilly and sat and watched his
work with absorbing interest. The
third night Cap came roundl and
! looked on. Forty-four men We're in
ranks-twice as many as he could ever
scrape together for drill-and, though
he shook hands with Langdon durfng 4
rest, and said he found his business re
quired all his time and attention and
therefore he had concluded to resign,
his manner lacked cerdiality. Two
weeks later a committee waited on
Langdon to know il he would accept
the command Of the company il elect
ed, and after an exchange Of letters he
tween himself and Claiming Langaon
said that, il unanimously chosen and
the lieutenants waived promotion, he
would serve. Then it got into the pa
pers. The members of the company,
as a rule, were young clerks, book
keepers and statesmen, highly intelli-
gent and full of enthusiasm, but their
hapless experience had made them the
laughing stock of the street boys, the
railway shop men and the vagabond
class OF the community as well as Of
certain envious fellow citizens. "Tin
soldiers." they were called, when all
that was needed to make them force
to be dreaded by lawbreakers was