Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1903-12-05
DAILY SHORT STORY
The Ex.Hero.
lOriginaI.l

was CndIIlIlS IdLnllldTIy with LIS SldA
during a cessation of hOstilities-"what
we call bravery is purely physical.
Real bravery consists not in fighting
an enemy, but ourselves. Cowardice or
bravery is purely a matter of tempo
rary nerves"
Nevertheless, general" said young
Captain Fitz Hugh, I'VE honor the
brave and despise the coward. When
my nerves go back on me l trust
enough vigor will be left to enable me
my disgrace"
A puff of smoke appeared at one Of
the embrasures of a baStion fort on
the crest of a hill, followed by boom,
and a shell came blowing up the
ground. burying itself in a tree not a
dozen feet from the party. A fuse hiss
ed and sputtered, burning rapidly to
the vent Most of the officers present
either fell on their faces or ran as fast
as their legs could carry them. Fltz
Hugh coolly walked up to the shell,
pulled out the fuse and threw it away.
well done, captain said the gen
eral. THE battle has reopened."
There was a hard struggle. When the
fighting was over, there was as much
wonder that the young captain came
out alive as at his conspicuous bravery
One of his exploits, the leading of a
few men against an angle of breast
works wherein the guns were creating
havoc, was so conspicuous and so far
reaching in its results that he was
Il InI
The war ended and FitZ Hugh was
a hero to the world for all time. Oc-
casionally he would overhear some
one say: That's he; the man over
there. They say he doesn't know what
fear is" At army reunions, when he
arose to say a few words, he was so
violently .cheered that he often gave up
the attempt He was the pet of the
petticoats and the admiration of men.
The world of adulation in which he
lived became the only world he knew,
that which he had inhabited before his
honOrs being forgotten. Yet his mod
esty never suffered. He would only
wear his medal at social gatherings
with the little band who had helped
him earn it and to whom he always in
sisted it belonged.
Thirty years passed. Fitz Hugh met
with reverses that brought on nervous
prostration. He was obliged to break
away and go on trip. When he re-
turned he was still weak. melancholy
and inclined to study his symptoms
infinitely. consulting doctors, besides
doctoring himself. He recovered, but
was not the man he had been a few
years before.
One day while he was at the seashore
with party of friends. among whom
was a lady who had consented to be
comfort to the old hero for the rest of
his days. he was walking with her
through the town when n rough fellow
passed them. purpOsely brushing
against the lady. FitZ Hugh remOn-
strated. whereupon the man took him
by the collar and showed him up
against Il wall. where he held him for
some time then released him with the
remark that next time he'd better
mind his own business. Fitz Hugh,
mortified beyond measure at such treat
ment. tried TO muster up courage to
strike the man, but his enemy looked
so ugly. so strong. so brutal, so unmer-
ciful, that the ex-herO did not dare
touch him.
That night. when all were asleep,
Fitz Hugh, clutching something tightly
in his hand. emerged from his room
and went to an ocean pier. There he
stood for awhile, looking out on the
black expanse of water, vainly endeav-
oring TO muster strength of will to
plunge. He could not. The waves fill
ed him with terror. Then he threw
what he held in his hand out into the
water and, turning, went to his room.
The next day he did not appear. His
fiancee sent for him to go down with
her to the beach. He went down
looking pale and haggard. She guess
ed his trouble, but said nothing. They
were sitting on the beach, lower than
they were accustomed to do, for the
tide was out, looking at the bathers,
the gulls, the waves glittering in the
sunshine, the ships far out at sea.
The lady was thrusting her hand into
the sand, grasping it and letting it
slip through her fingers Suddenly
they closed on something round and
fat and heavy
1t was the hero's medal.
He confessed to her that he had
thrown it into the water the night be-
fore, and she knew why.
ut is better to have been brave" she
said, land lost ones bravery than
never to have been brave at ALL"
When the ex-hero returned to the
city he married his fiancee and settled
himself in home, which he resolutely
declined to leave. eschewing especially
army reunions. One reunion night his
comrades came and took him away
bodily, his wife before he left pinning
his medal to his coat without his
knowing it. Arriving at the room
where a dinner was in progress, he
was placed amid cheers in the seat Of
the commander-president
Comrades" he said when the tul
multi had ceased, my general once
told me that bravery is purely phys
ical. 1 have learned he was right. 1