Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1907-08-08
THE SONG IN THE NIGHT.

The young lieutenant crouched In
The mud of the gully. Every man Of
the squad was wearied to the limit OF
endurance, and the leader was bur-
dened with terrible responsibility.
The enemy was close at hand and abb
solute silence was imperative. The
colonel, few hours before, had de-
tailed this little force to cut out de-
tachment of the enemy.
"Remember, my boy" he had said,
with a fatherly hand on the lieutenant
shoulder, sit will not be enough to
scare them. They must be routed ]
and the colonel emphasized with q
savage sweep of his hand. "Ciean
them outl You would better not at.
tack unless you mean to do that"
For hours they had plowed through
the mud, eager for the encounter. Be-
fore darkness fell the discovery was
made that the enemy numbered four
times as many men as supposed. 1t
would be madness to hope for more
than a drawn battle, the lieutenant
reflected; and yet-the colonel had
given his orders. At daylight the
commander would march on the as
sumption that the work was done.
81 can't go back and say | was
afraid" the boy told himself; but it
would be murder to charge with this
little band. If I had to think only
of myself"
The men lay in a dark line against
the bank of the gully, waiting for the
decision of their leader. If he said
"Charge well, they knew it would
be one against four.
There was another hour before he
need act, and the youthful officer gave
way to moodiness. 1t was far from
being poetry-this killing of human
beings in muddy rags like their own.
Hungry, tired, weary Of the sicksning
duty; surrounded, trapped; a cow
ardly retreat on the one hand, fool.
ish sacrifice the other way-there was
little pomp in it all.
"And 1 WONDER" he thought, in
listless way, II wonder where she Is
tonight A half.dozen uniforms about
her, maybe, all spick and span, gen.
erals, colonies, captains-the devil
take the pack that started this hungry
war"
A few hundred yards behind the
gully doomed up an old mansion. As
the men now lay in silence, save for
the .dreary, pattering prelude of the
rain and the slushing of mud as one
changed his position slightly, a light
shone out across the wet field from a
window OF the house. A moment later
the distant, sweet tones Of piano
were audible. The lieutenant heard
the opening chords with sense Of
their familiarity.
Some one began song. The words
were not distinct; not even the music
was sharply defined at that distance.
But as the song proceeded, coming out
into the night with myetic sweetness
and power, the lieutenant remembered
its mesmeric harmony. Strong in its
glad volume, and then infinitely, gra.
ciously soft; gliding to passionate
heights and sinking again, gently, to
far.away notes. it was a song with a
peculiar swaying power.
Granton called to mind certain
day before his uniform grew ragged.
The settings of the song then had been
a fine old room, glorious woman, a
fascinating voice. 1t was not a song
that lulls; it thrilled and lifted-high
and higher it exalted, until the i'm.
possible seemed easy to grasp.
As the song proceeded the lieuten-
ant felt the full strength of its quick
ening impulse; and gradually he put
away from himself the weak and I'M
nerving dependency. 1t was not
alone the memory Of the music that
inspired him, but the power of the
song itself. Instinct;vely, too, he knew
that the men had been sharers In the
benefit of the passionate harmony.
Almost before the last note died away
on the night he had the squad afoot,
confident that his own spiritual intox-
ication was shared in some measure
by his followers.
Quickly, stealthily, but with a thrill
Of expected triumph. he led the way
through a depression of the ground
toward the little strip Of woods, be-
yond which was the outnumbering
foe. The leader had already made
known the only course of sction--
given point for Start; a quick.
mad charge.