Amador ledger., 1908-05-22
NOT A MILITARY
HERO WORSHIPER.

tenant In the national guard. He re-
ceived n captaincy IN the volunteers
end marched away with his regiment
amid the plaudlts Of the throngs who
lined the streets. There was one face
at an upper window which absorbed
all the young soldiers attention. the
lace Of his fiancee, Mary Mills. The
look of pride in him and love for him
mat beamed in her eyes might have
eXhilarated another. but Forester was
n peculiarly sensitive mana man to
dread a possible failure. He knew
there were certain men whose constl-
uonal makeups unified them to be
soldiers, and no man can tell whether
he is one of these till he comes to face
shot and shell. He dreaded lest he
might prove unworthy. Should he
talter under the terrible strain OF bat
tie he would never see Mary again.
Forester thought too much Of this.
1t is well for one to realize obligations
he has taken upon himself, but he
should not permit himself to brood
over the matter Forester worried all
the way to Florida. from Florida TO
cuba and during the campaign until
the final fighting. which was the first
time he was under fire.
1t was during this contest about San
tago that his regiment was ordered
forward in the face of terrible fire.
ones first fight is the most trying of
all 1t is then that the soldier for the
first time hears the ugly singing sound
OF bullets, the rattle Of machine guns
and the screech of shells, to all Of
which there is the background Of in
cessant roar of cannon. Forester looked
little pale, but pressed resolutely on.
All Of sudden he became conscious
of dizzy. nauseating sensation, his
loot struck something-or he thought
1t did-and he pitched forward. The
regiment pushed on. Another line Of
battle came up and was pressing for
ward when Forester was awakened,
as 1t were. by the sound of q voice.
Nathan Burge, an old and tried friend,
had seen him. recognized him and
stopped to succor him.
Nate" said Forester. "I've fallen
out Of the ranks. hadn't the physical
ability to go on. Write to Mary Mills
and tell her that I'll never see her
again. She has loved cowardr'
Hi, you. there! Move on" cried an
officer who was marching in rear to
drive on stragglers. Without n word
Burge hurried forward. leaving his
friend to his own regrets.
When the fight was over Burge
sought Forester, but not finding him.
supposed that he had hidden his
shame by desertion. He waited for O
time. thinking that the coward might
turn up, but he did not Burgess regi-
ment was ordered to the coast at the
close Of the war and was one Of the
first to embark for home. When he
reached Montauk Point the first per-
son he met was Mary Mills. She had
come as a nurse. She inquired eagerly
for her lover
Burge prevaricated. He could not
bear to deliver the message with which
he had been charged. But Mary, with
a woman's quick eye where love is
concerned, saw that he was concealing
something and assumed that her
fiance had been killed. Burge would
much rather have broken such news
to her than that he had turned out a
coward. At last he told her the truth.
Mary Mills went home bowed down
with grief.
The next morning she heard one Of
her sisters reading from newspaper
dispatches from Santiago. She was
about to leave the room, dreading lest
she should hear that her lover had
been ordered before Il court martial to
be tried for cowardice, when his name
was mentioned but in a different way
from what she had expected:
Milton Forester wounded in the stom-
ach. Operated upon and expected to re-
cover. Promoted to be captain. vice John
Kellogg, killed.
Forester after being left by Burge
tried to rise. His object was to push
forward with view to getting himself
killed. But he found himself too weak
to rise. At that moment a surgeon
with an ambulance corps came hurry
ing on, making hasty examinations of
the wounded lying on the field. Com
ing to Forester, he saw blood on his
clothing, tore open his coat and said:
"a bad wound"
81? Wounded"
Eyes; in the stomach"
THANK Godr
The surgeon looked at him with a
puzzled expression, but there was no
time for words, and after ordering a
rescue party to take him to a hospital
pushed on.
When the boys of 'G1 were shot in
the stomach there was nothing left for
them but to pass the dark portal. Not
so in the Cuban war. By that time