The Cairo bulletin., 1909-04-22

the command devolved upon his first
sergeant, man well advanced in
years, who woIshiped the very ground
upon which his lieutenant walked IL
seemed only natural, then when de-
scribing the death of his favorite Off
Ger, before the members of my staff.
, that at times his voice would fail him,
and tears dim his eyes.
1T was just the day after we left
he said, standing, attentive, that we
came upon their deserted camp. From
signs we knew that they did not have.
much of the start of us, and by noon
we had located them. They had
taken position among a lot of rocks
and evidently intended to fight. The.
lieutenant called the second sergeant.
and myself aside, and said The only
way to get those rascals cut is to.
charge them. / shall lead. Follow me.
Continue the pursuit until every one,
Is taken-alive, IL POSSIBLE" We
wheeled into line, but before we were
fairly ready, he gave the word. and,
putting the spurs into his horse.
bounded away far in the lead We
went after him as fast as possible. but
he distanced us, and was far In ad-
vance when they opened fire. They
fired only about six shots in all and
| saw him discharge his revolver twice
In return, and then fall from the "a l.
die When we reached him he was
dead shot through the heart. stopped
to make the examination, while the
boys continued the pursuit, as ordered
| They captured four. woundng one.
When the men returned | sent a pri-
vate to report the engagement and re
| quest the ambulance
THAT was a gloomy afternoon, and
| as sat alone In my office looking
over the official report written by my
clerk and handed me for correction
and signature, | must acknowledge
that dwelt upon the death of my Of
ticer with feelings of the deepest sor-
row. | forgot his failings OF the past
year and thought only of the bright
young fellow whose life had promised
so much. 1t is no wonder that | wrote
after the closing lines of the report
An officer who was an honor TO the
service and died a soldiers death in
the performance of his duty
Just as | took up my pen prepare
tory to signing the document, my or.
derby entered and announced that
Sergt. Hooper desired to see me-
Hooper was the sergeant who had
made the report of the lieutenants
death, and thinking that he might have
some favor to ask, | ordered that he
be shown in. He appeared, carrying
under his arm bundle wrapped in an
old newspaper.
81 know | should report to the Off
Ger of the day, he said, but what 7
have TO say is something about the
lieutenants death, and think sh 0uld
tell it to YOU alone
=" Something You have omitted from
your report | asked, and my voice
must have sounded rather stern. For
to withhold facts in such case was a
grave offense.
Ives, sir. But what did not relate
before your staff | intended to tell
you, and the same tremor was notice
ublN III uIS NOItt uS NiFu NV fOi N'h
the death. The facts of the fight are
just as | related them. When | bent
over the lieutenant he was dead. |
took off his coat, and when the boys
returned we wrapped the standard
about him, and went into camp to
await the ambulance. The coat have
here and he undid the string of the
h,p hn L.
is the only evidence | withheld from
my report
He unfolded the coat, and held 1t
up without a word AS took It from
him, turning it this way and that, to
get the light upon 1t. something fell
from the inner left-hand pocket TO the
floor Very reverently the sergeant
stopped and gathered up-what? Sim
ply delicate gold rim, few scraps OF
velvet. and what seemed
the fragments of the miniature por-
trait Of woman, painted upon porce-
lain. Yet though shattered beyond
recognition, I think that as we viewed
it silently, neither of - doubted whose
picture, WORN to the last over the
9bullS Ollttf HfdIts Hdu btth ht-
stroyed by the bullet that took his life.
Replacing the remains of the por-
trait, held up the coat so that | could
see the hole through which the bullet
had gone. The blood had long since
dried, leaving its stain, but that was
not all-the cloth was badly burned.
THE garment slipped from my
ncrveless grasp as hundred thoughts
flashed through my mind, and Selling
Hooper by the shoulders | cried:
Your report! You PAID no one was
nea~ him
81 told the truth. sir he replied,
and his head was bowed for tie first
time.
MY Cod | breathed, you don't
mean
There were tears in his eyes as he
slowly replied: Yes. sir; the lie-lten.
ant shot himself
1t must have been some hours later
when an orderly appeared and asked IL