The Nezperce herald. (Nezperce, Idaho) 1900-1957, 1910-10-06
When the General
y Was Afraid


Laughter and protests were hearS
from their retired excellencies. VIII.
were sitting round table in Wies
baden. But the white-headed little
general, who had been speaking. re
NAMED grave and said: Yes
1t is true; in 1870 was afraid
-
OF whomy"
ITO this day know not. -
And seeing their interested faces he
added:
If you like / win tell you about It.
II was in the winter. and near Or
leans. The exact name Of the little
place IN which We dragons were quar-
tered has escaped my memory Ba'
varians had been in the village before
US. In the night skirmishes which
had preceded the taking OF the village
troop OF Franctireurs who wers cut
on from The main army had been es-
tablished there Our men desired to
avoid unnecessary bloCdshed through
a direct attack. so they fred the back
OF the building. and finally the Franc
tireurs withdrew. Ultimately all be-
came quiet. only the flames still
crackled-and the greater part Of the
little castle was burnt down on that
cold winters night
Only the front Of the mansion re-
manned standing The place awakened
gloomy memories. Blood was every
where-tufts Of hair on the walls.
doors forced open in hand-to-hand
fights It had all come to pass as they
themselves had chosen-they had re-
sisted US BY force Of arms-therefore
but, at any rate. the desolats
house with broken window panes was
standing empty when we arrived
In the stiffness Of the night-so
many people asserted - mysterious
sounds had been heard nu-
merous voices. hushed laughter, steps,
banging Of doors. will-o'-the-wisp lights
in the windows. And just this mys-
terry excited a young lieutenant OF the
Bavarian Light cavalry. He declared
that for once he would spend a night
In the haunted house; and toward
evening he moved over there with
mattress and revolver. But the
0thers had not yet gone to bed when
It about 10 o'clock-he reappeared in |
heir midst and quietly sat down
among them Why he had not remain
ID over there could not be discovered.
He submitted calmly &c being chaned.
but kept a scrupuIous secrecy, and III |
Iimately rode away with his regiment
And we. their successors, were al
ready full Of the legends about the
castle The troops were telling the
mosi foolish stories. and this annoyed
our adjUtant He wished to prove
that they were false. On the third
after our arrival. he said to
Is quite coolly:
We'll, boys. passed the
whole Of last night over thereI" A
couple OF witnesses testified to it.
Everyone asked:
"Well--and >2~
i slept and dreamt Of my mother.
Nothing else at all ."
He laughed and was in good spirits.
he looked rather pale. To
yard evening he rode to the brigade
uarters-three villages Otto receive
riders He has never again been seen.
Some time afterward we were sit
ng together one evening IN thoughtful
mood and talking about our missing
omrade. and how. just the night be-
ore his death, he had beer in that
ouse OF which the dark window
rames were distinctly yawEIng across
he snow In the moonshine. Now It so ;
apDened that had taken a good deal ]
( wine that evening, for / had not 4
cen well during the last few days.
tut now the wine inclined me to be !
3 venturesome as I usually was when
young lieutenant Of 26. and I called {
ut: ~
i shall establish my headquarters c
yer there for tonight" a
You will Dot 90 there" SO snake o
ne Of my best friends beside me; and b
replied:
What will you bet?"
MY white Arab. She is anyway too q
ght for my weight Early tomorrow n
be will be yoursl" q
"Donel" Il
So at about 10 O'Clock I strolIed al
cross the crunching snow to the ST. Il
mt house. my servant with me. He "a
lrried the bedding. which he laid h,
own by the fireplace in the great b
al He had already 1T FIRE, and. h,
nshing forward few more logs OF te
God for replenishing It. he faced 1t
'out at my AN right-now be on" n
10 was scarcely outside the door I
en heard him running as fast az
could. And then all was stiIl and tn
was alone. IN