El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-01-16
Gen. Ferdinand
A short story.

- EN- FERDINAND seemed unus-
uauy preOccupied one morning.
The wind was bowling with the
force Of a hurricane, and the rain was
pouring down in torrents It was very
cold and dark From an adjoining
room came the tWinkling Of glasses,
china and tableware
limbed. Gen. Ferdinand was sitting On
a wooden box. His face was dark and
he was staring at the ground sud
denly he picked up his glass, gulPcd
its contents down, put the empty glass
back violently and cried
The dirty blackguard!'
After a moments thought he added
as if to ease his mind.
Yes, I mean he is coarse brutal
slave driver"
All the Bulgarian and even the
Turkish officers who were crowded
together in this inn, looked at one
another amazed. They felt the storm
that was coming, as they had long
noticed the generals i'll humor that
night
An adjutant tried to paeify him. say
@Weu perhaps it is not his fault
But at these words, Ferdinand, whose
face had grown purple with rage,
jumped TO his feet
Not his fauIt!' he roared, mot his
fault You are all doing your very
best to make me mad. Not his 1aultZ
" NY Only LllS morning On the uAdLEn
he told me that had forgotten the
melinite bombs And yesterday didn't
he tell me that had prevented the
cavalry from charging the Turkish
camp But just let him speak once
And youl What will you do to me
thenT asked "a cold hooking voice
Everybody turned towards the door in
which stood the figure Of a small
, Turkish captain of artillery, who spoke
with a tone OF authority.
It was almost tragic to notice the
physical contrast between these two
men, While Ferdinands features ex-
pressed apparent strength Of character
and his figure was tall, well knit and
powerful the little captains face was
mean and scoWling, and his figure
thin, narrow chesteds and bent. That
they were deadly enemies was appar-
ent in their every movement and ex-
preston. It would have been hard to
imagine two types more enninently fit
to represent the cross Of the christian
and the crescent of the prophet
Now listen to me-" the captain cried
II the rudest manner possible I'VE
are soon TO storm the trenches, and i
ate disorder among the troops, you
may consider yourself lucky II I don't
kick You out Do you understand"
The captain was the stage manager
and instructor Of the famous films
company, MaisOn Durham, Of Paris.
whose films are famous all over the
world. He was a perfect terror to the
lesser actors, who feared his choleriC
temper and his powerful influence
with the heads Of the concern He was
as mean a tyrant as ever lived and
knew no greater pleasure than to find
fault with everything and everybody.
After the quarrel just related lhs
captain and the general had lunch in
his corner OF the dining room, where
ing the recess. When they had fin
ished their coffee, Turks and Bull
garians marched together to the bat
tlefield IN the Bots de Vfncennes close
BY.
The general was in bad humor. Like
most heavy, full blOOded persons, he
was not easily aroused to anger, but
when once aroused. he was dangerous
and not quickly Gained For a long
time his disagreeabIe manager had ir-
ritated him and, as he thought, with
out any reason For u or Is years he
had given full satisfaction in the part
of Francois I, respIendent in regal
robes and white plumes, and now he
was being abused because he could
not mpersOnate a common general
He was thoroughly aroused and the
least prOTocatiOn would be dangerous.
Arrived at the destined place the
assault on the trenches was begun, re-
curing thorough work on the part OF
everybody to produce the desired ef-
feet
"Rabuquet," roared the Turkish cap
tain viii you pay attention to my
command or not what do you think
you are dOing2"
Everything seemed to go wrong I'M
til RabuQuet was fairly trembling with
rage. The final assault began and
the operator was turning his handle
swiftly. Suddenly, Just as the BuI-
garianS were about to seize the
trenches, the Turkish captain. standing
at his gun shouted:
''Rabuquet, you fooll Who ever saw
an officer holding his sword like that2
Have you the faintest idea Of what q
sword is made for Raise
His sentence was never finished. for
Gen. Ferdinand made a rush for him.
like that of a mad bull, and cut him
down with one furious blow OF his
sword.
In moment everything was chaos.
The men stopped and cried but no one
dare approach the angry general The
operator had stopped
Fortunately the wound turned out TO
be nothing more dangerous than 3
deep cash ia the shoulder, which bIed
prOfusely.
Among the war films from the Bal
kans there is one entitled: General
II r.