El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-07-08
The Coward


airy regiment against his inclination.
When a child he had been rather
badly hurt by a fall from his pony,
and for long time afterwards re-
tanned a vague fear of all horses. This
nervousness. however. he had grad
ually outgrown. or had thought So
Even after joining the 49th he had
met with no difficulty for a time, and
the bugbear of his youth seemed a
thing of the past. One day he had
been ragged into mounting Tsar, the
Iegimental terror. Only then did he
discover that the old feeling still
possessed him Indeed, the ignOminOus
figure he cut served not only to make
a bad impression on his brother Of
Ulcers. but destroyed the confidence in
himself that had slowly grown
Just as some people dislike cats in
an unreasOning way, so Wilkins found
his fear of horses steadily increasing
InOugh ne cOnuded this feeling to no
one, and managed TO carry out his Or
binary duties, his position in the regi-
meut soon became very unCOmfOrta Bile.
On one occasion after his charger had
ported with him. he found his belong
1ngs neatly packed into his boxes as
gentle hint that his absence would not
be regretted.
often during the past few weeks he
naQ Deen on the point of resi- gning. but
the thought of his fathers anger had
always kept him back Old Mr.. VIII
klns was a self made man. unima gina
i've and rough, yet determined to see
MS son occupy place in society TO
which he himself. with all his wealth.
could never aspire. His fight for sue
cess had made him not only immune
from the exquisite mental torture his
son was undergoing but quite unable
to believe in its existence
As young wilkins turned over the
situation in his mind there was a knock
at his door, and his Servant brought
in letter.
I got this in the rack as I came up.
sir he said. viii you REQUIRE me
again tonight siF2T
No"
Left to himself. Wilkins handled the
note aosentmindedly. 1t had not been
through the post, and as the envelope
pore the reglmental crest. ne expected
II 10 contain some mess bill or account.
Absorbed in his own thoughts, the
young officer tore open the letter care I
lessly, but in an instant his attention
was aroused. At first sight the en-
Velope seemed empty; then a white
feather fluttered slowly to the floor
For moment or two wilkins sat
staring at the strange object, but as
lis significance came home to him his
face grew white and hard. Almost me-
chanically he picked up the symbol OF
cowardtce, replaced it in the envelope, I
and put both into his pocketboOk
To rush out and find the author Of
the insult was his first impulse But I
he soon realized the futility Of such a
course.
Far into the night the subaltern sat
broOding In his chair without finding
way out of the difficulties. To re-
sign seemed the only solution of the
problem Finally, he decided to see
MS commanding officer preparatory to Z
sending in his papers I
Early next morning he made his way
to the commandments room The stern !
al HH~a. --H--
human. He listened patiently TO his |
subaltern's rather inCOherenu account !
OF his position. about which. perhaps.
the senior officer knew more than he
admitted. though the white feather in
cldent was never mentioned
Your trouble" said the COmmandant
AT last is nerVeS-nOLhlng else No
doubt some of these Harley street
swells would give it a name OF 10
syllables and charge you handsomely
Tor doing So But all you need is a
complete change III give you a long
leave Go abroad; travel about for a
month or two. Then you'll come back
with nerve instead Of nerves. Bless
my soul. when I was your age"
But the gallant cOlOneIs reminis-
cence does not concern this story.
Within fortnight wilkins had started
on a tour through Egypt and up the
Whether or not this would have re-
stored mis- nerves and hOrsemanship is
a
answered The young officer had
scarce arrived at Port Said ere he was
suddenly recalled by news of his IA
lner death He hurried home to find I
MS own situation strangely altered
instead OF being almost nOnentty de-
pendent on a quarterly allowance, Tor Z
his very pocket money, he was in a
position Of great wealth and influence, I
with more say in the affairs of others [
man he formerly had in his own The !
control of his estates and other inter
esJs needed all his time and energy To I
continue his military career was now ]
impossible, even had ne desired it.
very soon notice Of his resignation I
appeared in the Gazette. and within a 1
short time his connection with the 49th I
was almost forgotten.
wilkins himself had begun to think I
OF his reglmenral life as little more /
than a nightmare. when one morning {
he caught sight Of the Lancers' crest /
among the letters on his writing table Z
PuShlng the others aside. he picked up ]
this particular envelope. and spent I
more time trying to guess the identity i
OF his correspondent than he would 1
nave taken to open the letter and look /
at the signature When at last he did 1
satisfy his curiosity his eyebrows went 3
up In establishment. and as he read the I
note his surprise increased
Inc letter was from fellow subal- I
tern named Stacey. from whom he had 4
probably not received half a dozen Z
friendly words before
wilkins was about to toss the letter !
aside when the envelope again caught /
his eye Something. he could not tell /
what. seemed familiar about the writ 4
ing of his own name. Surely he had I
seen that flOuriShing CIV" before. sud ]
denly he pulled out one Of the drawers /
of his wriungtable, and after rummag-
ing for a while, took out an old ell I
velope, which he laid beside the note /
he had just opened They were identi- /
cal Beyond possibility of dispute the \
writing was the same In both cases. /
As soon as lunch was over he went I
mp to his den" after giving instruC-
tions that if Stacey called he was to be
brought up there also. Throughout the I
afternoon wilkins sat in one chair with I
his feet on another absorbed in a
volume OF Browning.
But no sooner did he he hear the
sound of motor horn outside than all I
signs OF letharEy vanished. In a mo-
ment he threw off his coat and began
to pile the furniture against the walls
with such energy that when his visitor
was shown in a few minutes later the
center of the room bore all signs Of
having been swept by a cyclone.
How dye do old fellow" said
Stacey affabIy. Have I disturbed your