The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1914-12-28
TAPS AK5 REVEIlLE
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sy EDWARD MARSHALL


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Clear and high and silyery, cleay.
ing-with a smooth cry as of insist.
,ent woe-the uproar Of the city's trat.
&c down by the Twenty-third street
ferries. rose the cali OF Berger's bugle,
playing Taps" as he sought among
the tenements and butcher shops and
boarding houses for knives and shears
to grind.
1t carried to the ears OF Bloom. in
his little shanty at the pier-end. where
he was chief shipping clerk at dock
for a great hardware firm. a food Of
memories, all sad-of nights upon far
southern battle fields when joy Of war
was wholly gone from the blue fight.
ers, and men sank in sleep OF absolute,
death.like exhaustion.
Not one bright rem%iniscence came 70
Bloom, the aged veteran. at sound Of
that intense, pathetic call.
why does he play 'Taps?'" he
cried. Great Lord! Why .Taps?"
He moved ~uneasily upon his stool.
Zach" he said, so loudly that he
drew attention from the youths on two
high stools who, as his assistants, &C.
cupied the little DOLLHOUSE with him.
as death SO far away that old men,
such as him and me, must keep our
selves reminded of It with a horn?"
He rose, acutely irritated. and went
to a little window which looked out
upon the swirlIng waters Of the slip.
foul and greasy as the tide paused at
the turn. The two clerks, rebellious
at beingtforced to work under an old
man, grinned, for they could see the
son OF the company's president com
ing up the dock and they knew the
methods Of that youth.
Their little hearts, not yet deVel'
oped and expanded by the long pull
Stations of deep sorrow and experience,
leaped with an exultation which they
did not know was mean. II young
Fuhrstadt but looked in while Bloom
was loaflng, things might progress
upon that dock! Bloom vas the only
real old fogy left about the place
Young Fuhrstadt, since his aged IA
Their had been forced to stay at home
because OF rheumatism, had wiped the
others all away. But, that day he did
not look IT Is he passed.
Later, at the small restaurant
where, daily, they had luncheon, Bloom
met Berger.
Man." he said to him, why is it
that you always play 'Taps?'"
And why not?" Berger answered,
ct is slow and easy, Those other
calls, they are too nImble. Taps
brings trade as well as would the
Reyeille.'"
"True," said Bloom, "5ou were .
cook in army days. no bugler. You
learned late. And Taps is slow and
easy. I understand. I often won
deredE!'
"Th;at is how it is" said Berger.
Next day, Bloom again went to the
window for a moment, and young
Fuhrsradt did look in. He was amazed.
Hi, you!" no cried.
Bloom quickly turned, although he
felt no fear. He thought himself a
fixture on the dock.
us It something l can do?" he
asked.
"Yes," was the sarcastic answer,
"get to work"
The two youths bent above their
books, smothering laughter.
Bloom felt that he vas standing in
the middle Of the ruin Of all things.
Anger first, then panic, seized him
Was'he then, who had believed him.
self secure, to lose his chance OF earn.
ing his small livelihood? Was the
fact that he had been the tent-mate
of young Fuhrstadt's father 40 years
and more ago, not to be considered?
For 80 years he had kept the rec
ords of the dock, with what help had
been assigned to him, with absolute
exactness.
Butt am old" he muttered, "and
it is a young mans world!"
"You are right in playing Taps"
he said to Berger when he met him
next. quite right For you are old;
and 1t is the one call for me to hear,
I, also, am old. Berger, 1t is a young
mans world-a young mans world"
VGAL AlCI ntI6 nASu az
work he found a note upon his desk.
It was brief and pointed.
"Call at the Office and take time" 1t
said. We need young men"
Not even the young clerks could
laugh as they looked at his face when
he first raised 1t from that note.
Make all Of life you can, young
men" he said, as he put on his coat.
your youth-it passes. Good.by. l
have always done my work, but I am
now grown old. Good,bY."
He forgot to call for the small wages
due him. but passed, unseeing, to his
boarding house. From the distance
came the wall of Berser's bugIe.
Nowhere could he find a new posi-
ton. Everywhere they said he was
too old. Daily he trudged the streets.
his only brisk emotions being an In
tense desire to keep clear. of Berger.
But when q week had passed,
alarmed at Blooms long absence from
the little restaurant, Berger. went to