The daily Alaskan., 1914-01-14
HE SAVED HIS FACE
By DOROTHY BURNS

to marry:
 You know. my dear mother, that I have always contended that neither clergymen nor soldiers should marry. The first should always be ready to fight the devil under the banner of the cross in any land, however barbarous, and the second to fight the enemies of his country under it's flag. And 1t seemed to me that If a soldier should take a wife she should have about her something of a soldiers nature. l do not mean that she should be expected to march to battle like a man. but that in moments of great danger she should retain her self possession.
 You remember that l came out here the year before the great mutiny and was assigned to the tn Bengal cay airy at Meerut, where 1t broke out I saw enough of the terrOrs a soldiers wife is liable to among the English women. who were obliged to fly for their lives, many of them being butch cred and some burned in their houses while their husbands attended to their military duties, to confirm my opinion that a soldier should not be cucumber cd with a wife. or at least If he has one she should be a marvel of courage.
 "A few months ago. dear mother, l was invited to the quarters of Colo nel CrOcker of the fusiliers. The colo mel has been in India twenty years and has d daughter, Cynthia. born just after his arrival here. so that, never having left India. she has never seen England. At my first meeting with this young lady l felt that she was to prove a strong temptation to me to desert my principles. After being con- stautly at her fathers bungalow for three months the first part of my reso- IutiOn-neYer to marry so long as ] was a soldier-was completely broken down. ! was passing an Intermediate stage between that resolution and my second-if did marry while sol diar to mate only with a woman of such remarkable nerve under danger as l had seen among the officers wives and daughters at the breaking out of the mutiny at Meerut-when an episode happened that broke down all my scruples against marriage.
 Il was dining one evening with Colo mel Crocker and his family. The colo nel sat at one end of the table, Mrs. Crocker at the other, while one of the younger children and Cynthia sat on one side and the other child beside me. A servant was pulling on the puakah; another, an Indian girl, was serving us at dinner In these days one seldom talked about anything eI- cept the adventures of the mutiny, and the colonel who was at the time t broke out at a Cantonment about two miles from Delhi, was telling how he tried to induce the mutinous se- pOys of the regiment to which he YVES attached to remain faithful to their duty when be was interrupted by Cyn- thiu quietly telling the waitress to place a bowl of milk on the floor The colonel gave over his narration and looked at his daughter anxiously, her mother doing the same. l saw at once that she was moved by some powerful emotion. But she neither moved nor spoke. We all sat waiting while the maid placed the bowl of milk on the floor not far from Cynthia's chair and in a position where l could see it. What was my surprise and horror to see a cobra slowly creep from where Cynthia sat to the bowl
 "The snake had been wound around her leg and uncoiled to get the milk.
 Suddenly Colonel Crocker seized a carving knife from the table and. dart ing to the snake, with one blow severed it in two parts.
 And now, dear mother, have come to the other important statement con- tained in this letter. This brave wom- an has consented to be my wife. l can keep, at least, my resolution not to marry a woman who Is unftted to be the wife of a soldier. Colonel and Mrs. Crocker have consented, and Cyn- thid and I are very happy. To crown all. the colonel is to be retired in a few months and will use his influence to have ne ordered to England. so that we shall doubtless all sail for home to- gether. Cynthia and I shall not be married til we reach England. and you, dear mother. will be at our we'd ding"
 This is the end of the story as given in my grandfathers letter to my great grandmother. All turned out satiSfac- torily. Colonel Crocker was retired as expected and had influence sufficient to secure an order for his intended son-in-law to report at the war office in London about the same time as he himself expected to reach there. So they all went home together, and the wedding was celebrated at Twicken- ham. where the Crockers took up their residence after their return
 There Is a sequel to this story which goes to show that my grandfather had saved his face by not telling the whole of it. The truth is that in the exuber- ance of youth he had talked very loudly about remaining a celibate so long as