The Children's Repository [pp. 221-226]

THE LADIES' REPOSITOR E.
said Nicholas, "for I have heard them say a
hundred times that Jack could n't earn his salt,
and he can't farming, I know."
"I think, then, we'11 have to take you with
us to-morrow, my little man," said the tall
soldier, "for it would be a great shame for the
country to lose such a good drummer. Would
you like to go with us? There will be no danger for you, no fighting, no one for you to beat
but the drum."
Jack listened with throbbing heart. For the
first time in his life it thrilled triumphantly,
and, evincing his ready acquiescence, he followed Nicholas and the tall soldier to headquarters, where, without further doubt or questioning, he was invested with his new title and
the clothes his position entitled him to, formerly the property of his predecessor, who had
died recently, thus slipping from the regiment's
ranks before its march had fairly begun.
In his new excitement Jack had entirely forgotten Farmer Weed and his wagon. Hours
had passed since he had left it, and when the
farmer returned, to his surprise and vexation,
he found Jack missing. He wondered very
much at this unwonted proceeding, and waited
quite patiently for an hour or longer. The keen
November wind blew in his face, and the day
was wearing on. He saw nothing of Jack, and,
strolling around in search for him, he was told
that Jack had been last seen going toward the
camp-ground with Nicholas. The walk was
long, and Farmer Weed's patience becoming
exhausted, he mounted his wagon in a rage
and drove off, thinking it would teach Jack a
good lesson, and was half-way home before
Nicholas reached the place where the wagon
had been standing to apprise him of Jack's new
vocation.
Meanwhile Jack was duly installed in his
position, and passed a night of troubled rest
in his strange quarters, and before dawn was
awakened to start with the regiment that left
early in the morning; and, as if in a dream,
Jack found himself marching in the ranks as
one of the number that formed the long procession, forgetting the past and Farmer Weed
in his present excitement. At the end of that
first day's soldiering he had tired legs and
aching arms and head, whose throbs seemed
so many echoes of the drum-beats that had
sounded so incessantly in his ears through the
long, fatiguing day's march. Unused to great
exertion, and delicate by constitution, he escaped in a great measure the severe discipline
of the soldier's life, and the simplicity of his
nature served as a foil for the vices and wickedness to which he was suddenly exposed, but
into which he never became initiated. Wherever he was known his pure, honest, simple
character remained intact, and the coarse,
rough, brave men learned to regard him not
as one of themselves, but as something of a
higher nature, inspiring both love and respect.
Jack had but two uppermost ideas, and these
were his drum and Nicholas. He followed the
great, rough, burly fellow as a dog would his
master, sympathizing with him in his troubles
and disgraces-and they were not few-and
enjoyed equally the little distinctions he sometimes obtained. Nicholas possessed a strong
fascination for him, and the prospect of his
becoming a general was never for an instant
doubted.
The comparatively bright side of the soldier's
life had been presented to them; marches over
rough, frozen November roads, keen winds
cutting their faces, occasional storms of rain,
snow, or pelting sleet, hard beds by smoldering fires, blankets and loose straw for couches,
hard-tack and salt meat for food, and constant,
rigid discipline. But hearty choruses from
strong throats rent the night air as the men sat
around and nursed their waning fires, though
the frozen earth was their carpet and heaven
their lofty canopy. Others smoked while cards
were telling their rounds, cracked coarse jokes
and ejaculated oaths at their ill-luck. Homesick youths with faint hearts thought of the
pleasant homes, receding farther at every step,
and of the possible dismal future. The few
pious, the ten men still found in Sodom, spent
their leisure moments in devotion to Heaven.
Sickness and death occurred occasionally, but
the ragged, unseemly side of war had not as
yet been uncovered; and if grave thoughts
obtruded, the coming fame and glory drove
them far away. Vague rumors of the approach
of the enemy were heard, and Jack listened
with implicit faith to the wonderful accounts
of what would certainly be accomplished when
the foe was met face to face, and how complete
the victory would be over the crest-fallen enemy.
He had given himself little concern in the
questions that were hourly discussed, but as
the meeting seemed inevitable, and a battle
close at hand, Nicholas suggested a possibility
that sent his thoughts all astray. They had
been sitting together near the camp-fire, whose
flickering rays lit up the expression of the two
faces as they sat side by side, showing distinctly the strong contrast between Jack's pale,
delicate features, with their steady content, and
those of Nicholas, big, blunt, and coarse, and
the good-natured face was clouded and gloomy.
"I say, Jack," said Nicholas, breaking the
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