Roy Norton

“ And as they passed through the lane so widely and respectfully opened for them it was observed that behind the tattered flag of war, carried by a man in servant's garb, walked two old men who clung to each other's arms as if glad, at least, to walk together bravely to the end, and that two others half carried a tired, suffering old man who clung to a battered but shining bugle. And so, out of the square, and into the shadows of the long, long street, so like a road leading into the sunset and the end of life, marched the thin and valorous line of blue ”

“ It will not be long now; so, if some night, as you walk that way through the stillness of that hour wherein another day has died, you should hear a lone and mournful call, you will uncover and stand, if you are an American; for you will be hearing a noble requiem.
Many of the clubrooms at the time of this story had long been neglected; for what could a bare score of men do to keep up the glories of a place that had comfortably accommodated a membership of five hundred.
The dust seemed almost to have settled on the bald head of Hans Wagner, club steward, a waiter too old to wait. ”

“ Under it we cling to the ideal! Under it we strive and hope, and never yet has a righteous army fought beneath it and failed to win! More than a million men fought for or against it, before most of you were born, and yet it flies, and those who fought against it are as proud of it as those who fought for it. What are your paltry struggles and puny disputes compared to the life of the flag, the flag some of you have today dishonored? ”

“ A man leaped on a chair and dragged down a battleflag. It was Hans Wagner, a fighting man once more. Down the stairs he plunged, bareheaded, the tails of his antiquated coat of service flapping round his legs. Behind him they came pellmell, veterans all. knowing but one thing,—the old, old call, the call to the flag! And wheezily bringing up the rear was Maloney, with his bugle in his hand. As if discipline were instinctive after all the lapsed years, they halted in the street, a brave eleven of them. ”

“ And now repeatedly the bugle blew, and the mob wavered and opened up a tiny path as they advanced.
THE men of Sheridan Post were going into their last battle, hoping for nothing, desiring neither wreath of glory nor word of commendation,—intent on but one thing,—the planting of the flag. So, by this, the charge of the six hundred came as no more of a desperate surprise, nor was more desperately effective. Like a wedge following the banner, they clove their way, and men fell back, astonished, amazed, paralyzed into inactivity. ”

“ Had cavalry charged them, inflamed as they were, the men of that mob might have fought back, dragging horse and rider down to be trampled under foot; but here were a mere handful of old men, boldly defying Fate, casting a gauntlet in the very face of Death himself, and moving, ever moving, toward the stand on which the latest impassioned destroyer stood, speechless and awed. ”

“ A WEEK passed, and another, and then the Colonel, when the post was called to order for its regular lodge meeting, stood up and spoke in his thin, weak voice, so pitifully small and sweet and quavering.
"Comrades," he said in the swift silence that swept through the room, "there has been a mistake. I fear an injustice has been done to a fine man, Major Sherwood." ”

“ They rushed after him, as fast as it was possible for men of their ages and infirmities to permit, and the thump of cane and crutch, of slow-moving feet and sprightly old ones, mingled as they pursued him on an errand of amnesty ”

“ We, my comrades and I, are not here to adjudicate the cause you represent. We, like you, do not know. You see the rich man, pilferer or prodigy, perhaps, driving past you in his automobile, and are embittered. Whether he is a pilferer, prodigy, I cannot say; yet I appreciate the hopelessness of the man whose family suffers, and starves, and dies,—the misery of the man who sees his little girls, childish, untempered, unformed, driven to work lest soul and body part for want of wages and food. ”

“ The windows of the house, with the small panes of glass that were the fashion in 1870, have the appearance of age, misty and filmed as many of them are with cobwebs, and seeming to squint upon the hurlyburly of life, as if they longed for spectacles. ”

“ It was as if some spark of youth, strong and dominant, had been blown to flame in his aged shell. And Youth, triumphant, lending him the torch, made him impressive. Below him men began to waver, to nod approval, to look ashamed. ”

“ One had the intoxication of numbers, the other merely the grim resolve to perpetuate an ideal. Into the crowd they broke, a wild-eyed, thin-haired old man, threatening to strike with the staff of a ragged battleflag, followed by white-headed old men using crutch or cane. ”

“ In the 1900's the factions themselves came together and compromised by electing the leaders alternately to the highest office of honor at their disposal, leaving to the alternate out of office the regulation perquisite, so dear to all those out of office, of criticizing the administration. Colonel Horton was for the time being Commander of Sheridan Post, and Major Sherwood the virulent carper. ”

“ There was but one decoration he never dared touch,—Maloney's bugle, kept bright only by Maloney himself, now too asthmatic to blow
Time and again had the members of Sheridan Post attempted to pension Hans, and always these proffers were refused.
"What!" he would say. "Am I too old? Are not my accounts faultless? Is my hand too unsteady? Are my old legs too slow? ”

“ There was something approaching a gasp of astonishment at that, the first open tribute the Colonel had ever been known to pay his ancient adversary. "Let us not be prejudiced, us brothers at arms and comrades all, by any long-standing differences of opinions," he went on. "Let me repeat that Major Sherwood is a tine and gallant man—though perhaps peculiar. So are we all peculiar and opinionated; but, God grant, honorable men! You all know that the Major and I have scarcely been what you would call intimate friends for a very great many years ”

“ In the course of the '80's the five hundred began to fade away so rapidly that even the thought of a split became abhorrent, and in the '90's an endeavor was made to induce the two veterans to bury the hatchet ”