Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

19 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

OUR SHORT STORY.I

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OUR SHORT STORY. I TM: SUBALTERN'S CHOICE. I By C. S. GOIiDINGHAM. I The subaltern of Marines turned wearily from itd contemplation of the Rock of Gibraltarf-what littLe of it he could see froEi his ca.oin scuttle. He knew it all by heart. For twenty-one* mortal days Lorimer had had no other N-iew of the outer world than that afforded by the porthole of his cabin. As the battleship swung slowly round her buoy he had parsed the tedious hours in watching1 some point on shore or on the Mcle, or perhaps a passing picket boat, and calculating just exactly how soon it would pass out of his line- of vision. He was afraid of his thoughts; he could not always control them, and feared lest they should, run .away with him and shake the resolution ho had made—a resolution taken upon the spur of the moment—and the cost fkee-plng it at first scarcely Tsa?ised. i- b est i ma',e it H? had had plenty of time to estimate it at its true valu ai?ce, but it was onlv in moments of despondency that he regretted the ohoice he had made. It Wéft3 during the l<M;g nights of wakefulness that his resolu- tion begun to fal-ter, and he would call him- self every kind of fool he could lay tongue to. and swear that he would exereise legal—and moral—right at the court- martial (if only they wouW get it over and done with it!), plead "Not guilty," and proy-e his innocence. He could do it. lie put the thought away from him and began feverishly to count the num ber of p on the faces of a pack of cards or the number c.f minutes which had elapsed since h? lwd been placed und<r arrest, or any- thing to keep himself from thinking. He remembered vividly every moment of the interview with the oaptaia of the shir), consequent upon the discovery that a cypher was missing. Norton, the captain of Minnies, had been present, naturally, in his capacity as the subaltern's command- ing effioer. in Nobody suspected for a single instant that it was in his charge that the cypher had been at the time, and that it was through his and not Larimer's negligence that it had been lost. Norton was in charge of all codes and cyphers* in the ship on issuing this par- ticular one to his junior, he had, as the rd of the service prescribed, obtained the signature of the latter for it. The subaltern had returned the cypher when ho had ■finished with it: but h? had omitted to see his signature crossed off. In so far, there- fore, the blame was his; officially he was responsible fcr the cypher, and so he must stand* the racket of its loss. He remember the occasion of his re- turning the book (the captain. of Marines hJAi been in a hurry to catch the boat ashorC), and' he knew at the' interview that Norton remembered it too. He. had seen ttie horror creep into his senior officer's eye. at the realisation of his responsibility; for he had been married a few months only, and this meant dismissal from the Service. la that moment the subaltern had fore- stalled him, acknowledging entire blame to: the loss. Through dry lips, and with beads of cold sweat breaking out upon his fore- head, the captain <1f Marines had once more attempted to speak, to prevent the mon- strous sacrifice which was being made for hi m; but the opportunity had gone by. j After aH, he thougnt, he could remedy the matter later, explaining that Lorimer had made a mistake—not a pleasant thing to have to do, still-- Rut it had been more difficult than he had imagined to say the ward which should condemn himself, and with every hour and day which new passed it became more irnpoosible that he should acknowledge how he had played the coward and a.Howed another to shoulder the b lame walcn. should have fall-en upon himlf. The subaltern was filled with dismay at the risk Norton ran. There was a world of difference bet wean dismissal from the Ser- vice for negligence, and dismissal for con- duct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman. In attempting to shield the captain of Marines from bhe lesser penalty he had ex- posed him to the risk of the infinitely greater. The fact that it was three weeks since he had been placed under arrest, and still no court had been ordered to assem ble to try him,, looked ominous. Inquiry might i&s.ve been instituted, and if' that were so, the truth was baund to come out. Yet, there •was nothing more he could do; he odd cnly wait, a prey to 'd-mot and suspense. There was a knock at the cabin door, and the first lieutenant came in. When court- martialied an officer is allowed the assist- ance either of counsel, or, as he usually pre- fers, of another officer to help him conduct his eaac. Lorimer had chosen the first lieutenant; the request had surprised the latter at the time, although he had just discovered what he believed to be the xeason. ine papers- nave oome, Ila sheet and. circumstantial letter." "At last! When will it be?" "To-morrow, nine a.m. You'll sleep aboard the Magnificent to-night." The law of the Service denies to the off.c(>t" I about to be tried by court-martial the srnnll consolation of remaining under arrest in hid own ca,bin once the order convening the court has been issued. "To-morrow? Thank God Lorimer dropped into a chair, his voice betraying the strain of three weeks of waiting and uncer- zliintv. Grayson, another few days of this would" have driven me mad. Why have they been such a devil oi a time about ordering it?" The first lieutenant looked across the bay to Algeciras, where white houses gleawetl. am0¡g the frees at the water's edg-c. "You Ttnow what's going on there,' he remarked, with a jerk of the head in the direction. "Yes." Lorimer knew. It was the month of January, 19C0, and the conference was sitting which was to settle the vexed ques- tion of French rights in Morocco. "The captain sent for mo yesterday—sub rosa, of course, as lie's prosecuting. Ap- parently this eyoher found its way into the hands of a. German agent-you know it s vital to them to know whether v-c'!i back » up France all through—and certain secret orders which were sent to our man there by the Government were intercepted and de- ciphered. That's why they waited so long. It only it had been any other than the l[f )Il ty ,;I Office Foreign Office cyphr" "You mean they thought I-seld the •beastly thing "Yes. at first.- Then-" "But there'» nothing about—about that sort of thing in the oiarge." Lorime* 1. 11 it scrutinised the charge sheet. "t siaipiy says did iooe by neglect.' V\ nv didn t they put in an alternative charge, it tnat s what the 7 thought?" uo. ev i de-,icp. "'rhere was no evidence. "Xaturally," remarked Lorimer "You Kti?ht ha,e added that, Grayscn. I-gnould have, of course." The subaltern looked at him curiously. "What's the matter? You don't believe I sold it, dD you. "Great Caesar, no! What's more, I'm S?oLo? to clear you of the charge of losing it. There's been the devil's own row; I'm sorry for the other fellow. It means the booli-the captain warned me." "The other fellow?" began Lorimer. Then comprehension dawned upon him-yand lie had" thought Gravson so safe thick-headed old g,,iaui, he had never believed him cap- able c-f ^eing what lay beyond, his nose.. no! There's uo other fellow in the case. I've told you I'm g-mlty., ,in gomg to plead guilty-yõu inow that. It always pays in the end. Besides, tnere s nothll1 else to' be done." He turned his head away from the other's curious eyes, and looked out over the waters of the. bay. Away to tho right he could just see the gleaming sands along :which he had so often centered on bathing picnics—with the captain of • Marines; one of them, if ever he rode there again, would do so as a civilian. And that one must be himself—it must be. "After what I've discovered? I think not. Lorimer." The subaltern turned his head quickly. "What d'yoa. mean?" he asked apprehen- 1 sively. "The cypher was in Norton's charge whelj it went adrift." "o!" Lorimer broke in vehemently. "No, it wasn't." His eyes fell before the '.first lieutenant's searching looi. "No," he re- peated mechanically. < "I have some proofs—enough to convince the court." "Have you been speaking to him?" Lori- mer felt he must know that, though he realised how the gave him away. "Who—Norton? No. But "It waziL 't. I tell you it wasn't. Don't look at me like that, Grayson." Lorimer turned his head away again be- fore the other man's gaze. Outside tho water lapped softly against the battleship's siue. and from deep down in the dynamo room a. throbbing vibration penetrated to the siience of the cabin. Grayson's voice cut suddenly upon the stillness. "Why ere you. shielding -him?" "I don't understand what you mean," the 3ubalrern flung defiantly over his shoulder. "You're a bad liar, Lorimer. Shall I give you chapter and verse?" "No! Oh, I thought "Thought I was such a dull-witted old buffer I'd never find out, eh? That's why you asked me to be prisoner's friend, when everyone knows Deakin's the man for the job. Am I right?" .< "Yes." 1 "Won't you be frank with me?" Th> ere was no reproof in the first lieutenant's voioe, only a sincere desire to. save the subaltern from ruining himself for some quixotic scruple. "I have the right; after ail, you did ask me to be prisoner's friend." "Yes. I'm sorry, Number One. I must seen: beastly m¡gÄ>teiuL" Then Lorimer's voice changed and rang hopefully. "You see, it was my fault, after all; I was too lazy to see my signature crossed off when I returned the book." "T. seem to remember telling you you were a bad liar, Lorimer," remarked the first lieutenant dryly. "Try again." You're a sticker Lorimer tried to laugh, but the effort ended in hopeless failure. He glanced at a..framed photo- graph which was screwed te the bulkhead of the cabin, and Grayson's eyes followed the glance. It was the photograph of a girl, .1 girl with fiL,,n k stea sy hotograph of a -irl, a girl with fiank, steady eyes which looked straight out of the ftrame at him, so that stand as he might in different cciners of 4he cabin, her eyas looked always full into his cat-in, "I knew her before she was married." he said as lie turned .way. Known her all my life. Then be -N,orrton--bntt.,d in. I'm not grousing at her choice. It doesn't matter a tinker's curse what happens to me -my parents are dead. They've only been married a few months. Imagine having to tell your wife you'd been pushed out of the Service. Oh, heavens! Get out But Grayson had alrealy left the cabin. Five minutes plater Norton and anotuei officer came into the wardroom as the first lieutenant was busy burning some papers at the stove. "Hullo. Tubby!" exclaimed the other offi- cer, "Burning your love lafcters?" No. Evidence for the court-martial," re- plied Grayson curtly, as h% rose and looked Norton in the face. s

ABOUT MONITORS. 1

I SOLDIERS' SUPERSTITIONS.…

( LIQUORICE ROOT.

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W——HI WIIIUNM—" I MARGARINE…

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SHOPllFTER'S HAUL.1

BOYS TOO HIGHLY PAID.- I

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| NOTES ON NEWS. tNGTESONNEWS.

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