THE B ATT AH ION.
9
qualities of man. I have neither g*one the wa3~s of a lunatic
nor sunken into the depths of despair. When I hear Reveille
morning- after morning- I wear a hunted look, but I stand it
like a man. We deserve S3'mpath3 T . Can you picture in
y-our mind a cold, bleak morning- when it is 3~et dark, just be
fore the dawning* of the da3 T ; when there is no fire in the stove
and the water in 3-our bucket has been transformed into a
g-reat cake of ice; when the north wind strikes old Roster Hall
with a moan and a sigdi, and the windows clatter to and fro
as the cold wind sifts throug-h the cracks? Can 3 T ou form
that picture in your mind? You can, for you have been there,
and. as 3'ou see the dark, bleak night end hear the moaning-
of the wind and feel the piercing- cold, 3'ou snug-gde deeper in
3-our blankets and pass off into pleasant dreams. But, hark!
Above the howling- of the north wind, hear the hard, harsh
notes of Reveille! Do we hide our heads beneath our blank
ets and fall into peaceful sleep? Rar from it. We come in
contact with the freezing- morning- and grope for our clothes.
Ten minutes later and we are out in the very teeth of the
weather answering- to Reveille roll call. Do we deserve your
S3'mpathy T ?
I admit that I am a mental wreck. All throug-h this
life I shall g"o with bowed head and shoulders bent. With
stealthy gdances and keen ears to see or hear some sig-n of an
imag-inary Reveille I shall pursue life’s long* and weary wav.
And if I were to die tonigdit, my miser3 T would not end. Ten
million years from now, when new Empires will have risen
only to fall ag*ain; when this human man will have become.