The
officers attended service in full uniform, sitting erect and dignified
in the front seats. We used to smile at the grand air they had, from
the stately gray-haired major down to the youngest lieutenant fresh
from the Point. But brave hearts were beating under those fine
uniforms; and when the great struggle came, one and all died on the
field in the front of the battle. Over the grave of the commanding
officer is inscribed, 'Major-General,' over the captain's is
'Brigadier,' and over each young lieutenant is 'Colonel.' They gained
their promotion in death.
I spent many months at Fort Mackinac with Archie; Archie was my
nephew, a young lieutenant. In the short, bright summer came the
visitors from below; all the world outside is 'below' in island
vernacular. In the long winter the little white fort looked out over
unbroken ice-fields, and watched for the moving black dot of the
dog-train bringing the mails from the main land. One January day I had
been out walking on the snow-crust, breathing the cold, still air,
and, returning within the walls to our quarters, I found my little
parlor already occupied. Jeannette was there, petite Jeanneton, the
fisherman's daughter.
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