They value the cross so highly, you know, that
it is the only other decoration in the case which holds the Order of
the Garter in the Jewel Room at the Tower. It is made of copper, so
that its intrinsic value won't have any weight with the man who gets
it, but I bought this nevertheless for five pounds. The soldier to
whom it belonged had loaded and fired a cannon all alone when the rest
of the men about the battery had run away. He was captured by the
enemy, but retaken immediately afterward by re-enforcements from his
own side, and the general in command recommended him to the Queen for
decoration. He sold his cross to the proprietor of a curiosity shop
and drank himself to death. I felt rather meanly about keeping it and
hunted up his widow to return it to her, but she said I could have it
for a consideration.
"This gold medal was given, as you see, to 'Hiram J. Stillman, of the
sloop _Annie Barker_, for saving the crew of the steamship _Olivia_,
June 18, 1888,' by the President of the United States and both houses
of Congress. I found it on Baxter Street in a pawnshop. The gallant
Hiram J. had pawned it for sixteen dollars and never came back to
claim it."
"But, Miss Catherwaight," some optimist would object, "these men
undoubtedly did do something brave and noble once.
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