How the Worm Turned.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 2265, 15 May 1891, Page 4

How the Worm Turned.

__^ - |; _ m Shakespeare .r v says^ something.q about . worms, or !-,it, mayi be giants prbbeetle^j Waning if yon teeadipn ,ttpm. top jeyerely-t °" 'a. Worm— not .evenfoh .the ..last subaltern | ' ' of tfaew f l^Btte ptfp^r, and the, red ; of sapp y 3li £nglisfi < bSef.in^c|m'.ph,^ek'sy. l l :..i?h^^ is, Jhe story of the worm that ' 'tamed. , .For the' •nJSake^of brevity, ; we" will ball Henry 1 f Augustus ißamsey ■ Piazanne « The Worm]'--1 '^thongK d^e : %as "reallfln , exceedinglypretty boy,* wiih'out a hair on his face, »:andfwith a' waist like a "girl's, 1 when he" ■-. • came- out<to the 1 ; seodna ' Shikarria ): : atia -■was made unhappyin several wkys.', 3?hp * Shikarris ' are a <I hi^h-6a'ste : regime* rit, ( ( imd your.muat be< able to do thingd well !*-playiabanjo,;or ride more 'than little,, get on with them. v . ' \ '■uoJDnfliWotm did ! noth|ng except' fall' off , jhißj pony;and knook chips out of gats-posts rnWith. Ms- trap. Even' ! that beoamp [monotonous after a time. He objected : to whist, cut the cloth at billiards,' sung out of tune, kept very much to himself, 9 and wrote to his itnamma and sisters at „home. ( r. JB'our of these five things; were ! vioesWhioh the Shikarris objected to and ■ , 'Set . .themselves to eradioate: > (Everyone knows.how; subalterns are, by brother subalterns, softened and not permitted 'io be ferpoious. It is good and whole'ssome, and does no : one any harm unless .iempers are/ lost; and' then there is trouble. r-j There was a man onbe— but but^hat is another story, The Shikarris ) ■', >The ■» Worm very] much, iand „}io?)3oxf> everything without winking. He, t',was.,BO[good and so anxious to learn, i and. flushed so pink, that his education was ..-jout short, .and he was. left to. his own 0 cteyicps., by everyone except the ; senior , subaltern, who continued to make life a ; bw^en, V to The, oWorm. The senior -subaltern meant no harm ; but his ohaff was coarse, and he didn't quite = understand jwhere to. stop. He had been wait-, ing 'too long bis company; and that ,. always sonrs.a man.; Also he wasin love, J whioh, .made him worse. ' One day. after he had borrowed The ;Worza ? B; trap for a lady who had never existed, had used it himself all the ! afternoon, had sent a note to The Worm, purporting to come from the lady, and .was telling the mess all about it, The 1 Worm rose in his place and said, in his quiet, ■ lady >like : voice— - i'ZThatwas a veiy pretty sell, but I'll lay you a month's pay to a month's pay when you get your step that I work a sell on you Ghat you'll remember for the ..rest of your daysman d the regiment after you when your dead or broke. ( -jj: The -Worm wasn't angry in the least, Jj and the rest of the mess shouted. Then the senior subaltern looked at The Worm from the boots upward, and down again, .an.d said — ft Done, baby.' The- Worm took the rest of the mess to witness that i the bet had been taken, and , 'retired into a book with a sweet smile, J 'Tw6 months passed, j and the senior subaltern still educated The Worm, who began to move about a little more as the : hot weather came on. ,- ' I have said thatjthe senior subaltern was in love.' The curious thing is that the girl' was in love with the senior subaltern. •Though ibe colonel saw awful things j and the majors sported, 'and married * cdptains looked; unutterable wisdom, and the juniors i scoffed, those two were enogaged. < 'The senior subaltern was so pleased 9 with getting his company and his Jacoept'ance at the''sa\^e time that he . forgot to '■boiher'Tne'Worm. The girl was a pretty x^irl, and had money of her own. She does not come into this story at all. ' ' One night, at the beginning of the, hot ' Weatner.'allthe mess, except The Worm, wbp had gone to his own room to write hpnie letters, were sitting on the platform! Y putside the mess-house. The band had; finished playing, but no one wanted to go; ,in. And the 'captains' wives .were there akOj,.; The lolly of a man in love is un-| limited. The seoior subaltern had been holding forth on the merits of the girl he 1 was engaged to, and the ladies were; purring approval, while the men yawned,! when there was a rustle of skirts in the 1 dark and a tired, faint voice lifted itself. ' Where's my husband ? ' , . Then the voice cried, * Oh, Lionel ! ' Lionel Was the senior subaltern's name. A woman came into the little circle of flight lf by the candles on the pegitables, stretching out her hands to the dark (Where the senior subaltern was, and; sobbing. We rose to our feet, feeling that things , were going to happen, and ready to believe the worst. In this bad small world of ours, one knows so little 'of line life of the next man— which, after! all, is^entirely his own concern — that one! ■i& 'rioV'-surprised When a crash" conies. I Anything might turn up any day for! ; anyone. >■■<•:.; o ■■■■-. ■ ■■•■ ■ -•■ ■ ■ " \ Perhaps the senior subaltern had been trapped.in his jropth. Men are,, crippled that way occasionally. , We didn't know ; 'we" wanted to* hear ; and the captain's wives were as anxious as we. If he had be'en^trapped, he Was to be excused ; for the wbman from nowhere, in the dusty shoes and grey travelling dress, Was very Ipvely, with black hair and; great eyes fall of. tear^. She, was tall, with a.fine figure, anid ;her voice had a running, sob in it pitiful to ■ hear.. , As ; soon as the senior subaltern stood up, ' sue threw her arms round his, neckband palled him. 'my ,darling,' and saidshe .could not, bear waiting alonein j and his letters, were so shorfeandcpld, and she was his to the end of the world, and would he forgive her?. -This not sound quite like a I&dy% I W&Ju jof '.speaking. It , was tpp demonstrative/ v'.-^ "... '„:'.., - . .;. , ... „, , V.ThJmgSHseemed black indeed, and the ea'p^nfl'o. wises-; preyed .under ,the.ir ; eye-^ brows at the senior subaltern, andjthe. oolpnejfs.laoe; set like, ..the .day pt judgement^frame^d'in grey bristles, and no, one Bpo^e^praVwiiilev.. 1 :."'-. ". ' Ar . ', ' ■.■'■'■■: r-•j<-^ext'^h|HoblonelsMa > yery I ,Blioiftlyrr? ■ The woman sobbad .afresh* v j The senior subaltern f w,as,.half choked with the , arms S^bnVd i^^jnepk,>buii b\e gasped jpuj;-^- . 0 \^^aj^jff^;-i^yeri'ihaaC a^ifej.m.my : ari{Dß&& gty ftxpited,f,r said 4he ( ..qplonel. • Come into the mess. iMbyrimßbof-MiR #Sj!iMh:#h& < B M¥^ - t0 Kimaelf. 'for lie believed m his.Shikarriß, . ]aidme^p]jq(nel fti ;. p \^^ lt% :• r/^^tn \ opPSd in^ijtaej aftte-jpam,; junder ; ,ifull^h"tei: ,and, therenWe > saw« <ho.wj beautifaljthe-woman .was.. She stood (J up

o 6f ,us iU ? sonietfmSs ! 6lipkin^ with" .(btyiii^' then ' hard -and . priiud,' ! and 'h'pldmg' out "(her .arms 5 , to the'; 'senior . (Ss#e*s ' 'It' waslfte n tbe fpurtfy act pf a, iferjigedy. ! n/ She, tplcl .us, how the , senior (SubalteMithad 'inurieq .her, when he, #as home on leave eighteen, months -before; ( and she seemed t.o know all that) we knew, and more too, of Ms people and 'his past* life,;; He i was white and. ashy grey, trying now and again to break into- the torrent/ of- her 'words ; and •• we," adting how> lovely she was and what a 'criminal ('he 1 looked, esteemed him a beast of the Worst kind: i We 'felt soifry for him, r thougb. i: ; !: I 'shall never forget the ita.diotm.ent Of the senior 'subaltern by 'his wife; 'Nor willjaeJ ' 'It was, so sudden, rushing out of the dark,,.unanup^n.oea, into bur dull lives.' the oapta^as' wiyes stood back; but their eyes were alight, and you could see that they, , had < already opnvioted and sentenced Jthe seinor , subaltern. The colonel seemed five years older .^ One major was shading his eyes with his hand and watching the woman from underneath it. 1 ! Another was chewing- his moustache and smiling quietly as if he were witnessing'^ play. I remember all this as clearly as though a photograph were in my hand. I remember the look of terror on the senior subaltern's faoe. It was rather like seeing a man hanged, but mnoh more interesting. Finally, the, woman wound up by saying that the senior. subaltern oarried a double F. M. in tattoo qn ois left shoulder. We all knew that, and to our innocent minds it seemed to olinoh the matter. But one of the bachelor majors said very politely— -..A I, presume that your marriage certificate; would be more to the purpose.' That roused the woman. She stood .ap'and sneered at the senior subaltern for a our, and abused the major and the colonel and all the rest. Then she Wept, and then she pulled a paper from her breast,- saying imperially — " 'Take that ! and let my husband— my lawfully wedded husband read it aloud — if 'he dare T There was a hush, and the men looked into each other's eyes as the senior .subaltern came forward in a dazed and •dizzy way, and took the paper. We were wondering, as we stared, whether there was anything against any one of us that might turn up later on. The senior subaltern's throat was dry ; but as he ran his eye over the paper, he broke out into a hoarse cackle of relief, and -said to the woman— ' You young blackguard ! ' But the woman had fled through a door, and on the paper was written — « This is to certify that I, The Worm, have paid in full my debts to the senior subaltern, and, further, that the senior subaltern is my debtor, by agreement on the, twenty-third of Feburary, as by the mess attested, to the extent of one month's captain's pay, in the lawful ourrenoy of the Indian Empire.' ; Then a deputation set off to The Worm's quarters and found him betwixt and between, unlacing his stays, with the hat, wig, serge dress, etc., on the bed. He came over as he was, and the Shikarris shouted till the gunners' mess sent over to know if they might have a share in the fun. I think we were all, except the colonel and the senior subaltern, a little disappointed that the scandal had come to .nothing. But that is human nature. There could be no two words about The Worm's acting. It leaned as near to a nasty tragedy as anything this Bide of a joke can. When most of the subalterns sat upon him with sofa cushions to find out why he had not said that acting was his strong point, he answered very quietly— ■• I don't think you ever asked me. I used to aot at home with my sisters.' But no acting with girls oould account for The Worm's display that night. Personally, I think it was in bad taste, besides being dangerous. There is no sort of use in playing with fire even for fun. The Shikarris made him president of the Eegimental Dramatic Club ; and when the senior subaltern paid up his debt, whioh he did at once, The Worm sunk the money in scenery and dresses. He was a good Worm ; and the Shikarris are proud of him. The only drawback is that he has been christened ' Mrs. Senior Subaltern ' ; and, as there are now two Mrs. Senior Subalterns in the station, that is sometimes confusing to strangers .