his dazed old
ears.

"Oh, Gawd, oh, Gawd!" he groaned, putting one hand to his head, and
rocking it from side to side, as though the pain there were more than he
could stand.

"Oh, Gawd, oh, Gawd." The revolver was lowered slowly from its upraised
position, and suddenly, before the officer could stop him, the sergeant
turned it against himself. There was a flash, an earsplitting report,
and the old soldier sank to the floor. There he stretched himself
wearily, as though for a long sleep, and Sergeant Jeremiah Wilson, of
the "old Army," was gathered to his fathers.

The Captain turned away abruptly. He knew that old Wilson was a good
shot.

"Open the doors," he said to the troopers, as though he had been telling
them good morning. Compliance to that voice, raised in command, was to
these soldiers a second nature. There was not the slightest hesitation.
With eager alacrity they hastened to obey, like children who had been
caught misbehaving.

In the first faintness of the dawn the tired-faced troopers cheerfully
filed out and formed in front of the quarters, each one, as he passed
through the door, depositing his arms at the officer's feet. Oh, but it
was good to be on the right side again; and the "ole Cap'n" would take
care of his own.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] Art. 17. Any soldier who sells, or through neglect loses or spoils
his horse, arms, clothing, or accoutrements, shall be punished as a
court martial may adjudge, subject to such humiliations as may be
prescribed by the President, by virtue of the power vested in him.

[Illustration]

THE SINGER'S HEART

BY

HARRIS MERTON LYON

ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. B. MASTERS

_"I never cared for the singer's fame,
But, oh, for the singer's heart
Once more--
The bleeding, passionate heart!"--"B. V."_

These are a few films from the human biograph of Harry Barnes, old
actor. You know, when you are old, you accept life with more or less of
a sigh of quiet acquiescence, and by your cozy fire you sit and nod to
an inner voice, a gentle old voice which over and over whispers and
murmurs--"Once upon a time, once upon a time." And possibly Barnes would
have nodded, too, but he lacked the cozy fire. Life has its dramatic
unities, it would seem, and if one thing or another is awry we are apt
not to perform as the book says we should. No cozy fire, says the Great
Stage Manager; no nodding acquiescence, replies the Mummer in the Play.

Barnes liste