Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Story
May 9, 1908
Rock Island Argus
Rock Island, Rock Island County County, Illinois
What is this article about?
An unnamed man, knowing himself to be a coward, enlists in the Spanish war to appease his impatient sweetheart. He fights once, unharmed, earns praise for bravery, marries her, but internally resents his hypocrisy and remains a coward at heart.
Clipping
OCR Quality
100%
Excellent
Full Text
He was a coward.
No man save himself knew it for he had been fortunate enough to keep the knowledge of it from others.
But he knew that he was a coward.
He admired bravery in other men.
He read tales of heroes with keen pleasure and he wished that the gods had given him the quality of courage. But he was nevertheless a coward.
When the Spanish war broke out he saw his friends go to the front and he envied them. They will do brave deeds and be admired of men, he thought, but I who am a coward must stay at home with the women.
And he loved a girl and was loved in return by her. And she did not know that he was a coward. But well he knew that he was.
And as the weeks went by and much fighting had been done and yet he had not offered up his manhood for the cause his sweetheart grew impatient and asked him what kept him at home. And he could not answer her. For he would not admit that he was a coward save to himself.
Then as she importuned him to go he weighed his chances. If I go, said he, I may not see actual service, but she cannot twit me with cowardice.
I will risk it for my soul's peace.
And he enlisted. And for many months fortune favored him and he saw no active service. But yet his knees shook daily when he thought of the possibilities of the future.
And at last he was ordered into battle, and because his moral cowardice outweighed his physical fear and he feared ridicule more than he feared danger he exposed himself to the fire of the enemy. And he was unharmed, but his fellows said, he is a brave man.
And his first battle was his last also, for the war ended on that day and he went home. And the papers and his comrades spoke of his bravery, and his sweetheart accepted him at his reputed valuation and they were married.
But his life was embittered, for he hated hypocrisy and in his heart of hearts he knew that he was still a coward.
(Copyright, by James Pott & Co.)
No man save himself knew it for he had been fortunate enough to keep the knowledge of it from others.
But he knew that he was a coward.
He admired bravery in other men.
He read tales of heroes with keen pleasure and he wished that the gods had given him the quality of courage. But he was nevertheless a coward.
When the Spanish war broke out he saw his friends go to the front and he envied them. They will do brave deeds and be admired of men, he thought, but I who am a coward must stay at home with the women.
And he loved a girl and was loved in return by her. And she did not know that he was a coward. But well he knew that he was.
And as the weeks went by and much fighting had been done and yet he had not offered up his manhood for the cause his sweetheart grew impatient and asked him what kept him at home. And he could not answer her. For he would not admit that he was a coward save to himself.
Then as she importuned him to go he weighed his chances. If I go, said he, I may not see actual service, but she cannot twit me with cowardice.
I will risk it for my soul's peace.
And he enlisted. And for many months fortune favored him and he saw no active service. But yet his knees shook daily when he thought of the possibilities of the future.
And at last he was ordered into battle, and because his moral cowardice outweighed his physical fear and he feared ridicule more than he feared danger he exposed himself to the fire of the enemy. And he was unharmed, but his fellows said, he is a brave man.
And his first battle was his last also, for the war ended on that day and he went home. And the papers and his comrades spoke of his bravery, and his sweetheart accepted him at his reputed valuation and they were married.
But his life was embittered, for he hated hypocrisy and in his heart of hearts he knew that he was still a coward.
(Copyright, by James Pott & Co.)
What sub-type of article is it?
Biography
Tragedy
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Tragedy
What keywords are associated?
Cowardice
Bravery
Spanish War
Hypocrisy
Enlistment
Battle
Where did it happen?
The Front
Story Details
Location
The Front
Event Date
Spanish War
Story Details
A self-aware coward enlists in the Spanish war to avoid ridicule from his sweetheart, fights once without harm, is hailed as brave, marries her, but remains embittered by his hypocrisy.