“I have no thought of reproaching you, my poor girl,” said the gentle father, caressing his child. “And do not blame him, papa!—oh, do not blame him! He is dead now!” she wept. “And the dead are sacred, my girl,” said the major, gathering his child closer to his bosom. CHAPTER XXXIV. WINGS GALLANT CHARGE. “Spare man nor steed, use utmost speed, Before the sun goes down, You, sir, must ride,” the colonel cried, “As far as Pendletown.” “Colonel,” the brave young man saith, “To hear is to obey! Comrades! the path is fringed with death! Who rides with me to-day?”—EDMUNDUS SCOTUS. Every one knows how hopefully the campaign of the Spring of 1864 opened. In almost every engagement the Union arms triumphed. Colonel Rosenthal’s regiment performed their parts of duty, suffered their share of casualties and received their meed of glory. But the glory of war is inseparable from the gloom of death. The regiment was decimated. And it had to be filled up with raw recruits. And Adjutant Wing, for “gallant and meritorious conduct,” was promoted to the rank of Captain and placed at the head of Company K. in a position rendered vacant by the casualties of war. At this time the regiment was stationed at the town of C. On the afternoon of the day when Wing received his captain’s commission, he entered the quarters of his colonel, and saluting him respectfully, said in a tone rather of reproach than of gratitude, for he was by no means elated at the change: “I presume that I have to thank you for this promotion, sir?” “Not so, adjutant. I confess that I am selfish enough to desire always to retain you at headquarters. No—I had nothing to do with the affair beyond speaking of you as you deserved in my report. With a soldier, to hear is to obey, Wing. And whether I like to lose my adjutant or not, and whether you like to leave the office or not, you must assume command of your company before the dress-parade at sunset,” said Colonel Rosenthal. Wing bowed and left his colonel’s presence. And at the dress-parade he appeared with his captain’s straps at the head of his company. But if Wing was not satisfied with his promotion, neither was his company satisfied with their captain. Apparently there was no love lost between them. When the dress-parade was over and the men at liberty to rove over the camp and gather in groups to smoke or gossip, the members of company K were heard to indulge in mutterings of discontent, not loud but deep. Before the appointment of Wing as their captain, company K had been commanded by a tall, stalwart, athletic first lieutenant, who was very popular among the men. And this circumstance made the “baby adjutant,” as they called him, still less acceptable as their captain. “To put _that_ little fellow over us! a mere lad!” indignantly growled Sergeant Copley.