The Life and Adventures of Maj. Roger Sherman PotterAdams, F. Colburn (Francis Colburn)
General
The Life and Adventures of Maj. Roger Sherman Potter
Adams, F. Colburn (Francis Colburn)
Political fiction
"Stop, sir," said the general, "let not a disrespectful word pass
your lips, or I order you under arrest, and sent to the devil, which
is a good enough punishment for Frenchmen." The colonel was about to
withdraw; but the general again peremptorily ordered him to stop,
and, after some effort, succeeded in getting his legs over the side
of the bed, and his body in an upright position; and, when he had
gazed about the room confusedly, and fumbled about for his drawers,
he said to the officer, "And now, sir, I change my mind, do you do
this: first order me a waiter! and when you have done it, see that
he be not a simpleton, but a good, honest fellow, who will assist me
to put on my uniform without keeping his hand to my nose, expecting
it to drop shillings. Then get this sleeping gentleman you see here
awake, for he is a person of much consequence, and, being the guest
of the city, (which I say, seeing how much wind the fathers have
wasted over him,) and a major who has seen service in Mexico, it
will be of much importance that he go with us. Then, sinking the
rules of the service for a few minutes, you must join us in a
morning glass, which will do you no injury, for I see you are every
inch a soldier. Then, go straightway to the general of brigade, tell
him to let the bands play till they have cracked their cheeks, and
earned their money, which they will not do unless you tell them. And
as I have not seen much of this general of brigade's skill, and have
heard it said that his brains are in his boots, tell him that the
general in command orders him to form the brigade, which, if he have
sense enough, he can do while I am putting on my breeches." Here the
general's lower lip dropped, he cast a confused look first on the
floor then at the feathered Frenchman, and then began tugging away
at his drawers, until his nightcap fell to the floor, followed by
his wig and numerous imprecations, for he was vain of his looks, and
thought himself a man whom any lady of taste might take for husband
with credit to herself. "Then," he resumed, "say I order him to
march the brigade up Broadway, in platoon, to Union Square; and let
the bands ring out music that shall rend the very air, send the rich
of the city to wondering, and crowd the streets with ragged
vagabonds. And as I am a soldier, I take it when this is done no man
dare say the brigade is not made up of heroes, every man of them; if
he do, let him be bayoneted! Call a halt, when you reach the square,
and there stand till I come, which will be when I have my horse."
After listening with great attention to the general's commands, the
aid again saluted, notwithstanding his chief was in his shirt, and
then set about waking up the major, which he succeeded in doing
after very many violent shakes, and at length seizing him by the
shoulders and raising him bodily to his haunches, on which he sat
endeavoring to disenchant his eyes, like the moody josch of a
mandarin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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