The Bugler of Company B (1913)
Col. Miles believes a three-year term enlistment will benefit his son, and prevails upon him to join his command as bugler. Col. Miles is in active service in Arizona. Milton, the son, lives at a rapid pace. An act of insubordination calls for punishment, and although the Colonel is deeply grieved, he permits the arrest of Milton. Milton, believing his relationship will protect him, becomes quarrelsome with an officer and assaults him. The colonel treats the case with the same dignity as one of no kin, and orders Milton court-martialed for the offense. Milton becomes vindictive towards his father. During the trial, at which the colonel attends, Milton insults the officers present, the army in general, and likewise the colonel and "that d----- rag" he has been saluting for twenty years. He tears the flag from the table and throws it beneath his feet. The colonel apologizes to the officers for the defilement of the country's flag by his son and he orders the buttons cut from his uniform and that he be drummed out of camp. This is done, Milton disappears and from that day on the colonel ages rapidly. As a shabby hobo Milton arrives back home and at night calls on his sweetheart. The girl tolerates his presence, listens to the outpouring of his grief and explanations, then tells him she still loves him, but it is a love such as one has for the departed, for he has destroyed all ties of betrothal. After leaving his sweetheart the fires of conscience begin their relentless gnawings. He loves his father despite his period of execration, but the magnitude of his shameful offense holds him in obscurity, an outcast. He cannot resist the power that draws him to the neighborhood wherein his father's command is located. As a shabby tramp he seeks a bill that overlooks the camp, and day after day he crawls silently to the top where he can feast his hungry heart on the scene where waves the flag and people he renounced. One day he is almost discovered by a small party of cavalrymen. Then he abandons the neighborhood rather than be discovered. In order to shun all that would bring up scenes of the past he ingratiates himself into the good graces of an Indian tribe and eventually is taken into their fold. The Indians begin a series of depredations and finally killings. The awakening comes to Milton when a squad of his father's own command comes to the Chief to remonstrate, when at a given signal the squad is massacred, all of which is seen from Milton's tent flap, where he is hiding to conceal his identity. The bodies are divested of uniforms, which are burned, bodies hidden and horses rebranded, etc. Milton learns there is to be an immediate attack on the camp of his father's command. He secures the bugle of the massacred musician, secrets it, then determines to warn the camp and sacrifice his life if need be. Growing desperate as the war dance begins, he seizes his horse and gallops away. Other Indians see him, fire, and the shot renders his leg useless. As he nears the hill from which the camp is viewed, he sees the Indians creeping to attack the camp. He makes the top of the hill in time to blow repeated calls "To arms." The camp, not knowing who the bugler is, takes advantage, and is enabled to repulse the attacking Indians after a brisk fight. Milton is satisfied with his sacrifice, and crawls away willing to die rather than reveal himself, yet anxious to keep out of the hands of the Indians. A couple of Indians have stalked him, however. They capture and take him before their chief. They torture him, not to the point of death, for the Chief has a more subtle means of revenge. He heats a Bowie knife and destroys the sight of both of Milton's eyes, then places him astride a horse, ties hands behind him, feet beneath, clothed in full Indian regalia. Then has three or four Indians take him to trail leading to camp, set the horse in free flight so he will approach the camp. The Indians retreat, knowing he will be shot by his own people. The Colonel after the battle, wonders if the unknown warning bugler is Milton. Old memories awaken. He wanders about the camp, his mind intent upon thoughts of his boy, when he notices the approach of a single rider. He fears trickery, and takes a gun and shoots the oncoming Indian rider. The horse is stopped a short distance from the stockade gates by some of the soldiers, and they recognize the body as that of Milton, the long-missing bugler of their company. Realizing the horror of the situation and fearing for the Colonel's mind from the shock of unconsciously killing his own son, the soldiers throw a blanket over the remains after taking him from the horse. The Colonel approaches and is desirous of getting a full report, and is puzzled at the meaning of the occurrence. The soldiers are successful in keeping him from viewing the body, but by chance a hand of the body projects from underneath the blanket, on one finger of which is a ring which the Colonel recognizes as belonging to his son. He totters for a moment, then tries to get to the body, but the soldiers forcibly keep him from it until the Colonel thunders a threat of arrest, when they fall back and more away with backs to the scene. The Colonel discovers the identity of the body and calls for the surgeon, who comes and pronounces death. As the Colonel stands stunned into silence with the awfulness of his grief, the surgeon pulls from the breast of the body a small case in which is a small silk flag. Nothing more is found. The Colonel reaches for it, realizing its meaning. He stands at attention, salutes the body with all the dignity of his drooping body, turns to a subordinate officer, charges him to take command of his place, removes his sword and belt, which he lays on the body. He weeps over the loss of his boy as the soldiers move silently away, leaving their beloved Colonel alone in his grief.
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