This morning I endeavored to give
him some good advice. I asked him not to appoint me lieutenant, but to
choose Kurzbold or Gensbein from among the malcontents, for I thought if
responsibility were placed on their shoulders we should be favored with
less criticism."
"A very good idea it seems to me," remarked Ebearhard.
"Well, you saw how promptly he ignored it, yet after all there may be
more wisdom in that head of his than I suspected. Look you how he has
made a buffer of me. He gives no commands to the men himself, but merely
orders me to pass along the word for this or that. He appears determined
to have his own way, and yet not to bring about a personal conflict
between himself and his following."
"Do you suppose that to be cowardice on his part?"
"No; he is not a coward. He doubtless intends that I shall stand the
brunt of any ill-temper on the part of the men. Should disobedience
arise, it will be my orders that are disobeyed, not his. If the matter
is of no importance one way or the other, I take it he will say nothing,
but I surmise that when it comes to the vital point, he will brush me
aside as though I were a feather, and himself confront the men
regardless of consequences.
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