[Illustration: THE TRUMPETER TAKEN PRISONER.]
A trumpeter, being taken prisoner in a battle, begged hard for quarter,
declaring his innocence, and protesting that he neither had nor could
kill any man, bearing no arms but only his trumpet, which he was obliged
to sound at the word of command.--'For that reason,' replied his
enemies, 'we are determined not to spare you; for though you yourself
never fight, yet, with that wicked instrument of yours, you blow up
animosity between other people, and so become the occasion of much
bloodshed.'