yell men and women and children joined in it it began at the first sight of the regular column swelled up the crowded streets rose to the thronged ran along them for squares like a and then came rolling back in volume only to rise and swell again greater than before men wept children women sobbed aloud what was it only a thousand or two of old or men riding or along through the dust of the street under some old flags dirty and ragged and stained but they represented the spirit of the south they represented the spirit which when honor was in question never no l the gray jacket of no counted the cost the spirit that had stood up for the south against odds for four years and until the south had and perished under the forces of war the spirit that is the strongest to us to day that the union is and is to be the spirit that glorious in victory had displayed a fortitude yet greater in defeat they saw in every stain on those tattered standards the blood of their noblest and best in every rent a proof of their glorious courage and sacrifice they saw in those gray and faces in those old clothes now and then with a faded gray uniform the men who in the of their youth had for the south faced death on a hundred fields and had never even thought it great men who had looked immortality in the eyes yet had been thrown down and trampled and who were greater in their overthrow than when glory poured her light upon their faces not one of them all but was self sustained by the south or had ever even for one moment thought in his extremity that he would have what was undone the crowd was immense the people on the fashionable street up which the procession passed were fortunate they had the advantage of their iii the gray jacket of no tf yards and and they threw them open to the public still the throng on the was tremendous and just before the old came along the crush increased as it itself i became conscious that a little old woman in a rusty black dress whom i had seen patiently standing alone in the front line on the street corner for an hour had lost her position and had been pushed back against the railing and had an anxious disappointed look on her face she had a little faded knot of colors fastened in her old dress and almost hidden by the crowd she was looking up and down in some distress to see if she could not again get a place from which she could see finally she seemed to give it up and stood quite still now and then to try to catch a glimpse i saw about to help her when from a gay and crowded above her a young and beautiful girl in a white dress whom i had been observing for some time as the life of a gay party as she sat in her loveliness a queen on her throne with her around her suddenly arose and ran down into the street there was a short the young beauty was offering something which the old lady was declining but it ended in the young girl leading the older woman gently up on to her the gray jacket of no tt and giving her the chair of state she was hardly seated when the old soldiers began to pass as the last mounted came by i remembered that i had not seen no but as i looked up he was just coming along in his hand with staff resting on his toe he carried an old standard so torn and tattered and stained that it was scarcely as a flag i did not for a moment take in that it was he for he was not in the gray jacket which i had expected to see he was busy looking down at the throng on the apparently searching for some one whom he expected to find there he was in some perplexity and pulled in his horse which began to rear suddenly the applause from the above arrested his attention and he looked toward it and bowed as he did so his eye caught that of the old lady seated there his face lighted up and his horse half around he dipped the tattered standard and gave the royal salute as though a queen the old lady pressed her wrinkled hand over the knot of faded ribbon on her breast and made a gesture to him and he rode on he had suddenly grown handsome i looked at her again her eyes were closed her hands were clasped and her lips were moving ii ne gray jacket of no i saw the likeness she was his mother as he passed me i caught his eye he saw my perplexity about the jacket glanced up at the torn colors and pointed to a figure just beyond him dressed in a short faded jacket no had been selected as the highest honor to carry the old colors which he had once saved and not to bear off all the honors from his fi he had with true made wear his cherished jacket he made a brave figure as he rode away and my cheer died on my lips as i thought of the sad old mother in her faded knot and of the dashing young soldier who had saved the colors in that fight after that we got him a place and he did well for several months he seemed to be cured new life and strength appeared to come back to him but his mother died and one night shortly afterward he disappeared and remained lost for several da s when we found him he had been brought to jail and i 