Star of the Kanawha Valley. [volume] (Buffalo, Va. [W. Va.]) 1855-1856, 1855-07-11
45arIor Rea0iI's:
A wIFE's: DEVOTION.
By GEORGE 5. RAYMOND.

: The long and desperate struggle
= WHICH had for many years been car
ried on between the imperial Gov
eminent of Brazil and the rcvoItcd
y southern provinces was drawing to
a close; and !, who for nearly five
years had been almost constantly
. Ion the wing, or what amounted TO
the same thing, on horseback, in the
patriotic service, was on my way to
= Join my little Brazilian wife to whom
i had been united some five months
;preyiousl y, and from whose side
had been summoned within three
hours after our marriage. to lead
my command agai inst a body Of Don
Pedro Segnado's Laneieros, who
were committing deprcdations inthe
ncighborhood. =. ....u.
lhad been severely wounded in
the side and shoulder, and that with
the exposure of on l. wild and uncom5
Portable camp, the entire lack Of
: proper medical and surgical skill,
and the slow fever which had for
three weeks been consuming me, my
iron constitution had given away at
last. | was rs near dead as Il man
could we'll be and maintain, his seat
in his saddle. -, r.. 49,.
MY home, or rather that of my
wife's, was. on the banks of the beau
tiful Uruguay, on the extreme west:
crn limits of.the Brazilian Empire,
and my way thither led across the
scrried peaks and the wild passes of
the, Southern Brazilian Andes, n re,
son swarning with every species Of
wild beasts, fierce savages, numer-
our banditti, who killed for mere
past.time, and bands of Imperial
troops, more savage than brutes, In
dians, or robbers. :e.. >~..*. Etl
L. Pleasant, very; don't you think it
was for an invalid scarce able to.
keep his seat in the saddle, and ac-
companied by two negro slaves pos
:scssing but little more sense or rea-
7soning than the horses they guided.
Seven long tedious days went BY,
and i had struggled on thus farwith-
out coming in contact with the wild
beasts, savages, robbers, or Imperial
soldiers, to within fifteen leagues ~of
my journeys end, when my overtask.
. ed energies could bear me up no
longer, and dispatching the most in.
telligent of my servants, to apprise
my wife and family Of my situation,
4 Law down under the-shelter of
shelving rock in one of the most
rugged, desolate mountain passes ]
had ever seen but with slight hope Of
surviving till aid should arrive from
my friends on the Uruguay. .T,.#s
Ii was near noon when the negro
departed on his mission, and, as j
had promised him his freedom and
ten ounces Of gold if he reached my
wife's home that night, knew he would
not lose a moment, and might ex.
pect relief before night the next day.
provided lived bill that time, which
did not seem probable, as within two
hours | was half delirious. The hot
blood, driven to extremity by the RAJ
ging fever, seemed like leapingliquid
currents of FIRE; while my very yitals
appeared to scorch and to crisp with
the subtle heat, and my whole fame
was racked with exquisite torture.
Twenty times during the afternoon
Ihad cant the remaininp slave To the
stream which wound along the bot
tom Of the rayine for water to slack
my burning thirst.
: The sun was, perhaps, an hour a.
poge the horizon, when Twas sudden
~ surrounded 5ysa band of some
twenty ferocious-looking brigands,
who were traversing the mountain
pass to the westward, in pursuit ola