The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1855-10-16

trust me i will be in the enjoyment Of free
mans glorious privileges.
Ere the letter was concluded, the forsaken
wife hadfallen senseless to the floor. The
father felt glow Of patriotic pride thrill his
heart at this devotion in his son, while the
mother knelt and clasped her hands in silent
prayer.
Thelpoor wife at last came TO her senses,
but itlwae to wander about the house weeping,
continually calling upon her husband, insist
ing tlat she should never sec him moro and
maryeling at his cruelty in deserting her.
She was not Of Spartan mould and possessed
not those stern virtues which prompted those
ancient heroines to lay the last particle of af-
fiction upon the altar Of their country's free
dom! No; shc asked nothing more than the
love and presence of her husband--a devotion
that rcigned paramount in her heart, permit
ting the presence Of mono clcs. Grief she
| ear%} bot submit TO be left thus alone. Tho.
4 xfc ra,isc Us iu'ohrd tiat nIu,ic him jviu tis
army.@ She would seek hin--she would i'm
plore him to come back to those who loved
him, and to whom he was all the world
So that same day, ere the sun bad reached
his meridian, unknown to any one, che left
her home and after three hous' weary travel
she stood beside her husband in the camp be-
seeching him to come home. Those who wit
messed her earnestness were melted By her
tender cntrcatics-these rugged soldiers that
would rush madly on bayonet and cannon,
march barefootcd over frozen ground and deep
snow, sustained only by feryent patriotism
they wopt as they behcld this fond but timid
wife clnging TO her husband, and with elo-
quent endeament, begging him, for the love
he bore her to return once more to the desc
late hearth, now left without protector
/ Impossible! he could not with any decent
grace, rotrsct from position so recently as
sumed lie consoled her as best he could,
lbut assured her Of the lnpracticablity ofloav
iirf Tho army. She must submit; it would
be sacriiico no greater than had been made
by thouaand5.~ There was no remedy but to
wait in hope--thc en1 was certain, and the
consequence would be glorious. But what
could the poor wiGo dol Ia thought
struck her. She viii seek the tent Of Wash
ingoaat his feet viii she lay her petition.
Behold the hero in his tent---,hc great, the
gpill,c, IN whom are joined al virtues, Gre
ated for tho age, and for the cause, doing
what none else coull. Before hin Is kueeling
the wife Of George Madden. Her petition has
not been in vain, her tears have not been with
out effect. She holds in her hand paper
that will restore to lur her husband; but be-
fosa she goes to the officer Of lis regiment,
she rcverently takes the hand Of her benefac-
tor and presses it to her lips, q tear falls up
] on it which the good man suders-to remain,
, ~ D hgr .'s5s.f..s ptestnct gtha bcne-
d.ciion qRd words ofhopo and comfort.
Again she Is IN ths presencc other husband
-shr shows him his 1ischalgs with BEAM
ing countonance and words OF JOY
Now you will 60 home with me, George
and We VIII again be bappy--ah so happy 2
Bueno glow ofeatisfaction lit up his oye,
70 gl'el aing emotions shed their radiance
oyae as ic&tlrcs.
The discharge was'recognized, and she led
her husband from the ranks of his devoted
companions; but he went forth with not that
manly dignity and firm step with which he en-
tered The camp as a volunteer. The eyes Of
the soldiers were upon hinl--hc fancied scorn-
fully--liS head dropped upon his chest and
suppressed whispers hissed in his gar like SO
many serpants, each voice Of reproach aud
shame but the timid and loving woman that
leeehim from the camp of war was unconscious
ofall this. She heardno whispers ofrcproach,
shceaw no scornful eycs-she was only con
scious that she had recovered her husband,
aud what cared she for eyes and lips! The
piekets were passed, and the last guard stared
rudely in her face as she approached him, and
muttered something that she did not hear
She prattlel ramblingly to her husband, fond
creature, all the way, telling how happy she
should be, and father, and mother; but he
answered her not, still walking gloomingly by
her eide. Little cared she though. aud still
she wended along and etll she prattlcd.-
Poor timid tender creature. She did not iDl-
agine what q load Of shame she had piled on
the head Of her husband! She had him safe
all her own again, at last, and she could not
dream Of any wo, or brooding sorrow. But
though---he brooded over the dissertation Of
his comrades and remembered the expression
Of their faces as he suffered himself to be led
eat cf the cncainpment. And that night in
4 MS lrearls, he heard the booming cannonade,
the crack of musketry, the clash of steel, and
che pealing shout of victory; but he had suf-
fsrcd n child TO tic his hands, and when he
struggled to free himself, he heard cry of
Shame, shame, that awoke him from his
uneasy slumbcr, with cold sweat upon bis
brow and his tender wife slumbering peaceful
iy by his side, with her white and delicate
arm clssping his painting chest.
When the morning dawned and tho day
called him to his duties, it found him a
strangely altered man. The carcsses of his
wife seemed loathsomc to him--he could not
bear her presence, but sought every opportu-
nifty Of stunning her. But once during the
day did he speak to her. The poor creature
could not bear his coldness aud her heart at
last overtlowing with feelings that became in
surportable, she seized his hands, aud looking
carncSly in his face, while her eyes glistened
with tears, she exclaimed:
| 'Oh, Gcorge' Why, oh why do you behave
SO coldly--so strangely--what'sw worrying you
what secret thing has so sadly frozen UP
your afiectionl oh, it is killing me, George
4 4. 4 n 4 .