The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1862-08-29


kindness, dear lady. My first letter will tel
her that
Happy mother, to have brave and Iowa
sons in time like this. answered Mrs C.
her voice losing its firm tones, and sinking tc
sad expression.
Have you no son to give to your country?
asked the fair-haired boy, whose head had, a
few hours before, rested against her bosom
while the knife and probe were making him
sick with agony.
4 will call you my son. was replied, after a
brief silence. Mrs G-'s voice was in a
lower key, but calm and steady. She seemed
to have encountered strong wave of feeling
that made all the timbers of her vessel of life
shudder; but the stroke had proved harm.
less, aid she was herself again. 'And you
are my sons. also,' she added, almost proudly
as she looked upon the others. Worthy
sons! will give you mothers care
There entered, at this moment, two men,
carrying litter. on which man was lying
A surgeon and nurse were in attendance
Tie large room was full of beds, and on one
of these the man, who moaned in plaintive
voice, was laid. Mrs C. did not stir from
where she sat by the young soldier. Scenes
like this were of almost daily occurrence, ar d
did not disturb the order or duties of the in.
stitution.
a wounded rebel said the nurse, who had
come in with the litter. She had crossed the
room to Mrs C., whispered the sentence,
ard then moved back again. She did not
know what thrill of pain her brief sentence
had awakened.
\ wounded rebel. The very bullet that
shattered the bone, and rent the sensitive
flesh of the loyal youth over whose couch she
sat, might have been sent on It's cruel mis-
sion by his hands, Yet was he now brought
in, carefully to he ministered to in suffering.
and saved perhaps from death This was the
very thought that flashed through the mind
of Mrs C.. as the thrill of pain which
the announcement occasioned went trembling
away into stiffness.
The means Of the wounded man soon died
away. He had first been taken to the sur
geons apartments, and after the abstraction
OF ball, the abstraction of which had been
more painful than dangerous, removed under
the charge of nurse to the room where he
now rested
Mrs G-'s interest in the three Young
men, who were ROW specially in her charge
found no abatement, but rather increase In
brief conversations with each OF them, she
gathered little facts, and incidents. and sen.
tlments, that expressed the quality of then
lives, of a character still further to interest
her feelings. Each had been tenderly cared
for IN early years: and each was Iowa., as well
to all home memories as to the country he
had gone forth to serve, bearing his life in
his hands.
1t was nearly an hour after the wounded
rebel was brought in, when nurse, crossing
from 4 distant part where he Law, came 10
Mrs G", who was assisting the surgeon
to dress the shattered limb of one cf the
young men under her care, and STOPPING
down. said to her. with suppressed agita-
ton:
1t is your son, madam.
Who. Where The color went out Of
Mrs G-'s face.
The man who was last brought in
MY son?'
Yes, ma'am. He says he is Your son.
Won't you come over to him? He wants
YOU
Mrs C. caught her breath with gasp.
But, gaining self-possession, she answered
with calm eloquence of tone that was full
Of heroism, These are my sonsr
For an instant, she looked proudly from
face to face of the three wounded soldiers,
and then bent over the task in which she was
engaged. Her hand showed no tremors, as
she wound the long bandages about the ten
der limb, and in every minutir obeyed the
surgeons direction. When the painful work
was done, she wiped from the sufferers pale
forehead the clammy sweat that covered it
and laid her hand softly upon his temples
smoothing back the damp hair. No moth
er's hand had in it ever a tenderer touch.
For moment the surgeon drew her aside
and they stood in earnes; conversation then
he moved away, and Mrs C. resumed he:
place. Not long afterwards, the rebel sol
dier who had been brought in was carried Out
again, the men who bore the litter almos
touching Mrs C as they passed. But
she did not stir or look round. One, two
three hours, and she was still in the hospital
But her loyal, heroic heart had taken up
burden that no true mothers heart ha
strength to bear. The surgeon, who compre
hended the case, was watching her with in
tense interest. He saw, with eyes that coult
read signs others did not understand, tn
gradual failing of power to sustain herself i!
this self-imposed ordeal, and more than one
offered gentle remonstrances,whi she faile,
to heed. But all things yield when pressur
is in excess of strength. Three hours afte
her wounded rebel son had been removed b
her order, with nurse in attendance, to tn
home he had dishonored, Mrs C. va