St. Cloud Democrat., 1863-09-24
TEARNS CO, MINNESOTA THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER a. 1863

through tne darkness. -, =, s- ',..
"There he goes I" muttered the solitary
misanthrope, 's'with his gilt buttons ane
his military airs and graces-and it is fol
such as he that Rachael throws away M,
leve Y: VI. .- :. ,.>.,
II $50 you've enlisted, Harry said old
Squire. Clay, deliberately poll hing the
glasses Of his suectacles. ''Well, it s what
I'd do myself, if 1 was forty years youne-
er. Amt you comip' in to tell our Rach.
ael good bye? Haven't: time? Well, l
do declare " 1' :..'''
The squire gazed in astonishmeut after
the vanishing fgute Of Harry Clevela nd
or horseback as it disappeared among the
trees. !: - T.
81 wonder what Rachael will say" was
his unspoken comment.
But Rachael said nothing.
While, day by day, the old wsund rank
led and grew sorer in Hurry Cleveland S
heart. = =" III. ~, =, .,r,, .
"Will he live, doctor p
Every pulse in Rachael Clay's being
seemed to stand still, as her blue, dilated
eyes searched the doctors kind, sun-enl-
Drowned face. Z 20 ....r
"Iive? Why shouldn't he2 All he
needs is little care, and I see he is like
ly to get that! Now don't blush up my
dear-he's not the first wounded soldier
in my ward that has had pretty girl
come to nurse him-and I like them all
the better for it! Give him the drausht
when he wakes and keep the bandages on
his forehead He'ilprobably carry an ug-
ty scar to his grave-but that will be the
worst Of it,, :: .:,,.t:...
The good old man trotted briskly away
to the next cease" while Rachael, kneel-
ing down beside the low bedstead, cried
tears Of intense thankfulness that Harry
Cleveland would not die. ."..
Rachael! am not dreaming, surely
yet it was but moment ago We made
that cavalry charge-on fixed bayoncts ~
= His large, unnaturally brilliant eyes
wandered vaguely round the room then
returned to tho tender face bending o, er
him. :
"It was three days since, dearest; you
are lying in the barracks now, wounded,
and l have come from Glenville to nurse
youp' -. ":...t
=: 8. You, Rachael ?"
eyes, Ha1ry,I z"
"Why did you come," he asked gloom
lily. -
because 1 loved you, Harry" she
murmured, the bright crimson suffusine
her whole face.
A strange light of rapture flashed into
Harry's eyes-his pulse leaped within the
fevcred veins .".~ :Y!
:"Loved me, Rachael-yet it is not
mo, tn since you refused me"'
"Dcarest, because I fancied You weak
aud vacillatirg, In the fiery smoke Of
the battlefield you have proved yourself
worthy If the tenderest love-you have
written your name hero on the rolls of
your country. Harry. because I refused
you once you viii not reject me now?"
"Reject you, my hearts queen? Oh =!
Rachael, low can l be sure that this is
not bright, treacherous delirum ~ "~~,~s~
She bent her soft cheek on his-and
then he knew that it was no bascless Wis
lon, but Il sweet reality.
''Then you did not care for Captain
Morcll, after all ?'' .
~ never cared foc any one but, you
Harry" r
And when September hung her crown
Of purple mist over the hills, Harry Cleve-
land c1me home to be married, still hand
some, although his forehead bore fresh
scar across its broad expanse. When
the villagers asked curiouslv if it was
lifelong mark. Harry answered saily:
,"I would not lose it for a fortune-that
scar won me my wife ~ j. -. ...'