Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1863-07-01

Bless you, thereis not the slightes
hope for him, and you'd better tell hin
so before long-wOmen have a way of do
ing such things comfortably, so I leave i
to you. He won't last more than day
or two, at farthest.
I could have sat down on the spot ant
cried heartily, if I had not learned the
propriety of bottling up ones tears fol-
leisure moments. Such an end seemed
very hard for such a man, when half E,
dozen worn out, worthless bodies round
him we're gathering up the remnants Of
wasted lives to linger on for years, per.
haps burdens to others, daily reproaches
to themselves. The army needed men
like John, earnest, brave and faithful
fighting for liberty and justice with botI
heart and hand, a true soldier of the
Lord. I could not give him up so soon
or think with any patience of so excel,
lent a nature robbed of its fulfllment
and blundered into eternity by the rash
ness or stupidity of those at whose hands
so many lives may be required. 1t was
an easy thing for DR.. P to say
{" Tell him he must die, ,"'but a cruelty
hard thing to do, and by no means as
q comfortable" as he politely suggested
I had not the heart to do it then, and
privately indulged the hope that some
change for the better might take place
in spite of gloomy prOphesies, SO render
ing my task unnecessary,
A SHORT AND SIMPLE STORY.
After that night, an hour of each eve
ming that remained to him was devoted
/ to his ease or pleasure. He could not
talk much, for breath was precious and
he spoke in whispers, but from occasion
F.. al conversations 1 CLEANED scraps Of Fri
vate history which only added to the af-
feetion and respect I felt for him. Once
he asked me to write letter, and as l
settled with pen and paper, I said With
an Irrepressible glimmer of female curl
osity; "Shall it be addressed to mother
or wife, John?"
+" Neither, ma'am; I've got no wife,
and will write to mother myself, when I
get better. Did you think I was married
because of this?" he asked, touching a
plain gold ring he wore, and often tdrned
thOug htfully on his finger when he lay
alone.
"Partly that, but more from settled
sort of look you have, look young men
seldom get until they marry"
"I don't know that, but I'm not so
very young, ma am-thirty in May, and
have been what you might call settled,
these ten years, for mothers widow.
I'm the Oldest child she has, and it
wouldn't do for me to marry till Lizzie
has a home of her own, and Laurie has
learned his trade; for we're not rich, and
I must be father to the children, and
husband to the dear old woman, if I
can"
"No doubt you are both, John, yet
how came you to go to the war, if you
felt so? Wasn't enlisting as bad as mar
.rying2"
No, ma'am, not as I see it; for one is
helping my neighbor, the other pleasing
myself. I went because I couldn't help
it. I didn't want the glory or the pay,
I wanted the right thing done, and the
people said the men who were in earnest
ought to fight. 1 was in earnest, the
Lord knows, but held off as long as I
could, not knowing what was my duty.
Mother saw the case, gave me her ring to
keep me steady, and said sgo,' so I
went"
A short story, and a simple one, but
the man and the mother we're portrayed
better than pages Of fne writing could
have done it.
A SOLDIERS PRIDE.
"Do you ever regret that you came,
when you lie here suffering so much2"
"Never, ma'am. 1 haven't helped a
great deal, but I've shown 1 was willing
to give my life, and perhaps I've got to +;
but don't blame any body, and if it was
to do over again, I'd do it. I'm a little
sorry I wasn't wounded in front. It
looks cowardly to be hit in the back, but
I obeyed orders, and it don't matter much
in the end, 1 know"
Poor JohnI it did not matter now, ex-
cept that a shot in front might have spar
ed the long agony in store for him. He
seemed to read the thought that troubled
me, as he spoke so hopefully when there
was no hope, for he suddenly added:
'tThis is my first battle-do they think
its going to be my last?'
81 am afraid they do, John. "
It was the hardest question I had ever
been called upon to answer; doubly hard
with those clear eyes fixed upon mine,
forcing a truthful answer by their own
truth. He seemed little startled at first,
pondered over the fateful fact a moment,