The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-01-27
A LIFE SAVED BY LOVE.
A story that has the Disadvantage Of
Being True.
81 must pass the lines, Colonel.

81 Imust pass the lines, Colonel"
Il am sorry, my dear madam, to deny
your request; but our orders cannot be
departed FROM" was the answer of the
grey-haired officer who sat before the
camp table and addressed a young girl
who stood just inside the tent.
"And can it be possible that men who
profess to have human sympathy can issue
such Orders7"
Certainly, young lady. Why not ?
The soldier has every attendance, and the
presence of an amateur nurse could not fail
to iritate and trouble him, thereby retard-
ing his recovery"
"ColOnel, this is no argument, but sOph-
istry. have asked permission to pass
that might seek one whom your surgeons
report as mortally wounded Do you in
tend that he shall die without a friend by
his side who can carry his last message TO
his far-off home, and to the poor old
mother who will prize it beyond all other
words that will be spoken to her in this
life?"
The old man leaned his head upon his
hand to conceal the tears that were trick
ling down his cheeks, but in q moment he
,roused. himself "The case is very hard, ("
said he, slowly, "but the good soldier
wants only his comrades about him when
his life is going out. Some one among
them will bear his dying messages. You
must not urge me, young lady; am a
soldier, and cannot depart from my or
ders. have no discretion
The girl turned away with white face
and clenched hands, and walked silently
out of the camp. Many a cap was
touched respectfully to her as she passed.
for her errand was known to the soldiers.
and however much they must have ac-
knowledged the necessity of the harsh Or
der that shut her away from the wounded
man whom she sought, there was many a
one among them that would have laciet,
the firmness of the old Colonel. when he
denied the passionately worded plea of the
blue-eyed girl who had just gone away.
The SMOKE of the terrible battle at Muir
freesborohad not yet cleared away, and
though week had passed away since the
day of the battle, order had not been
wrought from the terrible chaos. The
dead were buried, but the living were
scarcely yet the recipients of the care ne
cessary to keep those who were struggling
between life and death on the right side.
The hospitals were or )wded, and the SUI
geons knife, that testing steel to the brav-
cry of a soldier, busy in every ward.
As invariably occurs Immediately after
a battle, crowds of civilians, bent on every
imaginary errand, hocked to the camp.
Relatives seeking the dead apd the living,
newsmongers and paper correspondents,
ANXIOUS to pick up anything of interest to
feed the hungry appetite of the public;
peddlers and camp followers, thieves,
gamblers, all in one heterogeneous mass,
sought entrance into the federal lines. 1t
was this influx that brought the order BY
which Eleanor Price had been denied the
privilege of seeking in the hospitals Lieut..
Frank Gordon, her playmate in childhood,
her unflinching champion in schooldays
and affianced husband in manhood.
In the long roughly constructed shed
improvised for an hospital, with dying
men On every side, with horror and dis
order, so that it could not be shut away
from the sight, lay the figure of man,