The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1865-10-31

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natuFed to girl in my own house, So
light!5 - Z. 49,, = : - s,5
1f was clear night, with n round
bright moon In the sky, andias light MS
day almost !, think one could have,
read print by It. walked .on slowly,
and before i knew it found myself. in
the churchyard. 1t was not quarter
Of a mile from our door, and 1 was in
me habit of going there so6ften that my
rect turned that Way as IL were, of their
owniWtlL. When 4 was inside the gate
could see every, leaf of the late shrubs
and flowers ever branch of the weeping
willows over the graves, the names upon
the tomPstones where they were not
100 thlcSly mQsS-gFown, and the white
face and black hands of the clock in the
church steeple. Those hnhtls pointed to
remember to this hour the faint,
stclSly smell of the evening primrose in
an tnelosnre / passed! There never
was a time when / had seemed to notice
little things, 80 minutely. ~ :. 80! n 5fi.'
Mhen Il came to- Amy gravel saw in
an Instant that some ribbon grass that
mad sprung up among the flowers was
turning coaFse md vel low, ind i pulled
II AWAY! Then. i lay down, with my
mead upon the mound and looked up at
the stHfs.A r.
When I was child mother used to
Tell
me how to find the North Star byi it. IL
was SO odd of me to do it then, and to
remember doing It now, when all the
while L was thinking of INV poor little
vile, and longing for her as we long for
those We have loved and lOst.i1 - ~ ..t,4,'
tell yon this because what happened
thoughts 81 me- il I did lot. Gould S Vol
believe that any manwouldb be SO heart
less and ridiculous as to como to that
solemn place, and sit upon his dead
| wires grave, to play q silly Hhll0waeve
trtclSR God, knows Twas not the man
nor mine the mood for such an act. f7,5Il
Yet, MS truly as / am writing this, saE.
ter i had been sitting there for some
thing ike half an hour, i lifted my eyes
to- the church clock, and saw it upon
the stroke of twelve, aud at the same
Time found that / had unconscious Y
kept tllree spears of the grass I-had
1 Plpcked up between my fingers. How
CAME to do It I never know; nor how,
against my will, those stupid, wicked
lines about the dead telling vhat the
living could not; and Come round the
church, my true love, to me, - the rhyme
lsihad beenso angry.with when Nell ut
so wildly that it almost seemed as
though Iihad spoken the words.
- Then out rang the clock, and at tho
twelfth stroke i started to my feet. for
w?nian,s figure stood before me.
E, AtalI slender figure, draped in black,
with its face as plainly to be seen as
every thing else wasI on the moonlight
Its features were lilSo5a statuels; its
hair light, quite flaxen; its eyes black;
on Its neck was a brown mole: from n
chain on the breast Slittered a cross
There itstood, straight and still, those
great black eyes fixed on me, 80. m
fret that h.
of some disguise Nell had played a
trick on me. I'deterhlined to expose 1t
at once, and sprang toward the figure,
but my foot slipped on the dewy grass,
ana Ifell proStfate. When i recovered
m upright position was alone.
Had Nell played the trick on me or
not? could. not tell. went home as
fast as my feet could carry me- and
found them busy with their fun. I
asked my mother if Nell had been alb
sent for any time, and she declared not
one had left the room. took Nell her
selt-astde and psked her, seriously and
angftlys whit she meant by sending
some one after mo to)mock and startle'
me when she knew why visited the
graveyard. / spoke to her so roughly
that brought tears into her eyes, and
for once she answered seriously. / be-
lteved when IleftAhsr that she told the
truth and knew nothing of the circum-
stance.
Then who was in the grave-yard2 No
one who lived in the village, /
knew every girl in the quiet place by
sight; and when i nsked mother, de-
scribing her as person I had met, who
the woman was, she said ut once,
''There is no one who looks in the least
like that in Stratton.''
I'D Wen, y Kept my own copnsel and told
what had seen to no one, and after a
While the restless feeling came upon
me and / left home once more. Travel
ing with my samples of hardware.
that was my businesslov the State,
and keeping busy and growing more
serious and quiet and middle-agedlo look
ing every day ofmy life, WINS ten wears
older in looks and feelings than any
man of my age I ever met,
went homo off and on, and when
ever found myselfin the old house 1
thought of my Hallow-eve vision. But
never saw the girl again except in my
dreams. Sometimes 1 did dream of the
tnce, and never forgot it-it was too
peculiar for that. When the war we
have Just fought through firstbroke ont
/ enlisted. Mother thought had done
a terrible thing, and cried over me In
my uniform as though it had been my.
shroud. But it was the best thing I,
could have done in every sense. It
.madea man of me again The camp
life, the fighting, the long marches, the
midnight watches, the privations and
exertions, were better than the best
tonics, lz'I grew strong in mind and
body. did my best. A private soldier
can not do much to disting uish himself,
but no one could calltme a coward.
never tried to fling my life away, but it
was not so precious that was willing
to lose honor for It. I was wounded
four or live times, but always slightly,
and the war over found myself, with all
my limbs and senses, ready to fling nv
cap mp with the best and cry, 'sHuzEa
for the old Union!" and somehow the
Southern soil had n charm for me, and
1 didn't care to leave it.
used to go wandering about with
my riflo on my shoulder alone, some
times, for whole days together. Often
j came to places where grind old fami-
" mansions had been burned down..
and there We're but tottering walls and
qrumbled mortar and Jcharred beams
left, and sit and wonder who had lived
there and what their filte had been
And sometimes / had long talks with
colored folks who had been slaves, or
with nantHh6 had been rich and were
poor rs beggars now, d
Mother wanted to see me-"to be-
sure,n she wrote, chat was safe :"
and meant to go soon, but kept putting
OF the Journey from day to day, as
though some spell detained me. d
1T was five years, Nearly six, since 4
had been to Stratton. There had been
changes there, and Cousin Nell was
married, "A railway had been laid
through the village, absolutely cutting
away one end of father's farm, which
was almos the only farm left 50 close to
the Now streets of the place. I should
hardly know il said mother. Alto