Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1866-02-08
A Romance OF the War.

The facts that compose the following
story. says the Nashville (Ill.) Journal,
are said to be perfectly reliable. and are
related by a correspondent from Morgan
county, where the parties now reside.
4 well-to-do farmer Of this county had
a daughter. who, besides being personally
attractive, was well educated, and pos
sessed more than the usual amount of
good sense. As a consequence she had
many suitors. All but two of these she
treated with no favor; and between these
two i, was impossible for her to choose.
She liked them both, but which she loved
she could not tell. When the first
call was made for three years troops in
1861, these two men together with the
young lady's brother, enlisted in the same
company. This event disclosed to her.
her own heart; she accepted the man she
loved, and on the morning he left for the
field they were married. Her husband
was the possessor Of no little property,
and before he left he made a will in her
favor. While in the field a strong friend
ship bound these three men together, the
discarded lover cherishing no ill-feeling
towards the husband Of his love. or her
brother. At the battle Of Stone river, on
the Cd Of January. 1868, the company they
were in was in the ~iercest of the strife.
When that terrible conflict was over. the
husband was found with his head blown
off, and was only recognized by a letter
found in his pocket from his wife. The
brother was missing, and the disappointed
sutton was wounded so severely that his
life was despaired Of. She who was now
maid and widow, mourned with an almost
breaking heart for her husband and broth
er. The wounded man recovered, but was
unfit for further service; was discharged
and came home. His affection was still
true and firm, and the fact Of his associa-
ton with the loved and lost, gave him a
strong hold upon the sympathies and re-
gard Of her who had received the love Of
her early life. As month after month
passed away, the wounds Of her bleeding
heart were partially healed. and at last she
consented to become the wife OF him she
had onee refused for another. She told
him. however, that she could never love
him as a wife should love her husband, as
her heart was buried in the grave of her
first and only love. II wa the day be-
fore the wedding. and the W were to-
gether arranging their plans for the future.
Suddenly her father entered, and handed
her a letter, saying: "Read that quick,
and tell me what it means!" The letter
bore the New York post mark, and was
directed in her husbands hand. She did
not faint; but pale as death, she tore off
the envelope, and read:
New YORK, January -, 1865.
MY DEAR WIFE: I am at last exchanged.
Am very feeble. As soon a. / can bear the
Journey, I shall be home.
The scene that followed cannot be describ-
ed. The wretchedness OF the twice disap-
may be imagined; but he acted as u
true man should, and sincerely congratulated
her on the safety Of her husband. In n few
weeks the husband came, and then the mys-
terry was explained. On the morning Of the
battle he had given a letter from his wife to
her brother to read. They soon became sep
arated. Il was the brother tha: had been
killed. He, himself, had been severely
wounded, and taken prisoner. He had writ
ten often, but the letters had failed to reach
their destination. After two years Of suffer
ing worse than death, he had been exchanged,
and now was at home. Sorrow for the loss
Of the martyred brother alone marred the
happiness Of the reunited couple. Their
noble and devoted friend remained TO see the
one he loved happy with her husband, and
then LETT home to be 4 wanderer in the world.
He is now in the far West, and there be seeks
to forget the past in the excitement Of from
tieriife. Surely, truth is stranger than fiction.