The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1867-02-15

!
Jump on that No Mans Land do"
'Joe," said /, hurriedly, "don't be a i
fool 1t may be would give way atthe
top, and if it did not, how could you
jump back without run. You'd be
stuck on the top like mad sentinel or
a pillar saint. Pm not going to jump it. =
"But l am" said he. And before |
could stop him, if indeed | had tried, he
took run and jumped. -s5Bta
1t was so sudden that | could only |
stand aghast when l saw him there
He stood, indeed, for moment, and
then he took back step, and would
have jumped back, when l heard IA rum
bling sound, and half the top of the ''No
Mans Land" part, and the chalk and
earth, and Joe, too, fell down with a
crash on the rocky coast below. nessaf
Iran round the little creek to the 9th
er side of a small bay, and throwing
myself down on the turf, stretched my
neck over, looked over and cried out,
"Joe! are you hurt, Joe"
A faint voice came up and | could see
the poor fellow struggling under huge
piece of chalk which seemed to hold him
down in agony. He smiled in a ghast
ly way, and said, "Run, Joe, run. the
tides coming in" cf ~ -af. ia -5itI
Well, ! did run aud we got ropes
from the tents, and few strong fellows
held them as l swung over the cliff, just
reaching poor Joe as the cold water was
lap, lap, tapping up to his mouth, TAX
ing away his breath and then running
back, crawling over him and leaving
bubbles of salt foam, as if in sport. i
got him out, but he could not stand. /
Some bones were broken and he was
badly bruised, so that | was forced TO
tie him to rope, and they hauled him
up, and we took him home.
Well, well, to make long story short,
poor Joe died, with my praise on his
lips, and Alice bowed her head like
broken lily. 1t was long time before
she got over it, and summer had grown
into winter, and winter to summer, to
autumn, and to winter again. The
threatening invasion was all over; our
swords were getting rusty, our uniforms
dirty, and when the holidays came l left
the firm in which was partner, and
went to spend fortnight at my old
friends in Kent. ~. T.. =
Alice was there, well and cheerful
now, and reconciled to her.loss, though
we often talked of poor Joe, and as the
days were on we grew closer together,
and she called me by my name, and
seemed to have transferred her brothers
love to me. She never told me so nor
let others see it, till one merry Christ
mas night, when she rejected all her
cousins and her other friends, and would
ouly dance with me. "'ol is9 lf.a ad
We had the mistIetoe, too. AT last
one madcap fellow proposed that the la,
dies should kiss the gentlemen all around
when and how they could; and Alice
should play, too; and she, in a solemn,
quiet way, smiling sadly, and yet sweet
lly too, took me beneath the Christmas
bough, and kissed me on the lips. os ~
Ay, it's many years ago, but | feel it
now. My heart beat SO fast that | hard
lily dared return it; but l put my arm
around her and took her gently by the
bay window of the old hall, saying, asI
pressed her hand, "Alice, dear Alice,
Ibid you mean that kissl" si7 10 ss'.
Well, l need not tell you what she
answered. IT'S fifty years ago, fifty
years ago! and | am surrounded by
Alice's dear grandchildren, and there
is one, little thing with light and gold
en- hay that will deepen into brown,
who plays around my knees AMI tells
me her little stories, her sorrows, and
her joys; so quick, so hurried in tbeir
coming and their going that they are
, like my own, and as we talk, we grow
quite friends and companions, as my
Alice was to NE. f' 80 s'i-
Bless you, she understands it all She
, is woman in her pretty ways; hel
poutings, pettings and quarrelings. rShe
: manages her household of one wax+dol
and two wooden ones, and tells me, fol
: the wax-doll is the lady and the two
wooden ones are the servants in mol
: caps and stuff gowns, when the GOSSIP
with wooden policeman, who belong
e Ito her brother, little Joe: go i...t
So we are fast friends, little Alice an(
< L; and tonight, OF Christmas night,
a noticed that she would not dance o
t Iplay with the pink and shiny faced lit
!, tile boys who were unnsturally tidy ane
D Iclean in their new knickerbockers, witt
!, lred stockings; but she came and sat b.
9 me, and talked softly in the freight a
h Alice did, and made me think OF fift,
y years ago. And only think how oil
d times come back and new times, like tn
= old; only just think, that when he
n mother told her she should choose
q sweetheart, she got little bit of mistle
" toe, and climbing slyly on my knee
" and holding me in talk, as If to hide he
d purpose, though l guessed it soon.
10 tell you, she put her little doll-like arr
3, around my neck, and holding the HIi'
at tletoe above my head, she kissed m
e again and again, and said | was he
l sweetheart. sAai y'as ra IS.
is So this child-sweetheart brought th
old times back--the times that are sti
v, so distant and so near; and the swet
* kiss meath the rustling leaves made m
l. think of my dead Alice in the grave. Z
a FuII Details of the Indian Mas
SaCrc.
IA From the GAINESVILLE, Wis. Gazette, Jan. 30
ID From private letter to Mr. Dayi
<; yankirk, of this city, written by h