Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1870-09-01

The gambler raised his head, for
it had been long time since he
had seen person from the home
of his childhood and Vermont
being the name of his native State,
the mere mention of its name in
terested him.
The doctor next inquired the
name of the place where his pa
rents resided, if he had any. The
wounded man replied
"Montpelier."
The gambler sprang to his feet,
his limbs trembled, and his face
was as death, for Montpelier was
the home of his youth, and per-
haps the wounded man was bis
playmate in childhood-perhaps
a schOolmate-knew his parents,
his brothers and sisters. He clung
to the table and with contending
emotions of rapid thought and the
weight of injury inflicted, he
could scarcely keep upon his feet.
A stimulant was given to the
wounded man and he was mo-
mentarily relieved from the
weakness the body is SO subject
to after a severe wound, when
the doctor inquired if there was
any friend in the city he wished
to send for. eyes," he replied,
'Emy wife. She is at the City
Hotel, on the corner of Clay and
Kearney streets. Tell Mary to
hasten for | am badly hurt"
A man was sent to bring his
wife.
Doctor" said the gambler,
"save that mans life, and there's
my bank, and ten thousand dollars
in Burgoyne, and you shall have
it ALL"
The doctor felt the pulse of
the man, and probed the wound
anew. The gambler watched him
with the greatest anxiety until
the inspection was finished, when
the doctor shook his head in to-
ken of impossibility. The GAM
bier sat beside the wounded man,
and stanched the flow of blood
from his wound, until the arrival
of his wife. She came, accompa-
MED by few friends, and as hero
ic women bear their misfortunes,
she bore hers. Not a word OF. re-
proach escaped her--words of
cheerfulness only came to her
lips, as tears coursed down her
cheeks. To her inquiry as to the
chances of her husbands recovery,
the doctor assured her there was
no hope, that the wound was NOR
tai, and that In few hours the
wounded man must die. She
sank down upou her knees and
invoked the mercy of a forgiving
God upon her dying husband and
his murderer.
The gambler knelt at the side
of the wounded man, and asked
his forgiveness for the wrong he
had committed, also that of his
wife, which was readily granted.
"This, said he, sis for disobeying
the sacred injunction Of my aged
father and mother. l have faced
death thousand times and still
l have escaped The balls of the
enemy have whistled past my
ears as thick as hailstones, and
the bursting bomb has exploded
at my feet. Still I have lived;
0 God and for this f! High above
the red tide of the battle have
carried my country's ensign, and
that won for me a name among
men. When not one comrade was
left to tell of the battles, escaped
unscratched. Why was I not
killed with the rest All that
was proud and pleasing to man /
have had, and if | could recall the
last act by living on carrion, sleep
ing in pauper's grave, and re.
nouncing every proud act of my
life, | would do it. | was born in
the same village with that man !;
we were born beneath the same
roof, and o God the same mother
gave us birth! He must not die
he is my brother" And the
gambler sank on the floor, in a
swoon.
The wounded man raised him.
self upon his elbows; his glazed
eyes wandered about the room,
as if searching for some particular
person.
"Mary," said he, ''is my brother
William here? l."
The words choked in his throat,
the gurgling blood stopped his ut
terance, and he sank back a corpse
upon his pillow.
The wife knelt again, but it
was beside dead body and In
voked the blessing of God upon