Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1873-01-15
Quite SO.


so iuseDerable from my memory OF hlm,
that | do not think | could write infinitely
of John Bladburn if | were to cali hun
anything but Quite so.
L was one night shortly after the trst
battle of Bull Run. The Army OF the Pc-
romac shattered, stunned and forlorn, was
back in its old quarters behind the earth
works. The melancholy line OF ambulances,
HARM onr wounded to Washington, was
not done creeping over Long Bridge; the
rlpe snr,ks and the gray sIIll lay IN wInr0Ws
an tbe field of Manassas: and the gloom that
,geIgh, d down our hearts was Ike the log
that stretched along the 0Jsom OF the foto
mac and enfo ded the valley OF the ohenan-
doah. A DIR zzlng rain had set IN at twiilght'
and, CROWN. bUlder with the dafkuess,
was beating dismal tattoo On our tent-the
tent OF Mees e, Company n, tn hegi giIheh'
New York Volunteers. Oar mess, consisting
ORIGINALLY of eight men, was reduced to lour.
Little ny, a one OF the boys sriihly re-
marked. had concluded to remain at Ma
nsssas Curuoral Steele we had to leave al
Fairfax Court House, shot through 1be blp;
Hunter and Svndam we hal said good-5y to
that Afternoon. ." He'll Johnny Reb, says
Hunter. hItln1 up the leather sde-plece ol
the ambulance. - that Iii be back again az
soon as get new leg But onyuam Salu
notfiog: he ouly uncl0sed his eyes ianguldiy
and smiled farewell 10 us
The lour Of us who were left alive and
upburt that shameful July day, sat gloom
NV smoking our briarw0od pipes, thinking
+ our tLoughts ami listening To the ram pat
terirg against the canvass. That, and the
occasional whine OF a hungry cur, ioraging
ON the outskirts cf the camp Tor stray
bone, alone broke the silence, save wien 4
vicious drop OF rain detached itself medlta-
tIvejV from the rdge-pOle OF the tent ana
fell upon tie wick OF our tallow candle,
maxim Il o.. cuss - a, Ned Strong described
it. TIE candle was ia the midst ct one vi
its most rr,.auc ii when blahey. knocking
the ashes lr,m his pipe and addressing NJ
one IN plrticu ar. but giving breadth, unc0n
sciousIy. as 1t were. TO tie result If his cog
itations. observed tnat ' It Was considerable
Z of a tzz E.
The on to Richmond business?
Yes"
Il wonder what they Il do about it over
vond,r,, saId Curtis, pointing over his right
Shoulder. BY .' over yonder he meant the
North in sCnt1al and NV England especial
". Curtis was Boston boy, and his sense
OF locahty was SO otrong that during all ms
wauderin.s in Ylr5lnIa, | do not believe
there was Il momeut, day or night, when he
could lot hive made d bee-lIne Tor IaneuI
Hall
Do about it?" cried Strong. " They /.
make about two hundred thousand blue Il ~
mel treusc1s and send them along, each pan
with man III it, all tue short men ln the Ion :;
trousers and all the long men in the short
ones. be added, TueiulIy contemI latlng his
own leg-gear, which reached scarcely to his
ankles
that's 30. Sad BlakeIy, '' Just now
when ! was JacklIns the Commlssary ior
extra candlef. I saw d crowd OF lew fellows
drawing blankets.
.' say. there, drop that y cried Strong
e. AIlrfgut. sir dIdn7 t know it was you" lie
added hastily, seeing It was Lieutenant
Haipes. VINO had thrown back the flap Of the
! tent and let IN 4 gust Of wind and ram that
threatened the most serious bronchial conse-
duences 10 cur dlscjntcnted tallOw DIP
:. You re to bunk 10 here, said the Lieu
tenant. sueaking 10 some one outside. The
some one sttpted in and IIalnes vanished IN
the darkness.
When Strorg had succeeded in restoring
the candle to consciousness, the Light lell
full upon a tail. Shy looking man OF about
thirty five with long. hay colored beard and
mus ache. upon winch tie rain drops stood
in clusters like the night dew on patches OF
cob,,cb IN a meadow I5 WAS an honest face
with an uIwUrldIy sort of blue eyes. that
looked cut from under the broad visor OF the
in antry cap. WIKI a deerential glance
-, "'-4u I'' a lis b,ante+ nver r. and lat
down unobtrusiyejy
r. ,,,t,1n ttron'7 hand vas snnnosed
- h. ,',,,,crs.,tion.
to-,toa. e, ,o,,Iiod tho s-ranrer not curf
T. h., ,Is..3,.ttv and with an mir as n he
IL .1,d al t,,,'r., was f., he sad a1ont #
n'o 9,'''' a., 9,s ;aS,,;r
~ ColDT 81 'o-i .''e
o. t" > '''0'
- ...,,.., =, ,..+: +:,.oIar9.,
,Ioui ""y paw /"
-..5.-.tl.. s.;.ual A..,.
IoP'0 I .l(P - -" ' Il
there continued = "A''f' 0''e' IL iiie' n0'
~ ~ - W
|t'To -.-,.l i..;.
. g.. So l,rI,. 'l +Io w tu'''l ''''
'en.' o-'1 I '''.s, 90 VIC o,o,,.+
s',,,i n 49,, .o,oJ air gnd Loo.,r h,,,.
1sounieN "'' 'i'0''1 '''i anu ''o'" iiNl-
ming 'o''S :. wish I was in pixier
&" The State q, MaInt observed RIakelv
with a err,aip defiance Of manner not at all
necessary in DISCUSSING a oe,yranbical ones-
tlon. :. ~ il nleasant state
:. I, snmIuer - sngoested the STRANGER
In summer mean" returned Bl,kelv
with ANIMATION. thinking he had broken the
ice Cold as blazes in winter. though
amt it?"
The rev recruit nodded.
Bakely eyed the man for moment, and
then smiling ore o. those smiles Of simula-
ted yaycty which nOvclists inform us are
more tragIc than tears. turned upon him
with wltGering irony:
Trust YOU left the old folks pretty com
fortable?'
= Dead =
- Dead? ,"