St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-01-03
Halls Mistake.

--e@S, HtStitu ulSll alllOllS lHe mountains
Hal Brainard, John Hazard, and /.
Harrison Grey, at your service. We
messed together, and that morning as
we drank our black coffee we talked
matters over with no sense of restraint.
The regiment, which had been in camp
for a month. was to march the next day
81 shall be glad enough to get out of
this,' said John. '.But. by George.
hOys, it does seem il little tough on Il
'Hllow to have to 90 off without seeing
&c folks again. 1t can't he more than
IN miles to Hilltop, It's the crow flies
and the speaker, he was hardly moIe
,:an boy, looked yearningly off into
lie blue distance.
''lt's no Use, my lad" answered Hal,
lille his resolute face clouded over.
No flTloughs will bc granted, under
sand
,, But just then our good Captain Tai
,ca, appeared ut the door of the tent
,nc. >: d been teacher OF the High School
Ill gHe town adjoining otffs, and we bad
all been pupils of his. As we gave him
the military salute, he smiled family.
at is almost schooltimr. boys" he
said. ''But. first. | want to send one of
you over to Hilltop, to do an crramd tor
me. Whoever goes can stay all night
but must report himself 10y eight o'clock
tomorrow morning.
We looked from one to the other. in
a sort ofrager dismay. At last john
Jack we called him spoke out.
"Could'nt we all 90. Captain !''
Not exactly" he answered laughing
"Orders are too stringent. But settle it
among yourselves and let one of Nou
come to my tent in an hour"
The boys in the next tent were sing
ing "Rally round the Flag at the top
of their voices. Some one on the other
side was whistlimg "IIomc. Sweet
Home, i'll long and lingering cadence
From the pine woods ON our left. the
morning brcczeS brought lis watts OF
balsamic fragrance, with now and then
an odorous breath from the trailing
Maytlowers. lIoN well remember it
all
found my voice at length.
Let Jack 90. He is til" Youngest.
But then | hcthought me that Hal
had something in Hilltop that We others
had not. He had been engaged t,
ThyrZa Harrington for nearly Il year.
CHANGING at him from beneath my
cap. | SAW IA look upon his face that wa>
half defiant. half tender Then Il,
caught up his gun. with Il prctcncc OF
examining the lock.
NO" Jack answered quietly. III
but one of us can go. it must hr Hal"
Hal looked up suddenly. his fac,
glowing with something that WAS not
exactly JOY.
Jack is right" said. "It must l.,
Hal"
lie dropped his gun, and caught our
hands impul~ivcly.
"God bless You. boys" he cried
"Iuu make me feel like selfish brute
But it seems to me this morning that
chance of going to Hilltop"
Hurry up. them" we both answered
~ "u have uo time To spare"
We stood i'll the doorway of our tent.
and watched the tall. >talwart figure Il,
it dropped out of sight behind the hill
Then Jack turned to me with Il gay
smile that MAS somewhat hclicd 10y hi,
dr""piug cyclid>.
"llal looks like Il prince OF the hlonc
in his new uniform. he said. and ear.
IirS himself like one. too. What Il mag
niiirrnt fellow he j. Bat what i TIA,
matter with him. Grey ! scent trouh
lc in the air. He is not himself. lately. :
Just my own impression. also. Hut
| did not care to discuss the matter
The day WAS Il busy one and When
night came, We were glad To wrap ON.
selves i'll our blankets and go to sleep
Hal returned the ncNt morning.
"llallno. old fellow. hoW'S Hilltop ,
cried Jack. dancing around him in f..
VcI of impalirncc. "Who did ynu see
How are all the folks -
lie soon received Il quictus in til,
shape of sundry packets and parcels
Then Hal turned To me.
"Therc's no change at headquarters
! suppose ;" he said intcrr"gHtiN cll
I'VE get ont of this to-day ,"
answered atfrmntivcly.
The Lord he praiScd" he cxrlaim-
ed. ''lcould not stand this inacti"n mucI
longer. Grey :: and he fell Vigorously t,
work. packing his knap>lck.
He had not quite the Hir of Il happl
Romeo. whose lips were still warm viii
the kisses of his Juliet iIut | had II,
time to puzzle over it. and 10y sundowr
We were off.
This Is no war story: and it is need
less to tell of our marchimgS and coun
marchimgs. our pcrilS, our victoric
and our defeats. 1t is not enough t,
say that we were i'll Virginia. that vas
mauSoleum of two armies, and that ",
| three Hilltop boys had no reason to h,
ashamed of our record.
But through it all. and mdcrly i'll.
all, there was something about lIa
Brainard could not understand. II,
was brave, even to raShncSS. But i
seemed to me more like the reckless
ness of the man who holds his life. q
little worth, than the bravery of hin
who takes it calmly in his hand. ready
if it is required of him, to offer it up il
all its full. sweet completeness. On,
evening was on the eve of an Ell
gagement-I ventured to remonStrat,
with him.
"lOu are too reckless, Hal" | said
"A man has no right To throw away hi.
life needlesSly, even in battle. Thinl
what it would he to Thyrza, if you wrr,
to he left i'll some namelcSs grave dow
here"
He started as if the bullet had al
ready found him. Whether Won belicv,
it or not, we three had messed together
ever since we left Vermont: we ha,
tramped side by side through Nirgini;
mud we had shared each others la
tiOus and blankets in many stress o
danger and fatigue but the name o
Thyrza Harrington had never passct
our lips since that day in camp at Brat
tleboro. Hal was always reticcnt. II,
was the sort of man who held you Il
arms length, if he pleased: and any
subject he chose to ignore was Il sealc'
book. He had not chosen to tall, o
her, and so Jack and | had been silent