Middletown transcript., 1874-02-14

some of the noblest spifits that ever went
into battle. Let them BE tskens up and
carried back; (; some Of them may yet be
saved. Poor Brandon, ! shall never for
get him; the first upon the enemy. he
fought With I valor seldom equaled. With
his horse sbst from under him. be engsg-
I'd il . hspd -to.hapd encounter. and slew
three desperate fellows before he was over
powered. All! my heart swells with,
pride at the thought that I Icsmmand such
men !! Let the memory Of the dead be
honored |" q lec
Il Was he IN earnest, or in jest anx-
iously listened for the laugh, but none
came Gould il Be possible that he had
mistaken me for heroine. who had
blpndered through all I had done.l and
got out ofthe way az the earlies. possible
mo,nsntf No. no. Already I was doubt
less the butt Of my captain and comrades.
"Ah, here be is! here is Brandon r
exclaimed two or three voices, and inn
hedistely dozen hands assisted me out
from under the oanpcn, and congratula-
tions poured in upon me till vas more
completely bewildered than while I was
unconciously acting the part Of q daring
hero. ,eisa& gr. - = gsS sM ..3 n =.
Such. then. was my first glorious ex-
ploit. With the exact smount Of credit that
ought to attach to it, but which think I
will keep to myself, Notwithstanding |
bays recorded it in my journal, What
business has the critical public with mo-
;tives? Facts have made me 4 hero in
spite Of myself, and Jet the facts stand ns
others bsve recorded them 3 .jgE.
In few minutes another order called
my corps away to another charge. but l.
not being mounted, could not accompany
them. So I started off afoot toward that
part ofthe Geld whittier perceived some
men carrying off the wounded Before I
got half way there, one Of the enemy's
horses ca~e prancing down toward me,
and With a sudden spring caught it.
Having mounted. / was riding away as
fast as could, when a body of cavalry
came laundering along. with the bugle
sounding charge. | would have given
these foemen wide birth. but. unfortu-
nately, my confounded fool Of horse
would not let me. Taking the bit in his
teeth, he rushed directly iu among them.
and l being a good deal excited and con-
fused. Thought I WIS now obliged to fgbt,
whether ! would or not. Had it occurred
to me that | could surrender myself pris-
oner Of war, l should unquestiouabiy have
done so At once. but instead Of this / bo-
gan to lay about me right aud left. with
no particular design in view. except il
might be to get away as quickly as I could
Surely they must have thought me either
a madman or fool, to contend single
banded against sush odds. and they treat
ed me accordingly. Sabrss flashed. blows
fell. and soon with broken arm and a
broken head, dropped from my horse.
TO have the little seass I possessed traap-
led out Of me on the ground. "
Now, seriously, this is all I personally
know Of battle in which it is said dis
tisguished. if net immortalized, myself by
prodigies of valor, for the next I remem.
Der is Of finding myself among the wound
cd, under the care Of my surgeon. who in-
formed me that the enemy had been do-
feated. and We had won great victory
He further said that my name was in
sverybody's mouth, from the general
down. and though q few Of the more pru-
dent were disposed to censure my rash
ness. yet all concurrsd in pronouncing me
hero worthy Of the palmiest days of
Sparta. 81
Y Though excessively pale from tho loss
Of blood, l know that. some must have
found lts way to my cheeks ss l ehumbly
confessed that my last Quixotic charge,
was all the work Of an unmanagea able
horse. but 20 my surprise, ahe doctor sf-
fected not to believe me, and declared
that true merit was always modest. Af-
ter that I told others the same truthful
story. with tho same result. bat now I do
not repeat i any more, finding it . very
pleasant thing to be a distinguished here
with a somewhat lucrative promotion as
my reward.
Virginia tobacconists are holding indig-
nation meetisgs to protest against the pro-
posed increase Of the tax on their product.