The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1875-02-10
HE DIED SAYING "eUssss
A Wanderer from the Frontier
What was Found on his
Breast.
From the petFoit Free Press


He sat on the steps of the City Hall,
head in his hands, and one could not help
but notice him. He wore a coat of wolf
skins, bearsI1in cap, buckskin breeches,
and his grizzly hair hung down on his
sooulders in a tangled mass. He had
drifted East from the wild frontier, and
he had fallen sick. No one knew for a
long time what allied him, as he would
not reply to Inquiries; but finally, when
a policeman shook his arm and repeated
the inquiry, the. man slowly lifted his
head and replied: - g
Tn playedI''
His face was p4le and haggard, and it
was plain that he was going to have an
attack of fever. He was sent to the
hospital for treatment, he making no in
quiries and answering no questions This
was month ago He had his personal
effects III sort of sack. These were
breech-loading rifle, a hatchet, a knife,
and several other articles, and when he
had been laid on bed in one of the
wards, he insisted that the bag beplaced
under his head They offered him rpedi-
cine, but he turned away his face, and
no argument could induce him to swallow
any.
"But you are sick man." said the
doctor, as he held the medicine up
"Cuss sickness, replied the old Imam. b
."And you may die!" '''0 p
-"Cuss deathr'
He grew worse as the days went by, 2
and was sometimes out Of his head, and
talking strange talk of Indian fights and
buffalo hunts, but not once did he speak
of family, friends or Of himself. He
would no let them undress him, comb
his hair or show him any attentions be-
yond leaving his food on the itand. A
raging fever was burning up his system,
and when the doctors found that the old
man would not take their medicine,
they knew that death was only a matter
of days
He must have had an from constitution
and a heart like warrior, for he held
death at arm s length until the other
day. When it was seen that he could
last but few hours longer, the nurse
asked him if a clergyman should be
called 20 -e~o- - sI
A''Cuss the ciergymanp' replied the old
man, those being the first words he had |
spoken for three days. s2 s.7
However, two hours afterwards his
mind wandered, and he sat up in bed
and called out: i
81 tell ye, the Lord isn't going to be
hard on feller who has fit Injins.''
He was quiet again until an hour bea
fore his death, when the nurse made
one more effort and asked: 1 Il
'lWill you give me your nahne?'' 4
s"Cuss my namels replied the old man.
4''Haven't you any friends?'' a--'
-HCuss friendsr' a.--2s 1s9
''Do you wish to send your things to
any one?"
ai'Cuss any oners a
-''Do you realize, contfnuedthenurse,
.'that you are very near the grave?o7
''Cuss the gravet'' was the monotonous
reply, Fl
No further questions were asked, and
during the next hour the strange old
man dropped quietly asleep in death,
uttering n word and making no sign
When they came to remove the clothing
and prepare the body for the grave;l
what do you suppose they found, care
fun y wrapped in skin, and lying on
his breast? A daguerreotype picture of
a little girl! It was taken years and |
years ago. and when the child was five !
or six years old The face of the little
one was fair to look upon, and the case
WHICH held 1T has been Scared by bud /
lets. 1'here was-a dozen sears on the
old mans Body tc prove that he had
lived Wild life. but there was not a
line among his effects TO reveal his name
or the name Of the child whose picture
he had worn on his breast for years and
years. Who was she? His own darling,
perhaps. BE would not have treasured
the picture so carefully unless ialeFe was
love in his heart.
No one would have believed that the i
wolfskin. coat covered heart which
could feel love or tenderness, but it did. !
He might have been returning home. /
after years of weary wandering, or he /
might have left the frontier to be sure
of Christian burial, and hoping that |
no unsyTRpatiletfc eye would fall upon
the picture. .@@ rss
Some safd to keep it, hoping to iden- |
tify the old man, but others laid it back |
on the baftie-searred breast which had /
Il So long, and IL svass there
yesterday wll.sn-tsaey. buried him
Tstoes !' cried a darkey ped /
dlar in st. Louis. Hash dat rack
ct. Kon distracts de whole neigh.
borhood! ~ came from q colored wo
man in a doorway. so you kin
bear me, kin,gou ? Hear you | II |
hin hear you ~ miies'.. 'sTalilz Heab2
adatsS dhSe holleriaI I to. be-
EsSz..s4ss feF-Sk - fsssfssrrs- - - ~ sri