Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-02-04
lie DIED SAYING "CUSS.o
A Wanderer from n Fronfier-What
Was Found on his Breast.

0NAAoAe LAEl 4AG1=s
He sat on the steps Of the City Hall,
head in his hands, and one could not help
but notice him. be wore a Goa Of wolf
skins, q bearskin cap, buckskin breeches,
and his grizzly hsIr hung down on his
shoulders in d 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 re-
ply 10 inquiries; but finally, when q police
man shook his arm and repeated the in
quiry. the man slowly lifted his head and
replied:
81 N playedI7
His face was pale and Eaggard, and it
was plain that he was going to have an at
tack Of fever. He was sent to the hospital
for treatment, he making no inquiries and
answering no questions. This was a
month ago. He had his personal effects in
a sort Of a sack. These were a breech-
loading rifle, a hatehet, a knife, and seve-
raj other articles. and when he had been
laid on a bed in one Of the wards, he in
sisted taat the bag be placed under his
head. They offered him medicine, but he
turned away his face, and no argument
could induce him to swallow any.
"Bu5 you ara q sick man" said the doc
tor, IS lie held the medicine up.
'Cuss Sickness replied tie old man.
"And you may de-
"Cuss death.7
he grew worse as the days went by, and
was sometimes out Of his head, and talk
ing strange talk Of Indian fights and buffalo
hunts, but not one did he speak Of family,
friends, or Of himself. He would not let
them undrass him, comb his hair, or show
him any attentions beyond leaving his
food On the stand. \ raging fever was
burning up his system, and Wien the doc
tors found that the old man would not take
their medicines, they kCew that dea-h was
only a matter Of days.
He must have had an iron constitution
and a heart ike a warrior, for he held death
at arms length until the O,her day. When
it was seen that be could last but a few
hours longer, the nurse asked him if a eler-
gman should be called.
"Cuss clergymenr' replied the old man,
those being the inst words he had spoken
for three days.
However, two hours after his mind wan
dered, and be sat up in bed and called out:
81 tell We, the Lord isn't going to be hard
on a feller who has FL IniUnsr'
He was quiet again until an hour before
his death, when the nurse made one MORE
effort and asked:
evil you give me your name %
"Cuss my name - replied the old man.
Haven't YOU any friends ?n
"CusS friends -
"DOyou wish US to send your things to
any One?7
'Cuss any one,'
'Do you realize, continued the nurse,
sthat You are very near the grave?'
"Cuss the gravel was the m~OnOtOnous
reply.
No further questions were asked, and
during the next hour the strange old man
dropped quietly asleep in death, uttering
no WOrd and making no SIGN. When they
came 10 remove the clothing and prepare
the body for the grave, what do you sup
pose they found carefully wrapped in oil
skin and lying on his breast? AdlguerreO-
type picture Of a little girl, Ii 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 it has been scared by bullets.
There were a dozen sears on the old mans
body to prove that he had lived a wild life,
but there was not q 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 sheg His
own darling, perhaps. He would not have
treasured the picture so carefully unless
there was love in his heart.
No one would have believed that the
wolf skin coat covered a heart which could
feel love or tenderness, but it did. tie
might have been returning home after years
Of weary wandering, or he might have left
the frontier to be sur of a christian burial,
and hoping that no u~nsympathetic eye
would fall upon the picture.
Some said keep it, hoping 10 make it
identify the old man, bat Others laid it
back on the Dattle-scarred breast which had
preserved it so long, and it was there yester-
day when they buried him.