Oxford Democrat., 1877-10-16
Stltttr0 Storp.
THE RIBBON OF HONOR.

The night was very cold, and We had
drawn up around the Ere-an open ire OF
ssa-coal, which The size OF the room rem
dered necessary, even when the furnace
Was, according to Patrick. "at the top oi
IL hate We were = small party-Dy
cousin, and my cousins wife, her sister,
Patty EmerSoG-a darL-eyed, Csstijsu-
looking g;r,, whom you weJe constantly
naming, in your imagination. Sonora
luez. OF Dolores; an thing bat the com
moup.ace Patty" % which She really
rcsponced-and Major Howi,h, en Eng
Hsh friend OF M cousins an charming
person, easy. joyial, and sympathetic
aal with = background oi personal his
tony which dated from tue Csimea.
With myself We made just five, a
group unequal Us to whist, but quite
equal to much liyeiier pasume-s,ory-
telling. Tne major. good fellow, had
.'ope ened the ball" with thrilling tale"
or two from his Climean experiences.
aud then Tor the lirst time we discovered
that be Was one oi those heroes who had
Won the Victoria cross. Patty's eyes
glIstened-
"Oh. 10 think. she cried olt. THAT We
here in America have gone through such
war. have hsd such splendid heroes,
and not national badge or ribbon OF
honor 10 crown and specialize oar
special heroes :"
My cOusin-who was hinself some
thing OF hero in the war, and whom We
all called the Colonel, when We did not
more affectOnately and irrOverently style
him Cousin Jim"-at this point gave
utlerance to an exclamation which al
once aroused our interest.
What is it. Colonel there's bee
buzzing in your bonnet. that's certain
aud. rs I've told all my stories Tor to-
night, you might as well open your
budget" put in Major HO~ith. We all
Joined in this invitation or suggestion,
and. after minute or two. my cousins
pleasant voice was telling the story OF
'TuE RIRBoN or Honor"
You rerLembsr Melroe ?' he began,
glancing az us thres ladies. He was
the brightest, gayeSt little fellow, this
Metro addressing himself to Major
Howith. "lhs life ol my regiment, and
he had won his cap'sircy though no was
Ia, threc-sud-;weniy. The night before
his last battle, rCcolioCt, was specially
merry evening all round. owing TO Mel
roe's wit and humor and drollerY. Dal-
zall. OF the Fifteenth, and Molroc, had q
tent together. and IIoylo and the two
brothers Archy and Cam Browne, TO-
gether with myself, were invited in that
night to 3 little supper OF Mers giving.
| recollect perfectly, as went in, seeing
Melroc bending over the oysters which
re vas cooking upon g spirit-!amp. tie
was great at al those things, and Cam
Browne was running him as only Cam
Browne could. You've missed your vo-
cation. Mel; you should have been ap-
prenticed to Soyer,' Cam was saying.
You always had knack ut that kind OF
messing; and l remember turning TO
the rest OF us, when he became little
urcLia st school; and he actually. at that
tender age, had furnished himself with
surIry ,ia cups and various conveniences
for brewing messes; and be was forever
at L.
AsI heard this I;recalled the frs, time
met the youngster myself. was at
the same school, one of the seniors, and
he was little chap not yet turned into
his teens, very fond of his lineup busi-
ness, and very much afraid OF ghosts. l
used TO meet him running down the cor
idor5 after dark. AID once | remember
very well, when we were all in our
rooms and the lights were being put out,
now little white face looked in, and q
little shaky voice cried. King. will you
lend me your toothache-dropsr ques-