The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1880-06-19

myself wounded, when a fair.haired |
man bore down upOh me from the OPP
poslne line, IL line it could then be call
ed, and l received his headlong onset |
with terrific bayonet thrust, and as he |
fell thought of Cain, and of that deed |
which has made the name of Cain a |
name of malediction forever. know |
not why, but felt myself compelled to |
halt in the midst of The melee to kneel !
beside that fair-haired man and look at
him. l turned him over and looked on
his face--his dear, dead face. All my
mother, 1t vast was-my brothers
face, and my own arm had Slain himl"
The scene at that moment it wOtld
not be easy to describe. In an instant
| the weeping mothers tears were dry
and her face became passionless as mar
BILE. My own emotion, which l have
already acknowledged, took no pains
to conceal. Rough, hard-featured SOL
diers standing by, listened with bated
| breath to this more than tragic narra-
live, while big tear-drops welled from
their eyes unchecked and undisguised.
"Yes," he continued, soliloquizing,
"my own arm had slain him. Dear,
darling brother, Fred laid my face
upon his and it was cold "a face which
in our boyhoOd scented but tile mirror
of my own ever near meat home, at
school, at meal, at play-which laughed
when | was glad, aud wept when | was
sorrowful. Oh, would we both had died
in those fresh and bright days Of limo
cence. kissed his pallid lips; looked
into his eyes, but in them was no re.
sponsive glance. lie was dead. ! had
slain him The very thought was a
burning madness in my brain ! heed
ed not the carnage around me; Thought
not of my own wounds; even did not
know when my arm was gone. Oh,
the arm that had done such a deed de-
served to perish. Forgive me, o my
brotherl How gladly would l give my
life to bring back thine againl Stay,
friends, no not shut out the blessed
light Let IN the light, can not see
my brother. Fred, sweet brother, put
up your sword, and let us play with
, flowers once more upon this pleasant
grass. ......-.--
+ And SO he passed away to join his
brother, let us hope III a land where
bloom the flowers that never fade, where
4 | SlIllGS anu WdIS dI6 uuhuOhnJ uliu
where the mysteries and misunderstood
ings of our present state are dispelled
by the light that never dies.
! Reverence for the childless mother S
grief, as well as the many-voiced call
of duty, prevented my making at that
; moment the inquiries which thronged
, my mind both as to the history of this
+, Strangely sorrow.smitteti family, and
the means By which the poor mother
had come 70 know of her sons condition
: and whereabouts. / have often since
! tried to trace her but the search has
always been fruitless. They certainly
belonged to the better classes OF society
> and think 1t likewise certain that they
were Southerners. The younger brot .
! er-which took him to be--whOse sad
, narrative is here given, and probably
resided for sometime in the North, and
; becoming imbued with the sentiments
= = and opinions which cliarged the atmos
phere around him, found himself event
; ually in the ranksl In word, looh
: upon the whole episode as one of those
: awful condolences of fate which ar,
generally thought TO take place only il
! the pages OF romance, but which n wide
! experience has taught me to believe art
by no means unfrcqueut among the un'
recorded realities of life.-CHAMBER'S
: JOURNAL.