Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1881-02-03

when he heard the report, L almost
wish it had been mel Dear old Cam
lionr'
When Camlion and l found ourselves
together again It the outbreak Of the
war, he was much matured in appear
ance, though his boyish simplicity and
gentleness We're unchanged. l had
heard, IN vague way, that ne had de-
voted himself, not without success, to
paying off the liabilities which his un-
happy father had incurred. But con-
tact with men and the world, and the
hearty preOccupation of his struggle to
atone for the sins of the dead, instead
of embittering him, had brought his
strong nature into more cheerful
frame, and his quiet geniality made
his companionship more than ever de-
lightful 10 me- But once, when asked
him, half jocularly, whether he had no
thoughts Of getting married, he looked
at me very gravely, and answered, in
his deep, straightforward voice:
Il never met but one woman whom
| could have married, and gave her up
long ago. Do you remember Miss
Capel?"
This led to my telling him how his
message had failed to reach her; and the
intelligence seemed to produce great
effect upon him. He murmured to
himself, several times: THAT may
have been the reason" and thereafter
became totally uncommunicative on
the subject. do not know whether
Fred Bolton ever heard Of this CONVEX
satlOn; but for my own part the stirring
events that We're daily happening
around us soon put it out of my head
As | began by saying, we were en-
camped on the Rapidan river, just be
fore that terrible series of battles in the
Wilderness which ushered in the close
of the rebellion. Meanwhile, there
was an ominOus quiet in our neighbor
hood; the only exception being a rather
annoying one in the shape of a sharp
shooter on the confederate side of tho
river (which was there about three hun
dred yards wide) who unerringly pick
ed off anyone of our men who ven
tured to show so much as his elbow OF
the federal bank. AS he had establish
ed himself opposite the only spot in
couple Of miles where it was practica
bic to water our cattle, his presence
was particularly inconvenient; and W,
expended an apparently disproportion
ate deal of trouble in our efforts to dis
lodge him, but nothing had any effect
As i'll luck would have it, there wer'
10 guns available at this point; and i
was III vain that we peppered the place
whence the deadly shots proceeded
with our rifles. Every day several val
liable men We're lost, until at last tn,
question, what was to be done, becam,
a serious and pressing one. The IN
known marksman was never known t.
miss; and all that any of us ever say
of him was the puff of smoke from tn
muZzle of his weapon.
One afternoon Fred Bolton came t,
my tent Il was surgeon to our compa
N.Y. in a state of such manifest dis
cOmposure that at first thought eithe
the colonel had been killed or the mys
ferrous sharpshOOter captured. |
turned out to be quite another matter
however.
'What do you Think" he began, il
an excited undertone. "Whose hous
do you suppose is mile off there, OF
our left?'' And without giving me tim
to hazard a guess he went on: 9Th
Capels, as sure rs you sit there. An,
whom do you suppose | saw? Mis-
Rosalind herself, as I'm living sinner
She rode up on horseback just as wa
palavering at the front door for pro
vender. By jove, she's more divinel
handsome than ever! And, oh m,
wig, didn't she give me rating though
WheN
what did she scold you about" de
manded /, amused.
"For being a Virginian and, ant
fighting on the northern side. [ tel
you she made me feel like a borl
sneak and blackguard A little NOR,
and [ believe [ should have ratte(
again, and Joined the johnny Rebs. 4
| were man, said she 4 would max,
it my business to catch such creature
as you and hang you It's my opin
ion if a few hundred women like he
were to enlist on her side we should bt
| thrashed out of our boots in month
but luckily there's not another woman
like her on the planet"
| LOlt u DCbLS1 IOOh OuG, VI Sl10 i
make a conquest of you in more ways
than one," said l, laughing. "By the
way, this news would interest CamIion
Does he know"
mo, and don't mean to tell him,
returned Bolton rather sharply; anC
after sitting a few minutes longer he
got up and left me in apparently nc
very good humor.
That same evening, however, he ap
peared again, this time in a preoccu-
pied mood, and with his pipe in his
mouth. The conversation presently
turned upon the ever active sharp
shooter, and after few remarks had
passed Bolton suddenly exclaimed:
I've made up my mind to kill that
fellow, and I've thought of a way how
it may be done. guess Pm as good q
shot as he is, and if can get sight Of
so much as a square inch of him, he's
settled" He then went on to unfold
to me his scheme, which appeared feas
able, though there were certain obsta-
| cles in the way. After we had discuss,
ed it for awhile he said:
"Do you know why I want to shoot
him?"
"From patriotic motives, L trust, was
my reply.
That's very well so far as it goes ;but
there's something else. L believe /
know who he is-or what he is at all
events. [ believe he's the man whom
Rosalind Capel means to marry. From
something she said to-day I'm certain
she knows him, and that there's some