The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-12-06
NO. 40.

courage to tell him earlier, because she
had never dreamed he could care for
her; how she was very, very unhappy,
Very-with great dash under the adj
verb, and wOeful blister just below
how, though she must keep her promise
she would love her darling Eddie best
all her life long.
And that was the end of it. A few
weeks later he saw the announcement
of her marriage in the papers, and then
he tore her letter up and set himself to
forget her. On the whole he succeeded
fairly we'll. He threw himself heart and
soul into his profession, with what re-
suit we have seen. He succeeded in
making every one, even himself, believe
he was a man of the consistency of
stone; and yet, when Private Jones,
brought in TO receive severe lecture,
not for one, but for a dozen misdemean-
ors, came and looked at him out of
Mary's soft, blue eyes, and talked to him
in Mary's soft voice, he could not find
it in his heart his adamantine heart
to be hard upon Mary's boy.
The vision of the cherub's face under
forage cap threw him back with pain
full distinctness to the time, one-and-
twenty years before, when he parted
from Mary. He realized that Saturday
afternoon in November that perhaps he
had been very hard upon her, poor little
soul He might, at least, have staid
and said few kind words to the poor
little woman, who was bound to man
she hated; that she hated Hamilton
there could be no doubt, for the look of
loathing and horror which leaped into
her eyes as she realized his presence
proclaimed her feelings plainly enough.
Ah poor darling-he had got from
'poor little soul'' to ''poor darling''-
but he felt now that he had been cruel
to her; he might at least have answer
ed that heart broken, despairing letter,
and so, perhaps, have made her lot less
hard to bear than it probably was.-
Well, at all events, he had not been hard
upon the boy, that was one consoling
point. Boys will go wrong, especially
when they have no father to keep them
straight. He had suspected all along
who Private ones really was, though
till that very afternoon he had not been
quite certain. He wondered if a letter
to his mother would do any good. She
was widow now, poor soul--Hamilton
had been dead ten years, he knew-and
naturally took an interest in her only
al, 10 1f fOax
had had but one child, Col. Cornerstone
was also aware-and certainly if he
wrote few lines she could not take it
amiss, and it might be comfort to
her.
And so Colonel Cotherstone sat down
to his writing table to pen an epistle to
his old love, Mary Stewart, the mother
of that exceedingly wayward young
gentleman, Private Edward Jones, f
troop.
''She called him after me, too, MUIR
INJURED the commanding officer of the
Cuirassiers, as he selected a pen. Poor
little Mary"
1t was easy enough to write "Novem-
ber 14th, under the printed "CAvALRY
BARRACKS, YORK." which was already
stamped on the paper, but he found the
next part scarcely so easy. His most
natural impulse was to begin, my
dear Mary )" yet when he had written it,
he thought it too familiar, so he took
another sheet. Having put another
November 14th'' at the top, he began,
''My dear Mrs. Hamilton"
"what shall say next ~ he said
aloud.
1t took him long time to write this
letter; but at last he accomplished it.
1t was not very long, and 1t was rather
stiff.
"My dear Mrs. Hamilton" it ran, 81
have only this afternoon discovered that
your son has enlisted in the Cuirassiers
under the name of Jones. He has been
five months in the regiment; and
though as yet he is impatient of restraint,
am in hopes that we shall make good
soldier of him, and, in the course of
few years, that he will obtain his COM
mission. Any interest of mine, you
may be sure, he will not want. Believe
me, my dear Mrs. Hamilton, most faith
fully yours, EDWARD LIE GENDRE
CoTHERsFoNE."
That was the letter he wrote and sent.
Three days passed, during which he re-
ceived no reply--a fact which worried
him somewhat. On the fourth day