Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1881-08-02

W tue uOuo OF Cnelr 1rlenO VINO was t(
be married to William Francis Cole.
ridge. Now Coleridge and had been
classmates at law school and once be-
fore when he was engaged to Rich
mond belle he had asked me to be his
best man. But she was flirt and chang
ed her mind before the wedding day
which, equally with the John Brown
raid, Coleridge thought helped to bring
on the war. l expressed my surprise
that having thus committed himself to
me he should undertake to get married
without my knowledge, and having
forty-eight hours at my disposal before
the first wedding on my list, it did not
take much persuasion from those sweet
voices and auxiliary eyes to induce me
to go with them and tell William Fran
els what thought of him.
1t was afternoon when we reached
Hadiz, the station where my young
ladies were to leave the train. The temp
tat1On' to continue my adventure was
reinforced by my sense of gallantry and
several other considerations, and I got
off with the party. AS the train went
on its way I huddled my flock into a
badly-shattered shed which was the
only station house, and went to look for
the carriages and other vehicles oftrans-
pOrtatiOn which were expected to meet
US. None were to be found. The eur
roundings were discouraging. A few
deserted shops, and long, low wooden
house, with rickety porch along the
front, about which there was not sign
of life, were the buildings. None of the
usual signs of civilization, such as pigs,
chicken and dogs, relieved the solitude.
In few minutes there came trotting
up to the depot, from out of the rain a
tired-looking horse frescoed with mud.
and on his horseback, guiding him with
a carriage bride, sat a ridiculous" looking
little niger, who might have been the
brother of TOpsy. He informed US, with
the relish of capital joke, that the
"crick" was SO swollen that the carriages
could not cross and that he had swan"
it to tell US to 60 to the next station. He
scratched his kinky head as he looked
in the direction the train had taken, as
if he had vague idea that he was too
late.
The adventure was beginning to ex-
ceed my expectations. No train until
next morning, except one going the
wrong way, nothing to eat and no place
to sleep; this was superlatively Confed-
crate. My first step was to investigate
the gloomy-lo looking old house. struck
the door with no soft hand and there
came from within the sound ofsuppress-
ed sobs. When with hesitation the door
was slowly opened there stood a pale
and stricken woman, whose eyes were
red with weeping. A couple of little
children were clinging to her dress. I
told her of our situation and asked shell
ter and food for the party. She said we
were welcome to the shelter of her house,
but of food she had little or none and
there, pointing to white figure in the
corner, lay her husband, dead that day.
This was horrible. The ladies of course
refused to enter the house for hospital
| ity, but several of them went to see what
| they could do for the poor woman. I
tried look out over the country to see
if there were any houses near, but the
falling rain hung like curtain about
us. Hope was revived by the appear
ance of an old darkey, who seemed to
gather himself together as he came
around the old house. He informed US
that the railroad crossed the swollen
stream several miles further on; that
the old engine which was lying on the
switch near by was serviceable in
pinch, and that half mile down the
road was man, an invalid by wounds,
who had been an engineer before the
war. A small pecuniary suggestion
was sufficient to start the old African
after the engine as fast as his rheumatic
limbs would carry him. Our two girls
returned from their visit to the helpless
widow and were overcome by the dis
tress they had witnessed their tale of
woe filled the measure of our gloom
All the fun had gone out of my adven-
ture and question whether Mark Tap
ley himself would have found my situa-
ton particularly "jolly."
In that time the engineer and Uncle
Jasper arrived. The former shook his
head at the idea of trying that decrepit
old engine and suggested further that
although no trains were due for some
hours there was no telling what might
be coming and going; these war times
and no telegraph to find out. These OBJ
jections were reasonable but we were
not. We must get away from there
My offer of fifty dollars am sure would
not have secured the engineer. I be-
lieveit was the entreaties Of so many
beautiful faces turned upon him, for al
though he shook his head again after
looking over the engine he said to my
proteses and not to me: swell, if you
will, must, but it's awful risky" We
waited impatiently as he got his beast
of burden ready, feeding and stuff1ug
him with rosin and pipe, and darkness
was nearly upon US as he drew the train,
consisting of that engine and small
dark and stuffy caboose, out upon the
main trek, with the faithful Jasper as
| fireman and general assistant. Stowicg
the ladies with their limited baggage
and maid servant in the caboose l took
my place upon the locomotive and we
started on our perilous ride. The old en-
gine, groaning, painting and limping
along, made such time as it could wish
its precious burden of life, while the
anxious engineer kept the whistle
screaming at short intervals and made
the fearful race in absolute silence of
tongues. His anxiety made me realize
the rashness of the venture. It was des-
perate one, running on single track,
liable to meet or he overtaken by spe.
cial trains with troops or stores, our
movement not known in either direc-
Jion. l saw after we started thatit was
inexcusable, and felt that if harm and
accident came of it wanted to 20 first.
We croe sed the bridge over the muddy
and boiling stream and then night was
fairly over US. Not sound came from
the dark caboOse; the queen was silent.
For ten miles the race was run, and at
last, when we ran up to the next station,
the long drawn breath of relief the old
engineer gave vent to was as deep as if
it came from the caverns of the engine
itself.
When helped the girls out of their
palace car they crowded around him and
the old darkey, As if they longed to en-
brace them both, but they made no such
demonstration towards me. "Well,"
said Bena Grand, II haven't drawn my
breath since lett Hadiz, and, Major,
I'll remember this wedding better than
my own" II hope I'll see if you do"
said I. my spirits having returned
Suppose you two postpone that little
arrangement until this one is over"
added Miss Queen, with saucy move
| The suggestion was timely one. The
night was dark and wet. 1 began to
investigate this new station and found
it less forbidding than Hadiz. 1t was a
commissary post and Major Chantilly
had charge oft. From him I procured
wagon and pair of horses; the wagon
was without springs, but protected by a
oo NJ INT n T