National Republican., 1883-05-10

To my relief It was only one of the men in
the company.
win you take these, lieutenant" he said;
"and--and-."
The poor fellows lip quivered and his
voice broke as he held out a small square
package. 1t was o Photographic group of
himself, and his wife and child, with the
little ones wee face pressed against the cheek
of its mother and with it were few
flowers, whose dried petals exhaled only the
ghost Of an odor, and a couple of letters, one
old and stained, and dogs-eared from much
usage, while the other was crisp and new.
Would you take them and send them to-
TOTO her, when Pm dead2' and the strong,
bearded man pressed his jaws together To
stop the convulsive working of his features.
"Oh pshawl Walden you'll come out all
right. Everybody don't get killed in a
battle"
He was one Of the recruits and 1 consid-
cred IL my duty to hearten him up little,
although was not standing on the frmest
ground in that direction myself.
Mo; I'll never come out of this alive. |
know 1t. / dreamed IL all out last night
But | amt afraid, leutenant-don't go to
thinkin' I'm afraid" " and a little ripple of a
contemptuous smile passed over his face.
But just see thereW and with trembling
fingers he opened the last letter, and diretced
me to passage, which read about as follows
Daisy sends kisses TO papa. Hero follows
number of ink blotches made under tho
guidance of the mother by little hand that
held in its grip the heart of the great, strong
man beside mel Don't let any thought of us
at home here weaken your arm in the day of
battle, but do your duty so that your little
wife and Daisy will be proud of you when you
come back. And you will come back TO us,
| won't you, GeorgeP
Brave, cheering words, coming straight
from her woman's heart crushing down her
own fears lest they might unnerve the hand
| of the man to whom came the sacred message.
God bless the women of the war They gave
up their most precious treasures-so broth
crs, husbands, fathers-and bore the long
agony with brave faces that masked their
aching hearts Away out of the sound of the
fight, yet every gun fired found wailing
echo In some womans breast. And so they
suffered and smiled with patient rcsigha :
tion, rs woman has ever suffered and smiled
in her suffering from tho first day Of recorded
time until now.
"That'sm wifel" said the soldier, his face
glowing in its misery with conscious pride,
and that's my little girl. You'll send them,
wont youT
"of course, If I come out all right; but
your chance is as good as mine -
mo; I'll never como out; and know you
will"
This was cheerful prophet for me, at any
rate, and l don't know but felt somewhat
relieved in mind by his assurance.
amt afraid" he continued. you'll
see whether l am or not-why! q man
couldn't be coward with a wife like mine l" 4"
/ took the package and placed il in my
breast pocket, intending to keep my eve on
him in order to ascertain whether his presenti-
ment would be realized. AS to his courage,
had no more doubt of it than had that he
stood before me-
The train passed out to the rear and we
resumed our advance. In front the musketry
had swelled into the majestic rhythm of a
great battle, bringing to my mind the
thought of myriad cyclops sounding the
long roll ON as many gigantic kettledrums.
A solitary cannon at regular intervals belched
forth its loud challenge, but its fire was
directed on some other line than that by
which we were approaching.
over rocks and fallen trees, and through
dense copses, which under any other circum-
stances would have successfully resisted an
attempted passage, with nothing visible
ahead but the tangled underbrush, and here
and there q tall tree trunk, we pushed on.
The bullets began to strike lower down, and
their drawn out singing tone was exchanged
for short, sharp hiss. frequently cry or
commotion among the men at special
point told that one shot had found its mark.
Mems eyes began to light up with the fire
OF the fight. Springing branches, pressed for
ward by those in advance, slashed the faces of
those in the rear with as little notice taken Of
the stinging blow as would have been taken
Of the stroke Of feather. Shorter and
sharper grew the venomous hiss of the little
missiles. Men dropped and were left where
they lay without one comrades glance turned
upon them. All fear had vanished, and the
hot blood surged through ones veins as if it
We're elected from some boiling caldron.
Passing over the cresp of hillock we
rushed down the hillside in the mad race.
The foremost men had nearly reached the
foot of the incline, when, out of the bushes ON
the opposite slope, belched fanny mass of
white smoke, and with sound like the tear
ing Of piece of stout sail cloth, but infinitely
harsher, the enemy's first round tore through
us. We were "in." J.R.