St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-06-19


there helpin' Annie nurse Steve, an
she says it seemed as if when he saw
EZry ned nOthin' more to ask.
"'Thank the Lord" says he, holdin
Ezry's hand in his. Then he beckonet
to Annie an slipped her hand into
Ezry's an says he, Comfort one anOth-
an dashed off for the train.
But when he got to the hospital al
-, he found that the surgeOn'd re-
ported the wrong man an Ezry, so fal
from bein' hurt, was off with a skirm-
ishin' party. 1t was most night then
but Steve couldn't wait for him to get
in, an prOvidin' himself with a guide
an Il rifle, he set out to meet him. The
guide thought he would have no oc-
casiOn for gun, but when they got a
mile or two outside the town, they
found a brisk little fight goin' on be-
tween our men an batch o. the
enemy that'd been tryin' to make a
raid on some of our outpOsts, an not
bcin' Il man to stan still when there
was fightin' to be done, Steve begun to
fire an for the next hour or so he
hadn't much time to think of EZry.
Once his timely shot knocked over Il
man that was aimin' at the cap'n of
the squad, an once he had hand to
hand tussle with man that sprung at
him out o. the bushes,
"By the time the fight was over the
moon was up, and Steve begun lOokin'
about to see if any of our men was
killed or wounded. All of sudden
he came upon the cap'n, lynn face
down, an when he'd turned him over
IN ba Ii,rl ln nn1 hnl,NlH ~ nc
Ezry. Steve give grOan, thinkin' he
was dead but when he got him in his
arms he fOnud he was breathin', an he
an some o. the men fixed up litter
an hurried him to the hospital. But it
turned out that he was mostly weak
from loss of blood, bullet havin' cut
through his arm, an with good
nursin' an the delight of havin' Steph-
en- with him, he soon begun to mend.
Steve was for havin' him get furlougn
an 90 home, but he'd been made cap'n
only about fortni't before, an he
didn't mean to 20 home, he said, until
he'd led his men in at least one reg'lar
battle.
"About three weeks after that, word
came that the enemy was threatenin' to
attack the town, and every man that
was able to shoulder musket was
commanded to hold himself in readi-
ness for action. Ezry fairly ground
his teeth at the thought o. missin' the
chance to march at the head of his
company, an if it hadn't been for
disobeyin' the surgeon he'd have gone
in spite of his arm.
"'You just stay where you are,
G.tf I-ll in
place. OF course they won't let me
take the command, but III make one
more man for the rebels to fight
"Ezry did all he could to keep him
from goin', KNOWN that if anything
scrious should happen to him he'd feel
like Judah goin' home 'thOut Benjamin.
Bnt there was no keepin' Stephen back
when he found what pressin' need
there was of men; an less than an
hour after the fight begun, Lieutenant
Hardy, who was actin as cap'n % the
company, was shot through the head
an had to be carried from the field ;
an Steve, seein' that the men were
scatterin', dashed to the front an
called to 'em to follow. He an Ezry
looked enough alike to be twins, an
the boys, thinkin' Ezry'd come to their
help, set up a shout an rallied about
him, an if yOull believe it, Steve an
his little handful % soldiers succeeded
in keepin' the enemy off on that side o
the town till reinforccments came. But
before the battle was over Steve, in
tryin' to resller an officer that was in
danger of bein' captured, was himself
shot an made prisoner But Steve
was sharp, an that night, somewhere
about midnight, on the way to the
rebel camp, he managed to lose his
guard, an after crawlin' on his hands
an knees till mos mornin', he came to
an old barn, an crep' in an went to
sleep. The next he knew he found
nice mOther-like sort o. woman loOkin'
down ut him, an she took him to the
house an nursed him there two days.
She had three sons in the rebel army,
she said, an she hoped some Union
mother would do as much for them if
they needed it. | tell ye, there was
some mighty gOod-hearted women
among the secesh. She wanted him to
stay longer, but Steve knew Ezry'd be
wOrrYin' about him, an on the mOrnin'
- the third day he started for the
camp. But he was so weak he couldn't
get over the ground very fast, an
more'n once he had to lay down under
the bushes to rest. He was crawlin'
along as best he could, an had got
about half way back when he came
across wounded soldier that turned
out to be Jim Parsons. Like Steve,
he'd escaped from the rebels, but he
was half starved an so beat out that
he cOuld't get another step, an had
laid down there to die. But Steve
chirked him up, an give him all he
had left of the bread an meat his good
lady friend had put up for him, and
Jim, findin' that he wouldn't go on
'thOut him, at last mustered strength
to start agin. Many's the time I've
heard Jim tell the story with the tears
runnin' down his cheeks, how Steve,
with his arm in his, coaxed him along,
step by step, as long as it was light
enough to see the way. An while
they waited for the moon to rise, Steve
made him lay down an rest, an he
stood guard, for they'd heard firm not
fur off an didn't know but there might
be some rebs prOwlin' about. But the
firin' grew fainter an fainter, till by
the time the moon come up twas as
still as If there wasn't gun within a
hundred miles, an they started on in
pretty good spirits. But twas slow
work they made of it, what with Jim
bein' so tagged out, an Steve havin' to
stop so often to wait for him, an twas
nigh noon the next day fore they got
into camp.
"Ezry just burst out cryin' when he
see Steve, for he'd about give up all
hopes of ever settin eyes on him agin,
an at first he didn't realize how bad
Steve was. In weeks time Jim was
as well as ever he'd been in his life
but Steve's wound had got troublesome
OWN to gOin' so long 'thout being