The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1884-03-07
THE EDITORS CONSCIENCE.
Tho Father OF the 'Bad Roy" Tells
How He Once Stole Horse.

ness Office to the editorial desk, and
when the editor opened it, and saw the
iate-line, "Troy, Alabama" his heart
,mote him, and he reached out for his
.heck-book, instinctively. Then he
stopped and read the letter and breath
ed easier when he found it was only
letter from boy who wanted the edi-
tors autograph. What could have
caused the editors heart to jump up
into his mouth when he read that
letter from Troy? What made him
reach for his check-book ? Read
er, young reader particularly, the edi-
tor once stole horse at Troy, Alaba-
ma. Do not hold up your hands in
horror at the deed, and say that you
have always mistrusted that the bald
headed man, with the pleasant face,
was horse thief in disguise, for you
never thought any such thing. Be-
sides, man was not considered
horse thief in those days who took an
other mans horse. II was in 1864 and
cavalry regiment to which the editor
belonged, made a raid through that
portion of Alabama, and one afternoon
stopped at the beautiful little village
Of Troy. There was a thin, pale, ner-
vous, red-headed soldier in the regi-
ment who had been riding hard
hearted, deceptive, diabolical, disgust
ing mule for week, amule that didn't
care whether school kept or not, a
mule that would not keep up with the
procession, and tried hard to lag be-
hind so the confederates would cap
ture the red headed soldier. TO keep
up with the regiment it was necessary
to wear out a pair of spurs, clap
board, two fence rails, and the rider,
every blessed day, on the mule. and
much of the hatred of mules which
the present editor has was born Of that
experience. That evening the soldier
gave Of his rations to little colored
boy who looked smart, and told him to
always be good boy, and learn to
read, and be kind to his old master,
and he would be all right, when the
colored boy told where there was a
fine horse in pasture, few miles
away, "turrer bred" he said. There
is no person except one who has rode
a mule week, who can appreciate a
fine horse belonging to the enemy. The
mule was saddled, and soon the sol
dier and the colored boy, and another
soldier and another colored boy were
trying to catch that horse. 0, he was
a beauty. AS he galloped across the
pasture and neighed and snorted, and
put on scallops. he looked like pic
ture. 1t was not long before the red
headed soldiers saddle was on the fine
horse, and the procession rode up by
the planters house. All, there was
the rub. The old mother and father
Of the boy who owned the fine horse.
who was in the confederate army, sat
on the veranda. They had seen the
soldiers 60 through the granary, the
smoke house, and everything where
they could get anything to eat, and
the old people had not murmured.
They sat there smoking eOrn-cob pipes
acting as though in wa: times they
must submit to war measures. But
when the red-headed soldier rode by on
the horse, his canteen and sabre
rafting, and the hore looking SO
proud, as though he had been left out
of the war so far, and was now going
in fresh to put stop to it, the Old
folks saw the animal, the old lady said
@. pa, the Yankees have found Bulbs
horse and then they both burst out
crying, "Bub," the brave young con-
federate, was away with his regiment,
and poor old pa and ma had to sit
there and see his horse 60 off with the
Yankees. The slim soldier had heart
concealed about his person even then
and he thought of his old father and
mother in Wisconsin, and he had half
mind to take the horse back, not
withstanding the fact that another
soldier would take him in holy min
ute, but just then the bugle sounded
for the assembly" the soldiers yelled
and spurred their horses toward camp,
and the new horse began to prance
and wanted to go along so bad, that
the slim soldier "let him went" and q
beautiful race it was. For nearly two
years after that horse was the constant
companion of the slim soldier, who
rode him about ten thousand miles
more or less, but there was hardly Q
day of all these long marches that he
did not think of the poor old father
and mother of the soldier boy who
owned the horse, and of their fears
when they saw the noble animal &C
down the lane carrying a Yankee Oh
his back, when they would have been
delighted to have seen their own gray.
coated soldier on his back. And SO il
was. when we opened the letter from
the boy who wanted our autograph