St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1884-06-05

a.
ing, and if you turn him out of the
regiment now, the regiment that has
been his home since he was a little lad,
sure, sir, you will ruin his life entirely,
and he so young. He is brave boy,
too, is my Tom, colonel, aud have a
feeling here (pressinga a trembling hand
against her heart) that if you take him
with you he will do something to make
you and his regiment proud of him."
1t was weak logic, but the brave, pa
thetic old eyes, the passionate pleading
of the faltering voice, made it very
eloquent, and though the colonel told
himself that he was n fool, he knew
that he was yielding.
"Take him with you this once! Give
him this one more chancei" she i'm
plored. "Sure. colonel, the God of the
widow will not let any harm come to
you, because you heard the widows
prayer"
every well, Mrs. O'HallOran, for your
sake Tom shall have another trial but
! i shall keep my eye on him, and If iie
does any harm, it shall only be To him
SELF cried the colonel, with a sense of
apologiZing to his conscience. "The
son of such a mother us you ought to
be better stuff than hopeless drunkards
are made Of"
''GOd bless you, sir, for ever and
ever w-catching his hand and kissing
it. "His mother knows Tom O'Hall0-
ran better than himself does, and you
will be glad of this days mercy as
long as you live, colonel"
The sun had risen on such hopes and
snch confidence, such light hearts and
such gay laughter, on well-ordered,
well-appointed regiment that scorned
its foes and believed in its own irwin
cible Tess. The sun was sinking, at
the jane days close, on couple of
hundred exhausted men, huddled to-
gether within rampant of saddles and
dead horses Oh the bare crown of Il
steep hill, whose base was surrounded
| by hOwling savages, who stretched in
| dusky hOrdes, it seemed to the tired
eyes that watched them, eRdlessly
through the valley beyond the little
river. They had been surrounded and
slaughtered by overwhelming numbers,
and the remnant still alive were worn
out with fatigue, heat, hunger, dis
conragement, but most of all, by thirst.
| The steep sides of the hill were strewn
'
recklessness of triumph, had charged
almost up to the rifles several times,
and none of that weary band could say
! but what the next charge wodld be
successful, though each man vowed si-
lently to himself that his own weapon
should prevent his becoming prisoner
if he survived his comrades.
They were not quite hopeless, how
ever, for they knew that within twenty
four hours march of them were rein
forcements of srch extent that ut their
approach the Indians would vanish,
and that if they could but maintain
their position, by sunset tomorrow
they would be s,.fe. But in the mean
! time, though hunger and fatigue could
he endured, thirst was maddening, and
the wounded, who lay in the center of
| the little circle, would not live until
morning without water, the surgeon
said. The colonel and two or three of
the surviving officers, who had been
holding Il council (if such could be
called anything so unanimous as the
opinion that they must defend them
selves while there was life left), looked
| hOpelessly ut each other when the sur
geOn made his report, and then, with
the energy of desperation, the colonel
sprang to his feet. They were all ly-
ing fiat behind their rampant to protect
themselves against occasional volleys
fired by the Indians from an opposite
but less high hill.
''Boys,' said the colonel, and be-
tween fatigue and sorrow for had he
not seen his best friends die that day p
the strong, kindly voice was sorely
shaken, "yOu have done to-day all
that brave men could. You are tired
and hungry and grieved. Your colonel
will not order you tn do him an extra
service, but the surgeon has told us
that our wounded will die of thirst be-
fore morning unless they have water.
Boys, there is a stream at the foot of
this hill. VIII any of you volunteer to
bring some for your comrades W
There was Il moments silence, for all
the men knew that the service he asked
was desperate one. The stream lay
irregular could be called line and
they were physically so tired that ex-
ertion, much less daring. seemed I'M
possible. Only IA moment, and then a
tall young man jumped up in his place,
a couple of yards from the cOlOners
side, and waved his cap over his head.
% will go, colonel !" cried Tom o.
HallOran's CHEEKY voice. "Friends,
who will help bring some water foI
those who have not been so lucky as
we have P'
Soldiers only need leader to do a
gallant thing, and in two moments
eight men-the colonel would not per-
nit more to gO-crept ont over the
rampant, every second man carrying a
tin bucket, and the others acting as
guards. Very breathlessly their com
rades waited the result, and the colonel
clinched his hands in helpless grief
when he heard the firing, telling that
they had been attacked. But they
came back presently-s of them
wonderful to say-with water enough
to give everybody Il drink, and to keep
the wounded supplied for several hours
and the only missing man was Tom o.
, HallOran !
/ ellis mother said that he would make
r the regiment proud of him." muttereC
the colonel to the officer beside him
and neither was ashamed of the tear,
| on his cheek.
1t was not a night on which it wa
possible for commanding officer
r however tired, to sleep and two hour
later, when all had been quiet for ovel
an hour, and in the dusky skies tn
: stars were shining brilliantly, the col
] Onel moved noiselessly across the sleep
ing men to Il sentry who for some fiv
minutes had been fxedly watchin
: something on the other side of the de
J fences.
: "What is it - he asked in shar
" whisper.
5 81 think it is one of our men, colone
but ! am not sure" answered the sol
a dier, pointing to a dark form crawlin
d on hands and knees, with many pause,