Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1885-08-17

moon struggling to pierce the thick
veil of mist overhead, coupled, per-
haps, with the afternoons reminis-
cences, carried him back twenty years.
and he was in the pens of Anderson
vile, waking from troubled sleep
to see the thin form of Lenoir steal
ing to his side at midnight, to thrust
into the lads pocket crust of bread
saved from his own scanty rations.
He put the recollection of that wretch
ed experience resolutely from his
mind, but it left it's impression. Along
with visionary plans of riotous feasts
and gluttonous indulgence commonly
planned by hungry men in such ex-
tremities, to be carried out in case of |
release, he had taken one solemn
oath. He had vowed that if ever
he escaped from that wretched hole,
so long as he lived and had it in his
power he would never fail to feed a
hungry human being. Through all
the fluctuations of his business ca
reer and the manifold duties of his
busy life he had kept this pledge in
violate, as many drunken loafer and
disreputable hummer in Steuart street
could attest. Resolve had grown
into principle of action, and princi-
pie into habit. He recalled this Gus
tom now.
"Here, sir; this will get you
round meal down yonder," nedding
in the direction of the cheap eating
houses in Fourth street, as he extend
ed quarter he had extracted from
his trousers pocket, carefully weigh
ing it in his hand to make sure that
he was in no danger of giving away
a gold-piece by mistake.
"Do you think that if I wanted
charity I would be occupying this pa
latial mansion and fasting until ref
use garbage seems mess for king?"
Brewster recalled what Martin said,
and drew back his well-meant offer
ing with sense of personal injury.
ssOh, come now Be off like good
fellow, and make no more trouble"
The lumberman was impatient to
bring the interview to close. He
still fingered the silver piece with an
uneasy sense that it would be better
in the possession of vagabond. The
man raised his tattered hat, with
mocking bow, and essayed to step
over the walls of his abode; but his
legs proved too unsteady for the sue
cessful accomplishment of his pur-
pose. He stumbled, reeled and sat
down On his roof-top, which rasped
| and clashed in a dismal chorus.
Brewster knew the meaning of the
action. How many times he had
seen some poor fellow, reduced to his
last limits of inanimation, falter and
fall by the way on forced march.
His reflections exploded in two words,
each possessed of three syllables,
and followed by an exclamation point.
The first was starvation !" the Sec
ond differed only in the first syllable,
and represented a very essential ar
ticle of faith in the orthodox creed.
He supplemented the remarks with
an imperative order to the watchman,
who forthwith seized one of the va
grants arms. Half leading, half sup
porting him, ignoring his faint pro-
tests, they took him up the path to
the office, and placed him on a chair
before the fire.
As they progressed on their Shiny
path, Brewster inconsequently recall
ed the battle of Shiloh, when Lenoir,
badly wounded and thrown from the
saddle of dying horse, had been led
to the rear, protesting and fighting
every step of the way. AS he came
into the light of the office windows,
he accounted for the sensation by the
discovery that the man wore cheap
overcoat of military cloth and cut of
the stamp usually affected by the
sshay-bunker."
They placed him in chair before
the fire and he sat there a mutinous
captive, his felt hat with its battered
brim drawn down over his eyes and
partially shading his face. The
first glance at the stranger in the hon.
est light of the office lamp had in a
measure reassured Brewster and put
to fight his absurd fancies. There
was nothing striking or uncommon in
the spare figure, or the old face with
its lines of care and pain. 1t was a
very ordinary face, an eminently pro-
sale face, he assured himself; of the
same type as ten thousand others in
the city, but he could not resist era
zy desire to see the forehead barred,
to look at the left temple and
Bah! Back to those old memories
of the war again So much for the
pernicious effect of the afternoon s
associations. Well, what was it af-
ter all? Only young fellow, his blue
suit in tatters, crazed with fever,
crawling past the dead line, strong
hand stretched out to save him, dull
report, a bullet leaving a bloody
track across the temple end along the
scalp of the rescuer.
| And why had he lost sight of the
gallant old soul all these years? Con-
found it Lenoir was just the one to
sneak off from his friends if the
world used him i'll, to live in dng-
out and dine on scraps rather than ask
L "