New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-08-26

cared that night. | would have re-
linquished the gloriest battle that ever
was fought to be back again on our
meadowland knee deep in the long,
coolgrass, driving thecows home from
pasture. l was ravenous for q taste
OF home cooking, and would have for
feited all the epaulettes in the country
for one OF my mothers mince-pies.
They put me on duty that night; post
ed sentries at the entrance to the. pass
to keep a sharp lookout for the
enemy; for if they had come on us I'M
awares they would have caught us. like
rats in a trap. My heart sank when
my name was called, and, if it hadn't
been for the rid1cule, I'd have tried to
get off by pleading sick. Yousee Twas
pretty well used up by lifelong march
es, the uncertain rations, and the
heat, and the homesickness. The. hot
sand clogged my steps and burned my
blistered feet; the rocks seemed to.ra-
date the heat they had stored up dur
ing the day; the air was dry and
charged with dust. l kept up my beat
a while and then sat down on a boulder
and cried; then deliberatelylaY down
and shut my eyes to go to sleep"
Cline thing if one of the officers had
caught you," observed one old soldier
dryly:
sliding Off into q delicious slumber
when l heard movement near by.
l opened my eyes and saw Colonel Lee
noir. thought the day of doom had
come to me, for there was hardly a.
wsek passed that we didn't hear of
some poor fellow being shot for sleep
ing at his post was so stupid with
fatigue and drowsiness that couldn't
somehow quite make out where I was.
Everything was jumbled in my mind.
The COWS coming home from pasture,
the mince-pie on the table, an open
grave and a boy standing UP as tar
get for a line of soldiers, my mother
in tears" @
Brewster stopped abruptly, and
somebody asked eagerly what hap
pened next; what the Colonel said.
"Lenoir had not known a good
nights rest for weeks. He had been
twenty-four hours in the saddle" said
Brewster, slowly and impressively.
"He was worn out physically and men
tally. "He had directed his man to
call him at daybreak the next morning
But he took my musket up from the
rock where had placed it, ordered me
to lie down again, and did duty for me
two hours while I slept"
There Wasno comment on Brewster's
story. The account of a noble deed
sinks quietly into the heart without
parade or flourish After few mo-
ments OF silence, some one put aquery
in which lurked a suggestion.
"Lenoir acted finely at Anderson
vile, too, didn't he, Brewster?"
The lumbermc>n gave short re-
ioinder, consulted his watch, and rose
to go. Despite the self-depreciation of
his narrative, all were aware that he
had been one OF those ohlespecimens
OF American manhood who had sur
vived the horrors Of that awful ex-
perience, and finally emerged an ema-
ciated wreck of humanity whose hero
ic devotion to q noble principle will
resound throughout the everlasting
ages. But he could never be betrayed
into any relation of his prison ex-
perience. He pulled on his driving
gloves, nodded cool adieux to the
score or more of loungers, and was
soon driving at aquick pace up Market
st. and out Sixth. For the first few
blocks the well paved street was lined
with handsome buildings and pre-
sented the appearance of an i'm
portant thoroughfare; but as he
progressed, the buildings dwindled
in stature and were occasionally
alternated with handsome, comfor-
table residence, and the pavement grew
uneven. Half q mile further the street
abandoned all pretence at smartness,
trailed humbly between one-storied
warehouses, leaped railroad track,
lost itself in amaze of switches, and re-
sumed existence in the guise Of a wagon
road, terminating with a dismal
wooden structure, standing in DESC
late region and thanked on one side by
tall lumber piles. The clerks and day
laborers were filing away, and the
night-watchman, a quiet-mannered
man, with an unlit lantern in his hand
stood on the steps.
"Well, Martin, what succcss?"
II gave them warming, sir, to clear
out, early this morning, and kicked
their houses over after they left, fo1
fear they'd be back again to night
like rats-that is, all but one"
"Great guns, man! Don't you know
ones as bad as dozen? I can't get
dollar Of insurance on the stock
without paying double rates until
can satisfy the company that the whole
tribe is gone"
The tribe referred to by Brewste,
consisted OF a floating population O
disreputable vagabonds, allied in cha
racter to the hoodlums and criminals
commonly knownas" wharf-rats" anC
"hay-bunkers,' who had squatted or
the dumps" and utilized the tin cans
plentifully scattered over the ground
in the construction of a miniature
village. The members of this peculiar
sub-stratum of society were tabled te
exc out their sustenance by diligent
grabbing in the heaps by which they
were surrounded. They were looked
on by the police and the public as
dangerous class of citizens, and tn,