The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1886-09-25


hem all, and read them too
At this point the old man took long
pull at the pipe, and from that one whifl
he fired six cannon-shots from his lips,
turning the explosions in such n way
that he made six white rings of smoke.
which he watched critically as they
curled up to the ceiling, and finally re-
solved themselves into other shapes,
visible only to him.
] thought there was more to it, and.
after waiting n reasonable length of
time for him to begin again, venturcd
to prick him with another Interrogation
point. "You said you preferred the
pipe to-day. Don't you smoke it every
dayp"
"No. Only on battle anniversaries
and the Fourth of July. All the rest of
the year 1t sleeps in the bureau wrapped
in velvet"
"If you smoke it on the anniversary
of all the battles you must keep it pretty
busy"
II don't; only the battles was in. l
have an almanac ut home that never
fails to remind me when they come.
My wife remembers them all. She's the
best almanac that l know of, and she
never makes a mistake"
"What battle-day is thisp"
"Well, reckon should ha' forgot 1t
myself If it hadn't been for the almanac.
/ had hardly got through breakfast this
morning when l saw her step over to the
bureau and bring out the eagles claw
Joseph, she said, do you know what
day this isP' thought 1t over for min
ute, and then l says: Yes, do; this is
st. Donelson's day Good scholar, Jo-
seph,' she says; go up head And then
she fills the pipe with her own hands,
and claims the privilege of lighting the
match and firing off the gun, rs she
called it, Which done. kissed the old
almanac, and sat down to view the pam
oram'."
"What panorama"
"The panoram' of the Fort Donelson
fight. can see it in the smoke from
this magic pipe. You don't see it, l
reckon. Sit here at my shoulder. Now
look ut the clouds between us and the
window. Do you see the fort over thar,
with the rebel flag on the top of itP"
"No."
"Well, allow you can see that stretch
of timber whar the river winds alongp"
"No."
"Nor them ramparts, almost hid in
the smoke from the heavy guns? Nor
the charge of our brigade up the hill
over thar upon the leftP Nor the SOL
diers falling all around? Nor Peaceful
Miller a-choking of Ben Robert because
he wanted to fall back? That tall,
straight, whitc-haired man over thar on
the bay horse is General Charles +.
Smith. You can see him?"
mo, can see nothing"
"Well, can see it all as plain as I
saw it them"
The old warrior fired six more cannon
shots from his mouth, and watched the
white rings as before. When they had
broken up into chaos, he held the pipe
out at the height of his eye, and
gazed upon it fondly as men sometimes
gaze on glass of wine. Then in
plaintive tone he said
''lt went all through the war with
me, and done it's duty well. It's on the
retired list now, but comes out occa-
sionally for dress parade. Tonight it
goes back into the drawer to sleep until
the 9th of April which l call st. Shi-
loh's day.
"And there again." he broke out
vehemently, as if suddenly recollecting
something, "and there again, if you
don't believe in omens, what do you
make of thisP What do you make of
coffin with live mans name on itP"
~ don't make any thing of it. What
omen is there in thatp"
"Listen, while l tell you about a
miraculous warning that came from the
other shore. You've heard of Shilohp
OF course; of course. Well, l was
wounded in that battle by double shots
that hit me in the shoulder and the
head 1t was just before our boys We're
forced back toward the river, whar they
formed that last line you've read
about. l should have been gobbled
right thar. pipe and all, if it hadn been
for Peaceful Miller and Dan McGinnis.
Them two boys dragged me plum out of
the enemy's hands, and sot me against
tree, whar rested comfortable until
the ambulance come along and carried
ME away"
Nothing very portentous in all
that"
''Wat minute. haven't come to
the portentious part of it yet. After the
battle l was sent home for repa rs with
a good many hundreds more. l didn't
get away until Saturday afternoon,
when they took me down to Pittsburgh
Landing, and put me on board the
steamboat bound for Cairo. Are you
listeningP Well, just as l stepped on to
the boat saw four collins on the deck,
and being very weak from wounds, and
also nervous; the sight of them collins
almost made me faint away"
"You don't look like nervous man,
nor like man afraid of collins"
II don't claim l was ever afraid of
collins, especially then. when death was
all around us, and in the very air; but
felt the chill dread that creeps over a
man when the unseen hand touches him
and calls his attention to some dark
prophecy that other men can not see.
1t wasn't the collins that effected me,
but the name on the coffin lids. Every
one of them bore these words: Cover
nor Harvey, Madison, Wisconsin
What startled me was to see coffins
marked with the name of living man.
''Of course, the sensation didn't last
but Il minute or so, for l soon saw thar
was no omen in the inscription. l sup
posed that the Governor was at home in
Madison, and the explanation of his
name on the coffins was easy enough.
He had ordered the bodies of some dead
friends to be sent home from the battle
field, and the rough outside collins were
simply directed to him. This was all
natural enough, so / went to my state