Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-12-09

bloodthirstiness that seemed simply fiendish.
Then it flashed upon him how far away be
was from oil his comrades, and that the laby-
rinth of laurel made them even much more
remote With this realization come the in
voluntary groan:
40, Lordyl it's all up with me. I am a
goner, surer
His courage did not ooze out of his fingers.
like the historic Bob Acres; it vanished like
gas from a rent balloon. He clasped his
hands and tried to think of some prayer.
snow / lay me, he murmured.
"Shan't we shoot the varmintg' said one of
the Confederates, with motion of his gun In
harmony with that idea
20, mister-mister mister, don't /
Please don'tl swear didn't mean to do ITO
harm to YOU
"Wan. We acted monty ouare for "a psau that
didn't mean no harn.h said the pursued man,
reganing his breath with some difficulty
"A-chasin' me down with tibet ar prod on yer
gun, an q threatenin' to stick it inter me at
every jump. Only wanted ter see me run,
did yerf'
40, mister, / only done it because wuz
ordered to. couldn't help myself; / swear
couldn't
"Whar's the ossifers tibet wuz a-orderin'
yes Whars the captins that wuz putin We
up ter hiti Thar want no one in mile of
ye. Guess we'd better shoot yen
Again Joe raised his voice in abiect ap-
peal for mercy. There was nothing he was
not willing to promise if his life were only
spared.
aWouldn't hit be better ter bay'net himm
suggested one of the Confederates, entirely
unmoved, as his comrades were, by Joe's
piteous pleadings. "Ef we go ter shootin'
round yere hit'll likely bring the Yankees
right onter u.s.
II 'spect hit would be better ter take him
back little ways, any way said the man
whom Joe had pursued. "Pick up his gun
thar, Eph. Come along, you, an be monty
peart about hit, fur we're in powerful bad
frame o mind ter be fooled with. / wouldn't
gin ff-penny-bit fur oil yer blue-bellied
lifes worth. The boys ar jest pizen mad
from seein' SO many O. thar kin and folks
killed by yer crowd o. thievin' Hessiansn
Grateful for even momentary respite,
Joe rose from his knees with alacrity and
humbly followed one of the Confederates
along the path. The others strobe behind,
and occasionally spurred him into more
rapid pace with prick from their bayonets.
Cough, mister don't do thatl Don't,
pleased You don't know how it hurts. /
amt got no rhinoccros skin to stand such jabs
as that That come purity. nigh goin' clean
through to my heart"
"Skeet ahead faster, then, or the next
punchu go right smack through we, fur
sartin. EFT yer skins SO tender, what are We
dom in the army2"
They climbed the mountain laboriously,
oy,d vto .taJ n he
midway in the descent they came upon de-
serted cabin standing near the side of the road.
"By the Lord Harry" said one of the Con-
federates, am almost done clean gin out. SO
l am. I'm tireder nor a claybank boss arter
a hard days plowin, an I'm ez dry ez q lime
kiln. l motion that we stop yere an take a
rest. We kin put our Yank in the house
thar and keep him. wonder whar the spring
is thet the folks tibet lived yere got thar water
fromln
Leaving one of the men to guard the pris-
oner, the rest of the Confederates started for
the hollow in search of water to cool their
burning thirst
They had gained such distance from the
scene of the fight, and were in such an out-of-
the-way place, that the thought of being
overtaken did not obtrude itself for an in
slant, either upon their minds or Joe's.
But as they came back up the hill, with a
gourd full of spring water for their compan-
ion they were amazed to see party of blue
coats appear around the bend of the road at
little distance. They dropped the gourd of
water, and yelled to the man ON guard
xiii the Yank, an run for yer lifeln and
disappeared themselves in the direction Of the
spring.
The guard comprehended the situation and
the order He fired his gun at Joe, but with
such nervous haste as to destroy the aim and
send the charge into the puncheon foot be-
yond his intended victim, and then ran off
with all speed to join his companions. The
Union boys sent a few dropping shots after
him, all of which missed their mark
Joe managed to recover his nerves and
wits sufficiently to stagger TO the door as his
comrades came up, and grasp one of the guns
the Confederates had left.
Questions and congratulations were show
cred upon him, hut he replied incoherently,
and gasped u request for water as if he were
perishing from thirst. While some hunted
for this, others sought for traces of the Con-
federates; so he gained time to fix up fairly
presentable story of a desperate and long-con-
tinued bayonet struggle in which he was be-
having with the greatest gallantry, although
nearly hopeless of success, when the arrival of
help changed the aspect of matters. He had
so many gaping wounds to confirm the truth
of his story that it was implicitly believed,
and he was taken back to camp as one of the
foremost heroes of that eventful day. The
colonel made him sergeant as soon as he
heard the tale, and regretted much that he
could not initiate tho example of the great
Napoleon and raise him to commission on
the scene of his valiant exploits. His cot at
the hospital was daily visited by numbers of
admiring comrades to whom he repeated his
glowing account of the fight, with marked i'm
provements in manner and detail accompany
ing every repetition
He had no desire to leave the hospital dur
ing his term of service, but his hurts were all
superficial and healed rapidly, so that in "a
fortnight's time the surgeon pronounced him
fit to return to duty. He cursed inwardly
that officers zeal in keeping the ranks as full
as possible, and went back to his company to
find it preparing TO go into another fight.
"delo, Joe,' said his comrades awful
glad to see you back. Now you'll have
chance to get your revenge on those fellows.
There'n be enough of us with you to see that
you get fair fight
"To the devil with their revenge and fair
fghti" said Joe to himself That evening he
strolled around to the headquarters tent, and
said to the commander of the regiment:
"Colonel, the doctor seems to think that I'm
fit to return to duty, but | don't feel all right
yet. I've a numbness in my legs, so that kin
hardly walk sometimes. It's my old rheu-
MATES, stirred UP by sleeping out III the night
air. hear that the man who's been drivin'
the headquarters wagon has had to 20 to the
hospital. want to be at something, even if
can't do duty in the ranks, and I'd like to
take his place till him and me gets we'll"
GAN right, sergeant. You can have the
place as long as you wish, or any other that |
can give you. can't do too much for SO
brave a man.
So it happened that in the next fight the
regiment was not gratified by any thrilling
episodes of sanguinary, single handed COM
bats between the indomitable Joe and
bloodthirsty Confederates.
He had deferred his revenge" indefinitely.
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.
Every day adds to the great amount
of evidence as TO the curative powers of
Hoods Sarsaparilla. Settlers are con-
4