The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1886-03-25

to fire on n single person advancing,
bui what could he mean by exposing
himself in this reckless manner
Our pickets were so close together
that he must be under The eyes Of al
least throo Of us. II he wan bra'
vndo | had never seen a case like It,
Ii lie meant to desert his colors bis
coolress was sometbirg unparallcl-
cd
On he came, straight at me, never
turning bis head nor hesita,ing n
moment, and in five minutes he came
to halt 80 near that / coNld have
rroddod bin with tho bayouet.
was iget about TO address him, de-
manding bis surrender when he
placed bis musket against a tree,
! folded bis arms ncross his breast,
leaned up against beech and star
ed into the darkness over my head
Five long minutes ho stood there
without making n movement, bnt |
heard him eigh rs ihvn,h there was
great troutlc on his mind.
! was standing in my tracks, too
dumblourdpd for notion, when the
picket to the left Of me came creep
ing up on bis hands and knees, aud
as no rose up beside the log sat
down so that we could consult.
"Whnt on earth can ail that mani"
| asked "llo is neither scout nor
q deserted"
wait nnd watch him. whispered
my compauion
In few minutes tho Federal took
II letter from his breast pocket, 90
moved it from the envelope, and
opened the sheet az If reading it. 1t
was so dark that he could not have
made ont the letters on a circus bill,
bnt he seemed to read every word in
that letter. When he had finished
it he placed The envelope in bis peck
ct, but ter. letter iluttercd to the
ground. He sighed heavily, made
sound as il sobbing, and by and by,
with groan Of anguish which wen,
straight to our hearts, he picked up
his musket and walked slowly back
across tho open ground.
What do you think Z" | asked
when We bad fually lost sight OF
him.
"Ho is a alccp-walker," replied my
friend.
| made up my mind that this was
the case. Tho letter was secured, to
bo perused by ne when daylight
came, and we saw nothing moro OF
the man on our watch.
The epistle was from fur AWAY
village in Northern Ohio, and il
read:
:, God pity ns Both child
rem died yesterday! The last words
they uttered were to ask for papa
1t seems as if could never stand
mp under this, and what must your
feelings bo 7"
There was more, but we could rot
read it. The letter, belonging to an
enemy, was sacred in our eyes.
was there again at the came hour
tho next night, and half an hour be-
fore midnight tho man started to
come to the same spot. He had no
musket with him this time, aud his
movements showed that be was wide
awake. He came crouching and
hiding. as if to escape observation,
aud was half way across the open
field when stream OF fire darted
out from his own side, and the poor
fellow sprang into the air with q
scream and fell dead. lie was com.
ing for his letter. being guided by
some underlined instinct toward the
exact spot, and had probably been
mistaken by aa excited picket for n
Confederate creeping tho other way.
All next day the body lay there in
in plain view, but at night his friends
removed it, aud We heard aiterward
from a prisoner that they discovered
aud lamented their error.
have the letter yet, and 1 never
read of gallent charges and tho glory
Of war without taking it tenderly in
my hand aud reading that paragraph
in which so much Of wars cruelty
and bitterness is portrayed.
| nzxrxSrszxAnr<kas.,sNnr
Wonderful Cures.
w. d. Hoyt 4 Co., Wholesale
and Retail Druggists of Rome, Ca,