Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1888-09-22
A SENATOR'S STORY.
Ell 10Y. rEoHcE Z. VEST.


Ell lGoS. rEo.;cEc. VEST.
[Scyeral years aro. at the request OF some
Missouri Toys i'll wlonl liz fel5 an Interest.
United States Senator est "io.c Il story tor
little paper they were publishing. lac
story was printed anonymously. no viewer.
and few Of those WHO ha an opportunity OF
reading 1t knew WHO the author WAS. Tho
Senator has given pernli:'i ion Tor tae s'or,
10 be rcru5lisiied under his own name. X i
Us fclows:l
In 1854, while passing through vii
lagc in Mississippi, wasaap:oachcd by
asurgeon of thu Confederate army with
inquiry Is to my name aud place of ma
tivity. As had no special reason for
Withholding the desired information
was told that my cousin, Charley s.,
from Kentucky. had been badly wounded
in recent fight with the enemy and
was then lying in the hospital at that
place and III critical condition.
''He is badly or" said the doctor,
mentally and physically, aud unless
some one takes Il special interest in HIM,
and in the right way. he will die. !"
Charley and myself hid been raised
together, bnt had not met for years. In
early manhood our paths in life had
widely divcrged l had gone to the far
West, and on the breaking ont Of the
war had entered the Confederate service
from Missouri, whilst nc had become q
citizen of Mississippi and had been in the
same service from the beginning OF
hostilitics with the command of General
Chalmers.
A very few minutes walk brought me
to the hospital where Charley lay with
hund.cds Of other gallant fellows, wait
ing for the result-life or death.
The sepulchral light in the shadowy
room, the half suppressed means Of
agony, the weird shapes Of the Sisters of
Mercy noisclcssly moving from couch to
couch, were not cheerful. to say the least,
and when | looked down at the poor,
wan, enaciated form before me, stretched
upon cot, and realized that this was
what war had left of the glad-hearted,
obust friend of my boyhoo well, 1
ls rather disposed to give up few Of
my rights in the Territories" if they
would let INC live peaceably in the States.
Charley" said |, cold fellow, do you
know me-
''Yes, " he whispered, whilst faint
CLEAN of light came into his eyes; 81
heard you were here and sent for you.
/ sat there, and the deepening shadows
came about me, the silence unbrokcn save
by a groan, whilst memory went back TO
our boyhood. his and mine, the old hills
and the shining river, with tho bridge
hanging across it, and the road running
up and AROUND the cliffs, like 4 serpcut,
undulating through the trees and rocks,
the schoolhousc and the old ohurch,
with the high pulpit and The hard, hard
seats, where NC sat on each recurring
Sabbath. with eyes fixed on the preacher,
until our cervical vcrtcbrc seemed to be
parting Oh, how we longed then to be
men What dream of adventure, tra1ci,
war, fitted before us as seven; eenthly."
s'ciohtccnthly" and Gin conclusion ny
dear friends, fell from those \cnerablc
lips
Well, We had pccomc men, and here
was the end, bed of agony and IL
soldiers death. Deeper fell the shadows
and memory still fingered amidst the
scenes of the far-ol past. How the
cold, stern features OF that austcrc
Presbyte under whose teachings we
were reared, became softcned by the dim
twilight of the years ago. Father,
mother, teacher, minister, where are
they2 Ask the marble cleaning in the
moonlight on those Kentucky hills. And
how they taught us our duty both to God
and man. Hard, severe, tyrannical, we
thought it then. But now, softcued by
time, we see the surprising love which
was in it all.
The mind is at times disposed to yaga-
bondize and TO dwell upon subjects
utterly at variance with all our sur
roundings. How often iii some holy
place do we find uuholy thoughts press
ing upon us2 How often with the bier
and grave do we find some ludicrou'
idea dancing, harcquin-likc, by our
side? And so, sitting there i'll the gloom
by the bedside of death, l actually
laughed aloud as the image of "Old
Put" came out upon the canvas memory
of the past.
"Old Put was an old horse belonging
to my father, and named from patriotic
motives after tho Sew England hero,
General Israel l2utnam, whose famous
gallop down Il irccipcc in his apocrypl'al
escape has serves. - illustrate c:cry
school history for fifty years, aud has
sent fiat ili,stricus warrior down TO
postcrity, iadissolubly connected with IL
horse. In color, lid Put" was white;
in disposition, amiability itself. Fever
in all The cutragcs and freaks committed
upon him by whole troops Of child en-
was he ever known to exhibit he slight
est impatience, while 10 the old and in
firm he was palladium of safety.
Dignifed, afTable and vcneiatcd. both
on account of age and character, "Old
Putt was an institution. There was
nothing frivolous about him, nothing
cratic. In short, he was the cmbodi
ment of Presbyterian ideas, in the shape
of horse. enc thing only in his per-
sonal appearance did not sustain his
general llaractcr as it was known to all
il: Il fc. probably while owned 10y
sor.c .r,c.:gious horse fancicr, Puts tail
had been nicllcd, and from earliest re- o.
lection it presented the APP caranca of Il
CHASTITY weeping low, Icing :l,.aNs
carried at an angle Of 10 tg-:ive degree.
the white hair floating from it like Tic
locks of some venerable patriarch.