Evening journal., 1888-09-21

sertion meant.
One day saw through the window a
flag. remembered that had not seen it
before. though ! had been lying. in tho
same position for several days. and from
its size knew 1t TO be q post flag and
doubtless flying all the while Then there
was the booming of gun-and another
and another at regular intervals. had
not been used to hearing these runs. and
asked my nurse what it meant. He told
me it was target practice. Then heard
the rattle Ct drums under my window;
men tramping past the house and the
word OF command from the officers. 1t
was all very distinct. | knew from the
tramping that q considerable body of men
We're marching. From the ''halt" and
forward, march," judged that their
movements had q special reference to the
hoRe in which / lay. At last they Dasged
out of hearing, and after an interval there
came the sound of volleys Of nauskefrv
and artillery firing Then all was still
again.
When the doctor came one day / asked
him how Williams was. He told me that
Williams didn't suffer any more. sus-
pected something from his words. but
my brain was not very clenr and did not
retain the impression long. lay all dav
wondering at the strange condition Of
things and as got better my mind dwelt
continually on my surroundings. or.
rather, the absence of surroundings. The
nights, too, were very long. | remember
one night wanted something. The man
who had been detailed to attend me was
sitting in chair before the fire. He was
sound asleep. called to him. Nv weak
voice had no power to wcken him. |
called again, louder-as loud as | could
| sat up and looked around for something
to throw at him. There was nothing
near; ii was Of no avail; fell back on
my pillow and gave 1t up. On another
occasion my evening watcher, who had
been New York tough RECALLED me
with stories of tho hospital where he had
been detailed on account Of broken con
stitution. which untitled him for more ac-
tive service. He told me about a man
who was very Ill and had the hiccouRhs.
The doctor had told his nurse when the
paroxysms came on to give him table
spoonful Of brandy. The nurse went to
sleep and the patient died.
One morning my nurse came TO me with
o bowl OF water and brush and comb
and | made kind Of toilet l vas feel
ing all the delights Of relief from suffer-
ing. | was convalescent My nurse took
me up and put nae In an arm chair. 1t
was q beautiful morning. the sun was
shining brightly. and the transition from
suffering to convaleeoence brought q sin
gular feeling of exhilaFation. One or two
persons came In whom questioned about
the general and the others and received
replies that were very satisfactory. Still.
as | sat looking at the warm autumn sun
beams streaming In at the windows.
realization Of something terrible that had
happened suddenly came to me. / repeated
to myself several times the words ''Some
impending calamity
Presently the doctor came In. His face
always wore an encouraging smile, and
the smile wns there today. You are
looking better, he said, and then asked
me II was well enough TO hear some bad
news. Within two or three minutes he
told me that Williams had died, and the
general had died, and they had both been
buried four or five days. Then | learned
for tho first time that we had yellow
fever; that Col. Prentice and my brother
had recovered; that of those taken down
death had gathered two in five The flag
had seen through my window was at half
mast; the drums / had heard and the
tramping Of men past the house were
those OF a funeral escort; the vollevs were
the last tribute Of soldiers to Capt. vii
liams and to their commanding general.
For week past there had been prac-
ticed upon me continued deception-a
deception l readily forgave and felt duly
thankful for, since il doubtless saved my
life What impressed me most was that
the life Of one in whose military career
we had all taken so much interest had
been so suddenly snnffed out; that one
who might have been useful had been
taken; those whose places could easily be
supplied were lsf&
Then came an order from the succeeding
department eomnlandeg for those of us
who lived. eftsw a leare Of absence In
which to reoupesate, to report ut Wash
ington-permiseion from Admiral Dupont,
commanding the naval foroe at Port
Royal to go north in government trans
port-the embaFkation Of several ema-
eiated. yellow looking young officers with
Grape on their loft srms-a storm ut sea
the breakage Of mnchinery-return to
Port Royal with shattered nerves-an.
other start-GrTiYal at home. There were
loving hands TO smooth comfortable pill
lows that night, but the pleasure of meet
ing was far more than neutralized by the
of the two who had been
left behind. +. A. Mitchell.
*"ormsby Maclznight Mitchell, Astronomer and
General" Houghton, Mitiiin Co., Boston.
A Washington Story.
w kqT4r,croNr Cav4 On Ono of t.o