The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-04-21

note Oi trlumpn &S went up rom tnelr throats that day, as they double Quicked it to the spot where those two little runaways were lyingl
 It was in an old field, whose long, neglected fGTrows were covered with thick growth of yellow sedgc ali wet with melted snow and shining in the soft red rays of the setting sun. A bushy squat pine had shot up here and there; the rotting rail fence was overrun with blackberry vines and almost lost in jungle of brown with cred mullein and pokeberry stalks that grew in its sheltering corners.
 The children were h one of these moist, tangled fence-corners. Their little blue homespun frocks-for they both wore dresses-were all torn and draggled. Their chubby faces were brier- scratched and dirty. Their bare heads were matted with dry leaves and straw. But l reckon every man of us thought that Gods blue sky never looked down upon prettier picture than they made lying there, fast asleep and clasped closely in each others arms.
 We held our breath alter that first shout tor fear of frightening them, and when the grizzled old sergeant, whose very look was wont to make the re- cruits tremble in their boots, stepped toward them with a soft, almost bash fnl smile on his lips, and stopped, we all took of our caps and leaned eagerly fDV.x Il all tod tt burly, tender hearted Tom j. when the sergeant beckoned him and laid the oldest boy, all rosy and flushed with sleep, into his arms! The little fellow opened his blue eyes and stared vaguely around, then clasped his arms about Toms neck and gave long sigh of content.
 The sergeant stopped again with a low chuckle of satisfaction. "I he little 'un is asleep tor sure 1" he said, as he lifted him gently and turned. The next moment he staggered under his light burden and almost fell A hoarse groan burst from his lips. The little head, with its tangled mass of yellow curls, rolled heavily to one side; the little arms hung inertly down; the sergeant's hands where they sup ported the tiny neck were all dabbled in blood
 The stray shot did it's cruel work well It had ploughed across the small white throat, and the baby head was almost severed from the little body. The "little 'un" was indeed asleep for sure!
 A kind of frozen horror swept over the group gathered in that old field No man dared for awhile to look his neighbor in the face, and when he did he saw there an expression that he has not forgotten yet if he lives!
 Ten minutes before we were all ready to toss up for the privilege of carrying those little chaps home. But now every man of us hung back, dumb and unnerved. And the sergeant and Tom turned slowly and tramped away through the falling shadows to lay the living and the dead together in that waiting mothers arms. We followed silently, with uncovered heads.
 When the Federal officer in com- mand heard that the children were lost, he offered to disarm his men, stack their guns with ours and join in the search. And more than once that night our pickets were challenged from the other side and anxious in- quiries made for the little ones When the answer went back across the hush and the silence of the night, we could feel, though we could not see, the look that swept over the faces of our foes. And that look made us all akin L. Wide AUdke.