The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1888-08-07
A SENATOR'S STORY,
Two Boys and a Family Horse
Have an Adventure.
by HON. GEORGE C. VEST,

few OF tlose who had an Opportunity of readlnr II
| hnew VINO the author was. The senator has given
PERMISSION Tor the story be repubshed under his
own name. 1t is as iollows:l
IN 1868, while passing through village in
mississippi, was approached by a surgeon of
me confederate army with inquiry as to my
name ANA Place of nativity. AS | had no spe-
| cal reason Tor Withholding the desired inform
| alton was told that my cousin, Charley s..
from Kentucky. had been badly wounded in a
| recent light with the enemy and was then living
IL the hospital at that place and in a critical
! condition
| He is badly off," said the doctor, "men-
tally and physically, and unless some one takes
special interest in him, and in the right way,
| he viii die"
| Charley and myselfhad been raised together.
| Dut had not met for years. In early manhood
| our paths in life had widely diverged. 1 had
| gone to the Tar west, and on the breaking out
| OF the war had entered the confederate service
from missouri. whilst he had become q citizen
| Oh MISSISSIPPI and had been in the same service
! from the beginning of hostilties with the COM
| mand OF General Chalmers.
A very few minutes walk brought me to
the hospital where Charley lazy with hundreds
OF other gallant fellows, waiting for the result
| life Or DEATH
| The sepulehral light in the shadowy room,
| the hall suppressed means of agony, the weird
| shapes OF the Sisters of Mercy noiselessly NOV
| ing from couch 10 couch, were not cheerful to
say the least and when | looked down at the
Iopl1 wan, tI1ldClatCU form before me, stretch
ed upon cot, and realized that this was what
war had left of the glad-hearied, robust friend
OF my boyhcod-Well, was rather disposed to
give up few of my rights in the terrific
RES II they would let me live peaceably in
the states.
Charley" said /, cold fellow, do you know
me?"
YES" he whispered, whilst a faint CLEAN
OF light came into his eyes; 81 heard you were
here and sent for YOU
at 4 IL, 7.
abaut mo, the silence unbroken, save by
groan, whilst memory went back to our bow
hood, his and mine, the old hills and the shin
ing river, with the bridge hanging across it,
aid the road running up and around the cliffs,
like serpent, undulating through the trees
and rocks, the schoolhouse and the old church,
with the high pulpit and the hard, hard
seats, where we sat on each recurring
Sabbath, with eyes fixed on the preacher,
until orr cervical vertebr@ seemed
men! What dream of adventure travel, war,
lifted before us as "seventeenthly,"
"eighteenthly" and Sin conclusion, my dear
friends" fell from those venerable lipsl
Wen, we had become men, and here was the
end, bed of agony and a soldiers death
Deeper fell the shadows and memory still lin
gered admidst the scenes of the far-off past.
How the cold, stern features of that austere
Presbyterian, under whose teachings we were
reared, became softened by the dim
Father, mother, teacher, minister, where
are they? 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, softened by time, we see the surpass-
ing love which was in it all. We never think
of those cid days without feeling the wonder
full beauty of '"The Cotter's Saturday NiqhS:"
And, oh, be sure to love the Lerd always,
And mind your duty morn and night,
Lest tenn tatOnS path gang aStlay:
Thcy never sought i'll vain that sought the Lord
Alright
The mind is at times disposed to vagabond-
1Ze and to dwell upon subjects utterly at vari-
ance with all our surroundings. How often in
some holy place do we find unholy thoughts
pressing upon us? How often with the bier
and grave do we find some ludicrous idea
dancing, harlequin-like, by our side? And
SO, sitting there i'll the gloom by the bedside of
death, actually laughed aloud as the image
of sold Putt came out upon the canvas mem
DRY of the past.
"Old Put" was an old horse belonging to
my father, and named from patriotic motives
after the New England hero, General Israel
Putnam, whose famous gallop down preci-
pice in his apocryphal escape has served to
illustrate every school history for fifty years.
and has sent that illustrious warrior down to
posterity lndissolubiy connected with horse.
In color, "Old Pnt" was white in disposition
amiability itself. Never in all tho outrages
and freaks committed upon him by whole
troops of children was he ever known to ex-
hibit the slightest impatience, while to the old
and infirm he was a palladium of safety.
Dignifed, affable and venelated, both on
account of age and character, "Old Putt was
an institution. There was nothing frivolous
about MIN, nothing cratic. In short, he was
the embodiment Of Presbyterian ideas, in the
shape of horse. One thing only in lis per-
sonal appearance did not sustain his general
character as it was known to all. In early life
probably while owned by some irreligicus
horse faneier, Puts tail had been
nicked, and from earliest recollection IL
presented the appearance Of a ghastiy
weeping willow, being always carried
at an angle of foIty-liye degrees, the white
hair floating from it like the locks of some
venerable patriarch.
Now, Ike all boys worthy the name, Charley
and myself were mighty hunters and in tho
fall when wild pigeons passed over the woods
OF kentucky in vast droyes, we Teveled in the
sport of hunting. This season only lasted for
a lew weeks, and every Saturday, therefore,
was eagerly expected and glorously spent.
Never can we forget the sacrifices of perso-
nal property, dear to our hearts, the trades
and articles and shifts Of all sorts to which we
reSorted in order to obtain ammunition for
these autumnal hunts. One Friday afternoon,
in the midst of the pigeon season, when we
could look from the schOol-house window and
see drove after drove Of birds darkcuing the
Sky, Charley came to me with the information
that he lad secured, by a masteTstroke of
ciltSIliIiSCs u large amount oil powder, with
shot in proportion, for the next dav, and we
proceeded TO map out all the details Of the
hunt. The envy of every other boy in the
school was excited by our boasts OF What we
proposed to do on the morrow, and in our an
ticipatcd success We went back TO past ex-
ploits, many OF them imaginary:
Thrice fought our battles ser again,
And thrice we slew the slain.
The morrow came, but instead of the ''sun
of Austerlitz," the heavens were shrouded in
gloom, and the rain flooded the earth the long
dreary day. Modify, desperately, Charley
and myself sat gazing through the streaming
windows, asking each other over and over the
savage questions: "What shall we dog" and
"Why does it always rain on Saturday," We
were just in that condition Of mind when the
devil makes his appearance, and in a bland
respectable, gentlemanlysway, as Goethe tells
US, proposes some internal scheme of ruin On
that eventful day his Satanic majesty, true to
his antecedcnts, .intruded himself and prompt
ed Charley to suggest that We slip off and 20
hunting the next day, Sunday.
AT first the proposition was received with
horror, then we discussed it with dated
BREATH" and finally we illustrated the truth
OF that much-hackneyed quotation: "Vice Is
a monster Of such frightful MEN," etc., by ar
ranging all the preliminaries. Charley was to
take charge Of the ordnance department and
have guns and ammunition at a certain seclu--
ded spot very early the next morning, and I
N