The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1888-01-25
ONE MOMENT roo LATE.
The History of n Confederate Military
Execution,

EAtCuttDh,
(From the Philadelphia Timcs)
Inc scene OF my tale opens in a little
cabin IN tue Allegheny Mountains, in
west Virginia, twenty-five years ago. A
woman was anXiously bending over n
SICK chlld tossing and muttering in the
unrest of fever. Every now and then
the word 'fathcr" escaped the child's
lips.
1.-The child gricves powerfully after
her father" said one Of the neighbors
who had come to help the mother nurse
the i'll child.
THAT she docs" replied the poor
mother, with u weary sigh. Gle always
set a world OF store by her. 1t almost
broke her little heart when he went to
the war, and since she has been sick she
has begged for him the pitifulest You
ever heard"
Cant he conn to sec hcr?" asked the
ncighbor.
"No," replied tho woman; "his colo
mel said he couldn't be spared now, He
had a Through last summer. If Lo lust
had known about this and waited. Seems
to me she might get well if she could
just see her father, and it wouldn't fall
so hard on me, either, if he was here"
Several days went by, ana little Sallic,
NHN ''NH 'tiN SiS" hCtSS. ~ iSutlIl
the mother wrote an urgent letter to her
husband, out Of the agony of her heart.
lmploring hiGi to come home at all costs
If he wished to see his little daughter
alive again. Once more be asked for n
Through, and again he was refused. An
engagement was pending. The cncmy's
iorce was greatly superior to ours, and
not n man could he spared.
John Ball wGs n brave man; he had
proved that III many an engagement.
Nothing could have tempted him TO
swcrve from his duty as II soldier, except
his frantic desire to sec hi8 child once
more. Under this pressure he left the
camp against orders, and fled to his rude
cabin among the Allcghanics Just in time
to see little Snilie's face light up once
moro with a Slcam of joyful recognition,
and to receive her parting kiss. To do
this he had incurred the brand Of de-
%ecrtcr, and had taken his lifo in his own
hands.
RETURNING TO TIE RANKS.
Scarcely were the child's remains in
TERED than he, without waiting to COM
fort his sorrow stricken wife, started
back to camp, intending to throw him
self on the mercy of his commander for
eXcnlpation of any oiltnse committed
under so overwhelming n pressure; or,
II tic worst came to the worst, to meet
his fate like q man But a new compli-
cation had arisen. During the few DAYS
he had been absent the mcu on the other
side had changed their position like the
igurea on achcss board, and the cncmy's
troops had como between him and his
command. lie Travelled through n cold.
~drenchlng rain, sleeping at night in a
forest tn lnGCnn thn riSR of Fo1;,x ,,N.
the cnemy's hands.
lie began to feel q strange stupor
creeping over him aud was Just able to
drag himself to the house Of n friendly
countryman, who took him in and kept
him for the next few weeks, during
which time he lay i'll of pneumonia.
Jnst as he was beginning to convalcsce,
and before he had had time to volun-
tarily give himself up, he was arrested as
a dcscrtcr. His wife followed him to
camp and pleaded for him, telling the
cause of his desertlOn with all the co
quence that strong emotion could dictate
and taking all the blame on herself, In
vain; he was tried and condemcd by
every rule Of war as a deserter. Tho
commanding officer, however, made this
concession to the agonizod wife-ho
would defer the execution Tor three days,
SO as to give her time to 90 to Rich
mond and implore the clemency of
President Davis, which was now the sole
hope for the prisoners life.
GOING TO LEA FOR HER HUSBAND.
Like Jeanne Deans going to plead be-
fore the Queen for her sisters life, the
simple mountain roman went to the
Confederate capital and pleaded her
husbands cause before Jefferson Davis.
SnC had 1T III her power to prove that he
had shown himself q brave soldier, that
he had not left the camp from cowardice
or from detection to the cause, but from
his overwhelming love for his dying
child and his intense desire to SEQ her
once moro Leforo she passed away.
Davis finally granted the mans pardon,
II drew up a paper to that effect, which
he gave to Il messenger, directing him
to take the next train and carry the dis
patch to tho prisoners commanding
officer. He moreover gavo the woman q
duplicate paper to make her husbands
release the more certain.
Joyfully she started off with the pre-
cious document that was to carry life and
liberty to her beloved husband. The
cars seemed all too slow for her burning
impatience. The train was always
hCNNilH lotltN W UllObC OdyS5 luCIG WAS
80 much travelling to and fro, so much
shifting of the troops from one point to
another. From hard and constant use
during the war the railroads &c. into
very bad order, so that accidents and
detentions were quito frequent occur
renceB, especially toward tho close of the
war. On this fateful tip one of these
frequent accidents occurred during the
night. 1t was not q very disastrous acct
dent, but still it occasioncd the deten-
ton of the train until day before the
necessary repairs could be made.
NEARING CAMP,
1t seemed as if 'the stars in their
courses fought against the Condemned
prisoner. His wife wrung her hands
with frantic impatienco during the de-
t%ention, bnt there was no help for it.
She had to endure it, though each mo.
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