Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1888-05-31

if she remembered the young Marth;
Custis-the dark lady-who died be
fore she was Seventeen years of age.
Gin course l do, she answered.
''was smart gal, almost as old as sh,
was. Oh, she was so purity and S,
good! 1t seemed as if the Lord wante,
her, sure, and thought she was to goo,
to stay in this wicked world. He
diving made master and mistress al
most sick and very sorry long tim
they loved her so; and poor maste
Jack, her brother, took 1t 30 hard ",
thought he'd 60 crazy. But somehow
he soon got over it. l 'spects it wa
cause he got in love with Miss Nell,
Calvert, and married her soon after
wards. She was so purity, too! The,
lived at Arlington, not far from Noun
Vernon, most of the time after tn,
war was begun; and l lived with then
from the time when their first baby
was born until Master Jack joined
master to 60 and fight CORVALLIS.
Then he left young mistress and hel
four children at Mount Vernon.
Master Jack, as you call him, never
came back alive, l said.
ooh, he did not!' she exclaimed.
at was drefful, drefful! He was SC
good. and every body loved him So
Oh, 1t wos so drefful! l was building
a fire in mistress room one frosty
morning just at daylight" she continu-
ed, when there was loud knock at
the west door. ran and opened it,
and there stood soldier holding the
bride of his very sweaty horse, who
handed me letter, and said, "tcll your
mistress that CORVALLIS is whipped
and prisoner. [ ran and told her.
She was very happy and thanked the
good Lord. Then she sent me to tell
the stable-boy to take care of the sold
ier's horse and tell the soldier to stay
to breakfast. When / came back mis-
tress was Just dressed. She went to
Master Jack room to tell the good
news to his wife. When she came
back she opened the letter 1t was
from master, and told her that Master
Jack was very sick at the house of his
uncle, Colonel Bassett, at Ethan, in
Kent, and might not get well. Oh,
how troubled the poor woman were
The coachman was ordered to make
the big carriage and best horses ready
as quickly as possible, and as soon as
we had breakfasted the two woman,
the two younger children and me to
take care of them, started for Ethan
We travelled all day and greater part
of the night as fast as we could, stop
ping only to feed the horses. We
found Master Jack dying with the
camp fever SO DR.. Craik told us.
"Master came at daybreak. He
rode all night. A few minutes after
he came Master Jack died. Then mas
ter and mistress we're alone for while,
and young mistress, l and the children
were in another room. By and by mas
ter and mistress came in. He took
young mistress hand and said many
kind words to comfort her. She was
crying and sobbing as if her heart
would break. Mistress told me after
wards that he said to the poor mother,
that he would take the two children
that were there, Nelly and George, and
bring them up as his own. And he did.
Nelly, who was then nearly three years
old, and George, who was baby, lived
1t Mount Vernon until master himself
lied. George-Mr. Custis-lived
there until mistress died, more than
two years afterwards Were you in
The room when your master died?" l
asked. Twas there few minutes be-
'ore. | came up to the room-it was
IN upper chamber-with something. I
Christopher(who had taken
he place of old Billy as masters body
'ervant) and his wife Charlotte, and
Molly the seamstress, standing at one
md of the room, looking much troubled.
4 few minutes afterwards Molly came
Town and told me master was dead"
"And you were with your mistress
when she died?"
"Oh, yes" she answered; "all the
lime, for l was to her what Christopher
vas to master. She died of fever.
That morning brought into her room
large bunch of flowers from the field,
or it was warm day in May. l re-
member b ow sweetly she smiled. The
ever had left her and she was very
ale and SO weak she could hardly speak |
q whisper. Oh, she was so good!