The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1888-04-12

ptctuFe opfeo0 s9r0DuQ MN, o8yD n I'M
|. Nye in the Omaha World He .vors :
slouch hat, faded blue ovelSolt, ; iJtfa9-
Cling gEry bssrd aud IA air IT. 'tssaallI
choly wisdom. A sleety rain lvss fslline
outside and people were psesipgu reae1
about him, bat the tall mao did pot sp-
pear to hear the storm or see the other
visitors. For almost = half hour he STOOD
there gazing With Whist might hsvs bssu'
the abstraction of retrospeetieng spsa tha
one point in the picture. /, j. ..l,ssei.xf j
Presently q short, thick eet man de-
tAched himself from the crowd and paused
by the side Of the tall man. The short
man hsd . stsbbled face; cray eyes, .
wide, loose mouth aud more than. sds
quate chew Of tabacoo. He, appeared, TO
close to the tall man, joining hiS silence
to that of his companion for I've MINUTES
or more. Then be said.r ss~~'7~r .:e-~ ssssi
"Howdy, stranger" sa +sa5s a s|
The tall man looked down rather sol.
emily but not displeasedly. Howdy
yourself! r. he replied.
Purity far pictar," !" remarked the short
man, casually. la t-as4 ii,
"You beti' said the tall man.
Ever seen it before?"
"You bet I"
"Reckon may be you fl IN the late
WARP" s7s- Il
"You bet p ~.
"Confed .....-
"You bet not -
"IwuE!'
The tall man didn't answer for some
time, during which he seemed to be re-
fecting deeply. Finally he drew long
"Wuz you thar ?" enquired the short
man, indicating the picture in general
way;
"Whar ?" queried the short man.
"Therew said the tall man pointing
toward the spot which had seemed to
rivet his attention for so long time.
"When 2" = .74J -
The tall man showed signs of .nima-
ton. "Say, stranger" be began, it
pears to me you are mighty curious like.
What # I was there and T wasn't :?
What + | was there one day an what +
wasn't there another?" sf .jni1t g.,
The short man laughed good naturedly.
"Wall," }" he answered, 'nothin'. Only
waz thar too.".
"You?"
"Mer" rr
"Where2" -a.rt -.
"Thar!" exclaimed the short man,
pointing to the exact place before desig-
mated by the tall man.
The tall man looked closely at his COM
panion and then at the facin&ting loca-
ton in the picture. /" THAT there's Round
Top" said he, at once asserting his own
information and euquiring into the valid
ity Of the otter's.
Exactly," sssented the short man.
That thar's Round Top.n tas1
Neither spoke for q minute or two.
Then the tall man turned again from the
attractiveness of Round Tsp to the con-
sideration of his companion.
"Looky here" said the tall man
slowly, " want to tell ye someshm' /
ct at Gettysburg on the day't Sykes an
Longstreet's men were raisin' hell to git
hold of that little ridge. I was there
with Sykes. Pd been laid of for . while
sick, but got to work fore 0ettysbute.
Looky here If l ever killed airy one
twas at that there Round Top. hadn't
been in no other battle to speak Of and
hadn't never shot TO kill anybody in paN
ticker, jes' lestin' fly in . gineraf ways
you might say, but thst day durin' the
charge l seen a little drummer boy, q
reb, wot'd got hold Of a gun some
way, and he was pinting it at me, close
range. let him have it fust, an be
rolled nigh onto stump aud kitched
there, an / got just one, glimpse inte his
big gray eyes film With tears, an heard
Just one little sob from his white throat,
which you could see on account of the
bustin' open Of his white shirt, an ther,
the charge come right up onto me an' I
was lifted clean often my feet. an I
never seen the boy NO more. But.
stranger, | can't git that boy out O. my
mind. I'm always dreamin' of his ewes
an bis throat with the sob into It, an'
always wonderin' II he died. If I'd q
killed more of 'em It wouldn't bether me
so much, but to think Of = fellow gein'
to war an KILN just one poor little
gray-eyed drummer.boy:-aay, stranger,
I'd give thousan's o dollars II had sem
to know 7 that kid got well" = 9Al
The short man Aad listened with keen
interest ct frst--Afterward With thu auiet-
ness of one who knows exactly what his
companion is going to cay. When the
tall man concluded he looked up. y ~
Yaas, I" said the short man, &c you've
got it oil right. You all shot mo; In the
lung, AM though it took me right smart,
while l pulled through. So I can fereive
ye, don't ye seer 'Taint as ifI'd . died.
don't git no pain from it neither. Yes,
we can forgive you all nov" h's ID
Tho tall mans face beamed. NIsh
true p be cried. Be you the drummer
chap r ...o.n .aD ,....s.-...T',.
"Sure, said the short man. 'a'' ".'i&
Come r commanded the tsll man.
"What Z" asked the short man. lol} ~
"Ls's hquor."as. u wo17an ,at4 p,;, :
"No, stranger, don't dripk. : See you
later"
The tail man vanished with tender re, re-
luctance. The short man stayed swhiie
longer, and - he passed out he ssid 20
Captain Barney, the manager .of the
panorama, Who Was the old veteran I
was a.talkin' to ?,' - - 80
"Oh, said the Captain smiling, r,&hat
IL Pete Sampson, sort Of crank who
hangs around here and Hes. He has
lived In Osnahs for the pest thirty-fve
years. All the old-timess know him. IL,
Was he in the. War r.; rs. >gue,s, cd,
"Never," said the captain" dusing
the war be ran = grocery store % Faznam