The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-05-15
A HOSPITAL COVERLET.

tion precisely Ike the other nineteen with
which it formed the General Hospital of
Jeffersorville, Indiana. 1t was clean, and
the lcng rows of cots on each side of the
words were always in order. But what
ever the necessity for it, its uniformity
was o little trying. The meals were
served to the minute, and the food was
never known to vary in kind or quality.
This even extended to the sourness of the
bread, the hairs in the hash and flies in
the soup.
After stay Of six weeks. Fred. Ray
mond, of Company B, -th Minnesota,
begsn to find it little monotonous. Not
meaning to be ungrateful for the uni
form kindness of his treatment here, he
began to long for a little more variety.
It seemed to him as though he had about
exhausted the simple pleasures that the
hospital had to offer. He had read several
of the memoirs of great and good men,
which formed the bulk OF reading matter;
and these, too, he had found singularly
alike. Even the interest and pleasure to
be had from perusal of Baxter,s "Saint's
Rest failed after single reading.
Many OF his comrades had a never
falling resource in writing letters to
friends, which was not open to Fred.
Raymond, for reasons that will presently
appear. After debating the matter in his
mind for few days, he finally ventured
On course which might greatly relieve
the tedium of his enforced leisure, which
was likely to last few days longer. At
sometime during his stay there had been
received from the North considerable
supply of hospital stores. Among other
things received were number of sheets
and coverlets for the beds. These, al
though generally plain, were not quite
uniform, and introduced the only bit of
novely to be seen anywhere in the hos
pital. It happened that the coverlet
which fell to Fred. Raymond had been
made by the young ladies of one Of the
churches in B, Ohio, and many Of
them had written their names
and addresses on the blocks. He
had studied over these until he
not only knew them all by heart, but had
formed pretty distinct conception of the
young ladies themselves. There was
more character and individuality in the
handwriting than one would have sup
posed, considering the difficulty Of trac-
ing letters on cloth. He was not the
least bit of q ladies' man, or one who
would thinking of answering al adver-
tisement for correspondence-"object,
fun and amusement" But then, these
names and addresses seemed to say to him
that he might write if he chose. One Of
these names had struck him as very pref
ty, and the handwriting was indeed neat.
He had amused himself with picturing
the writer to himself many times, until
he felt partially acquainted. To her,
therefore, he would indite very general
letter, and if she chose to reply and cor
respondence grew out of it, it would give
new interest to the days that must yet be
passed. before he could return to mis- regi-
ment. His letter, addressed to Miss
Lillie Melinc, was not an eloquent epistle; :;
it simply told the story of the writer's
loneliness, the gratitude of himself and
comrades for the interest shown in the
comfort for the Union soldiers, and the
satisfaction it would give the inmates of
hospital if ''any of the young ladies
should feel at liberty to relieve the dull
ness of their life by an occasional letter. "
1t was not long before he received re-
ply in handwriting which he promptly
identified. He was more excited when he
opened the envelope than he had been for
long time, and far more than he had
supposed he could be over letter from a
stranger. Like his own, it was a very
simple epistle. "The girls were de-
lighted" it said, "to know that their
work had done some good. The soldiers
deserved everything" and so on, ''and if
he cared to hear from her, why, she would
write, although she was only school
girl." And then, asking that he would
tell something about himself, she signed
he's name, Lille Meline. There was this
P. S.: "What is the name of your regi-
ment?"
Surely tFls sort of correspondence was
sufficiently mild. Neither party to it had
the intention to begin anything like a
Irritation by mail. Indeed, Lille had pur-
posely conveyed the impression that she
was very young, so that there might be no
temptation on Frcd's part to change the
scope of his letters. She was school
girl, eighteen years OF age, home now for
her vacation. As she had meant, he got
the impression that was much younger, a
mere slip of q girl. That was just the
thing. He could write freely about him
self to amuse her, and her letters and her
sympathy would be none the less pleasant
because of her youth.
Now, am bound to confess that the
correspondence which followed was not
In any way very remarkable. In looking
it over, l have been, perhaps, as much in,
terested in the handwriting, the faded
Letters, the dates, rs in the little glimpses
of personal history and character which il
reveals. 1t does not greatly concern oul
story to follow it. Rapidly it changed
both as 20 form and substance. 1t came
to be ssNIy Dear Miss Lille" and "Dcal
Mr.. RAYMOND. 1t was no longer general
and formal, but personal and sympathetic
Had they fallen in love with each other
That would have been very absurd ii
him, seeing that she was only little girl
as he supposed.
While neither had intended it, and a
vet were unaware of it, they had entered
upon a state when only touch is needet
to change their warm personal interes