The national leader., 1889-05-18
CAUGHT IN THE COVERLET.

Ward No. 9 was to any casual lnspec-
ton precisely like the other nineteen
with which it formed the General Hos
pital of Jeffersonville, Ind. 1t was
clean. and the long rows of cots on each
side of the wards were always in order.
But whatever the necessity for it, its
uniformity was 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 and the
flies in the soup.
After stay of six weeks, Fred Ray
mond, of Company B the Minnesota,
began to find it little monotonous.
Not meaning to be ungrateful for the
uniform kindness of his treatment here,
he began to long for a little more
variety. 1t 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 q perusal of Baxter's Saints
Rest" failed after a single reading.
Many of his comrades had never
failing resource in writing letters to
friends, which was not open to Fred
RAYMOND, for reasons that will pres
entity appear. After debating the mat
ter in his mind for few days, he final
ly ventured on a course which might
greatly relieve the tedium Of his en-
forced leisure, which was likely to last
a few weeks longer. At some time
during his stay there had been received
from the North q considerable supply
of hospital stores-shirts and drawers
of all shapes and sizes, with openings
made to fit all sorts of men with all
sorts of wounds. Upon trial, of course,
none of them were ever found quite
adapted to any particular case, but by
cutting open here and sewing up there,
they did very well, especially as the
weather was warm. 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 novelty to be seen anywhere in the
hospital. 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 ad-
dresses on the blocks. He had studied
these over until he not only knew them
all by heart, but had formed O pretty
distinct conception of the young ladies
themselves. There was more character
and individuality in the handwriting
x1,o,111 hox-o C11nnnCnH nnnC1H-
ering the difficulty of tracing letters on
cloth. He was not the least bit OF
ladies' man, or one who would think of
answering an advertisement for CORES
object, fun and amuse-
ment." But then, these names and ad-
dresses seemed to say to him that he
might write if he choose. One of these
names had struck him as being very
pretty, 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 a
very general letter, and if she chose to
reply and correspondence grew out OF
it, it would give new interest to the
days that must yet be passed before he
could return to his regiment. His let
ter, addressed to Miss Lille Meline,
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 of
the Union soldiers, and the satisfaction
it would give the inmates of the hos
pital if E'any of the young ladies should
feel at liberty to relieve the dullness of
their life by an occasional letter"
1t was not long before he received
reply in handwriting which he
promptly identified. He was more ex-
cited 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 very simple
epistle. 1.-The girls were delighted" it
said, sto know that their work had
done some good. The soldiers deserv-
ed 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 her name, Lille Meline.
There was this P. S.: FWhat is the
number of your regiment?"
Surely this sort of correspondence
was sufficiently mild. Neither party to
it had the intention 20 begin anything
like Irritation by mail. Indeed, Lille
had purposely conveyed the impression