Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-06-28
A HOSPITAL COVERLET.

War,! M. Q was to any casual inspac
ton precisely like the other nineteen Will
which il formed the General Iiosniial oI
jciicrsoaViilc, Indiana. 1t was clean. and
The long rows or cots on each side of tho
wards were always in order. Blu. what
ever the necessity for it, lis uniformity
was Il little trying. The meals were
served To tine Minute, and the food was
never known To vary in kind or quality.
This cvc, extended to The sourncsS of tho
mcad, the hairs in the hash and flies in
th9 soup.
Altcra stay of six weeks, Fred. Ray
nond, ri Company Il, --th Minnesota.
ucgan To iird ii Il little ronotonols. 80:
meaning to he wngrateful for tie uni
form kindness of his treatment here, he
began 10 long for II litiic more variety.
1t seemed to him as though he had about
exhausted Inc simple pleasures that the
hospital had 20 offer. He had read several
oi the memoirs of great and COOL men,
which formed the bulk Of reading matter:
and these, too. he had found Singulariv
alike. Even The interest and pleasure to
nc had from u pcrus:'l of BaXtcrs saint 5
Rest failed after II single reading.
iiany of his comrades had never
'aiiing resource in wiring letters To
friends, which was not open 10 Fred.
raymond. for reasons thai Will presently
appear. After debating the matter in his
mind for few dagy. he finally vcniurcd
IN Il course which miril; rr,r;ly relieve
'hc ird;sun OF his enforced leisure. which
vas likely TO last few days longer. At
'omctimc during his stay ihcrc had been
r,ceived from de North - cuns,lcrlh.c
,upply of hospital Stores. .imon" other
thia.ss rc2ivc'i were - number Of shecis
ind cuycrc;S FOR The beds. These, al
hough generally plain. we're NOT quite
Uniform. and introduced the only III, of
novciy 10 he seen anywhere in the hos
iiial. 4 an'erc; ihat The covor!ci
which ic'l 40 Fred. i,aymoud ha.i been
llatic ~ the Young ladic, OF one Of the
hWche> i'll B. Ohio. and many of
mem had written their names
and addresses on tie blocks. He
nad studied oycr THESE until he
not Only kicw .hcn all hy heart, hu; had
formed Pretty distinct conception % the
Young ladies themselves. There v:.s
more character and Individuality in the
lanuwrIiing a: one would have s,ir-
posed. nS.d.riug the diiicuiiy oi ,r:,c-
az letters Oh cloth. lie was no; the
east hi; of ladies' man, or one who
would thinking of anSwcrin. IN advcr
.iscncni for orrcsrondcncc-"o object.
M and amusement. BIT then. iacsc
names anI addresses seemed To say to him
hat he might write if he chose. One OF
;hcsc names had strucl1 him rs very prot-
Y, and the handwriting WIS indeed meat.
lie had amused himself with picturing
;hc writer 10 himself many times, until
1c felt partially acquainted. 10 her,
therefore, hc would in,litc very general
eitcr' and If she chose to reply andn cor
dependence grew ont of it, it would give
new interest to the days that must vet be
passed before he could return to his regi-
mcnt. His letter, addressed to Miss
Lille Ncinc. was not an eloquent episllc !;
It simply tod the story OF the writer's
loneliness. the gratitude of himself aud
comrades Tor Tie interest shown in the
comfort FOR the Union soldiers, and the
satisfaction it would give the inmates of
hospital if amy OF the Young ladies
should feel ~ liberty To relieve the dali
less Of their life by an occasional letter. -
II was no! long before ne received n re-
ply III Il handwriting which he promptly
identified. He IVES more excited when he
opened .hc envelope than nc had been Tor
long lime, and far more than he had
supposed he could be over letter from u
stranger. Like his own. ii WIS Il very
simple cpistle. 1.-The girls were de
lighted" it said, ito know that their
work had done some good. The soldiers
deserved everything and 81 on, ''and if
ne 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
ncr name, Lille Meine. There was this
p. S.: "What is the name Of your repi
ment?"
Surely tins sort Of correspondence was
sufficiently mild. Neither party TO il 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 Il school
girl, eighteen years of age, home now for
her vacation. AS she had meant, ne got
the impression that was much younger, a
mere slip Of girl. That was Just the
thing. He could write freely about him
self to amusc her, and her letters and her
sympathy would be none the less plcasant
because of her youth.
Now, am bound to confess that the
correspondence which followed was no,
IN any way very remarkable In looking
1t over, | have been, perhaps, as much in
terested in the handwriting, the faded
letters, the dates: as in the little glimpse,
III personal history and character which il
reveals. 1t does not greatly concern on,
story to follow it. Rapidly it changed
both as 10 form and substance. 1t cam
TO be "Nly Dear Miss Lille" and "Dca
Mr.. Raymond" 1t was no longer genera
and formal, but personal and sympathetic
Had they fallen in love with each other
That would have been very absurd il
him, seeing that she was only little girl
IS he supposed.
While neither had intended it, and a
Yet were unaware Of it, they had cnterc,