The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1890-12-13

eagerness she ran "a NEE mo lio nn
have OWNED my message be forol spok g.
Tor her white face flushed and tissS
hunted expression flcd her eyes
ing out: THANK God for the good news 'a
she threw her arms about M nee =, ana N
our lips met in forgiveness and r e -
ing. q ss
At ten o'clock that morning tho troop
wagons we're ready to draw out, and my 4
mon stood by their horses i'm patient for
the order to mount. had bado Carrie
and her brother goodbye and her lass 1
words were still ringing like music ~
my ears: ''What you have done for me-
and mine, Harry Watts, can never be
forgotten"
Holding my hand, General Boyle said:
.'Find out if Brent was In Powers
Valley at the date he claims, and, u 4
YOU can get evidence to corroborate his
statement, send it through by ono OF
your scouts at once. If this is not done,
the postponement which have as
sumed may turn out to be great mis- I
fortune to all concerned.
The old soldier knew the secret OF
my interest. promised to DO all that
lay in my power; then, with mutuaA
prayers for the success OF our common
cause, swung into the saddle. the 4
bugle sounded, and my troop rode out
of Camp Dick Robinson @
On the crest of the slope, winding to
the southeast, turned and lifted my
hat, and, through the mist and storm,
saw the f1utter of white scarf, like an
angels wing, and felt that there was
one Union troop followed by the pray
ers of Confederate woman.
This was my second visit to Camp
Dick Robinson. When here before We
were preparing under General Thomas
to advance against Zollicoffer, whose
host. unframed and boastful, was raid
ing the shores of the Cumberland. War
seemed a grand thing to me in those
days. when nearly every regiment
marched to the stirring strains OF It's
own brass band, and when every private
had more impediments than Major
General carried now. Then the trap
pings of the horses We're regal in their
splendor and the officers were moving
pictures framed in blue and gold, and
shoulder-straps were 80 beautiful ana
novel that it was said some OF the
Younger men wore them when in bed.
The regimental banners. aside from
what they symboized, were things OF
shimmering, sil]Scn beauty; now they
were shredded and riddled, and blood
stained, but those very rents had be-
come eloquent with memories that
thrilled us as the new flags never did
Our officers carried no insignia to dis
tinguish them from the men. The trap
pings of the horses were rusty and
cracked, our uniforms were faded and
some OF them rdely patched; our car
bines had lost the gloss OF finish; our
troop guidon was tattered, faded rag,
and the scabbards Of our sabers were
dented and worn. The cheer, the song
and. the wild halloo of exultant youth
were no longer heard in camp or on the
march. On the faces of the youngest,
and the oldest man in that troop was
not twenty-seven, there were set lines
that made them stern, lines
that had been burned deep in the fur
mace heat of battle. But though not 80
fair to the eye, each one of these men
was worth ten of the volunteers of the
early war.
Our march to Cumberland Gap was
over the route taken by Bragg's army
year before, when, after the fierce fight
at Perryville, they fell leisurely back.
laden with the rich spoils of Central
Kentucky, while the tardy Union
legions made only show of pursuit
Still, the track of that unhurried retreat
was visible through every defile OF the
tempest tossed Cumberland range.
The log cabins, clinging like odd birds
nests to the mountain lodges, were
abandoned or inhabited only by women
and children. The fences that had In
closed their patches of potatoes and
corn were gone, and the men who had
built them were in the field or sleeping
on it. Along the hard, rutty trail lay
scattered the debris of wars flood:
broken wagons, the skeletons OF mules
and horses, and ash spots, marking the
site of old camps; hero and there
grave; and over all the naked crests and
rain-washed valleys the spirit of silence
and desolation.
Now and then we caught sight OF
horseman far off from the limo of march.
and the fact that he kept out of reach
convinced us that he was one Of the en-
emys scouts, from whom we had moth
ing to fear. Now and then puff OF
smoke could be seen squirting out from
some cliff, far overhead, and tho crack
of bushwhacker's rifle would follow. Ii
no harm WAS done, we passed on un-
needing; if a man was shot, we encircled
the mountain, and never returned with
a prisoner. And so for six days we
pushed our way through to Cumberland
Gap.
CHAPTER VT.
On the evening of the seventh day We
went into camp not far from Claiborne
creek and we'll below the, Gap. Since
noon we had been hearing the hoarse
booming of guns coming from the South.
Longstreet was making his last fierce
assault on Fort Saunders, sixty miles