Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1890-10-31

They had obtained permission to bring

They had obtained permission to bring
with them one of the prisoners, a ''little
kid, as they called him, who had won
derful voice.
The men would make hin. sing "Home,
Sweet Homo" until the tears rolled down
their cheeks and his own. Then to make
up for this they tried to teach him songs
which he would not learn.
On this particular evening he had sung
TO them long time. As his eye caught
the star his brother had seen, even before
it was quite dark, he struck up the notes
of his mothers hymn:
Guide me- o, Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim in this barren landl
| His voice did not falter. 1t seemed to
soar up grand and full to that God Of
| David, that God of battles, who had been
the righteous warriors stay for ages.
What did his quick ear catch9 Was it
his imagination, his knowledge that his
brother, like himself, had never fsrgot-
ten that promise to their mother9 Did
he fancy that he heard him whistler
Rupert rose from his position, and still
singing walked toward the bank.
1t was high above the water, which
looked dark and threatening.
"Be careful, Kiddie," called one of the
men, "you might fall over. It's deep
round there and calculate you can't
SWIM"
He little knew that born and raised by
the Potomac, no one was more at home
in water than his prisoner.
Open now, the crystal fountain,
Where the healing streams do flow
chanted Rupert.
He held his breath for moment to be
sure of the whistle and let the time for
several bars go by.
All, yes! no other voice but Wilton's
called him. There was no mistake. The
memories of childish hours, the bond of
brotherhood assured him.
''Strong deliverer! Strong delivererp
he sang clearly, and then there was
splash.
The men rose to their feet. 81 said
that kid would fall over," said one.
''Hold up and try to tread water till
we get rope" roared out another, while
the third went for torch
Rupert dived and then swan noise.
lessly down to his brother.
They hid in the reeds and water plants
while the men looked for the prisoner.
No thought of his trying to escape had
once occurred to them. They would have
thought the whistle but the careless re-
frain of some of their own men.
"He had been washed away with the
current" said one; '.most likely his
body will be stopped by a snag farther
down before it sinks. We can look in
the morning."
"Poor little chap" said the tenderest
hearted and worst educated of the crowd,
she hev sung hisself plum into paradise
with them there hymns of his'n."
At o'clock that morning Major Bah
cock was reused from slumber by q visit
from Colonel Singleton.
"Where are my boys2" was the wild
question.
Major Babcock never replied in words,
for he heard the countersign given to the
sentry in a voice they both knew.
Colonel Singleton removed his portly
person from the Majors tent to the pick
cts In a manner calculated to upset all the
rules governing avoirdupois. He had his
two boys in his arms before they knew
that he had come.
"What have you done, my son?" he
said to Wilton.
~ just went after Rupert, father.
Swan over the river aud helped him to
swim back. 1t was not anything much
to do"
You may be sure the father cried, and
Rupert cried and the Majors eyes got
full of sand.
The tender mother wept, too, when
she heard of it. She thanked God for
the promise her boys had given her, the
keeping of which had done SO much for
both.
Little Sergeant Singleton himself had
nothing to say about the exploit, but
"Guide Me, o Thou Great jehovah" is
still the favorite hymn with the whole
family. Times Democrat.