Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1890-01-17

choice Of directions aS lar ae tue Poies
apart lie might be presently labonns up
the front of the fortified hills, Or he might
before lie knew it be tumbling over twenty
feet of bluff into the river. Finding his
horse distressed bit by the bad ground,
he halted to breathe that excellent animal
and bait his own Imagination
In this moment he formulated Il te" 81
lent objections to the glory Of the man
who invented the compass For, he
said 'the dogs, the wolves, the panthers,
and other night providers do not get lost
across the country. Why1 Because they
have in their brains some instinct OF direc-
ton that is a living equivalent OF the com
pass Man must have had that once IN
his brain also. He could hardly be infer
ior to all the beasts. But some fellow
without confidence in himself made ma
chine to have things easy, and all the rest
OF US have acquired so much the habit OF
upon the machine that We have
lost that secret of nature. But come, old
Cinnamon, We must get on"
He gave a light touch to his horse, and
thus called upon, the honest animal re
sponded By turning abruptly to the left
and making a rush up an almost perpen-
dicular bank, eight or ten feet high, and
forward from the brow, apparently through
a strip Of woods, for Talbot received many
a stroke from the low hanging branches
Half blown, the horse stayed his short
course in what was evidently open ground
again, which the captain naturally thought
might be the road, because he imagined
the horse would not have taken this indie
pendent initiative without some reason.
well done, old Cinnamon he said, as
he patted the horses neck; that was
good move"
But here again all was gloom, silence,
and desolation Yet as he sat and listen
ed he could imagine that he actually did
hear some faint sounds. Was it imagina-
tion only, OF were there voicesf 1magina
tion has ready way of working often
without facts, and he could not determine
whether the voices he seemed to hear were
in the air or altogether i'll his brain, but he
pushed cautiously forward, giving the
horse the rein. Presently he was reasona-
bly, sure that he heard men talking, and
few seconds later he caught "a glimmer OF
light.
Here was perhaps camp fire, and some
of our siragglers around it; yet it might
be an advanced post of the enemy. lie
went forward, therefore, with the precau-
ton that the case called for. Because to
stumble upon the enemy's outpost in these
circum stances wonld involve very ugly
incidents Guided by the difference in the
air that even d remote and perhaps very
little fire made, he heard the talking dis
tinctIy, and recognized that it was the con-
versation of Northern men; for, as between
our men and the Confederates, accent, dia
lect, and intonation made distinction as
easy as would the apparently broader
difference of another language. He got
80 near without attracting attention as
to see th men and hear what they said.
They were three stragglers of our army,
rather more than half tipsy, and i'll the
pleasant indifference to time and chance
which it is the virtue of commissary whis
key To produce, and were holding II pro-
longed consultation over the case of d
horse that one Of them had iii his charge,
and which had gone down i'll mole where
they We're, having broken on otherwise
crippled one OF his legs in the fail. 1t was
u battery horse, and two of the men were
artillerymen, the other all iniantryman;
apparently the chance comrades OF this
gloomy way.
"Boys, don't like to leave that horse,
said one artillerymen.
well, we got to leave him or our
selves" said the other.
"Wby 5 only one more old hoss, said
the infantryman. Haven't We left 'em
everywhere, all Overt Haven't We filled
Virginia with 'emf'
NO" said the first batteryman; you're
vi ong, pardner. That amt only one more
old hoss: that wasn't no common horse.
He's good soldier OF the Union, that
horse. Him and mes been in many bat
ties together"
"Well," said the other artilleryman, Il
wish it waa his mate, the black one. That
black horse didn't care q euss for the I'm
ion. Bot this was good one. He'd pull
like soldier when the gun was in holei
and how he would swing things when his
gun was wheeled to unlimber! He was d
hero"
Eyes, he was d good one" said the 9th
er. ':Its great wrong to call him only
one more old hoss There wasn't any
nonsense about him. He was veteran.
He was Just like an old soldier. An old
soldier don't get up and yell for enthusi-
asm, like youngster, but when the tough
times come, he's there; and it was so with
that horse He faced the music at Fair
Oaks, at Gaines Mill, at Malvern Hill, and
There's many man would expect to be
Governor of his State if he had done half
as much for the Union as that ere horse
has done"
Talbot now went ahead, and as he came
close to the fire, the boy started TO their
feet, and the infantryman put up his piece
and cried "1Ialt! Who goes there''
Attention, company said the captain;
and the soldier, with the promptitude Of a
piece of machinery i'll which you have
touched the spring, brought the butt Of his
piece to the ground, and placed himself in
the attitude of attention.
"You are staying out late, boys" said
the captain "0ur army is all over the
river, and the enemy may be here at any
moment"
That's what 1 been tellin' 'em for an
hour" said one OF the battery fellows;
but they say they can't find the way"
Captain" said the iniantryman, elem
me tell you how it is. You see, ] belong
to the Twenty second Indiana Regiment"
Where is your regiment
That jis what | want To ind out. l
W az out in the woods 3 afternoon and had
a good sleep, when walked up. went into
camp; but there wasn't any camp. The
camp was there, but the army was gone.
Then / started down this way, and over
hauled some fellows OH the road that |
knew. They was next To rs out in front.
Theytold me all the army was moved
'cept our brigade. Said they saw my reg
| iment out there So | turned around aud
went that way. IL was awful rough, and
dark as pitch; but / got there. and the
| regiment wasn't there neither"