The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1890-07-26
CAMPFIRE STORIES.
SOMEBODY'S BOY.


The Target of a Man With Grim Face
and a Murderous Heart.
AS we were falling back on Malvern
Hill, in the peninsular campaign, the
! r.ar-guard fighting back the Confeder-
! ate advance. our brigade was wheeled to
tie left and another to the right to COW
er the narrow highway and give the
wounded and the stragglers an oppor-
tunity to close up. Across the fields,
which were broken and wooded, advanc-
ed the the enemY's skirmishers. followed
by the double line of battle. We check
ed them with a volley, but they reform
ed and charged with cheer. l could
see their faces very plainly under the
smoke, and as they rushed forward J. no
ticed that the man directly in front of
me was not a man, but a STRIPPING of a
boy. He didn't look to be more than
fifteen years old, and his face was white
and scared. had a dead-rest with nv
musket, and this boy was coming
straight upon me. Had he been man
should have killed him. I could have
hit him with my eyes shut. When saw
that it was boy I couldn't fire upon
him. lowered him once, but his scared
| face turned my gun away.
we let them come charging up until
some Of the more impetuous were al
most over US, and then there was an aw-
full crash of musketry-a great billow of
t1ame-a thousand cries and curses
The flame of death had licked up their
lines. was looking for the boy as the
smoke lifted. lie stood, musket in
hand, looking about him as if paralyzed.
Every man had gone down for ten feet
either side of him. AS our cheers burst
forth the boy faced about with the rem
nant of the line and reiterated to cover
l rejoiced over his escape and hoped if
another charge was made he would not
be with them
Half an hour passed and now we were
the rear guard-a brigade holding the
narrow road. We saw the enemy mass
ing for another charge, and again we
made ready to receive them. As they
came forward [ saw the same white
faced boy, this time little to the left
of me.
Don't shoot that boy!" I called to the
men beyond me-
The third man on the left was in line
with the boy. He looked up at me with
sardOnic smile and then he rested his
mnsket and covered the boy to kill him
when the word came to fire. An enemy
was an enemy to him, whether man or
boy. He was there to kill. held my
breath as the double-line again ad-
vanced. A little closer and they fired a
vo1ley and then charged. They sought
our death-they we're following us to
destroy-they had no mercy. And yet, as
fired into the smoke, knowing that nv
bullet must find a human target, l was
consoled by the reflection that 1 was
not shooting at the boy--at Somebody's
Boy. If he was killed it would be by
the man on my left, and he must answer
for it.
The enemy could not bulge us. They
couldn't touch our TANKS, and a charge
in front was simply slaughter Our VOL
legs broke their lines-decimated them
threw them in confusion-and they
were breasted back again. I sprang to
my feet and looked for the boy. The
powder-smoke swirled about-dove down
lifted duplicated away among the
tree tops, and my heart bounded as /
saw Somebody's Boy again. He stood
with two comrades-the remnant, per-
haps, of his whole company. Just as I
got glimpse of him the three turned to
obey the call to retreat, and swung m
cap and cheered. Our whole line was
| cheering-the others because they had
again repulse the enemy--I because
Somebody's Boy had again escaped
And when looked along our. line to
the left, wondering how the man with
the grim face and murderous heart had
missed his target, I saw him lying on
the ground--stone dead. bullet had
struck him fair in the forehead.-De-
troit Free Press