San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-10-29

! first remember Mrs Caroline Green
as little Carrie Gould. We played in the
same games in the villags school ground
and stood side by side usually very near
the foot-iI the Juvenile srelin" class.
Her school life closed before mine, aul
my nrxt Observation-Disclosures If her begins
at the time sac became the wife Of Maui
ri.e Green.
Like many another New England girl
in those days, Carrie Gould welded the
man Of her choice one day only to lose
him the next. Maurice Green married
her in Federal blue and marched away
next morning to the front, leaving his
SERIAL Ma 02n pa1a . oi
wife of day 10 mourn herself into fit
of sickness over the separation. At that
time secretly thought she made too
great Il display of her grief. In year l
was heartily ashamed of myself for hav-
ing been so uncharitable. The follow
ing autumn my own husband, to whom
had been married but u few weeks, en-
listed and went away.
In the desolate days that followed
DeCtttllt lIlt uIlllOSl COllSJdlll SOill
of Mrs. Green. Together we traced on
a map the movements of the army diviS-
ions, of which our respective husbands
were, 10 us, by far the most important
part, and together we waited, hand in
hand and with hushed breath. for the
gossiping postmaster to distribute the
daily mail.
From the very first Mrs. Green seemed
to abandon all hope of her husband ever
returning to her alive. Time and again
| tried to reason her out of what be-
lieved to be a morbid idea born of feeble
health, but all | could say had no effect
upon her She shudiered over the let
ters that came to her from the south,
and often bid them under her shawl
without daring to look at the handwrit-
ing of the address. | knew too well
what she feared. She feared a message
from some kind cOmrade that her hus-
band had fallen in action, or had died
ux TENDED and uncared for i'll some
great army hospital.
Il know how it will all end" she said
to me one day, with tears in her eyes;
some day the message | have dreaded
so long will come. and then they will
find me lying dead just where Ireceived
it, with the fatal thing in my hand"
Now and then a soldier from the COM
pany in which her husband had enlisted
came home on furlough to recover
from severe Illness or wound. Every
one Of them brought favorable reports Of
Maurice Green. He was in excellent
health; he was winning an honorable
name as brave and loyal man: his con-
versations with his comrades convinced
all who cared to listen that he was true
as steel to his girl wife in far off Maine,
and that he looked forward hopefully
and proudly to the life they would live
together when the war was over or when
his term of enlistment had expired.
"True to the flag and true to his wife!"
she would say on such occasions in
way that wasn't at all like her everyday
talk. You needn't enlarge on that. l
knew that when he went away. If he
deserted, | should never look in his face
again; if he forgot the solemn vows he
made the day he left me, know should
follow him to the end of the earth, if it
was necessary, to take his life! But he
will do neither. she would add, Il know
he will do neither! They will kill him
in some of their wretched battles and
shall never see him again
Perhaps the person for whom this
manuscript is being prepared will object
to his loss of time in reading what have
written regarding Mrs. Caroline Green's
moods and fears. can't help it. Twas
asked to be minute. How can | better
obey orders than by describing exactly
the kind of il woman she was III those
days? If you want to know whether
Mrs Caroline Green would I've apt to do
a certain thing or not, just figure out in
your own mind whether Il morbid mind,
and a jealous mind, and a revengefully
Jealous mind like the one | have at
tempted to describe, would be likely to
lead person on to DO the deed that has
been done There you have it. Mr..
Joseph U. Smith, and hope AMI pray
from the very bottom Of my heart that
you will figure it out wrong ii any harm
is to come to Caroline Green by reason
of your figuring it out right!
Have mentioned the fact that Mrs.
Green ut that time h2l brother living
in New York? Wen, she had great,
stalwart, kindhearted brother there, and
he was 50 wrapped mp in his. sister and
she in him that they spent small fort
une every year in postage stamps. lean
best describe this brother by saying that
:" -, - ...n~'..-hent of mind h.a was