Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1892-03-18

sleeve worried him; the arm was gone
close mp at the shoulder.
Then the pair fell to work briskly,
busting. arranging. rearranging and
chatting pleasantly. Pocahontas piled
the duster and her brother sorted the
books and replaced them on the shelves
The sun shone in royalty, until Poca-
hontas served a writ of ejectlnent on
his majesty by closing all the shutters.
and the sun promptly eluded it by peep
ing in between the bars. a little vagrant
breeze stole in, full of idleness and mis-
chief, and meddled with the books
duttering the leaves of THE Faery
Queen" which lay on its back wide
open. lifting up the pages and flirting
them over roguishly as though bent on
finding secrets The little noise attract
ed the girls attention. and she raised the
book and wiped the covers with her dus-
ter. AS she slapped it lightly with her
hand to get out all the dust, u letter
slipped from among the leaves and fell
to the floor near Berkeley's feet.
where did this come from?' he in
quired. as he picked it up.
''Out of this book, " she answered, hold
ing up the volume in her hand. 'It fell
out while was busting; some one must
have left it in to mark place. 1t must
have been in the book for years; see how
soiled it is. Whose is it?'
There is something in the unexpected
! finding of a stray letter which stimu-
lates curiosity, and Berkeley turned it in
his hand to read the address. The en-
velope was soiled like the coat of trav-
eler. and the letter was crumpled as
fhoJ1orI1 a how'd ho6 oil ~ rrb11y
The writing was distinct and clerkly.
Berkeley Mason, Esq, Wintergreen.
- county. Virginia" Mr.. Mason
examined the blurred, indistinct post
mark. Point something, it seemed
to be, and on the other side, washing
ton," plain enough, and the date, May,
1865" What letter had been forwarded
him from the seat of government in the
spring of eighteen hundred and sixty
five? Then memory unfolded itself like
a map whose spring is loosened.
Seating himself in any easy chair, he
drew the letter from its envelope. I'M
folding it slowly against his knee. 1t
was a half sheet of ordinary commercial
paper and the Tires upon it numbered.
perhaps, a dozen. Mason WINGED at
sight of the heading as though an old
wound had been pressed. His sister,
leaning over the back of his char, read
with him; putting out a hand across his
shoulder to help him straighten the
page. 1t ran thus:
POINT LOOKOUT. May =, 1865.
| To Berkeley Mason. Esq, Virginia:
SIR-A Confederate soldier, now Il prisoner
of war at this place, giving his name us Temple
Mason, is lying in the prison hospital at the
point of death. He was too i'll to be sent south
| with the general transfer, and in compliance
| with his urgent request write again-the
| third time-to inform you of his condition. He
| can't last much longer, and in event of his dy-
| ing without hearing from his friends he will
| be buried in the common cemetery connected
with the prison, and his identity, in all proba-
| bility, lost. This is what he appears to dread,
and he entreats that you will come to him, in
| Gods name, if you are still alive. The utmost
| dispatch will be necessary. Respectfully,
| PEKCIvAL SMITH, b. e., U. S. A.
| Comdt., U. S. P, Point Lookout.
Mason returned the letter to its envel-
ope and leaned back in his chair think
ing. 1t was one of the many messages
of sorrow that had winged their way
through the country in the weeks fol-
| lowing the close of the war; one of the
murmurs of pain that had swelled the
funeral dirge vibrating through the
| land.
| Pocahoutas came and seated herself
on her brothers knee, gazing at him
with wide gray eyes filled with inquiry.
"When did this come? | never saw it
before" she questioned gravely.
Then with troubled brow, and voice
that grew husky at times, he went over
for her the sad story of the last months
of the last year of that unhappy and fate
full struggle. In the autumn of sixty-four
their brother Temple, IL lad of seven
teen, had been taken prisoner, with
others of his troop, while making a
reconnaissance, and they had been unable
to discover either his condition or place
of incarceration. Mason himself had
been at home on sick leave, weak and
worn with the loss of his arm and a sa-
Der cut across his head. All through
the winter and spring, while calamity
followed calamity with stunning rapid
ity, the wearing anxiety about Temple
continued, made more intolerable by the
contradictory reports of his fate brought
by passing soldiers. Finally, this letter
had arrived and converted dread fear
into a worse certainty.
1t had been handed to Roy Garnet by
Federal officer at Richmond, and Roy
had ridden straight down with it all
those weary miles. feeling curiously GER
tain that it contained news of Temple,
and sharing their anxiety to the full.
Roy had been stanch and helpful in their
trouble, aiding in the hurried prepara-
tons for the journey, and accompany
ing the wounded man and the pale,
resolute mother on their desperate mis-
sion. Then came the hideous journey,
the arrival at the prison, the fearful
| nY1ocfi011inUr tho rolinf alyir RI Vooi1N of
the reply: the interview with the bluff.
kindly commandant, who took their
hands heartily and rendered them every
assistance in his power. Then, in the
rough hospital Of the hostile prison. the
strange, sad waiting for the end. fol-
lowed by the stranger, sadder home
L. =.