The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1892-05-05

Not another word. This must come
from brother Henry or brother Charles.
But it will break mothers heart" and
Joined Lydia in hearty cry just out
of sympathy.
Only in after years did learn what
followed. Henry, in his manly, straight
forward way, told his father all. Plead
ing. argument and persuasion on the
part of the afflicted old man were in
vain. 1t was contrary to the doctrine
OF non-resistance, tenet of the church;
it was raising the hand of the son
against the relatives who were left in
the south; but the brothers firmly chung
to their determination, gently persisting
and doing all possible to settle the poign-
ant grief they inflicted. Grandpa Water
sons lips quivered as he babe Henry
good-by. and the broken-hearted moth
er chung to thNneck of her eldest born
until Inconsistencies released her from
the pangs of actual parting.
A few days later Charles rode forth
on his own horse, gallant black, of
Kentucky lineage, and everybody
agreed that no finer, drawer boy would
do battle for the union. He joined the
Ringgold cavalry. Early in the war he
was left wounded on the field and was
kindly cared for by southern family
His chief nurse was pretty little rebel
with soft, wavy hair, great brown eyes,
inviting lips and disposition as CHEEKY
as the clear sunshine after an April
shower. No woman had right to re-
6 h0f e.
and there the union soldier was be-
trothed to the bewitching champion of
secession. Then Annie, for that was
her name, began to correspond with
Ruth, and through this intangible link
OF connection the whole family fell in
love with the little confederate.
Charles rejoined his troops as soon as
able. After a desperate engagement
his company was scattered and he was
hemmed in on every side except where
the rugged mountains Of Virginia
lowered up behind him. Boldly he
turned the black, went flying over foot
paths. leaping chasms and forcing his
way where few could follow. But
there were bold mountaineers in the
chase and when they brought Charles
to bay, the gallant stand he made,
drawing his saber when his revolvers
were emptied, saved his life for the
time. His desperate courage won the
heart of the southerners and they per-
sisted until he was taken alive
He was sent to Libby, made his es-
cape, went for days without food, and
when at length he found it, ate SO
much that death followed quickly upon
the pangs of starvation.
Henrys record was as brief as glori-
Gus. His regiment worshiped him. No
man of them, westerners though they
were, could outride or outshoot him. He
led wherever he asked his men to CO.
giant in strength, he was a hero in
courage.
At Pleasant Hill, La, he was shot
from his horse but still fought on, and,
after being fatally wounded, three of
the enemy bit the dust before his hand
dropped senseless to the ground. His
remains came home, and never was
brother, son and neighbor more sincere.
ly mourned Charley's story was never
learned unit! after the war.
But now comes sequel stranger than
the story itself. Grandpa Waterson
and his wife had borne their sorrows
with fortitude that only people like
them can understand. They talked of
their lost boys and together found a
grim pleasure in reviewing the child
hood, the youthful experiences and the
manly qualities of the dead sons. Time
and time have l seen them at the end of
the front veranda, Overgrown with hon
eysuckles, sitting hand in hand talking
of Henry and Charles.
One day came letter from Annie,
announcing that the would visit the Wa
tersons. There was great preparation,
for she would have been Charles wife
had he lived, and she was dear to them
in her own right, for she had never
ceased to send those welcome letters,
! always bright and CHEEKY save when
Charles fate forced it's way into her
thoughts.
She came to a royal welcome. i'm
ag1ne now that l was over-oficious in
plotting her around, pointing out every
thing that Charles was ever associated
with and Cabling away as boy, whose
voice is at the hen-cackling stage of adj
vanccment, will.
''Thee is a great comfort to u.s.
Grandpa Waterson used to say to Annie,
and when grandma got her arms around
the pretty southerner, there was al
ways gentle kiss and sweet voiced
assurance that Annie was just as dear as
though she were daughter.
Then came surprise in the shape of
a handsome, snowy, bold-faced woman,
who announced herself as having been