Los Angeles herald., 1892-09-21
HARDLY A ROMANCE.
a STORY WHICH WOULD BE I'M
PROVED BY A LITTLE FICTION.

Ehe Judge ON Board an Ocean Steamer,
when Near Home, Tells About an In
teresting War Experience Which Was,
After All. Disappointing.
Fire island would be sighted the next
day if all went well, and the great
steamer rushed through the water as If
bhe were as anxious to reach her pier as
those whom she bore were to be at home
bgain. A little party of men sat by q
kmokestack telling stories. The play of
the moonlight on the waves had turned
the narratives into rather sentimental
channels, and the judge, giving way to
Ehe influence of the 'slovers' lamp" told
the following story:
"You know l was a colonel in the
Union army in the war. Well, early in
the struggle was ordered to Louisville,
mhere reported to General Don Carlos
Buell.. Instructions were given me to
go into camp with my regiment about
six miles south of the city. The place
chosen for the encampment was the
lawn of o fine country place, the home of
bne of Kentucky's blueblooded old fam
lilies. The owners were known to be in
strong sympathy with the south, so we
had no compunctions about disfiguring
the grounds by making our temporary
home on them.
"On arriving at the farm and some
bf my officers rode up to the house to
arrange for such food as we could get.
We found two young women, pretty as
pictures, awaiting us on the broad We
randa. They had seen the preparations
for pitching the tents, and were evil
IDENTITY not pleased. dismounted, made
my best bow and explained that the exi
gencies of war compelled us to camp on
their lawn. l assured them that the
soldiers would inconvenience them as
little as possible.
"The two listened to my little speech
with looks of anger, and the taller one
snapped out: You shall not camp on
bur place. The last time Union soldiers
were here we didn't have cream for our
coffee for two weeks and we don't pro-
pose to stand it again.
"We soldiers, accustomed to pretty
rough fare, could not help laughing at
this, and the flush on the faces of the
women grew hotter. l fastened to
apologize and to say again that we
would be as considerate as the necessi-
ties of war permitted. Then we rode to
bur tents.
1.-The next morning Visited the house
again to see about getting some provi-
sions. The young women were still
naughty, but l did my best to soften
their antipathy. did save them much
annoyance and they could not help being
grateful. Somehow found occasion to
visit the house daily, and sometimes l
managed to conjure up second pretext
before bedtime. At the end of week
) the sisters regarded me more as an indi-
vidual and less as o Union officer, for |
studiously avoided referring to the war.
Once OF twice the elder one told me
with flashing eyes what would happen
to our men when they met ia Confederate
force on the battlefield. Her brother
was a captain in General Humphrey
Marshall's army, and she warned me
against getting within rifle shot of his
regiment.
"We got on swimmingly on the whole
however, and l confess l grew more
than little fond of the spirited girl.
In little while the order came to move
on to eastern Kentucky, and felt un-
commonly sad when l rode up to the
house to tell the young ladies goodby.
] imagined there was slight sign of
emotion in the elders pretty face when
i told the news, but it disappeared al
most instantly. Holding out her hand
to me she said frankly: 'Goodby, cole
mel. am really sorry to see you go.
You are not SO bad-for a Yankee.
Please avoid my brother. You might
get into trouble
II laughed. Would you like to see
your brotherT I asked.
I "'Oh, yes. Why do you ask? she said,
puzzled.
"'Well, I'll send him to see you then
Ut was her turn to laugh, and she said
mockingly, You'd better look out when
he's in the same county with you l
rode away, the tones, but not the words,
ringing in my ears.
"Not long afterward my regiment was
in eastern Kentucky. One night two of
our men brought in a prisoner. He had
carelessly wandered outside his lines
and been captured. A handsome young
fellow he certainly was, with the bear
ing Of cavalier. What is your name?
7 asked him.
"fCaptain -, of the - Kentucky
he replied.
II was all excitement, but tried to
speak in calm tones. Doyou live about
six miles south of Louisville?' l asked,
TO make assurance doubly sure. He
said with some surprise that he did.
The next day arranged that the pris-
loner should be paroled. 1 said that
knew his family and would vouch for
his honor. He was allowed to go home
after giving the usual pledge. l merely
explained to him that had met his sis
ters, and asked him to tell them that
Colonel -, of the - Minnesota, had
bent him. He said he would, and started
for Louisville"
There was silence for time. Finally
some one said, "Well?'
The judge had been looking out over
the ocean. He turned toward the speaker.
4 suppose you married the sister, went
on the man. -
sits odd that every one who hears the