Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1892-11-18

pleading and many tears, but nvv
that it was accomplished, the deed OF
charity seemed to bring little joy
into her sad life. To the prisoners it
was a decply-felt blessing, while to
the Union soldier in the fort it also
brought pleasure, for they saw that
the Colonels wife was happier for her
work, and they all loved the Colonel's
wife. The visits were short, hut in
them the girl managed tn say much
that was comforting to the dis
couraged Southern captives and af-
ter them each man felt that he too
had Il mother, or sister, or wife. for
whom he must still live and fight on.
sJanuary came and with the New
Year a fresh batch of prisoncs from
the front. The Colonel's wife soon
knew them all, and they, at first sui
len and discouraged, began once more
to gather hope from her kind words.
All but one, and that one had no
need for encouragement. This young
Southern officer, strong in the belief
that his cause was right. firm in the
trust that he should live to tight once
more for this cause, and confident i'm
the love of the girl who would long
ago have been his wife if the warhad
not broken out. had never for ;Szno-
mcnt let his courage fail. Escape
was the word that was always in his
mind. Escape was what he thought
OF, escape was what he dreamed OF,
and escape was what he finally at
tempted.
''lBut for three long months he was
Il prisoner confined i'm one of those
narrow cells, just there across the
ditch. And there every day the Col
onel's wife visited him, and there she
talked to him of his home and of
himself. The man was IL noble fell
low, and when he opened his heart to
the young wife, never for moment
dreamed of the harm he was dong,
while she poor girl, never having
known happiness, hardly understood
why She was happy. But finally,
when he told her of the girl who was
waiting for him at home, she under
stood, and hc, to his sorrow, also un-
dcrstood. Then he saw a double
reason for leaving the place, and she,
too, saw that he could not stay.
Duty to her husband and her country.
love for the man whose very presence
brought her happiness yet who was
not for iler. above ali the knowledge
that. i'm helping him to escape She
was sending him to that other one
Waiting for him i'm the Southern home.
all these thoughts filled the mind and
heart and soul of the Colonels Wife
And then, one bright April morning,
after Il calm, almost sultry night. the
report spread through the garrison
that No 81. Capt Low. 4th Carolina
Cavalry, had escaped. No one knew
how it happened: no one could UNI
derstand how No. 81 could have cut
away the stone-worll of his window
enough to have pushed through.
Above all. no one could believe
that the prisoner had Slipped through
the opening, crossed the ditch.
ana tied out into the night without
being seen 10y the sentry, whose beat
WAS not twenty PAGES from the course
the prisoner must have taken. The
sentry himself was for u time sils-
pcctcd of negligence, but was soon
cleared of tie suspicion by the evil
dencc OF the colonel's wife. who had
herself, i'm taking her usual evening
walk about the ramparts. seen him
at his post. The escape had been
discovered very soon afterwards, so
that here was no reason to believe
the sentry asleep. The man himself,
freed from the charge, did not care
i to tell that the colonel's wife not
only saw but spoke to him that night.
That moreover. she called him to the
further end of his beat, and called his
attention to Il noise which she
thought She had heard far down the
sea wall What good would it do,'
the fellow said to himself, sure. it
nd lie loike impaching the lady her.
self. which is foolish indade.'
1.-The colonel never saw letter
which a year or two afterwards came
to his wife. lie was not in the room
to see the tears come slowly to her
eyes as She read the words:
{" That night when saw YOUR
face i'm the dusk, looking at me, while
you pointed with your hand in the
SC''Sa NAaSSCiVtis LISl lOl UIlC uISt
time did / realize the risk you ran.
and felt ashamed to profit by your
danger. You saved my life, and gave
to me the woman who is now my
! wife. From the promise l made to
you she will never know your name,
but She joins with me i'm wishing all
happiness to the coloncl's wife,
My friend ceased, and pointing
across the ditch said, ''That window
worn away is where the man escaped;
the sentry box against which YOU are
leaning is where the coloncl's wife
stood. She had a hard time. poor
thing. and might have done worse,
but then. after all, soldiers isn't
the pleasantest life. Harvard Advo
cate.
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Ages Of Birds.
Among birds, ,hc swan lives to lie
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