The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-06-28
"YcusHAL NOT LIVE 10 HAVE HERR

Of suitors, butmnst persistent among them
aNswas RATE LIE Sarge, a dark faced, dash.
ing1young fellow with French blood in his
aFor a time lie Surge treated me with
cold poiiteness That WAS q trffie short OF
seorn, but an open rupture threatened, and
expected tohave tosmeet the fellow in a
duel. knew him to be.a remarkable pis-
toll shot, and thistcaused nneto practice rs.
siduously with that weapon. This was not
necessary, however, forue duel resulted
Lincoln was,eleeted, Sumter bombarded
and taken, and theisouthern states sereded.
The warfoIiowed, and every patriotic south
ern annewstO, arms. Etdfd not take me
long to decideon the course would pursue,
but I>coudd not bear the Thought of going
away without asking Heln to become my
wife when, I returned, If ever came bank.
'AsIwas riding to her home was joined
by LIE Sarge, who was proceeding thither
for thevery same purpose. We seemed to
divine each others Intentions immediately,
and was ready to grasp my pistol the in
slant he made a suspicious move.
s HE did not make such move Instead
: he said:
'Negley, we may as well let Miss Gar
vim settle this matter. We will present
our claims and permit her to choose be-
tween u.s.
IT was not averse to this for I was salts
fed she loved me, and felt quite sure she
had a disliking for LIE Sarge. The result
was not quite what I expected, for Helen.
who was passionately devoted to her south
ern instincts, after listening quietly, de
clared:
81 will marry the one who most Iistin.
cuisines himself bytravefy and valorin this
war. That is my answer
1--WE were bound to accept this as final
Looking into LIE Sargeas bfack eyes, I knew
had desperate. and dangerous rival, for
the mans nature was fiery, and never for
an instant did I doubt his courage. He
would fight ivalisntly under any carcum-
stances. and with such prize in view !
knew he would be perfect tagerin battle.
I'VE entered the same regiment and
fought shoulder to shoulder Neither of us
received scratch until the battle of Fra,
zier's Farm. We were both In the charge
on RanfaaI's battery, which had been an
noyinR Us excessively. can never forget
that mad rush over 600 yards OF open
ground with theguns Of the battery be1ch-
ing grape and canister, shells bowling
through the air, bombs bursting in our
midst and men being plowed down on every
hand
BUT we were not to be stopped. Out Of
the woods we poured, and across the open
field we charged at dead run, yelling like
fends Right up to the guns we went, pis.
toting and bayoneting the cannoneers The
Pennsy1vaaians were gritty, but they were
finally routed. AS they retreated sudden
weakness came over me. I felt terrible
pain IN nay SIDE and fell unconscious.
when / came to my senses, found my
self in a Temporary hospital, with wounded
mn groa1ssg, shrieking, cslrsing and pray.
ing on every side Within four feet Of me.
en- the bare aoor, lay LIE Sarge, with two
bullets IN his body. could hear him grind
his whistle teeth and see his eyes roll with
agony, although it was growing dark in
the room. syts~
IAN at once he sat up fumbling in his
pocket and producing something, which he
held ia hisright haId, dragging himself TO-
ward nae.
I'm dyingP he hoarsely whispered.
But yoa shall not live 10 have her!'
Then I saw he held an open claspknife
inhis hand. I tried to cry out, but some
thing chained my tongue. I could not ut
ter sound He reached me and lifted the
knife 10 deliver the fatal blow.
AT thai fnsSansI saw Helen knesiing be-
side me and reaching across my psostrase
body to grasp lie Sarge's wrist-I SOW hes
a. plainly as see you at this moment. Not
only that, but the would be assassin saw
her, for he fell back, his eyes staring, his
lips hoarsely Whispering, 'Helen-herep and
sank motionless by my side. The appari-
ton vanished. LIE Sarge died before morn
ing.
''Now, despite what saw and despite the
exclamation of my enemy as be sank un-
conscious, might have thought itall trick
of my imagination, but within 10 days re-
ceived letter from Helen, in which she
said:
"'Last night dreamed a terrible thing
fancied myself in dreadful place, where
dead and wounded men lay all around. In
their midst found you. dear John, sorely
injured. Just as I knelt by your side saw
Rafe LIE Sarge on the point of striking you
with knife I reached across to grasp his
wrist, but at that instant awoke / sin
cerely trust you are not harmed
Explain it? / do not, sir. It is an ur-
solved mystery, but I am satisfied that in
so1ne way Helen saved nv life that night. u