Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1893-04-07
How Jim's Wife Went South.
BY II. o. LELAND.

-
1t was at the Oglethorpe Club, in
Savannah, one evening not long ago.
The quartet of men in the big bay
window were three of them old ac-
quaintances, although meeting that
day in the southern city by accident.
Pond was OH his way TO Palatka TO
join his coast survey party; Gecrgeson
had been down at Key West on
collecting trip for the National Mu-
scum, and was now on his way buck
to Washington; Middlebrook, col
lege friend of Ponds, was visiting in
Savannah with Judge Borden, who
had introduced the trio at the club
and was now, after n perfect little
dinner, entertaining them with story
after story of southern life before and
during the war.
The judge was an elderly man, ia
nous as raconteur, and, young in
heart himself, was fond of younger
:
men. and never enjoyed himself so
well as on occasions of this kind; but
he finally stopped short after yarn
about the occupation of Savannah by
Sherman's Army.
"Don't ask me for any more, boys.
Those were great days, and you may
well regret that you were born so late.
would hardly exchange my expert
ence for all your youth and ambition.
Let me see. You're the oldest of the
three, MIR. Pond, and yet I'll warrant
you remember nothing of the war;
Pond, a tall, dark fellow of thirty
odd, we'll known in scientific circles
in Washington, smiled broadly:
81 was thinking, Judge lie said,
"while you were telling that exnsgi-
ence of your wife's ateNashviIle of aIf
experience of another little woma,9
nan * filc !. norm a5Uifs rilr same ssuit,
and while, as you suppose, remcm- q
Der nothing of the war myself, j f 1
have vivid personal interest in this Q
,yent.p =
'Let us hear it," said the Judge. il
ats only fair that the other side h
should be given a chance" And call
ing for cigars the Judge settled back f
n his easy chair in acomfortablc way. /,
Is good listener as he was a taiker
"The little woman in my mind" .
aid Pond, ''was living in Baltimore n
n 1862. She was only twenty, but "
lad been married two years, and girl il
'aby of nearly year occupied her t,
ime day and night Six months be- nj
;ore her husband had been sent 10 q
North Carolina and was aching as a,
laval storekeeper at an important o.
tation of the North Atlantic squad cl
on, and she had been left in board. ID
ng house with widowed aunt.
at was awfully hard on the poor n,
little thing TO live away from her hus- "
'and, but of course it was no place for .,
Ter down there; so she had to make ii
be best of it OH his infrequent letters. :,
'he actually used to put the baby UP "
n her high chair and make believe that Il
he was Jim just back from the south, .,
md she'd tell her how much she loved Il
i'm, and how lonesome she'd been ~
While he was gone, and what a good r,
'aby she had been and how glad he II
would be to sec her, until she was all
mixed up in her personal pronouns -
nd broke down aud cried over her "
'wn poor little game. II
"In fact, it only took about seven :,
months to make her desperate. In .,
pite of Jim's description of the desc II
alton of the place, and in fact partly a,
because of it, she made up her mind 81
Q join him. Three-quarters of Jim's n
alary had been coming to her every e,
month from the paymaster generals 4
'ffice in Philadelphia, and so she
wrote TO that official and told him r.
'lainly that she must get transporta- v
ion to Wilmington, N. c., and that
he would die, or something of the n
ort, if she didn't. In a few days Il
eply came. on official paper, signed
j. c. Smith, assistant, stating that it g,
vas practically impossible to comply II
With her request but that an oppor- v
unity might come by some possibility
It some future day, and asking fur n
her particulars as to her reasons, O.
whether her husband was sick and II
whether she was strong enough to |
tand such rough journey. S
''The little woman replied in full A
nd thinking u. C. Smith to be ii
'erson of great Importance, made as Ii
trong an appeal to him as possible. h
lis reply, which came promptly,
trengthened her idea of his impor- s
ance, for he stated that he had been n
ouched by her appeal and that it was tc
ortunate that her original letter had q
ome to him, for he would be able to b
10 more for her than any one in Phil 1
delphia. And then more questions
we're asked and the correspondence b
vas continued, on her part with the g
Jingle idea that 'the good Mr.. Smith h
vas doing his best 10 secure her pas. !
age to Wilmington, while on his part !.