Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-05-26

strs,a enough 10 be pathetic. All, well:
SIahse tnlnss would happen unexpectedlv
ne resolved that he would talk With tho ia
IenoWs a1ter the ceremonies whate-,er thaS,
nisnt De, concluded; perhaps some svn,-
~ = mo.us from stranger who was
yet comrade might make the trio feel less
Ioriorn than Ii looked Se' 'ess
eo the cemetery marched the little
paIty threading the various avenues ON
of uih, oere were soldiers graves, at each
VI MnIcn there was a moments half
orooplng OF colors and a salute froro ,ha
post commanders sword ON ono ~ 49, -
occasions the president saw for the FIRST
uine the name OF the post on the colors
Boldway? That was odd. he bad h,.aos.
known a soldier named Boldway-knsw
MIN very well: never had he heard of o.
oeher man OF the same name. 1t couldn't
De ms oio acquaintance for whom the most
was named, for his Boldway was very
Inuch awe, while army posts are named
only for dead soldiers.
FINALLY the procession halted at the Bold
way monument, saluted and dropped both
nags upon the stone; then each member OF
the post took from between the second ana
third buttons OF his blouse q cluster of
Mowers, which he laid at the foot of the
Httie monument; then each veteran re-
moved his hat and wiped his brow with his
coat sleeve. The visiting comrade looked
euriously from one man to another; he
knew the order had Ritual of the Dead ),
or something OF the kind-he was ashamed
to admit to himself that the only meeting
OF his own post he had ever attended was
the one at which he was initiated Was
there to be no ceremony on this occasion !?
Apparently not, so he was eager with
curiosity as to the identity of the man from
whom the post took its name, he said:
Comrades, l beg your pardon. but viii
you kindly tell me VINO this Boldway was
whose name you have on your colors? /
knew a soldier OF his name"
We'll, sir" replied the one-legged tailor
''if yeu knew our man you knew the finest
fellow in the whole darned army. Clipper
as he was little. and the Lord knows he
was mighty near to bein' the httlest men,
Der Of the troop"
Troop
Eyes; we was cavalry"
He was always jolly. though he never
took a drink" said wadderly. How In
thunder he managed II beats me-"
Sure to whistle an sing when ev'rythin'
was goin wrong an everybody else was
cussin'.' added Trupsun.
What was his first name?-what regi-
ment and company asked the president
quickly. By way of answer Wadderly
raised one of the flags from the monument
and pointed to the inscription. The presi-
dent stared at II, then at the men, and
asked:
Are you sure that Harry Boldway rests
beneath that stone?"
NO" replied the post commander sheath
ing his sword and leaning against the stone,
the entire command following his example
and preparing for the old-fashioned talk
they always had at the monument on Deco
pretty well shot to pieces in little scrim-
mage our battalion had down in Virginia
one day, an We had to git away, an we
couldn't bring him with us, an we rever
all that means, / s'pose, seem you've been
in the service yourself"
But this monument" persisted the pres
ident
Erected by his comrades, that never for
got him.
by you three?"-the president looked
strangely at the men as he spoke. For a
moment Trupsun recovered some Of his lest
grip and replied:
Stranger-comrade. ] mean, perhaps you
think We was always as played oat as We
are now. Well we wasn't. We wasn't all
there was OF the post when the monument
was put up, but We done our full share at
raisn' the money"
The president looked from one man to
another several times in succession and
then seemed to do a lot of wondering, while
the Oh fellows told lot Of stories about
Boldway, all highly 90 Boldway's credit
The president displayed so much interest
that the stories came faster and faster
until Trupsun suddenly exclaimed:
We'll. comrade. do you think our Bold
way an yourn was the same nian?"
Think? Why there's not the slightest
doubt of IT. The name is the same: SO Is
the regiment and company. Seems strange.
selves, good and hard, for I'm going to give
You the biggest surprise you've heard Of
since the war ended Boldway isn't dead
he's as much alive as any of U.S."
What"
Great scottr'
GOSH
Its fact. He was pretty well shot TO
pieces. as you say. but the southern doctors
put MIN together as well as they could and
treated him very decently, but il took him
nearly year to get well enough to be
moved, and as the war ended before he got
Ialriy out OF the hospital. and some OF his
Associates hsCnrraa hfS frso A. -.
remained south a while struck a good bust
ness chance. took 1t from there TO the west
and-well. the upshot is that he's pretty
well TO do in the world"
On the old fellows faces mazement sat
enthroned as securely as IL II intended 70
remain there foreve-, but soon wadderly
looked reproachfully at the president, and
said:
'Comrade. we've heard war stories be-
fore"
"What?--you doubt my word?" The
president flushed angrily. for he was a man
OF veracity. Very well; II put an end TO
that ve:y quickly. You know the names of
some of his comrades? / can name some TO
you that he remembers very well-men of
his own company. For instance. Miller.
"Boys-boys-do you hear that?' ex-
claimed the post commander.
And continued the president another
name was Wadderly."
'Goshr' calculated the owner of the
name, as he snatched his colors from the
monument and waved them wildly
And Trupsun." the President went on
Great Scottr' shouted Trupsun Rows
I'm young again. The devils dead IL Bold
ways alive Look here comrade. where is
he? I'd tramp through hell without a
canteen for the sake OF seem him, though.
of course. he amt down there IL he's alive
Does he whistle an sing yet-an tell
stories?"
Stories? Greatest bore that his friends
have-tells war stories on the slightest prov
ocation. III give you some of them on the
way back to town; perhaps you'll recognize
some OF the characters and Incidents As
to singing and whistling the people in the
same office with him say he's ALWAYS softly
whistling when he's at his desk-thats his
way OF keeping down his temper when
some one is trying to beat him at a bargain
or playing mean on him In some other way
Say, comrades, excuse me a minute for
stretching myself on the top of his monu-
ment-itn be fun TO tell his friends about
1t, and as he's not dead there's no disre-
spect in it" So saying. the president ex-
tended himself on the low, long stone while
Crease, who seemed still inclined to be
skeptical, remarked.
Say, comrade, not doubtin' your word at
all, but thinkin' that mebbe some sharper
has stole Boldway's name an reputa lion.
for anybody that knowed him would be glad
to have EN-, can you tell me any of the
songs he sings-any particular ones that YOU
ami ever heard from anybody else?'
Let me see." said the president. After
musing moment he continued: ''Oh YES.
there's one that he twisted a little from =
song In a comical Irish dragon story that's