Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-12-01

a Teller that amt afraid O. dyin S a
mighty good man, or he's purity tough.
/ Joe was about both
But they had to do somethin' to
honor him, an what do you thin: the
gineral did He ups an sends an or
der to the colonel, known as the in
def mite order o the day, that private
Joe Whalen had permission to git
drunk till further orders. 1t looked
like furlough fur lifelong drunk
fur no further orders come on the sub
ject; an Joe had full swing at the
stills.
1T got out among the boys, an Joe
had to stand all awful sight O guyin' +;
an he whipped the corporal. an sass
ed the colonel, who wus one O. the
boys hisself, All could stand as much
fun as anyone. Zoe mauled the cor
poral till he tollered fur a guard fur
hisself, Then he wanted to whip the
whole rig ment, an said he could do
it right off gun-wagon, includin the
referee. tell you. it riled him
nightly, but it done him good; he
was sober fur days at stretch.
well, let me see; it was a moon
light night like this, in the late part
10 summer. Winchester had been
took an retook SO many times that
light down thar was looked on as
sort o fun that might be left off an
begun ag' in to suit yourself Sheridan
had got hold o things, an was max
in the fur fly in the Vallyy. 1t was a
hammer-an' -tongs, tooth an nail, eye
goug;n' ear-chawin fight right
straight along, like they have in a
Kentucky blacksmith shop on Sltur-
day afternoon.
Things was hot fur all thar was
in EN-, an we'd moved up about hyar.
Early was camped up thar among the
foothills. Joe an me was on picket
duty over thar on one O. them peaks
yonder. | said it was moonlight
night like this, but it wus jst about
dusk ur little after. The moon was
a-conin up over the mountains beau
fully. 4 silver streak along the Jag
ged horizon over thar in the sky
showed whur the ole gal was comm
jist as she's dom now. Ev'rything
wur as still S the dickens. You could
most a herd the moon risin' if
you listened loud enough.
eve d been thar fur four hours
'thout being relieved; an it looked
like we was thar to stay the night out
Frum the peak we was on we could
see, when the sun was still shinin'
the house whar Joe's gal lived The
rebs was camped right around it. Joe
must "a been awful dry, fur two whole
days 'thout takin drink to man like
him must a made him feel like hot
sand-heep in swamp He hadn t
said word fur over an hour, but KEEP
pacin' up an down with his eyes
glancin off toward whar his gal S
house was He'd down hearted look
an l knowed what the poor Teller was
a-thinkin about. All at once, he
turns to me an says:
-" Pete, amt it Abe Lincoln that
says somethin. about not shootin a
young Teller for breakin' fur tall tim
Der when he thinks o his gal?'
II knowed what was in his head al
once - he was a-goin to break
They'll shoot you, 10, says to him
Let EN- shoot, says he, L can't
stand this no longer; my heart il
breakin'' An the cryin' like look
come into his eyes. 4 must see her
Pete, an see her tonight. if l die ful
it. The gineral says kin get drunk
till further orders. l intend to tax,
him at his word There's a still ovei
thar, Pete. Jist say I'm gone to it.
II saw a twinkle in his eyes under
the mist that had come into EN-
I
That's about all / did see; fur, thu
next minute, he was gone, holierin
. back as he dis peared down the noun
tains "I'll be back at daybreak
Pete An he kept his word. What
mole he had the gal with him. TIL
+ post wusn't relieved all night, an jis
) at peep O day. he come putin an
pantin up the mountains with the ga
, in his arms.
: what happened to him that nigh
he told me afterward. When he left III
; he made straight fur the rebel lines
r He was nimble Teller on his legs, an
: could give a deer all the odds it want