The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-14

l Royal myself. father and the hired man
stood around and made suggestions. and
al times they presumed 70 take hand
/ In the proceedings. Virtually, however. i
| broke Royal 10 the harness and TO the
| saddle. and after that 1 was even more
! attached TO him than ever before-yOu
know how it is. if ever you've broke colt
| yourself.
When went away 20 college It seemed
10 ME that leaving Royal was almost as
/ hard as leaving mother and father; you
1 see the colt had become very large
part Of my boyish lfe-folIowcd me like a
| pet dog. was lonesome when 1 wasn't
/ round. used TO rub his nose against my
| arm and look lovingly at me out Of his
/ big dark, mOurnful eyes-yes, 1 cried
| when ] said good-by TO him the morning
| / started for WilliamstOwn. / was
ashamed Of 1t then, but not now-no. not
now.
But my fun was all the keener. guess,
/ when l came home at vacation times.
| Then we had 1t up hill and down dale
/ Royal and / did In the summer time
| along the narrow roads we trailed, and
| through leafy lanes. and in my eXultatiOn
| / would cut at the tall weeds at the road
| side and whisk at the boughs arching
| overhead, as II ] were a warrior mounted
| for battle and these other things were
| human victims to my valor. In the win
ter We sped away over the snow and ice,
| careless to the bowling Of the wind and
| favorite road, every inch of IL; he knew,
| too, when Susie held the reins-Susie was
! Judge Phips' niece, and 1 guess she'd
have mittened me if it hadn't been that
I had the finest colt in the country!
The summer left college there came to
me an Overwhelming sense of patriotic
| duty. Mother was the first to notice my
absent-mindedness. and to her first con-
I fded the great wish Of my early manhood.
| II is hard for parents TO bid son go forth
to do service upon the battlefield, but New
| England in those times responded cheer
| fully and nobly to Mr.. Lincoln's call The
Eighth Massachusetts, cavalry was the
/ regiment enlisted in; a bakers dozen of
us boys went together from the quiet little
| village nesting in the shadow of Mount
| Holyoke. From Camp Andrew 1 wrote
| back a piteous letter, complaining of the
| horse that had been assigned to me; 1
| wanted Royal; we had been inseparable in
times Of peace-why should we not share
together the fortunes of war? Within a
| fortnight along came Royal, conducted in
! all dignity by-you would never guess-by
Judge Phipps! Full of patriotism and cheer
was the judge.
Both Of We are thoroughbreds. said he.
Yen come in under the wire first every
time. ! know We will
The judge also brought me a saddle blan-
| ket which Susie had ornamented with Won
drous and tender art.
So Royal and l went into the war to-
! gether. There were times of privation and
Of danger; neither Of us ever complained.
| l am proud to bear witness that in every
emergency my horse bore himself with a
| patience and a valor that seemed actually
| human. My comrades envied me my gentle
stanch, obedient servant Indeed. Royal
! and / became famous as inseparable and
| loyal friends.
We were in five battles and neither of us
. tgH NJ
afternoon in a skirmish with the confeder-
ates near Potomac Mills bullet struck
| me in the thigh, and from the mere shock
I fell from Royals back into the tangle
of the thicket. The fall must have stunned
me, for the next thing / knew / was alone
deserted of all except my faithful horse.
Royal stood over me, and when l opened
my eyes he gave a faint whinny. l hard
! ly knew what to do. My leg panied me
| overwhelmingly. l surmised that / would
never be able to make my way back to
camp under the fire of the confederate
| picketers, for l discovered that they were
closing in. Then IL occurred TO me to pin
a note to Royals saddle blanket and to
send Royal back to camp, telling the boys
| of the trouble was in. The horse under
stood IL all; off ne galloped, conscious of
the import of the mission upon which he
had been dispatched. Bang-bang-bangl
! went the guns over yonder, as If the sharp
I
] meaning of our manoeuvering and sought
to slay my loyal friend. But not bullet
touched him-leastwise he galloped on and
on till lost sight Of him.
They came for me at last, the boys did;
they were a formidable detachment, and
how the earth shook as they swept along
I'VE thought you were goner, sure,
said Hi Bixby.
81 guess 1 would have been II II hadn't
been for Royal, said l.
Il guess so, myself" said he. when we
saw him stumblin' along all bloody We al
lowed for sure you was deadH'
IAN blood?" cried. SIS Royal hurt?"
las bad as a boss can be-" said he.
In camp we found them doing the best
they could for him. But it was clearly
of no avail. There was a gaping, ragged
hole in his side seeking succor for me-
Royal had met his death wound. l forgot
my own hurt; thrust the others aside
and hobbled where he lay.
Poor old Roy cried, as threw my
self beside my dying friend and put my
arms about his neck. Then l patted and
stroked him and called him again and
again, by name, and there was look
In his eyes that told me he knew me
and was glad that was there.
How strange and yet how beautiful 1t
was that in that far off country, with
my brave, patient, loyal friends fiutter-
ing heart close unto mine, neither saw
nor thought OF the scene around me.
| But before my eyes came back the Old
familiar places, the pasture lot, the lane
the narrow road up the hill, the river
winding along between great stretches of
brown corn, the aisle of maple trees ana
the fountain where we drank so many
many times together-and / smelled the
fragrance of the flowers and trees abloom
and heard the dear voices and the sweet
sounds of my hoyhood days.
Then presently a mighty shudder awak-
ened me from this dreaming. And I cried
out with alright and grief, for I felt that
I was alone.
A Snakes SUICIDE.