The Portland daily press., 1895-10-30

have mittened me If IT. haan & been uhs6
had the finest colt in the county
The summer l left college there came 20
me an overwhelming sense OF patrlotlc
duty.
Mother was the first to notice my alb
sentm:ndedness, and to her | first connaed
the great wish of my early manhood. 1t Is
hard for parents to bid son go forth to do
service upon the battlefield, but New Eng
land in those times responded cheerfully
and nobly to Mr. Lincoln IS call.
The Eighth Massachusetts cavalry was
the regiment I enlisted in. A baker S
dozen Of us boys went together from the
quiet little village nesting in the shadow
of Mount Holyoke From Camp Andrew
I,wrote back piteous letter. complaining
of the horse that had been assigned to mo.
wanted Royal We had been inseparable
in times of peacefully should we not
share together the fortunes of war;
Within fortnight along came Royal, con-
Quoted in all dignity by-you would never
guess-by Judge Phipps! Full of patriot
ism and cheer was the judge.
"Both of ye are thoroughbreds, said
he "Ye'N come in under the wire first
every time, know ye will.
The judge also brought me saddle
blanket which Susie had ornamented with
wondrous and tender art.
So Royal and [ went into the war to-
gether. There were times of privation and
Of danger; neither of us ever complained.
I 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 iof
us got even SO much as scratch. But
one afternoon in a skirmish with the
rebels near Potomac mills a bullet struck
me in the thigh, and from the mere shock
fell from Royals back into the tangle OF
the thicket The fall must have stunned
me, for the next thing knew 1 was alone
deserted of all except my faithful horse
Royal stood over me, and when opened
my eyes he gave faint whinny I hardly
knew what to do. My leg panied me ex-
cruciatingly. 1 surmised that would
never be able to mako my way back to
camp under the fire of the rebel picketars,
for discovered that they were closing in
Then it 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 III. The horse understood
it all. Off he 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 revengeful creatures in
the faroff brush guessed the meaning of
our maneuvering and sought to STAY my
loyal friend But not a 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 formidable detachment, and
how the earth shook as they swept along
eve thought you were goner sure, y
said Hi Bixby.
81 guess would have been if it hadn't
been for Royal" said I.
81 guess so myself" said he "When
we saw him stumbling along all bloody,
we allowed for sure you were dead y
"All hloody?" l cried. els Royal hurt?'
GAS bad as 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 gaping, ragged
hole in his side Seeking succor for me,
Royal had met his death wound. I forgot
my own hurt. 1 thrust the others aside
anu QODDl6u Wuer6 u6 lay
''Poor old Roy!' cried as threw my
self beside my dying friend and put my
arms about his neck. Then patted and
stroked him and called him again and
again by name, and there was a look in
his eyes that told me he knew me and was
glad was there.
How strange ana yet how beautiful it
was that in that farof country, with my
brave, patient, loyal friends fiuttering
heart close unto mine, I 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 and
the fountain where we drank so many,
many times together, and smelled the
fragrance of the flowers and trees abloom,
and 1 heard the dear voices and the sweet
sounds of my boyhood days.
Then presently a mighty shudder awak
ened me from this dreaming. And cried
out with alright and grief, for felt that
I was alone.-Chicago Record.