Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-30

who almost lived at Bulleston's late club.
Then he wrote to his substitute, but re-
ceiVed no reply. He wrote to the substi-
tute's commanding officer and the reply
was the single word, Dead" He wrote a
letter of coincidence to the widow but got
no reply; was she dead too, or merely IN
grateful? He wrote the trust company in
which he had deposited the money for the
Woman's benefit, and learned that the de-
post mad been claimed and paid on proof
or death of the husband. The company
kne" nothing Of the woman'S present
whereabouts.
Well, he had at least himself. and a repu-
tation which he had earned; besides, he
had little time in which to think of the
past, Tor the present was very active and
real lie rose a grade or two in rank
seemed to have a brilliant military flu
ture, when suddenly his regiment was
transferred to a department where malaria
was more merciless and dea lily than the
uniformed foe, for it left it's victims alive
after robbing them of health, strength and
the desire to live.
Rulleston drifted back to his native city
and strolled, in his uniform, past the club
or which he had two years before been the
most popular member The building had
not changed in appearance, neither had the
oNerfed fellows who sat in its windows, so
Bulleston felt no desire to resume his old
position. How could he? What was he to
DO! lie had no home, no misunderstanding
but the few hundred dollars that remained
of his discharge pay. He closely observed
his brother officers, to how they would
re-enter civil life; finally he entered into
partnership with one of them, and lost his
all in Il month.
The perils of war? Pshaw. All the
ignorance, courage. uncertainty, apprehen-
son and desperation of two years Of cam
paigning were as nothing TO what Bulleston
endured while beginning anew the hardest
of all warS-the battle of life. He had come
out of the military war with the reputation
OF competent man and hero: in the new
fight he found himself helpless man and a
coward. 1t reminded him of his first day
on the ba ttleficld, except that the day finally
ended. while the new struggle continued
through days that heightened into weeks
months and years. while the result seemed
utterly uncertain and endlesSly distant
How easy. merry and altogether delight
ful Just for a change, would be of the
old struggles on the field one might get
"a wound perhaps, or lose a limb. maybe .be
killed, but what were such possibilities to
ever-ranking wounds of injured pride. sense
of worthlessness, disgust with a life which
seemed not worth the keeping?
Yet while he trembled and blundered and
feared he was learning the newer and
harder service. From being a sort of
camp follower he slowly became a soldier
in hfe's great army-only a raw recruit.
at hrst, but in time a trusty man in the
ranks, FOR, to drop metaphor, he became a
common laborer. then he learned a trade
and later he developed ambition, for he
had devised a business In which there
WOulu DE great DrOflt could he md a part
ner with capital
So it came to pass a dozen years after
the war ended, that Bulleston went with a
lot of other veterans to large city for
the double purpose Of assisting at some
Decoration day ceremonies and searching
for man with brains and capital. Of
course there was a procession in which
the veterans took part, and, of course
there were many halts, during which the
veterans stood in groups and swapped
" in of l1 I..It
suddenly grasped Bulleston by both Shout
Gers and exclaimed:
You're the man who made mel"
Bulleston stared. A dozen years is long
time to remember a face seen but two OF
three times, but Bullestons memory went
back to farm cottage with foreclosure
sale notices all its front. and u
serious-faced young farmer, who was try
ing to meet ruin like a man.
You're the man who made me-" repeat
ed the man, still maintaining his grasp"
You re my substitute. L thought you
We're dead gasped Bulleston.
so did a great many peOple-my wife
among them. Another man was buried
with my name his slab. while l was a
prisoner a: Richmond. Drop out of the
ranks-at once-and come in with me-;
there's my house,
What? That palace? How about the
little farm?''
'oh. the city grew out to it and around
IT; 1t had to be cut into building lots-about
q 'Uiiditd MY ol them. ana they
brought more than a thousand dollars
apiece. Still, that's not half the money
We made-you don't get away from me
until tell you all about it. l don't wish
you any harm, but l hope you're poor. Tor
Ia like the chance to unload lot of my
good luck upon you, for. as / said before,
you're the man who made me- Where have
you been for years? I've tried in every
way TO ma you-so has my wife. but you
seemed to have disappeared from the face
or the earth You seem to have got into
the army yourself-couldn't fully trust me.
after all. to be all you wanted, could you?
lell me something about yourself as we
walk. How has the world used vou?"
quite well as I've deserved I'm
alive. got some big hopes. hut no money"
gu re mistaken. my friend. That's one
reason I've wanted to find you. That de-
post you made for the benefit of my IA M
lily. and which my poor wife drew. accord
ing TO agreement. when everybody was
sure l was dead and buried. has been kent
invested for you. with the hope that you'd
turn up some day. Twas thirty thousand
dollars when You made it; It's over a hun
dred thousand now"
If Bulleston didn't grow a foot in sec
ond he thought he did, which answered the
same purpose. But he did not forget his
he asked:
Tel me something about your wife and
daughter"
Both alive and well. thank heaven, and
VIII be beside themselves with Joy to see
you. by the way, there's another old ac-
qualntance or yours with US whom if
you re not glad to see you're not the man |
thlhk you. Here We are; hurry inr'
But who IS the other old acquaintance
you spoke Off"
My daughters governess and''-iust
then the door opened-"here she is
Bulleston saw before him a mature re
markedly handsome woman plainly
dressed, with thread or two of silver in
her hair. There are times when a good SOL
dler shoots first and challenges afterward.
or does both at the same instant. Bulles
ton threw his arms around the goyerness
and shouted:
Miss Malaise!"
You went away without saying a word
To me. Why did you do it?'' the lady ask
ed as soon as she recovered her breath
because l had suddenly been reduced to
begShry. my dear girl"
You might have had a companion in
misery, had you waited few days" was
the reply.
There was an hour of explanations and
questions, ana laughter, with a tear or two
to lend delicious variety, but in time Bull
lesion appeared to become somewhat an
sent-minded. The substitute Whispered 70
his wife that it was probably because of
the malaria which the poor fellow had en-
dured; the substitute had seen other fine
veterans affected In the same way. wears
after the war. But the wife whispered