Omaha daily bee., 1896-05-24

ing to the soldiers ear. Our colors-the tat
tered flag which had waved all day over the
fort-were in the hands Of the enemy. You
have no idea. my dears, OF the disgrace
brought. by the loss of his regimental coIors'
upon the soldier. Some Of our men When
they heard the news. actually sat do"h an
went like babies; others went almost mAu'
and wanted 10 storm the fort hen and ;hsrc.
But wiser c%ounsels prevailed; and hha'lV a
man volunteered to slip back into ire lCrt
under cover Of darkness, and, II possible re-
cover the flag
THAT man was you. grandfather, WASH |
it?" asked little naxen-hair.
The colonel nodded his head gravely. Yes
twas l." he said. There were many Vol
unteers: but | was chosen Tor the alIeHlp''
At nightfall accordingly l slipped past the
sentries, and by crouching behind nlounus
the battlefield | succeeded in passing the
enemy's pickets and reaching the ditch, below
the escarpment OF the fort. Here ! lay lot
some moments iiGtening to the steady tramp
Of a sentinel on the ~escarpinent above lheh'
knowing that quickness of action was every
thing. | clambcred up the bank, mana over
hand. and rolled into the fort. fortunately
| fell upon a pile Of sacking, 50 thal MY IAN
did not disturb the sentry, whose gray-coaIeu
back | saw in the moonlight at some us,
lance. " In that quick look around )
saw something else as well. Our dear nag
had not even been torn from the etan TO
which IL was nailed, but still huhs thSrt
awaiting orders from headquarters. no dounp
with the confederate colors Haunting above IL.
1t took me just a minute TO dart
across the enclosure and wrench both flags
our own and our enemy's-trom the pole
Then | sprang behind a broken gun carriage.
inst as the sentry turned and begun his re
turn beat. =,
81 can tell you. my dears, that your OLD
grandfather's heart beat a tattoo on his ribs
while that Gentry was passing. Would he
see me? Would he notice the absence. OF
the flags? Fortunately he did neither. He
was not a very good sentry, that one; 10Y
he never looked up as he paced along the
esCarpment. ,
when l thought l might venture torth,
| arose and ran in a stopping position for the
b-eastworks. My foot was on the escarp.
ment-in another instant | should nave size
! triumphantly into the ditch; when-the sen
try turned. Down | ducked behlnd tht
friendly pile of sacking. But my movements
were hardly quick enough. Clearly the cen
try had seen something suspicious; Tor ne
| retraced his footsteps and came toward me
What was to be done? My mind was MADE
I'D In a trice. | measured the approaching
man in the dim light, and saw that ne was
Of slender build-a mere boy in my hahds
Then. as he reached the heap of sacka,
suddenly leaped up and grappled with him
II took less time than L spend in telling yo,
to wrest the bayonet out of his hands.
Just as he recovered nerve enough to shout
l threw one arm over his mouth and clutch
ing him around the body with the other. we
rolled over the esCarpment and fell Slde by
side into the ditch. He was underneath
The fall stunned him.; and as he lay with eX'
pressionless eyes staring up at the starry
heavens, | saw his face for the first time!
"And-and you knew who he was?' eagerly
exclaimed Miss Flaxen-hair
"My dear" said the colonel with a rather
- ,,,;l, Hypt, kDpy tho story nv heart
= q Yes. you are right; | saw who m!
prisoner was, the moment | looked into MI
face. There he lay, at the foot OF the escarp
ment, dressed in the gray uniform OF TN
confederates-my own brother Jack, the sol
of my fathers house, my schoolfellow ant
nlayfellow since babyhood, and now, by sterl
fate. my foe!
"There was no time to be lost. Even TO
my brother. | could not wait; so l TOOK gu
the brandy flask that the captain OF ou
company had slipped into my pocket, an
lad it in his nerveless fingers. Then, Jus
as | was about to go, l remembered the con
federate flag which | carried. There was n
absolute need for me to bring back thos
colore; and if they were missed, 1t mlSht Z
hard with the sentry on duty. My oblec'
after all, was only to recover our own nag
"a | took the rebel Stars and laid them @
Jacks breast. Then l forced some OF IN 10
brandy between his teeth, and, without wall
ing for the result, ran with all speed toward
Il the federal lines. LUCK was Witu NY -
last, and l escaped scot free, to receive
great ovation in our camp. They made me
CAPTAIN for that nights work. -.
"And Uncle Jack-what became of him"
queried FlaXen-hair. :.
He must have recovered; for | saw HI
4 name in the confederate reports many time
afterward. Finally he was severei!
Wounded, and left the army. Notwith
standing all my researches have neve
been able to trace him. When my fathe
died he shared his property between Jacl
md myself. | set to work by every mean
in my power to find the lost brother. Per
eonals in newspapers, paid agents, and tn
like, all failed to discover his whereaDouu
Whether or not he is ashamed of the sid
he took in the war, l cannot say. Perhap
the Door fellow died of his wounds, Ion.
ago. Heaven alone nows, where ne !
today !,
The colonel ceased, and silently dotted hi
slouch-hat. as though to the memory OF nj
brother. All the children sighed IN chorus