The herald., 1896-10-11
THE STORY OF ERIC PAUL

, same company. Now know still bet
ter that you are not Eric, for my hus.
band died four months ago. The flood
of tears from the half-crazed wreck
from Andersonville at the news of his
fathers death had no weight with the
as an impostor and told him to eat and
move on.
Eric took a few mouthfuls Of food.
when his head fell to the table. Mrs.
Paul became alarmed and sent for the
doctor. The patient was pronounced q
dangerously sick man. He was given
a room and Mrs. Paul cared for him. In
his delirium he repeated many times:
My mother don't know me. Why?
THE next day a letter from the cap
tain of Eric's company told Mrs. Paul
that he had heard that her son had
reached the union lines and been sent
home He wanted to know If he had
reached there and what condition he
was in. That afternoon Eric seemed bet
ter. He looked brighter; medicine.
proper food and humane care were 'hav.
ing there effect. His mind was clearer.
"'Can you tell me somathing about
yourself?' asked the mother, now trou.
bled, though not convinced by the cap
tain's letter that she was entertaining
her soldier son.
"I'll try. Two years ago my father
and his two boys enlisted in the Twelfth
Wisconsin. We lived here. You cried
when we started to camp. We had .
battle. My brother was wounded and
1 was made a prisoner. Father did not
get hurt unless it was after was cap
tured. They kept me until was almost
dead. I can't tell how I came home. II
you don't know me and will not come to
know me wish had died in prison.
Yes, yes, my precious child, you are
my boy. Forgive mother for not recog-
nizing you'll!
thrown around the mothers neck. Draw
the curtain. The scene Is too sacred for
the public.
"Such care as a mother can give re.
vived the patient SO rapidly that within
a month he was able to walk about and
visit with his former school and play
mates"
You spoke about scolding Paul after
the war;"
Yes, I gave him terrible scolding,
and then presented him with a choice
package of advice. said his mind was
weakened from sickness and his prison
life. He came to me a few months after
the war and told me that he believed he
was going to die before long; that he
had no desire to live; that his ambition
was gone-that he felt like giving up and
going TO pieces. IOlQ MIN TO SLOp SuCh
nonsense and brace up: that he could,
if he had a mind to do so, make great
success Of life; that he must pitch right
in and do lots Of work. Get Job on a
farm and go right at your tasks as you
used to do when soldier-go in to sue
ceed.' He grasped my hand and said he
would not give up-that he would pull
himself together and fight out Of his
gloom and distress"
did he do it?"
Go up to the state fair at Hamline
and see his first premium apples, pears,
grapes, corn, wheat and other products
and hear him TELL as he told me- of his
3O0-acre Minnesota farm, all paid for,
with his herds Of cattle and stable of
blooded horsesa of his bonds, bank ac-
count and mortgages. Why, man, Eric
is well-to- o-do-rich, in fact, and he told
me today that he owed 1t all to my scold-
ing in 1865. Paul &vas as good a soldier
as his company had, yet he never mar
ried," said the old general.-J. A. Wat
rous in Chicago Times-Herald.