The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-04-26

vi LC&l&o A49t ~ CIV "
and the stretch of country lying between
New Orleans and Brashear City. When
/ say that We .camped In the sugar
bowl of the United States Ii goes with
| out saying that we had a sweet time Of
1t. Within a stones cast of our tents
lecture of the French renaissance, dedi-
Gated to the education of the beautiful
| creole daughters of the French and Span
| ish settlers Of that wonderful land OF
~magnolias and palms. Just think of 1t.
a vast army Of soldiers Injured to the
| hardships of war. cut off for years from
the refining influences of the compan-
ionship OF women, TO be thus suddenly
dropped into the very arms of the sweet
emblem of home brought mother, sister
| and wife nearer and dearer by reason OF
a long aad cruel separation. n yet
| we knew that the bar of prohibition had
fallen between US and the pleasure of
meeting and conversing with that bevy
of purity and innocence, for the fathers
and brothers of the dear little creatures
were our bitter enemies whose loyal duty
II was to shoot us down like. dogs rather
tina give us the right to bask in the un-
light of the shy and winning smiles they
struggled to US at the risk of being
disciplined" How grateful we were.
then, when we found that the good Lord
in bestowing His first best gift to man
had wisely fitted in a heart Of flesh
wherewith to love and lead and move the
hearts of men. Here We were at short
range with the modest creole beauties.
whose fresh. laughing. faces looked out
from the windows of the dormitory over
shadowing our camp, m the mirthful
ROBUSTNESS of their eyes seemed to say
thus far and no further" Matters ran
on In this ex~asperating manner for sew
eral days, when the inventive genius of
one of the boys contrived to get a pack
age telegraph" into splendid working or
l 10. r4D 0,a ~ A.rr >,~t. 70 tho f1nDar
window of the dormitory, and the
m~issives dainty and sweet began to
travel back and forth high over the tops
of the magnolia trees, where shapely
hands reached out to receive them. My
first intimation of any infringement on
the rules of the turreted castle over the
way was received while standing in front
of my tent by seeing what looked like
an envelope moving gently along the n.y.
pothenuse of a triangle from the ground
toward an open window In the dormi-
tory. Ahai 1 became interested at once,
and ! hurried toward the junction Of the
base and the ~hypothenuse. where 1 found.
a double line of 20. n. T." (our new tele-
graph running smoothly over a couple
OF empty spoels. Everything was love-
ly, and the boys were happy as larks.
Earl Reed seemed to be principal opera
tor, and his shining face told me that
the answer to his messages were emf
nently satisfactory. Later In the day he
handed me a delicately scented note
which ran "At the northeast corner of
the garden wall tonight at 10 o'clock"
Joe Jackson and Billy .Sesegrand were
now in charge of the clandestine tele-
graph. n they grew so bold by their
success that the matron of the castle
discovered and tore down the line and
turned our fun into d~isgruntled hopes.
1 had been taught from boyhood that
"alls fair in love and war;" and so when
l sneaked around that night Ia help Earl
Reed keep. his appointment with the
beautiful creole 1 felt that 1t was a case
of love and war both, and my conscience
approved. for j didn't know from my
covert in the tropical grasses and shrubs
what might happen to Earl to render my
presence needful. / will own also to a
little curiosity, otherwise 1 should not
rave endured for three hours and a half
such a mixture OF cramped legs. elon-
gated ears and sugared endearments as
1 lived through that beautiful night at
the corner OF the creole paradise. 1t was
here / learned that the fair girl, who had
kept her tryst with Earl despite the
jealous vigilance OF the bilious matron,
was none other than the girl who had
sat at his side in the chorus at New Or
leans in Gilmore's famous festival. the
daughter of Morano De Seronio. against
whose owe for Reed even the gates and
walls of Thihadead could not prevail. II
was here, also. that / heard them vow
eternal love and loyalty to one another,
come veal. come woe. Ano then in the
days that followed, when the fussy
matron took her flock OF creole lilies for
an outing through the parks, her solic-
; itous love for the pretty ones and her
intense hatred for the 'horrid Yankee
soldiers would have turned an old her
with a brood of venturesome chicks
her aggressive antagonism. many a
billet doux was slyly pressed into the
soft m waiting palm of the passing
beauties. The growing a~ntipathy OF the
matron for the Yankees was daily re-
marked, and no opportunity was sighted
by 1.-The bows" for n%ourishing the venom
as 1t sparkled in her eyes or flew off like
sparks from her surcharged tongue
Whenever occasion required me to blow
the bugle cafs of the camp / always
turned the bell of the noisy little instru'
ment toward the castle and its fair beau
ties in distress. and, with my neck
stretched to its limit, / would splinter
the air with a chorus of rasping, reso-
: fnant vibrations that raised the hair or
the tethered mules and brought a Chau.
tauqua salute from the windows of the
dormitory. One day while indulging my
muse in a particularly scientific buglt
oratorio the. matron stepped out from
behind a fig tree. and, after drawing hel
skirts about her in a dramatic fashion
: she blighted my young life with hel
WltlCIlllS SCOln III lnt ItUldIh. "
Yankee music hath no charms for South
/, ern ladies'" If / could have found {
porous plaster 1 should have worn 1
> through the balance of my service in tn,
hope of drawing out that sting, but Their,
; was none in camp, and ! began to vast,
away. This ended my long and joyous
season of bugle contests with the mock
r ing birds that swung and sung in tbs
branches of the palmettoes of Thibadeau
w. . =
There is a circumstance blazoned ii
the pages Of an accredited work known
as The History of the Indiana Soldier
that always makes me laugh when
read it, not publicly or uproariously. blu
with a ubdued and sheeDish shynes
and a sort Of a dad-burn-his-extrava
observation-disclosures feeling that
can't help. IT is in effect that two com
panies of the. Eleventh Indiana left Pa
ducah, KY. for an expedition UP tn
Tennessee river. with Murray. the coun
: ty seat of Galloway county. as an OBJ
jective point. We carried two pieces o
artillery. and were otherwise ampl.
equipped for emergencies. The marcel