Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1896-10-22

the matter?' / asked. Hc wouldn't
say for while, but at last it came
out. You'd told him he'd never make
a soldier"
''And he never will" grunted tho
Captain, interrupting.
"But watt" said the Lieutenant,
continuing. "What you said broke
him all up, he told me, for he really
wanted to be a brave man, and to
fight for his country. That's what
his mother had allowed him to come
out for. 1T amt that I'm afraid
he said, it's because if / was gone
mother'd have no one left'-Ahl
what's that?"
fhe hfeutenant's abrupt breaking
off was due to the sound of firing,
which began suddenly. He returned
to the embrasure.
They've spied our mani" exclaimed
the Sergeant. |Ihat's what they're
blazin' away at"
Whats he dolng?" asked the Cap
tain.
"He's reached the body, an he's on
his knees this side the horse, loosenin'
the dispatch from the dead fellows
hand. Now he's got it, an now he's
skinnin' back on all fours!, The dis
patch is in his mouth"
'"Their bullets are knocking up the
dust around him." said the Lieu
tenant. "They have sense enough to
aim low. 1t looks like Private
COnnor."
Cant be him." blurted the Cap
tain. "Private Connor's over yonder.
He just went on guard"
'"Whew! Listen to the tlringl"
said the Lieutenant.
"They're bangin' at him with every
musket they've got behind their old
mud-pile," added the Sergeant.
sour mans all right now," said
the Lieutenant. "He's up and rum
ming"
But the Sergeant shouted: mo,
by gum Down he goes?"
The four volunteers sailed forth at
the Captains command and brought
him in. They tore the dispatch from
between his teeth, and the Captain
hastily read it in the light of torch
that one brought. The Lieutenant
knelt down to examine the man who
had carried in the dispatch from the
orderly's body. He had died without
a groan, pierced by mlnie ball to
the heart.
''Shot in the back" said the Ser.
geant; shut he got his discharge hon
Orably, nevertheless.
Hello! Here's another bit of paper
fallen from his pocket" cried the
Lieutenant, rising. 'Perhaps he
found two dispatches on, the messen-
gers body"
The Captain, having perused the
Coloners order, took the paper handed
him by the Lieutenant. Something
impelled him, when he had glanced
at it, to read it aloud; and, having
begun to do SO, he was moved to con.
tinue to the end of the page:
"P. S.-Above all, my boy, never.
shrink from dangerous duty on any
account, even mine. Show yourselfa
hero, as your father was, and his
father and mine. Remember that
night and day I pray for you, my
darling. Your loving mother"
The Captain looked up from the
sheet, and said; ~ reckon this amt
a dispatch. It's a letter. Who is tho
man, Lieutenant"
The Captain, the Lieutenant and
the Sergeant grouped around the dead
mans head, and Corporal lowered a
Pickering torch so that it lighted up
the face. The Lieutenant exclaimed:
"It's Billy"
The Captain looked long and silently
at the boyish features, and then said
quietly;
"He told you the truth the other.
day, Lieutenant. 1t was his mother
he thought of. This letter came since
then. Show yourself hero, it says;
and he obeyed orders. Have him
buried with every honor"
The Captain walked away, to write
to the boys mother.
And the Sergeant, a kinless man,
who had been musing, with his arms
folded, now remarked to the Lieuten.
ant:
ave parnt one thing tonight that
always puzzled me--whymanya brave
man so often gets took for coward"
The Lieutenatnt, young man,
thought of his own people at home;
and, without knowing exactly why,
stopped and brushed the dust from
the forehead of the boy.
They buried him in the flag.