The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-08-22
YHE STORY 5 SEQUEL.
Tell us the story, grandfather

4 FELL us the story, grand father"
The speaker was little maiden flax
en-haired and rosy checked, one Of a.
party which had gathered beneath the
shade of a sheltering maple, in the
heart of the great silent cemetery. It
was Decoration day that unique fes--@
'tival upon which the nation yearly
9honors its dead defenders, and every
member OF the group carried some
wreath or floral token, with which to
decorate the graves Of departed soldier
friends
4 & My dear, the story will Eeep," an.
sWered the person addressed as
"grandfather, a tall, grizzled veteran
with medals on his breast; let us first
of all place our flowers upon the diff
ferent graves. This is old soldiers, Sec
.tion of the cemetery, you know, and
every tomb covers the body Of some
brave fellow : 8 BY the way,
yonder is a grave without any tomb
stone mot a new grave, either. / won
der who he is that lies beneath?"
a He pointed toward where, near the
,contine Of the old soldiers section, an
humble mound Of earth marked the
last resting place Of some warrior less
fortunate than his fellows.
Come, children continued Col.
FLANDERS (such were his name and
rank J, 81 have a fancy to lay an offer
ing on that poor deserted grave.If any
Wreaths are left when we have dec
Grated the tombs Of my dear COM
rades, we must bring them over there.
I,,% +1,ot cor tro1 liant 1o6
lies beneath that nameless gravev
y But the story, grandfather! Tell us
the story as we go along" insisted the
haxen-locked little woman who had
first spoken.
Col. Flanders shrugged his shoul-
ders, still broad and straight as in
campaigning days. He knew that it
was useless to contend against this
tyrant in short dresses, and so, as they
wandered from monument to mOnu-
ment, leaving here a wreath and there
a fragrant nosegay, he told for. the
twentieth time the tale demanded. 1t
made a pretty picture, and q tender
one Withal-this of the old fighter, sur
rounded by his foWer-laden grand
children, recalling times of storm and
stress, while he lovingly decked the
g.
Many a passer-by stopped to look after
the little procession with smiles bright
or Wistful, and one spectator especially
stared so hard that he drew the col.
oneis kindly eyes in his direction.
This was a. lad of twelve or therea-
bouts, pale and pinched of face, with
great dark eyes and clothing that was
even ragged.
Poor little 8chapy' commented the
kindly veteran. '.See how enviously
he eyes our flowers, Perhaps he has
got some relative buried here, too. :
must ask him.
But the boy, as though divining his
purpose, had turned, and was already
Fastening down the gravel walk. Col
Flanders sighed and continued his
story.
ssIt was at the seige Of Nieksburg," !"
lie said, ':and the fighting was fast and
furious. think never, before or
since, saw war in all it's terror. or in
all it's glory ,as at that seige. =.
We had captured Confederate fort
ard held it: from 10 o'clock in the
morning until 4 o'clock in the after
Eoon, with shot ald shell rattling
about us from a dozen different ,direc-.
tions At A. O'Clock the Confederates
came down upon us in force. Our men,
fought like the stanch hearts they
were, but we could do naught against
numbers, and were finally, after u ue;s-
per,te struggle, driven out of cur posi-
tion and back to the Federal lines 1t
was sly when we Tallicd-with half
Of our men dead OF missing that a
discovery was made dire beyond tell
ing to the soldiers ear Our colors-----
the tattered flag which had waved all
day over the fort-Were in the hands
Of the enemy. You have 10 idea, my
denrs, of the disgrace brought By the
loss Of his regimental colors upon the
soldier Some Of our men, when they
heard the news, actually sat down and
Wept like babies; others went almost
mad and wanted to storm the fort then
and there. Bu. wiser counsels pre-
vailed, end finally man volunteered
to slip back into the fort, under cover
of the darkness, and, if possible, Te-
cover the flag
s.'That man was you, grandfather,
wasn't it z" asked little faxen-hair.
The colonel nodded his head gravely-
..Yes. twas L. he said. ssThere were
many volunteers, but / was chosen for
the attempt, AT nightfall accordingly
Il slipped past our sentries, and, by
,crouching behind hounds and even
creeping among dead bodies on the
Battlefield, I succeeded in passing the
en- envy S pickets and reaching the ditch.
below the eSearpment of the fort. Here
/ lay for some nlomenrs listening to
the steady tramp Of a sentinel on the
escarpment above Then, knowing
that quickness of action was every
thing, Il clamored up the bank, hand
over hand, and rolled into the fort.
Fort tunately / fell upon a pile of sack
ing, SO that my fall did not disturb the
sentry, ii hose gray y-coated back / saw
in the moonlight *at some distance
e e .s 81 In that quick look around I
saw something else as well. Our dear
flag had not even been torn from the,
staff to which it was nailed, but still
hung there lawaiting orders from head
quarters, no doubt with the Confe Ter
ate colors Haunting above it. =, IN = =
I IT took me just a minute to dart across
the enclosure and wrench both flags
our own and orr enemy from the.
pole. Then / sprang behind a broken
gun carriage, Just as the sentry turned
and begun his return beat. Nj.
~ can tell you, my dears, that your
tx IN R~l 1. u. FAoL 4