News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1897-05-26
ONE OF THE HEROES.

Louis RAIDER was private in the Fifth
Michigan cavalry, and a good soldier he
was too. He was among the first to offer
his services to his country after the fall of
Sumter, and, though he had many friends
to bid him godspeed when he left his ma
tive home, not one in whose veins ran
kindred blood remained to weep over his
loss when he marched away. His brothers
and sisters had all died in infancy, and be-
fore he was grown to mans estate he saw
his father and mother laid side by side in
the family burying ground in the old fash
toned graveyard on the hill At the battle
of Trevilian Station he was taken prison
er, and before he was finally released he
had been confined in five different prison
pens and two jails.
While he was in Millen prison half a
dozen prisoners from Andersonville were
crowded into the already overfull quarters
occupied by the suffering inmates They
were in even more pitiable condition
than the Millen prisoners, and Louis, al
ways tender and kind, did all in his power
for their comfort. Especially did his heart
go out to one of the number, Allen Truaxe,
mere boy, from Ohio, who, besides being
i'll, was so homesick that his comrades said
he would either die or go mad if not soon
released.
One scorching August morning the Off
Ger of the day told off 90 names at the door
of the prison, names of that number of
fortunate prisoners who were to be ex-
changed Immediately Among this num-
Der, the very last name ON the list, was that
of Louis RAIDER. 1t was chance of life
10 20 20, +lo
standing all this Louis hesitated, thinking
of the poor homesick boy, Allen Truaxe,
doomed to days and months of weary wait
ing for his turn to come
"Jump into the ranks here quick if you
want trip north, " said the officer impa-
tiently "Comel What are you waiting
on?''
eff only one can go, take Allen" said
Louis. "He is sick, and then he is pining
for his home and mother Take him. /
have no friends to mourn for me if never
go home"
'You can do as you please about that"
said the officer, but warn you it will be
long time before you have such another
chance"
"I'll run the risk, " replied Louis. "At
any rate his pale face would haunt me
CNCh III uuG olJOJ lu6ub VI ne Is
half dead already. Yes, take him."
Allen objected feebly at the sacrifice
Louis proposed to make But he was too
glad to escape prison life to reject the offer
thus unselfishly made, and at once pre-
pared to go. The poor boy had neither
coat nor hat, but his generous stranger
friend came to his relief by pulling off his
own and putting them on him. Then as
1nI 1et h..
breathed the air of freedom, Louis hatless
and coatless, took hold of the handles of
his wheelbarrow and started for another
load of wood.
Could mortal mind conceive of a NOR,
ennobling act? 1t cost him seven months
of living death, and all for boy with
whom he was not even intimately ac-
quainted, one whom he had never met I'M
til pity drew them together in the prison.
Brave hearted Louis RAIDER never re-
GREETED the sacrifice he made on that hot
August day, and during the months that
he remained in the prison he endured his
sufferings in silence, and for his comrades
who still remained with him in bonds he
had always a word of cheer.
When at last through the tardy fortunes
of war he was exchanged, he returned to
his duty as a soldier, and though scarcely
able to carry a gun he refused the furlough
rendered him, a treat so eagerly accepted
by Others. But, regardless of his bravery,
his wonted strength did not return, and
at the close of the war he went back to his
native village broken down in health and
spirits, a mere wreck of what had once
been stalwart Louis RAIDER. Misfortunes
come not alone, and soon his little inner
stNt, al 30, IL, 10, IL. IS ,AI.,
slipped away, leaving him in his helpless
ness without the means of support. Alone
and without kindred, life looked very dark
and dreary indeed. Then it was that the
bread he had cast on the water came back
to him.
After the close of the war Allen Truaxe
had made diligent search for the man to
whose enselfshness he owed his life, but
finding no trace of him had concluded
that he had persisted in the southern pris.
on. Several years passed before, by mere
accident, he discovered that he was still
alive, but homeless, helpless and friend
less. He visited him at once and insisted
upon carrying him back to his own home,
where, with the aid of his mother and his
young wife, he nursed him back to fair
degree of health and strength. But he
WAS ODllSSu W 20 Ou CFuGCHcS lur 0hS re-
mainder of his life, and none of his new
found friends would consent to his going
out into the world to earn his bread alone.
Consequently Aliens home became his,
and during the years that he spent ON
earth the love and sympathy of broth
er were lavished on him, and when at last,
after years of patient endurance, he was
released from his prison house of pain the
young man wept as If the destroyer's hand
had been laid upon one of his own house.
hold. A score or more years have passed
since the day they laid him away among
the flowers in the Truaxe burying ground.
But to this day his tomb is cared for by
loving hands, and on each return of Deco
ration day it is garlanded with the most
rare and beautiful flowers that the country
home can rear
"He gave his life for me-" Allen often
exclaims, land whole lifetime's graft
tude can never repay the sacrifice"
A tall marble shaft marks the spot where
he sleeps, and besides his name and ago
bears this beautiful inscription; Greater
love hath no man than this-that a man
lay down his life for his friends. Chris
tian Work.