Evening star., 1897-01-23

D
the Washington companies 10 march to
! that city. and the young husband was
forced to leave the young bride. He CAV,
her every assurance that ne would keen
hcr posted as to his movements. ana he
would write to her once a week II not
oitener: that il would he but a short time
when he would come or send for her. and
| that II was impractical for her to accom-
parry rim, for there was no telling what
| further orders they nigh; receive and
perhaps they would Lee ordered else
where, on arrival IN Washington. She re-
posed implicit confidence in his promises
I ana hopefully accepted her position of a
| soldiers Wife
| Days passed into weeks. and weeks TO
| months. and there was no more regular
| applicant FOR mail at the Annapolis post
| ONCE than the young Wife but as far as
| t,dihSs from the husband We're concerned.
she received none. The gossps however
were or the opinion that she would never
see RIM again, and having deserted girl
in washington. he had deserted her. Even
the mother and sister finally came to TN.
eoicIpslon mat these reports were true.
leeilng assured that If killed, wounded or
MADE a prisoner, some of his comrades
would have informed them bat if th,. ru-
nors were true they might not feel called
upon 10 send her the information.
Doubts and Delay.
| The soldier had in the meantime gone
| INTO camp. in this city, on what was known
as camp Hill. subsequently the site OF
y
| dlately he called on his old flame ul.c !.
| street girD and made a full confession as
10 ms falthiessness to her and asked for
| the return OF the ring. ASSURING. hor that ne
| was married ana to prove it showed her a
| letter he had written TO his Darling
| VIE. This proof she would not accent
ana insisted that he was only fooling her
he complied with the promise To his wife
10 write TO her weekly. If not oftener but
| he received no answers ard ne was IT I,
| loss TO account for the non-reccp;io of
news frcm her. He knew that AnDapolis
had not been captured 10y the Rritisb ana
| so anxious did he become that he was
tempted to visit the old city. bur as ther,.
We're daily reports that the enemy was
/ making important moves. and 1t was like
| ~ thdt MS company would be called on In
take active service he wouli not risk even
| leave of absence, for fear .hat his action
might be misunderstood. and ne remained
expired.
| This occurred in a. few months. and on
| the very day he was relieved of service he
hired a team and soon caused his young
| wife much happiness by appearing at her
mothers home. 1t a joyful meeting
/ His wife learned that he mad written regu-
| iariy TO her. letters that she called for but
failed to receive. Forthwith he made his
way to the post office. and was told that
the letters had not reached the Office He
insisted that they must be there and de-
manded that search be made. which re-
| suited in finding the series an an out-of-the-
way place. 1t was claimed that they Were.
accidentally put there. but the parties in
terested were of the opinion that the
failure to deliver them was part of a
scheme to make the newly made wife be-
lieve that she had been deserted. The fol-
| lowing day the team was headed for Wash
mgton, and the mother insisted on giving,
the customary present of that day--a
| feather bed and coyering-and some other
| Useful articles which were tied to the back
of the team.
In the dusk OF evening they arrived in
| a n he of
! Mr.. Smith, where he had previously lived
The house happened to be full at the TIM.
| ana they were Obliged to look elsewhere.
being directed to a boarding house on T.,
| near 10th street. This was near the home
| of his old sweetheart, who happened 10 be
| in the house making call the time of
the arrival of the bride and groom When
| the groom introduced his wife TO his first
| sweetheart she gave her a cordial greeting
and was satisfied for the first time that he,
| had been telling her the truth. Katie and
| Mary became good friends. and her rec
reant lover some months after strengthen
| ed their friendship by doing a kind aci for
| Katie. A young man had been keeping
company with her some little time, but
| Miss Katie until she had met her rival
| face to face, had never given up the sol
| dier lover, and therefore had given this
| suitor, then a prosperous young merchant.
| but little encouragement. Indeed. she had.
/ up to this time, looked upon him only as
one of the many strings to her bow" and
| being quite belle she had number. With
| the advent of the handsome little An
| napolis wife in the neighborhood, and the
J establishment of modest little home for
her on the south side Of + street between
llth and 18th streets, there were oppor-
tunities for numerous social meetings and
| in a few weeks Katie was engaged to the
young merchant.
Alls Well.
Drafting for the service was resorted to,
! and the citizens were being enrolled to
| take their chances of being drawn for the
service oh, how both of the young people
| hoped that the name of the young
| would not be placed in the wheel. but the
| enrolling officers were totally oblivious to
f! Cupids claims and the political bias of
| those from whom the ranks should he
| filled, and Katie's sweet William was not
| only enrolled, but drawn as conscript.
| This event cast deep gloom over the T.
| street home. and Katie seemed dis
| tressed that her family was fearful that
| she would be thrown into spell of sick
ness. and William could not bear the idea
| of the war interfering with his matri-
monial prospects, and of bee Dning a target
| for British bullets, in what he thought was
an unjust war. Then il was that her faith
| less bricklayer lover came forward TO help
them out of their difficulty. Calling at the
+ street home, he said to the girl. The
Har has lost you one husband but will not
| cost you another il ! can prevent it," and
after ascertaining that they had COM
menced preparations for the wedding said
TO her, complete your preparati ons, Tor L
will take Williams place" This offer was
| joyfully accepted, and the only promise he
asked was that they would that his
little wife should not suffer during his alb
sence. Among the troops called out for
the defense of the capital was the company
to which the bricklayer soldier belonged
The advance of the British caused 4 cessa-
tion of bridal preparations for a Few weeks
for unlike the parties to the Annapolis
wedding, William and Katie preferred that
there should be no semblance of danger
when the nuptial knot was tied.
In the exodus from the city when the
British burned the Capitol and other pub
lie buildings, the bricklayer's wife caught
the infection, and with her feather bed
the most valuable of her possessons-went
with a crowd of neighbors to the vicinity
of Washington Heights, and remained there
for few hours till the danger appeared TO
be over.
1t was not long after her return when
the husband appeared In time 20 witness
the marriage of William and Katie.
of the Annapolis marriage there Is living
one child Ia resident of Washington and
about fifty descendants down to the sixth
generation, and of the L street marriage
there are fully as many. J..k. GUM