Evening star., 1897-04-17
THE OLD SOLDIER,
He Drops Into Renatniscence, n Little
Bft, Over n Battered Canteen.
From the New York Sun

He Drops Into Renatniscence, a Little
Bft, Over Battered Cantecn.
From the New York SUM-
Hanging on the wall in my room" said
the old soldier, ARE my last knapsack,
hs-versack and canteen. And with them
is an old canteen with the cloth covering
all faded out. and a little hole in one sid..
of 1t. where a piece of cloth about as big
as half your little finger has been gouged
out. Under this hole there is a little dent
in the side of the canteen, made by the
bullet that gouged out the little strip of
cloth. The old canteen is hanging with
the battered side out. Vain old mann May
be so. rn not ashamed of the old cam
teen; that's certain.
'On the day IL was dented 1 got the
sweetest drink out of 1t / ever had. We
had started in the morning with canteens
filled. 1t was hot day and IL was hot
and dusty marching. L had nipped along
at the water until it was pretty nearly
all gone. and just before we went into
the nght which was early in the after
noon. l had finished IL.
The fighting didn't end until dusk and
then We fell back While the fight was
going on 1 never thought Of being thirsty
but when 1t was over, and the tension
was on. and we had come back to the
earth again. i certainly was tremendously
dry, and when we had got started along
the road back L thought 1 had never been
so thirsty in my life. About two miles
back there was a little brook running
across the road. shallow there. and may
be four or five feet wide and not much
current. Cavalry and artillery and infan-
try had passed through this brook. and
the water was thick with mud ana gravel.
but ii was wateri and fast as the men
came up they unslung their cups and
scooped up a cupfui of 1t as they went
along. II was dark, and some Of the men
cidn't it until they had got right to it,
and they had to halt minute until they
bod l~.,sr - 49,
men had noticed the men ahead bending
down and knew what they were coming
to and had their cups ready. They would
just bend over when they came to IL and
scocp up cupful. without stopping, and
carry 1t along for twenty or thirty feet
to let 1t settle little before drinking.
We'll. L didn't SCOOP up any; most OF the
men did. but didn't. / thought 1 would
ing of the water as the men threw out.
what was left In their cups with the mud
and twigs and leaves i'm II. It made me
very thirsty again. and l reached around
for my canteen. I realized. though. be-
fore j lifted It, that there wasn't any
thing In 1t. and showed 1t back. But in
showing it back quickly. heard something
rattle in it. l pulled 1t around again. and
held II mp and shook It, and. by gosh.
there was water In it, Mighty little but
enough SO that you could hear it shat
thought that had emptied IT, hut hadn't
quite. had really left I'm IT about two
table spoonfuis of water.
II shifted the strap round On my shoul-
der. as tn bring the cauteen fully in
front OF me. a1d quito free. 70 that 1
could raise IL easily and freely. with moth
ing pulling on II when I drank And then
/ pulled the stopper. The water would be
warm and Fat. 1 knew. after stopping
around all day In a tin canteen covered
only with cloth. but / didn't care about
that. / was mighty glad To get Il, and
I raised the canteen to find that the little
water remaining was cool and bright and
coded I'm the csuteen. whose
covering was now wet with heavy dew"