The evening tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 189?-190?, 1897-06-30

tutunpd INST Tor time We eneuohe n
woujd surely die before the surgson could
resch him. He was suffering Sem bad
wound In the side, Me bah having passsd
entirely through he body. u bscarDs NO.
essary 70 rspovo bic clothipg, end In do
Ing % we discovered II wss : woman.
| u rsquired but short time 1cHSbe sur
All that could bs done was 10 make The
sibls lof the patient.
That night we sndssvorcd 10 discover
vho abe .wel b1t. without succesa In Ap-
pearance she was woman Of middle life,
blond hair, cut short, and physically
strong. Her face was bronzed from cx-
posure and could have been easily mtstak-
On for that Of man, particularly when
half coYsred with tho regulation soldiers
cap. Wo examined her clothing In search
Of scrap Of paper or anything else on
which her name might be written, but
found nothing. II was the old story, with
which we had become familiar, Of hiding
hor identity. IL would bc one more added
to the list Of the unknown dead" for
whom IL set apart space In every military
cemetery In the land.
IL was my turn To be on watch that
night, and ~ she was sinking fast made
repeated efforts To extract from her some
intimation of who slp was, but at each
effort she shook her head but made no
reply.
had previously detected slight Scotch
accent In her speech, and, knowing the
strong feeling of nationality In the race, 1
drew my chair close to her eouoh and,
gently taking her hand, ! said: my good
woman, you must be aware that your life
is fast going out and that few hours at
best will SEQ the end. I have no personal
interest In knowing who you are or what
misfortune has brought you 10 30 untime-
ly q pass. Bnt there may be others who
have personal interest In knowing your
tate. End As ! perceive by your accent you
are Sootoh or OF Scotch pareDtage would
b glad TO do you q service, for ! am partly
| Of that pationality myself"
ceased speaking, but there was no ~
ply. She simply looked at me, nothing
more. Ny finger was on her pulse. II hut-
tered, bounded and h1ttercd again.
I waited. her eyes were still on my
face, but she said nothing. She was very
weak, end gave her tiine. II might have
been 20 minutes or bak an hour. 9Dssyl
| whats your manner" she said st length.
! told her and waited a. before. was
long In doubt whether she would pursue
the matter further, but at last came the
question, where are you FRONT"
Glad Of the opportunity, gave her the
name Of the state, county, nearest town
and neighboShood In which 1 was born.
For a short space thought the heart
ceased to beat The pulse was beyond my
sense of touch. But she revived slowly
and In an hours time was able to speak.
-. "a To-
very weak.
drew my chair and bent over her.
"Did you know family by the name Of
| Forbess" she asked.
EYES," answered. "There was q fam
| lily of that name In our neighborhood, and
the children were my schoolmates."
! There was another long pause. In her
weak condition II required time to collect
and shape ideas. There was nothing to do
but wait, for experience told me that II
I pressed for disclosure she would simply
say nothing.
In the interval / was revolving In my
mind who she could possibly be and what
| connection she had with the Forbes family.
called to mind each one Of the children,
but could see In the dying woman's face
| no resemblance To be SIRE, It was 30
| years since had seen any Of them, and
| they were at that age when years Of matu-
rity would bring the greatest changes. In
this interval of waiting she was lying com
pletely passive. She at length turned her
eyes full on my face, and her lips moved
as II to speak. I bent over her that I
might catch each whisper.
"Do you remember" she said, "their
daughter Ma: ys''
"Yes," ! answered, "but surely you are
not Mary Forbes?"
mo-" she said very family, II am only
Tow Headed Mary. They never treated me
right"
was paralyzed with astonishment
My thoughts went back to Mary's child
life sat motionless by the side of the
poor dying victim of neglect, IL not cruel
| ty. could see the "towhead' as saw 1t
in childhood's days. l saw her sad face,
spiritless and subdued, and could hear
The mothers voice in harsh, unsympathetic
tones, driving the unfortunate child about
like a slave.
| And this was the end. What interme-
date steps led up to it l know not, nor
did it matter. The clouds that enveloped
her young life had followed her to the
suns setting.
While 1 sat thus In reverie, she turned
her lace toward lne. Leu no one KNOW,
she whispered, "where am buried. die
| Tor him.
My finger was on her pulse. 1t flut-
tered, stopped, rose again, and again re-
ceded. Her eyes were still fixed on my
lace with an expression Of gratitude.
1t was already morning. The first rays
| Of the sun that dispelled the mists and
| clouds In tho eastern horizon penetrated
the little window of our improvised hospi-
tai and fell ON the face Of the dead.
She passed away without a struggle. 1
was In doubt for time whether she was
In fact dead, for her eyes seemed to be
still searching my face. They were sight
less orbs now, but perhaps their vision
bad been already transferred to q brighter
and happier land, where she will be
treated right"
never knew who the "hm" was she
referred to, nor did learn why she ahan-
loned her people and disowned her sex for
| the life of soldier.
My sympathies were all In her favor,
| 1T her be soldier or ANYTHING else for I