The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1897-06-05


AS the reporter was rapidly hurrying
past the door of a saloon he was met by
an old soldier, who suggestively tipped
his hat.
IF you will tell NE a story" re-
marked the reporter, accepting the tip,
I'll pay for the potations. I have a
thirst for a story; you have a thirst for
a drink. Let us exchange"
The veteran was quick to respond, as
the parched soil responds to the grateful
rain. and, opening the door, he bowed
the reporter i'll and escorted him to IA ia
Bile III a quiet corner, where presently
the Otables We're served.
Il don't think / could nave earned
what l am now sc greatly and CRATE
fully enjoying, said the veteran. with
a glowing cheek, as he set down his
glass, after a long swallow, had it not
been that today l met an old comrade
from Kentucky, a state, you will re-
member, which had soldiers in both
armies, and good soldiers, l may add.
This man, who is nov a merchant and
comes to New York to buy goods every
year, was in the Federal army, and he
had a nephew in the same regiment
with himself and another in the Confed-
crate army. The young chaps were
brothers, and they were mighty fond of
each other, but they We're fonder of their
principles or patriotism or politics, or
whatever you may call it, so they agreed
to disagree, and each one go to the side
he thought was the right side.
1T was a sad parting, for they had
been closer together than most brothers,
and before they separated they fixed up
a kind Of signal to identify themselves
by, so that if II was wounded and left
on the field he could notify the other if
1t happened they were on the opposite
sides i'll nat particular fight. 1t was a
bOyish kind of a lottery chance Of one
IL a million, but it suited them, and
that's all they cared for. The signal ar
rangement was to be Il light chain with
a note fastened to it, and the whole
thing was to be fastened to the bullet
and dropped into the old muskets they
had in those days. This was to be fired
at random up into the air to fall among
the soldiers Of the opposite side to be
picked up rs it might and taken to the
man whose address was in the note,
along with other instructions to be fol-
lowed out by the brother who might be
Ill condition to do it. You can see how
childish and almost impossible it was,
but there was just that chance in it that
made 1t attractive to the boys, and they
told each other goodby and went their
ways, the one to the north, the other to
the south, each bearing with him his
chain and note of identification attached
to the bit of lead that some day might
bear on its wings the message of death"
The veteran was becoming poetic and
pathetic, and the reporter suggested a
reilling Of the glasses, and the sugges.
ton met with immediate and pleased
approval.
For the first two years. continued
the veteran, the Toys hadn'tany coca !
sion to use their Signals, for they had
gone through un>cathcd, and, besides,
they We're serving i'll sections Of the /,
country widely separated, but in 1853, |
Ill the fall. they were with the armies
fighting through Tennessee, though they |
had lost track of each other Except in q
general way.
Just what they knew Of each others
whereabouts Idon't know, but one night
in November there was Il skirmish some |
where in the ~neighborhood of Knoxville, |
i'll which 800 or 600 men on a side were
engaged, without result, and both sides
had settled down for the night to wait
and fight it out by daylight. There
were a lot Of wounded men, and dead
ones, too, for that matter, scattered
through the woods, where most of the
fighting had been. There was a cDrnfield
about a quarter Of a mile wide separat-
ing the woods, and there had been some
s~crapping in this open ground, though
most Of the fighting had been done from |
cover, as these small skirmish line fights
generally are.
Il was corporal of the guard that
night, and by 6 o'clock there was only |
an occasional shot, as if each side was
quitting rrluctautly and by inches. |
am not positive. but it seems to me that
! heard the last two shots before still
.u',s settled over all. What the details
q the romano, or the tragedy, or what
ever you want to call it, are l don't
know. l know, though, that during the
night we had re-enforccments, and when
we began TO cautiously peep around, rs
soon As the day began to break, we dis
covered that the enemy had by some
hook or crock taken alarm and derarted
IN the night, leaving their dead Gu the
field, aud among them, when we sent
out our burying party, we found one of
those boys with a bullet through his
lung and another, bearing a chain and a
note, buried in his brain. On our side
we found the other nephew with both
legs broken by "a ball and a bullet
through his heart, with a chain and
note attached to it"
The reporter threw up his hands in
amazement, not to say doubt.
Il don't try to explain it, the veter-
an fastened to say apologetically. Il
know it is hard to explain. 1t is even
hard to believe, but what is a man to
do or to say when he sees such things