The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1897-01-21
THE VETERAN.


three hickory trees placed irregularly in
a meadow that was respondent in
springtime green Farther away the
old, dismal beltry of the village church
doomed over the pines. A horse medi-
Eating in the shade of one of the hick-
cries lazily swished his tail The warm
sunshine made an obiong of vivid yell
low on the floor of the grocery store.
Gould you see the whites of their
eyes?' said the man who was seated on
soap box
Nothing Of the kind = replied old
Henry warmly Just lot of fitting
figures. and let 90 where they peared
to be the thickest Bangi"
Mr. Fleming, said the grocer. His
deferential voice expressed somehow the
old mans exact social weight. Mr..
Fleming, you never was frightened
much in them battles, was your"
The veteran looked down and grin
ned. Observing his manner the entire
group Uttered. well, | guess l was,
he answered finally, pretty well scared
sometimes. Why, in my first battle
though the sky was falling down.
thought the world was coming to an
end. You bet l was scared. =
Every one laughed. Perhaps it SEEM
ed strange and rather wonderful to them
that IA man should admit the thing, and
in the tone of their laughter there was
probably more admiration than if old
Fleming had declared that he had al
~.
that he had ranked rs an orderly ser
geant. and so their opinion of his hero
ism was fixed. None, to be sure, knew
how an orderly sergeant ranked, but
then it WAS understood TO be somewhere
just shy of a major generals stars. Sc
when old Henry admitted that he had
been frightened there was Il laugh.
''The trouble was, - said the old
man, Il though they We're all shooting
at me. Yes sir, | thought every man
in the other army was aiming at me in
particular, and only me. And it seemed
so darned unreasonable, you know.
wanted to explain to 'em what an al
mighty gerd fellow ! was, because |
thought then they might quit all trying
to hit me. But l couldn't explain, and
they kept on being unreasonable-bli lin
-blam-bang! 80 | run.
Two little tiiapgles of wrinkles APP
peared at the corners Of bis eyes. Evi-
IDENTIFY he appreciated some comedy i'll
this recital Down near his feet, how
ever, little Jim, his grandson, was Wis
IDLY Terror stricken His hands were
claspcd nervously, and his eyes were
wide With establishment at TINS terrible
scaudal-his most magnificent GRANDPA
ther telling such a thing
That was at Charlottesville. OF
course afierward | got kind Of used tc
it, A man does. Lots of men, though,
seem 10 feel all right from the start.
did as soon as got on to it, as they
say now, but at first was pretty flus-
tered. Nov, there was young Jim Conk-
lin, old 81 Conklin's son--that used tC
keer the tannery you none of you recol-
lect ! im--he went into II from the start
just az If be WAS born to 1t. But with
ne ii was different. l had to get used
to It. u
When little Jim walked with his
grandfather. he was in the habit of
skipping along on the stone pavement
in front Of the three stores and the hotel
of the town and betting that he could
avoid the crscks. But upon this day he
walked sottrly. with his hand gripping
TWO Ct his grandfather fingers. Some
times lie kicked HlstrRctedly at dande.
lions that curved over the walk. Any
one could see that he WAS much trou.
bled
''There' = SickIes colt over in the
medder Jimmie, SAID the old man,
Don't you wish you owned one like
him.
"Umi' said the boy, with strange
lack Of interest. lie continued his re,
Elections. Then finally he ventured,
Grandpa-now-was that true what
you was telling those mem"
WHAT asked the grandfather
"What was telling Them"
ooh, about your running.
why, yes, that was true enough,
Jimmie. 1t was my first fight, and
there was an awful lot of noise. you
know. y
Jimmie seemed dazed that this idol,
of its own will. should so totter. His
stout, boyish idealism was injured.
Presently the grandfather said
"Sickles' colt is going for drink.
Don't you wish you owned Sickles' colt
Jimmie
The boy merely answered, "He ain
as nice as our'n. He lapsed then tC
another moody silence.
One of the hired men, Swede, de.
sired to drive to the county seat for pur.
poses Of his own. The old man loaned a
horse and an unwashed buggy. 1t ap-
peared later that one of The purposes Of
the Swede was to get drunk
After quelling some boisterous frolic
of the farm hands and boys in the garnet
the old man had that night gone peace
fully to sleep, when be Was aroused by
clamoring at the kitchen door. He grab
bed his trousers, and they waved out be-
hind as he dashed forward He could
hear the voice OF the SWede. screaming
and blubbering. He pushed the wooden
button, and as the door flew open the
Swede, maniac, stumbled inward,
chatterinR, weeping, still screaming
DE barn fire! Fire, fire. De barn fire
Fire, fire, fire.
There was swift and Understandable
change III the old man. His face ceased
instantly to be II face it became mask,