The times., 1897-07-18
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"A LITTLE RED SHOE x
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amt of much account, and he might as
well die tomorrow as later on
And the other was whispering to himself
| at the same moment:
Il haven't done anything to hurt the
Iebcis, and there is no reason why they
should kill me off. Let EN- Kill sam and
spare me-
by and by the camp fires die out; the
tens OF thousands OF voices are hushed.
aad The tired men spread their blankets
| and sleep. Before he closed his eyes big
John stark took that parcel from his KNAPP
sack and thrust it into the bosom OF MS
shirt. The knapsack might be lost on che
! morrow, but he must preserve that sacred
rehc AS his dead rose up before him
and MS heart ached again he Ionged 20 UeII
ms story TO someone He wanted words OF
| sympathy ana confidence. He even shook
sleeper by the shoulder and tried TO rouse
him that he might tell him everything &, from
beginning TO end. he was the last of
Company ID to sleep, and as he slept tie
specteF OF death came up out Of the lark
ness andpasSed amongthe herecuInbentfora
and pointed its skeleton finger at those
who were TO die before the sun stood at
high noon again
has been hot skiTmishing all along the
lines, but no advance. or a sudden forty
guns in the center of the Union lines re-
gin to thunder, and for thirty minutes
they hurl destruction upon the lines Op-
posed Then the fire ceases so suddenly
that men are almost de afened by the ST.
ience' and two brigades are pushed out.
1t is a wedge to strike the Confederate
nd Mo
go forward. lines dressed, lips compressed
| and eyes on the fringe OF forest, and
10000 Uthermen watch them and whisper:
There they gol See how they Keep
STEP Brave old brfgadesi There are the
| sheils-tLere is the grape and canister
now they are under the musketry. God,
| but they'll be cut TO pieeesP'
Company ID" was there with its ra0t-
| rnent-big John Stark with mis- company.
As the regiment Went out his hand moved
| up to his breast to see if his treasure was
safe. As shot and shell tore through the
ranks and dying men were dashed against
him his hand went up again. Then the
\ brigade dashed forward with a cheer into
the Jaws Of he'll and for a moment he for
| got everything, except that he was there
to Kill and to be killed Over the furrows
| turne! up by the farmers pIow only three
| or four days before over the creek and
over the ridges,and then they were fighting
hand To hand with the men In gray The
| blue beat the gray b1ck-back-ba and
men cursed and men cheered- Then the
| gray beat the blue back-back- hack, and
| again men cheered and cursed Not so
/ many as before, however. There were
| hundreds less Of the liying-hmdreds more
\ OF the dead
! They can't DO It'll They are Beatenl
| They re being driven bacEi Cod but how
/ lew OF them have been sparedl''
| And as the fragments We're hurled back.
| pursued by solid shot, bursting shell, whis-
ting grape and murderous canister. gust
/ Of wind from the east suddenly whiried
q smoke cloud away. as one might Itrt a
I cloak There, in plain sight or 10000
men one OF the fleeing FedeTaIs halted.
IL was big John STARK He was hatIess and
maTmed, and there was blood on the
hands fumbling at his bosom
Come onl Come Oni'' shouted a thou
sand voices, but he looked down at his feet
and then hack to the jaws Of hell. He had
| lost his treasure As he stood for a no
Tnent in an undecided way il seemed to
| the watchers as If a thousand Confederate
n ,uskets were sending their bullets 20 strike
him down
Hes wounded, Hes dazed. He'll be
shot downi" shouted one TO another, and
men stood up and waved their caps and
| becEoned to him.
John Stark turned his back on the Fed
eTal lines AMI his face u the enemy and
moved away, head down and eyes search
ing everywhere a : he moved. A solfd shot
covered him with freshly-turned earth:
bursting shell Tained ragged fragments
all about kim, bullets whizzed past him
So close that he felt the heat OF them on his
! rugged cheeks But nothing STAYED him.
Searching to the light and left he went
back over his tTaI over the dead and
wounded-oyer the bIood-Spa ttered grass
and the dark-eyed fuFrows, and almost
within arms length OF the fee he sprang
forward and picked up his lest treasure
and carried it to his lips. II was stin
pressed there when a bullet found his
heart and he sank slowly down as .
great tree gives up its life.
What was he looking fOr-what did
if find?" asked the men in gray OF each
other.
Wait and III see" said one as he
ran out to tie dead man.
What is II? What is its''
well, III be dannedi Say, fellows, it's
a baby's little red shOe-nothine but thatiT
CHARLES P. LEWIS.