, 1897-04-07
A SOLDIER Of TRUTH.
A VETERANS VALUABLE ADDITION
TO WAR LITERATURE.

How an Odd SiCraI Agreed Upon b,
Brothers. Who Were on Opposite Sides
Was Finally Uscd-A Mystery the o.,
Soldier Didn't Try to Explain.
AS the reporter was rapidly hurryine
past the door of a saloon he was met by
an old soldier, who suggestively tippeG
his hat.
IF you will tell me IL story" re,
marked the reporter, accepting the tip
TN pay for the potations. | have q
thirst for a story; you have a thirst TO,
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 in and escorted him to a ia.
BILE i'll a quiet corner, where presently
the potables were served.
II don't think l could have earned
what l am now so greatly and CRATE.
fully enjoying" said tho veteran, with
a glowing cheek, as he set down his
glass, after II long swallow, chad it not
been that today l met an old conrad,
from Kentucky, a state, you will re
hlCiilDcl, "Iitll HUI sOllltIS Ill DDtl
armies, and good soldiers, 1 may add.
This man, who is now 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 Confcd-
crate army. The young chaps were
brothers, and they were mighty fond of
aoch thor L,,t thoy- u-n,n f,,,l,r or t1,,;r
principles or patriotism or politics, or
whatever you may call it, so they agreed
to disagree, and each one 60 to the side
he thought was the right side.
1T was q sad parting, for they had
been closer together than most brothers,
and before they separated they fixed W
q kind of signal to identify themselves
by, so that if one was wounded and left
OH the field he could notify the other il
it happened they were on the opposite
sides in that particular fight. II was g
boyish kind of Il lottery chance of enc
in a million, but it suited them, and
that's all they cared for. The signal ar
rangement was to be a 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 us 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
in condition to do it. You can see how
childish and almost impossible it was,
but there was just that chance in it that
made it 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 OIL its wings the message of death"
The veteran was becoming poetic and
pathetic, and the reporter suggested a
retlling Of the glasses, and the sugges-
ton met with immediate and pleased
approval.
For the first two years, " continued
the veteran, Tho boys hadn't any occa-
sion to use their signals, for they had
gone through unscathed, and, besides,
they were serving i'll sections of the
country widely separated, but in 1863.
in the fall, they were with the armies
fighting through Tennessee, though they
had lost track of each other except in a
general way.
"Just what they knew of each others
whereabouts Idon't know, but one night
in November there was Il skirmish ONE
where in the neighborhood of Knoxville,
in which 800 Or Goo men on Il side We're
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 cornfield
about u quarter Of a mile wide separat-
ing the woods, and there had beer some
scrapping in this open ground, though
most of the fighting had been done from
cover, as these small skirmish line fights
generally are.
II was corporal of the guard that
an occasional shot. as if each side was
quitting reluctantly and by inches. l
am not positive, but it seems to me that
I heard the last two shots before still
ness settled over all. What the details
of the romance, or the tragedy, or what
ever you want to call it, are l don't
know. l know. though, hat during the
night we had re-enforcements, and when
we began 10 cautiously peep around, as
soon as the day began to break, we dis
covered that the enemy had By some
hook or crook taken alarm and departed
in the night, leaving their dead on the
field, and 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 u 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
II don't try to explain it, the veter-
an hastened to say apologetically. II
know it is hard to explain. It is ever
hard to believe, but what is a man to
do or to say when he secs such things
with his own eyes?"-New York Sun.
In the Juuyrp. Mt Paris there Ia an