The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1898-07-06
WHY HE ENLISTED.

the hancock volunteer proceeded toward
the headquarters of the colonel of the
regiment After the Salutations had
been exchanged before the tent of the
commanding officer the volunteer ad
dressed the colonel, saying, "Cap'n, il
you need any more of Hancock county
boys I'll get M for you -
II they re all as fine looking physical
specimens rs yourself" the colonel an
swered jovially. I'D like to have a
whole army of them. Our regiment viii
be filled up i'll day or So. but III let
you know i'll time -
After they had left the quarters of
the colonel and were stretched upon the
grass in the shade the newspaper man
took occasion to put his favoritc ques-
ton, "Why do you enlist" Sometimes
this question ELECTS an outburst of pa
triotic ardor which fills the air with
stars and stripes and eagles, sometimes
tmost frequently it calls forth hard
luck story, which paints i'll glowing
colors the virtues of tho victim, but on
this occasion the answer was merely,
well, | have nothin to lose " But, =
protested the newspaper man, there s
no telling how long you'll have to be
from home, and there no man that will
take the same interest in running your
you are farmer "
That's true. sir; that true, was
his deliberate response, but you see
things amt Just as they was. Before
Mary left | took interest III everything,
but now jes' turnt the farm over t.
couple of follows an thought |
nights we'll to come to tho front an
fight for my country I'm 30 years old,
an amt never done nothin but farm.
an Thought I'd take u little fghtn
III mine ies' at this stage
Here II forced smile played over hi,
rugged, cmewum features The CORE
spondent wished to follow tho cleN
just thrown out about the desertion Of
Mary, but didn / know Just how To pre-
eeed. well, | don I want to discourage
your patriotism, he said, but you r,
giving up the peaceful leisure of rura
life for the dangers and excitement of /.
campaign in which disease is as muei
| to be feared rs Spanish bullets.
Stranger, said the volunteer
that 3 jes' it. From the way you tail
| bout peaceful leisure / see you ain I
never lived in the country Farmin
good thing If "A man 5 got money or don :
mind workin. am don't. but tina
was jes' the whole trouble | b'l'ev,
now when / think of it that if had 1
had moro time to make her happy she'd
II been contented to stay, but ii seemed
| to mo We Was married at tho busiest
time of the year, an then afterward ii
looked like / had jes' as much to do at
all times. always had to look after
the milkin at daybreali, an then be-
sides the regular work there's enough
chores and the like TO keep II fellow
hustlin all the time Even on rainy
days there's harness to mend an such.
But, friend, " and here his face bright.
ened up until it was radiant with the
recollection, If you could have seen
that little wife Of mine in the dairy
you'd seen the prettiest sight you ever
saw. In a little speekled calico, skim
min the milk an washin the crooks,
singin the whole time, jes as happy as
lark. She looked like little pink
rosebud. Sometimes it seemed to me
she was more like II angel than won.
an. But | beg your pardon, sir, ;" he
concluded, refilling his pipe, you said
you wanted to meet all the Hancock
boys here, an guess I'd better go make
you 'quainted with 'em stead of tellin
you all my personal affairs, which ism
the right things to tell TO strangers :"
This sudden halt III the narrative an
noyed the journalist, who Ind inter
viewed woman suffragists, heard the
confessions Of criminals, synopsizcd the
prayers of ministers and even invaded
the sanctity of the home for the purpose
of publishing to the world the secrets of
private life. The story had somehow
placed him i'll that supersympathetic
condition from which tact takes flight;
but, summoning the little skill which
remained, he determined to make the
man lay bare his heart
NO" he said, "don't apologize for
anything you say TO me. I'm interested
III it all. When man is manly and pa
triotic, his life is always interesting to
me. We all have our sorrows and il S
relief to tell them occasionally Did
you say your wife is no longer with
your"
laundering as this speech may seem
to mind which seeks and finds hidden
motives, it was sufficient to satisfy the
simple son Of Hancock county, so he
continued:
Yes, sir, t'sover three months since
saw her. Understan, now, / ain II
blamin her at all. She was young an
pretty an full Of life, an SO I'd jes rath-
er to think Of it all as big mistake.
For little time after we was married
she seemed to be happy, but then no.
ticed that she didn't pear to take the
same interes' i'll things 1t was jes aft
er she had spent the day at Sulphur
Springs with lot of young folks. /
drove her over there to a picnic one
mornin an then come for her in the
evenin. There were dozen or more
girls there an several young men from
the cities, but there warn't none Of 'em
could touch her when it comes to looks.
She seemed to enjoy bein with 'em so
much that couldn t help kinder standn
round an lookin on for awhile, bat then
hurried en- back, for l had q lot oI
hoein to look after.
Well, sir was tho proudest man
in the world when I went back there
for her that night. Everybody crowded
round, even the old ladies' an told
me what pretty dancer Mary was.
All the young folks in the country was
there, but Mary was the populares'
OF EN- all. They wouldn't hear TO our
drivin back then, but made us both
come right in to supper didn't exact
ly calculate ON dom this, but Mary
looked like she wanted to, 80 / did
They tried to make me dance, but |
don't know how. 1t was the openin of
new summer hotel. you know. A