Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-27
A ROMANCE OF THE WAR.

Washington Star: Il don't want any
more of your war romances in mine, with
the hero and the pretty girl and all that
sort of rot said a fine-looking young
lieutenant Of volunteers to a party of
friends at an uptown hotel.
Asked to explain, he did SO, as fol-
lows:
Il was one of those lucky fellows down
at Camp Thomas who drew a prize in a
box of good things sent to us from a
town in Ohio, about three hundred miles
from my home and on the way to it. My
prize package consisted of a very nicely
Worded note to the effect that the writer
was 70 years of age and wanted a soldier
beau, and that the recipient Of the pie
winch carried the note pinned on top of
1t, the whole thing tied up in many wrap
pers, would please think of the maker
and Sender as he ate it, and answer her
little missive if he didn't have a wife or
sweetheart at home. 1t was such a
pleasant, innocent kind of a verdant
maiden note that l answered it, seeing
that hadn't any wife and was having a
scrap with my best girl, which made me
all the reader to seek solace elsewhere.
Well, we got out of Thomas and down to
Tampa, and ] got over to Cuba on a Spe-
cial call, and all the time I kept up a kind
of a hop-step- and-jump correspondence
with my prize package.
After the battle, mother, I came back,
and, after batting around a while in and
out of the hospital, I got a chance to go
home, and on the way I concluded to stop
to see the unknown. She hadn't told me
much about her family, but said she was
living at a hotel in the town, which I
found on arrival at the place was the
best there. l didn't know anybody, and
| didn't know the girl. and I had sense
enough to go a little slow, but when I
p InanhaI thu hOfc1 o,l cyy1l {L0 I,rlr &c
Miss - lived there, and he said she did,
| thought I wasn't altogether fooled, any
how. He looked at me in a queer kind
of fashion and said that Miss - lived
with Mrs. Blank, who occupied the third
floor suite, and she could tell me about
her.
IT supposed she was a niece of the lady
or something like that, and as soon as I
had slicked up a bit l sent up my card.
Mrs. Blank came down to the parlor to
see me. When she did see me she looked
at me funnier than the clerk did.
II beg your PARDON she said awk-
wardly; did you want to see Miss
Kitty p
Yes 1 told her. Isn't she here?'
"No; she left yesterday
Indeed" said I, and hesitated. for
Miss - had not told me anything about
going away and should have known 7
was coming, for 1 had written that I
would be there.
eyes, you see,' she went on. rather
hurriedly, and as If I might think she
intended to reflect upon the young lady
in some "a Kitty was a very nice girl,
and the children were very fond of her,
but somehow I never could get along
with colored help, and Kitty was so
bright and smart and was so fond OF
books that she was a little neglectful, 7
am afraid, and ! had to let her go. I
shall be very glad to recommend her if
you want to know anything about her
character
Il didn't need to ask any more ques-
lions after that, and I didn't. But to let
myself down gracefully 7 took a letter
of recommend from the lady, and then
took the next train out Of town. 1t was
not going my way, but. I took it just the
same and doubled back. That was my
little war romance. and now when I read
stories and hear tales about heroes and
lovely damsels and those, I think about
Prize Package Kitty and never say a
word"