Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1899-09-13
AIS We'll
: That
EpdS Well"
A Story of Love and War.
V.-'v'....V'....'V'....'V....V....-v..

ern soldiers and myself
The hot. dusty summer had dragyed
its slow, pestilent length. until. surfeit
ed with the carnage. it stood blood red.
feverish, giving its victims opportunity
10 do little quiet writhing-to let
conscience get in its work and gnaw
awhile. We had been penued in like so
many animals since early May. if vou
measure the period 10y the deliberate
calendar-fOr an age. if / may be per-
mitted 70 base a calculation on ny per-
sonal experiences. We. at least /. had
been growing thinner. raggeder. hun
grier, every week. every day. hour and
minute. This slump into the depths Of
physical helplessness and sartorial dis
reputableness by no means surprised
me. A man cannot wear one suit Of
clothes two years. eat in il, sleep in il.
wade rivers in il and fight in il and
show MP fit TO have "a tintyne made of
/ himself. II would have wrenched my
faculties To have fixed upon the date
/ when a tailor had last run his tame
around me and noted the points of his
survey by French challsngs. and when
/ started ont To slay my quota of Yam
KEGS the suit / wore was discarded for
one much inferior in quality. although
nj the time II represented to me some
thing infinitely beyond computation in
dollars or comparison in texture. !
was. however. "a little nonplussed over
my appetite True, l could not have
stated on solemn oath or affirmation
/ when my legs had been stretched under
/ bountifully laden mahogany But why
] L..
4 spared me was gustrononlic puzzle
For month my eyes had met such
/ sights as men in the Clammy throcs of
death. men mangled by shells. men with
bleeding stumps of legs and arms and
/ carcasses of animals rotting in the sun
/ The air was foulDess itself BY day the
burning sun swung its scorching torch
over this cesspool. creating odors inde-
scribahle. When night fell, the slime
and ooZe from the ponds blown over the
/ city received poisonous aids III the sui
/ phurous spit Of the screeching shells
from POrter's besieging fleet Besides
we lived in caves or holes III the ground
| We had 10. The Iain of lead was terri
/ BILE And the ventilation Of our aIcGes
was not mp 10 modern sanitary require
] AA'itAN- sAAu Au4At NtA Nb4Al NAl tll4N liO4AN
/ Spite of all this. | had an adult appe-
/ tite l have never been So hungry since
nor WIS l ever 50 hungry before.
He was very discerning and phil
| osophic manor. was it "a woman :-
who said that clouds have silver lining
Our cloud was even finer than the phi
| losOpher's Ii was silver mounted top
/ ped off with ornaments of the political
metal of such massiveness as to defy the
corroding tooth. y courier passed
through the camp heralding the news
/ that "Old Penn had grown weary
/ whether of commanding 30. 600 skele-
/ tons with ravonous appetites. or of
! shrieking shells. or Of living under
ground. or of all combined was not
vouchsafed, but he had grown weary,
and we were notified to prepare TO sur
render-rags. aPpetites and all-the
following day. ] cannot say what emo
tions stirred me when l heard this an
nouncement. My am hition had suffered
collapse. The dream of my youth
vanished like nickel ON hot day
when exposed TO the y rays of a large,
cool schooner of beer. There was some
consolation, however. The light of my
life had not been entirely eNtinguished.
From the wreck and ruin. the chaos OF
this disaster, | had saved my appetite.
If | could but work that off on some
Yankee and sit down and see him wres-
tie with IT. the spectacle would IN part
compensate me for the overwhelming
humiliation under which | labOred.
The next morning i was mp betimes.
So also were the other Z 500 skeletons.
There was an air of unusual animation
in camp. We seemed TO be impressed
with the fact that we were about To in
augurate an epoch-twO or three epochs
perhaps. We were 10 let the world into
the secret that we had reconsdered Our
former resolve to wade chin deep IN
Yankee gore. We were 10 give it out
fiat that it was Al physical impossihility
for one southern American To annihilate
seven northern Americans. We were to
brighten up the historical tablets and
give the glorious Fourth a nineteeth
century significance sort of renewed
vim and vigOr. Naturally we didn t
think we were engaged in all this gor-
geous regeneration business at the time,
but that's what il amounted to in the
long run. Americans are Americans
whether they breathe the air of snowy
Wisconsin or balmy Florida. We can
see it now We couldn't then.
When the hour for surrender arrived,
we were lined up and inventoried. rags
and appetites. in accordance with the
rules and regulations i'll such cases
made and provided, and formally trans
ferred to the care and custody of the
United States Rovernment-in this in
stance Government with a very large
and formidable q. AS company of
Yankees swung down the line TO add
due impressiveness to the solemnities
my attention was arrested by the bear
ing of the officer in command. 1t wa,
not his dress that caught me. for. truth
to say, that showed the effects of cam
paigning. and. while pot SO tattered as
my own, was decidedly rusty But the
walk the swing of the arms the car