Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1899-10-10
the generalIn-ch11cf. i embraced, sue.

the genefAlih-chlcf. ernbfaced, sue
cessively, the general, Margaret, PUNK,
and Georgia. whose enthusiasm, great
as it was. did not prevent her giving me
a box on the ear, which she afterwards
admitted was not for the caress, but be-
cause of it's publicity.
Our expressions of JOY were inter-
rupted by the genera-in-ch taking
Heath aside and speaking with him in a
tone which, though too low to be heard
by the Others, brought 4 light into his
eye that l had not seen there for
months. Then the commander of the
armies of the west offered Margaret es-
pecial thanks for the great service she
had rendered and hurried away. What
he was going to do did not know then,
bnt the next day the thunder of his
guns told me that he was taking advan-
tage Of the absence of Longstreet's
corps from the army of the Tennessee,
fighting and winning the battle of Mis-
sionary Ridge-a battle which marked
the beginning of the end of the confed-
eracy.
AS n love story this narrative must
necessarily be fragment. What had
passed between Gen. then Capt.)
Heath and Margaret Beach before he
met her between Chattanooga and Nor
gantown Cross Roads | never learned,
for both were naturally reticent, and
especially so with regard to the most
sacred of all conditions. After the bat
tie that followed in the wake of the
information we had gained and the gen.
erals vindication, was suddenly sum-
moned one morning to attend him. He
rode straight to the plantation, where
he found Margaret, and am quite
sure that it was on this occasion that a
treatyof peace was formally drawn be-
tween the two and their future rela-
tions officially settled. AS to their
courtship, except that courtship which
was going on under my eyes while the
general held Margaret as a prisoner,
know nothing, but can vouch for the
fact of their wedding, for witnessed
1t, and they were afterward loving
couple, for have often visited them.
AS to my affair with Georgia, an ac-
count of what followed our few brief
meetings described in the last pages
of this story would involve another
volume of confessions not more credit
able to me than the foregoing. made
very unsatisfactory lover, forgetting,
during an exciting campaign, to COM
municate with my inamorata for
months at time. But when the alb
sorbing events of that most eventful
period in the nations history were
ended, took as much interest in love
as I~had taken in war. But / made
slow progress as a husband. For years
could never hear the rattle of drum,
nor the bullet of some careless marks
man singing over my head, without
showing restlessness that troubled
my wife and unsettled me to no pur-
pose. But as the years went by grad
ually quieted down to the arts of peace,
and the time came when T conceived as
much horror of war as Ihad at one time
felt admiration. 3
The general was offered promotion
for his instrumentality in bringing
the news of Longstreet's move, but res
olutely declined it. On the Atlanta
campaign he did such effective service
as cavalry Tanker that he was again
offered, and accepted, the double star
A generation later, when the blue and
the gray stood shoulder to shoulde,
against the Spaniard, he became com
mander In the blended columns.
THE END.