The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-03-03

fered. soinekew the Wink Of the bullets
c no ,iS9fe 81 ' !ss, me and simply
''That q Just what the boys said In
terrupted Ned. . You seemed to have Z
charmed life. That was what made it
appear 90 strange that you should drop
know what had become Of yon.''
We'll, night came and We lay In the
trenches, tired, some utterly unnerved
thirsty, half-2tArved and able to sleep
but few minutes ut time. / hope no
one else wasS haunted as I was during
that never-tosbe- forgotten night. The
fear Of cowaryiice, the feeling that it was
Overpowcring me, that dishonor, not
death, would be my fate, burned in my
waking md sleeping thoughts. Sudden
evitable that should disgrace myself l
would lose my identity, that would on
the morrow contrive to separate myself
from MY own company. get among
strangers and assume another NAME"
"As II you could be a coward!' muir
INJURED Alicesfondly, and her mother de-
clared mostsemphatically that the boy
must have been very Ill indeed and en-
''This relief brought sleep, and this
thought alone gave me strength to re-
new my self-c0ntlict when the second
days firing began. Now my memory be-
comes confused. know that l succeed
ed in creeping along in the trenches
away from the boys | knew, that then
threw away everything that could pos
sibly identify me, that thinking was
now John Smith felt a sudden shock,
found myself alone among the tall
grasses. Afterward was aroused by
voices speaking In a strange language
and l opened my eyes long enough to
see few Cuban soldiers. That is all
knew until weeks after, when I came to
myself i'll a hospital and was told that
l had had yellow fever and been wound
ed i'll the head and in the shoulder. But
| was John Smith and l had no rela-
tives.
1.-The whole burden of my thoughts
was that had run away from the firing
line and that had been a coward, but
fortunately no one seemed to know It.
My secret was my own. l had no
friends to be dlsgraced. Strange as it
may seem to you, Alice, had no recol-
lection whatever of you or your mother
or Ned or anybody. l gained very slow.
or GO utterly insane. for / cannot tell tell
you what L suffered with that word COW.
ard kissing In my ears all the time, min.
gled with the whirr of bullets, visions OF
the long grasses which proved our saliva.
ton: and the means of the dying.
The doctors saw that something was
decidedly wrong with me and got me
detailed to assist in the hospital. AS
busted myself caring for others the old
haunting words became occasional whis
pers, the horrors of the battlefield grad
ually faded and there came in Their
places curious questionings. / would
awaken in the morning with elusive
memories of faces, voices, names and
cities, but during the day these would
become wholly obliterated and poor John
Smith, tho had dishonored himself
would retire to his cot cunsoled by the
thought that no one knew It.
One day the surgeon called me to as
slst him IN CARING for new patient
down with, the fever. AS soon as
looked at him l trembled and pain
darted through my head. The same in
slant the SICK man looked me steadily in
the face for minute and then ex
claimed, Why, Jack Belmont, old fellow
how are you?' 1t was Leonard Vance
my chum at the law school. In flash
recognized him, and with the recognition
came such a swarm of others that my
brain reeled and l fell to the floor I'M
conscious.
10 make this long story short, Jack
Belmont came to himself entirely afte,
the surgeons by means of the X-ray had
discovered and removed the bit of lead
that had become imbedded in his head
thereby transforming him to that hope
less Individual, John Smith, a creature
with no past or future, only wretched
present. Leonard could give them nc
information regarding my friends, ex.
cept that had no parents living.
AS soon as l was able to leave the
hospital / started for home, and here ]
am, the happiest fellow in the world
You cannot imagine what relief it was
to know that all had suffered mentally
was a hallucina ton, that it had no foun
dation whatever in fact, though 1t had
been as rea! to me as my existence.
pity from the bottom of my soul any
man that carries burden of weakness
or guilt like that Of John Smiths
But John Smith has disappeared, and
Jack Belmont, as brave d fellow as ever
ate bareback, is here, clothed and In his
right mind,'" exclaimed Ned, graspine
his friends hand. If you are the hap.
piest fellow In the world know that
Alice is the hnppiest girl. Now, mother
you and will leave this happy couple
to enjoy their bliss alone for just i've
minutes, and then you, Jack Belmont
must go to bed, or, what Is as bad, that
scamp, John Smith, will be resurrected.'
Troy Times,