The sun., 1900-12-31
!, 4 SOLDIERS VISION |
BY N. Quad.
copynrour, 1900, BIZ Q. p. LEWIS.

the front of our brigade picket had
been murdered ON his post every night
The front was a mile long, with the
posts within ten rods of each other,
and bushwhacker had crept up on
the lone picket with all the craft of an
Apache and stabbed him to DEATH The
one assassin had killed % men before
any great stir was made about It, The
brigade was being equipped for the
spring campaign, many changes were
taking place among the officers, and
the murder of few piclSets did not
count for much in the general confu-
sion. All that was done when the mat
ter was finally taken hold of was to
put two, three and four men on post
In place of one and to send out small
scouting parties to look for needle in
haystack, as it were.
That all these murders had been |
committed by one single hand no one |
doubted. A knife had been used in |
every instance. The murderer had crept |
up in the darkness, leaving trail be- |
| hind him in some cases. In no case
| had he struck over two blows, and the
| surgeons said that he had always used
the same knife. Sometimes his victim
| had made brief struggle or cried out
| or fired his musket and sometimes had
| lived few hours after the attack. If
you wonder that a soldier on picket
could thus be craftily approached and
| done to death, let me tell you that in
only q few cases were the posts in the
open. They were under the trees, in
the midst of wood, on the edge of old
fields grown up to briers and weeds,
alongside of creek, the babbling of
which would drown all other noises. A
| man was posted there to stand still,
not to walk to and fro. He might have
participated in half dozen battles and
made a record for bravery, but within
half an hour after being left alone on
the post his nerves were more or less
unstrung. The very darkness and lone
liness would do that. He might finally
lean his back against tree or sit
down. and he might keep eyes and
ears on the strain, and yet he could be
approached.
On tile night that the order was is
sued to double the men on the posts
was i'll in my tent with a sore throat
and fever. My tent mates were ON
guard or detail, and l realized that /
was light beaded. l could not fall into
a sound sleep but dozed at intervals,
and the noises Of the camp were con-
/; fused with queer dreams. OF sud
den this confusion cleared away, and
had what you call either a dream or
vision. | saw n man in the uniform of
, a federal captain, mounted on dark
bay horse. ride up to farmhouse.
The face and form of rider and horse
g were as plain to me as il / had seen
them in my normal state of health at
MONDAY. The captain was man of
about 80, blue eyed, with brown hair,
brown mustache and front tooth
:, filled with gold. At the corner of the
left eye was small scar from a wound
inflicted years before.
+ AS the officer descended from the
saddle and hitched his horse to the
fence l saw woman's face at the win
= dow for moment. The same face was
!, seen again for moment as she opened
r the door for the captain. She was a
tall, dark haired woman, and the face
bore a smile. 1t seemed to me that
y stood and watched the horse for the
next quarter of an hour Tie animal
chewed at the fence rail, broke down
: small bush with his hind feet and
paved a deep hole in the earth in his
g impatience.
"a As suddenly as the vision came 1t was
blotted out, but it returned again. This
time the captain was mounted and it
u was night. 1t was the same horse, and
he wanted to speed too fast and was
. pulled in. l could not make out how
followed OH, but follow | did, and we
had just descended a hill and were
/, crossing a creek by plank bridge
when there came red flash, followed
~ by the report of firearm, and the cap
tain threw up his arms and lurched to
~ the right and fell out of the saddle
= The horse sprang to the left off the
bridge, which had no railing landed in
=, the creek and went off among the un.
derbrush. saw that the officer was
- being dragged along with his foot in
i'd the stirrup. also saw the man who
had fired the shot. He was tall, gaunt
st faced, with long black hair and gilt
tering black eyes. and dressed in the
rough clothes of farmer He looked
the typical bushwhacker. He at once
started after the horse, and as Ii,
= leaped from the end of the bridge tt
4, the earth below he struck in soft sol
ell Trough up ana or minute iaJer.
n stood looking after him, when one o
Id my tent mates came in and aroused M
o. from my troubled sleep. He said wa
as muttering and throwing my arms abou
he ms he came in. l at once related til
in dream or vision TO him, but neither 0
ul. us attached any importance to it. On
ny with a fever always has queer dream
to and fancies.
We A week had gone by and was Al
in. right again, when | read in Washing
m ton paper of the singular disappear
Ike ance of captain in our brigade. 1 rea
1r- this ill print instead of hearing til
ng news. While regiments may be br
lat gaded together, the men are strange t
lat each other. Aside from the movement
1r- of regimental officers, one seldom hea1
H. anything in regiment outside of til
affairs of his own company. This office
SO it was stated, had left camp on
be- certain afternoon on his horse and ha
he not been heard Of since. My visio
if- came back to me so clearly, and wa
1a- so sure that 1t furnished a clew that
of reported to my captain. He ridicule
ms the idea, but sent me to the colone
ale My statements We're received with
nd smile, but | was given q pass and