The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1900-01-26

through those present, thinking that
he was about to burn it. But no; he
held it before the flame, carefully keep |
ing it far enough to prevent its ignit-
ing. Not a word was spoken, all eyes |
being fixed intently on the paper |
curling in the heat. Presently the gen |
eral drew 1t from before the flame,
| glanced at it, then raised it aloft so that |
it could be seen by everyone in the
room. Across its face brown letters |
had come out clear and distinct:
yours received. Thanks We march to-
night. HEATH"
Slowly the general in chief rose from
his chair, and, advancing to the vindi-
Gated man, grasped his hand; Margaret
laughed and wept by turns, while the
rest of us threw up our hats and shout
ed. When quiet was restored Gen.
Heath concluded:
"You are aware, general, that during
the period of my service in the west ru-
mors have been current that | have
been secretly and treacherously aiding
the enemy. 1t is now plain whence this
secret malignant influence came. Be
rante was made prisoner at Shiloh and
had the ear of union officers. Having
been exchanged before Chckamauga
he was present at that battle and had
an opportunity to converse with the
union officers captured there. / leave
you to infer whence came the reports
that the confederate successes were
largely due to a friend in the union
army, that friend being myself. At last
| am confronted with the author of my
msfortuDes. / am unable to punish
him, for he has come into our lines
pledged to protection, but thank the
Great Jehovah, the God of battles and
of peace, that from this time forward
he will be powerless to injure me-"
Notwithstanding wars horrors, it
has its p.easurable episodes. My most
delightful remembrance of that period
of strife and suffering is the few min
utes following the exit of Col. Archard
and Maj. Berante. There was sudden
wringing of hands, eyes looking into
eyes that danced triumphant, a babel of
congratulations. AS for me, forgetting
myself completely, l threw my arms
around everybody in the room except
the general-in-chief. embraced, sue
cessively, the general, Margaret, PUNK,
and Georgia, whose enthusiasm, great
as it was, did not prevent her giving me
box on the ear, which she afterwards
admitted was not for the caress, but be-
cause of its publicity.
Our expressions of JOY were inter-
rupted by the general-in-chief taking
Heath aside and speaking with him in
tone which, though too low TO be heard
by the others, brought 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,
but 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 a love story this narrative must
necessarily be a fragment. What had
passed between Gen. (then Capt.
= Heath and Margaret Beach before lie
. met her between Chattanooga and Nor
= yantown Cross Roads never learned,
for both were naturally reticent, and
2 especially so with regard to the most
{ sacred of all conditions. After the bat
I tie that followed in the wake of the
= information we had gained and the gen
!. erals vindication, | was suddenly sum-
I moned one morning to attend him. lie
c rode straight 10 the plantation, where
= he found Margaret, and / am quite
/ sure that il was on this occasion that a
4 treaty of peace was formally drawn be-
q tween the two and their future rela-
e tons officially settled. AS to their
>, courtship, except that courtship which
D was going on under my eyes while the
J general held Margaret as prisoner, |
n know nothing, but | can vouch for the
/. fact of their wedding, for | witnessed
n it, and they were afterward loving
= couple, for | have often visited them.
q AS to my affair with Georgia, an ac-
i count of what followed our few brief
= meetings described in the last pages
n of this story would involve another
a volume of confessions not more credit
t able to me than the foregoing. | made
d a very unsatisfactory lover, forgetting
n during an exciting campaign, to com
+ municate with my inamorata foI
l. months at time. But when the alb,
e sorbing events of that most eventfu
period in the nations history were
e ended, took as much interest in love
d as l had taken in war. But | made
d slow progress as a husband. For years
It | could never hear the rattle of drum
i nor the bullet of some careless marks
= man singing over my head, without
l. showing a restlessness that troubled
Il my wife and unsettled me to no pur
n pose. But as the years went by grad
If ually quoted down to the arts of peace