The Colfax chronicle., 1900-07-28

! Lee and jackson and Grant and Sher-
man and scores of others, told by gray
old farmers in front of the village
stores on Saturday afternoons. 1t was
hard to realize that these peaceful old
men had once held place in fash
ing, lurid picture, where the trampling
squadrons, the rafting musketry and
| the deep-throated cannon met and
smote and strove, foot to foot, and
knee to knee, to shape the destiny OF
an empire. All! even if they were
old and poor now, they had that be-
hind them to which they could point
and say: ''See! have lived!"
But to plow, to see his mother patch
his threadbare garments and weep
when old Solomons grumbled about the
interest on the mortgage. What was
a life like this worth?
"There goes your broken-down aris-
tocracy." he had heard the fat wife of
the shopkeeper whisper in church
few days before, as she pulled aside
the ample folds of her limitation silk
dress, to let his mother, in faded calico,
pass. He set his teeth hard at the
thought OF it. Only wait! Sometime,
somehow, his chance would come, and
then men should see that there was
sap in the old stock yet.
| III.
Wearily the years ground round
their never-ending circle. The gray
mule and the boy grew older, but that
was all. The gravestoncs looked at
him reproachfully now and he avoided
them. The old histories lay dusty and
unopened on the garret floor. The time
was so long, and it was so hard to wait.
Then word suddenly flashed round
the world. "War!"
In the far-of east Dewey's sea-dogs
were straining at the leash. Down
the west coast the Oregon was racing
for place in the fray. In the south
the ships of Sampson, loosed at last,
were off and away. Northward lay
Schley grimly waiting. All over the
land the drums and flies were out
keeping time to the new duet of
Yankee Doodle" and "Dixie." The
graybeards felt their pulses stir, and
sighed because they were old; and the
young men answered ''Coming!" from
every little hamlet in the land.
1t was morning at the state rem
devious for the assembling volun-
teers. Already the regiments of mill
tia, not yet full. but rapidly filing,
were encamped on the ground. The
round edge of the great red sun came
peering over the eastern horizon, and
long spears of yellow light shot sud-
denly through the branches of the
trees. A man in uniform, with
stripes on his sleeves, came out of a
tent and placed a bugle to his lips.
al CANT git em up: CAN'T sit 'em up;
CANT git 'em up in the morningr'
sang member of the guard in rough
accompaniment to the sharp, clear
notes of the instrument. A sergeant
with a striped bundle under his arm
hurried from the guard-tent to the
tall flagstaff. He fingered the hal
yards deftly, and as the last long
echoing note of reveille foated away
across the wooded hills, the bundle
shot up the staff, and catching the
morning breeze in it's folds liberated
the starry glory of the flag.
Then, as his country's emblem float
ing fair and free burst upon his sight,
a homespun-clad lad just without the
guard lines barred his head, and in the
fullness of his soul shouted his greet
ing. There was infection in his tones,
for man after man took up the cheer
until the vibrant air was filed with
reclamation.
The cheer died into silence, and the
busy hum of the camp took its place.
1t was too early for admission, and the
lad sat down quietly trying to break
fast on the bread he carried in his
pocket. He was tired, for he had
walked all night lest he be too late;
but his heart beat fast, and every hur-
ried breath whispered: "At last!'
He could scarcely have told why he
was happy. He knew that weariness
and privation lay before him; knew
that wounds and suffering and death.
perhaps, waited just ahead; yet he
felt that he could Joy in suffering
here.
The bread was dry and hard, and
his eyes were very heavy. The cool
breeze famed his hot forehead, the
noise of the camp sounded dreamily in
his ears, and with a sigh of content
he sank back on the damp grass and
slept.
An hour later guard awoke him.
He went in and took his place in the
line that waited before the surgeons
office. An officer scrutinized him
sharply, muttered Doubtful" and
passed on. A great fear tugged at
the heartstrings of the lad. He