Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-05-30
return Dapa's sword ?"

! but amply dressed for the occasion,
! kissed the occupant of the chair and
| betook herself to the ford. From far
away came sounds of music, ana she
| knew that in the nearest town they
were gathering for the sacred and
patriotic services of the day.
In a short time the fair girl stood
beside the famous stone. Around her
all was still, and the river ran beneath
the pines singing, as it seemed to her,
a dirge for the brave of the land.
He does not come, and I know not
in which direction to look for him"
thought Bert, as she swept the land
scape. Tie might have come to Shirley
and got some one to drive him over:
or he may alight at Luray Station and,
as he has been a soldier, tramp it TO
the ford"
AS no one came, Bert fell to gather
ing the flowers that peeped in pro-
fusion above the sod, and then, seating
herself on messy stone, she twined
as fair a wreath as ever decked
soldiers grave.
1t must be past the hour. Could it
be that the letter had been written to
deceive her, that some one, needless
Of the wounds such missive would
make, had indicted it to make hearts
bleed afresh? She would not believe
it, and instantly put the unworthy
thought aside
Orville Lane was not that sort Of
person. True, she had never seen
him; he had been her fathers foe;
they had met in battle, and the con-
federate had conquered. Why his
letter, if he wanted to wiring anew the
hearts Of a soldiers family?
When Bert looked up after finishing
the wreath, she caught sight of a
figure where she had seen the one the
night previous. Moving among the
pines a short distance away was a
man who seemed to be looking for a
certain spot.
Bert unconsciously drew back and
watched him.
She could see whenever he straight
ened up that he had the bearing of a
soldier, and that he was still young,
as if he had entered the army when
but mere boy.
She saw him lean eagerly toward a
tree and fix his eyes on certain spot
in the bark.
For several minutes he stood thus,
running his hands over the surface. as
if confirming by this means the
evidence of sight. When he straight
ened again he turned his face squarely
toward the ford.
Bert saw that he carried in his hand
something wrapped in a dark fabric,
and it seemed to her that he carried It
reverently, as a hero would carry
furled and sacred banner.
The soldiers child met the stranger
rock, and the next moment, with
dotted hat, he was bowling to her.
Bert felt a flush suffuse her cheek in
his presence, and his voice recalled
her to the present.
Miss Parker, is it not?" said the
the fact that he had followed the
fortunes of the confederacy through
four years of varying war.
81 am Miss Bert rarker, only child
Of the late Capt. John Parker, of
| company A, til Ohio. I am the per-
son to whom a letter signed 'Orville
Lane was addressed"
and I am the writer" Interrupted
the young man.
Bert stood silent in his presence;
she felt that she was to have revealed
to her the fate of her father, and by
the enemy who had come up from
southland for that purpose.
This is one of the proudest yet
saddest moments of my life con
tinued the young soldier. Your
fathers last resting place need be a
mystery no longer. | came down
here last evening hoping to locate it.
but the shadows of the pines pre-
vented. 1t is all plain now. The
cross l cut in the pine underneath
which we buried Capt. Parker after
the gallent defense of the ford
is visible yet, and if you will
come with me, Miss Parker"
Bert started forward with light
cry which she could not suppress.
At last! She thought of the sacred.
ness Of the day; she looked down at
the wreath in her hands, and then
glanced up at her companion.
"You were his enemy, then" she
said, suddenly disengaging one hand
| which she thrust forward
1--WE are friends now" was the
quick answer. ct is reunion beneath
the battle pines It is here!"
They had halted beneath one Of
the pine kings Of the wood, and the
young confederate was pointing to :
certain spot where a wood anemone
lifted her head to the cones.
Bert knelt down and placed hel
wreath where there seemed to be the
semblance of a mound, and in another
, moment, across the mingled emerald
and bloom, lay a sword.
!, Though he cannot wear the blade
) he did not disgrace, it shall lie upo1
his BOSOM" said the confederate
There is no north, no south; there l;
one country, thank heaven!"
Bert Parker heard these words as il
a dream, and when she looked up
) man with folded arms stood besid
/ her, looking down at the weddet
T sword and chaplet.
Slowly and almost speeches., tw,
3 persons went up the well-known patl
), leading from the ford to the hous
r among the pines. The mother say
, placed in her lap her hero's sword
5 she looked at the handsome coupI