The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-07-08

do you know aught of the chirurgsol's
work?'
mo. man. that I do not. What Is it?"
IT have a wound here" answered 1. And
if 1 could but get my 'othes away from it
'twould be less trouble"
Let the cloth stick to it. lad" said he.
"The room is full OF typhus and smallpox.
and 'twere better to keep 1t closed. But
wait till daylight when we can see it bet
ter"
So I lay wide awake for several hours till
the light came slowly in. my thoughts run
ming riot at times, so that I thought that 1
might go out Of my head. And then L
would go over every hour of my life with
her from the wet night and the broken
coach wheel to that moment at the princes
soiree when she turned from me and my
heart died within me. 1t was all a matter
of three short weeks. yet 1 could not fancy
my existence before 1t. could not remember
much of what I had thought or felt for
twenty years. And then, fancy running on,
I would present TO myself. as one will.
thousands Of impossible ifs"
If l had now the chance of going out
freely into the open air and away from the
city, but to do that must give up-must not
know at aII-my short three weeks with
her, would L do 1t? And 1 knew in my
heart that l would lie down on the dirty
straw and shake my head. Yet how could
she doubt me? What was she thinking,
doing. feeling now, and now? And then
what had become OF Curtis and Acton and
that foul specimen of manhood that went
with them? What Of the expedition to-
wards Newport? And so back again to
Deborah Philipse. and round her and round
her in a circle Of thought. with the fever
climbing into my veins all night long.
At daybreak the guards came, bringing
each man six days rations. and we were
ordered to form in line and march past,
taking our share one by one. When II
came to my turn I found lying in my hand
about two pounds of raw pork and as much
weight Of sea biscuit. And finding my
friend we got an iron bucket wherewith
one could heat the water. So we cooked
and ate our meal, saving only a bit Of
water, with which the kind friend helped
me get my shirt away from the wound.
And then tearing the linen UP into ribbons
he wound it tight around my body for a
bandage.
AS he did so his eye frightened a bit.
II knew a queer bird up the river who
was part chirurgeon and part man of God
though mostly pirate said he, "who
showed me how thus TO tie a bandage."
l paid little heed to what the man said, for
just then a faintness from the pain took
me. He knew somewhat of all three
trades. A strange beast was old Marvin!
1 wonder If he is hung YETI" and he smiled
quietly to himself.
Marvin" said 1 suddenly; "where?'
up above Tarrytown in the neutral
country. 1 was there myself"
Marvin, say you, man." cried 1 again.
What sort?"
"A sober villain; solemn of face, but with
the capacity for gallons Of good ale-but
why? Do you know him? ?"
AYE, well! But is he then of a fact a
minister of the church? p" and my wound
and the old prison were forgotten as 1
waited for his answer.
True enough! Though, God knows, he
does more honor to hell and its king-the
devil"
"Marvin-Jim Marvin
AYE, lad. old Jim Marvin! You can see
him any day at Gowan's tavern. What is
it? Is the cut ~paining ye?"
Thu cutl What pain could touch me just
then? Pain or no pain. dead or alive, one
thing was sure. There lived no longer on
this earth a Deborah Philipse. But a De-
borah there was-aye, should I ever see her
again?
So the days passed on, one like another,
except that the heat ended and gradually
the cold came on, first = comfort to us all,
then disagreeable and finally terrible. For
we had no sign of fire except perhaps once
a week for our water boiling. This, too.
stopped when, as L inferred. the want of
wood in the town took what little We were
before allowed.
This cold got into my never healing
wound and I began 70 grow too weak to
stand at all, and was SC sitting against the
wall one day close to some new made
friends that we might keep one another
warm when some forty new prisoners ar
rived, and 1, lying back with my head to
the wall and my eyes closed. heard one
telling some of my companions that he
came from Tappan.
when, man?" I asked, leaning forward
quicker than 1 thought 1 could.
But three days ago."
Tell me then If you can, back two
months now. about the middle of October,
did Clinton move on Newport"
THAT he did, but got no further than
Huntington harbor with all his forces
why, man. why?" L asked.
why, because the commander-in-ch chief,
by some means 1 do not know. got wind of
the thing before it started and made a
feint-I was with my command and twas a
stiff fight, too-on Staten island and at
Paulus's Hook, and back came scurrying
the Johnnies with their tails between their
legs. thinking the town was taken or going
soon to be-"
Thank God!" 1 muttered TO myself, lying
back again as the man went rambling on.
Curtis and Acton must be safe, then. And
Hazeltine, too, dead or alivei After all we
had not done so i'll, and 1 had kept my word
to the general so far as man could. But
1 knew L must be weak indeed. for the ex-
element of the new mans story had taken
the life out of me. and 1 slid down to the
cold floor all in a sweat that drenched my
clothes and then froze upon them.
With thai / sank back into a quiet stupor
that lasted 1 know not nor never knew how
long. but happier than 1 had thought TO be
since coming TO the Sugar House. From
time TO time as L walked a bit and looked
about 1 would catch two or three comrades
looking down at me as 1 lay not uncomfort-
ably on a little clump Of straw. and. seeing
me looking at them, they would ask me
how 1 did. And l smiled and told them,