The Dolores star., 1902-10-31

Ut from nome than to Cincinnati fifty
miles away, where she had gone once
when girl; but she was determined
to make this journey.
The trip down the Ohio river,
though novel. aroused no emotion:
once on the Tennessee, she began to
brighten. Martin had made this Jour
ney not long before his death. The
war, now so faf past. was brought
close to her.
one day the captain of the boat sat
down by her side on the deck. He
was middle-aged man, OF slow, soft
speech and gentle manner, as far re-
moved from the typical blum, gruff,
proiane, aggressive river man of liter
ature as possible. He had already
won Mrs. Davis confidence by his def
erential courtesy and attentions, to
winch she was stranger at home. He
narrated to her bits of history about
the places along the river, with every
loot OF which he was familiar, and told
anecdotes Of the people. half of whom
he seemed to know by their Christian
names.
How can you speak SO kindly Of
them. an you a soldier, too?" she
broke out at last. Rebels reckon
they were, most of 'em. an killed our
men, an would do it again If they had
a chance"
He turned to her slowly and without
sign OF surprise; she was not new
type to him.
Madam fhnCo o1N
were mostly Union sympathizers dur
ing the wah. was q soldier in the
Confederate Ahmy"
1t was revelation to the woman Of
few ideas that rebels-rebels!-w
creatures with loves and sorrows like
ner own.
Then came Fort Henry. Then Pitts
burg Landing and Shiloh. and the
woman from the little Indiana town
had reached her Mecca.
They wandered over the battlefield,
those tourists: they saw 1t almost as
1t looked on the fatal Sunday so long
ago, only to-day the sun shone, and
then the very heavens had wept at the
sight below. They saw the place where
the fight was fiercest and most furi-
Gus, the Hornets nest," where Union
men and Confederates met hand to
hand, and the slaughter was so great
that the dead lay in heaps.
They saw the pool whose margin
had been red with the blood of wound
ed men who had dragged themselves
there to quench their raging thirst.
There was house here and there
primitive structures, hardly more than
cabins. Mrs. Davis stopped at the
door OF one to ask for water. An old
woman came out, a woman with
scant calico gown and clumsy shoes;
and eyes blurred perhaps with age,
possibly with tears, but kindly still.
She grew garrulous in response to a
timid question. Yes, she had lived
hereabouts evan since befo' the wah.
She an her ole man was Union, but
their six boys couldn't noways agree,
an three fined the Union Army an
three the Confederate. And yes-yes,
it's all done and ended long ago; but
some days the time seems yistiddy
an 1t all comes back. Her ole
man couldn't keep out no ways when
the boys was gone, an he jined too,
when General Sherman come along.
An'-yes, the boys was all killed;
three at Donelson, two here at Shiloh
Church an one at Chattanooga"
The woman who had lost one and
the woman who had lost seven looked
in each others eyes and knew the kim
ship of grief; and somehow the visitor
from the North felt no longer a per-
sonal resentment for her loss. Though
1t might have been son of this wom-
an who shot her Martin, he had
thought he was right and meant no
evil.
Then she entered the gates of the
National cemetery, where the Union
dead are laid In long lines, with
granite block marking each resting
place. The captain of the boat Joined
her at the gate, and as he passed in
he plucked a sprig of cedar. Down
between the rows of stones then the
captain walked, pausing at one bear
ing the number 1907, lifted his hat
reverently AID laid the bit of cedar
upon 1t.
II put little posey there every time
I come" he said gently. II reckoned
that maybe the wife or mother of the
boy lying there might like It,"
More years went by, and the Widow
Davis plodded patiently through
them. getting a little more weary as
they passed, and finding the burden of
loneliness none the easier to bear as
age crept on. That visit to Shiloh had
taught her some things. federation
among the rest, but it had also taken
away one thing that had been a secret
source of comfort to her. Until that
time she had pictured to herself the
return Of her husband.
After this visit to Shiloh these com.
forting pictures were conjured up no
more in Lizzie's mind. 1t was all real
now, the battle and the slaughter, and
she had seen the graves where the
soldiers lay; her thoughts centered
about 1907" where the captains trib-