News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1902-06-25

~ " JOuuulGS uOluS DuSl-
ness at the same old stand and unwill-
ing to be interfered with. We always
could reach them in a days march, con-
sumo another day in passing along their
entire front and still another in return
ing to camp. They seldom returned our
attentions in force, probably because
they had not a large enough force to
| feel safe when far from laome. Be
sides, they could learn all they liked
about our pest and it's camps, for ev-
cry farmer and planter in the county
was a source of information to them.
| We never got into a big engagement.
| 1t wasn't our business, except when
we were accompanied by a large force
of infantry and artillery, to worry the
| Confederacy by making believe that
| the con to Richmond" movement of
the Potomac army was to be made
| from our direction. When we went
| alone, the enemy did not worry much,
for they had a broad, deep stream
along their entire front. They could
| quickly take up the planking of the
only bridge within ten miles, so they
! exchanged shot and shells with us
across the river with the calm conf
dence of the card player who holds all
the trumps.
Our colonel had been quite right in
saying that the first scout was worth
more to us than a month of drill. The
men learned to sit in their saddles and
not to be afraid of their horses, so we
were able to begin mounted drill in
good shape and progress rapidly. Man
ranks lower than his horse in all good
cavalry regiments, so it was not until
we had completed the stables that our
own winter quarters were begun. By
this time, however, we learned, to our
delight, that we were too valuable to
consume our time in common labor A
number of the 'contrabands" Fugitive
slaves who had made our post a place
of refuge were sent into the woods to
cut trees and split shingles. and just
before Christmas each company had a
great log house, about Is feet by 90,
for its winter home. A small contribu-
ton from each man enabled US to put
up stove, which tempered the winter
air, and one new member, who had al
ways lived in the tenement house dis
trict in New York. said he never before
had known so comfortable a home.
Killing time in the winter season
was almost as hard as killing the en-
envy, for there was such an appalling
lot Of time ahead Of us. Some men
played cards all day, except while eat
ing and sleeping; others read incessant-
~; still others did nothing but smoke.
Some seemed to spend much of their
time writing. liked to observe these,
for they had more heart in their faces
for the time being, and as knew some
of the people to whom the letters were
going | amused myself by imagining
the scenes when the letters were re-
ceived.
But it troubled me much that Ham
ilton and Brainard were writing so
persistently to my cousin May. | did
not see the letters, but heard of them
through my home correspondence.
knew that Brainard, who visibly wor-
SHIPPED Mays portrait sometimes when
he supposed | was not looking, and
probably hundreds of other times, was
not the sort of man to change his re-
gard for any one, much less for a
sweet girl. Some one had seen in
Bamilton's hands Il portrait of May. l
did not know that he brought one from
Summerton. | was also troubled by
his manner toward Brainard. 1t was
not ugly, but it contained a suggestion
of condescension not unmixed with
contempt, and | fancied Brainard no
ticed it.
Still, what could | do in such a
matter? May was no fonder of cUun-
sci than very young women in general, |
nor was she less averse to admiration |
in large quantities. | could not mag |
inc her in love with any one, for she |
and had been rough and tumble play |
mates, and l knew only the tomboy |
and fun loving side of her nature. |
After much thought over the rivals !
and their respective chances, | could |
only hope, for the sake of peace, that |
she would not give the slightest encour- |
agement to either, but would be won |
by some other worthy Summerton
youth. l believed that both Brainard |
and Hamilton were manly enough TO
recover from any sorrow occasioned by
the loss of something, no matter how
precious, that was not their own and |
had not ever been promised to them.
Our special comforts were not con-
fined to shelter and rest. Two or three
of the married men knew something
about cooking, and So did one man who
had been a logger in Maine; so the
cook was coaxed, bullied and
flattered until he learned to do some
thing besides merely boil the several
raw materials dealt him. A ration of
would sometimes be served
as fried hasty budding and again as
"crackling bread"-corn bread contain
ing tiny dice of fat pork which had
been fried thoroughly and drained of
grease. Remains Of dinner of salt
beef and potatoes would reappear next
as corned beef hash. Boiled
rice, modified only by cheap molasses,
was about as unpopular as castor oil,
but with a little coffee, which would
not be missed, we could trade with a