News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1902-07-30

Ri JESGErANS-v NilStINNA W IullN Il iO'
CIV of letters from home
1t appeared that the evacuation had
been ordered for an earlier date, SC
mail matter for our regiment had not
been forwarded.
No sooner had l opened one of my
for the writer, my mother, was prais,
ing me eXtravagantly for something
gallant which she assumed | had done,
l read rapidly, but only to be further
mystified. A letter from my father
was equally confusing. 1t Informed
with praises of me and that our dis.
trict's member of the state senate had
called to hear the story and declared
that all the district as well as Summer
ton was talking of me and was prouC
of me.
l called Brainard to my assistance
but he was reading letter from my
cousin May and was utterly unrespon
sive SO | opened other envelopes, only
to find congratulations from old school
mates and even from some of the solid
men of the village. What could II
mean? Evidently some other John
Frost in the cavalry service had done
something in particular, and my family
and fellow tOWnsmen, like villagers il
general, had not thought that there
might he two men of the same name.
Little by little | learned from the let
fnT hot 1,a Df i1lN I
supposed to be the hero was a midnight
ride alone into a country swarming
with the enemy. | had made no such
ride unless it was on tho night | was
scared back to camp by the rafting
trace chains of the artillery horses that
Brainard afterward discovered. l had
not recovered from my modification al
my failure that night, so of course il
could not be for that affair that al
Summerton and our senatorial district
were prasing me.
, Slowly it occurred to me that some
one of our Summerton troopers had
heard of Brainard's successful ride OF
the same night and had known that
started to make the trip. He had got
Brainard and me mixed in his mind
and so | was being glorified for work
at which | had shamefully failed, and
the real hero of the affair was being
defrauded of his right.
"Charleyw l groaned. He was look
ing idiotically happy when l spoke, but
said afterward that my face alarmed
him. l quickly told him of the con.
tents Of my letters and of the only
possible explanation.
SIS that ALP asked Brainard whe,
had concluded. DO feel easy abo I
it, for Pm not bit jealous" Then he
fell to rereading his letter from my
cousin May, but exclaimed:
"Stop being a fool! Listen to me
You know perfectly well that I'm net
going to sail under false colors. Tie
story Will get pretty soon to the 9th / |
SummertOn men of our company, All
they'll chaff me most numerically. II
must find the man who wrote the yarn
home, and you must help me, and We
must make him correct the blunder be.
fore the story gets back here"
For the first time in my acquaintance
with him Brainard looked irresolute. |
Still worse, he looked sheepish. Then
he said:
I'm afraid I'm the guilty man"
your
Eyes. Don't be angry, Jack, when |
explain. Of course l didn't suppose |
that your cousin May
What has May to do with it?"
Nothing. That is, she isn't in any |
way to blame. Say, old chap, l suppose
you, II think me fool but-you can't |
understand. I'm not so modest that ! |
couldn't see that my ride with dis. |
patches that night was quite creditable |
to me, and did wish your cousin May
could know Of it and that might know |
how she regarded it. l began to write |
her about it, but my pen simply |
wouldn't work Somehow can't blow |
my own trumpet, Suddenly it occurred |
to me that you'd gone through all that |
l had-the sense of danger the laneli. |
ness, the expectation of running into /
a camp Of Johnnies or at least of being |
fired upon at short range. SO wrote
up your rice just as l knew you fell