Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1904-12-21
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\ 4 CHRISTMAS GRANDPA. 4

AZ I<AA thS Stctl uutlie VI sSIllIOU uuQ
~ been fought and won, for many
weeks the shattered wreck of what
was once John Fairfax fingered on the
very threshold of death in Southern
hospital.
The bullet had plowed its way through
sc:(p and skull. and for time the issue
was uncertain; hut finally the skill and
care OF surgeon and nurse won the day.
put John Fairfax arose and went forth
into a world of strangers
He knew no one. His own name was
gone from him. The past was sealed
Ills mind saw only blank wall Known
as John Doe. of Nowhere, the name by
which merry clerk had entered him on
the hospital records, he Was told that he
might so home.
"Home" said he. simply. MY home
is with the army. don't remember
ever being anywhere else II i can't
handle gun let me drive one of the
wagons, or cook for the soldiers. I've
got to stay with the boys. l wouldn't
know where to so il you turned me
away"
And 80, not being able to get rid of
him, John Doe was allowed to remain
with the army. He had been reported
missing, and his name had been dropped
from the muster roll of the regiment to
which he had belonged, and he was now
assigned to a regiment from another
State. His former comrades believed him
dead
The mind of John Doe was of such
recent birth, SO unframed In the ways
of the world, that its owner soon became
the9standing butt and Jest of the camp
John Doe submitted to it all with a pa
tient forbearance that was pathetic to
witness.
That was John Doe during the final
day Of the terrible battle of the Wilder
ness, when soldier. whose canteen he
had just filed with water, dropped dead
in the act of raising it to his lips-shot
through the brain. The victim was a
young soldier who often had befriendel
poor stricken John Doe, and when the
tor shot down the many kindly little
flashed swiftly through his brain.
Springing to his feet, he grasped the
rife which had fallen from the hands
OF his dead friend, wrenched belt filled
with cartridges from one Of the men ~
luS dUUuI uuu UluuKeu INTO tQg
thickest Of the fight.
And during the rest of the battle John
Doe loaded and fred in frenzied haste:
sprang from tree to tree as the line i'd
vanced or retreated, land fought like
hero till the sun went down.
The men made sport of John Doe no
longer. From the by-word of the camp
he had grown to the hero, but modest
one, for when the colonel offered to pro-
mote him for bravery on the field of bat
tie, he simply said:
No; give the place to one Of the
boys. / don't deserve it-all I'm good
for is to cook and carry water"
Cook and water-carrier he remained;
and when Appomattox came and the can
non ceased their growing, John Doe was
swept northward with the returning
wave Of soldiery. And by some strnage
irony of fate he was left stranded in a
PENNSYLVANIA village scarcely score Of
miles distant from the home from which
he had gone forth to do battle for his
country.
His once dark hair and beard were
now silvery white, and the hardships
through which he had passed had made
| SO great an alteration in his appearance
there was small probability of his being
recognized.
And here, within few hours walking
distance Of the wife and daughter who
mourned him as dead, the ex-water-car-
rier and hero lived and toiled for fif-
teen years, cherries, lonely man, with
strange, indefnable longing for some.
thing, he scarcely knew what.
At last one week before Christmas
John Doe. no longer able to work, friend
less and forlorn, went forth into the high
ways homeless tramp, clad in the tat
tered uniform Of the country he had
helped to save.
And In his wanderings he came to a
little white cottage. As he stood gazing
at its inviting porch sudden faintness
came over him, and he reeled and fell.
When he recovered he was lying helpless
on his back, and by his side sat blue
eyed, aaxen-haired girl, artlessly pratt
Ting to him.
"Poor soldier man, did it hurt you to
1 fall that way? Pm SO sorry, cause 1
love the brave soldiers. My grandpa
was soldier. but grandma says he went
to war and never came back. Grandma
always cries when she tells me about
him. specially at Christmas time"
The homeless veteran struggled to his
knees and gave one eager, inquiring look
at the features of the pretty little one
before him.
"Oh, thank Thee, oh, my God" he
cried, stretching forth his hands. Can
1t be that have found myself, and the
home and dear ones have longed for, at
last? What is your grandma's name ~
Mary Fairfax, and mammals name is