Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1905-04-15

NAGssJ flag of truce, to attend upon
the wounded General Mercer, the eX-
agency OF his pursuit of the flying Brit
fish and their subsequent pursuit Of
aim having precluded him from giving
to his old friend that personal atten-
sfon which would have so accorded
with his kindly heart and the long aft
fection in which he had held the old
Ecotchman. Seymour received permits
sion to accompany Lewis, in order to
ascertain, if possible, what had become
OF Talbot.
The men of MERGERS command re-
ported that they had seen the two Of
fcers dismounted and fighting bravely,
after having refused to retreat. The
two young officers were very meian-
choly as they rode along the familiar
road Lewis belonged to u Virginia
regiment and had known both Mercer
and Talbot we'll, and, in fact, all the
officers who had been killed. The Of
ficers of that little army were like a
band Of brothers, and after every bat
tie there was a general mourning
for the loss of many friends. The
casualties among the officers in the
sharp engagement had been unusually
severe and entirely disproportioned to
the total loss: the bulk Of the loss had
fallen upon MERGERS brigade.
They found the general in Clark's
farmhouse, near the field Of battle,
lingering in great pain, and slowly dy-
Of no
net wounds He was attended by his
aid. Major Armstrong, and the cele-
brated Dr. Benjamin Rush came espe-
cially from Philadelphia to give the
dying hero the benefit Of his skill and
services. He had been treated with
the greatest respect by the enemy, for
GornWalliS was always quick to recog
.nize and respect a gallant soldier. The
kindly QuakerS had spared neither
time nor trouble to tighten his dying
hours, and the women Of the house
shold nursed him with gentle and as
Biduous care. He passed away ten
days after the battle, leaving to his
the untarnished name Of
a gallant soldier and gentleman, who
never faltered in the pursuit of his
high ideals of duty. Brief as had been
shiS career as a general in the Revolu-
Aion, his memory is still cherished by
.grateful posterity as one of the first
heroes Of that mighty struggle for
aiberty.
Details Of the British were already
marching toward the field of action to
engage in the melancholy work Of
burying the dead when Seymour, I'M
der Major Armstrong; guidance, went
over the ground in a search for Talbot.
Me had no difficulty in finding the
place where his friend had fallen. The
field had not been disturbed by any
one. A bloody frozen mass Of ice and
snow had shown where Mercer had
fallen, and across the place where his
fleet had been lay the body of Talbot.
In front of him lay the lieutenant with
whom he had fought the sword still
buried in his breast; farther away were
the two men that the general and he
had cut down in the first onslaught,
and at his feet was the corpse Of the
IMAM he had last shot, his stiffened
hands still tightly cIasping his gun.
Seymour with sad heart stopped
and turned over the body Of his friend,
Iifting his face once more to that heav
en- he had GaZed upon so bravely few
hours since-for it was morning again,
3but oh, how different! The face was
covered with blood from the wound in
al, ho1
beaten down. Sadly, tenderly, CRATE
fully. remembering an hour when Tai
bot had knelt by his side and perform
ed a similar service, he endeavored to
wipe the lurid stains from off his mar
bic brow. Then a thought came to
him. Taking from his breast Katha-
irine's handkerchief, which had never
left him. he mOistened it in the snow,
and, finding an unstained place where
ther dainty hand had embroidered her
initials ''K W." he carefully wiped
Iclean the white face Of his dead friend.
There was a little smile upon TalbOts
hips and look of peace and calm upon
fhis face which Seymour had not seen
him wear since the sinking of the frig-
ate. His right hand, whittier than the
lace which dropped over it, was press
ed against his heart evidently as the
result Of his last conscious movement
Seymour bent down and lifted it up
gently; there was something beneath
1T inside his waistcoat. The young
sailor reverently inserted his hand and
drew it forth. 1t was a plain gold
Docket. Touching the spring it opened,
and there were pictured the faces of
the two women Talbot had loved-on
the one side the mother, stately, proud,
handsome, resolute, the image of the
man himself; on the other, the brown
eyes and the fair hair and the red lips
OF beautiful Katharine Wilton. There
WAS Il letter. too, in the pocket The
bayonet thrust which had reached his
heart had gone through it, and it, and
the iOcket also, was stained with blood.
The letter was addressed to Seymour.
Wondering, he broke the seal and read