Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1905-03-04

10 SentrleS or patrols of the provost
guard to the end that the vehicle. with
its attendant br2ce of troopers. meets
no detention, whereas he. an aide-de-
camp going on duty. has to account for
himself every few bloci S Some be-
lated general thin he as. once clear
OF the streets. be spurs swiftly up the
Rockville pile Just as the pallid light
is creeping into the eastward sky Ben
ton reins in at the CHALLENGE of a
sentry and the sight OF tented field
Behind him, in the lower ground.
feebly glow the night lishts Of George
town. e Cnd them lies the great.
stra2glinS city. here. close at hand.
a sentry PAGES slowly by the roadway.
recognizes the de-de-camp at once
and bids HIM advance. A dim Iicht
burns in a nearby wall tent Yes.
sir, the colonel got back soon after
three, is the answer to his question.
rs, swinging cat of saddle. Benton
throws the re.Gs over a fence post and
scratches at the tent flap.
Tis /, colonel-Cnly Benton. !
stopped to see
But the tent flap is thrown back
from within and a voice bids him on
ter. I've been writing tony poor
motherless babies chokes the colonel
and then at last breaks down. bows
MS humbled head upon his arm on the
rude camp table that shakes " it'll the
sobs wrung from an almost bursting
heart. Who can picture, much less
soothe, grief like this? Benton has
seen him time and again. ever alert
ready, vigorous on the march CHEEKY
and cordial in all manner of wind and
weather. inspiring, commanding. mag
nlhcent in battle, God-like, almost, in
his superb dominion over men. But
1T is the strong and soldierly and virile
that love the deepest and that suffer
most when robbed of the hearts idol
and delight. THE bravest are the
tenderest The loving are the daring. }"
And in wordless sympathy Benton
can only lay his hand upon the massive
shoulder while the teardrops well from
his own brimming eyes.
And then there are voices. low and
deep, without the tent and then a foot
fall close at hand. and a tall. DARK
form, enveloped in a cloak. looms be-
and Benton. staring and only half
credulous, stammers the question.
Who is it?" Then both men stand
erect and face the newcomer at the
first sound of his deep yet trembling
voice.
1t is Abraham Lincoln" (Can il
ever be written save in reverence? y
II have come to you because-all
night long since you LETT could
think of nothing else. | have not
slept. l have been pacing the floor I'm.
til L could stand ii no longer You
came TO me last night in your sorrow.
and treated you like a dog. For
give me, colonel. Take her back to
your children. and when You have laid
her away and comforted them-then
return TO us. Go, sir-it is my order
and. wringing the soldiers hands. the
president turns again to the cares and
trials, the cruel anXieties of another
day. but the deep-lined face. uplifted
to the glory of the dawn. shines trans
inquired with radiance indescribable-
with who can say what infinite chez,
and comfort and blessing from on high.
CHAPTER XIX. i.
KILLED IN FRONT OF THE GUNS.
How are the mighty fallen!" al
least in point OF humble Still under
the leadership of sharp-eyed, sharp
tonSued Gibbon, the brigade has
trudged away TO South mountain, feel
ing not little cocky in its new name.
Manfully again has il grasped the hoI
| end OF the poker, being sent into
the very jaws of Turner's gap
with Colquitt and his Georgians
directly confronting it,, and Evans
| raking the doubled line from
the hill on the right Again does
the Seventh catch it hard from the
flank, losing more than third of its
| men. Again do the Black Hats sail in
With their accustomed saucy vim and
yigor, tieing the HOCsiers in the total
| of losses. Again are the big "Napo-
| Icons" the pets o. battery ''B." lugged
| into line, side by side with the Foot"
| and nightly do they below and roar
in this resounding amphith eater-the
eastward slope of the ridge. 1t is the
| second fierce fight in which these pow
| erful guns, manned by picked men
from the brigade, Ia their share of
hard KNOCKS with the four battalions;
but fiercer Sight is yet TO follow-only
three days away-one which YIELDS the
battery still more firmly TO its sup
ports. On the far right flank, in front
OF Sharpsburg, across the sleepy An
tietam, it comes in for its hardest
pounding OF all the stirring campaign.
But by this time, mid September, as
Lees daring, determined followers halt
on the heights of the Old Maryland
town, with the Potomac encircling
them from northwest to south, the
winding Antietam protecting their
front, how cruelty are they, too, re-
duced in numbers! Our old opponents,
the ''Stonewalls," in their entire array
can barely muster 500 men. Regiments
are commanded by captains, compa-
| MES by sergeants, and as it is with
Jackson so it is with Longstreet,
VIII ose brigades, like those of KempeT
and Pickett, are cut to shreds, while
some battalions are reduced TO the