The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1906-09-15
"REMINISCENCES
By f s CHAnBERLAIY

-fauce5. the presence Of thi- Wo'ra'
would have flled the gallant colonel wall
the most agreeable auticipations B1
INST ~ preseu he wished her anywhlrs
else than at his side.
The fact was. lie and his friend l'7-
vcy we're operating a lI.tle corner u
Manhattan Consolidated. and among ths
Grlucky shorts who had been cau-.
hy the rise was the firm Of Praf' 4 Gur
don, OF which Nrs Gordon's hu,haH
was the junior member Harvey wh1
was managing the pool, had insisted
upon showing no leniency; and a re
Z suit OF the squeeze it was pretty certain
that Pratt & Gordon would be forced
to the wall Just how much Mrs Cor
don knew of her husbands fairs Downs.
OF course, could not tell Bu: II she hap
pened to be aware that he held her hus-
bands financial life in his hand, il wa
quite possible that trouble awaited hlm
before the dinner was over. The colone.
was Justly proud OF his reputation With
the ladies, but to discuss matter Of
business with woman. however attrac-
tive she might be, was something he
would never voluntarily consent TO do,
And when the question was the salvl-
ton or ruin Of her husbands firm. is
discussion was clearly not to be
thought of,
But there the ladt sat and it was qui;e
impossible to neglect her. He must do
something. And, like all great captain
believing a vigorous attack the be-. de-
fence, he started in to entertain her =
the very best Of his ability For, II any
thing could divert her attention from in-
peniirg trouble. it was Downs cnnvcr.a-
ton when he really threw himself in,0 Il
~' He commenced by telling her some hp-
rlorGus incidents Of his recent Southern
trip and drifted by degrees int a de
scrip,ion of Southern life and the bclr-
ties IF Southern scenery Obviously he
was leading up TO some OF his war
"reminiscences. for in extremity the col
aael always fell blck upon the adven-
tures that had beia'lcn him during his
army lie in the South
And the Shenandoah Valley he Re
marked, after 4 time, the Shenandoah
Valley is certainly one OF the most beau
,iful spots in all The South
yes, it is" Mrs Gordon agreed. q
passed my girlhood there. and 60 back
nearly every year. l don't know whether
it's altogether the beauty of the scenery
perhaps it's the old associations that
give it the charm-but | have never
found a place that seems 10 me to com
pare with it"
"Indeedl' said Downs. II had no idea
you were a Soulherner Where was
your home?'
"a few miles ont OF Winchester on
the Martinsburg road Il was my grand |
fathers estate Brentwood one of the
old Virginia places
Winchester exclaimed Downs,
Why, was there in the old war days,
when you must have been-" He |
glanced at her and checked himself
abruptly "Ahi Brentwood did you
say? Indeed, believe | have seen the
very place you speak Of, though ! didn't
know the uaue in those days And he !
added. ilprc zsively, 1T was near there |
that had one Of the narrowcst escapes !
OF all my army experience II was really !
that which gave me such high opinion
Of Southern women
He paused. and. seeing that he wished
encouragement. Mrs Gordon asked Inn
to tell her about it
1T was when Ewell went through the
valley in o." he commenced, with cheer
ful alacrlty He headed Lees army. |
YOU know, which was going north to |
Gcttys5urg. | was with Nilroys divi- |
sion when it was caught at Winchester
by the rebel advance You wouldn't |
c1re to hear about the fighting, Of coursc. |
bat the outcome Of it was that those who
escaped were very glad 10 get away, ard
the campaign wasn't ended there, as
some OF US supposed it would BE-.
We'll, | had shot in the foot and
was limpin2 along the road next day
when | came TO this old fashioned Viz
Z GINA plantation. | was faint from NV
wound and the long tramp in the dust
and heat and ! cant tell you the pleas
ure | felt when ! came upon a spring
house by the side of the road a litt'el
girl was sitting on the step. She wa
not over eight or nine years old. | should
say, with big black eyes and very
pretty face. | always did have an eve
for pretty face he added. glaneinc
effectively at the one beside him.
Though the girl was only a littie
thing, she appreciated my condition andI
helped me into the spring house, where
! could get a seat ont Of the sun Thcnl
she dipped up pail Of water and hc'ngII
me while | drank, and af.erward helpcii
me bathe and bandage my wound
Just then, while | was resting, | heardI
horses coming up the roA Horses there
meant rebel cavalrymen. and if they
found me, knew | should be promptly
sent south to prison hospital and t5I
pretty certain death. But l couldn't gctl
away, and when they drew up before The
door gave myself up for lost. You canI
imagine my situation. There | was with.
out chance of escape from the spring
house. and with squad OF thirsty cav
alrymen drawn up before the door.
"And certainly should have been can.
tured if it hadn't been for that little girl
: didn't dare say a word to her, bu, She
seemed to know just what to do. Be.
fore | realized it she had caught IN IN.
water pail and had carried it out to III.