The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1906-05-31

THE PESsTNI1sT KISSED THE PRECIOUS RAGS.
set and wrinkled faces told the story
of many years Of anxiety and hardship
while trying to exist on their pensions.
The three men who walked with
crutches kept beside man bearing an
old battleflag whose tattered shreds
gave scarcely hint Of its original col
or. They felt the old ardor burning in
their veins as they kept step with the
music In spite Of their disability.
More than one man failed to keep
time regularly with his accustomed
grace as they saw those three veterans
doggedly following that ragged EN-
blem through a mist, and their throats
ached as memory brought back the day
when it had been fought over, captured
and retaken, but at what a cost! The
grewsome heap of dead men dressed in
gray and blue that lay there showed
how desperate had been the struggle.
And those three men on Crutches were
all that lived out of whole company.
No persuasion could induce them to
ride, so they plodded on behind the
blackencd and grimy strings floating
in the wind, all that time, war and
bullets had left Of their battlelag.
Finally the procession reached the
cemetery and divided into parties. The
flowers were distributed, and each one
placed a wreath, a bunch Of blossoms
or a pot of bright gerauiums at one or
more graves, while ut every soldiers
grave two little flags were stuck in the
ground. There were many Of these
graves all in line, one beside the 9TH
er. None had any sign or name to sig
Nifty who lay sleeping beneath the
green grass. They were "the unknown
dead"
Young girls and young men and even
children appeared to feel some kind
of sentiment Of momentary solemnity
BETTING the occasion, which, however,
soon wore off. Even the older men and
women, some of whom had sons lying
under the sod, grew more cheerful
and, their duty done, they sauntcrcd OIL
to chat with others.
The three veterans, together with the
bearer Of the old battlefag, went to
bench near the long line Of unknown
dead. They could see from there q
marble monument cleaning against
the blue sky and standing on an eni
nence. This was swathed in large
flags, while flowers were hung upon J!
wherever they would hold,
do you see that monument| asked
the pesslmist veteran, chewing blade
of wtthered grass as lie designated the
monument beyond.
mot being blind, l do replied th'
optimist, lighting his pipe, with 4
glance about to be sure that he Wou!C
offend no one
"Yes, we see" said the third man
land what Of it?'
"And you see those soldiers graves
down there, one alongsiNe Of the other
the fellows below all lying in a row
like so many matches in box, no ont
grander or bigger than the others an'
all of them killed IN battle|
"Of coarse" said the optimist cheer
fully.
Eyes; we see" said the third man re
fiectively.
~And their own fathers and mother
don't know who they are" resumed
the po-simist.
~ So" replied the optlmist
"br have to die some time
and N ..., matters where we lleF
"And theirs was glorious death
lighting for their country" said th
third man, waving his crutches en-
Enthusiastically. "a
"Glory! Yes, that is just what wa
coming to. You see the men that al.
the fighting and were. killed aiI'la
along like so many bricks in mort4
and nothing to show who they were o
what they did. know that every NAL
that lies in that row was a hero an
died doing his duty, and yet they sc
M monumentSxtGt their memory, or, J
.tSev do, it is one big one for thousand
nf them, all punched like beets. in
basket. Look. at that monument u
thara-tnsthe-Ceneral of that brlgadfs