The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-09-22

of course that was not his name
ron in the State of Maine, where 1t l.
AN custom to MAIN child for llt'
Z ~ christening him Arioch or Shadract
- Enbraim. nobody would dream OF
calling a boy ''Quite So" 1t was
merely nickname which we gave him
- eamn. but it stuck to him with such
burr-like tenacity, and is so inseparable
from nv memory of him, that l do not
think | could write definitely of John
B,adburn if 1 were to call him any
thing but "Quite So"
1t was one night shortly after the
first battle of Bull Run. The Army OF
the Potomac, shattered, stunned, and
forlorn, was back in its old quarters be-
hind the earthWOrks. The melancholy
lire of ambulances bearing our wound
ed to Washington was not done creep
ing over Long Bridge; the blue smocks
and the gray still lay IN windows on
the field of Manassas; and the gloom
that weighed down our hearts was Ike
the fog that stretched along the bosom
of the Potomac and EMBODIED the valley
of the Shenandoah. \ DRILLING ram
had set in at twilight, and, growing
holder with the darkness, was beating
a dismal tattoo on the tent-the tent or
Mess 6, Company A, til Regiment, y.
Y. Volunteers. Our mess, consisting
originally of eight men, was reduced to
four. Little Billy, as one of the boys
Qrimly remarked, had concluded to re-
main at Manassas; Corporal Steele we
had to leave at Fairfax Court House, |
shot through the hip; Hunter and Suy- |
dam we had said good-by to that after |
noon. "Tell Johnny Reb," says Hun
ter, lifting up the leather sidepieee OF |
the ambulance, "that III be back |
again as soon as 1 get a new Leg But |
Suydam said nothing; he only Enclosed
his eyes languidly and smiled farewell
TO as.
The four of us who were left alive
and unhurt that shameful July day sat
glocmily smoking our brierwood pipes,
thinking our thoughts, and listening to
the rain pattering against the canvas.
That. and the occasional whine of a
hungry eur, foraglng on the outskirts
of the camp for stray bone, alone
broke the silence, save when a vicious
drop of rain detached itself meditative-
II from the ridge-pole of the tent and
fell upon the wick of our tallow candle,
making it '.euss, as Ned Strong de-
seribed it, The candle was in the midst
of one OF its most profane fits when
Biakely, knocking the ashes from his
pipe and addressing no one in particu-
lar, but giving breath, unconseiously as
Ii were, to the result of his cogitations,
observed that cit was considerable of
q fzzle'
The on to Richmond business?"
Yes
81 wonder what they'll do about it
over yonder,' said Curtis, pointing
over his right shoulder. BY "over
yonder'' he meant the North In general
and Massachusetts especially. Curtis
was a Boston boy, and his sense of
locality was so strong that, during all
MS wanderings in Virginia, do not be-
ieve there was a moment, day or night,
when he could not have made a Decline
Tor Faneuil Hail.
Do about it9'' cried Strong.
They III make about two hundred
thousand blue flannel trousers and send
hem along, each pair with a man in
tail the short men in the long trous-
rs and all the tall men in the short
mes" he added, ruefully contemplate
ng his own leg-gear, which scarcely :
cached to his ankles.
That's so,' said Blakely. "Just
low, then / was taekling the commits :
ary for an extra candle, saw crowd
4 new fellows drawing blankets. -
81 say there, drop thatl" cried :
strong. All right, sir, didn It know a
was yon,' he added hastily, seeing
was Lieutenant Haines who had
brown back the flap of the tent and let e
a q gust of wind and rain that threat P
ned the most serious bronchial conse- I
uenees to our discontinued talIow dip. e
You re to bunk in here" said the Il
leutenant, speaking to some one out N
ide. The some one stepped in, and 81
LANES vanished in the darkness. ,
When Strong had succeeded in re- a
sering the candle to consciousness. the q
GIT fell upon tall, shy-looking man q
about thirty-five. with long, hay le
olored beard and mustache, upon which
no rain-1rops stood in clusters, like q
ne night dew on patches of eobweb in CT
meadow. 1t was an honest face, with II
nworldly sort of blue eyes, that looked {
nc from under the broad visor of the Il
ifantry cap. With deferential glance m
wards us, the newcomer unstrappcd C;
Is knapsaek, spread his blanket over
!, and sat down unobtrusively d
Rather damp night out, !" remarked c.
iakely, whose strong hand was sup m
osed to be conversation. b.
Quite So, replied the stranger, not OF
irtly, but pleasantly, and with an air W
} if ne had said all there was to be IL
lid about it. B
Come from the North reeently?' al
lquired Blakely, after pause. W
g Yes.o Id
g From any place in PARTICULAR" b
81 Maine.'' 81
20 People considerably stirred up o.
own theref' continued Blakely, deter a
ined not to give up. tt
sQuite So
Blakely threw a puzzled look over 9.
lie tent, and seeing Ned Strong on the h,
road grin, frowned severely. Strong
stantly assumed an distracted air, W
Id began humming softly, 4,
ST wish l was in Dixie.'' n,
f'The State of Maine" observed
Iakely, with a certain defiance Of u:
amer not at all necessary in dis IN