Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1908-07-31

The QueStioner and questioned sat IN
front of n large wall tent Captain
Higbee of the Twelfth Wisconsin had
put up IN the broad lawn in front OF
his st, Paul home for the comfort and
pleasure of such of his regimenta1
comrades as were in attendance upon
the national encampment u few years
ago. The general had been colonel
of the Twelfth and the other was q
captain. .r
Yes, we met" said General Bryant
and he told ne how he had gotten
along since l gave him a scoldin2
soon after we We're mustered out
d you remember DOT ErioAs sod
experience during the war;"
Name n of my old boys whose
war experience is not familiar to ma
l suppose a father has greater inter
est in his sons than a regtmentnl COM
mander has III the men he has for
years commanded in camp, ON the
march and in battle, but 1t Is not very
much greater"
Then the grizZled general with q
heart as tender as a mothers, and
'AOS, wv "AH SUI ~" IhS AASAA
who followed him for four years has
been SO pronounced as to make him
almost an idol in the eyes Of those
men, told the story Of Eric Paul.
Eric had n experience that in my
Judgment Il as sal as that any
soldier boy ever passed through. After
having been a prisoner for nearly q
year, part Of the time at Anderson
vile and a part ut Salisbury, during
which time he made three unsucceSs-
full efforts to escape he reached our
lines and was sent home. He had
been through a long siege Of sickness
in prison. That, with the poor tar
and scant care given, left him q nero
skeleton. His mind was somewhat
unbalanced, the result of sickness and
prison life. A ticket to the station
nearest to his home was bought and
he started On the long journey. It Is
easy to imagine how precious h sight
Of his dear old home was to the emacI
ated, weak, broken young fellow who
had never left it more than two days
at a time until he became a volunteer
soldier at II years of age. His loving
mother was in that house. The
thought of seeing her in a few mil
utes-of having her loving arms about
his neck, of feeling her mother Lips on
his shrunken and almost bloodless lips,
nerved him to quicker steps. He
would surprise mother by knocking at
the door. The sweet, motherly face
was before him, but she stared at him
and did not invite him into the house
He partially walked and mainly fell
across the threshold and then pulled
himself into a chair. 1t finally dawn
ed upon the boy patriot that his
mother did not NOW him.. It nearly
broke his heart Brushing away his
tears he moaned out:
Mother, don't you Know me! Dun1
you know o boy, Eric?"
Then that good Norwegian mother
gave the young man a still more scrut-
iniZing, a more searching glance She
could see nothing that reminded he<
Of the son she had given to her adopt
ed country, and in a commanding tone
said: You are not my boy Eric; you
are trying to fool me; 1 Will give you
some dinner and you must then move
OH
"While Mrs. Paul was getting dinner
she frequently looked at the stranger.
Several times Eric heard that best
friend on earth, his mother, say: He
Is not my boy he is not my boy Eric
made his case. still worse by asking
about his father, who belonged to the
same company, Now / know still bet
ter that you are not Eric, for my hus-
band died -four months ago. The
food of tears from the half-crazed
wreck from AndersonviIle ut the news
Of his fathers death had no weight
with the widow and mother. She re-
garded him as an imposter and told
him to eat and move Oh.
Eric took i few mouthfuls Of food,
when his head fell to the table. Mrs.
Paul became alarmed and sent for the
doctor. The patient vas pronounced a
dangerously sick man. He was given
a room and Mrs. Paul cared for him.
In his dellrium he repeated many
times, My mother ont know me-
WhyY'
The next day q letter from the
captain Of Eric's company told Mrs
Paul that he had heard that her son
had reached the union ines and been
sent home, lie wanted to know II
he had reached there and what condi-
ton he was in. That afternoon Eric
seemed better. lie looked brighter;
med inc, proper food and humane care
were having their effect. His mind
was clearer.
Can yOu tell me something about
yOurselfT asked the mother, now much
troubled, though not convinced by the
captains letter that she was enter
tanning her soldier son.
"Ill try. TWO years ago my faith
er ms his two sons enlisted in the
Twelfth Wisconsin. We lived here.
You cried when we started to camp.
We had Il battle. Ny brother was
wounded and | was made a prisoner.
Father did not get hurt, unless it was
after l wIs captured. They kept me
until 1 was almost dead. l can't tell
how 1 cane home. If you don't know
me and viii not come to know me l
wish l had died in prison.
Yes, yes, my precious child, you
| are my boy. Forgive mother for not
recognizing youi'
The bony arms CT the boy wer