The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1908-12-01

cry"
On the nineteenth of May" said
the limping wearer of ragged gray
coat, as he stood in Mrs. Ponsonbys
presence, with the crown of hat sur.
rounded by broken halo of brim in
his hand, "our regiment held a posi-
ton on the right of the Tenth Ala
bama, the attacking force. Behind an
old house, set at just the right angle,
as it seemed to us, to hide an ambus.
cade, a party of sharpshooters was
carefully and all too accurately pick |
ing off our men. Suddenly an aim
was unerringly taken-our flag trem-
bled and fell"
And SO it went on, the familiar but
ever moving tale of a lag-bearer
Killed, a soldier-the narrator Of the
story-springing to the rescue of his
standard himself to be laid senseless
by bullet. From this oblivion he
had been wakened from a drenching
cold waterbath to hear the verdict,
Poor fellow; leg badly shattered"
pronounced over him by a voice with
CHANGED, that he was destined to hear
daily during his tedious illness, for
the man who had picked him up on
the field was also the assistant in the
hospital, and quite a friendship grew
up between the young doctor and his
patient, through their many CONVEX
sations. So it was that on the day
of the narrator's discharge, the sur
geon, along with congratulations on
the others recovery and approaching
exchange, gave a confidence and asked
favor, as he said, while your ardor
is yet at white heat"
Three years ago." the doctor con-
tinued, before this hateful war was
ever dreamed Of and while l was a
student in Philadelphia, l became ac-
/ quainted with young lady from Rich
mond. The circumstances were 70.
mantic-well, never mind them--it's
a long story-tell you some other time,
perhaps" he added, obviously, five
years after treaty of peace, as the
confederate bills say.
We'll, without going through the
various stages of the affair, from rap.
ture to despair, and from despair back,
through faint glimmerings of hope, to
ecstasy again, the decision was finally
reached that we were, well, after a
fashion, engaged; quite, l assure you,
on the order of poor Harry and the
well-nigh forgotten Flora of Madison
Square fame. Just then, with abom-
Unable inopportuneness, l felt, Mr.. Lin
coin asked Virginia (mind you, when
the day was, after many delays, actu-
ally fxed) for her quota of troops.
Poor old Virginia had, with her usual
deliberateness, been slow to move,
but this call moved her-out of the
union-leaving me, as Miss Elizabeth
thought, on the wrong side.
zone day, it must have been by the
last through mail, received a most
astounding letter from the young lady
herself; terrific headlines, shocking
sentiments, Southern confederacy,
and all the rest of it. Quite doubling
! up of fists all round a regular one
southerner-can-whip -ive-Yankees' epis
tie. She said ending everything
said Never with capital N. Well
to come to the pith of the affair, we
! hear through personals of each othel
-awfully cut and dried way of writing
love letters though, you know; so
ask YOU, as man to man, to get let
ter to Elizabeth for me. OF course
YOU can't carry a written communica
tion. | don't care to treat the CAM
to a specimen of my ability as mill
tary Romeo, so l am going to reat
the epistle which you, once safe il
Richmond after your exchange, ar
TO write out in my name and hand t.
her in person Now will you do this
without altering jot or little, excep
\ to throw into it all the fervor you ca
j convey on paper; and will you remen
| her that under no circumstances ar
| Won to give this precious document II
L to anv hands save those of the terri
| HE little rebel who wrote the wonder
/ ful letter of 1861; or, if impossible t
\ see her, then into those of her mott
I err"
To that question the letter that no.
nassed from the hands of the ragged
! man" to the feminine fingers tina
a. dropped the unfinished haversack
receive it, was the silent and sufficis1
answer.
The smoke still fingered over tn
] Of