Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1909-01-12
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
4 NiqhtmareYankee.

an Meacham, private -th Peungyl-
=. infantry, escaped prisoner Of
stood at the edge Of . wood look
II 4 house standing IN the center
ulautation. BUS stomach was
amply as a haversack at the end o.
,wo weeks campaign. and be vas
.0aer,ng If he dare 60 to the house
4 AJAX for something to eat. Would
,.ther starve or run the risk Of GO
hack to that frightful prison penl
= he looked himself over. He had
head covering whatever, and the
! time his hair had been comhed
4 before the fight IN which he had
n captured three months agone.
s'If leg Of his trousers was missing
4 veil as the right sleeve Of his coat
a Z part Of the left sleeve. As 70
coats skirt, 1t hung in rag fes-
"a One old rubber shoe and q BIT
blanket constituted his foot cover
Il was not danger alone that
,,ed him to hesitate. II was pride.
however, hunger conquered both
ide and prudence, and he went 70
house. Passing through Q flower
srden. he suddenly came upon a girl
ling up a bouquet. On seeing BIZ
dropped a pair Of big scissors, CIV
A slight scream at the same time.
IN hand naturally went up to his
IA; but, not finding any hat there
dOfR deferentially, he attempted to
ppitiate the girl with an admiring
ne. 1t produced an effect similar
that Of a dirty faced grinping skel-
In. The girl shrank back.
Don't be afraid Of me" pleaded Bin.
Fn harmless, quite harmless" He
uused a moment to arrest the ravage
q grayback. II might al wen own
that I'm an escaped prisoner Of
Inr"
"A Yankee"
Ties, q Yankee, but not q dangerous
b Just now unless for vermin, and
b be ever SO obliged II you'd give me
bit Of corn pOne or something to
10 me from starving"
BDTs tone was sad, and by this
ns the girl began to take In the piti-
] situation. She was very young and
b Sympathies easily touched. She
bod for a moment thinking, then
IA:
We're all loyal to the south up at
y house, and If you 60 there we'd
BE to give you up. Get under that
Bebush. where You viii not be seen.
y I'll bring you something.r
Btll gave her a grateful look, which,
hugh grewsome, didn't brighten her
much this time. She went toward
d house, and he crawled under the
'nh Presently she came back with
ne scraps she had gathered from
\ breakfast table rolled in a napkin,
pFs them to Bill and told him he'd
tier be of Bill, In his gratitude
Egetting himself, advanced to clasp
hand, but she darted back with q
Of a shrek, then, seeing that she
y hurt his feelings, said:
Il isn't you I'm AFRAID Of; it's the
Emin."
Well BIZ backed away from her so
not to show the remains Of his pro-
natng shirt tail and went on his way.
When the war ended Bill got a COM
HlOn in the regular army. During
y administration Of President Grant
was on duty in Washington, which
nant that he lounged most Of the
and attended social functions In
\ evening" 1t was not long before
married the daughter Of a southern
gresham, and a very happy match
made.
One morning he kissed his wife ana
fnt to his office in the war depart
vi, as usual. About IL o'clock Mrs.
.aeham was informed by a maid that
re was a tramp at the door who
listed on seeing the lady OF the
use But l wouldn't advise You to
down; he's the worst lOokln' beast
'wer saw" Mrs. Meacham sent the
-la back to tell the man that she
V ousy, and the maid returned with
information that the man was
!. "a to see the lady, and II she
aE come down he would 60 mp. II
had been telephones In those
y Ars. Meacham would have called
police. But telephones had not yet
invented, and there was no man
we house. Mrs. Meacham finally
mined to go down. There in the
$1,000 the tramp. He wore no hat
as uncombed hair, but little more
hAlt Of his clothing was avaIIa-
one foot was incased in q piece
o.nket, the other In q rubber shoe.
aeacham's terror was somewhat
laed by seeing one or two brass
-loas on his coat.
husband is in the war depart
abe gasped. ''Go to him. Hen
- Tor you and see that ron are
y - care of by the government"
= man suddenly put his hand to
- and clinched something.
heavens sake" cried the lady,
Dring Termin into this housed
sway! Cali on Major deacham.
attend to your cas-"
-. nAru lines" whlned the tramp,
y man can't get a crust In his