The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-07-02
The Dead Soldier S
Afterglow

This command has been annlhiIat.
cd"
The colonel turned to his men and
told them that. having been annihiInt.
ed. they could fight no more. Then he
gave the order to stack arms and per.
mission to do as they liked TIL retreat
Billy" said Wagstafr to Captain
Drummond- Il want you to do some
thing for me-"
what Is itT'
go up 70 the house and tell Belle
Hathaway that our regiment has been
annihilated. that I've been killed and
the jigs up all around"
what forY'
u want to see how she'll take itn
''She is certainly not so silly az to
take 1t literally"
she's pretty stupid"
stupid girls are most attractive to
men--that is, II they are pretty-and
Belle IL very pretty decidedly pretty
III you play your part well you can
fool her. I'm curious to know IL she'n
mourn for me-
"All right; I'll try It on. Suppose she
wants to see your dead body"
II never thought OF that. Perhaps
I'D better lie dead on the battlefield.
You can bring her to see the corpse
But first want to know II you're
going to give me away"
mo; ! won't do that, though II
would be a good Joke to do so. III
play the part FOR you as well as l
ram"
"And youn tell me how she takes
ftp
mo. but If she wants to see your
corpse you can judge for yourself
about that"
"All right You'll find me under that
big oak over there. So long"
Billy departed for the house. and
Wagstaff went over to the oak. sprawl
ed himself on the grass and. to XIII
time while waiting to be inspected for
dead man. lit cigar. Men who
fight sham battles need to get up q
lot OF Dutch courage. Ned had dis
tinguished himself for bravery induced
By several bracers during the fight; con-
sequently be felt dopey and soon yield
ed to slumber. Suddenly he was
awakened by girls voice;
Where is he7 oh, tell me. where Is
hep
Ned. recognizing the voice Of the girl
he loved and. realizing that soldiers
are not us9ally killed with cignrs in
their mouths. let the bait smoked weed
fall He felt Il roll dom hiz cheek.
but where 4 landed he couidn's at,
He lay stlfT and stark.
asaere he isF' he heard Drummond
say.
Ned looked sidewise between his
iashes and saw Belle Harkaway hur
rying toward him. He closed his eyes
and lay with peaceful expression on
DIS face. Indeed, he put on certain
serenity which be had often practiced
before mirror and which he con-
sidared very becoming to him. Belle
knelt beside him. He dared not open
his eyes, but he knew she was there
Eand very near him.
"Oh. Nedp' she moaned.
s.fIe did noble DEATH" Bfly put IN
leolamniy.
stDear, brave Nedl II had only not
treated you as did. II you could but
faneak enc word to me 70 tell me that
Fyou forgive me. are you sure he Is
Mead7 There's color In his face"
con, that's often the case with men
Ishot in battle. Thy call it the sol
dier'a afterglow."
This was very clever Of Billy, seeing
lxhaf the afterglow was produced by
I1he hpacers Ned had taken during the
light
sssed," moaned Belle, speak to meF'
Ned didn't dare part bis lips suf1-
GENTLY to look at her, but he could
hsar her moaning over him.
s'a1e makes beautiful corpse" Billy
remarked.
Lovely! He must have been smok-
ing when be was shot"
seWhat makes you think thatT ask
ed Billy.
"Don't you see the cigar on his
shoulder Dear, brave Ned-coolly
smoking In the face Of danger"
AThat was Just like him." said Billy.
ssHe was always doing that kind Of
thing. He cared nothing for danger"
sWhat were his last words?' asked
Belle. did he say anything about
meg'
Eyes. He said, Tell Belle Hathaway
that nv last thoughts, my last words.
were of her"
"Oh. dear! III could have been here
\ to hold him In my arms when be diedl
Z Somehow | can't realize that the red
color you call the soldiers aftergIow
! isn't the blood OF life I'm going to
pinch his cheek. It may bring him
back TO us"
she gave his cheek a terrific pinch
Ned WINGED. but stood the test
"see." cried Belle. The afterglow-
lot OF It."
She plnched him again. this time so
vigorously that be howled
Opening his eyes. he looked into two
] Of the merriest orbs that ever gazed
on the corpse OF beloved object.
'Rats!' he said There's no use
trying to be dead under a pinch like
tdat"
More aftergloww she cried. clap
ping her hands with delight as blush
Of shame covered bis face.
Misdeals.
sillieus-Love is game IN which
Cupid deals the cards. Cvnicns-Then !