Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1911-12-13
CHAPTER x.
A Woman's Tenderness


Youth is never largely given to re-
Election, which is the gift OF years;
and although my life had in a measure
rendered me more thoughtful than
might have proven under ordinary
conditions, yet it is to be frankly con
fessed. by one desIrous of writing
merely the truth, that / generally
acted more upon impulse than reason
AS | stood forth in the sunlight OF
tat lonely noun 4 no l, my hands
securely bound behind my back, the
end Of the rope held by one of my
captors, while his fellow leaned laziIy
upon his gun and watched us,
thought somewhat deeply over the sit
uation and those peculiar circum
stances leading up to q
Under other conditions might have
felt tempted to enter into converse.
ton with my guards, who, as | now
perceived, were far from being the
rough banditti had at first imagined
Judging from their faces and language
they were intelligent enough young
fellows, such as l had often found in
the ranks of the Federal army. But
l realized they could aid me little
If any, In the one thing l most de.
sired to know, and even if they could
a sense of delicacy would have caused
me to hesitate in asking those per-
sonal questions that burned upon my
lips, My deep and abiding respect for
this woman whom had so strangely
met, and with whom l had attained
some degree of intimacy, would never
permit of my discussing her, even in
directly, with private soldiers behind
OF honor revolted at such a thought
Not through any curiosity of mine
however justified by the depth of my
own feeling, should she be made the
subject of idle gossip about the camp
fire
For, in truth, at this time, unhappy
as my own situation undeniably was,-
and as a soldier l realized all its
dangers,-I gave it but little considera-
ton. Usually quick of wit, fertile in
expedients, ever ready to take ad-
vantage of each opportunity, had
taken stock of all my surroundings,
yet discovered nowhere the slightest
opening for escape. The vigilance of
the guard, as we'll as the thorough
manner in which l was bound, rend-
cred any such attempt the merest
madness.
Then it was that other thoughts
came surging upon me in series of
interrogatories, which no knowledge
possessed could possibly answer. Who
was this proud, womanly woman who
called herself Edith Brennan? She
had been at some pains to inform me
that she was married, yet there was
that about her-her bearing, her man
ner-which | could not in the least
reconcile with that thought. Her ex,
IRENE youthfulness made me feel II
Improbable, and the impression re.
NAMED with me that she intended to
make some explanation OF her words,
when the coming of Bungay inter
rupted US. How they might be ex-
planned could not imagine; merely
struggled against accepting what
longed to believe untrue And this
man? this Federal major. bearing the
same name, whom she called Frank,
who was he? What manner of rela'
tionship existed between them? In
their meeting and short intercourse
] had noted several things which told
me much-that she feared. respected
valued him, and that he was not only
swayed by, but intensely jealous OF
any rival in, her good opinion Yet
their unexpected meeting was scarcely
that of husband and wife. Was be
the one she sought in her night ride
from one Federal camp to another?
If so, was he brother. friend. or hus
band?
Such were some of the queries
silently struggled with, and they were
rendered more acute by that deepen
ing interest which ] now confessed to
myself / was feeling toward her who
inspired them. It may be fashionable
nowadays to sneer at love, yet certain
IL is, the rare personality of this
Edith Brennan had reached and In
fluenced me In those few hours we
had been thrown together as that OF
no other woman had ever done. Pos
sibly this was so because the long
years in camp and field had kept me
isolated from all cultured and refined
womanhood. This may, indeed. have
caused lie to be peculiarly susceptible
10 the beauty and purity OF this one.